I should have made sure Jake got a shot of this hairstyle from the side and back, because this post might not make sense otherwise! This ‘do is called the UnElvis. Because from the side, you have a big horn on the top of your head like a unicorn, and from the front, you have a nice Rockabilly swoop like Elvis. It’s a crossbreed sent from heaven….~Cue singing angels~….The UnElvis. (Pronounced You-Nel-Viss).

This wasn’t the best day to take a picture of it, because I had already been wearing it for a full day, slept on it, half-a**edly smoothed the sleepy fly-aways and called it a day. Also, usually it’s a much bigger horn, but my hair had been blown out straight the day before UnElvising it. When this is done on curly hair, you can’t even imagine the beauty of the horn. The horn that puts the Un in the UnElvis. But I’m guessing that’s enough excuses and that you just might get the point.

Do you like the UnElvis as much as I do?

PS This ‘do is credited to Chauntell, and these photos are credited to Jake.

Pink!!

This is just a peek at what it looks like. I’m hoping Jake can get some photos in the natural light today sometime so you can see it better. It is a dusty rose-blushy pink. I love it! Charlie painted tons of highlights in my hair, but kept my base close to the red that I already had, then after shampooing out the color, she applied a toner to make it this pretty pink! We have two huge feathers at the salon in one of the back rooms that have a very antique look, and the feathers are the exact color of my hair. I love it!

This kind of toner really doesn’t last long, so I’m going to try and avoid shampooing as much as possible for the next few weeks. Once the pink is out, it will be pretty light again. Color is so fun.

So, thanks to the commenter, Sarah, who suggested I get pink somewhere..I hope you were serious, Sarah!

Thanks for your suggesties! Don’t be jeal of my pink hair!

PS, I answered 5 questions about hair over on Jana’s blog yesterday. Go take a look!

I asked Jake to take my picture when I got home from work tonight, because I felt like I had a good hair day today. It’s not that it was anything special, or that I did anything special with it..which is how it ended up feeling so nice. I felt like it looked good just being it’s own-natural but slightly enhanced with product-self, which doesn’t happen every day, am I right?

Before I went short last spring, I had thought about going short for a long time. At least over a year. The thing I worried about most was the awkward in between length I had heard such terrible things about. I knew I would want to grow out my long hair again soon after cutting it, so I felt really conflicted for a while.

One day I decided I was ready to cut my hair short. So what I did before the big chop, was have a little pow-wow with myself and my hair. This pow-wow was to decide the mood for the next year or two. I vowed with my hair and myself that day, that I was only going to cut it if I was going to like it. Not just like the short cut in the beginning, but like it at each length as it grew out. Liking it all along the way. Not complaining that it’s not long..not regretting the cut…and not letting the unknown in-between stage get me down.

I’m not sure if that pow-wow has worked, or if I just really have loved my hair over the last year. I loved it short, I loved it shoulder length and I’m sure I’d love it during the awkward in between stage if I knew when that was. I feel like it’s supposed to be now, but it can’t be, because I love it now too.

So, before you all think that I’m just bragging about how awesome and glorious my hair is, let me tell you this. The reason I like it, is because I do things to it. I cut it when it’s losing shape or the ends are getting dry, I color it when I’m bored of what’s going on, I play with it by braiding and bunning and fat twisting it, and I appreciate the fact that I have hair on my head at all.

So many times I think we get lazy with our hair. I meet people who say “I never do my hair because it is ____”, then I look up at the messy bun on top of their head and see healthy/lush hair that could literally do anything I tell it to, and I know that they’ve never even tried. There is always something you can do to make your hair look good. Which will always make you feel a little better and prettier in the end.

This is kind of a weird post, but I think what I’m trying to get across to you all, is that if you want to love your hair, you can. By deciding to like it and spending time (even a little!) on it despite what you find wrong with it..awkward lengths or frizziness)…you can eliminate one less thing in your life to stress about, and add one more thing to be happy about.

Let’s stop making excuses and just have awesome hair, ok? Yay!

I love you guys and your hair muy mucho.

(ps, this post was inspired by my friend Jana Mobley. who i found out is the first person I’ve ever known who likes the awkward in between length as much as I do!)

I feel like I’ve been talking about Sarah’s wedding for an eternity! Probably because it was definitely the highlight of my summer, and possibly even my year. It was an honor to be a part of Sarah and Matt’s day, and everything turned out perfect.

I wanted to show you all a few pictures of the day, because as in all weddings, hair was of major importance! Because I was Maid of Honor, I felt that I had to look awesome. The bride suggested that because our dresses were one shoulder, it would look nice to have our hair to the side in some way. This gave me a million options…you know how I love those low messy side buns! I decided to stick to the semi-Grecian theme of our gowns, and do some sort of goddess-y coil curls into a chignon. It was easy and stayed through the outside heat during the ceremony and the dancing. We all know I’m an animal on the dance floor, so that says a lot.

Just call me Haira. Get it? Like the Greek goddess Hera?

One of the best parts of the day, was spending the morning with Sarah getting ready. I did her hair Victoria’s secret style and we laughed and chatted with her mom. I think half the fun of a wedding is taking so much time to get all dressed up. I don’t think anyone can say that Sarah didn’t look perfect. There was never a more beautiful bride. Get me some tissues. (I just realized I need someone around that I can say things like “get me some tissues” to.)

Me, Sarah and Gigi. We all assisted together back in the day. If you’ve ever assisted at a big upscale salon you know what we went through together! Definitely a bond we share!

In case you were wondering, I cried like a little child. Being the Maid (Matron) of honor was one of the most special times of my life. Knowing someone like Sarah considers me her best friend means I have pretty much nothing in the world to complain about!

When I was in Chicago last weekend with my dearest Mellie, I got a great idea for a tutorial. I was wearing my hair half up all day with a fat twist in the back (that I accidentally never got a picture of) and when it came time to go dancing, I pulled the lower half up for a full up fat twist. It was such and easy and seamless way to go from day, to night.

Day (even though it doesn’t look like day, it’s still considered day)

Night

Night (+ cheesy hotel bathroom photos)

And it was even dance proof.

Hooray!

So, what does that make……20 tutorials I need to do? Sarah’s wedding is this weekend and that is basically the highlight of my summer. After that, I should have some time freed up for lots and lots of tutorials!

Cannot wait, y’all!

Here are a few more pics of our 4th celebration. We basically hung out on our roof all day long. It was so much fun. Jen and I made desserts while Jake, Joe and Janky grilled up the veggie burgers and meatie burgers. We drank juice with fruit at the bottom and Jen and I got silly all over the roof. We even climbed onto some of our neighbors roofs. I hope that’s not illegal!

Anyway, I wanted to post a few more pictures, because my hair for the day was great! I simply started out doing a halo braid, but after 3/4 of the way through, I finished up the braid and then tucked it back with the rest of the braid. I guess if I had to name this guy, I’d call it the 3/4 Halo. That might not sound like a clever name, until you think about an angel that only go 3/4 of her halo because she was 1/4 naughty, and then it sounds like a very clever name for a hair-do indeed.

As always, pull and pin until you’re satisfied with the beautiful mess you’ve created on your head.

Just for kicks, here are a few other pictures from the day slash night.

More sparkler writing. Boom Boom Boom (like fireworks, get it?)

I guess I need to grow up. I’m still talking about my old cheerleading days at most social gatherings. I can still do a toe touch even! It isn’t as impressive as it used to be, but at least my toes are pointed.

So uh…you should try the 3/4 Halo and let me know if it concludes in 1/4 naughtiness like mine did. For instance, I had two desserts. That is very naughty.

If nothing else, it will keep your hair off of your neck on a hot day.

I guess Jen is my muse.

She comes over to hang out, and next thing I know, I’m asking if I can do her hair. And she is saying yes. One thing leads to another and before we realize it, she has a full on ‘do and I’m a little out of breath and drinking gatorade to replentish my electrolytes. Having a fit of creativity can take a lot out of you.

Enough about me. Let me brag about Jen for a minute! Well, she was part of the lighting team for the biggest Broadway show of the moment “The Book of Mormon”, which swept the Tonys last night. It won in most of the categories it was nominated in, including best Lighting Design! Go Jen! (Have you seen this show? I have! If you’ve seen it, you know why it’s winning everything. It’s unlike anything else on Broadway. So clever, so funny, so unique, so well done, and slightly inappropriate!)

So Jen had awesome Tony party hair. I was awakened this morning by texts of Jen’s night. She was standing next to the host of the night, Neil Patrick Harris, and she was holding the Tony for Best Lighting design. I’m so proud of her!

On to the hair!

This only took about 15 minutes, which I find is all I need with Jen’s hair. I think it’s because it is so much like mine (aside from color and current length) that I feel like I’ve stepped out of my own body and am just doing my own real body’s hair. I think if Jen reads this, she is going to say no next time I ask, because after re-reading, that just sounded weird.

Anyway, fun times playing with hair! And fun times winning Tonys!

Did you guys watch?

And on a side note, here is a photo of Jen and I together at the Book of Mormon opening night party a few months ago. Fun night dancing next to Paul Rudd and much of the cast from SNL.

I work at the salon Tuesday through Friday, but I did some extracurricular hair yesterday just for fun! Jen, my good friend who is now my neighbor, had a birthday yesterday, so I told her to come upstairs to the 5th floor for some birthday hair presents. She said she was about to have a day of celebrating with her boyfriend, so I wanted to do something that would be out of her way and easy for daytime, but also pretty for nighttime.

We did a little braid swooping from the back to the side. I didn’t invent this guy, I’ve seen it around and done it on myself a few times. It looked great on Jen. She has amazing hair!

After Jen, I went to Long Island to do a wedding hair trial for my best friend, Sarah. I obviously can’t show pictures of that (yet), but she looked stunning. We then went to a gown fitting for both of us (I’m the maid of honor!). It was so great to be able to see the gown with the hair, in fact, it’s really pretty important to know what the gown looks like, so that the hair can be balanced. If you are getting married and doing a hair trial, try to bring your stylist a photo of your gown or at least of one similar!

Anyway, the wedding is July 9th! I can’t wait. Now I just need to figure out how I’ll do my own hair! For sure up in that July heat!

(this is what happens when I take my own pictures. horrible!)

I’ve been away from the blog for about a week and a half because my husband, Jake, and I went on vacation to Barcelona and Paris. It was a great trip, we had so much fun, but it’s good to be back! We’re hoping to film a tutorial or two this weekend since it’s been a few. I can’t wait. Tutorials are my favorite.

So, if you are into it, I thought I’d share a few photos of our vacation with you!

Did you notice my vacay hair? Maude braids, halo braids and top knots galore. I love for my hair to look good and be out of my way so I don’t have to worry about anything but having fun!

How do you wear your hair on a holiday?

All I really want from life is blowy, windy hair. Jake got these photos of me in central park  with windy hair and it made all my dreams come true.

What made it all the more perfect was that I didn’t have lipstick on. Because lipstick or gloss can make fun wind, suddenly terrible very bad wind. Who wants hair stuck to their lips?