Me in front of Nichol's Surf Shop (See Feb 27th post :) this past Sunday morning When I first walked into my old apartment, I was so instantly smitten with one of its rooms – a sunroom that overlooked a lush green anomaly of trees and bushes and tropical flowers in the midst of a multi-family housing complex - that I had to snatch it up. (That this room existed on the one street where I could afford a place in the “the right school district” delighted me to my core. One of the other rooms in this apartment, however, - the room that would become my son’s bathroom – and as scary as this concept is – the guest bathroom as well, was much less to my liking.
If you’ve ever rented before, you know that one of the most frustrating things about it is your inability to change features you don’t like. In this case, what I had to learn to live with was dated looking wall paper that put me in mind of a seismograph printout – heavy textured paper with wavy lines of varying heights in browns, creams and grays, rough unfinished shelving, beige-y linoleum floors, inexpensive cream colored, apartment - grade cabinets with a one inch faux wood strip at the top and dull fixtures.
I realized immediately that my existing second bathroom shower curtain and accessories would never work in this room. The colors clashed. The scale was wrong and everything just seemed woefully out of place.
For a brief time, I mourned the idea of the guest bathroom I had envisioned. Then I did, what experience has taught me to do in a situation such as this and what almost every creative person I know preaches. I embraced what I had to work with. I let it speak to me and I ended up with something far superior to my original vision. As hard as it is to believe, my guest bathroom actually became one of my very favorite rooms in that apartment.
Once I stopped trying to shove a square peg into a round hole and recognized the room for what it was, I really came to love it. I stopped seeing the wallpaper as a giant coffee - stained computer printout and I started looking at it as if it was packed sand on the shore at dusk complete with layers of curvy- sometimes foamy - lines where the ebb and flow of a day’s worth of waves had left their mark. I hung a textured off white shower curtain using simple pewter rings to match the weathered looking fixtures. I put assorted shells and starfish, framed vintage photos of my family on South Florida beaches back in the 50s and 60s and carved wooden birds on the shelves. Underneath them, I placed a couple of large conchs and a wicker basket full of rolled up off white towels. I put a natural sea sponge, a bar of ivory soap and a little wicker toothbrush holder on the counter and I finished the whole thing off with a towel monogrammed using a simple and rather masculine looking serif font (to add a little contrast to the curves of the wall paper). The monogram, in a shade of sienna that could be found both in the wall paper and in a wooden bowl full of sea treasures that sat next to my son’s homemade Cub Scout lantern on the back of the toilet tank, really pulled the whole thing together. The room had a rustic feel to it, like it belonged in a Summer cabin up in Maine. It was kind of perfect. It wasn’t too "foo foo" to serve as a boy’s bathroom and it worked as a guest bathroom as well.
The poorly constructed shelves, which had once caused me such angst, were the perfect backdrop for the photos and the shells, and the wallpaper in the room, which I had despised during my first walk through, served as both my inspiration for the room and its most impactful element.
This has happened to me so many times before in my life and yet every time it surprises me. Sometimes something that I have an initial less than positive reaction to...and something that I needlessly and foolishly resist... becomes something I just adore. Often “new, improved and unexpected” surpasses what I had pictured or what I thought I wanted. Sometimes I just have to trust… in creativity … in inspiration… in timing… in my ability or in the ability of others to take something, see it for what it is, work with it - and not against it - and find a way to make it even better. Sometimes I just need to embrace change and wait and see what cool and exciting thing comes into my life.
I tell you this story and I’m sharing this little insight, because of my experience at Hot Heads this past weekend. On Saturday, two talented professionals I respect and admire asked me up front if it was OK with me for them to change things up a little. I was scared, but I said yes. After all, Barry and Diane have been doing my hair for a while now. They know the texture of my hair. They know the percentage of my hair that is now naturally gray. They know my lifestyle and they know how likely it is that I will stand in front of the mirror every morning for three hours with a flat iron and an arsenal of beauty products.
They asked me to trust them and I did. I jumped…and then I curled up into a fetal position. My face went white. My hands got clammy. My stomach felt sick and I grabbed every tree branch I could reach on the way down.
Here’s how the afternoon unfolded: I sat down in Diane’s chair and she went to whip up a couple of her magic potions. Then she went to work. Barry showed me a picture of a model sporting a fresh, fun summer look, then he took over where Diane left off. I closed my eyes and focused on the desired outcome. I saw a svelte me in a sassy new style and sun kissed locks cavorting with a dashing gentleman at a lovely beachside restaurant. I could hear the surf. I could taste the wine. I could imagine our romantic after dinner walk. Then I opened my eyes.
When I did, I saw two things and everything else faded to the static-y snow of an old black and white tv. I saw darker hair and I saw a diffuser at the end of the blow dryer in Barry’s hand. I’m going to be honest here… I kind of freaked out.
Well, I didn’t really freak out, but I did have flashbacks of frizzed out, over processed brown hair and shoulder pads and I was almost certain I heard Olivia Newton John’s Let’s Get Physical coming out of the salon’s sound system. I looked like I had just taken a big swig of expired milk and I got really quiet. Soon after, I left.
On the way home, I stopped at the Winter Park Village and a handsome British gentleman around my age started a conversation with me about the Super Moon - taking care to work into the conversation that the person he had just said, “I love you” to on the phone was his daughter. That evening my son, who normally pays no attention to anything but food, phone, guitar and attractive 20 – 25 year old women, told me he liked my hair. Sun morning, while at the beach, I got a few second glances from some surfer types. Three single men at streetside table at the Winter Park Art Festival struck up a conversation with me and my friend later that afternoon. One the way home, a male friend extended our conversation a little longer than was necessary. My ex, who has this crazy radar and always seems to know when I'm sending out "vibes", called me in the wee hours of the following morning - of course I didn't answer. The girls at work just raved about my new do and a twenty something sales associate asked me about my hair at lunch.
There was no denying it. My new hairstyle was definitely getting the desired results! I would love to live at the beach if I could and Barry and Diane both know this. I would not love to live in front of my bathroom mirror - and I am missing that primping gene. They know that too. In addition, they are both keenly aware that while I would like to have naturally thick, straight, silky, swingy hair with no gray and beautiful shimmering highlights, I don't. Most importantly, they both sensed that with the right cut and color, proper products, good instructions and minimal time, I would be able to rock this look.
Today, four days after my appointment, I don’t just like my new style, I LOVE it! The color appears to be more natural, which makes me look younger, and it’s still got dimension and shine. The cut works. I really am able to do this on my own and I am so excited about the way my hair looks and moves. It makes me feel – dare I say it? Young and sexy and carefree. It is a great beach look and I’m so excited about learning all the fun new things I can do with it.
Anyway, if you are up for the challenge, give Hot Heads a call and give the stylists and colorists free rein with your hair as well. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re not quite that adventurous, take in a picture.
In any event, call the salon 407-671-0480, make and appointment and do something. Spring is here and Summer is right around the corner. I’m sure you don’t want me to be the only one at New Symrna with head turning tresses this season. Take a chance. Spritz a curl. I bet you're going to like it! Happy Spring! :)
