HAIR-LARIOUS

Sorry for the Caden-free post... I know that is why you all read my blog, but I have to share a little bit of Katie-hilarity with you tonight... it all started when...

I went to college, and for the first time in my life I wasn't in the sun ALL day every day... I played tennis since I was 9 and my hair was always the perfect shade of blonde. When I frequented the classroom and the cafeteria more than the courts I suddenly realized that I am actually a dark blonde, not an ash blonde with bleached-colored highlights. A dark blonde? No way... that just wouldn't work! So that is when my obsession with hair color started! 

I started going back to my blonde but a for a few years in college I would dye my hair brown every fall and then let it fade back to blonde for the spring and summer. Brown was fun, but I am definitely more a blonde!

So now...here we are... a few months before Caden's arrival and Justin and I had some big budget cuts to make. NOT MY HAIR! NO! I couldn't! I had become quite the hair snob since my freshman year in college and it wasn't a big deal for me to spend upwards of $200 every 6 weeks on my hair... and that didn't include all of the products I needed (was suckered into buying) as well! 

As you might imagine, our single-income baby budget didn't really think a $200 hair bill was acceptable, SO I cut it back some. I found a few new places, one in San Antonio and one here in Austin. They weren't what I had become accustomed to but they weren't bad. I have only had my hair colored once since Caden's been born... and he's been here for almost 5 months! Yikes!

So that brings us to the point of this whole post... after checking out my HIDEOUS roots after a photo session with Caden last weekend I decided it was TIME. I had to do something. SO I called my girl in Austin and she couldn't get me in until next week. Well those of you who know me well know that once I got it in my head that I needed a root-boost it was important for me to GET my root-boost. So, naturally... I did what any color-crazy girl would do... I went to the grocery store and bought a box 'o color.

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I know, I know!! I can't believe I did it either! In a moment of fierce determination and confidence I did it. I was going to conquer those nasty roots myself! I was hearing the frazzled voice of Elle Woods in my head and knew she would be beyond disappointed but I was sure she'd approve of my next idea... 

I was going to put my years of watching what I would call "some of the best colorists ever" work, I knew I was up for the challenge. All I needed were two boxes of color... I NEVER trusted a colorist who only used one color... dimension people! I had everything else I needed at home... 

Now if you'd please join me on my HAIR-LARIOUS Journey...

(Please note that no children/animals were harmed during this process. (Caden was napping!!))

Step 1: Examine your unsightly roots. (Please forgive the grease... I had just returned from my morning run... yes that's right I said it... RUN! And yes, I am sore! Thanks for asking!)

Step 2: Station Prep: Two boxes of complimentary shades, two paper bowls, some foam brushes I had left over from an "art" project, Reynold's Wrap cut into squares and my handy-dandy video monitor. Check, check!

Step 3: Sectioning the hair... with ANY clip, rubber band, bobby-pin I could find.

Step 4: Brush and Foil... Here's the thing about the "foiling," stylists as a general rule DO NOT use Reynold's Wrap... nope... they use special foil that folds SO much easier than my friend Reynold! Doesn't look quite as nice and neat as a professional does it?? OKAY IT DOESN'T EVEN COMPARE!

Step 5: Wait, pray, wait, pray... okay I actually didn't pray. I didn't feel like it was a good use of God's time, but maybe I should have because when I rinsed and dried I got a color similar to this...

Or maybe this is a better visual...

Regardless, I couldn't dare take a picture of it, not even for the blog. So I decided it really wasn't ALL that bad. It would grow on me. No... I think I can fix it... back to the bathroom I went. I tried two more times with those same two bottles of color... and ended up a little better, although my roots who were obviously MUCH darker than I had realized and were still a little highlighter-ish. After three tries and three showers (a record for a week much less one day) I decided to give it up and make the best of it. 

Then, Justin came home... totally supportive of my 'do-it-yourself' attitude, he said it's not horrible honey... it looks pretty good. Then he said, next time... just go get it done, we can afford it! Hmmmm... must be bad if he is encouraging me to spend money. Then we went to Justin's softball game... YES I went out in public, but I didn't care... I figured no one had seen me in awhile so they probably had forgotten that I don't normally look like a highlighter... or maybe they would think I ate too many lemons or it was a weird reaction to giving birth... I was safe from judgement!

And that brings us to today... are you getting tired of reading this yet? READY to see the final product? Okay hold on...

This morning, I went on a walk with one of our greatest friends and her daughter... as soon as she saw me she said, WOAH, You're blonde! I like it... it's very golden blonde! Look at you... I like you as a blonde! Okay so that sounds all good and great right? But my sweet friend, who I love dearly was obviously SO blinded by my highlighter head that she skipped right past HI and Good Morning and went straight for the WOAH... followed by the rest which no doubt was her trying to make the WOAH sound positive and not like WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO?!

That was it... I knew something had to be done. 

Back to the store... back to the box, but this time a darker blonde and I was just going to go for it... all over color no messing with highlights and Reynold and foam brushes... 

And after two tries... and only one bottle of color I got this...

No roots... a little bit of a red tint... but hey I figure it will be a good thing because you know Caden is a strawberry blond, so people will come up to us and say, "Aw he has your hair!" and I'll say, "Yes, gotta love that Loreal, I mean, those GENETICS!" Mommy and son... what a combo!

It actually looks more like this...not the best color job I've ever had, but not horrible! Certainly the cheapest color-job I've ever had... and that's worth a lot! 

And hey... my hair matches my eyebrows... I can't remember the last time it did that! 

So there you have it... my HAIR-LARIOUS JOURNEY to the picture above. I am not sure if there is a moral to this story other than, it's fun to try new things, it's nice to know that I have enough self-confidence to venture into public with a highlighter on my head and it's GREAT to get rid of my roots! Oh and ONLY a blonde could have fun while doing this!!

Happy Wednesday!