#1600 simple pleasure Monday

There's just something about getting a haircut that makes me feel good. I've been going to the same stylist, Lanna, for probably 16 years. I feel like she knows my crazy hair and understands the way it behaves so she always gives me a good cut.

In the past year, the gray hair has been coming in much faster and with greater force than ever before. I have always had red hair and the gray hair comes in kind of white and makes my hair look brassy. I'm not a fan. My sister had dark hair and her gray hair came in early and in an interesting way. It started as a strip than widened and gradually took over all her hair. Now it's all silver and looks cool. It suits her. I do not feel like the gray hair suits me at all, so I have chosen to color it. Well, I have chosen to pay Lanna to color it. She mixes just the right amount of dark and light to make it look nice.

I had an appointment with Lanna on Saturday. I was more than ready for a fresh cut and color. For awhile I have let my hair grow, but it seemed to have reached it's natural length and didn't seem to be getting longer. Also, it was pretty frizzy and brassy. I decided to go ahead and cut it pretty short.

I am really happy with both the cut and the color! Remember the last time I wrote about being "put together"? Just having the hair done really helps me feel a little more put together. When Lanna styles my hair after a cut, she usually does it in a way that she knows will be hard for me to do because I don't have good skills with a round brush. She made my hair all soft and voluminous. I liked it a lot. When left to my own styling, I tend to keep it more natural and wear it curly.

Another bonus - it's quick to wash and it dries really fast!

Ahhh...the simple things :)

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I have been reading! Please check out the 2016 Reading List page to see the books I have finished this year.

#1599 well put-together ladies

When I was on vacation in Barcelona with my mom and my sister, we had the chance to do a lot of people-watching. It's one of my favorite things, when I think about it. I like to see the way people dress and behave and react to their experiences.

One thing that Lizzie and I noticed and admired was what we called "well put-together" ladies. There were many Spanish women who looked so effortlessly stylish that I spent most of the two weeks feeling more frumpy than I usually do. From the hair to the makeup to the accessories to the shoes to the clothing itself, I admired the style.

An close-to-home example: my mom has a cousin, Ferran, who has a daughter named Gloria. We met Gloria at her parent's home when we went to lunch there to celebrate Ferran's wife's saint day. (Sometimes people are named after saints and the saints have a day and then that's your saint day, too.) Gloria was wearing a navy blue sweater with sleeves to the elbow and a navy blue skirt with a floral pattern. I don't specifically remember her shoes, but I think they were a low-heeled pump. Her hair and makeup were clean-looking, nothing fancy or overdone. She was wearing a simple pendant on a chain and earrings along with her wedding ring. I specifically remember Lizzie and I looking Gloria and then at each other and saying, "Well put-together Spanish lady."

Another example: Lizzie and I were on the train coming back to Barcelona from Montserrat. A young couple sat in the in the seats across from ours. The woman was wearing a sun dress with a denim jacket and a scarf around her neck. Her hair was just above her shoulder and curly. Her make-up was minimal, probably just some mascara and maybe a bit of lipstick. Her shoes were ballet flats. She was wearing cute dangling earrings. She looked great!

In two weeks, I saw dozens of examples of well-put together ladies. It was inspiring.

Then I came home and although I would like to be a well put-together lady, I find myself lacking.

I looked for more well put together ladies when I was on the cruise. I saw some, but I also saw a lot of women that looked like they were trying really hard and the result was not natural and elegant. Too much makeup, too much jewelry, the clothes didn't fit properly...it's just my opinion of course. The thing is that I'm looking for my own style and looking for what I think works well for others that I might incorporate.

Having style doesn't come naturally to me. I've always dressed more for comfort than for style. I haven't mastered the balance between comfort and style. I wrote earlier in the week about my problem with shoes. It doesn't stop there. I don't really love to shop so I get in a rut. When I do shop, it takes time because you have to try clothes on. Not all clothes are the same sizing. A pair of pants in one shop might be the same size as the pants in another shop, but they don't fit the body the same way at all. It can be so discouraging.

I didn't really make any resolutions for myself this year, but I do have some goals. (I guess goals and resolutions are the same thing, but goals sound better to me.) I aspire to be well put-together. I have a lot of work to do to achieve this goal. I frankly don't know if I will ever achieve it because I am basically pretty lazy. Like today, for example, I could have dressed better. I went to WW to weigh in (up 0.4 lbs GRRR). I wore my usual weigh-in outfit of track pants and a t-shirt. It was cold so I put on an old oversized fleece jacket with a little bit of paint on the wrist. I had an appointment at the hairdresser after the WW meeting. I could have come home to change, but I didn't. I went to get my hair cut (feels and looks a lot better!) then I actually went to the store with my cute hair and my weigh-in clothes. Not a good look! Not put-together! Yes, I was comfortable but I was not putting my best self forward. I was bummed out when I thought about it. I can do better than that. I want to do better than that. I will do better than that.

The whole style thing has been on my mind for awhile and it just seemed like the right time to get it out there. Now that I've said to my seven readers on the world wide interwebs, it's out there and I need to hold myself accountable and reach my goal.

I'll let you know how it's going.