This is a video I filmed and edited for one of my young women, Jenae, for her personal progress project. Good times!

I love my job so much that if I met someone that wanted me to move away and marry him, I would be at an impasse. Getting married and having children has always been my first priority however I have come to love this so much that I would have a hard time letting it go. Sure, I could get a job doing this elsewhere but I wouldn't be in this salon, working with the same stylists, and doing the same patrons hair. Out of all of the jobs I have had, I have never settled in to one like I have in this one. Not once have I thought about leaving and finding another job or another type of work. I am constantly being challenged, finding ways to be creative, and socializing in a positive atmosphere.

So with that being said, there are some days when I come home from work where I don't want to talk to anybody. I have been talking all day long and I do not want to speak anymore. I am tired and talked out. I just want to stare into the oblivion of the TV. I want to watch other people talk to each other and not have to participate in the conversation. Tonight I just want to cry because I'm so tired and I still have to go out and be social. I have one hour of solitude and I can only hope it's enough.

.....sigh......

I made a little video to introduce people to the salon....

Australia, Australia I can't get you off of my mind.

I have a secret obsession with a little country known as Australia.I have some friends that are going in January and I am invited however I cannot find an affordable airline ticket for the time frame that they will be there. I have beenlamenting over this for the last week. I have called a travel agent, searched everywhere you can search for cheap tickets on line.

....nothing....

My mom asked me the other night why I want to go to Australia. I told her that I have been wanting to go for the last three years but on the real, it's more like the last thirty years. I couldn't bring myself to tell her where it all began but somehow I can write it here and totally risk humiliating myself.

It all started with Olivia Newton John. Physical was the first record album I ever owned and I was probably about 4 years old.

I remember getting this very clearly--my parents were both there and we were in the living room and my dad handed the record over to me. I didn't really know what I was in for but I will tell you that I must have listened to that album as many times as I could convince my mom to put it on for me.

I loved Olivia.

My parents knew this and sat me down to watch Grease.

So then I loved Olivia and John. I think I was obsessed with her accent because I remember imitating it while playing in the back yard. When we went to the Worlds Fair in Canada in 1986, guess what exhibition I had to see. Yep, Australia. It was the lamest exhibition there but I enjoyed every second of it. Of course my dad somehow got a bunch of Koala bears to hand out at his business. Little did he know the seed he was planting.

I think my obsession with this place was put on hold for a long time because the next Australia moment I had was just three years ago. My roommate Danielle had been there and she had a few Australian friends in town so we hung out with them. I said to myself, I need to meet more people like them.

I

am

moving!

Of course I haven't moved, but I've been trying to plan trips there ever since. I keep telling myself, this will be the year. In the meantime, I'm obsessed with Australians. Simon Baker, Tabitha Coffey, Olivia on Fringe...isn't it ironic that her name is Olivia??? It's like the country is calling my name.

VOTING DAY--it's so not anything to do with beauty

It's time to vote and I hope you're all taking it seriously. This is my attempt at swaying your votes at the last minute. This is of course if you live in Southern CA and in my same district. You might have noticed a couple of years ago that I voted yes on proposition 8. It's kind of a taboo thing to discuss because by saying that I don't believe in gay marriage, to some I'm suddenly just like the people who would burn crosses and run around in white hoods, holding a rope, looking for the nearest tree. To those that feel that way, I'm sorry but I have a right to my beliefs. If you feel differently, agree to disagree ok? Anyway, there are certain individuals that are threatening to overturn proposition 8 which is ridiculous to me because why do we vote if one or two people are going to just change it to how they want it? So a lot of my votes are going to people who I feel are supportive of proposition 8 or um let's see THE LAW.

Meg Whitman

Abel Maldonado

Mimi Walters

Steve Cooley

Carly Fiorina--ugh but she's republican

Ken Calvert--love this guy!

Brian Nestande

Damon Dunn

Tony Strickland

Mike Villines

Michelle Steel

Tani Cantil Sakauye--NO

Ming W Chin--YES

Carlos Moreno--NO

Judith McConnell--NO

Manuel Ramirez--YES

Carol D Codrington--YES

David G Sills--NO

William W Bedsworth--YES he's kind of a wild card for me. I figure, let's see how he does for a while. We can always vote him out later.

Eileen C Moore--NO

Larry Aceves

Virginia M Blumenthal

Paul Angulo

Tom Evans

I was flipping through the channels on TV last night and there was a commercial for Ghetto City Ho's. Yep, Ghetto City Ho's. There were a bunch of black girls in lingerie and I'm guessing it was a phone sex commercial. I don't think I've ever seen one like that--not that I regularly watch these commercials. The best part is that I had a dream about it. But first let me say that a friend from church called me yesterday and invited me to this Halloween dance party for single adults on Saturday. So in my dream, there was a flyer for this dance but it had the Ghetto City Ho's on it. How awesome is that?

Amie, one of my fellow hair dressers, got married this last weekend! All of the girls from the salon were invited. One thing that Amie and Josh wanted at their wedding reception was a photo booth. It was budgeted in and scheduled before they had even booked a venue. We had a lot of fun taking pictures in it. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) we didn't know when it was taking the picture. This is why I am standing there looking like a fool at the end.

(Tracy, Lorraine, Erin, Vikki, Priscilla, Kathy)

It makes me wonder, do I really look that ridiculous? Do people glance over in my direction and see that? If so, I am going to invest in a burka or two.

We did a little better the second round (below).

(Lorraine, me, Erin, Brittney, Kathy)

I love these chicks. I don't know how I could ever leave this salon and work anywhere else. I have it so good right now. I really hope it stays this way for many years to come!

I went to Happy Nails in Huntington on Saturday and had a pedicure. Those ladies really lived up to the name Happy. The whole time we were there, those Asian ladies were giggling and laughing on the floor and in the back room. I began to wonder if they were getting high off of the acrylic. I mentioned to Gina that I was tired and the back of my chair began to recline. I look over and the lady working on me was pushing a button so that I could lay down. She was telling me in her broken English to take a nap. When she finished she patted me on the shoulder and said to come back tomorrow because she would miss me. I laughed and said ok. Gina's lady hugged her and there were at least five ladies that caught our eye to smile and say goodbye. It was crazy and awesome. I wish that everyone could be that happy all of the time. Of course, then we wouldn't appreciate it.

Happy Nail of Huntington Beach

19051 Goldenwest St # 101, Huntington Beach, CA 92648-2156(714) 536-3552

my hair is getting longer!!!

Girls Camp 2010

Big Bear, CA

me and aunt diane (had to crop this picture--if you could see the entire thing, you would see that I'm totally doing a gangsta crotch grab. I really don't know how or why)

leading the hike... The girls hated me after this because I made them work their booties!

I don't know...

totally not holding on to the iron rod, fools! (anyone in that outfit shouldn't be allowed on the iron rod--says the girl in the spacious building)

The two that terrorized me for the week. They weren't horrible but they weren't nice all of the time either. So they get to be shown off in their oatmeal masks. sweet revenge!

The oatmeal masks are pretty awesome. You just use straight up oatmeal and water(plain oatmeal-don't be trying to use no brown sugar or peaches and cream). You mix in enough water to make it pasty--this takes some smashing and stirring for a couple minutes. Then you put it on and leave it for 15 or 20 min. Your skin is hydrated and soft afterwards. So awesome! I put it on one arm and hand and compared. Their was a noticeable difference. Thanks to Kristen Trimble for teaching the skin care class!

What has Tracy Lee been up to? I'm taking it to back in the day--Junior M.A.F.I.A. Players Anthem, I Need You Tonight, and Get Money. I could listen to those songs non stop and never get sick of them. (**parental advisory**)

This month has been so crazy. Disneyland with Michelle's family, beach with the whole family minus Scott's :(, Arizona for a hearing, and girls camp. August isn't even over yet!

I've been doing some sewing. I'm really in to this one dress pattern for little girls. I've been tweaking it different ways. Here is one that I've made for my friend Gina's baby Gracy--who was actually born today!

Mike Whiting(brother) needs some items to sell in one of the galleries he is going to be showing his work in. He wanted a plush toy of sorts so this is what we came up with so far.

rabbit, robot, owl

They rejected this idea at first and wanted to go with a T shirt design. However the T shirt isn't going to work out so they picked these! I am going to be busy sewing a bunch of these over the next two months. I also have some wedding alterations to do and two bridesmaid dresses to make. My room is going to be a sweat shop.

My corn is here! I picked it today and the biggest ear measured at 13 inches!! 13 is my lucky number--so fitting!

So I guess it's shark week and what better time could there have been for this little video to come along. This is Zoe. She made a bunch of videos and took a bunch of pictures of herself all stealth--no one was around and she pulled up the camera program all by her self.

I took some pictures of my garden blossoming. The onions aren't doing much other than looking like grass so I haven't taken any pictures of that.

zucchini

tomato

corn

The zucchini is actually growing now! A week ago I had some for dinner and it was delicious!

This is Caleb holding the first zucchini I picked!

Garden 2010

So here is my garden. I planted seeds for corn, tomato, zucchini, yellow onion, and green onion. I was nervous that it wouldn't grow but I planted the seeds anyway after hours of digging, clearing weeds, and mixing in fertilizer.

before

after

The seeds went in on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. I watered every day and prayed that my little garden would grow. By Thursday, I had sprouts!

Pretty soon the entire garden was sprouting and just about every seed I had planted, grew...

and grew....

and GREW! These were taken on July 12th which is about 6 weeks from the day I planted.

I used Miracle Grow one time and the caterpillars ate at my squash leaves a little so I had to use some pesticides. Other than that, I've just been watering and letting the sun do it's thing. So if you're wanting to plant a garden, do it. If I can do it, YOU can do it!

So there I was...Mt Charleston. Mark the dentist and I had just been on a hike and we were driving down the hill when Mark exclaimed, "Oh there are some donkeys over there!" So he pulled over in to this tiny town. It's mostly small homes and trailors. It's more of a neighborhood than a town. In this large grass area were the donkeys. I was tempted to go pet one but was afraid one might turn on me.

wild, wild donkeys!

couldn't drag me away!

I didn't notice it at first but at the back of this grassy area, there was a skate park. I know, what? A skate park in a tiny town in the middle of no where? Crazy. But it was there complete with one kid skating and....donkeys.

Skate or Die! donkeys!

Have I told you what my nephew Nathan said? Ok well we were at Disneyland and I was telling Steph about how Uncle Dale had Autism and Aspergers. He passed away a couple of months ago and none of us ever knew this--we just thought he was strange. Uncle Dale was my mom's cousin and he used to come over and spend the night after he would go to singles dances.

So Nathan is listening to our conversation and he said, "Tracy, what is donkey burgers?" I looked at him confused and asked him, "What?" So he said, "You were just talking about it...Donkey burgers." He then went on to explain, "You know how an ass is a donkey?" Suddenly it clicked that Nathan didn't want to say the 'as' in aspergers because he thought he was swearing. So he came up with an alternative. I started laughing so hard I couldn't even talk to tell Steph and Mike what he had said. That kid is so awesome.

I just got done with a weekend of child tending. Three boys--12,10,5. We had a lot of fun but I am TIRED. The pepsi I had earlier is tricking me in to thinking I'm awake and I feel like I haven't showered in years.

I am also dog tending. It was 4 dogs but I got it down to 3. I gave one of them away. Yes I gave someone else's dog away. But before you judge me, I had their permission and the dog went to people that LOVE it.

Before all of this I did some house sitting for about a week and a half. AND don't forget I have my own garden to tend to...oh wait I might not have blogged about that yet. More to come on that.

housesitting: june27-july7

kid sitting: july9-july12

dog sitting: july 10-present

I haven't been home in days!

It's times like these though that make it all worth it...here is Austin(12) rapping...

I mentioned before that I was crying a lot from a traumatic situation. Well guess what popped up on my head from that--TWO GREY HAIRS.

You can't really see them and they blend in and look like blond highlights but they are definitely GREY--like a wolf--or an old lady. I didn't think I would get any grey hair for years to come but here we are! The time is now! I am totally blaming it on the emotional trauma because I'm not kidding you, those hairs were not there before. They are about an inch and a quarter long which is how long my regrowth is since my last color. (I know- I needed to get my color touched up like a week ago) The crap hit the fan that coloring day and the next and the crying ensued from then on. I am freaking out now and I can't freak out or else I'll get even more grey. I guess hair color will now be my best friend--forever!

long hair

It doesn't look that great today but whatev!

It's official, my hair is long and I am loving it! I have grown my hair out before but it was kind of on accident so I didn't really appreciate it like I do now. I wear my hair down nearly everyday and I have embraced the crazy waves it tends to form. Here is what is working for my hair--Alterna. I can't use it too many days in a row because it can be a little heavy for me but I love switching up shampoos either way so it's all good.

This is the Caviar Moisture shampoo and conditioner. They also make Caviar volume, blond, brunette, or red hair.

This is a favorite for a lot of people. It's called Beach. It's the perfect spray to give you beach waves in your hair.

When I don't use Caviar, I put Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum in my hair to keep the fuzz down. I can blow dry my hair and flat iron it and it will protect it from the heat. If I let my hair air dry, it keeps it under control. I can also put it in after my hair is dry to give it a little extra control. It's really pretty awesome.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that under my eyes I was looking really puffy, wrinkly, and dark. I started to panic that maybe my age was finally catching up to me and that maybe I should start using eye cream everyday instead of every once and a while. Youthtopia from Origins is a good one. It will actually reverse signs of aging--they make a face cream as well. My friend Kathy started using it maybe a week ago. When I saw her today I could honestly see a difference. Her skin was fantastic.

....OR I could just stop crying everyday. This is probably the more logical solution to depuffing and dewrinkling my eyes. I have managed to do that now. I'm not an emotional basket case, I was just hurt really bad by someone I really care about. I just have to do a shout out to all of those who have prayed for me and given me kind words of advice and encouragement. I have never felt so comforted, calm, at peace, blessed etc. This too shall pass.

AnnMarie pretending to be a bride....

for Ahlinphotography.com

It's been forever since I did this--over a year-- but I finally got copies of the pictures and they are so beautiful. AnnMarie was pretending to be a bride for a friend of hers who is aspiring to be a photographer. So I did her hair and makeup all pretty. It took me about two hours to put her together and fingerwave her hair like that but it was totally worth it. For her make up I was experimenting with some ideas from a Kevin Aucoin book, Making Faces. I was surprised to see that the techniques he teaches actually work. I learned a lot that day!

As I was looking through the pictures, I started to cry. I wished that these pictures were real, that AnnMarie was actually a bride, and that she was really in love. So I said a little prayer for her...I think I'm really tired and overly emotional tonight. So does anyone know any amazing guys in their mid thirties for my beautiful friend? She's going to make a lovely bride!

My niece Jada loves silky material. I had some left over silky material from a nightgown I had made for my grandma so I used it to make a little dress for Jada. She's going to be two in a couple of months so this is her early birthday present.

The dress fits perfectly! It's a miracle!

Jada got her first pair of glasses the same day she got the dress so it was kind of a big day for her. haha She looks adorable!

Middle parts are so hot right now. I've seen them around but didn't really notice until everyone and their mom had a middle part on 90210--even the ones that really shouldn't part their hair in the middle. Oh and yes, I watch that show. I am only half ashamed to admit it!

So they had planted a little seed in my head and it was growing. Then Heidi Klum rocked the middle part on the last episode of Project Runway.

That was it for me. I had to try it.

It might stay for a while. Unfortunately the longer my hair gets, the thinner it looks. That middle part really accentuates that. Extensions are looking like a really good idea...