#256. I Chopped Off All My Hair & Couldn't Be Happier.

That's a lot of hair. | Short haircut - Before & After

My friend Dusti recently reminded me of the time I asked her, "Why do women cut off all their hair after they get married?" I think I implied it was kind of lame and sooo cliche. 

And yet, there I am, less than three months after tying the knot, with 10 inches of my wavy, strawberry blonde mop piled up on the floor. 

Shapeless long mop | Short haircut - Before & After

Now I understand that post-wedding cut.

Like many brides, I grew my hair out for our wedding. Mostly, because I wanted a lot to work with on the big day. Once that had come and gone, I neglected my hair and it got too long and ratty and gross. I was so ready for a change. A fresh haircut for a new beginning! (I should write inspirational copy for, I don't know... CostCutters or something). 

The inspiration started where time goes to die: Pinterest. 

I was looking up pictures of Christina Ricci with short-ish hair, since we basically have the same face. Then, cause I'm just a basic broad, I started a Pinterest short hair board, adding a few 'dos from Katie Holmes, Kirsten Dunst and Julianne Hough. I shared the board with my hairstylist, Marissa. She got all excited and suggested we go for the shortest of the bunch (Julianne Hough/Michelle Williams). I was like YEAH! This is going to be great! I made an appointment. 

Look at those ratty ends! | Short haircut - Before & After

The next day, I was like, uh-oh. 

I started second guessing myself. Would I look like I was giving up? Too mom-ish (not that there is anything wrong with moms, but you know what I mean!)? Would my husband be attracted to me? Would I feel unpretty? Would my face look fat? I noticed every person who walked by with short hair, taking a mental inventory of what I liked or didn't like.

Her hair is cute, but she's 72-ish.

Ugh, too spiky! 

So fun and edgy.

Is that a wig?

Too Kate Plus Eight.

Oops, that's actually a man.

The more I stressed about it, the more I knew this was a great Hey Eleanor challenge. So scary, and yet again proof that the things that can't kill you are often the scariest things. It's funny how attached we get to how we look. C'mon, Molly! It's only hair! It'll grow back (in a year or so).

I arrived at the salon, sat down and said, "Let's do this." I could not wait for Marissa to make that first big cut. When she did, we couldn't turn back. This was happening. I could finally relax and I did. I even got a scalp massage. Twice.

And the Big Reveal:

Nope, it's not in a ponytail. | Short haircut - Before & After

I love it! The cut, the color, the everything! Before, I felt so blah about the shape of my hair. Now, I feel like I actually have a hairstyle. It's so easy to deal with and looks fine blow dried, air dried, swept to the left OR right OR combed back (as long as I use an eyebrow pencil.... if I don't, I look like this). So psyched that I had the balls to do it. It's a silly thing, but I am really proud of myself. 

Just being my own photographer. | Short haircut - Before & After

The best part?

I never told Josh that I was getting my haircut because I didn't want him to dissuade me. When I got home, I hid behind out front door and yelled, "Don't be mad at me!" When I walked in, the first thing he said was, "You look beautiful."

Awww, I love him. 

Proof that it's not just a ponytail. PS is that an orb to my left?!  | Short haircut - Before & After

A huge shout out to Marissa Rasmusson at Julia Bretey Salon in Edina, Minnesota for the great cut, color & moral support; Jackie Dela Pole for taking the leap before me (she looks fab!); and my friend Dusti who reminded me that it's just hair. 

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What beauty trend/change in your appearance have you been thinking about... but are too chicken s#!t to follow through with? 

#254-255. Why the Woods Freak Me Out.

Walking in the wilderness freaks me out, but not for the reason you're thinking. 

I'm Minnesotan, which means I love the north woods. It's just a thing we're born with. 

I recently spent a weekend at my cabin with my guy and our dog, Patsy. This summer has been lots of weddings, bachelor parties, bachelorette parties, showers and more weddings. Which has been fun! But also exhausting.

It was nice to have some time to just hang out, listen to records, drink wine, read, play cards. 

Josh & I also took the opportunity to "make the rounds". If you're not a cabin person, that basically means walking around, saying hi to the neighbors and maybe mooching a beer or snack. On this occasion, that meant a dusk walk to our pal Glen's place (he's 90, pours a stiff drink and cooks the best fried zucchini I've ever had), then to our friends Barry & Teri's place (I think they were in bed, so we left them alone) and then on to Barb & Larry's (Larry is the only person I know who still chain smokes in his house. I weirdly kind of like it). We stayed out until about 10:30. When we headed back, it was pitch black.

No moon. No light pollution. Nothing. And we forgot a flashlight. 

Josh found the flashlight app on his phone, which just barely illuminated the road. The walk (#254) was only about a half-mile, tops, the first part on Highway 48, a paved road with intermittent traffic. I clung tightly to Josh, trying to make light conversation and trying harder to forget the story we'd heard earlier that day about a wolf who'd recently buzzed through camp.

Gulp.

The wolf sounded scary, but not even half as scary as encountering a drunk driver. A wolf, most likely, wanted nothing to do with us. Drunk drivers, on the other hand, are totally unpredictable and, if I'm being honest, pretty commonplace around these parts. I felt more comfortable once we exited the main drag to the dirt road that leads to our cabin. We made it back in one piece. 

The next day, I ventured on a different nature walk. Solo.

Josh left early that morning to race motorcycles in Brainerd (thinking about your husband doing that is a Hey Eleanor all on its own). The dog was up and at 'em at 7 am, so I took her for a walk. 

We head a half-mile down a dirt road I've traveled dozens of times. It was quiet, not another sole out and about. I thought the road simply came to a dead end, but then noticed a FOR SALE sign. What?! Then a noticed an overgrown driveway. Huh. I decided to keep going, with my very ferocious 35-pound pup in tow.

The path was actually very beautiful, especially on a chilly September morning. Huge trees towered over us, with early morning sunlight pouring through the leaves. It was completely silent. Then, we happened upon a sign:

NO TRESPASSING. 

I am normally a rule follower. I sweat when I check out in the Express Lane with 11, not 10, items. Really. But there was nobody around and the "Keep Out" property was for sale and hey... maybe I wanted to buy it or something, so Patsy and I sauntered on (#255). 

I am a rule follower and would normally never trespass.... until today. 

It's pathetic to admit, but I felt a rush as we trespassed our way down the long, hilly road. A Peewee would say, I am a loner, Dottie. A rebel.

I assumed this was just someone's land, but as I rounded a corner, I stopped. In the distance I saw something. No, not a wolf (phew!). A pickup truck. I immediately power walked in the opposite direction.

Like the night before, it wasn't nature I feared, but other PEOPLE.

When I think of the kind of person who might post a NO TRESPASSING sign, I imagine a crabby old man with a shotgun or something. Or maybe a creepy psychopath. I'm in the middle of the woods, no one is around. I was so vulnerable! Easy pickins for any sort of creep, rapist, drunk or murderer. 

A lot of people feel uneasy in the city. Because crime. I'm the opposite: rural or nature-y places creep me out people they are so isolated. If you get attacked in a city, there's a high likelihood that someone will hear or see. In the middle of nowhere? Fat chance.

What sucks is I friggin love the great outdoors. I'm enamored with hiking and canoeing and fishing and all that stuff. It's just the other people that freak me out. 

So friends, here's my informal poll:

What's scarier: Nature or people in nature? And where do you feel more vulnerable, the big city of the great outdoors? Go!

We're Honeymooning in Australia & New Zealand. Suggestions, Please!

This is probably a picture of Hawaii or something, but it's how I imagine Australia looks.

My hubby and I decided to wait a few months to take our honeymoon. Mainly because we wanted to go to Australia and mainly because when it's freezing cold in Minnesota, it's summer there. January on the beach sounds pretty damn good to a couple of midwesterners.

We're still ironing out the details. All we know for sure is that we want to do both Australia and New Zealand and that we only have 16 days (including travel time). So a week in each spot. Based on the fact that Australia is enormous, we're limiting ourselves to one week in Brisbane and its surrounds.

For week two, I think we're flying into Wellington or Christchurch, NZ and renting some sort of campervan, though we will not be staying in it every night. This is my honeymoon and there will be showers.

Things we for sure want to do:

• See/snorkel/SCUBA the Great Barrier Reef (we think we can road trip to the southern tip of it from Brisbane)
• A few days at a cool beach, relaxing and drinking things out of coconuts or something. I have it on good authority from two sources that Byron Bay is excellent. 
• At least one great hike in New Zealand. Doesn't need to be difficult, just pretty.
• Maybe a visit a vineyard.
• My guy really wants to see something from Lord of the Rings 'cause he's into that. 

Any travel advice, things to avoid, stuff to do fer sher, we are ALL ears. Best advice gets to come with us!*

*no chance

#253. Someone Unplugged Our Freezer & Cleaning it was Disgusting.

You don't want to look in there. 

We're currently fixing up our basement. One of the guys helping us with the renovation had to unplug the fridge/freezer and move it. He forgot to plug it back in. 

We discovered this approximately three days later. 

I was doing laundry and detected the distinct funk of rotting flesh. I know, even typing those words makes me want to ralph! I looked at the fridge and saw a few tiny drops of blood on the floor. Ah, crap. 

The good news:

This is our extra fridge/freezer set up and most of the stuff in there was the weird leftover cuts from a 1/8 of a cow we bought last winter... like the heart, liver and a few (sniffle) short ribs. It could've been worse.

The bad news:

We had to clean it all up and it was thoroughly disgusting. Blood, guts, gore and stank. And that's why this is Hey Eleanor challenge #253. You can watch it all go down in the video below.

PS I mentioned that we're fixing up our basement, which means this thing is finally gone. Couldn't be happier!

#252. We Did Pre-Marital Counseling & the Aftermath Shocked Us.

Who knew taking care of your relationship was such a hot button issue? 

On Labor Day weekend, I received an email from a HuffingtonPost Live producer. They were doing a segment couples in premarital counseling, not because they believe they have problems, but because they want to make their marriage last. She'd stumbled upon my blog (this one from Mpls | St. Paul Magazine - Three Non-Romantic Things I'm Glad I Did Before My Wedding) and wondered if I'd like to participate in the HuffPo Live's discussion via webcam.

Uh, DOY.

Not only did a live interview on Internet TV sound scary as hell (#252), the topic excited me. Our premarital sessions were in the top five things Josh & I did pre-wedding. It offered scheduled time away from wedding planning to discuss the bigger picture (you're not planning a party, you're planning a life together...remember?). Our counselor helped us identify our relationship's strongest aspects as well as our weak spots. We discussed fighting fair and how to de-escalate an argument.

We learned a lot about each other & about our relationship. It was awesome. 

I believe our counseling sessions shows we're A) mature adults who B) believe our relationship has room for improvement and C) that we're not too proud or overly-confident to admit that we don't have it all figured out. It takes some serious balls to put your relationship's nitty-gritty details out there. It requires humility and vulnerability. I think those are two extremely important qualities in every single relationship in your life, not just romantic ones. 

I thought the HuffPo segment went well. 

View fullsize

Me, on the tiny screen! | HuffingtonPost Live

I even had some smart stuff to say and my hair looked pretty good (you can watch the whole thing here)! And then, like a GD idiot, I read the comments. Some of my favorites:

Today is my 2 year wedding anniversary and in those two years we have grown together, like we should. No counseling, just common sense.

If you think you need a counselor, you probably shouldn't be marrying at all. Just stay single.

Counseling for arguing and finances- totally not prepared for marriage if one needs that.

My blood boiled.

I immediately wanted to post things like, "Good job! Two whole years! That must be a world record or something," "Yep, we asked for an expert's science-based advice... better give up on the whole thing" and "OMG! You're right! If I were prepared for marriage, I would've learned that trolling on the Internet anonymously is the appropriate way to confront another person." There were also comments about me slurring my words and sounding drunk, which was obviously due to a microphone issue. To say these comments annoyed me is an understatement. (I did like the She looks like Emma Stone comments. Who wouldn't?)

I took a few deep breaths, then thought: What kind of loser d-bag is watching the HuffPo Live and taking the time rip on a stranger's marriage?

Haters gonna hate, trollers gonna troll. Whatcha gonna do?

I ignored the nasty comments (well, until now). However, this whole thing has me thinking about how we take care of our relationships. You change your car's oil regularly. You visit the dentist every six months (kinda) because you don't want your teeth to fall out. Most of us take preventative actions in a lot of areas... but you're an absolute failure if you work on your romantic relationship? That's BS.

So for those folks who think counseling is a crutch, those people banking on their 'common sense' when shit hits the fan, those people who said "I do" knowing they already had all the answers...  

That's why I didn't marry you. That's why I married this amazing guy.

[Cue Taylor Swift! <<< I'm embarrassed that I kind like this song.]

The repair sign seemed fitting for this post, but not for our relationship.

Did you do pre-marital counseling (mandatory or otherwise)? Do you wish you had & why? Let's discuss!

P.S. Some other non-traditional wedding things we did: I picked out my own engagement ring, wore a muumuu at my bachelorette party in Palm Springs (the epicenter of nightlife...not!) and we got married in a boxing gym. We did keep with tradition in one big way... I took my husband's last name & how I feel about it really surprised me. 

My Awesome Roasted Tomatoes Recipe

Roasted tomatoes: the best way to use up all those end of summer tomatoes. Here's the easy recipe. 

I'm really open-minded about food.

I've eaten this, that and both of these (a few times). So it might surprise you that I find tomatoes to be pretty disgusting. I like tomato sauce, love pizza and ketchup has a permanent place in my condiment bar... but just the idea of biting into a beautiful cherry tomato makes me queasy. It's part texture, part flavor. Maybe you like how they burst in your mouth, but yuck-yuck-yuck, ew-ew-ew!
 

So many tomatoes. 

Tomatoes are, supposedly, really delicious.

I wish I could get excited about them. I do think a beefy heirloom tomato fresh out of the garden is about as good as it gets, tomato-wise. I'll tolerate them on a burger or in a BLT. Maybe a Caprese salad with fancy mozzarella, basil and balsamic. Sometimes I will stumble upon a really, really good end-of-the-season tomato and think to myself, "I get what the hullabaloo is all about!"

But in general, when I pick up my CSA, I'm all like, "what in the Sam Hill ammi gonna do with these tomatoes?" After trying them all sorts of ways (example: salads... where I literally just eat around them), I figured it out.

Roasting. 
 

Four ingredients and 120 minutes = delicious tomatoes.

Roasting tomatoes is stupidly simple and turns these red and orange orbs into something worth raving about. 

I should note: roasting tomatoes is more of an art than a science due to varying sizes of tomatoes. But even if you can't boil water, your main challenge here is to not forget that you have tomatoes in the oven. Set a timer!

Put these jerks in the oven and make them taste awesome. 

Oven Roasted Tomatoes Recipe

Ingredients:

2 lbs tomatoes
Olive oil (about 3-4 T)
Salt
Freshly cracked pepper

* Optional: add chopped garlic, fresh oregano, a few sprigs of fresh rosemary... seriously, you cannot mess this up. I repeat: Cannot.

1. Pre-heat your oven to 200.

2. Meanwhile, slice up the tomatoes. Quarter of an inch should be good. You can leave cherry tomatoes whole. Place them in a single layer in a shallow baking sheet.

3. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Feel free to use your hands to make sure they're coated; no one is watching.

4. Sprinkle the whole thing with salt and pepper. Please for the love, use Kosher or sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. Treat your food with the respect it deserves. 

5. Roast for 5 hours. Here's where the art-not-science comes into play-- you might need to go a little longer. If they've started to brown a bit on the edges, you're going to be really happy with the result. 

Roasted tomatoes = nature's candy

Now you've got a load of roasted tomatoes. What do you do with them? Ideas:

• Egg scramble with spinach, leeks, garlic and roasted tomatoes. Parmesan optional.
• Cauliflower rice with sauteed onions, zucchini and roasted tomatoes. Bonus points for toasted almonds added in at the last minute.
• Add them to a Greek salad. Or any salad.
• Eat them plain.
• Go all Marcella Hazan: Puree your now-roasted 2 lbs of tomatoes in a blender. Add the tomatoes to a large pot. Add an onion, sliced in half. Season with salt/pepper. Feel decadent? Add a half stick of butter. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes (or until it's your desired consistency). Smash up big chunks of tomato as you go, remove onion before serving. 
• Freeze them and break those puppies out mid-winter when all the tomatoes are absolute junk. 

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How are you using up all these GD tomatoes? Share, please.