Short, Long, Straight, Curly.......I've got it all.

I've been growing my hair out forever.  Okay- not really.  It just feels that way.  I've been growing it out since February 2012.  A couple of disastrous haircuts have extended the process.  So life goes.  But it's finally getting some length to it.  *Phew*

February 2012-April 2013

I've scoured the internet (read: pinterest and google) for tips on growing hair out and any ancient Mayan secrets.  One of the best things I've ever read about this is by Maybe Matilda when she was growing out her pixie cut.  It really comes down to two things---> patience (ugh) and taking extremely good care of your hair.  And being pretty flexible and creative with your hairstyling.  I am not a talented hair person by any stretch of the imagination, so trust me when I say these are easy to pull off.  :)

You have to embrace bobby pins & bandanas, learn to mini-braid, and steal your man's hat.

One of the biggest challenges is not being able to use heat.  My hair does this flippy wave thing that can only be tamed by my blow dryer and a flat iron.  But.....if I want happy, healthy, long Rapunzel hair, I have to save the heat for special occasions.

Now that I've got a little length, I'd like to try some new styles.  But............There's that pesky rule- No heat.  That means no curling irons.  Not a big deal- I kind of suck with curling irons.  But I do like curls and curly hair.  I've done the perm things and NO- NEVER AGAIN.  One of my sisters rocks out with a curling iron and makes me look fabulous.  She's not nearly close enough to be able to run over and curl my hair whenever I want curls, so I did what I always do.

I searched Pinterest!!

I may have a slight pinning problem.

Another thing I love- vintage/retro anything.  I'm not sure why I never put two and two together, but I have (re)discovered.........RAG CURLS!  

Here's why you should try them:

1. They are soooo easy once you get the hang of it.
2. They last forever (until you wash your hair.)
3. You will get tons of compliments.
4. You will feel like a vintage vixen.

I went to Va-Voom Vintage to get an easy peasy rag curl tutorial.  I chose her because I like her technique and because she and I have similar hair lengths.   (And she has a pretty sweet blog and truly embraces the vintage life.)

The process........tied up, let down, pinned back.

I have started working on my nearby sister (I have 3 sisters total) to get her to try these rag curls too.  Her first question was "Don't you have to sleep in them?!"  Yes, yes you do.  But- they aren't poky, or hard, or stiff.  Your hair is tied up in rags, so it's really not that bad.  I had no trouble, and I can be fussy about sleeping comfort.  Maybe she will let me do a feature blog on her so I can get pictures of the whole process and not just a bunch of selfies.

I'm not going to get into the whole blow by blow of how to do this- go to Va-Voom and see what she does.  She does it way better than I can at this moment.  I will point out that with my shorter hair, the curls were initially kind of tight, mainly because they don't have the weight to pull them down.  I ended up using some bobby pins and pinning them up in a messy coif.  It was pretty cute, although it doesn't show up well in the photo.  After awhile, I pulled out the pins and let it relax. 

Curly Girly

I love my curls.  I was really sad when I had to finally wash my hair and go back to my straight, vaguely wavy hair.  It almost made me think about the perm road, but........the chemicals...........*shudders*.  I ended up with poodle head the last time and it took forever and days to grow out all the sad damaged hair.  

I will stick with my occasional rag curls and I am really going to enjoy seeing what they do as the hair gets longer.  I am also really looking forward to trying out some other vintage styles as I get more length to mess around with.  I can't wait! 

Doughnut Muffins

Yeah, you heard me.

Doughnut Muffins.

And they are good too.

I grew up on freshly made doughnuts.  My Dad would pull out the Fry Daddy, mix up a batch of Hazel's Donuts, and fry up some hot, fresh, melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness.  Hazel was a family friend of ours and I am not about to give up her donut recipe.  My Gramma would invite us kids over, set us up on the screened in porch and deliver hot, fresh, deep-fried baking powder donuts, which we would immediately slather with orange flavored cream cheese frosting (which melted into ooey goodness all over our fingers, hands, and faces- hence the reason we ate them outside on the porch).  We would eat until we had to lay next to our bellies groaning with agony and delight.  They were that good. 

When I came across a doughnut muffin recipe at King Arthur Flour, I thought- yeah, right.  It can't possibly be as good as the real thing.  And I was right!  It was a little bland.  (HA- sorry King Arthur!)  Lucky for you though, I am willing to dink around with my recipes until they are just perfect and this one finally hit it's perfection level last week.  The sad part is that I have almost no pictures of the process because I didn't know it was going to turn out so well.

Still dubious about them?  My son ate 3 in one sitting (unheard of), and rather than tossing stale muffins to the chickens 3 days later- there were none to be found.  NONE.  They were gone- toasted, buttered, and devoured. 

Before you start, you should know that this is not your average muffin batter.  It is thick, it requires a good beating, and it's more cakey than muffiny. 

The one and only (crummy) photo of my successful muffins.  (AHAHA- see what I did there?)

DOUGHNUT MUFFINS

Batter:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup COCONUT oil  (Yes, it must be coconut oil- it gives them an amazing flavor- it doesn't taste like coconut though, so don't worry if you hate coconut.  It just adds a nice depth to them.)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder  (I use Rumford or Trader Joe's Baking Powder.)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg (I tend to add a little more)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup milk

Topping:

•  1 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1) Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin. Or line with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely. 

2) In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, coconut oil, and sugars till smooth.

3) Add the eggs, beating to combine.

4) Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. 

5) Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined. 

6) Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full. 

7) Make topping by combing all the ingredients and mashing and mixing with a fork.  It will start to clump up a little (that's good- those are the tasty crumbs!)

Sprinkle the tops generously with the topping, patting it ever so slightly to ensure that it sticks.

8) Bake the muffins for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they're a pale golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.  (I've had them bake as long as 20 minutes, depending on the weather, etc.)

9)  EAT!  NOM NOM NOM................this recipe makes about 12 regular size muffins.  You can also make them in one of those doughnut pans they sell, but I've never had much luck with that.  

Trail Mama, Trail Kiddo

Trail Runner Magazine throws a topic at its readers every month via their Blog Symposium. 

June's topic is........

Tell us about someone awesome you've met through trail running.

I've met a lot of awesome people through trail running.  The women I attempted my first 50K with, the guy who talked me into signing up for my second 50K, Diane van Deren, the amazing married couple who wake up on a Tuesday and decide that they will run that 50 miler on Saturday just because they want to.  I wasn't sure who to write about.  I could not decide.

So I went for a run.  And I found my answer chasing me.

Future Ultra Champ :)

I'm a single mom and that means I get to balance work, mama-hood, school, running, fun, sleep, laundry, etc, etc, etc.  A lot of the moments I wish I could have with my kiddo are missed out on because I have to get one more thing done.  Sometimes my running makes me feel a little guilty- all the time spent training could be spent with my kiddo instead.  But then days like today happen- the two loves of my life unite and magic happens.

Last year, I ran the Knoxville half-marathon.  My kiddo had run the kid's run the night before and was with my sister waiting to cheer me on at mile marker 8, which also happened to be the start of the Greenway stretch.  As I ran past them, he started running and caught up with me asking if he could run with me.  My sister agreed to meet us at mile 10 at the end of the Greenway, so off we went.  I wasn't out to break any records, so I wasn't worried about having to walk.  He surprised me- he ran nearly the entire 2 miles with me- we PASSED people!  He gave a boost to everyone we passed and those who passed us.  At one of the water stops, a guy with a megaphone was cheering on the runners when he spotted the Kiddo and started yelling "GO LITTLE MAN GO!!"  He was exhausted by the time we hit mile 10, but still going.  He was 5 3/4 years old.  (The 3/4 is very important.......)

Coming off the Greenway

Everyone was cheering for him, especially me :)

That brings me to today- we went to our local nature preserve just to kill some time and we decided to take the trail that led by the river.  Our trail rule is that you can wander, but you must stay within sight.  All of a sudden he says, ON YOUR MARK_GET SET_GO and takes off.  My sister and I didn't have much of a choice- we took off after him.  And ended up running the entire time; passing, tagging, chasing, laughing.  We'd come to a screeching halt to check out something cool looking and then take off again, calling out the occasional reminder that there were other people out there and not to slam into anyone.  (He didn't.) 

Sheer Joy

I don't know if I can actually say that I met my son on the trail- obviously, I met him way before then.  I can say that when we hit the trail and run together, I am able to push away all the rest of the worldly garbage and worries and focus wholly on my kiddo.  I can give him the uncomplicated time of just rolling with it- stop-go fast-go slow-dodge the pedestrian-holler a quick "excuse us!" over my shoulder- and just keep going.  It's summertime- school's out and the trails are calling.  With any luck, most of our free days will end exactly like this one........happy, a little sunburned, and tuckered out.

Tuckered out