One of my biggest fears about going on What NOT to Wear was not the being away from home for so long, or even the public humiliation of being named one of America’s worst dressed humans.
It was something way more important…
My hair.
I was deathly afraid that I was going to come home with some sort of pixie-fro I hated and couldn’t manage if my life depended on it.
My hair and I have shared an intense and tumultuous history.
A love, hate, love history filled with all sorts of possibly-crazy person emotions.
I started my life with a pretty strong love for my hair. Little black girl with big curly pony tails garnered me plenty of positive attention…
I like positive attention as much as the next gal. Or maybe even more.
But, by the fourth grade I had full on hair hate raging inside of me.
I wanted the pig tails that stuck out from my head. I wanted a phony tail that I could tie a rubber band all the way around. And then I wanted straight locks too thin to be made into a braid.
I wanted it shorter. Or longer. Or straighter. Or kinkier. Or blonder. Or redder. Or blacker.
Not so curly, not so frizzy, not so matte black, and not so uniquely ew.
I mean seriously. Come. On…
Anything other than what I had actually would have probably been perfect.
And, then things changed again as I moved into high school…
Boys liked my long curly hair.
And I liked boys, so it started working for me.
And it worked for me all the way through college.
Eventually I had The Dudes and the hair that had become my signature piece (aside from the fleecy sweat pants of course), began to spend most of its time tied in a knot at the back of my head.
Too much trouble to be bothered with every day, but too much of a security blanket for me to risk it at another bad hair salon (believe me when I say I went to many).
So, when I sat down in Ted Gibson’s magic chair a few months ago I was worried.
Like freaking the freak out worried.
Turns out the man is a miracle worker and I really had no reason to fret.
Until I came back home and my perfect color and gorgeous cut started to grow out.
I let it go as long as I could.
Which was up until last Saturday when I could no longer stomach the broken ends and the two-tone dye job I was sporting.
I got my hair cut…
I’m trying to make it look more awesome by doing a silly pose but it’s really just meant to distract you from it’s super-tight-curly-shortness and it’s sorta-orangish-orangeness.
Please tell me it’s working, because I SO can not afford a Ted Gibson haircut.
As much as I’d like to fly to NYC ever three months and have that wonderful man put is long, beautiful, miracle fingers through my hair style me, it can not be done.
So, this new stylist relationship is gonna have to work.
I mean it’s not that bad, is it?!*
And it’s gonna grow out, right?
And, until then, I’m sure it will be fine, right?!
I mean seriously.
I’m gonna puke.
And, you’re gonna link up here and then head over to see the super cool celebrity photos Angie is sharing this week!
Okay, totally just tell me if it is because the truth is what matters even if it does make me hate you a little. I kid. I would hate you a lot not hate you.
love that pose, love your hair too. I remember seeing you outside the 1st mariners arena (disney on ice) and noticing how pretty your hair was….this was before I realized it was you. The dudes inherited some of the best of you <3
Oh, and I love your Cabbage Patch Kids shirt. I had one when I was little too and I LOVED it!!! :-)
I really like your hair. I like the curls. But I’d have no clue how to take care of it. I can barely take care of my own without damaging it and I have a relaxer.
Your hair is gorgeous, I totally love it, have a long curly hair myself so maybe I’m biased to say I think it’s 100% awesome!!!xD
You look pretty!!! and what a cute kid you were! I too am scared of hairdressers, because mine is a looser curl, with lots of frizz if not done right. And no one seems to “work” with the curl!
I LOVE your outfit. And your fun pose. And your hair.
You look great! Super stylish! We have to come back to the real world at some point! I have also been through an experience like What not to Wear (with Cliton on a Canadian talk show) and am scared to death to get my hair re-done. I know it won’t be the same as the $250 hair cut we were treated to. I, like you, am going to have to resign myself to whatever I can afford. I guess the trick is finding someone who can work wonders on hair without the high price tag. How did you chose the stylist to do the current do??
it looks pretty good to me – and i love the dress too!
The boots, the dress, gimmee! You look fabulous!
I don’t even wanna look at photos from my past, lol!
I just got a (TOTALLY AWESOME) haircut today. I think I would ask Ted for a recommendation of a stylist or salon in your area if you aren’t happy with your current one. It’s what YOU think that matters!
Love it!!!!!
I love your hair, and I think you look great. Do you know how lucky you are to have had this experience? I would love to be on What Not to Wear! Enjoy your new look and know that you are fabulous…inside and out!
It looks good to me in that photo. Don’t sweat it.
your hair is awesome – great color for summer :)
You look great! And, I do love the boots.
Umm your crazy, your hair is awesome!! I love it. I have been working on getting mine oranger (is that a word?) LOL You are rocking it!!! All growing up I hated my red/orange hair, now all I want is that color back Haha
Ok, call me crazy…it’s ok! Everyone calls me that :-). But I think your hair is SUPER adorable in ALL of the pictures you shared. And honestly, I do love your new doo! I laughed when I read that you were the most nervous about the “hair part” of WNTW. I would TOTALLY LOVE to be nominated for that show! Lord knows I need to be! But the part that scares me THE MOST is getting my hair done. I have the worlds best hair stylist and she’d shoot me dead if I let someone else touch my hair…that she (and I) have worked so hard to get healthy! I’d kinda dread the make-up part too. But I can wash that off :-). Again, Love your blog…and I promise not to be so wordy in future comments! :-D
My fist ever Wordless Wednesday!
Seriously, I thought that was a photo that was directly after WNTW, as in that was your ‘after’ photo of fabulousness. You look wonderful, and no one should pay Ted-level money for a haircut – save it for a vacation instead!
The hair rocks. The frock rocks. You rock!
I’m still working on rocking the hair, but the dress?! Love it! It’s like one of my faves and it cost me less than $20! Awesomeness on a budget! Thanks for the rockin’ compliments!
You look totally cute, the hair is great! The dress is FAB-U-LOUS and the boots are to-die-for. LOVE IT~ I have stringy red hair and I’m jealous :)
I tried to die my hair red once. FAIL. Thanks for saying nice things about me. I like that:)
I’m sorry, I didn’t notice your hair so much cuz I was too busy drooling over your awesome boots!
I LOVE them! I got them on the show and before I really never wore brown (I look all chocolate bar-y in brown), but now I’m looking for any reason to wear my boots! They are so, SO comfy too! I can wear them all day even if I’m walking around or standing or whatever.
What are you talking about? You look cute!
Thanks! It’s just the shortness. I’ve never had shoulder length hair before and I feel so exposed! And naked. And EXPOSED!
Would you hate me if I told You I think your hair is um.. not that much different? Course I didn’t meet you right after Ted, so what do I know. but the image is awesome… :)
It is! It sooo much shorter. And smaller. And, curlier. And, SHORTER!
I think your hair is great! And anyone with that much joy is going to look fabulous no matter what! Thanks for reminding me to smile and for inspiring me to write about may daughter’s hair, which I just noticed (my link title went to an old post — today’s is “Today I looked at my daughter”)
I have to go check out your daughter’s hair post! And thank you for the compliment!
You look fabulous! Love the dress too and boots too!
Thanks, Coreen! The dress=Marshall’s. The boots=Aldo (from WNTW).
I think it looks great! And I love that pic of you when you were a little girl. :)
Thanks, Aimee! My mom used to make me take a picture every morning before kindergarten. “Pretend you’re coming out of the door. Now. SMILE!” Hated it then. Love them now!
I think your hair is beautiful! From the picture it looks to be a great color on you, too. And the dress? Adore.
Awesome cheap find at Marshall’s!
Oh girl, you look awesome! The hair, the cut, the colour, the outfit. But if you really don’t like it, Lolli’s right, it’ll grow out and you can try something different next time.
Hmm, perhaps you can hint to the dudes that for Mother’s Day you’d like your very own Ted!!!
Actually, I’m grooming #3 to be a hairstylist. He does a great job making really jacked up pony tails on my head. Gotta start somewhere!
how hard can it be to hold that pose? oh. ok, then, it’s adorable!!!!
Honestly? Hard! When you are thrown off balance by your non-pregnant-pregnant belly, it makes standing on one foot insanely challenging!
I think it looks adorable. Or maybe I’m just distracted by the pose. Either way, if you’re not totally happy, YES it’s going to grow out. It always does, even when we DON’T want it to. ;)
Totally happy? Ha! What’s that feel like? I even had some beef with Ted’s work. Not a lot. But, a little. Clearly I can’t ever be satisfied! Missed you in Boston this week:(
I don’t think it looks bad at all. It is kind of hard to see in that photo, but from what I can see it is really cute.
I call that strategery my friend! Distracting pose, wide angle lens, distnace back, everything looks cute, right?! Including my belly?!
Crazy question…were you at the Farmer’s Market on Sunday morning under the JFX?? If not there was a women who looked a lot like you with great shoes on..I almost said something and then thought if it wasn’t you I would feel foolish..and if it was..would I look like a total stalker?? If it was you..I was not following you..we go every Sunday morning..lol
Okay, seriously, I love your hair. It is wonderfully natural so that makes it awesome. I think the color works really well with your skin tone. At any rate, if you rock it likes its the shiz then everyone else will think it is too.
I think I can work the pretend-you’re-the-shiz angle?! I do it on this here blog all the time!
You look fabulous! (But I get the whole life-long hair thing)
Yes! I feel like I lost my pet monkey or something. Actually, it looked much like a pet monkey when I first got it cut!
dude, you have awesome hair. I know you’ve heard it all before, the “man, what I would do to have YOUR hair instead of my stringy flat hair” blah blah blah…..but it’s true. You rock it.
Thanks, Em. Everyone who doesn’t have curly hair wants it & everyone who has it doesn’t it seems!
The hair is cute, the dress adorable, the boots are smoking!
Here is a very important thing to remember about hair and a haircut – it grows, you cut it again…enjoy the temporary nature of any hairdo :)
I’m trying! This is a new feeling though! Seriously before I went on WNW my hair was to my waist! MY. WAIST!
Well I like it! Or at least what I can see of it- it’s kind of hard to see.
I think it looks great. The color will begin to fade after a couple of washes if you are really freaked :)
You look fabulous!
It’s cute, but it’s hard to tell because the pic is so far away. So I demand a close up.
Your hair and the attitude you convey (Loving Life!) are fantastic! You come across as involved and FUN ; ).
And the little girl shot is adorable!
I love your hair and your dress and your boots. Very cute.
Here’s what I think:
A) It’s very cute!
B) If your gut is not happy with it – and if you keep questioning yourself – maybe you need to tweak it to a point that you look in the mirror and liek what you see.
C) Even though I said “B” above, I think it’s very cute.
LOVE the new do! Super cute!
you look cute.
http://wwww.nycsinglemom.com
I really like it. And I love, love, love your outfit too!
I love the new ‘do – and the silly pose! And the walk down Memory Lane! :) I can empathize with the multitudes of trips to bad hairdressers. I still haven’t found one that can handle my problem head’o’hair. :)
WW: Dragon Princess
I LOVE it and the super cute dress and boots balance it out perfectly. I never can keep up a thing that a stylist does and that is without flying to NYC.
Love the hair! That dress is so cute too. I think I need this show! ;)
Are you kidding me? I think it’s super cute. And I love your bright outfit! Just keep working it. Work it all. You’ll be fine. Though I wish I could have a Ted Gibson cut, too… Sigh.
Visiting from Hobo Mama and Natural Parents Network (both with linkies)!
I like the new ‘do and I’m not even saying that to kiss up. I totally feel you on the hair thing. It’s rare that I find a style I like on myself. I always have visions when I go to the salon, but they rarely turn out the way I want.
My boyfriend in highschool told me he would break up with me if I cut my hair. I cut it, he didn’t break up with me, boring!
I know Men always love loooong hair. I don´t know why. ;D As a child I had short hair and looked like a boy. Then I let it grow…and finally had long hair. But now I got rid of it. And it´s short again. Can you believe it, I was sick of it! (I hate new my haircut).
I think you are a real beauty! And your new haircut looks lovely!!! I love your curls!
I´m sure your family loves it, too!
Have a happy WW!
Hug´s,
Verena
Ohh I think it looks absolutely splendid!
You did great on the show too!
oh me and my hair have a love hate relationship too! I love my long hair – I hate that it all is falling out b/c I flatten it and had it straightened!
You look beautiful!
OMG! You are so cute! Love the dress.
Thanks for hosting the linky party. I enjoyed your post a lot :D
I have linked your blog in my WW post for this week. I hope you come by and visit!
Happy WW! :)
Cool hair, it goes with the dress and with your shoes, of course.
I think your hair looks great! And kuddos to you for putting up lovely old pics of your hair – I think it would be hilarious to have a WW high-school hair-do edition! :-)
I like it!! I think it looks great! I have always been scared to just let someone do whatever *they* wanted to my hair. They’d probably cut it all off and I HATE my hair short. Work it, mama!
Okay..your silly pose definitely works! Haa…joke aside. But you look awesome in that tight curls. Let your personality shines!
And Happy Wednesday.
And the photo of you in the Cabbage Patch shirt? Priceless. :)
Oh my goodness, I love the cut, color, silly pose. It’s all working for you!
you look adorable no matter what you do. I like it! Next time less silly pose, more of that gorj face :-) Although I love seeing that dress!!!! Finding a stylist btw is so hard… Let me introduce you to my hair horror story, and ill post it here for others amusement :)
So I was pregnant with Owen (our 3rd) and wanted my bangs trimmed… they were out of control. So I go in and stopped at this ladies salon I had never been in (why, I do not know!) – I go in and asked her for a slight trim on the bangs, that is all. While she trimmed away she kept going on abt how she wanted to cut my hair and how the way she wanted to do it would be much more flattering to my face, blah blah blah.. I didnt have time for a full cut tho and just told her “the bangs are it for today, thanks”
I leave… in a rush to pick up my son from pre-school and this is what I walked out with (un knowingly til I got home and looked into a mirror closer)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2448/3749378387_f7b0ed5f49_z.jpg
Uh yea.. GIGANTIC HOLES IN MY BANGS!!
So I then go to another hair dresser in town and asked her to fix my bangs and make them even….
THIS IS HOW I Left…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2658/3754757711_1259af24c8_z.jpg
I LOOKED LIKE JIM CAREY FROM DUMB AND DUMBER MIXED WITH A CHINESE TEA WAITRESS! I LOOKED SO RIDICULOUS. Can you tell I was upset? :) My husband when he saw me was like “Uhhhh go back” LOL and mind you he is not one to care abt my hair.. but he couldnt stand to even look at it lol…
SO I GO BACK to this same lady and asked her “seriously, what can I do to fix this?”
She said “seriously… I have no clue but to cut it all off”
I said “fine, do it”
Reminder, I was pregnant… and my face was breaking out – so a head with NO Hair was not what I had in mind for the start of my 3rd pregnancy…
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2640/3754742347_fab3228252_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/finadrea/3758177282/ – a cell pic showing the back more
– Since this whole experience I took the time to find a stylist I trusted. She is expensive… well for me any way :) $25 a cut, where before I paid 10, lol I guess I got what I paid for right?
She does well tho! Even with her tho I had some fears because my hair was so messed up that one time… that I avoided getting it cut and actually havent had it cut since Owen was a few months old, so a year now. It needs the ends trimmed bad… but over all im very happy with how its grown out.
I trim my OWN BANGS now :)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5297/5580899087_436027afd7_b.jpg – taken in March.
Now go back and look at my Dumb and Dumber picture again, it will make you gasp or laugh :) one.
You’re hair is super cute! No need to call Ted…
It is SO cute! For real!
From one curly to another I know how you feel about the love/hate with curly hair. But I like, it’s not too short and it falls nicely. You don’t have the dreaded pyramid head. And cute dress, by the way.
I think your whole get-up is great!
I have the same hair angst as you right now.
Love, love, love that dress!!! BOOYAH!
I like the hair, the dress, and the boots!
And I jumped aboard the linky.
I think your hair looks great in that picture. And so does the outfit.
Love those long braids, but your new ‘do looks great to me. I wish I had your curls!
Aw you’re adorable! Cute dress and boots! There’s nothing wrong with your hair Hot Stuff!
I think it looks great! And that dress looks amazing on you!
I LOVE it all! The hair, the dress, the boots, the whole background story… mama, you are a sex kitten ;)
Lovin’ the whole look! That dress is sooo cute! As are you in that broadway pose ;)
you make me laugh
You are so cute, dress, boots and HAIR! mwah!
You look great! And I LOVE your sassy outfit Mama!
I love it! And you look so adorable in that last shot. Kudos to you for sharing old pics. I don’t know if I have the guts to do that. I had HUGE bangs growing up. :)
I, love it. That is the kind of curl I wish my hair would do, but it doesn’t. Ever. Ever. *sighs
Ah, yes indeed, the hair struggles. I’ve written about this, too. Your hair looks just fine. In fact it’s even more devine since you are posing so joyfully! Why do we all stress so much about our hair, anyway?
You look good.. with all the curls and all.. I recently cut off my hair and wear it very short now.. less hassle taking care of it.
I am so feeling you with the hair! Love yours. My curls are just all over the place usually. Frizzy frizzy frizzy! You have a new follower in me…. You writing is fun to read.
Hope you take a look at my personalized tees and baby gifts for kids. Just starting out, would love some love! labarrielittles.blogspot.com
I like it!
I’d be scared that all of my hair would get cut off on one of those shows. Every time I cut my hair short, I hate it. But, I think it will look good b/c I see other people with short cute haircuts. But, then mine is cut and I cry.
You look great! I love the dress!
I love your hair. Honestly, I do. Seeing all of your past do’s was pretty entertaining too. I’d be too embarrassed to showcase mine.
Terrific photos! Love the retrospective!
*I* think it’s adorable. Seriously.
And . . . how did we have the same hair in Junior High? ‘Cause I tried that same style…. and it only kinda worked with my curly hair.
I have a love/hate relationship with my hair as well. It’s really, really curly. . . and, as I’ve gotten older, it’s gotten thinner. (it used to be SO thick) It’s getting harder and harder and harder to find a style that works and is “fresh”/modern.
(sigh)