it's the humidity, honest

the other day my mom was on her way to the store and asked if i needed anything. she is the only person who fully grasps how incredibly taxing it is for me to crawl out of bed even a millisecond before ten minutes after the time i need to in order to get to work at a reasonable hour. she also knows this is why lunch consists of whatever i can eat on my way out the door and why i haven't blow-dried my hair in a decade. i just twist my hair into a bun and go because a) it's long and i don't have time to hassle with it, b) i don't want to be dripping all over the place and most importantly, c) it's pretty wavy/curly so if i let it air-dry without it being tied up first it does so from the top-layer down, resulting in a halo-like effect-- the degree of which depends on the humidity. however, this rarely happens because my system usually works like a charm-- i only frightened small children on one or two occasions.

my mother was not surprised when i told her i was almost through my third travel-size shampoo and asked her to please get me a bottle of the bright green one, the shampoo-plus-conditioner-in-one if she could find it. i was extra appreciative because that day it was pouring rain and really could have used the extra time for the commute.

she came in with enough garnier fructis sleek & shine fortifying cream conditioner for frizzy, dry or unmanageable hair to bathe a small family of elephants. she did not bring any shampoo, may i add, but managed to procure a flask of the accompanying anti-frizz serum, you know, for good measure. mom claims she mistook the jumbo-dumbo bottle for a 2-in-1 and that the anti-frizz came with it as a promotion. likely story.

nevertheless, with a subtle hint like that i have no choice but to spend a little extra time in front of the mirror. or at the very least make sure my mother gets to see me on a day when it's not raining.