I feel like I spend a lot more time on my hair than anything else in the mornings when I'm getting ready because I'm trying to find a way to style my wig so it looks "natural." I can't just leave it down all of the time, California is too too warm for that! My variety of headbands is wide and I have a hat or two to use on those days I feel particularly lazy. Maybe there's a way I can learn to do a quick style to go...I have my makeup routine down to less than 5 minutes (thank you, Tyra Banks!) which does leave me more time for my hair, but I don't want to have to keep spending minutes upon minutes upon minutes pulling out strands here and there to cover areas where the wig is obvious.

In other news, one of my flatmates is moving out today. She was just subleasing for the first half of the summer for Summer Session I, but it still bums me out because we got along really well. I realized though that I hadn't told her about my alopecia. We talked about practically everything, but I never mentioned it. I almost feel like I should, because it is such a part of me, but with her leaving today, that would be a random aside. Maybe during the school year after she moves into her other apartment...

I think about the people in Irvine who know about my alopecia and there aren't as many as back home. My former roommate, who was also my high school friend, knew; my current roommate is aware of it; my best guy friend knows (and doesn't hesitate to tell me how beautiful I am - inside & out <3)...I also realize that my boss knows too. I read a lot of blogs or forums where that is a tricky subject - to tell the boss or not. I never told any of my former employers but when I interviewed for my current job (I'm a marketing assistant at UCI's School of the Arts), I was asked to provide samples of my work, and one of the pieces I gave to my boss was my article from NAAF's spring newsletter last year (article is uploaded in My Photos). Maybe it was my subconscious way of getting it out and in the open but I don't think I had thought about it then. In the world of marketing and publicity, appearances matter a great deal, but my boss definitely held nothing against that and along with the many other challenges I was up against, I'm lucky to have gotten the job.

It's a sunny Saturday, everyone (at least in California it is - I hope wherever you are the day is beautiful too!) - go out and have fun, relax, and smell the heck out of those roses. =)