Hair We Go Again

It's been a while since hair was the topic of conversation here on the old bloggedy blog, has it not?

Since the trim that turned into a short haircut that I got before I went to Europe, I've been in a hair funk and I've let the color go without touching it up since before my trip. And it's bad.

My pink extensions, which I dearly love, are about five inches too long and I don't have the heart to cut them. I've been missing my tiny bit of punky pink hair had been toying with the idea of having some pink professionally "installed" along with some nice dark lowlights & blonde highlights. I have also seriously considered going to a brown color and adding chunky blonde highlights. I know, I know, I think about my hair waaaay too much.

Anyway, I've realized how expensive it is to have either of those things done. Multiple colors and processes costs money people! Sadly, all of my spending money is currently going into the gas tank.

I was feeling pretty blah and down about the whole hair situation when I put my favorite Harry Connick Jr. baseball cap on this morning to cover up the three inch root line I've been workin' lately.

This afternoon I pulled into Wal-Greens on the spur of the moment and grabbed a box haircolor. I wasn't even considering red, but that's what I walked out of the store with.

Here are the before and afters...

Warning...what you're about to see is scary...brace yourselves. This is dirty hat hair at 6:30p.m. with only the remains of morning makeup left. Just keepin' it real y'all.






I think this picture makes painfully obvious the reason for a NEED to stop at WalGreens on the spur of the moment. I like my hair blonde, but the fact that I wait waaaay too long between root touch ups doesn't make it the best choice for me.

This is what I purchased.I was a tad freaked out at the intensity of red after the initial color. BUT adding the highlights afterwards helped .

I'm mostly happy with it. And yes, I did apply a bit of makeup(but I did not groom the eyebrows, so ignore them). I never know if I truly like a new cut or color until I see it with makeup. Weird, I know. Someone please remind me to touch up my roots in about three weeks, OK?

Here She Goes Again...

Yesh...Back on the Weight Watchers Wagon once again!

I didn't announce it on the blog but I turned 40 on the 6th of August. Gasp! I'm SO what I used to think was old. Now that I'm here, it's not so bad after all. However, the weight, which is a constant and never ending struggle with me has once again taken over. I know that I am now at the point in life where taking off pounds only gets more difficult. And this extra 30+ pounds I'm packing around...it's got to go y'all! Who wants to be forty and fat? Not me!

As I've mentioned before, WW is the one and only diet that I've ever been on that I've had success that lasted for more than a few weeks. My problem with WW, however, is that I am a slacker. I hate. hate. hate. to write down what I eat. Exercise...I actually enjoy it but as you notice if you read through this blog, I don't stick with it for long.

So what's different this time around? Not Much. I can say with all certainty that I will slack off at some point w/the journaling and I'm still probably going to wiener out on exercise occasionally(just keeping it real, folks).

But I when I do slack off, I'm going to get over it quickly and start right back up again!

I've been all over bloggyland tonight looking for some inspiration. I've found a few sites and I'll share those at some point.

For tonight, I'll mention the Looking Fine in 2009 challenge that I came across on The Daily Mish Mash. Looks as if there are several of us in blogworld who are like minded and are on the path to better health! Yay! You can head on over to the site for all the details of how to join in.

I'll do my best to post a weekly update following my weekly WW meeting.

For tonight I just want to go on record saying that I am ready to give it a go. A real one.

Wish me luck, y'all!

I just can't help it...

I'm still dreaming of pink hair. I don't know why really... Wishing for a change? I'm a bit punk-rock at heart? Early mid life crisis? Desperate need to appear cool? My friend Pinky has pink hair...well it's pink now...she was purple a few weeks ago. She's totally a cool chick, but she'd never admit it.

Anyway, a while back I wished for pink hair. Pink highlights, to be more specific. I didn't go pink then. I ended up going yellow(by mistake) and then blonde. I just picked up more blonde(my roots are showing waaay too much) and found myself looking for temporary pink hair color. It's probably a good thing that there was none to be had at CVS.

I'm a tad afraid of applying a wild color myself and I don't really want to plunk down the $ it would take to have it done correctly in the salon...for fear of looking ridiculous and being broke afterwards. This is an extreme version of the look I'd like.

Here's the fun part...those are extensions!! Made from human hair, the extensions can be curled or straightened. How cool? They come in several shades ;) and they are much cheaper than a trip to the salon. I ordered three...just to try...mind you. If I love them I may get more or who knows...add a blue streak! For less than 8 bucks, I can afford to be daring for once! I bought them here.

If it doesn't look completely ridiculous, and even if it does, I'll post a pic when they arrive! I'm excited! Now I can have my pink hair if and when I feel like it!

Pink Wannabe Turns Yellow

Remember that scene in Grease where Frenchie comes into prom looking like a "blonde pineapple"? I did that to myself yesterday.

First, you should know that unlike Frenchie, I am NOT a beauty school drop out! They actually granted me a license and once upon a time I was a professional hairstylist. I was pretty good at it, but I was very young and at that time I lacked the self confidence and personality(or so I thought) befitting a stylist.

Now, some of ya'll already know that I've had the whole turning 40 thing on my mind a lot lately. It's crazy, I know, but I've been worried about the way I look...I don't know what 40 is supposed to look like! I think of Edith Bunker for some reason when I hear 40. House dresses and roller set hair. I so don't want to be that. Anyway, I'm fighting the 40 frump by dressing a little better, working the makeup more often and I am finally back to exercising regularly and I'm back on WW. And I'm feeling better about the whole thing, really.

Still, I have been thinking/pondering/wondering about doing something drastic. One last hoo-ra before the big day. Like pink. Yes, pink. Pink highlights to be specific. I think I might be able to pull it off. But then I remember I'm turning 40 in 6 months and Pink Hair + 40 Year Old = Obvious Midlife Crisis in the eyes of everyone around me. But still, pink hair would be fun. Especially if I could look like this. and not like this:But, I'm not that brave. I just like to pretend that I'm cool. I'm not really.

So nothing drastic for me.

Still, my hair has been looking a little mousy as of late. My natural color is what my mom calls "dishwater blonde". Since Mom was a stylist for over 20 years, it was only natural that I started getting highlights in the sixth grade. Since then, my hair has been a number of colors: strawberry blonde, plain old blonde, WHITE blonde, light brown, light auburn, bright red(I have a scary photo of that somewhere), and once I turned it a pale purple-y grayish blonde by mistake. OH, and not too long ago I ended up w/yellow roots. Just the roots! Sheeeesh. Continue reading and you'll see that I NEVER LEARN.

I never go to a salon for color(someday I will splurge and do that). Nothing against it, I just don't have the well deserved 80+ bucks that it costs for salon quality color every 3 months, so home hair color it is. I figure I can handle it on my own...although I'm fairly certain it usually looks like a home hair color job.

Now, on to the yellow hair... Since I'm not brave enough for pink, I decided on red. A light auburn-y red to which I was going to add highlights. That's drastic, but not scary. I was in WalMart w/a box of red in my hand when I run into my best friend Trish. SHE tells me I should go blonde. "My favorite color on you is light streaky blonde" she says. OK, I haven't been light streaky blonde in a while! Let's do it! I get a frosting kit and go on my merry way.

I pulled it through a cap. Yes, I know that is SO 1980's but I can control it a little better that way. I put it on heavy, ya'll. And I took it off early. I KNOW that I should leave it on long enough for bleach to do it's thing and get past the yellow stage, I know! I know! I know! I did the same thing a month ago to my roots. BUT I have so many layers of color and damage on my hair that after an HOUR of bleach, I was afraid my hair would start falling out. So I did what I knew better than do and I rinsed my hair before it had completely processed. And it came out yellow.

In the light at home, I thought, "OK, I can get used to this, it's not THAT bad". Mark and I went shopping and I traipsed around the antique mall w/my yellow hair. Mark kept telling me it was yellow(gee thanks) but it wasn't until we were at our favorite Pizza place and I went into the bathroom that I realized just how bad it was!

Jump to Me on the phone:
"Uh, Mom"
"yes"
"I have yellow hair. What color can I put on it to pull it out?"
"Light or beige blonde."
"OK. Hey, they have champagne...how 'bout champange" I like the sound of that "Champagne Blonde". It sounds all sophisticated and grown up.
"Yeah, that'll work. Just remember to leave it on long enough!" My mom knows me well.

Once more, I slathered my head with chemicals...but left it on the full amount of time. It worked! Whew, thank goodness! A lighter blonde to correct the yellow would have given me more of what I was hoping for and the end result is not really all that drastic a change, but it is a change that I can live with. AND it is better than yellow!

Before. Mousy.After. Yellow. This is when I'm thinking. "I can get used to this".In case you are thinking "It's really not that yellow." Yeah, it was. This is what I discovered at the pizza place. See that look on my face. That is called "*&^%%^! I have yellow hair and I've been walking around like this ALL DAY! In PUBLIC!"And finally. Whew. No more color for me for a while. Until I'm brave enough for pink.

New Blog on the Block and Girl Stuff

There is a new blog on the block! My dear friend from the "real world", Southern Belle Mama, has started blogging!

Originally from Mississippi, Belle has been transplanted here in Western Kentucky...the sorta-southern state, I like to call it. This girl is a TRUE Southern Belle...clever, funny, and charming with a hint of Julia Sugarbaker sass tossed in for good measure! And she's absolutely gorgeous(though she'd never admit to being such). I think you'll enjoy her take on family, life, love, and lipstick. Yes, lipstick.

Head on over to Southern Belle Mama's place. Tell her Kellie sent ya!

In one of her first posts, Belle talks about getting ready for the day and how we should take a bit more pride in ourselves. Now some of it is tongue in cheek(she's witty like that), but I took the following to heart: "please learn to care about the reflection that looks back at you each morning. God has given you a new day to look and feel beautiful"...

Now, I don't know that I've ever mentioned this but I love LOVE make-up, hair, and fashion ooh and I enjoy the occasional high heel. You know, girl stuff. I had a serious Benefit habit a couple years ago and Sephora makes me giddy. In fact, I recently cried a little bit when I ran out of the Sephora blush my sister got me for my birthday. But other than that blush, I'd kinda given up on enjoying getting made up and looking like a girl who likes to look like a girl.

It's not like I haven't put forth ANY effort, but not to the level that I once did. I mean I still wouldn't go out of the house w/o mascara. yikes. And I don't think I've let myself go, but I have kind of gotten into a rut. As of late my routine has been:

Slap on some tinted moisturizer or powder, some beige(yawn) eyeshadow, mascara, my luscious Sephora blush(see not completely given up) and apply one swipe of neutral lipstick in the morning and be done for the day.

My hair goes into a ponytail more days than it doesn't. But sometimes a ponytail is OK, right?

Now you won't usually catch me in sweats, and I'd never wear them to work, but I haven't worn a skirt in weeks. I've gained a few pounds since the Fat Smash aka "beans and rice diet" ended and now I'm too self conscious to wear one. Which is sad 'cause I absolutely love skirts, adore them. They're swishy and swirly and they make me feel all feminine, like Marylin. Only chubby. With wrinkles. And gray hairs.

Do you see that? Did you see what I just did? I get into this vicious cycle of putting myself down. I want to be pretty and girly and then I think of all the things that need improvement and think. "Well crap. What's the use?". So I continue to do the Beige Face and the ponytail and the comfortable(though not frumpy) pants and shoes. Chuck Taylors whenever possible.

I've never been entirely comfortable with myself but lately, it's gotten worse. I think a lot of my problem is this milestone birthday that is coming up. I will be honest and tell you that turning 40 is starting to seriously freak me out. I don't know why, but it is. Seriously. But we'll save that for another post.

Anyway reading Belle's post I realized that yeah, the reflection looking back at me needs a little TLC. Do I really want to face this new day that God has given me with Beige Face? No! And yeah, I NEED to lose weight but I'm still not to the proportions of the mother from What's Eating Gilbert Grape so I need to get over myself for the moment. And HELLO? Miss Clairol can help me wash that gray right out of my hair!

So what did I do once I reached these realizations? I marched (OK, I drove) myself to WalMart and spent one hour and 70 bucks on makeup and Crest Whitestrips. Most fun I've had shopping in weeks!

Thank you Southern Belle Mama, for putting the thought out there. I will spend a little more time on myself from here on out! Cause I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and dog-gone it, people like me!

Tomorrow I might even bust out a skirt!