I’ve been gradually making myself over these last few weeks. This was prompted by several things, not the least of which was feeling frumpy-dumpy after weeks of wearing various combinations of layers of fleece and flannel and a big wide knitted headband/earwarmer on my head.
It started with a haircut. When we had a warm spell that actually made it too hot for said headband, I realized that my hair had grown out to a really awkward length, and it was time to either commit to growing it long and making friends again with ponytail holders and barrettes, or cutting it short again. I opted for the latter and gave myself a chin-length wavy bob with straight bangs. It turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself.
Next, I finally bought some new glasses. They’re just readers; I can’t look at a computer screen or small print for very long without them without giving myself a headache. But my old ones were pretty scratched up, and I was really bored with the frames. The new ones are black/green rectangular frames with a slight cat’s eye thing happening, and I think they’re quite fetching. Better yet, I can actually see out of them, which is nice.
Finally, this past Saturday I did something I’ve been meaning to do for quite some time now: I put henna on my hair to cover my ever-increasing number of pure white hairs. I’ve never used henna before, and it was quite the project. After a lot of research and combing through a lot of reviews, I settled on Light Mountain pure henna. Following some suggestions left in the reviews, I added lemon juice and ginger to the mix. The day before, I did a strand test, and after letting it set almost two hours, the strand overall had a lovely boost, just a shade more vibrant than my natural hair color, with the white hairs having turned a coppery gold. The effect was subtle but lovely, and it was just what I wanted.
So I repeated everything for the main event — which, let me tell ya, was messy and tiring; applying henna to your hair is definitely the sort of thing that’s best done with the help of a partner — and actually shortened the time I left it on … and it came out just a couple shades shy of bright Bozo red. I mean, it’s bright. The picture below doesn’t really do it justice.
Note that the white balance in the above pic was off and made my hair look much redder than it actually was at the time. Which doesn’t really make it a good “before” pic to pair with this one…
I don’t hate it, but it’s taking some getting used to. It definitely looks better when I’ve got on makeup, and use eyebrow pencil to make my brows match. Otherwise, it looks pretty fake — and the last thing a true redhead wants is to look like a bottle redhead. Other than that, though, the henna left my hair really soft and manageable. I’ll be sticking with it — I kind of have to for a while since I bought three boxes (that’s how they were sold on Amazon) — but I hope I can figure out a way to tone it down a bit next time.
At any rate, I’m hoping that my slow makeover and my recently acquired cute green jacket are going to add up to some kick-ass author portraits, just as soon as the weather warms back up enough for Matt and I to head out and do a photo shoot somewhere picturesque.
In other news, the friend I thought was coming over on Saturday came over Sunday instead, along with my nephew, so we had a bona-fide Super Bowl party. Matt cooked lots of yummy stuff and I mixed up some dirty margaritas, and the game was close enough to be interesting even to a non-football-fan such as myself, although we were all rooting for the Seahawks (or rather, for NOT TOM BRADY, really), so the ending kinda blew. Still, it was a very nice time overall.
The commercials were also pretty disappointing, but there were two that stood out for me: the Liam Neeson “Revenge” one, and the Breaking Bad one, with Walter White having replaced the lady’s pharmacist. I have no idea what that second ad was selling, but it was funny, so good job, I guess?
After everyone left, we were both still pretty wired, so we watched a couple eps of Breaking Bad (we’re still in the middle of a nightly BB binge) before turning in, after which we both wanted to read, so it ended up being almost 2 AM before we finally turned out the light and went to sleep. And that is the latest either of us has intentionally stayed up (insomnia notwithstanding) in a very long time.
And then our dog woke us up at the usual time this morning, so we’re both very tired.
What about you guys? Any changes you’ve made recently, big or small? Did you watch the Super Bowl, or did you find something else to do with your Sunday night? Did you sit around cracking “The more you know” jokes at the finale of Katy Perry’s performance? Does Tom Brady’s face make you want to stab somebody? Let’s hear it in the comments!
