Seven hours later ...

I probably shouldn’t bring in photos when I get my hair colored. I always leave disappointed.

After 7 hours (yes, 7 long, mind-numbing hours), my hair didn’t look like the stupid picture.

I understand it’s hard to exactly replicate a photo, so I’m not mad. I could even like my hair; I’m not sure.

It just doesn’t look like the photo. Of course, I don’t look like Carmen Electra so that might be a big part of the problem (maybe all of the problem).

Yeah, so not me.

Apparently, my hair has a lot of red in it. When I was coloring it dark, I guess it always did have a reddish tint. It always washed out so fast, I barely remembered it though. In an ironic turn of events, red is the hardest color to lift out of your hair when trying to go lighter.

So after those 7 grueling hours, I’m left with hair that’s way more red than I intended. Sometimes I feel that it looks orange, but others are assuring me that it doesn’t (I think they’re just being nice).
 
I’m not sure if I don’t like it or it’s just taking some time to adjust to this lighter color.

Kinda orange, no?

Oh, well. I can live with it for eight weeks when again the colorists will descend on my hair in their second attempt to make my hair look like the photo. I’d do it sooner, but in an effort to keep my hair on my head, I’m giving it time to heal. The stylist suggested waiting “as long as I could stand it.”

Until then, I‘m left with more carrot- than caramel-colored hair.

I think I’ll just go running. A ponytail and a Bondi Band hide most of it. 

Hairy randomness

It's time for one of those posts with all the random thoughts. Welcome to my brain ... frightening.

• I am loving the promos for Charlie Sheen's new show, "Anger Management."  Of course, I love Charlie Sheen so that makes sense. 

•  I like Maroon 5 even though most of their songs sound exactly the same. Like one, like them all. So, I find myself jamming along to their newest song, "Payphone." But, what year is it? Are there any payphones left in the US? Of course, I don't tend to really listen to lyrics that closely. Maybe it explains this in the song. 
• Dr. Dre rocks (well, raps); he's one of my all-time favorite rappers. So, when I heard on the radio this morning to Google "Dr. Dre World-Class Wreckin' Cru," of course I did. Wow.

• Being the cheap frugal girl that I am, I get my hair cut and colored at a beauty school. I don’t change my hair style much, and I never let anyone cut more than an inch off of it, so I’m not really particular about who cuts it. As long as I don’t end up looking like this again (I’m number 9), I’m cool.
• I’m all about changing hair color, though. I get bored easily, and I figure color is something you can always fix (or I tell myself that). So, for my appointment on Saturday, I'm thinking lighter. Maybe carmelish?

From this ... (classy car photo)

... to this? (source)

• Sometimes I wonder why I spend so much time on my hair. I feel like my hair spends most of its life in a ponytail. Between running and sports or out of irritation, my hair is up on my head a good deal of time.

Reliving the past

Since I’m getting rather frustrated at my running performances lately, I decided to live in the past. OK, not really. Just relive some of it. Specifically, those wonderful running moments that seem so far away right now.

Take, for example, the Florida Beach Halfathon and 5K race on March 18 (I ran the 5K).

I love this picture for many reasons, including: 

1. I’m with my best running buddy, Caroline. 
2. We had someone at the race to take our picture. The first 5K we did together, we had no one – no one to take our picture or cheer us on (besides Ronald McDonald, but I don’t think he was there just for us). We even had to stash our stuff in the bushes because no one was there to hold it. So, it’s so nice to think back and remember that at this race, we had three people and a dog watch us run. 
3. The sun is just starting to come up. Look at how darn dedicated we are! We woke up before the sun to run in a race. Plus, the just-before-sunrise period provides excellent lighting for photos. 
4. I love remembering this race. It was on the beach. Well, not technically on the beach (no sand running, thank goodness), but on trails around the beach. So, a lovely setting. And, it was easy. I never thought I’d ever say this about any running event, but this one was so smooth. As I neared the finish line, I thought: “This is it?” I felt like I could have run miles more than I did. I had the realization that this running thing was finally starting to click, and I could go farther and faster. Exciting stuff for a former non-running girl! 
5. My red hair. I don’t like my hair red, but I do like to look different. Having the same hair color all the time is boring. So, even though it wasn’t my favorite shade, it’s fun to look back and look different.

Since I feel like I’ve digressed since this photo, I tried to think about the differences between then and now. The only things I came up with (besides having a different hair color): heat and humidity. It was actually cool that morning. So, maybe those people do know what they’re talking about. Maybe I will run better and feel better when it’s cooler. I sure hope so.