Thursday, October 1, 2015

A BIRTHDAY AND A NEW HAIR DO!


FLOWERS FROM MEL'S FAM
Well my week is going by quickly.  Honestly I cannot believe it is already Thursday.  Monday was my sixty first birthday and it was a nice day.  Hubby and I kind of celebrated with extra goodies over the week-end, but the celebration was a low key one this year.  After last years bonanza it seemed fitting, lol.  I have a very different feeling about my birthday's these days.  For years it seemed I dreaded them and tried to pretend they weren't happening, lol.  Now each one seems like a gift and I am thrilled to have made it through another year, and celebrating and announcing to the world how old I am seems like the thing to do!  I got lots of calls, emails, facebook messages, flowers, cards, and had lunch out that day with my middle son and felt very appreciated and recognized and loved so it was all good.

Then on Tues I did a VERY different thing for me. I drastically changed my hair!  I have been wearing it SUPER blonde for several years now as it just seemed easier with my white/grey roots etc. And I have pretty much had the same bob cut for years now as well. I might vary the length of it in the back, but that's about it.  But this time I went into the shop looking for an answer to the dilemma I was now facing which was that for years now [at least eight!] my niece has been doing my hair and giving me a rock bottom family rate.  Well, she has cut way back on her hours now [wanting to spend more time with her baby at home] and so therefore really needs to spend her time at the shop collecting FULL pay from her clients if she is going to make it.  I totally get it of course and have been grateful for how long I have been on easy street when it came to price.  She is still going to give us all a 30% discount which is really very generous, it's just that her prices in the exclusive Newport Beach shop where she works are super high, and to continue doing everything I have been doing to my hair is DEFINITELY out of my price range.  Truthfully, doing all that I have been ANYWHERE is WAY more then I should/could be spending.  I have been having both a mini highlight, and a root touch up, and a trim/cut, and a blow dry and style every 4 to 5 weeks.  I really don't want to look for a new hairdresser, and less expensive more inexperience one at that, so I decided I had to cut back on what I do, and do it less often, in order to continue going to my niece.  Sooo this background is to tell you WHY I did what I did.  We decided my options were, 1.  just let my hair go grey....which honestly got a lot of consideration from me.  But she talked me out of it by saying first of all it will take a LONG LONG time to grow it all out, and that my hair is really a mixture of white and a not so pretty grey and she didn't think I'd be happy with it.  I kind of agreed.  There are women who can pull off an all natural grey look, but I don't think I am one of them.  So it was on to other options  2.  Color my hair all one color and forget the highlighting.  3.  Just highlight my hair and let the grey and white mix in with the color in the weave and forget about the all over root touch ups.  4.  Grow my hair out and therefore only need a trim maybe 3 or 4 times a year.  5.  Cut it short so it would have a definite style but would not require the upkeep trimming that a good bob cut does.  After deliberating for a while we decided that an all over color would be better then the highlight only, as I know the grey and white mixed with color would bug me.  And I much prefer a style as to just neatly trimmed longish type hair on me.  I feel I am too old for this look. Which of course then meant I was looking at all over color, and a short cut. Truthfully as a general rule I love short hair.  Soooo then we had to decide on WHAT color to go.  I was afraid [and she agreed] to just go all blonde as it is too much for me.  I WAS a natural brunette in my day and too much blonde kind of washes me out and doesn't go with my skin as well.  Well the next thing I knew we had to decided to go a pretty dark brown [though as blonde as I was it will lighten and rinse out as shampoos go by] close to my original dark brown, and a pretty short cut as well.  I tried not to panic.  I am not going to lie.  When I first looked in the mirror at the dark color on my head, bursting into tears was not far from happening.  But that wasn't even the worse part.  The cut was soo drastic and soo different for me, it looked kind of like a dark brown hat on some strange women's face.  It looked pretty good when I left her shop late Tues afternoon, but yesterday morning I was officially horrified.  I spent the entire day COMPLETELY regretting what I had done.  But of course there is no going back [at least on the cut] and I knew I had to give myself a little time to work into it.  This morning I washed it for the first time [it already faded some, lol] and styled it myself which only took about 5 minutes, lol.  That part was nice. I have never been one for wanting to spend much time styling hair.  And I realized earrings are going to be my new best friend again.  I wore my hair super short [even shorter then this] for years and years and years.  It was easy, quick and quite frankly I loved it.  But I was way way younger, way way way thinner, and had buckets have cute ear rings at the time, lol.  My hubby said it reminds him of the old Deb.  I think like me though he knew he was going to have to get used to this new look.  Soooo I imagine after all of this you want to see it?  And yes I have taken a few pictures as Melody was dying to see it so hubby obliged.  I guess I will show you though I will warn you in advance I look every bit my sixty one years, my face is WAY too round and fat for a short cut, and I am definitely thinking a little longer will have to happen.  Thank goodness hair DOES grow, and color CAN be changed.  I realize most of you have never seen me so you really have nothing to compare it to, so I will try and find a decent pic so you can see the difference.  And I also know there is not much someone can say when you post a pic of yourself besides, "you look great!"  "love it!"  "Wonderful!" etc.  This is definitely NOT about that trust me,  lol,  It is more of a document for my journals as to what I looked like at sixty one, and what I did the day after my birthday that year, and so that my sisters and Melody can get a better look.  It's hard seeing things on a tiny phone pic. Anyway, here it is

THERE IS SOMETHING FRIGHTENING ABOUT LOOKING AT YOUR SELF THIS CLOSELY....HONESTLY I AVOID MIRRORS AND TRY NOT TO THINK ABOUT THIS AGING PROCESS MUCH, LOL

SIDE VIEW

NOW THIS WAS TAKEN 3 YEARS AGO AND JESS HAD JUST STYLED IT.  IT RARELY LOOKED LIKE THIS [I MEAN WHO CAN GET IT AS GOOD AS THEIR STYLISTS DO?] AND WAS NOT AS BLONDE AS I HAD BECOME
HERE'S MORE A TRUE LOOK AT HOW IT WAS RECENTLY.   AS I AM LOOKING AT THIS, WHAT I SHOULD MAYBE HAVE DONE IS DARKEN THIS BACK UP.  MAYBE WEAVED IN A DARKER COLOR AND DARKENED THE ROOTS.  BUT THEN AGAIN THAT WOULDN'T HAVE SOLVED MY PROBLEM EITHER...
ANYWAY, this is way too long a post on my head, lol.  At this point it is what it is and I will have to work it.  I do need to get a little "touch up" spray color to darken the roots as they grow in as I am planning on going eight weeks now between touch ups.  I might not trim or cut it every time either, but I guess we will see how that goes.  Oh, and some dangling ear rings might have to be purchased again, as I had gotten rid of most of mine.

Other then that I did finish the fur stockings.  Honestly the sewing with fur part was not the issue.
What the issue was [and YES there was one!] had to do with the fact that I am a very visual sewer and learner, and these stockings are a bit tricky.  You basically sew them inside out and upside down to make them come out with the name on the cuff on the right side of the stocking AFTER you fold it down, all of the stockings hanging from the same direction, and the lining toes and heals and the stocking toes and heals all going the same way.  I will confess I did a little ripping out at first and yes even considered cutting the whole project to shreds and forgetting it before I FINALLY figured out how to do it right.  But all's well that ends well.  Let me show you....

AGAIN, WHILE THESE ARE PRETTY AND I DEFINITELY LIKE THEM, THEY ARE SOMEWHAT SIMPLE AND PLAIN FOR ME.  KIND OF ELEGANT IN A WAY, WHICH SUITS MELODY'S TASTE TO A  T WHICH I GUESS IS THE POINT, LOL

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE METALLIC THREAD AND THE DECORATIVE STITCHES ON THE CUFF,  IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU CAN SEE THE TINY LEAVES ON THE WHITE CUFF  THEY ARE FULLY LINED WITH THE SAME FABRIC AS THE CUFF
So  I guess that's it for now.  I intend to start on my last advent calendar later today and maybe run to the fabric store too.  Guess I'd better get busy.  Hope you all are having a good week!  Blessings to you all!  Debbie   oh, and a couple of most recent fav grandkid pics of course!

MY SWEET CODY ALL SPRUCED UP FOR HIS PIC DAY YESTERDAY.  LITTLE CUTIE.  HOW GRANDMA LOVES HIM!  A CUTE STORY TO GO WITH THIS PIC IS THAT MY OLDEST SON JOE GETS HIS KIDS READY FOR SCHOOL AND TAKES THEM ETC.  HE SHOT THIS PIC OVER TO SEE IF I THOUGHT CODY LOOKED GOOD ENOUGH FOR A SCHOOL PIC.  GOOD JOB DAD!  LOL

AND MY SWEET SAMS'S FIRST EVER SCHOOL PIC.  HE'S ADORABLE GRANDMA THINKS

AND MISS CLAIRE IS ALREADY SITTING UP A BIT ON HER OWN.  DOESN'T LAST REAL LONG, BUT SHE LOVES IT.  WEARING ONE OF THE BIBDANA BIBS I MADE SO YOU CAN SEE HOW THEY LOOK AS WELL  SHE'G GETTING BIG FAST!

CAN'T REMEMBER IF I EVER SHOWED YOU THE SCRIPTURE PIC AFTER IT WAS FRAMED AND UP SO JUST IN CASE.....

AND A LOOK AT OUR LIVING ROOM DECKED OUT FOR FALL.  THIS IS MY VIEW EVERY MORNING AS I AM SITTING IN MY COMFY RECLINER TAKING THIS PIC!


13 comments:

  1. Deb, is it you? Love your new haircut and I like the color, too. Earrings and a smile pull off any look, don't you think? I bet your hubby feels as if he's with a whole new woman. Fun!

    The fur stockings came out beautifully as I knew that they would.

    The school picture cousins look so very handsome. Little Claire will be ready for school before ya know it at this rate!

    Your living room looks very autumn cozy. Does it help you feel cooler?

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  2. You have a beautiful living room. It looks so nice and comfy.

    The fur stockings look so elegant and classy. Great job.

    Cute school pics.

    I really do like your new haircut and color. It looks really good on you. I like your before style and it is very similar to mine. But this new style looks so fresh and cute on you.

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  3. Hi my friend, You probably won't believe me but I absolutely love the color and cut-I think the color is so becoming on you and brings out your blue eyes. That cut is super cute and I think it will be so easy. I think we are much harder on ourselves than others are. I went to lunch with two girl friends today and then we went to a cute boutique. I told one gal who is skinny that I don't wear horizontal stripes because they make me look fat-boy did I get an earful about that nonsense.
    Loved seeing the grands-how quickly the years are passing-you know that we are blessed to be enjoying grands...so enjoy being 61!
    Love, Noreen

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  4. You look FANTASTIC!!!! I LOVE that color and cut and you look even YOUNGER!!! Love, LOVE love IT!!!!
    The other news in this post is wonderful.....always love seeing the grands and how they have grown .....and your view of your sweet cozy living room......but your HAIR!!!! I am so in love with your HAIR!!! Color AND cut!!! You have made me think about mine.........

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  5. I hesitate to tell you (don't want you to think I am making the predicted comment...lol!), but then I see that NanaNor feels the same way...but I love your new look!! It looks natural and quite flattering. It's a cute cut!

    Happy birthday week, friend!!

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  6. I really love your new hair cut and I love that color. I think you picked a great style. I liked your blond hair too, but I really like the brown. You look so pretty.
    I really like those stockings. They turned out so nice. Oh, happy belated birthday too. It sounds like you had a very nice weekend.
    I love the pictures of the kids. Such a sweet family you have.
    I hope it stays nice and cool, don't you? Have a nice weekend Debbie!

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  7. I know you didn't post the pictures for the compliments, but I really and truly do like your new cut and color. I think it's just such a dramatic change that you're struggling with ... with time you'll get used to it and it'll feel like you again. And think of the time saved! But truthfully, I liked the cut/color when you shared it on FB and IG ... but now that I can compare your new look with the befores, I think you look a lot younger with the new cut/color ... truly I do (not that I think that the longer blonder hair aged you ... I just think that the new look really makes you look so much younger ... I hope I'm not digging myself into a hole here, dear friend!).

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  8. Your photos are lovely and I really love your new hairdo! It suits you very well! :)

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  9. Your photos are lovely and I really love your new hairdo! It suits you very well! :)

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  10. You're brave! It's good to shake things up now and then, and I think the color is lovely. It might take some time for you to get used to after the blonde years. I love the cut too. Brunette is the new blonde anyway : ) Happy happy birthday!

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  11. Oh, I so sympathize with you. IF we aren't happy with our hair then it truly affects our day. Your cute is just too cute but I bet that darker color was a real shocker for you. I bet you will get use to it in a couple of weeks. Hang in there the new "do" is becoming on you. Happy week!

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  12. Well, what a fun post! I must admit, I really like your new look and cut! But, I like your honesty and candidness even more! Reading this post, brought a smile to me this early morning, and I could relate to it's content, in so many ways. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

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  13. My friend, I so admire your willingness to try something new. And just let me tell you, IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS! Seriously, Debbie, I would not have known it was you. I love the profile of the cut with your face. And the color enlivens your skin. Don't change a thing except to get used to it and embrace the new and lovely YOU! Those grandsons are just too cute.

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I am so glad that you would take the time to comment on my thoughts and feelings, it is such a blessing to me!