Cut It Out

I finally had the time to get my haircut today at a professional salon. I had been just trimming my hair for the past 10 months now, going to a Supercuts near my old office in Costa Mesa. I was happy with just doing that, until "the bang incident."

The last time I got my haircut at Supercuts, I asked the woman to trim my bangs so that I could wear them down. "Not too short," I said. Well, she cut them short. Waaaayyyy too short -and they were too short with wet hair, which meant they'd be even shorter when they were dry. When she finished, I looked like a 10-year old Japanese girl. Even though I'm half-Japanese, I've never really looked it...until that day. I was really unhappy with it and refused to pay for the bang trim, which was $8. Without the bang trim, my total was $40. Supercuts is now a rip-off. When I complained about my bangs, the woman (in an indecipherable Chinese accent) goes, "Oh, you wait only three weeks. Grow back." I began pinning my bangs back (luckily pinned back bangs are in style) and had to keep them that way for TWO MONTHS. Grow back in three weeks, my ass!

Anyway, last weekend I decided my bangs were now long enough for them to be cut and reshaped. The ends of my hair were getting a little heavy too, so I decided to just get an all-over professional haircut. I went to Pacific Coast Style, off PCH and Loynes Dr. in Long Beach to see my dad's neighbor Nyk who had always cut my hair and I trusted to do a good job like she always does. When Nyk cuts and style-dries my hair, she only charges $40 for everything, including shampoo, conditioning AND a scalp and neck massage (which feels like utter bliss, especially if I have a headache when I see her). It's so cheap that I feel like I'm the one robbing her! Anywhere else and I'd easily be paying $65 or more. So why don't I always just go see Nyk, instead of going to Supercuts? Because Nyk isn't always available and, for a while, the only days I had available were days she had off. Well, today it finally worked out. Yippie! (I should probably add that Nyk only charges me $40 because my dad is her neighbor and she knows me. My dad always helps and looks after Nyk and Arlene and brings them stuff, like snacks and fruit)

Nyk is really cool and she's the same age as me. She and her partner, Arlene, live in the condo next to my dad in Long Beach. She has the most adorable voice and, if our schedules weren't so different, we'd probably be really good friends. When I went to get my haircut with her today I hadn't seen her in a while, so we chatted the whole time, like we usually do. Today, I discovered that Nyk designs her own accessories and sells them at craft fairs and events. She also mentioned that she has a blog. I promised I'd plug them both on my blog for her. If you have a moment, check them out at: Etsy::nyklectic:: and (nyk-lectic). If you go to the home page of the Etsy site, you can find more really cute handmade items for sale by other private vendors.
Nyk and I also talked about our favorite cupcake shop in Long Beach, called "Frosted." She told me they too have a blog about their shop: frosted frequency (I'm just plugging all kinds of people tonight). My favorite cupcake is their red velvet. Mmm!

I didn't do anything drastic to my hair. Just had it thinned out and added more layers. Although, since my hair is so thick, you can't really tell it's been thinned out. In two or three months I'm going back to Nyk so that she can cut my hair short...really short. I haven't had it really short in five years. We'll see how it turns out.