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Jessica

The Lazy Girls Guide to Getting Long Hair

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

I have read hundreds of these kinds of posts, and articles in hopes and prayers that something will make my hair grow longer faster, and the fact of the matter is that your hair simply grows at one rate and there isn’t a whole lot you can do about it, some of us are lucky and it seems to be faster than others.
According to Sheldon Cooper it grows at 4.6 yoctometers per femtosecond, which is less than half an inch per month. I’m a nerd. Moving on.
The Lazy Girls Guide to Getting Long Hair

I get comments and compliments all the time on how fast my hair grows, how long it is and how amazingly still healthy it is at that length. Since I have chopped my hair off and donated it several times since the age of 12 I thought I would share my few secrets.

  • Don’t cut it. I have heard all kind of things about every 6-8 weeks, and getting the dead ends off and all that but the fact of the matter is the more you cut the slower the growth. Logic people! I only get my hair cut every 4-6 months or more. There have been times where it’s been almost a year. Basically I just watch the ends when they start to get bad it’s time to go.
  • Don’t style with heat. I know a lot of you are cringing right now, but heat damages hair, that’s a fact. The more you use heat the more damage, and breakage and therefore less growth. I only use heat once or twice a month, the rest of the time I just let it go naturally, occasionally adding some leave in moisturizer to help out the curls.
  • Don’t Wash it (that often). I only use shampoo on my hair 1-2 times a week, more if I have some hard workouts. I still wet my hair when I am in the shower, and sometimes use conditioner, or apple cider vinegar, to help the curls out, but that’s it. If I don’t wet my hair for a few days I use backing soda as a dry shampoo.  I love Katie’sPost on dry shampoos, there is so much to talk about there.
  • Take your vitamins. B vitamins are great for growing strong and healthy hair and nails. I take a basic multivitamin with iron, because I am a little anemic. I can totally feel the difference if I don’t take them for a few days, and also see the difference in the strength of my nails for sure.
  • Oil, egg or avocado scalp massages. I don’t know if these actually do anything for you, but I have issues with really dry skin, especially in the winter. I do these once a month in the winter time and they do wonders for my dry skin, they may do something for strengthening the hair at its root, or maybe they do nothing, but they do feel awfully nice. Here are the basics, you can find links all over the internet for hair masks with other ingredients.

Well now if I have not cemented in my hippy nature with this post I’m not sure what else will. Basically there’s only really two things here required of you, if you take the last point as anything worthwhile, and the rest is about being lazy, or hippi-esque. Call it what you will but this is my method and it works great for me. If you have anything else to add I’d love to hear it!

June 20, 2014 March 22, 2016 Filed Under: Natural Living Tagged With: Beauty, Lists, Natural Living

Craft Beer Fest Races at Stowe Recap

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

So we are going to interrupt today’s typically scheduled recipe
post for a race/brewfest recap. It works since my stove crapped out last week and
we didn’t get the new one until Monday, therefore I have no pretty recipe to share
with you.

So about the Craft Beer Races at Stowe, I was stoked about
this one because beer. Registration
went pretty seamlessly, and the race went off within 5 minute so the scheduled
time, along with the announcement that the course was “a little” longer than a
5k (lies). I made the dumb attempt to keep up with my friend who had never run
a 5k before and thought she would start off slow. Her idea of slow and mine are
totally different. I should probably
preface this by telling you all that I am a slow runner. Regardless of the
distance (10 or 5k, since I haven’t run much else) I still average around a 10
minute mile. I liken running to meditation, so I’m not very competitive, and
thus the slow times.

Source

Anyway as I approached the first mile marker and it said
8:17 I nearly fell on my face. That’s unheard of for me, and kind of scared me,
because I knew I would be hurting soon. Luckily there was a beer stop just
before it so I figured Long Trail was in order. I passed the clock at 8:44, and
shortly thereafter started cramping. It was one of those deathly cramps that
runs from your ribs to your hip flexor and makes you want to cry. I pushed
(slowly) through it though and after it finally subsided the burping started (I
know girls shouldn’t do it, but beer +running=it can’t be helped).

I was so excited to hit mile 2 and have another beer, but there
wasn’t even a marker, let alone a clock or beer. I meet a sweet little dog just
before mile 3 and stopped to give him a pet, since he seemed to lose his owner
for a minute. After passing mile 3 I started to pick up speed thinking that “a
little” meant .1 miles, when in fact it meant .5 miles. I gave up and jogged
nice and slow probably the last .25 miles.

I never turned on my phone app because I figured the chip in
my race bib would do it for me. Little did I know they would report my results
as if I had run 3.1 miles not 3.64. I finished at 37:48 so @ 3.64 miles I had a
pace of roughly 10:23 and would have finished an actual 5k at about 31:09, or
less since my last few meters were probably my slowest. I think this is my best
time since graduating college, though I’ve never really kept track, so who
knows? Seeing as I have another race in less than 3 weeks I’m keeping track
this time.

Overall the race was good, the fest after was obviously the
best part. It was the first one in Stowe so maybe next year they will have some
more markers, and a more accurate course. As for the beer, well beer fests are
always awesome, especially when they are outside, with dogs allowed, and a
musician who happens to play an awesome mix of country, classic and alternative
rock. . There were only 2 food vendors so that was kind of lame, we waited in
line for probably 45 minutes. Don’t worry we took turns running for more beer.

Would I do this race again? ABSOLUTLY!

Would I travel around New England to do it? If I had friends
and a DD, ABSOLUTELY!

So basically if you like beer and running or just beer you
should probably try it.

June 18, 2014 February 12, 2018 Filed Under: Fitness

Tea Tin Turned Planter Tutorial

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Big news over here kids! I finally took pictures of a craft I did, while I did it; like step by step pictures. I know its pretty earth shattering. Are you ready for a tutorial? I’ve had this project in my head for like ever and it feels good to finally get it out there for you guys. It’s super easy and can be done in less than 20 minutes if you have everything together. Perfect craft right?

It starts out with a need for a use for the million and one leftover tea tins that I have. I know I can just recycle them, but some of them are just so need looking that I want to keep them. For this project I started off with a basic tin, just in case I screwed it up. Luckily I didn’t, so I will get to work on my other tins soon enough.

Step 1: Gather supplies. Shouldn’t this always be step one? I usually skip it, get half way through a project and realize I need to go to the store. Then the project sits there for a few weeks until I get ambitious enough to get to the store and finish it. Just me? Oh well.
Tea Tin Turned Planter Tutorial

Step 2: Use the hammer and nail to poke a few holes into the bottom of the tin. Or call to your honey to do it for you while you make a cocktail.

Step 3: Place some stones and dirt in the bottom.

Step 4: Add your plant and fill in the edges with dirt.
Step 5: Water your plant, and add dirt where it has settled, if necessary.
Tea Tin Turned Planter Tutorial

Step 6: Clean up your inevitable mess of dirt, and toss the
tea tin top.

Don’t forget to have a few sips of said cocktail while you work, it’s important to stay hydrated, or hammered depending on your outlook.
What do you guys think? Do you want to see more things like this? Feel free to tell me that I’m an idiot and should just stick with food. I can take it, though I may not listen. I will be a Modern Age Martha if I want to.

 

June 16, 2014 December 5, 2017 Filed Under: Crafts, Garden

Gardens and Grilled Corn with Herb Butter

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Right now my garden is looking beautiful. All of my plants
are thriving, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m using any excuse to add a bit of that
freshness to our meals.

Herb butter can go on so many things, green beans,
asparagus, virtually any seafood (especially clams, just sayin’), steaks,
pasta. It’s so simple yet adds this huge boost of fanciness to any meal. I
usually make a whole bunch of it and stick it in the freezer to defrost, and
use as needed.

Sunday of this past weekend I made a fresh batch to smother
our grilled corm with. It’s not quite corn season here, but it was on sale at
the store, and I was too excited to pass it up. I also made turkey burgers on
whole wheat buns and a sprout salad.

I over planted pretty heavily in the garden. Last year I had
trouble getting anything to even come up so I wanted to be sure. This year I have
had to thin everything out, so some radish, arugula, and Swiss chard sprouts, along
with a few pea shoots made a nice little side salad. I used that Honey Mustard
Poppy Seed Vinaigrette that I have been obsessed with once again. I swear I will
eventually get sick of it, but we still have a long way to go before then, so
get used to seeing it around.

Grilling the corn is easy. I have done it about umpteen
million ways, but shucking it and popping it on the grill until it is warm, and
bright yellow, with just the slightest hint of char is my favorite. For one it’s
the easiest, and two that light hint of chard adds just a hint of Smokey flavor
that I love.

Herb Butter
1 stick of unsalted butter softened
1 tsp powdered garlic
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp minced fresh, parsley
1 tbsp minced fresh chives
2 large basil leaves, minced
Combine all ingredients in a re-sealable container. Stirring
until well mixed. Serve at room temperature, or freeze for later use. (Can
remain in the fridge for 7-10 days).

What is your favorite part about this time of year?

June 11, 2014 February 12, 2018 Filed Under: Recipe Tagged With: Summer, Vegetarian

10 Reasons Why You Should Get Outside this Summer

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

I am a firm believer in the healing powers of the outdoors. Even if you are just taking a couple steps out of your back door here are 10 reasons why you should get yourself outside every single day this summer.

 

  1. Vitamin D. You get it from the sun. Nuff said.
  2. Blooming flowers, unless you have allergies, in that case, refer to the one above again.
  3. Fresh air. The air in your home is the same stuff you have been breathing in all winter long. I’m sure that it can’t be good for you. I mean all those cold germs, and musty, moldy nonsense just think about it. Plus there is some kind of science that says being outside increases the oxygen in your blood or something.
  4. Getting outside is a good excuse to burn a few extra calories and talk a walk, or play some sports. I mean there is way more room for activities out there than inside.
  5. Beaches and lakes are warm. At least up here in the great northeast it’s not very long that you can actually jump into the water with out a fear of loosing your toes. Take advantage of that.

 

6. Frozen cocktails are better outside. That’s just science.

7. Computers and TV take a toll on your eyes. Why not sit outside soak up some vitamin D, have that cocktail as discussed in no. 6 and let those puppies relax a little? Fresh air and warm sun reduce stress. I mean this is kind of like an obvious one. Being inside is like being boxed in, free yourself!

9. Better sleep. All that sun and activity will help you fall right to sleep.

    10. Boosting your immune system. I mean aside from better sleep, vitamin D, and the germs you are killing with all that alcohol, there is also
something to be said about all the studies that say getting out of the city and into nature boosts your immunity.

 

June 6, 2014 December 5, 2017 Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: Lists, Summer

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Hi, I'm Jessica. I'm an herbalist living in the great northeast with my husband Chuck, our two little boys, our dog Brody and a flock of chickens. I'm all about real, good food and good times with awesome people. I spend a lot of time outside, in my garden, and concocting potions and helping people feel their best. I also like tea, reading, and about a million other hobbies. I'm so happy your here on this adventure with me.

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