Love and the Phantom Queen of Suburbia

Gratuitous Cat Pics & Self-Care for the Gemini Soul *Wattpad Exclusive Content*

(TW: Mention of a novel involving murder)

My birthday wishes to my future self was in part inspired by it being the season for my Zodiac sign. My birthday is fast approaching! I've decided in what a coworker called true Gemini fashion to celebrate the whole Gemini season, not just my special day (though I asserted that also sounded like a Leo thing to do, and she agreed). 

Today's self-care involved revving myself up with a playlist to make the trek to Target. Our Target's parking lot terrifies me because it's so busy. I've discovered, however, if you park in the outer reaches closer to the grocery store, or ideally in between them both, it's not so bad. 

That done, I ventured inside, in search of a particular shade of Feria hair color that might approximate the color I achieved by accident, after having combined first a bleach to get close to Platinum, then a shade of silver-gray. At first, with the blonde/silver combo, I was a rather ashy brunette. The gray washed out, leaving me not-quite-blonde. Feria makes a hi-lift brown shade that I thought might get me close. My roots have been comin' in hot! 

I also picked up a spritz-on conditioning oil treatment with keratin and argan oil in it. Before I got to hair color and hair products in general, however, I made a very big loop around the store so I could stop in fiction. 

I'm not sure how many books I have in my current to-be-read pile. I know I'm currently reading How to Keep House While Drowning AND Bird by Bird.  I also have a couple novels I got stuck on, for various emotional reasons, that I will probably finish reading at some point. 

Nonetheless, I found a couple books I couldn't pass up. One is about a pair of orphans in a fantasy setting, and the connection they share, after they're torn asunder by fate. The Night and its Moon by Piper CJ begins with such beautiful description that feels like just enough, somehow at once both original and natural-sounding enough not to call a great deal of attention to itself.

 The other book, Sarah Penner's The Lost Apothecary,  has two separate timelines. In the first, which takes place in the past, an apothecary dispenses poisons to women who've been wronged and are seeking to mete out their own form of justice. The more contemporary plot involves efforts to uncover the mystery of the so-called apothecary murders. 

I also needed some snacks for a lil boost before I drove home, and something for dinner. Tonight, I tried a prosciutto and arugula frozen pizza, and got some cheese and sausage packets so I could snack on one in the car. Ben & Jerry's was a dollar off, so I got a pint of The Tonight Dough. TOTALLY amazing. The pizza was, too. The meat proved too strong a temptation for my cat, however, who stole the last of it off the remaining pizza while I was in my room. If you can see the banner shot as you're reading, she's hiding her face in shame LOL (not really... it's an older pic where she was covering her eyes to block the overhead light... I swear I didn't shame her). 

Earlier this week, or last week, if you consider Sunday the first day of a new week, I had received some Mary Kay eye makeup I ordered, along with the cutest set of complimentary brushes. Once my hair was done, I tried out my new makeup. Selfie time, right? Love that!

I also discovered you can watch the entirety of the movie Singles on YouTube, for free, with some ad interruptions. Started it but didn't yet finish it, as I wanted to add a chapter here. I can't recall which chapter of Love and the Phantom Queen of Suburbia contains a reference to it, but it had a weirdly intense impact on teenage me. Intense heartbreak crushed me from the inside out, and I cried, dead certain I would never find a relationship.  

The timing of its reappearance in my life is curious, as I recently had someone I once chatted with on a dating app over ten years ago pop back onto my radar. I'm not sure what I want to do about it yet, but we'll see where it goes. 

The hair color experiment turned out pretty well. I have a couple spots sort of underneath what you see on a casual look, that took on more of the ashy tones I had right after the blonde-to-silver/gray extravaganza. There's a good chance the darker bits will fade as they did before, however. Mostly, I'm really happy with it. No more dark roots! Yay! And the lighter colors blend my grays so they're pretty much invisible. 

To recap: I survived a trip to Target. Oh, I also got a Java Chip Mint Frappuccino, I think it was called, on my way out. I snacked on cheese and sausage bits. I drove home jammin' to my music. After an ice cream appetizer, I colored my hair and had some fabulous pizza. While chatting with friends and ye olde perspective dude, I watched the first bit of Singles. All in all, post-work was definitely pretty durn good. 

I'm not sure if you can post photos of yourself in-text, since I know Wattpad is anti-non-celebrity faces; if nothing else, I may once again update my profile pic so y'all can see the look. 

HOWEVER... here are the book covers, for the curious: 

And lastly, because I love her oh so very much in spite of her sassy ways, here's one more pic of the offender, for anyone who can't see the banner pic. It's a collaged shot of her next to a photo of some Kombucha. That particular seasonal flavor had the same name she was given by the shelter. I told them at the time that my cat appreciated the free publicity LOL. We never renamed her but mostly called her "kitty" or "kit-kit" until we adopted a second cat. She eventually learned her name, I think, but doesn't often choose to respond to it the way my boy cat does to his. But, she's a beauty. 

Hopefully some gratuitous cat photos give y'all a little self-care, too. Have a great night.