I have been dyeing* my hair for a really long time. And by long time I don’t mean early to mid  2000’s, like some younger people may think is a long time. I mean way back to around 1994, when your choices for hair colour weren’t quite as plentiful and you thought you were badass by using Sun-In hair lightener. I don’t remember the brand of hair dye that propelled me into a two decade foray into hair colouring, but I do remember that I had thought it wasn’t permanent and was pissed off when I started showing roots. No one had told me back then that even if the label says temporary or semi permanent, if you choose a colour lighter than your current shade it will become permanent. Well, I am sure my mom would have told me if I had let on that I was going to colour my hair. Whoops. Lesson learned the hard way. Ironically enough the accidental change in hair colour actually made me into Sara Mchotty pants in high school. Previously I was a skinny girl with thick glasses, but with the addition of contacts and blonde hair, BAM, I started being noticed.

I stayed blonde mostly with only a few detours into different shades over the years. Black hair being a really bad colour for me (and of course high school yearbook photos happened during the 3 days I had black hair. Now that shit is documented forever), red was meh, and a brown shade that was dyed to match my roots was actually a good colour for my complexion and I really liked it but for some reason I always went back to blonde. I think I just like that extra bit of oomph that blonde gave me. And by oomph I mean male attention, and by male I also mean a few female. So regardless of how badly damaged my hair was I continued the process. There was a few years span that I was bleaching my hair Gwen Stefani light and damaged my hair ridiculously. Like, cut my hair off in chunks because it was almost melting kind of damaged. It kind of worked out though because it was the perfect time to have a short, blonde, choppy do like the style icon of that period, Drew Barrymore.

Fast forward to today and although my hair is still very light, it is more of a golden shade and way less damaged. It is long, people like it, but the roots are so annoying. So I have been contemplating going brunette and I don’t know whether I should do it. Since I am 35, I figure if I want to try a brown shade I should probably attempt it before I start going grey. Although my mom is in her early 60’s and still doesn’t have very much grey. I have tried those apps that allow you to try on different hairstyles, but honestly I think they are just for shits and giggles because I always look terrible. Every time it makes my nose and head look big. Unless my nose and head are actually big and I am in denial, and if that is the case I don’t understand why I was ever Sara Mchotty pants.  Unless I actually wasn’t and I imagined that shit……

Decision pending.

* I actually Googled dyeing vs dying to make sure I was using the right spelling. I am an over thinker . Even though dying could also actually apply to hair colouring since it is so bad for you. But that would be another blog post and also it’s a little late for me to worry about the harmful effects of hair dye.

This was the highlight of my 10 year old daughters life. Back in July we brought her to the Fan Expo where she met and had her picture taken with Matt Smith. She is an obsessed Doctor Who lover and this was a really meaningful event for her. (We won’t discuss the sadness of the regeneration of the 11th doctor yet)
I will tell you though, it was a hell of a lot easier to fork over the money for this event than it would have been to have to take her to a One Direction concert. I am happy her interests seem to be more Sci Fi and less traditional tween at the moment.

Naming a child is hard. So hard, and so much responsibility. It is one of those decisions that can leave you with regret, guilt, or even make your child wonder wtf you were on when you chose their name. Which could cause them to promptly change it when they come of age. Continue Reading →

Hello. My name is Sara and I want to be a Freelance Writer. Who wouldn’t, with all those glorified images and stories of care-free travel, pool side writing, and exciting experiences you see online and in movies. I do not fit into that image.  I am more familiar with topics like, what it is like when your child will only eat the same thing everyday for weeks, teaching children to read (my children, I don’t have the patience for other children), and how much fun it is to catch vomit in your hands. I sit here day in and day out as a stay at home mom who homeschools, wishing that I had something of my own to have. Then I started asking myself, how can I accomplish this and still raise a family at home? So for an undisclosed embarrassing amount of time I have been pondering the questions: Can I become a freelance writer? What if I become a freelance writer? How do I begin to become a freelance writer? My answer is “I’m not actually sure, but I think have to try.”

Everything I have read says that having a blog is a good platform for entering freelance writing. It allows you you get in practice, get yourself out there, maybe even build an audience that will help to integrate you in to freelance writing jobs. Shamefully I have had this blog for almost year without a single new post. What a wasted opportunity. It is something I plan to change beginning now.

So if I go back to my ideal image of what I naively perceive a freelance writer to be. I would love to be able to pack my laptop, grab my carry on*, and jump onto a plane to visit an amazing destination that inspired me to write. Instead I am writing from my desktop while my children are eating Fruit Loops from the box and watching Frozen. Well, one is watching Frozen, the other one is playing Minecraft.  I do not have personal experience in travelling the world but I do know where most of the countries in the world are located. I have a vast variety of experience with having children that range from gross to glorious. I am also a mother who loves fashion more than she has the money to support it. I try really hard to remain stylish on a very minimal budget. Budget chic. So I am putting it out there. I want to be a Freelance writer. I have no idea how to start or even if this is possible. This blog may be a journey of that, or may just be a journalling of my crazy life. I will have to see what route it takes.

*Although I haven’t travelled extensively I have researched and honed my skills of packing for a trip using just a carry-on suitcase. I have compiled a huge list of packing ideas on my Pinterest. Too bad I can’t get paid to pack a suitcase.

I just sat down after doing a quick pick up of the apartment. The funny thing is that I just did the exact same thing three hours ago. How a home can get so messy in such a short period of time? Kids is the quick answer. I’m sure it’s a lot deeper than that, but oh man so they do damage. I really don’t know how to beat it. I have downsized and purged. Tried buying less toys for the sake of buying toys and stick to just a few key things that they really enjoy. I mean, I purged five bags full of stuff just from the girls room a few weeks ago to donate and I am still being overrun with things. I see pictures of beautiful homes, with clean tidy, minimalistic designs and my thoughts are twofold. The first thought is how much I would love to have that type of home. It would be a breath of fresh air to get out of bed in my beautiful, clean, crisp looking home. No tripping on things or closing my eyes as I walk past piles that need to be put away. I would walk into my zen living room, unroll my yoga mat and start my day with the most glorious sun salutation. My second thought is, that is never going to happen. Never. How do these people do it? Before we moved to this place it was my goal to downsize. I went through everything and purged, trashed, donated, gave away so many things. Even our wardrobes got culled big time. I thought I did well. My mother-in-law noticed a huge difference when she came over (or so she said). When we moved we rented a 14ft Uhaul truck and we still didn’t have room for everything needing to make a second trip. I can see how there is a direct correlation to depression and having too much crap. It’s overwhelming, disheartening, and suffocating. We moved into this place a little over a month ago and I still have boxes that haven’t been touched because I just don’t know where to put it. I would love to have enough money to start over. Get rid of everything and slowly replace things as we need them in order to cut down on crap. I peruse Pinterest regularly pinning my ideal home, hoping to one day be able to have something that resembles that. Then I glance up from my computer, look around the room, take a deep breath, and start picking stuff up again.