A test of my commitment

So tonight is going to be the first test of my commitment to this whole "natural" thing. I rod set my hair on wednesday night after watching a youtube video from napturallycurly, where she said that she could never have made it through her transition if she hadn't had goto styles that didn't require re-doing every couple of days. I had just done my second set with the twisty rollers in 4 days, and was really not feeling that level of time and work. SO here I am on saturday, still rocking my rod set and feeling pretty cute with my curly halo. Here's where the test comes...I am going out tonight. To a club, with some friends I haven't seen in a few years. The itch to wash and straighten my hair was so intense I had to distract myself(with natural hair blogs and youtube videos). Up to now I've been thinking I'm doing a kind of funky cute thing, and it feels different with my past shoulder length hair hanging out around my ears...but I guess I had a panic thinking that other people won't think I'm cute, and the need to have my long hair out was almost overwhelming. While running errands I went into the mall and looked for some fun big earrings, and got a tube top to have some tasteful skin out. So I have built my confidence back up(I think) and realized that tonight, unlike back in college when I went out to clubs, I am not going to impress people and look for someone of the opposite sex. Tonight I am going out to celebrate my girlfriends birthday, hopefully have a drink, and laugh an awful lot. And tomorrow, with any luck, my little curls will still be poppin.

Here we go!

It has been 6 months since my last touch up, and from what I hear this one of the hardest times in transitioning. I have about 3 inches of new growth, and am trying to do this without "the big chop". I haven't seen my natural hair texture since before I was in high school, and even then my hair was kept braided or ponytailed so I'm not sure I'm going to like what I see when this is over.
I really consciously decided to transition after a conversation at a party. I had just gotten my hair done and it was awesome(with a few little pieces in the back to add length), and I was getting compliments on it left and right. My stylist was there, and I commented that I don't even wash my own hair anymore because it takes so long and is so much work. At the time I said it without a second thought, but later I really thought about it. I didn't even have shampoo at my house for emergencies, and I really used to be a product junkie. I had watched the documentary by Chris Rock Good Hair last year, and it got me thinking. I was really addicted to the creamy crack, and actually scared of trying to manage my own natural hair! So I have laid off of the relaxers, but still get my hair done(straightened) every two weeks. It's summer now, and hot as blazes! Getting my hair straightened is not really practical, especially with 2 kids that need to be outside for hours a day for all of our sanity. So I am left with the option to try to figure out styles I can do on my own that also last more than a couple of days. I anticipate this to be a journey, and the purpose of this blog is to document the adventure and hopefully help/educate/inspire someone else.