An update on going gray:
Well, I'm not getting very far finding a new hairdresser. When I went last week, the lady did not do at all what I asked for, and there are lots of long straggly pieces sticking out on the bottom. And it cost twice as much as the last place I went, and she talked non-stop during the session but to everyone except for me. I don't like it when people ask lots of personal questions the first time you see them, but I think it's rude to carry on conversation with everyone else in the room except your client. And if she was paying more attention to me (the one paying her, you know?), maybe my hair would look better. So anyway, have to try somewhere else next time.
My hair is much shorter than I wanted for now, so I guess I'm already partly to the short hair thing. I'm just disappointed because I wanted to make it a dramatic change when I did. Sigh.
I'm having mixed feelings about the whole thing. I went back to Ohio (where we moved from last summer) to visit this weekend. One of my dearest friends decided to stop coloring since we'd seen her last. She's pretty much all gray instead of the reddish blond she'd been coloring her hair for years, and she's in her early 50's. Her hair looks good, but it didn't have nearly the same personality. It was shocking to see the change though. One day she was wearing a black top and silver and pewter jewelry and the next day she wore a brown top with an animal print scarf. The black was better than the brown, but I think colors would have been a big improvement. I love to wear black and brown, so I'll have to be careful to add more color options in my wardrobe for close to my face.
The trip was interesting because I hadn't really thought about this before, but there were lots more women with gray hair in my circle of friends and acquaintances in Ohio than where I live now.