Color Me Happy

Since my blog’s primary focus is a local salon and all things hair and beauty related, you might make the assumption that the magazine which is most plentiful in my home is a fashion magazine. If that is your assumption, you would be mistaken. The magazine that is most plentiful in my home is Coastal Living. I LUUUV Coastal Living – just absolutely love it! I want to live in the pages of Coastal Living. This month I want to inhabit pages 86 – 93. The bedroom in the ad on page 25 isn’t so bad either. I can picture myself in that bed on a lazy Sunday morning, with my cup of coffee on that white nightstand next to the fresh cut flowers, sharing the paper with my handsome new husband.

To accomplish my goal of living in Coastal Leaving, I’m busily trying to create a home for myself that could be featured on its pages – IF Coastal Living did things like feature a sub $45K previously foreclosed condo in the center of the state on its pages – which AS OF RIGHT NOW :) - it has not done. I’m following the advice of my favorite Thoreau quote. “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.”

My beach house is my Field of Dreams… I know if I create it, it will come. What is “it”? It is the life I want… a life where I’ll wake up to the sound of the surf and make my living writing and share my life with someone who believes in the power and the majesty of the one who first imagined the waves and the seagulls and the sand and all of the other things that have been making my heart leap with joy since my first encounter with them as a toddler….a man who I know will be able to make me laugh and who will make my heart race and who will walk the beach holding my hand and body surf with me down near The Jetties.

As I type this, I’m sitting in one of my favorite places in all the world – Chuckeyta’s Surfin' Sea Monkey Café, formerly The Flagler Ave Coffee House, in New Smyrna Beach enjoying a nice cup of coffee.

I attended online church here a short time ago and when I’m done writing and catching up on e-mails, I will be handing a $5 bill to a guy who works next door at Nichol’s Surf Shop – a young man who reminds me a lot of my 21 year old son – a Florida born and bred kid who likes to surf and skateboard and crank up tunes to a decibel that I fear may cause him harm in his old age. (Of course, neither of these guys can envision themselves at a point in life where the effects of decades of loud music will even matter, so it’s pointless to warn them. My son, whose first outing, at the tender age of four weeks, was to this very town, for a beach party cookout at a condo down the street, feels he’s invincible and I’m sure this young man with the sun bleached locks and the black concert t-shirt does as well.)

In exchange for my $5, I will have access to cutest little aqua colored beach bike for the next hour. $5 to fill my mental tank for the next week? Money well spent in my book.

I’m beginning to think of this bike as mine as I’ve rented it before. I’m beginning to think that my $5 is not a rental fee, but a storage fee. I’m beginning to think of The Nichol’s Surf Shop as the garage that, though it is a little far from my domicile, houses MY adorable vintage - looking Saratoga two wheeler - a magic carpet of sorts - which always manages to put such a big smile on my face.

This bike is actually the inspiration for today’s post. On page six of this month’s Coastal Living is a one page homage to the colors that most inspire the magazine’s editors. I read what inspired them and I thought of "my" bike. I love all colors coastal, but lately aqua is really making my heart sing. Here are some of the shades that have that same effect on them:

“Slate Gray: It’s the color of the waves on a rainy day in Prouts Neck, Maine, where artist Winslow Horner had a seaside studio and painted famous stormy scenes.” - Maria Ricapito, Executive Editor

“The fresh dark green of the pine trees along the coast of Lake Superior, where I spent summer weekends growing up.” – Kendall Cronstrom, Editor

“I love the pink-gray shade found on the inside of seashells – so much that I painted my entire den in Farrow & Ball’s Calamine.” – Steele Thomas Marcoux, Design Editor (Side Note: Isn’t Steele Thomas Marcoux the coolest name??)

“A pop of red with crisp blue like a beach umbrella against the sky and water, or those Bomb Pops we all loved as kids.” – Amy Mitchell, Managing Editor

“I saw my first brilliant orange Southern California sunset last April; it looked like mango sorbet – stunning!” – Sarah Latta, Assistant Features Editor

“The blazing hot pink you can only get away with on Lilly Pulitzer dresses, lawn flamingos and fruity cocktails.” – Katie Finley, Copy Chief

What’s another color that I love? The shade of blond, ever so carefully woven into my brownish tresses – a shade that Diane probably knows by formula and which is probably recorded on a card with my name on it in the back room at Hot Heads, but which is known to me as fountain of youth in a bowl – a shade that makes me feel young and alive and sun kissed and ready to frolic in the surf and ride off into the sunset with some fellow mid-40s/early 50s kindred spirit.

Hope you have a bright and vibrant, restful and amazing day! I know I’m going to. Off to ride! :) The HHG Hot Heads 407-671-0480.

A Dress: Memory Lane

Woke up the other morning to the sight of Princess Diana’s glorious hand sewn ivory silk taffeta and lace extravaganza of a wedding gown complete with tiara and 25 ft train. I saw it on The Today Show - one stop of a pre-William and Kate nuptials North American publicity tour. Can’t help but remember the first time I awoke to the sight of that dress. It was July 29, 1981 and I was a wide eyed college co-ed who still believed in fairy tale dreams and happily ever after. Because of that, the idea of pomp and pageantry and promise and romance did something the most fabulous breakfast would never have been able to do, it roused a late teens me before dawn on a Summer morning.


Like so many other girls my age, I mentally walked down the aisle with Diana. I was in the early stages of what ended up being a three and a half year on again/off again college romance. The man I was dating wasn’t the one I ended up marrying. If it can believed, this one was even worse. Not then though. At that stage of our relationship, he was singing me love songs. (He did have a fabulous voice.) He was writing me sweet notes and quoting song lyrics to me in cards and taking me on plane rides . He was buying me roses and cute little trinkets. He was taking me to his family events and his fraternity formals. We were betting on horses with clever names and sharing bottles of wine at intimate restaurants on the Kentucky River and walking hand in hand on the beach. I was young and innocent and hopeful and I thought, in love.

I’ve learned so many things since that time. I could – and may – someday write a book about all of them.

There were no carriages or throngs of adoring fans when I got married, but I did have my version of the big white wedding - complete with a flowy size four gown, a drop dead gorgeous groom, beautiful bridesmaids in pink taffeta, white twinkle lights, a multi-tiered cake topped with real pink roses and a lighted fountain.

(Cut me some slack, it was the 80s. :) Like Diana, I ignored the red flags, relished the moment, embraced the dream and paid the price. The number one lesson learned the VERY, VERY hard way and the piece of advice I’d give to any twenty something gal who asked for my thoughts on men and marriage: Don’t let childhood fairy tales, great chemistry or the pages of Destination Weddings cause you to shut down portions of your brain when choosing a mate.

What else have I learned since 1981? There’s not room in this post. Guess I’ll just share a few random things readers of this blog and/or the young and engaged might find to be of interest:

13) If you force women you love and cherish to wear a color most often identified with nurseries, bubble gum and upset stomachs, they will find ways to punish you. If you make them wear pastel pink at your wedding, you may find yourself walking down the aisle in hoop skirts or ruffled blouses or on the arm of a 5’2” male cousin at theirs.

12) Opting out of pre-marital counseling because the cost would impact honeymoon spending is not a good idea.

11) Evening weddings in Florida are a recipe for lobster - faced and in some cases, intoxicated, northern wedding guests.

10) While it is acceptable to invite single friends and relatives without giving them the option of a "plus one", it probably shouldn’t be done. Better to nix the blue cheese stuffed olives on the buffet and budget for another couple of guests than to offend one of your Aunts.

9) There is no bigger waste of cash on this planet than the money spent on dyed to match shoes.

8) Gardenias, though gorgeous and fragrant, are not suitable for bridal bouquets. (I actually learned this one from my florist before my wedding.)

7) Hard core tow truck drivers will charge just as much to retrieve a car with “Just Married” written in shoe polish on the back window as they will to retrieve any other car on their lots… and to add insult to injury, they’ll laugh when they take your money.

6) Sometimes the guy who catches the garter is more interested in someone who wears one on HIS arm than in someone who wears one on HER leg.

5) Creating a workable seating chart when both sets of parents have been divorced and when certain factions of the family aren’t speaking is every bit as challenging as a 12 grid game of Sudoku.

4) While there is much to be said for being frugal, there are certain areas where a bride should not skimp on her wedding day. What, for example, is the point of buying a great dress with a sweetheart neckline if you aren’t going to invest in a nude colored push up bra to properly show off your assets?

3) The money you save by getting nail tips applied at the local beauty school just may end up being spent on the nail polish remover you will have to soak your hands in for days on end to remove the thick, pale pink archery arrow tips cemented onto the ends of your fingers.

2) It’s important to ask your husband if he has enough gas in the car to get you from the church to the reception without a stop at the neighborhood Mobil station, and

1) Having your hair professionally styled the day of your wedding is non-negotiable. Allowing your sister to get hers styled as well is an even better idea . Two young women, one of whom is chronically tardy and one of whom is a little high strung, trying to share a set of hot rollers and a bathroom mirror in a non-air conditioned house in the middle of a toasty Florida Summer does not make for a Martha Stewart Weddings moment. I don’t like my hair in my wedding pictures and my beautiful sister, does not like hers either. Not only that, my Mother’s vacuum cleaner, which inexplicably became airborne during the heat of this stress - inducing, power primping period of time, never fully recovered.

If I ever marry again, it will likely be in a laid back ceremony on the beach. My aspiring rock star wanna be son will start the festivities by blowing into a conch shell horn before walking me down the aisle. My groom and I will probably be barefoot. There will be white folding chairs and drinks with paper umbrellas and tropical flowers and seafood and paper lanterns or tiki torches. It will be a fun day with very little pretense.

Most importantly, if I ever do take that big step again, I want to do so with two essential things that were missing the first time around: 1) a quality man who properly values me and who is in it for the long haul and 2) great wedding day hair.

Not sure where the guy is, but I do know where to go for the hair: Hot Heads 407-671-0480

William and Kate, I Just Can't Wait!

Because of the Presidents’ Day holiday and the resulting mail draught, I don’t yet have my royal wedding invitation in hand. I’m not going to let that minor technicality keep me from starting my trip preparations, however.

I’ve watched Four Weddings and a Funeral and I’ve read my fair share of fashion magazines. I know even garden variety British weddings involve dashing gentleman in morning coats, adorable children and hats that are so fabulous and over the top, they make their Kentucky Derby cousins look darn near puritanical in comparison.

Throw Elton John, the Eton and St Andrews school chums and that cheeky Princess Anne in the mix, and well, there’s just no telling what might happen. I can hardly wait!

All I have to do is close my eyes and I’m already there… giving Camilla the look I’ve wanted to give her since the early 90s, sitting across the table from Kate’s charming late 40s uncle who, because he will be so taken with my fetching mane, will give up his place near the queen to come chat me up in his darling English accent and eating food fit for… well, fit for a would be king.

Designers have been sending me frocks they want me to wear for weeks now and my craft room is bursting at the seams, what with all the tulle, feathers, ribbons and flowers I’ve been accumulating in my attempt to keep pace with the big name European milliners. All I have left to do is make a late April appointment at Hot Heads 407-671-0480 and retrieve my passport and I’ll be good to go.

Romance is in the air and perhaps that coveted ivory parchment envelope will be in my mailbox. Maybe it will be in yours as well. Hope to see you in London or at Hot Heads several days prior. Have a great week!

The HHG

Not Missin' The Chill, Phil!

February 17, 2011

Phil
Gobbler’s Knob
Punxsutawney, PA 15767

Dear Phil,

As all of my closest friends know, I was in kind of a weird place recently. It seemed like I had been in a black hole for far too long. One day seemed just like the next. Same old, same old… In a lot of ways, I felt like a shadow of my former self. It seemed like a part of me was missing and I was searching high and low to find it. I was scared. My heart felt like it was frozen. Can you relate? I think you can.

As you recall, you assured me that my dark days and bleak nights were almost over. I wanted to believe you, but I’ll be honest, I just didn’t. I figured you were like all the others…. just one more guy promising things he couldn’t or wouldn’t deliver. Sure the idea of a cutie like yourself bringing a little heat into my world – and soon - was an appealing thought, but experience had taught me to keep my guard up.

I can’t tell you how happy I am that I was wrong. Today was a Katrina and the Waves kind of a day. I really did feel like I was walking on sunshine. You put a smile back on my face. You made me feel hopeful about the future. Things do seem better and brighter and there is a new spring in my step.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Hugs and Kisses,

The HHG

On Tuesday I wore a coat to work and I slept that night in plaid, flannel PJs. Tomorrow? Well, that's another day entirely! It is supposed to get up to 81 here tomorrow and according to the Weather Channel, it will be sunny with zero chance of precipitation. OMG am I happy about this! I feel a beach day coming on. I feel a great weekend coming up! I feel thrilled that Winter's over! Phil, dude, you’re the man!

You didn’t think I was really down, did you? Me? The eternal optimist? I think not! Spring doesn’t always get here as soon as I want it to, but it always gets here. I know that. I hold onto that and when it does come, nobody is happier about it than I am. Welcome back warm weather! Welcome back happy times! Welcome back blond highlights!

In the depth of winter, I finally* learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. ~ Albert Camus

*Actually, I didn’t finally learn it. I’ve always known it. Hope that’s how you feel too!

Celebrate Spring with a fun new do! Hot Heads 407-671-0480

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dear Hot Heads,

For bringing color into my world...

For making me feel like a million bucks...

For showering me with attention....

For always being there for me....

Happy Valentine's Day!

XXOO,

The HHG