New Hair!

So I haven't been around in a while. It's amazing how your life can go from empty to crazy in a heartbeat. I got the new job at St. Jude I mentioned before. It means I basically live at work and it's exhausting, but in the best possible way. I'll write more about it later.

I made an attempt today to fulfill a bucket list item: Dye my hair a spectacularly unnatural shade (#46). Namely, pink. I consulted with a stylist at the local Ulta salon, using a clip-in colored extension as the inspiration piece. She got the dye to match perfectly and seven and a half hours later........

I left with black hair.

Oh, and bangs. And under-eye bags. And a ridiculous boyfriend.

In the right light, you can detect a hint of purple/pink/berry cast. But essentially it didn't work. I think the problem was that we decided it was too light after one application, then left the second application on too long. It just got darker and darker. Because we bleached it first, it has nowhere to go but lighter when it fades, so she predicted that in about two weeks it'll be where I planned it (matching the extension piece). She also said I could try the clarifying shampoo I'd mentioned owning. I'm afraid to screw it up completely, but I may try that in the morning and see if it washes more dye out and brings out some pink.

On the bright side, whatever happens, she did not charge me the 200 it would have cost me without the coupon I had - or the 165 it actually did cost. (It was a haircut and two colors, not because of the second application, but because she mixed a red with what was technically called violet something, but matched the pink extension almost perfectly.) In fact, she didn't charge me a damned thing. She seriously rang it up then said I paid cash and told me goodbye, handing me the receipt. I was stunned - so much so that I forgot to tip the woman. I plan to return to her for my next cut (I enjoyed the seven-and-a-half hours of conversation on top of liking the unexpected end results) and will tip her double. I said so in the text I sent her; she texted me pictures she took for me throughout the progress because I forgot my phone in the car when Erik dropped me off.

Speaking of which...

Since I had not shelled out the expected fortune (I budgeted it into my allowance and the sixty bucks I won off the Packers-Bears game [go Pack!] Thursday), Erik and I went to Penny's (it's right next door to Ulta) and surprised the friend I had planned to go to the Cooper-Young Festival with before taking an inordinate amount of time at the salon. Katie played saleslady and we bought a couple things for Ever - some for now, some for when she's bigger. Then we went to Barnes and Noble because Erik loves it as much as I do and bought some stuff. Then we shelled out 83 dollars at Walmart, which I'm not really sure how that was done... We bought shampoo, conditioner, mousse, eyeliner, and three magazines. Oh, and a jacket for winter because I was looking for a women's sherpa-style jacket all last year and couldn't find one that had more than just the hood lined in the fuzzy fleece. This year they have a whole section devoted to them and I got one in a pretty blue.

Oh, and I got new reading glasses. My old pair broke and I've been spending my lunch breaks reading stuff I have from Pixel of Ink on my Kindle and I need a pair.

Erik helped pick them out.

Wow, this ended up long. Anyway, I'm happy. I hope it fades to pink because I really wanted it. But if it doesn't, I'll live, I think. I'll just have to cross it off my bucket list later.