What we did this weekend: Christmas fun and rashes

On Friday I had a hair appointment after work in the Short North at Waldo’s on High.  I had a cut and balayage highlights put in and they look pretty good.  I went to this salon instead of my normal salon, which is down the street, because I won a certificate in the silent auction at the Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser that we had.  There were certificates for my normal salon too, but others were bidding on them so I bid on this one so we’d get more than the minimum bid on it.  I’ve only gone for highlights 3 times at the other salon and a cut once, so it’s not like I’ve been going there for years and have to be loyal.  I did initially try to schedule with my normal guy, thinking I’d use the certificate for Waldo’s another time, but he didn’t have openings for the rest of the year, so I decided to use it now.

Little did I know that the salons had merged and now were kind of the same company.  My appointment was with the previous owner of the salon (before they merged) – so it felt weird telling her that I used to go to the sister salon because I didn’t want her to think that I switched because he did a bad job.  I also didn’t want her to think that I jump around from stylist to stylist because then she’d have little incentive to do a great job if she didn’t have a chance to gain me as a regular.  I explained why I bid on the certificate and that I told the people who won the other certificates to go see my other stylist at that salon because he’s great – so he would actually be gaining 2 new clients.  It made sense and didn’t seem to phase her, so I figured it didn’t seem so bad.   And then I started noticing workers from the other salon (5 doors down) going in and out of the salon and was worried that my previous stylist was going to walk in and see me cheating on him.  And…I pretty sure he did.  I saw someone of his size in my peripheral vision come in and saw my stylish say hi to him – but we were in the middle of a conversation so I just kept my eyes on her in the mirror and kept talking so it wouldn’t look like I noticed him (and hopefully he didn’t notice me!).  Awkward!  I feel bad if he did though – although not too bad because the new lady used a better technique on my (balayage) and no toner, so it won’t look so bad as it’s growing out.

After the appointment and a quick stop at Target, Lo and I left to meet our friends at our favorite Mexican restaurant.  Boof was pissed that I left again so quick – I didn’t take my coat off because we were leaving again and she knew it and wouldn’t even look at me or let me kiss her head.  We enjoyed tacos and margaritas and fun with our friends – talking about plans for their Ugly Sweater Party the next day.

I woke up in the middle of the night because Boof (who was still ignoring me) barked at a car door slamming.  I got up to use the bathroom and noticed that I had itchy red bumps on one of my knees.  Things are never very real to me in the middle of the night, so I went back to bed, hoping they’d somehow be gone in the morning.  They weren’t. They were worse.  And itchy and stinging.  I sent a pic to my friend who has celiac disease and had a rash from it last year and she thought it looked pretty similar.  It has since spread slightly above and below my knee.  Lo went to get me Gold Bond cream and it’s the only thing that helps much.  My knee is super puffy and red because all of the bumps merged together into a big grossness.  Thank me for sparing you the pictures.  I’m going to a dermatologist tomorrow who is familiar with and good at diagnosing dermatitis herpetiformis in case that’s what it is.  Unfortunately that would mean that I definitely have celiac disease instead of gluten intolerance, but if that’s the case, I’d rather know than not be sure (and always wonder if my intolerance would turn into CD).  But I’m still hoping that there is a more simple explanation for the rash.

Saturday our friends had a Ugly Sweater Christmas Party and it was an absolute blast.  People really brought it with their sweaters.  We couldn’t find Christmas sweaters at the Goodwill, so I bought Lo a women’s yellow lighthouse sweater and I got a blue, red, and white cardigan sweater with shoulder pads that looked somewhat Christmas-y.  There was a ton of food and booze consumed at that party and everyone had a great time. I was thankful to not have a hangover the next day.

On Sunday we hung around the house watching football and then took Boof to get pictures with Santa to benefit a local rescue group.  We haven’t received the pics yet, but she did a great job sitting there.  I did a little shopping after that and then we headed to our friends’ house with Pei Wei takeout for Sunday Movie Night.  We watched the old school Rudolf and Frosty movies.  Rudolf rated higher than Frosty – coming in at around 7.5 or 8 – whereas Frosty was voted at around a 5 or 5.5.  The dogs enjoyed playing for a little while and then cuddled up for the movies. Kelley caught these pics of the dogs during the movies.

Boof not impressed with Frosty:

Mason looking cute:

Nash looking downright terrified of Frosty:

I can’t believe Christmas is next week.  I need like 10 packages to arrive before we head home to celebrate with my family on Friday!  Yikes!