I did it!

This week I had a really important appointment to keep.  It took a long time for this day to come & I was ready.

Well over a year ago I decided to grow my hair out so that I could donate it to Locks Of Love.  It was kind of an ambitious goal for me because I haven't had my hair much longer than shoulder length for about 10 years.  Plus I have a lot of gray hair, I color it every six weeks, & I sometimes go through seasons of shedding which leave me just about ready for a wig or wiglet myself.  But it seemed like something I could at least try to do, so I made it a goal.

And let me tell you, I was ready to have it cut.  The longer it got, the harder it got to deal with.  I couldn't wear it up a lot because it made the shedding worse.  The weather had started to get warmer & more humid & that made it crazy frizzy unmanageable.  I was just kind of letting it wig out of control to avoid putting too much product or heat on it & I wasn't feeling too pretty most days (not that me feeling pretty matters much). This photo was taken the morning of my haircut appointment.  I straightened it that day so that hopefully we could get an easy measurement of the length.  

After work I headed straight to DeAnn's hair-cutting chair.  She had blocked off some extra time because she knew I was thinking I was ready for the big whop.  I got really nervous before I got to the shop so I called my sister.  She wisely reminded me it was just hair; it would grow back.  And besides that, new styles can be a lot of fun.  Beth is one smart cookie.  I am blessed to have her on my speed dial.

And here it is!  My little hair donation ponytail!  It doesn't look very long but it is all curled up inside of itself. Ornery to the very end, my hair is.

 And here's the new 'do!  DeAnn is such a fabulous friend & hair girl.  I love her.  If you're local, I will get you her number & set up you.  You'll never regret letting her work on your tresses.  She took nearly three hours to color & style me up, letting me have a lot of say in how the style took shape.  Then she took several minutes to explain to me how she styled it so that I would know what to do on my own.  I've never had short hair so I was a little intimidated.

And I've been a little obsessed with self portraits.  I kind of don't recognize myself but I really think I like the short 'do.  It's super easy although I keep using way too much shampoo & conditioner!  It dries so quickly & I just have a minimal amount of fuss to shape it pretty much the way I want.  I think it might be just a little to boofy around my ears so I may call DeAnn & see if she can help me out with that.

And here's my attempt at a shot of the back for you.  It is different.  I keep feeling like I've put my hair up & I need to let it down.  And then I reach up there & there's no pony tail! no messy bun!  Just this soft, wavy, short hair!  A major plus is that I don't even need any products except for a little bit of hairspray.  Is it bad that I feel like short hair could be a major money saver for me?

Source

This picture was my inspiration shot.  I totally fell in love with the television show "Once Upon A Time" this winter & I also fell in love Ginnifer Goodwin's short 'do.  Seriously, if I hadn't seen her 'do I don't think I would have been emboldened to cut this much off.  I think we copied it fairly well.  What do you think?

Part of the reason I have been so happy with this major change is that I know that Mom loves it.  She chose to wear her hair short & she always wanted me to wear mine short, too.  She just thought it would be easier to handle & that my natural wave & bounce would work better with shorter hair.  Once again, I think momma knows best.  Her other opinion on my hair was that I should let my gray show & stop all the coloring.  Honestly, I've been mulling this one over, too.  The dye seems to really irritate my scalp & I just don't think it's possible that all that irritation couldn't be bad for me.  But, baby steps...can't do everything drastic all at once!

Have any of you donated your hair before?  are you working on it now?  are you thinking about it?  Tell us your story!