You don’t know my #NaturalHairJourney if you don’t know my girl, Courtney. She is someone who was extremely influential in kicking off the whole thing. Before you go saying “But her hair is relaxed“, you better check yourself and read Part Three of my Hair Journey.
Back in 2011, when we met in New York, Courtney taught me that caring for your hair was a thing. She taught me that throwing my hair in a bun and slapping a headband on was not only lazy and not really attractive, but also, damaging to my strands. I didn’t even know that satin caps and satin pillows existed before I met her. I didn’t even know that putting straight oils in your hair could be a positive thing. Basically, I just didn’t know anything about hair at all.
Anyways, it had been five whole years since I last saw this girl. (In person might I add, since FaceTiming for 3 hours, several times a week definitely doesn’t count). Then life finally worked out and I was able to take an Easter weekend getaway to Austin, Texas, where she now lives.
And so, we were reunited…
Kimonos – TildaKimono
I’ve done a long distance relationship and several long distance friendships, and both are difficult in their own ways. With a relationship, there is usually an end goal of living in the same city somewhere down the line, which makes the separation a little easier to deal with. With a long distance friendship, that isn’t always the case, and sometimes the most you can hope for is an epic reunion every half a decade or so. (And somehow, you have to be okay with that).
This girl is my ride or die. I can call her at anytime, regardless of the timezone, and no conversation topic is ever off the table. We always tell each other what we really think, even if the other doesn’t want to hear it. (Like when she said getting a Deathly Hallows tattoo would be the worst decision I could ever make, and I am still pretending she didn’t say anything at all, while simultaneously dying a little inside).
When we were in New York, we took only a few webcam pics together. So naturally, we made sure that on this trip, we took an obscene amount of photos. Speaking for myself, I was a bit tired of recycling the same few photos on her Facebook wall every birthday for the past five years.
Now for our #Glowup moment: 2011 vs. 2017.
(Okay… I like to think we look at least a little bit older… right?)
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- 2011
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- 2017
So here’s to my soul-sister, Courtney. I hope I never have to spend that much time away from you, ever again!
*And in case you were wondering where our beautiful Kimonos are from (which I know you were), they are the one and only TildaKimonos of course! Catch her on Instagram at @TildaKimono, and see some of the features I’ve done on her work –> Here, here, and here.