Re-Growth

Okay, so I've decided to grow my hair out. There, I said it-- so it must make it true. Oh boy.

Anyone that knows me knows that I have just about as many hairstyles as Madonna. It's kind of strange, when I think about it-- why couldn't I ever find one style/color that I was happy with for more than a few months? Maybe it's a sickness. I guess I should consider adding it to my list of things that I need to discuss with my therapist-- ha-ha. Anyway, I've been wanting a change for awhile now, even though I loved the faux-hawk. I think I got more compliments on that style than any other, which I find completely odd, but whatever. So, I will be a bit sad to see it go, but truth be told, I've never chosen a hairstyle for the compliments. If that was the case, I would've kept my hair long and curly, and endured random strangers feeling the need to touch it all the time. I get the heebie-jeebies just thinking about that.

Regardless of what my therapist would even have to say on the subject, I think I know where my sick hair-obsession comes from. As a kid, I was a walking Chia Pet, and that is no exaggeration. This was before the days of Styling Products On Steroids-- which was what I needed to "tame the beast", especially after I went through puberty. I never could have my hair look the way I wanted it to look. I couldn't loosen the curl, ditch the frizz, or find a style to compliment my face-- it was just long, heavy, thick, and freakishly curly, and I was stuck with it. So, as I got older, made my own money, and styling products got better, I started to discover all the fun options I had in terms of my hair. Fun color, better textures, easier cuts, you name it. I guess I just got addicted to the idea of "endless possibilities", and just went wild, trying on color after cut, after color, etc. The rest is sort of history.

I don't want people to think that I'm necessarily so stuck on my hair that I think it's fabulous, because really, that's not the case. If I was convinced that it was fabulous, I wouldn't always be changing it and I'd finally just leave it be for awhile. Instead, I feel like I'm sort of making up for lost time, since I didn't get to do this kind of stuff when I was younger. Am I picky about my hair? Absolutely. Is there something conceited and wrong with that? I don't think so. Why shouldn't you always want to look your best? I remember reading a story about Halle Berry, a long, long time ago, and she talked about how she got off a red-eye flight one time, and when she got off the plane, there were paparazzi everywhere, and there she was, dog-tired, lazy hair, and no make-up. She said that since then, she realized that it's always beneficial to put an effort into your appearance, because you never know who you might run into or what you might be doing. I completely agree with that-- not because I'm full of myself, but because you could be at the grocery store and run into someone you admire career-wise, and you know what? Had you not been wearing old pajama pants, a t-shirt, a ball-cap, and no make-up, that person might have thought you were "together" enough to offer you a job. I know it may seem far-fetched, but seriously, you just never know, and how you present yourself to the rest of the world is important.

Okay, I didn't mean to go off on that sort of weird tangent there, but that's what blogs are for. So, you might be wondering (or not), "Just how long are you going to grow it?" Well, let me start off by saying, "Don't kid yourselves-- it's not going anywhere past my chin." Let's face it; I'm a short-hair girl, plain and simple. I can't handle all the muss and fuss of long hair, plus, it typically makes me look twelve. So, I thought it would be fun to document my hair-growth-- if for no other reason than to provide you all with hilarious "transition" photos. As we all know, nobody looks good while they are growing their hair out, especially when they have uncooperative hair like mine, so I plan to look like a total freak for the next several months. I have added a picture of where I stand right now, at the beginning of May, and I'll add a photo every month, I think. I figure it will take me until about the end of the summer to reach my desired "hair goal" (see Meg Ryan photos).

Now, I make no promises regarding hair color during this time of transition. I finally decided to lighten it up a bit again, after going back to my natural espresso-brown-ness. Summer is fast approaching, and that darker shade just wasn't going to fly, so now I'm a golden brown with a hint of auburn? That's the best I can do to describe it. It looks nice, though-- very rich and warm, but not red. I loved being red, but the maintenance-level is just more than I can stand, when I'm also having to deal with straightening it all the time, and it fades so fast, too. No thanks. Maybe I'll consider some red highlights, instead. Who knows.

Anyway, I realize that was just a riveting blog, but I thought it would at least provide a few laughs!