transitions: silly hair.

I'm in the midst of lots of transitions in my little heart, body & spirit! Some important, others not very relevant at all... Which brings us to my hair. 

My hair...hmmm... It's in the middle of a "change". You see, I think I'm growing it out. I say "you see" because I've said I'm going to do this before. Where I just let it totally go & see what happens naturally. Eventually, I'll get super tired of my darker roots (I am a natural blonde -- really! BUT, it only naturally BLEACHES in the summer). I'm thinking summer will be the perfect time to grow it out because it will be more subtle... It will still be bright blonde because the sun does that to me. But, it will fade in fall/winter. Yeah, we'll see if I last. 

It's just, I have been seeing so many heads of BEAUTIFUL, natural color of hair (& old ones of me w/out my hair bleached). Don't get me wrong -- I like the bright blonde, but... natural IS beautiful. Gosh, is this because I'm getting old? Oh yeow, I don't know. 

My mama would never let me get my hair done in High School because it bleached out so much in High School... she didn't see the point. I may not of liked it at the time, but it makes sense! I never even touched my hair (as far as color goes) until I was maybe 19 or 20... I wanted to get some subtle highlights...and that's what I did. Just a few here & there! It was still very natural! Then, I got some black streaks -- WATCH OUT! 

My friends have always done my hair, so I've never paid much. And I never want to. So, I got a wild hair one time & went & bought a box of color. I LOVED it! And seriously, have gotten so many compliments on the color -- even from hairdressers! When I tell them it's from a box they can't believe it! HA! Take that $150 salon hair color! :)

After getting it done for a few years & then bleaching it, I always thought I looked terrible if I didn't keep up with it. I'm sure this is the case for many gals. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but really...come on...we need to be comfortable with how God made us. We are made beautiful IN HIS IMAGE! And you know what, HE thinks you're beautiful! I've been reading this book, Simple Obsession by Jamie West Zumwalt, and I just passed a part where it's speaking to how beautiful we are in Jesus sight. That we, the church, are like His bride. What do husbands think of their brides -- that they are BEAUTIFUL in every way (I could keep going, but I suppose this is a topic for another post). The point I'm making is that you are a beauty...with OR without your hair done...with OR without your make up done...with OR without a super dark tan...with OR without the list goes on & on... 

So, here's to seeing if I can last & go natural. Atleast for a little while until I feel like a little bright color on that noggin of mine! :) 

Xs & Os & bleach hair with dark roots!

j

INSPIRATION TO KEEP GROWING (my natural OR minimally highlighted hair):

forgive my ducky face -- like 7 years ago! :)

i think i'd maybe highlighted it once, so all of the long hair is still virgin hair...i like that!

FOR COMPARISON (bleach vs non-bleach)

(side note: miss that puppufriend, SHANIA! :) )

TELL ME, what do YOU like?

xoxo, 

j

transitions: silly wardrobe.

So. In the grand scheme of things, this is not a big deal. Yeah, I get that. But I'm still in the midst of trying to transition. I would wear black for every single event ever, every single day...for the rest of my life. Give me a few ivory or cream accents...maybe a scarf & call me set. No, seriously though. Black is my favorite. I'm not sure quite when this happened because I was NOT this way in High School. I wore lots & lots of color. 

I think it was when I got my job at The Limited. You could wear black & white (brand didn't matter), but if you wore color, it had to be from there. And so I wore lots of it. PLUS, I just think it looks 'classy'. And I don't care what anyone says, IT IS SLIMMING (normally). I think another reason I wear it is because I wear a LOT of bronzer usually (which I'm trying to back away from). So, my bronzer doesn't stain my black clothes! It's a bit trickier with colors/white clothes.

Anyways, husband makes fun of me for all the black I always wear. And he was being silly poking fun at me the other day when something just clicked that hasn't the last 6 years we've been together. Maybe I should wear color. Bet he'd like that! So, we chatted about it & he said that he'd love some color (but he also says all the time that I can wear what I want & what I love -- and believe me, he's a trooper because I wear some crazy things...)! So, there began my mission to work some color in my wardrobe. HEAR ME: there will still be lots of black...but, it's a work in progress. Especially if I'm going out somewhere, I just feel more confident. I don't know why, it's just an easy go-to for me...

So...we headed off to date night & swung by Goodwill on the way home. I seriously grabbed probably 40 dresses (it's in a wealthy neighborhood, so there's lots of goodies)! Hunky husband -- bless his heart -- was such a good sport. Hung out in a recliner directly in front of the dressing rooms! Out of the 40(ish), I only found 2 that I was loving AND that had color!!! So, we picked up those bad boys. The next day, I went back to that same goodwill (we'd closed it down the night before) & filled my cart up with skirts & shirts that have some color. I came out with a few more. After that, I went to 2 other Goodwills & found 2-3 more dresses & a few tops! And a new pair of jeans! I'm on my way! And seriously people, why not thrift -- you can get SO much more bang for your buck! I didn't use to be such a thrifty person, either! Changes, changes...

see my love for blackness:

see me trying some color:

So, here's what I'm doing to help the change along... ask husband what he wants to see me in... we had a date night the other night & I asked him to pick out my outfit (see Left picture with all the cubbies gear). His ultimate favorite thing is me in some cute sweats (I'm a lucky girl because that's my favorite thing, too)...his second favorite is jeans...so, that was it. 

Another thing I've come to realize is that even though he'd like to see more color, he doesn't have strong opinions on what... that's been an adjustment. So, I'm just buying things that I'm comfy in & that are brighter (dress in Right picture -- Old Navy via Goodwill for $5.89 -- SWISH). The pink dress was actually this morning at church. Paired it with a neon yellow belt & some sandals... I got a couple different compliments! Husband's like, "see! you look great in color!" ... :)... 

Anyways, not super important or anything, but something I'm trying to transition to!

What do you think? Has this been something that you've made efforts on?

xoxo, j