Seasonal Delights

Driving in the car yesterday, my Mom commented on what a lovely autumn it has been. And indeed it has been. Some of the trees look positively on fire, they are so brightly colored. I love it. And I love that Chick is old enough to appreciate it with me.

Some other seasonal delights: HH & Chick spent a few hours this week picking all of the apples from our tree. We have 4 boxes of apples for me to play with now. I'm going to dehydrate some for snacking, do sugarless applesauce (as soon as I find a recipe for such), and a few apple pie fillings for HH. I'm so grateful for that apple tree. The apples are very "organic" looking & sometimes need a lot of extra paring, but it's nice to have a break from buying apples.

I got my haircut. I suppose this is normally a spring thing, but whatever. Anyhow, here is my rant, though, about 7 salon. You can skip it if you want, it's kinda long.

2 years ago I got my haircut at 7 salon. Their ads said that they analyze face shape & features & hair type & will give a haircut that is perfect for you. It was a free cut, too, because I went from long to
short & donated to Locks of Love, which they do free of charge. I loved it. I got scads of compliments, felt cute, & had a great experience.

Lately I've needed my hair cut, and waited for it to get long enough for L of L again. On Saturday I went back to 7 for a consultation specifically to find out what they would recommend for a cut & if my "perfect cut" would be possible while doing Locks of Love, or did I need to wait longer or go ahead
and pay for the cut (starting at $50). The salon is in Bellevue, so it's a 30-40 minute drive each way. The stylist was nice--also a young mom & knew the demands that having little ones makes on hairstyle. Yes, my hair was just long enough for L of L and to still get the style that she
suggested. Great. I made an appointment for 2 days later & arranged for my Mom to walk the girls around the mall while I was in the salon (my sister M also went along for the fun too). The appointment was with Grace, who didn't do the consultation because consultations are with more
advanced stylists, and Locks of Love cuts are done by the junior stylists.

So I arrive on Monday, they give me my cup of hot chocolate from the bar, get me in my robe, and Grace comes to meet me. She sets me down at her station and the first thing she says is "You know your hair needs to be cut 10" for Locks of Love" (my hair was pulled up in a ponytail). I take it down,
and said that yes, I knew that. "Your hair isn't long enough." I explained that I had been in on Saturday for a consultation and was told that it was long enough. "Well, it's not." She called her supervisor over, measured it out for the supervisor, explained that it would have to be cut above
my hairline to get 10 inches, and that the bottom 2" were layered and "scraggly" so they wouldn't be donated. They said that they could cut my hair shorter, but that it wouldn't look that good (Oh, well please lets do that because I don't care what I look like as long as the cut is free...). The stylist suggested that I wait a month (because my hair is going to grow 2 inches in a month?!), or I could pay for a cut.

I must admit that at this point I started crying. It was very embarrassing. I can't remember the last time I cried in public. I had just gotten myself so psyched up for a new haircut, I'd been hating my hair for so long and had waited to cut it so that I could donate it, and had the consultation & it was all set & then I was rejected. I said that I'd have to consult with my childcare about whether to reschedule (My Mom drove 45 minutes just to get to my house, and then I drove the 30-40 minutes
to Bellevue--quite a long trip to have to do again), or whether to just pay and get it done that day. She said that was fine, I could go out and decide and then come back.

So I did. I met my Mom and sister just outside of the salon (still a weepy mess, honestly), explained to them, and they said to just get the cut because I had been totally looking forward to it. I no longer wanted that stylist (AT ALL) so a few minutes later I went back in and said that I'd like to go ahead with the cut, but was there another stylist available? Yes, in 40 minutes, and by the way, it's too late for you to meet with Grace now anyhow (seriously, I was outside for about 5 minutes). "Would you like to schedule with the other stylist?" No. As I walked my weepy self away, I tossed the hot chocolate in the rubbish bin--who wants to get fat on their empty calories anyhow?!

My sister suggested heading to her salon, but we called and they didn't have any openings that day. As we were leaving the mall we passed Mia & Maxx, and stopped in there--yes they had an immediate opening and the cuts cost $30. Great. So the rest of my entourage continued their walk
around the mall & got my haircut (the M & M stylist also suggested the same haircut as had been suggested on Saturday). She was friendly & did a good job. My Mom paid for the cut, which was so sweet & in my vulnerable state I really appreciated being spoiled. My sister also gave me some good hugs, which were also appreciated.

So the moral of the story: if you go to 7 just be prepared because they don't honor their word. Or the moral could be: don't bother making a long drive twice to make sure that you'll be getting a locks of love cut, since they might tell you that you can do it & then after you drive out a second time they'll say they were just kidding.

Ok, enough of the rant. I'm thrilled with the haircut & here are before and afters.

(gotta love self-portraits)

And my last seasonal delight is sewing Chick's Halloween costume. I don't have any pictures yet, but it's turning out cute & coming together pretty easily thus far.