I've still got it...Sort of.

As a little girl, I always liked to play hairdresser. I'd pretend I knew what I was doing and hack into some Barbie dolls until I felt they were more beautiful than before, or until there was no more hair to cut. But as I got older, I realized that I'm not really a hairdresser. So when I was past the point of dolls and the time came for me to put my scissors away, I just couldn't. I had a passion for this stuff! So...I went to beauty school. Actually that's a lie, I became a teacher. But I felt like I went to beauty school because as the years went on I had this confidence that came about whenever one on my friends or family had an idea for a new do. "I could totally do that for you", I'd say. Was I crazy? Probably. But what's crazier is that these people actually let me play hairdresser and I finally had a real live Barbie to test out my talents on!! Every girls dream...

One of the first memories of my career in the beauty industry was when I was about twelve years old, my sister 14. Lauren, who has pretty red hair and fair skin decided she wanted something new, to be blonde! After convincing her that I could make this happen, I sent her into our bathroom while I gathered my supplies from the laundry room. The laundry room? Yes, the laundry room. Then I headed back to my makeshift salon in the bathroom. "Lean your head over the tub and ill pour on the bleach," I instructed her. That's what people use to go blonde, right? Bleach. Yes. But not this bleach, and not like this. My poor sister started screaming and crying while her skin turned red and her scalp burned. I immediately started doing damage control and rinsed her down with cold water before applying the lemon juice, which was obviously the next best choice in her attempts to lighten up and I couldn't leave the job undone. And once again, she let me do this too. Over time I learned a few dos and dont's of the hairdressing world, and mostly by trial and error. Let me share a couple of the most important lessons I learned along the way...

• I learned you don't partner with your best friend to each do a side of your other friends hair while she sits on the bathroom toilet with the door open.

1. Because her mother will walk in and catch you.
2. Because you'll both cut different lengths. (Sorry Britt, Cassie and I thought we had that one!)

•  I learned you shouldn't attempt do to foil highlights for the first time in your bedroom with a crayola paint brush at the beginning of your best friends freshman year of high school.

1. Because she'll end up with big zebra stripes across her whole head.
2. She'll have to take her high school picture with that hair.

I learned that if you exude confidence, most people will believe whatever you tell them. Scary, huh? This needs no explanation. If I offer to do your hair and you say yes, I'm not responsible.

Although I've only shared a few of my experiences with you, I've actually done a lot of hair in my days and even got pretty good at some of them. So of course when my husband went and bought new hair clippers this week, I could feel the itch coming back. After all, I'm a hairdresser with lots of references, right? Last night while my husband was at work I decided to take those clippers straight to that mop my oldest son called his "Thor hair". (Thor is the superhero with the hammer and long hair) It was awful. I started out thinking that I could use the clippers on the setting my husband did on his hair the night before and it would be fine, but it wasn't. I started shaving the back of Owen's hair and he screamed his little head off. Not his hair, which would have been convenient. What had I done?!? He had a spotted little hack job on the back of his head now and I was responsible. No...I can fix this, I thought. After finding the rest of the clipper attachments and testing them out I had started to get the hang of things and Owen wasn't shaking and crying as loud anymore so it was a much better working environment. Finally, I had everything under control. When all was said and done Owen's hair actually doesn't look so bad! ...From the front. (So don't look at the back if you see us) Well, after all these years - I've still got it! ...Sort of. As always, it took a little trial and error but isn't that how every good hairdresser works? No? Oh... Well, maybe I'm not technically qualified to be doing people's hair I'll admit, but it sure is fun to pretend I am. And if the need is there, who am I to turn the customers away??

 When I first started...Yikes!

After! (Remember, no looking at the back!!)

PS. I'll be booking appointments for the Spring if anyone's interested! ;)