dye my hair red.

In the midst of all the current craziness, it was wonderful to stop on Sunday afternoon and submerge myself in pampering and laughter and come out the other side with fresh colour. Much needed. It made the yesterday’s windstorm a lot more fun too.

The colour from my previous visit held remarkably well, but it was time for some root refreshment and a trim (as well as catching up with one of my favorite lady friends), so after making a quick and easy appointment for Sunday afternoon, back to the Bombshellter I went.

Funny that you get twice the time for half the price of a decent therapist, plus fabulously fiery locks, aromatherapy, a relaxing scalp massage and cups of some sort of wonderful spicy vanilla tea. I think I like the colour (which she tweaked a bit) even better than last time.

It feels great to be spending more time with an inspiring and illustrious friend as well as supporting her business. Both my heart and hair feel considerably brighter.

For numerous reasons I‘ve made the leap to a new hairdresser friend. She’s 10X closer, very reasonable, has her own snazzy little home salon set up – plus I haven’t hung out with her in a ridiculously long time and have missed her terribly. I wrote her Thursday, heard back within the hour, and got a great weekend appointment. I was a little nervous about the transition, but excited – she’s done some lovely work on other peoples noggins.

Last night I spent hours and hours with her, being pampered, colored, trimmed (yes, I braved scissors too), drinking herbal tea, catching up on years of lost time, talking about old days and old friends/relationships, new dreams, how much our lives have changed… it was fantastic. I walked in there feeling faded, bedraggled and blah and came out feeling vibrant, invigorated and infinitely better, inside and out. I feel like I just broke out of a sepia balloon. Funny what a little colour and a good friend can do.

So much joy in this reconnection, she’s such an amazing woman. And she did a killer job on my hair—great non-ammonia product and some wildfire to kick it up a notch.

This made my day… the whole experience, catching up with my friends there, making future plans (like a girls night clothing swap!), getting a fresh color and super conditioning treatment while sipping pear tea on the sunshiny balcony with the beach in the distance… then a lunch of Thai curried chicken ginger soup and a sandwich with surprising apples inside… a fantastic way to spend the afternoon. I left several books behind and went for a walk on the beach afterward. Heavenly.

Hairy scary shades
Color fades slow as June snakes
Unlike still cherries

Thursday I had a wonderfully refreshing evening at the salon while catching up with ladies I hadn’t seen in ages. I brought along a delicious bottle of chilled pomegranate zinfandel that my sister in law made. Afterwards it looked as though my hair had sucked back half the bottle, it’s a delicious, fiery red.

I was pampered and left with a bag full of fresh goodies: scrumptious smelling shampoo and conditioner, shine enhancer, and my favorite chocolate lip balm I’ve been out of for over a year. Just what I needed. I feel as though I’ve sloughed off a decade.

I haven’t had the pleasure of freshly colored hair since last November, so it’s in a sad state. I’m thrilled to have touched base with Chloe and have a late evening appointment tomorrow!

Another lady-friend I haven’t seen in ages may be getting hers done at the same time too. I’m giddy about it. I think I’ll bring a nice bottle of wine along. Red would be appropriate…

Again, I let months go by without refreshing the colour and was hiding under a wool hat feeling faded and disheveled, hoping I could somehow get in for an appointment before Christmas season socialness begins. It’s even harder now that there are two little ones to juggle, weekdays are out for us, and weekends are usually chock full.

Like magic, Chloe came to my rescue again. She found out I was coming out that way to drop off my photos at the gallery and called to offer a Saturday appointment for colour and pampering with the help of her lovely new assistant. I was thrilled and went in mid afternoon.

There was delicious tea and slices of French cake with cherries and dark chocolate, laughter, catching up, a view of that lovely water (eventually a melted pastel sunset over it), and a nice coppery red on my head – I even got a well needed snipping, and left feeling fabulous and relaxed and happy. I’ve had oodles of compliments since – I need to make more of an effort keep up with these few little things I do for myself… it’s worth how good I feel afterward.

A bit belated, but I like to keep track. I had a delightful hair freshening session at 7th Heaven at the end of August – we experimented with a new brand/colour and I quite like it, it’s shiny and rich and bright. I’m on the prowl for a cut to get at some point – I can’t remember the last time I had a real haircut. Unfortunately I’m currently suffering from postpartum fallout and leaving a red carpet behind me, so I’ll wait at least until that settles down. Too bad that year of not losing any hair couldn’t last forever.

Even more of a pampering than I was expecting. The visit was extra positive and inspiring, with mutual exchanges of good news and laughter, then while my colour was sinking in, the amazing new reflexology goddess there treated me to a lengthy foot session that left me floating way up on cloud nine – honestly, my whole body is more relaxed than I remember feeling in many, many moons.

I sat there utterly content, breathing fresh balcony air, sipping cold water from a sapphire tinted glass, watching the gray sky fall apart and blue push through over the water. Then when I was leaving, my dear friend slipped the delicious orange vanilla spray shine I fell in love with last time (but couldn’t quite budget reasonably) into my purse as a gift. That place is pure heaven, just what I needed.