How to get my hair cut
It made me
jolly 
"not cheap, but I am pampered and feeling much better about what's on my head"
How I did it: My practice for over a decade has been every 4-6 months to make an appt. at Vidal Sassoon Academy usually something like 1-2 weeks in advance. Students and teachers alike there seem to do consistently well with my straight thick hair and laid back but adventurous hair-attitude. The price can't really be beat and they are nothing if not meticulous.
The downsides? It's in Santa Monica - almost impossible to get there from school. And most of all, cutting time for me averages about 4 and half hours - their method seems to be to cut 8-10 strands at a time and I have a lot of hair. The whole thing is an exercise in extreme patience. Often, I'm in a mood to appreciate this, but convenient, it is not.
Today (a good 6 months since last cut) I woke up feeling that it would be difficult to face the week without doing something about my hair. I yelp!'ed hair salon for my neighborhood and found a hipster place around the corner with stellar recs from people whose hair looked styling, judging by their profile pics.
The stylist has the same name as me. Gentle, friendly, full of good advice, she gave me a fine head massage and hair cut that has a long term plan. Though apparently, they also do event hair: as I was arriving two women were rushing out looking good on their way to the Grammy's.
While these are times for frugality, it was good to remember that the perspective of a pro with some kind of continuing interest in how I look can help support a sustained state of put-togetherness (something I could probably use!)
