I’ve been on a hair hiatus for too long. As soon as I got engaged (almost three years ago!) I put a cease on all planned haircuts. I was going to grow it out for the wedding, and pay an exorbitant amount for a really fancy hairstyle.

A year went by, and I couldn’t find a really fancy hairstyle that my hair would actually do. Fed up, I called my favorite hairstylists, my Aunt Sherry, and she performed an emergency chin-length chop the week before the wedding. Aunt Sherry’s great. She asked the same kinds of questions that I imagine tattoo artists ask drunk people who stumble into their shops (Are you sure you’ll be happy with a koi fish on your elbow? Is a chin-length cut really what you want on your wedding day?).  Mercifully, she chopped it for me.

Super excited to be rocking the short wedding haircut. And you know, to marry Zach.

After rocking the short hair at my own wedding, i kind of wanted to grow it out a bit. Mostly, I’m too lazy to go get it cut. So, it grew.

And then, I really wanted to cut it. But, I had a slew of weddings coming up, and I didn’t want brides to be limited by what I could do with my hair. Logically–they weren’t the type to care at all. But it still felt like I *should* grow it out.

And, then it got long.

A couple (?) weddings later, I was with a close friend and a few of her attendants at a salon, waiting for her to have her hair and makeup trial done. In the salon, I realized that I just missed having my hair cut. Watching a woman walk out the door, smiling and cupping her newly-shorn tresses, sealed the deal. I wanted that happy, and it could only come from a pair of scissors.

A year and a half after my last cut, I bravely stepped into Great Clips. Then, I stepped out. People apparently are willing to invest some time in waiting for a $7 haircut. I am not.

Fifteen minutes later, I bravely stepped into the JC Penny salon. I checked to make sure the cut was under $40 (we all have standards), and I signed up to see Paula.

I showed her the inspiration pic I had snapped with my tiny phone camera earlier that morning, and told her I didn’t really care, I just wanted it shorter, and I wanted some pieces to frame my face. Done.

Not the best picture, but roll with it, mmkay?

I love my new cut, it’s awesome. But ever since then (and since I dyed it), I’ve been wanting to do more. Maybe I’ll color it purple and get it chopped to chin length? Or get an asymmetrical bob with pink streaks? I could be a redhead again! Or I could do spiky hair! I have a gap between weddings, so I can’t promise that I won’t sport some sort of crazy color post-May and pre-October. I’m looking forward to it!

I read an article about how to cut your own hair, and it’s not helping. I’ve been reminding myself daily (hourly, let’s be real), that I have a finite amount of hair to mess with, so I should probably leave it alone. In the meantime, I’ll be hiding the scissors around my house.