Dr. Jack has opened the door and there’s no shutting it now!! It all started a few months ago when I realized that so many of my clothes look exactly the same. I got tired of my old clothes that didn’t fit very well, mostly because 102 pounds does that to you. They hung awfully, and looked dated. It looked like I was wearing someone else’s wardrobe and thankfully, my daughter tells me, “Mom! That has to go. It looks bad in you.”
I decided that since I was making all these big bold moves, it was time to gut my closet. I had been hanging onto lots of things that didn’t fit and were just taking up space. I donated a ton to various charities, gave a lot away, and am still going through things that no longer fit me. I didn’t buy much yet because I am not done with the big weight loss and I can’t quite figure out what looks good and what doesn’t. That’s going to take some time. But, I got rid of things that resembled a different time. It’s like a whole new me needs a new me look.
The last few weeks, I have been staring at myself in the mirror, watching my skin tone improve and my face shrink, and looking at my hair. I was ready for a change just not sure what. I started looking at short hair cut pictures online and wondering. I have noticed those first specks of gray are coming and given that I have still never colored my hair, I realize I have been fortunate. But I was tired of the same look.
Well, Saturday, I made the big jump! I had scheduled a haircut. I have had my stylist since she graduated from school many years ago. I have been with her through her first job, through her own chair at a salon and now in her own business with her partner. Tammy Evans, Envy Hair Studio, on Center Road in West Seneca, has been the only one who I allowed to touch my head because she understood my crazy Hashimoto hair. Unlike some stylists, she has always listened to me and helped me to have a nice haircut, one that suited me. If I wanted some look, she made sure it looked good on me.
She has lived with me through the full new tiny wisps of just the right medication, and the years of not enough medication and falling chunks. She knows how it grows seasonally and she understands how I hate that it has a mind of its own and how I despise triangular cuts that jet out at the bottom, a look I call “Christmas tree” hair.
When I texted her about my big idea she got as excited as I was. I had never let her cut many layers in my hair because like a lot of people I had gotten comfortable with the style. And although I often went to a shorter bob with some inversion, I always stayed pretty conservative. Many years ago, pre Tammy, I had worn my hair short but in my heavy years, someone made a comment to me about how that look is awful on people who are heavier and I took it to heart so I grew it in to a bob, that I always wore with bows or clips pulled back on the side.
After a lot of thought, I decided that a hundred pounds was worth a new fresh look. It was time to update things some. I walked in and told her I was open to change! But I was pretty specific. No “old lady” do for me. If I was going short I wanted it cute and sassy. I wanted it totally changed, even the side I part it on, I wanted gone. She told me her ideas of what she thought would be a good look, and I totally trust her so I added what I thought and said to go ahead. She chopped away, and I think her partner, Ashley, was as excited as I was!
She styled it up pretty and explained to me how to do it. She told me it would take a bit of getting used to and we discussed what products and tools would do the job. We talked and laughed about my seven gray hairs and what we might do with them in the future because now my sparkles are showing. I spent so much time cleaning up my insides and outs so we talked about coloring it some in the future with maybe some highlights and non toxic coloring.
I looked in the mirror at a whole new look, and I loved it! Cute, short and fresh looking. I stopped to show my daughter who immediately approved. She is always trying to help me with a better look. She said it looked great and made suggestions for new earrings that would compliment the look as well as the non existent makeup I might try to make myself look even more pulled together…. Okay one thing at a time, lol…. Kelly offered to help me with some makeup, too, a skill I admit I am terrible at! I envy those who look so pulled together because I always feel awkward and just can never see, to get any of it on correctly.
When I walked in the door, my son did a double take, he couldn’t believe I went that short. “Mom! I think I was three last time your hair was that short!” We ran to our Walmart to pick up food and school supplies for me. I got a lot of, “Wow! Look at you’s!” I have gotten a lot of great reviews about it, some not so much, people who think I look better with longer hair, but who cares?? What matters is that I like it. Dr. Jack was supportive, saying it looked cute as was my friend Mark who said he liked it. Got tons of great Facebook friends who thought it was a great new look. It’s only hair, when I get tired of it, I will grow it into something else. For now, it achieved the goal! A sassy new look for the bolder, more sassier, more out spoken, braver me! No hiding behind bows, no clips, no bob! Break out the dangly earrings and lose the conservative posts! Dr. Jack has no idea who he set free! Ha ha!!
Whats next?? Who knows! If I don’t reinvent myself now, then when?