Hair-brained

I am not a complete girlie-girl. I like clothes and make-up, but I'm willing to leave the house wearing sweats with a bare face when pressed for time. I've recently realized, however, that in the past year or so I've let myself go. I was sitting in the bath on the weekend and noticed one of my hairs on the edge of the tub. I picked it up to throw it out, and then took a closer look. The top half of the hair was dark, and only the bottom was my familiar blonde! I counted back on my fingers - it had been almost 12 months since I'd last had highlights or a cut! My self-image is incredibly intertwined with the state of my hair. I don't mean that I'm one of those women who spends hours styling and straightening their hair each morning, but despite numerous experiments with cuts and dye over the years, I always come back to the same look. I have long, blonde, curly hair. It has darkened somewhat over the years, hence the need for highlights, but is still firmly in the blonde camp. I don't necessarily look bad with a different colour or cut, I just don't think that I look like me.

Hubs and I had the most fun wedding. Ever. Seriously - ask anyone there. We had a big white tent put up in our backyard. We hired a fabulous dj and turned the stone patio Hubs had just put in into a dance floor. We spent most of our money on booze (the bartender from Hubs' rugby pub volunteered to tend bar for free, of course he ended up taking home one of my single friends, arguably the hottest girl at the wedding, so he made out alright) and the most fabulous caterer. We had the perfect August day, and all our guests came casual and relaxed. The minister was almost 2 hours late (we inadvertantly scheduled our wedding for the same weekend as Taste of the Danforth, despite living right around the corner) but it didn't matter. We opened the bar, the caterers brought out delicious hors d'oeurves, and the dj played some tunes. It was almost a shame to interrupt the party for the ceremony.

But here's the thing. You will never see a photo of our wedding. We didn't hire a professional photographer, but we have hundreds and hundreds of shots taken by our guests. Hubs regrets not hiring a professional, and although I nod my head along with him, I am secretly thrilled that we didn't. I hate all of the wedding photos. I had terrible hair. At the time of our wedding I was growing out a really short haircut, and some red hair dye. My hairdresser tried to make it blonde for me, and it helped, but it still wasn't right. In retrospect, I should have put the wedding off for a year until my hair was right. Still, best party ever.

I made it to my hairdresser on Tuesday. She had a good laugh at the state of my coiffure, and my state of panic, but she made me a blonde bombshell once again. Gentlemen may not prefer blondes, and blondes may not really have more fun, but I prefer ME blonde, and I fully expect to have a lot more fun now that my hair is as it should be once again.