Thanks to Lacey Rumley...

...I got my hair cut today! After checking out the Rumley family's blog recently and seeing Lacey's cute new haircut the idea has been on my mind. I originally was planning on growing it out through October because I'm in a wedding in July and another in October and figured it would be easier to create an updo with longer hair. Well, to be realistic...I'm just not a long hair person. The ease of a ponytail is great and I'm glad I could do that during my first couple weeks at home with 2 kids. On the other hand, I love trying new hair styles and I feel stunted with a ponytail. What I really wanted to do today was go very short, but I went to a cosmetology school and when I got there I didn't trust my hair fully in their hands. And this is why...

I went to Nuvo Cosmetology School in Muskegon, well, Norton Shores. I wasn't going to reveal where I went, but for any of you who live in the area and are ever thinking about trying it out...I thought I should be honest so you can know what to expect. I decided to go to a school because we're still being careful with our finances and a hair cut is only $6. I had called the French Academy in Spring Lake but they were booked for the day yet Nuvo could get me in. I have already tried Booker in Muskegon and didn't want to go back. Now, some of you might think I'm ridiculous for even trying a school, but please understand: my mom is an esthetician (someone who does facials, waxings, skin care, etc.) and she went to school to do this while I was in high school. She went to Douglas J in East Lansing and while she was there, I would go there to get my hair cut. Douglas J is a fantastic cosmetology school. They are a bit pricier for being a school, but you're paying for an experience as well. It is set up like a high-end salon, you don't tip the students, and they use Aveda and OPI products, 2 of my favorites. Once while getting my hair cut at Panopolous in Grand Rapids, I got to talking about Douglas J with the stylist working on my hair and she called it "the Ivy League of cosmetology schools in Michigan." So that is what I am used to when I think of cosmetology schools. They just opened a Douglas J institute in Grand Rapids and I can't wait to try it out and see if it's operated like the one in East Lansing.

Anyways, I get to Nuvo and am in the chair at 11:00, which is my appointment time, so this pleases me that I do not have to sit and wait. I have realized by this time that Nuvo is more along the lines of Booker than Douglas J, but I have confidence in my stylist who goes by "T."

When she asks what I want to do with my hair, I make a split-second decision in my head to go for an A-line, which is kind of like a Victoria Beckham style where it is short at the nape of the neck and then angled toward the chin, stacked in the back. This is what Tim mentioned when I was leaving is his favorite hair style. I have a favorite that I like to fall back on, but he hates it, so I went with his choice today since I was so thrilled to just be cutting it after 9 months of growth.

I describe what I want, not using the term "A-line" to see if she says anything about it being called that. In a way I am testing the waters to see what she knows. "Oh, so you want an A-line with a 45 degree stack?" she asks. First point for her! Well, second, since she got me in at my actual appointment time.

We go back to the sink so she can wash my hair. She starts telling me about an updo she had for a wedding that morning and how picky the woman was, how she didn't like it in the end and it took every instructor working on it to finally get it how she wanted it. The problem was, in T's mind, the fact the woman had long, thick hair. I have thick hair. I start hoping she can handle it. T then calls over Berta, another student, and starts talking to her about the picky, thick-haired woman. I hear her say, "I mean, come on, this is a school. What does she expect?" At this point, my muscles start to tense a bit. Is she purposely going to botch my hair, or not care, since it is only a school? Berta at this point asks what is being done to my hair and T replies, "A-line, 45 degree stack." "Oooooh," Berta says in amazement. "Have you ever done an A-line?" Now my muscles are very tense. "Oh, yeah," T assures her. "I haven't," Berta says. "I think I might watch if I don't have any appointments coming in." Great. Now I have an audience

Back in the chair, I am there for a very long time while T slowly and patiently works on my hair. At a regular salon I know I would be in and out with the cut I want in half an hour. I have no idea at this point how long it's going to take or if I will end up with anything resembling what I have described, even if she does know the terms.

Awhile later another student sits down in a shampoo chair across from the station I am at. She starts talking to T about where they should go for lunch. She then asks what is being done on my hair and T tells her. She adds in, "She just had a baby 2 weeks ago and needs something easy to do." I did tell her this when I first sat in the chair. Other student, who I notice has piercings in her face (something Douglas J would probably have never allowed) asks me if it's a boy or girl. I tell her it's a girl and that I already have a 2 1/2 year old son.

"Same guy or different baby daddy?" she asks.

I am stunned by the question as I have never in my life been asked it before and she is whiter than white and has just used the term "baby daddy." "Same guy," I reply. "We've been married for 5 years this month."

They both reply in unison, "WOW! That is such a long time!" At this point I am saddened that a 5 year marriage is long to them.

Fast forward to 12:30. Yes, an hour and a half later I am still sitting in that blasted chair. An instructor has been called over to check the work and is now trimming little pieces here and there. She asks T if she would like to razor the ends on one side to help it curl under (for some reason, the hair on one side of my head likes to curl under and the other side curls up.) Piercing girl, who is back in a chair, speaks up "No! T needs to go to lunch with me now. She can't be doing this girl's hair all day."

This cannot get worse, I think to myself. At this point I am considering opening my own cosmetology school to teach how to act professional while being a hair stylist. But it does get worse after I make the comment that I should really be going because I have a baby at home that needs to be fed.

"Oh, you're breastfeeding?" the instructor asks. I reply that I am. "You have a 2 month old?" No, I correct her. 2 weeks old and a 2 1/2 year old. "I hope you're married or have some help," she says. I tell her I am married. She says, "I ain't been with a man in I don't know how long." I start feeling very uncomfortable as this is the INSTRUCTOR, not just a student, talking like this in front of me.

Piercing girl then speaks up and says something so crude I cannot even write it, but it involved a vibrator. I am now appalled and have decided I am definitely never coming back even if it turns out I love my hair.

Which I don't. Tim loves the way it turned out, so that is good. It didn't turn out bad, it just isn't one of my favorites. However, I do like it better than what I had when I walked in that morning AND it was only $6, so I can't complain.

I did learn that I won't compromise my hair experience again. Sometimes it might be worth it to pay more at a regular salon and get an experience that leaves you feeling pretty and refreshed, not one that leaves you with tense muscles and embarrassed.

I hate taking pictures of myself but you can at least get an idea of how it looks.