This is What LOVE Feels Like

Today on FB, one of my friends - an avid blogger by day and super classy lady all the time, whose blog (Out of My Alleged Mind) you can find HERE! - posted this link to one of the many blogs she's found and follows. Maybe it's the fact that I've known a few people with cancer. Maybe it's because I know how attached people can be to their hair, and the significance that cutting it can have. Or maybe...I'm just human and tender, but something in this story made my heart ache and my eyes water. (I've always told my close friends that if they ever got cancer and lost their hair, I would cut mine too.)

This is What LOVE Looks Like:

imperfect prose on thursdays: the day i cut my dreadlocks

This is my Therapy

"And you're kept in an open cage, So you're free to leave or stay.Sometimes you get confused, Like there's a hint I am trying to give you."

"talking bird" by Death  Cab For Cutie

Poorly drawn picture...by me.

I believe I've mentioned before about how much I love road trips, and have joked about having a touch of gypsy blood in me. I've expressed my restlessness of being in one place for too long (even though I always come back home.) I've talked about my longing for adventure and how I've made due by trekking through the rain and creating crazy story plots inside my head. 
And so...I find myself yet again feeling those stirring desires in my heart to go on an adventure and travel far far away...
I thought about it for a while, weighed my options, bounced thoughts and opinions off of close friends, prayed, and drank more than my outrageously large quota of coffee. 


The fact is, I still have no job. Let me reword that. I have no stationary job. No salon to call 'home', and not because there's a lack of salons or opportunities. When the Velvet Touch and I parted ways, somewhere in me, I felt peace. It was an odd and unexpected thing to feel upon losing a job. 
An opportunity for a stylist position in another salon arose, and I pursued it, but something about it just didn't feel right. It's hard to explain, but I couldn't shake it. Nothing came from this pursued position. But here's the beauty of it. My job doesn't have to be stationary! I can take it with me wherever I go...which means I can travel :) 


And so, after some deliberation, I have decided to go on my adventure. Finally. 
I have nothing that's holding me here. I have no salon to report to. No major responsibilities to look after. No relationships tying me down. So, I ask myself, why not? 


I've got a lot on my mind, and I'm a curious soul. Travel is a therapy to me. Staring out a window, watching the world pass by at blurring speeds, my mind seems to process things clearly. And so, I've purchased a train ticket, and next Sunday I begin my journey. To where? The Midwest. Kansas City, Missouri. Why? Because I have good friends out there (They're in the middle of an adoption, check them out and see how you can help contribute HERE!), and they belong to a church that I've been wanting to visit.


And so, I'm running away. Because I can. 

"I never thought I'd be driving through the country just to drive

With only music and the clothes that I woke up in

I never thought I'd need all this time alone it goes to show

I had so much yet I had need for nothing

But you

This is just therapy

Let's call it what it is

(Not what we were)

With a death-grip on this life always transitioning

This is just therapy

Cause you won't take my calls

and that makes God the only one who's left here listening to me

Letting it all sink in

It's good to feel a sting now and again

I hope it's one less woeful thing there is to fight through

Forgetting it all begin

Fresh paper and nice expensive pen

The past can not subtract a thing from what I might do

For you

Unless that's what I let it do

Loneliness and solitude are two things not to get confused

Cause I spend my solitude with you

I gather all the questions of the things I just can't get straight

And I answer them the way I guess you'd do

Cause this is my therapy

Cause you're the only one that's listening to me

This is my therapy

Let's call it what it is not what we were

With a death-grip on this life that's in transition

This is my therapy

Cause you won't hear me out

and that makes God the only one who's left here listening"

I tend to sing this when I start to get restless and need a road trip...so, on a pretty regular basis.

Keep Calm and Carry On

So. Here I am again....

Last Monday I went into my salon to work for the last time. If my client hadn't have been a personal friend I probably wouldn't have gone in at all and asked them to give the client to another stylist. They had let me know the Thursday prior. The economy just isn't supporting the both of us. And for an up-and-coming to be sitting, waiting, in a salon for perspective clients when 99.9998% of walk-ins are already regulars to another stylist there, well it's not really helping to build the clientele. 

So, I'm on the hunt. Again. While I am looking, I am running a small salon out of my home. It'd be stupid not to, seeing as I have all the equipment in my living room, except for a legit salon sink...but someday, maybe ;)

Even though I am technically jobless right now, I am strangely peaceful, and once again am reminded of how blessed I am with the friends God has given me. One by one, as I let them know about my situation, they each responded with different ways of comfort. 

A group of us went to a midnight movie premiere and giggled together for the three hours that we sat waiting. One called me within seconds of receiving the "I've lost my job" text, and even though the conversation was short, it was comforting to me that she cared enough to hop right on the phone to see how I was. And my best friend showed up at my house with a tall thermos of Carmel Coffee and we spent the afternoon, and some of the evening, around my kitchen table just talking about life.

I decided to not start looking for a job until after Thanksgiving. Taking the time to let it sink in, form a game plan, enjoy the holiday, food, and friends, and spend some quality time with my brother, Oliver, who was home from college for a few days. 

We went to The Muppet Movie the night it came out with a couple of our friends, we let our little brother tag along too, and BTW...it's hilarious. Go see it.

Yesterday I went over to a friends house and arranged a resume (this was actually fun!) and I realized that I love words....and that I had done much more with my talents than I had thought.

I also found out yesterday that one of my dear friends lost her job, too, so I called her up and we talked for a while. Our circumstances seem to parallel each other and I joke that this way it's easier for us to relate to one another. 

So, for now I'm trying to keep my head up, 'keep the dream alive', keep calm and carry on (as my British ancestors would say)...and all that. Giving up is not my name. My name is Industrious. My name is Diligence. My name is Perseverance. My name is Emily, and I'll be your stylist today. 

Look out world. Look out artsy industries. Here I come....again....

Just call me a starving artist

I've hit an imaginary wall. My spirits are low. My clients are few. My paychecks...nearly non-existent. They told me that starting out would be hard, and I believed them, but it's never felt that way till now. The past three weeks I have felt useless, something I despise greatly. My hands have been idle as I watch my people doing what I love all around me, instead I sweep hair and wash towels.

It's funny to me, how independent I have become. Yet, I find my dependency on God to have grown equally. It's very hard for me to look at life when it gets like this and then to look at God and say, alright, I trust you to provide and take care of me, and to wholeheartedly believe it without any doubts in my mind. I'm not a control freak, but there are some things,( like clients, income, etc.) that could I control them you bet your aunt's hat I would. The fact that I have no control over how many people will sit in my chair this week keeps me uneasy, and thankful for those who do continue to keep coming back.

Surrendering is hard for me. I have always been a DIYS, take care of myself, kinda girl. And even though I've seen and experienced God's provision first hand...it's still difficult to say HELP. So, I guess I'm calling this drought of sorts another lesson in trusting and depending.

Thanks to all of you who return to me time and again, you keep my spirits afloat.
And thanks, God, for being so faithful when it's hard for me to be just that.

Sparrows....

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" Matthew 6:25-26

Hello dear bloggers,

Last I typed to you I was anxiously awaiting the build of my clientele. Well, I'm still waiting. The only difference is the amount of money I am getting paid. When I wrote my last post, my hope for clients was more of a call for something to do. I was still being paid by the hour, whether I was doing hair or not. Since then I've been taken off hourly pay and am now working solely on commission. Oh, commission. I have mixed feelings over you. The way it works at my salon is that the client pays for their service and then half of that money goes to the salon and the other half goes to me. 50/50. Not so bad, I guess....unless you don't have a steady flow of work coming through your door. My hope for clients has turned into a heavy NEED of clients.

A few weeks ago I went out to breakfast with one of my friends. We sat there and confessed our needs to constantly be working. Creating bits and pieces of art - art that stands unmoving, and art that gets up and walks around. This need to create, and change is part of who we are. We talked about artists like us and how we 'fit' into the great big artistic world out there.

"Fit" is a silly word to use. As if you could put us in a box. Never have I seen an artist who is shaped like a square... We talked about the struggle of being in the world, and not of it. The total blur of moral lines, showing love, being salt, and being light, and being scared to stand out....

We spoke our concerns about how we love what we do, but how financially hard it can be.

The fact that I can't control the amount of people that come in requesting me, that my paycheck isn't steady, really bugs me out. I wouldn't say that I'm a control freak, but there are some things that, were I able to control, I would. This is where I have to let go. I've always been a very independent girl, just ask my mother. If I wanted something, I would work to make it happen. I could do anything. I now find myself very dependent, and very out of control. And I don't like it.

You've heard the phrase "Be still, and know that I AM God."? Well, lately I've found myself being still and knowing quite often. I'm learning to become dependant. God is teaching me to depend on him for clients. He's giving me patience. Now, it's hard, I'm still sitting around alot and waiting for people to call, and my paycheck is pretty shabby, but not once have I gone into work and left without having done at least one client that day. What do I do in my spare time? I pray that God would send me walk-ins. And he does. He is faithful, and I need him. A lot.

So, next time we'll have to see how I'm doing with patience and my contentedness with dependency....(and not gonna lie, 'next time' will probably be quite a while from now.... ;) We'll see how sparrow like I've become.

waiting patiently...or trying.

Well, it's been about a month since I started working at the Velvet Touch and so far I'm really liking it. I'm only there 3 days a week, about 8hrs at a time, but I'm happy...for the most part. Unfortunately I spend a lot of my time sweeping floors, confirming appointments and washing towels. I was told that the first year is always the hardest, making money and building up clientele...so far that's been pretty true. I have had many people tell me they should give me a call, come see me, have me work on them....then I don't hear from them.... It's rather disheartening. I can tell that this will be the hardest part of my first year woes. At any given time there are about 10 different things on my mind, this topic may be the one that weighs the heaviest. But it will come...someday... Until then, I will be content with the faithful friends I do have that come to see me, returning time and again. Thanks guys! You mean the world to me!

And so it begins...again...

Last I talked to you bloggers about work, I was running out of time and lamenting searching for another job. Well, the searching, though sad, wasn't as painstakingly long and drawn out as I had thought it would be. I did a lot of praying for God to give me favor, wisdom, patience, courage, and such. Like, a lot of praying.

Then one day I was reminded that there was a woman who owned a salon, whose kids went to school with my brother. I went one day to pick him up, hoping that maybe this potential employer would be there and we could chat really quick, but her kids ended up being in after school care and she wasn't there.

So I went home, left a message for her at her house, and then sat back and waited. A couple days later, my mom and I had just come from the gym and had books to drop at the library on our way home. Mom pulls up to the curb, I hop out, thinking I'm only going to run these books in, plop them on the counter and run back out.

Upon entering the library one is faced with shelves of fictitious new arrivals...and if you're me, the perspective employer you called a couple days ago.

I saw her, did a double take, then rushed to the counter, left my books, and ran outside to the car.

"MOM!" I said startled, "MOM, I think I just saw Mrs. R!"

"Did you talk to her?" she asked, eyebrows raised. ...well, no...I was in my gym clothes, my hair was messy, pulled back into a scruffy ponytail. I was wearing last night's makeup.

"NO! Mom, I look awful!" "Well...we're going in to talk to her, how often does this happen? Come on!"

She jumped out of the car, I followed. This went against everything I had been taught or told. When meeting a potential employer, specifically one that owns a HAIR SALON where they practiced cosmetology - the art and science of beauty, where they made people feel gorgeous and happy, YOU are supposed to look the part. Hair done nice, make up noticeably clean(not all over your face because you slept on it), clothes professional. You are NOT supposed to look like you rolled out of bed and went straight to the gym...like me.

We walked into the Library, found Mrs. R, and approached her. She remembered us from a beach trip early last summer. Good, I thought, she remembers me. Then, she asked if I was working...

"Well, actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about..." and so it went from there. She seemed very enthusiastic as we traded numbers. She talked about her salon, asked about what I could do, and school. "This is fantastic, such a God thing!" she said. Yeah, I think she was right :)

I gave her a call the following Tuesday and went to the salon for an interview. It went very well. The salon was lovely, Mrs. R was really nice, and they use REDKEN!!!! The meeting was over in 15 minutes and I was told she would call me on Monday with their decision, she still had to talk with her business partner. I left smiling, having given her plenty of references, and hopefully, plenty of incentive to hire me. During the interview I wasn't really nervous, as I had been at Gugliotti's. It felt comfortable. Good.

A week went by, and things got busy. I ended up giving her a buzz on Tuesday. "I definitely want to move foreword with this." were her words. And with that we set up another meeting for the following Monday to talk about it even more. It seemed like a lot of waiting, but it also seemed to be working out, so I kept praying and stayed patient.

Three days ago, Monday the 28th of February, I went over to the Salon(in Vernon) and sat down in the comfy red leather love seat in Mrs. R's office. She asked me if I wanted to go foreword with this, to which my reply was a resounding YES! She then handed me product books that I (still) need to study, went over what she was thinking schedule, pay, training-wise. It all sounded wonderful! This feels like it will be a good place to call "home", and I hope that that is what it turns out to be. I start this Monday. I'm happy, but I'm still praying. A lot of praying.

It's been an interesting weekend, and the start of the week was pretty amazing as well. So Imma keep hoping and praying and thinking, and getting ready, and thinking and praying some more.

Ok Vernon, here I come!

hairbrained ideas

On Saturday I got to do what I love best, dress hair. My bestest best friend of mine hasn't had a haircut since August. She loves growing it all out and then cutting it dramatically. I don't know how she does it, I personally can't go for a such a long period of time without doing something to my hair(as it is I have managed not to cut it for a good 3 months...I am going crazy!).

She emailed me a few days earlier with various pictures and sketches of what she was thinking.

I was excited. I love it when people come to me wanting dramatic change! It makes me happy.

This is her prior to it all. Look at ALL THAT HAIR! (I have to admit I am jealous of her. Her hair seems to grow so fast...mine doesn't...)

Shampood and ready to go. I have to say the worst part of doing this at my house is making my friends lean over my kitchen sink...but I hope to change that soon.

Here we go!

Look at that!

That thing that she is holding in her hand is a neck duster, you may have seen them in old movies, or barber shops. It is fun to play with :)

"Let's make a wig, and name it Marv!" - Bella

Yes, we probably could have made a wiglet with the amount of hair I cut off.

The new style. Lotsa lotsa layers.

The end product. Resulting of much razoring and point cutting... *says in best aussie accent* "Isn't she a beauty?"

After about 15 years of pondering bangs she finally decided to go ahead and take the plunge. She hadn't had bangs since she was in first grade, and they were your customary straight across fringe.

"These are not your 1st grade bangs." I promised her.

Like a Bridge Over Troubled Waters...

Last week was a hard one for me. Filled with life drama, job drama, dramadramdramallamadrama. I had been hit with to much allatonetime and my brain didn't know what to do with it.

I fretted for a while, worried a bit, freaked out some, and then...I gave it to God.

"like a bridge over troubled waters, I will ease your mind."

I gave him my worries and concerns, and I realized how much He has given back.

He has provided me with a loving family, who mourn with me, and rejoice at the upcoming opportunities with me, and talk me out for Liquid Comfort.

He has provided friends who have genuine care for who I am, how I'm coping, how I'm not coping, and love to LOVE me(and give me hugs, which I desperately needed, and still need...but not as much).

He has given me a chance to look at other salons. And a guarantee that my former employment, and schooling will not be scoffed at. He has given me a talent, and eye for color and beauty.

A list of Salons, the names of their owners and numbers, and recommendations from the Gugliottis.

He has given me a heart for people. (And on occasion, their drama.)

He has given me hope. He has given me love. He has given me peace. He has given me freedom.

And though I am still sad, and asking "WHY?" to a bunch of things, I am accepting it all, and learning to do so with a glad and open heart.

I feel vulnerable and a bit confused, but I'm learning that that is a part of life and there are ways to use those feelings.

Today is, hopefully, the day I start calling salons...and you know how I feel about phones....

Let the hunt commence! ONWARDS!

steaming hot, liquid comfort

The day I graduated Cosmetology school I also got a job at a wonderful, high-end salon. I was not promised many hours to start, actually just the opposite. A few hours a week while I training, which could take up to three months. would start as a receptionist and work my way up to an assisting position.

I have to admit I wasn't thrilled about the desk part of the job. The phones really. I hate phones. Talking on them is an annoyance of mine. Unless I really know you, I'd much rather talk to you face to face than over some town-crossing wires. When it comes down to it, I just like to look at the person when I talk to them. I like to see their face, their eyes, their expressions and body language rather than trying to guess and imagine what their reaction might be. It's just easier for me. I am awkward on the phone. I know this, and I know why. I have accepted that, and that is why the phone answering part of my job really was my least favorite.

I worked there for about a month, just a few hours a week, sometimes getting called out due to a slow day at the salon. I swept floors, I stocked shelves, I straightened magazines. I made and confirmed appointments, learned my way around the computer system, and eventually became almost comfortable on the phone. Even though I was dying to get to the other side of the big, curved, blue wall that separated the stylists and hair doing from the receptionists, I told myself to be content. It was hard, but I started to accept it. If I wanted to be on that side of the blue wall I must first work through three months of desk training.

I also learned how to make espressos, and cappuccinos and that may have been my favorite part. :)

Behind the desk, I was able to see every one's schedule. I noticed that the Stylists that were working were booked up like it was the end of the world and everyone and their twice removed relatives couldn't leave this earth without good hair! I don't blame them. The art I saw walking out the salon doors was amazing, and I was jealous that is was on their head and not mine.

But I also noticed that the 2 individuals with Assisting positions had a few free hours a day... One of my friends from school was working with me. She was just bumped up from Reception to Assistant and was following the manager around, looking to something to do when she wasn't helping me at the desk, or shampooing a client.

It became evident that hours were scarce, but I didn't think on it. I was just happy to be into the first salon I had applied to, the one I had wanted to work at since I first started school.

But yesterday, just as I was finishing up, I got called into the office where I faced the salon manager and one of the owners. They don't have hours. They just don't. Especially in the weeks after the Christmastime holidays, it's very slow. They were disappointed. I had come highly recommended (in the areas of cosmetology), and they knew that I was the type of personality much more comfortable cutting off some one's hair than talking on the phone, but they weren't going to see that side of my personality, they didn't have enough hours.

I was given a list of Salons, their #'s, and the names of some of the owners. Apparently they had made some calls and told them about me, recommended me. "You really need to be in a salon where they start you off assisting. That's your strength, your talent. And we can't offer you that, not now." I smiled,nodded, and agreed where necessary, trying to keep the tears down.

"I wish we could keep you! But I can't promise you hours we don't have, it's not fair to you."

It was hard for everyone in that room. They wanted to keep me. I wanted to stay. But...hours...

I left calm and collected, being told that they'd have me coming in for the next couple of weeks.

I made it to the car, my eyes were stinging....I turned the key and cranked the tunes. I managed to keep my face free from salt water until I had made home and into my dining room.

Later that evening my mother took me out for some comfort. Starbucks. - She knows me well :) - and so we sat down in the big, abused, comfy, trademark-green, starbucks chairs, and watched the silver lane trafic go by, chatting about the days events over steaming beverages with fancy names like: Caramel Mocha Hot Chocolate, and Dirty Chai Soy Latte...

Steaming hot, liquid comfort warming our chilly hands. A pleasant way to end a devestating day.

And so -

Let the search for jobs begin...again...

" ... it's a dangerous business, going out your door...you step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's not knowing where you might be swept off to."

I've left my front door, I've been swept off by the wind. Now let's see where it'll take me and what adventures I'll have, shall we?

Don't Worry, 'Bout A Thing...

This past week I had a service day and decided to try something other than the regular blow dry, or curls. What did we do? Dreads. Yes, you read that right, dreads, as in dreadlocks, like Bob Marley...but not as gross. After about 3 hours of teasing and twisting and teasing and waxing and teasing and waxing some more, my head was covered in teeny-tiny little dreadlocks. I only left them in for a day for fear of them deciding to become a permanent fixture upon my head. People asked me why I wasn't going to keep them in, "they totally fit you!" I was told through out the day. "You're a chameleon," one of my teachers told me. "You've had so many different styles on your head and you've rocked them all, you seem to be able to make anything work."

Well, why didn't I keep them? As my teacher said, I'm a "chameleon", I change my hair way too much style and color wise to hold onto dreads. I'm just not ready for that kind of commitment!(!!!!) That, and the only way to get rid of them(once they've been on your head for a while and have 'matured' - yes dreads go through a time of maturity - is to shave your head, and that is the last thing I want to do to my poor head of thick locks.)

Anyways, I think I got the dreadlock fever out of my system...for now...
And now I shall share with you my great joy and love of this fantastic and unique style in pictures:

This was just after I took out box braids...they were my 'almost - dreads'

This amazes me!

Attend the Tale of Sweenella Todd...

"Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd. He served a dark and avengeful God!

What happened then, well that's the play,and he wouldn't want us to give it away... "

Saturday night our YG had one of it's events. A large and exaggerated version of the classic game CLUE, where the church was the game board, and the youth were the players. The Leadership Core got to play the house staff, and I was more than happy to be appointed the position of Sweenella Todd, personal Hair and Complexion consultant to the murdered couple...and granddaughter of the Demon Barber himself, Sweeney Todd.

Note: Yes my real grandfather was a Barber, but he was most certainly not a demon Barber...actually he was a pastor, so...yeah. Pretty sure there was no killing going on in his shop...

I was very excited to play this role, and laughed when I found out that my murder weapon was a pair of - get this - safety scissors!!! (And, yes, I was the murderess.)

Seeing as I adore musicals, and enjoy all things pertaining to hair, it would make sense that I would have a fascination with Sweeney Todd.

For just a little taste I suggest you watch this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Todd

I later went to bed, to tired to shower, and awoke to this....which was nearly as scary.

I laugh in the face of 'danger'! Hahahaha!

"The count down begins at zero..."

That's right my friends, the State Board countdown has ended. Last Saturday, 11/13, I woke up earlier than my normal Saturday earliness and ventured to UHart with my mother. There I met with the 100 other cosmetology students waiting to take the boards. We were the first wave of Board takers that day, waiting for 8:00 to come so we could start. I wasn't really nervous that morning, more excited, and anxious for it to be over. Most of my nerves came out the day before when I pretty much had a breakdown in my theory room and was told to put all my flashcards and study papers away and just relax.

Of course sleep was really just a bad joke. It's not like I really thought of the test I would be taking the next morning. Actually, I was thinking of cutting techniques and color designs and people I could do them on...which was random.

I was pleased to find that not only was I joined by 4 other students from IIC, but 2 or 3 from our plainville branch. Seeing familiar faces puts me in a calmer place. At 8:00 we all sat down and waited for the last few stragglers to find their way in. At about a quarter after we opened our booklets and started to fill in all the little bubbles.

My heart was racing as I examined what I was facing, random facts and questions running through my brain as I tried to remember all my studying from the past 6 weeks. I looked down at the first two pages, each page had only four questions each. Ok, that's not too overwhelming. I read the first question and a smile appeared on my face. I know that!!!

I continued on through the test pausing for only two or three of the questions. Before we had started, one of the proctors had explained how the test was to be filled out, how it was graded, yada-yada-yada. The same sort of spiel that they give before any sort of multiple choice test. They had explained that we had two whole hours to finish, and they would set a timer to go off every hour. "By the time the first alarm rings, you should be on at least question 44. This way you are about half way done."

'Hurried' isn't the word I would use to describe my pace. I made it through the questions very quickly, not rushing. I was able to read the question and have the answer already in my head before I looked at my options. A grin graced my face all throughout the period I was there, a few chuckles even escaped my lips -the proctors probably thought I was crazy, or on drugs...

I had made it to question #1o1 and glanced at my neighbor sitting to the right of me, some dude I'd never seen before. There he sat, leaning over his test, clenching his pencil....staring...

My eyes followed his unwavering gaze, right to question #45.

I looked back at my test.

102.

103.

104...

105.

SEE YA DUDE!

I glanced quickly at all my little bubbles, making sure I had filled them all in, got up and brought my sheets to the front of the room where I handed them in and signed out. I was done!!! and before the first timer went off, before 9:00. I walked out of the room, smiling that I was the third one finished, but only by a minute or two.

The next hour was spent finding our way back to school...we got lost in Hartford...all parts. Then got stuck in the drivethru in a DD just down the road from my school...

My teachers laughed at me when I told them how simple the test had been. "I don't know why I was so worried yesterday!" They know I'm OCD about tests.

Now I wait. I've been told that the results should come on Tuesday or Wednesday. DUNDUNdun...

who says blondes have more fun?

Today I had the pleasure of coloring my friend Sarah's lovely hair. Her mother is a very gifted professional photographer, and I was over their house one afternoon practicing a vintagey pin-up-esque hairstyle on her youngest daughter for themed shoot we were scheduling when the topic of coloring hair came up. (To see her work, and the results of the shoot we worked on together click here:
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fhalliewestcott.com%2F&h=c488c , http://networkedblogs.com/91rMH)

We went back and forth discussing different color options, which got me pretty excited. If you know me, then you know that working with color is one of my favorite things to do. We finally decided on some colors...and here are the results of today's fun... :)

Color. Me. Happy. :D

reflection on updos

I love hair. Obviously. I don't think there are many aspects of hair that I don't like. So much creativity goes into everything that is done. One of my favorite ways of expressing creativity - apart from color - is updos...(updo-ing?)

Thursday was my sister's birthday, as well as my service day. We decided to go out to see Jason Castro at Mohegan Sun that night to celebrate. He's really awesome, by the way, but that's another blog post for another day. Anyways...because it was my service day, and because we were going out to a concert, I decided it would be cool to get a funky updo. So after lunch I asked Morgan, a highly gifted individual, if she would do something cool with my quirky locks, and this is what she came up with. Freakin. Awesome.

Sorry if all the pics seem to be from one angle/side...I had a fascination with the braids. :)

Having lots of different tones in my hair, as well as really randomly placed, chunky blond bits made for a fun canvas to work with. I was totally psyched with the results.

On Wednesday we had a halloween updo competition. Now, I really don't know what a 'halloween-updo' looks like, and honestly, I didn't really care. I did, however, have an updo in mind. There had been an idea - a vision, if you will - rolling around in my brain for a couple of days so I decided to play around with that idea instead of doing...holloweeny stuff...

And here we have my dear Barbara Blonde, modelling this trial-run updo.

Trippy Hippies

If you know me, then you know that along with my love of pirates I also have a love and fascination with hippies and gypsies. I can try to explain, but I really don't know if I can, why this is so cool to me.

Let's start with road trips.
I love them. Since I was in the womb we would be making long trips to see family, starting out in CT and ending in PA, VA, OH, or NY.
Most of the time it was Pennsylvania we were heading for,[photo sent to me by Bella, was hanging on the wall of a little joint called "the cosmic omelet]

a little town located deep in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, called Wellsboro where we'd meet up with my mom's family who also came from miles around to hang out in this cool, round house in a clearing. We'd have huge family dinners while, like, 20 grand kids ran around in the clearing and in the woods, with 'swords and guns', swimming in the lake and camping out in Hillscreek state park, or taking a walk up the dirt road to...well, nowhere imparticular.


Next we can move to cars.
I like cars. They're fun to drive, they get you places, they get you away from places, they present you with a cozy place to hang out with your friends for an hour or so on your way to the beach and back, and most of them have a stereo to blast music with. Since I was little I've always admired the way classic cars look. Now, I can't tell you what on earth is under the hood and all the hoosie-what's-its that make it work, but I appreciate the way they look...
Someday, I want this to be my car.



[This photo belongs to
mPascalj's photostream (2,321) ]

And sure, why not, I'll live at the beach on the weekends. Totally fine with that ;) Yup, a classy VW camper van. I'll drive across the country, and stop along the way to visit relatives and their showers...perhaps I'll be a traveling hairdresser? ;) But in all seriousness, I do dream of someday traveling europe and doing hair for something. Whether it be avant garde fashion shows, or theatre groups or whatever.

Then we get to music, cause you can't live your life and not have music.
Music makes me happy, pretty much no matter what genre it is. Variety is probably the best one word to sum it all up in. Classic to contemporary, acoustic to metal, trippy to worship....yeah. But as much as I love some of the more contemporary bands that I grew up with, I have a special place in my heart for some not-so-contemporary bands that I grew up listening to, courtesy of mi papa.
Bands like The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Don McLean, Simon and Garfunkel...and along came ACDC, Queen, Thin Lizzy, Guns and Roses...you get the picture. I definitely inherited my love of music(and the benefits of liking a large variety) from my dad. The only time I can crank the volume and rock out, is either when I'm home/driving alone, or with him. He's pretty awesome that way. One of the permanent fixtures in my van is going to be an acoustic guitar - maybe I can hook up an amp or something in the van and I can bring my electric too. But what fun would it be to have a big van, some rocking tunes, and an instrument or two and be all by yourself? So, somewhere along the way I'll have to convince my friends to come along with me sometimes :)

Yup. So that's a little bit about me and my fascination for *trippy hippie life. Emily Michael, gypsypiratehippiechick.

*DISCLAIMER - As far as the Trippy factor goes, I so do not endorse drug use. The only drugs I encourage are COFFEE, life, music, and creativity, four of God's greatest gifts to man. I've got a good enough imagination to go through life and enjoy it to the wackiest, and fullest extent without shoving crap up my nose and stabbing needles in my arms. Thanks very much.

Running with scissors

"It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."





Those were some of the words running through my head when I woke up the morning of December 15, 2009. I got up, put on black clothes (not knowing how sick of them I would get), and tried to eat something before I got into my father's car. We traveled about 20 minutes, passing over the Connecticut river and getting a magnificent view of Hartford's sunrise silhouette and arriving at our destination about 10 minutes earlier than planned. Finally, 8:30 rolled around. I took a deep breath, said goodbye to my dad, and stepped out of the car.

That was where it all started.

It's been 9 months since I first walked into that building, carrying nothing but a notebook and paper mate pen, and having hardly any knowledge of hair. Tomorrow, I walk into IIC with a head held high - and carrying about 50+ lbs. more than a notebook and pen. Tomorrow...

I. Am. SENIOR!

I am now over 1050 hours and will be doing practicals for the next 5 weeks. After that I will start studying for *dundundun* STATE BOARDS!!! They'll lock us in a room for six weeks and we'll study till our brains fall out.... Ok, maybe they won't lock us in a room. And maybe my brains won't fall out, but you never know, right? The point is: the end is near! I may have thought graduating high school and starting at IIC was the beginning of the adventure. No. It's part of the journey, definitely, but it was only training. Conditioning for all the exciting and very unusual experiences ahead. No my friends. This was just a taste, the real adventure begins when I take the state boards, and walk out of IIC knowing that I'm done, and hoping that I'm' ready for what comes next. I am chomping at the bit, and ready to run...with scissors in hand of course. ;)

light&summery

Today, I performed a service for one of the girls I know in the Sophomore class. Today's agenda: go lighter for summer...but how light? Blonde. Verrrryyyyy BLONDE! We started rounda'bout 10:15 this morning. When I first met this girl - it was outside of school a few years ago - her hair was like this: Since then she had a full highlight done. More or less, color was not in her hair, plenty of lightener though. With roots that went on for about two inches, our original thought was to just do a simple roots - to - ends process and hope that it was just that easy...pffft...yeah, no....

We set to work, and a teacher mixed up a level 9N w/ 30V developer with a sprinkle of lightening powder(bleach).
She pulled blonde alright, but it was so gold!!! (*gooaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllldennnnnnnnnnn* - ;)
In other words, her hair pulled to probably the warmest tone possible. Now, warmness is not a bad thing....but it's not a one-size-fits-all sort of thing, and for this girl, a blonde this warm was just NOT going to cut it. Her hair is normally what a stylist would call 'ashy', and as we sat there with her head in the sink the teacher who mixed the color is leaning over shaking her head.

"I just don't understand! Why did she pull SO gold!?"
"Well, " I decided to add my input to see if what I was thinking was right "we did put lightener in the color..."
Blank stare for halfa second from the teacher..."YES!"

My guess is that if we had simply used color, no lightener added, it would not have pulled to such a warm tone. If left to my own devices I would have just done all her roots with lightener, let her process, rinsed her out, and then maybe thrown a level 11, maybe 12N or a toner with a violet/blue base over the whole head...foiling out just a few strands to keep dimension. My thinking is, that if she's only ever used bleach...er...lightener on her head, then applying lightener all over her roots would have matched the existing color pretty much perfectly.

But that's not what we did, so that will forever be a "what if..."

With her being SO warm, I applied a level 10 toner to her roots...it toned it down, but just slightly. In the end we were kinda short on time, so I decided to simply take a mohawk section and do what I call a diagonal brick lay foil, touching only her roots, with lightener and 20Volume(teacher's suggestion, I would've used 30V...)and a very fine weave.

I'd say that did the trick. With her roots being so 'long', the color that was applied initially was completely solid, which looked funny compared to the rest of he hair that, having been highlighted, held various strands of color, bringing movement and dimension. By retouching the highlights for the roots at the top of her head we broke up that solid strip of color. :) At 3:00, we were done.

Going blonde is a process. If you're thinking of undergoing this venture, just know that it's complicated, long, and you most likely won't get there the first time around. Just take it in steps. Don't be discouraged. To preserve the strength and integrity of your hair, don't rush it. It may take a couple appointments, and some long hours in the chair to get you there, but bring a book, listen to your iPod, take a nap.
Your hair will thank you for being so patient.
And when your hair is happy, YOU are happy.
And when you are happy about your hair, we're happy too. :)


She took this with her laptop, so it's blurry...but there's the end result. B-L-O-N-D-E!

Responsibility, what's that?

A couple weeks ago, my college friends started to come home. Now, more or less, they're all done and here. Next week is also my brother's last week as well as my two youngest siblings and pretty much everyone in the continental U. S.
Next week is also the start of my summer vacation. And the week after that? I go back to school. Just one week? Yuppers, that right. As much as I love cosmetology, I picked the wrong profession as far as summer vay-k's are concerned. See, all my friends who are in college right now get/got a four year transitional period into the shedule I call "real-life-adultness". Summers off from from school, but slowly wheening it away with a job here, some extra work there, maybe having a not so conenient work shift but still, summer.
I've seemed to have bipassed that. Sadly. After I've graduated, I'll be working, and apparently stylists have the tendency to become workaholics. I guess if you're loving what you're doing it's not really work right?

Now, if you know me, you've probably had your ear talked off about my school and the interesting people I've met there. I you have then you've heard me talk about the Guggliottis, the people who own a salon by the same name, as well as my school.
This Friday(6•11•10) I have a job interview with them. This is a pretty big deal. Although I'm only applying for a receptionist position, they almost always offer aspiring stylists in that position, an assuring position. After assisting(shadowing stylists and learning the ropes) you become a stylist.
Now this is a verrryyyy high end salon owned by THE WORLD DIRECTOR OF COMPETITION. if I get a receptionist job here, even if I decide not to go on to assisting, if that position is offered me, I've still got my foot in the door of hairworld, and made very good connections with people in high places.

I'm excited. Very much so, yes. But i'm nervous as a person could be. Never done an interview before. Don't know what to expect...

So those of you who will, pray for me? I'd really appreciate it. I'll keep y'all posted.


- Posted from emikel's iPhone -

fun&games

Monday night a group of the coolest people I know gathered at the Goodale homestead to play a mysterious game. A while ago Harrison told us all of this magnificent game called: Quelf.

When I asked him what it was like he answered "It's kinda like The Game of 1,000 Cards...only different." Ok....that clears things up ???? Later we all got the notice that he had ordered the game and it had come in and we were all to gather and play, so we did.

LOOK! here are some of those cool people now!

And let me tell you... it. was. RIDICULOUS!!!!! Yeah. Pretty much the best game I've ever played. We laughed and laughed and did fantastically absurd 'stunts' including playing hide and seek, dancing and singing like a mournful weeping willow tree, licking someones elbows(if you could not lick your own) and awarding meaningless points to everyone after their turns.

After yelling and signing "QUELF IN THE LAND OF THE FARM!" a gazillion and three times we finished the game and headed outside. I played hairdresser and there was bubble blowing and and picture taking and such.

Then we ordered pizza and took a trip through the scarily skinny back roads of Coventry to find Papa T's pizza. Good pizza, good friends, good game, great night.