About a Girl and Her Chi

CHI: [chee] n. The vital force believed in Taoism and other Chinese thought to be inherent in all things.

in·her·ent

  [in-heer-uhnt, -her-] adj. Existing in someone or something as a permanent and inseparable element, quality, or attribute

in·sep·a·ra·ble

 [in-sep-er-uh-buhl, -sep-ruh-] adj. incapable of being separated, parted, or disjoined

I think you get the point, and in case you didn't know, the Chi in this story is with a capital C--my CHI flat iron. I can't live without it, and I nearly had to today. It was a scary, scary day--almost.

I had a bridal shower luncheon to attend today. It started at 12:30, and my plan was to leave the house at 11:30, so that I would have plenty of time to stop at Bed, Bath, & Beyond to pick up a gift--plenty of time. This would give me a good 30 or 40 minutes just to wander around at the store. My flat iron had been acting funny since last week, but it had always worked. Jeremy kept telling me that I should get a new one just in case this one quit on a day when I had to be somewhere. Well, today was that day.

The flat iron wasn't working, so I decided to get everything else done. By then, it would surely start working. I put on my make-up and got Stella ready. Each time I passed the bathroom, I glanced at the flat iron, but the red light never turned on. I called my friend Haley to borrow hers. Ironically, her flat iron had broken the day before. What are the chances?

At this point, I was a little bit flustered. Just so you have a proper image of this, I don't blow dry my hair straight. Instead, I just blow dry it, so that it's nice and voluminous, and frizzy, then I use the iron. I was desperate at this point, so I even tried straightening my hair with a curling iron, yeah right. I pulled my hair back in a pony tail, strapped Stella in her car seat, and packed a few extra items in the diaper bag (a mirror, a comb, a Bed, Bath & Beyond coupon, and a clip). That's right, I was going to buy a Chi at the store and do my hair there--in the restroom. I had no choice.

Of course, the fifteen minute drive took me thirty minutes. For some reason traffic was backed up worse than I had ever seen. Police officers were directing traffic, and time was a tickin'. I tried my hardest not to get road rage at the people passing the lines of traffic on the right hand side where there was no lane, commonly referred to as the Milwaukee sneak. I did a pretty good job at keeping my cool. I was on a mission.

I finally pulled into the store, my adrenaline pumping. I now had about twenty minutes until the shower. The store was so crowded, but I finally made my way to the Chi irons, and I found one just like mine for $120...I was expecting that price, but it still hurt. I grabbed a gift card for the shower, went through the line with my coupon and darted to the restroom with Stella and the car seat. No outlet.

Out to the car I ran. I decided to open the iron and try my luck at the mall. The shower was at a restaurant at the mall, so I could still pull this off. Well, you know the plastic packaging that everything in the world comes in? The kind that you need a ban saw to remove? That's what was around the Chi box. I used my car key to get it off, and it wasn't easy. My hands were cut up, and I may or may not have said some choice words, at least I was thinking them. I don't know how I got that packing off, must have been the adrenaline, but it was off, and I pulled off to the mall.

The one thing that worked in my favor was the parking spot at the front of the parking lot, the one for expectant mothers OR mothers with small children. I parked, grabbed Stella and the diaper bag and headed into the mall. Of course, the bathrooms were way further away than I had thought. I'm sure I was sweating as I lugged Stella in her car seat all over the place, dragging blankets and dropping toys. But, I made it to the bathroom, and--there was an outlet. I quickly set up and got to work. Did I get weird looks? Yes I did. Did my poor baby cry every time someone used the electric hand dryer? Yes she did. I could tell that people were totally judging me, but what can I say? it had to be done.

I finally stumbled into the luncheon. I was fifteen minutes late, but my hair was straight. I made it, and now, I also have something to blog about. So there, Kara, no more river blog...just this long story about a girl who can't live without her Chi.