chopped

it was time.  actually, it was long overdue.  i don't know why i'd waited so damn long, although laziness had a lot to do with it.

what am i talking about?  well, duh - my hair.  i'd just let it grow and grow and grow for over a year, and look how long it had gotten:

and that's with the digital perm in it.  now, that perm had served its purpose - i hadn't touched a blow dryer in months, which is a blessing when it's hotter than the surface of the sun.  all i had to do was wash it, put a little product in, and then when i couldn't stand it anymore it went up into a bun.  easy peasy.

except that i'd gotten to the stage where i was just bored as hell with it.  plus, to be perfectly honest, i don't look fabulous with all my hair pulled back from my face.  i was ready for a little style again, and was totally eyeing all the cute bob haircuts that everyone seems to be getting these days.  clearly, i wasn't the only one ready for a hairstyle change.

the only thing i was concerned about was that the waves from the perm still reached up above my ears. i wasn't sure how it would look if i chopped it up to my shoulders with it in that state.  so i scoured groupon and picked one up for a brazilian blowout - something semi-permanent that would smooth out the waves and flyaways, not to mention simplify the daily styling process.

the salon i went to was called rock. paper. scissors. and it was really nice, despite the fact that it was in chino.  ew.  (please don't kill me, IE'ers. you remember that line from "the OC," right?)

i was draped with a lovely cape and enjoyed a relaxing shampoo.  one of the best parts of getting your hair done, yes?

a final "before" shot:

the stylist combed some slightly smelly solution through my hair, thoroughly saturating every strand, before picking up the scissors and taking that first snip.  no turning back now!

i really wished i could've donated it like the bean did a few months ago.  too bad it was so chemically processed to be of use to anyone.  next time.

after blowdrying it till it was wonderfully smooth and straight, she finished off the rest of the cut.  as my friend pinky had suggested, i showed her a photo of jennifer aniston, circa season 7 of "friends," and made sure to mention that i still needed to be able to pull it back for running and barre class and other fitness-type activities.  

here's the "after":

i love it, you guys.  it's so light and fun and i keep tossing my head back and forth.  i had to wait three days to be able to wash it again, in order to preserve the blowout, but when i did i was super excited to see that it wasn't much more work than before.  a little airdrying, a quick blow dry to fluff it up a little, and then just a bit of flat ironing to smooth it out, and i'm done.

yay for new 'do!