self sufficient.

Hey internet, remember that time I cut my own hair over the weekend?

Please excuse my makeup-less 8am self, thanks.

Yeah. That was pretty awesome.

Basically, in a moment of spontaneity that had the full potential to end in disaster, I took a pair of Fiskars scissors and cut off at least four inches of my hair. For serious. Go ahead, make the comparison between this photo and the profile picture over there on the right.

I've been trimming my own bangs in between cuts and decided, well, what the hell. I'll give this a shot and if it ends up looking horrible, I'll just go in and get it fixed. I also figured that I don't care about it being perfectly straight - it's not like I go out much and even when I do, nobody is paying attention to how well the ends of my hair line up (at least, I hope nobody is doing that...).

Plus, it helps that I just recently cut a few inches off my brother's hair* and had confidence in my ability to cut in a straight line. So that's two satisfied customers... maybe this could be my at-home business?

*Yes, I said brother. What can I say? He's a hippie. Okay so not really. Except.. yeah, he probably is a modern-day hippie.

hair success story!

For comparison, I took a picture right before I went out. Ready?

Before:



Aaaaand... after!!





Yay! I absolutely love it. My stylist was so helpful - she helped me pick out a good length for the bangs and for the layers. I got the bangs because, as you can kinda tell from the first picture, my hair had started to adapt to me constantly tucking it behind my ear. It used to take forever to go over that section of hair with my straight iron, so I figured I'd just get the bangs, which gives me a similar look.

Thank you to everyone who gave me their advice/opinions. I am a happy, happy Cait.

And with that, I'm going to bed. The only sleep I got today was a three-hour nap and I'm exhausted.

whirlwind weekends

This past weekend was the last of my crazy tendency to plan outings on consecutive days.

My four-day weekend of madness started Thursday night. I saw Sara Bareilles, Maroon 5, and Counting Crows in concert. Yeah.. we headed out before Counting Crows had set up because we were tired and starving, and not willing to spend our life savings on food from the venue. Anyway. We arrived just in time to see Sara Bareilles finish her set. She sang Gravity, which is my absolute favorite song of hers. Then Maroon 5 came out and THEY WERE AMAZING. Adam Levine is a tasty looking man, especially when he's really sweaty. Mmmm. They really mixed up their set a lot, doing songs from their old album as well as the new one. I was happy.


We had a pretty decent view from our lawn seats, but my camera is crap so this is the best picture I have.

The following day was spent running around like a crazy person for my friend Barb's surprise going-away party, since she's moving to Las Vegas in a mere ten days. The party was fun, but in some respects, not worth all the stress I put into it. However, she absolutely adored the scrapbook we made for her (that was one of the secret projects I mentioned here).

Saturday was little miss Isabella's third birthday party! When I went to get her gift a few weeks ago, I realized how easy it is to shop for little kids. All I had to do was walk into a store, look for anything covered in Disney princesses, The Little Mermaid, or Hannah Montana, and I was set. I ended up getting her a huge Disney princess coloring book, new crayons, and some Disney stickers. She got a ton of adorable clothes, which she kept throwing on the ground after opening. I forgot how boring clothes are for little kids. And of course, there was the oh-so-expected moment where Isabella and her 5-year-old cousin, Daniel, were tearing wrapping paper from a box of clothes. As soon as the paper was off, Daniel held it thoughtfully for a moment before proclaiming, "oh, it's just a box." I absolutely remember that sentiment as a child. I would look up at my parents and go, really? A box? How thoughtful of you. Oh, there are CLOTHES inside. ...I still don't care.


The birthday girl, eating her cake.


The birthday girl and myself with her new coloring book, after tearfully insisting that we go inside and paint instead of just using crayons. Well, it's her party and she'll cry if she wants to.

Sunday was way more laid back. I slept in and went to see Lyndsay in the late afternoon. We played DDR, packed for her Disney cruise, watched the Olympics, and witnessed the most ridiculous (yet hilarious!) stuff on YouTube.

So that was my last OMGIdon'thavetimetobreathe weekend. I've done a pretty good job of spreading out the rest of my social calendar over the next two weeks, so I should be able to get back to sleeping normal hours. That is, if I ever get out of the habit of blogging at 4am.

Oh, and the haircut is scheduled for this week, so be prepared for either my Elated Hair Success Story or my Panicky Ultimate FAIL Hair Story. Let's hope for the former, shall we?

the great hair debate

When it comes to taking care of my hair, I'm not always on top of it. I'm lucky enough not to suffer from split ends too much, or at least ones that are disgustingly visible. I'm also the shining example of simplicity: my hair is one length all around, save for the angles put in around my face. That's it.

But it's getting to that point where it's Way Too Long. I'm really not a fan. Here's me at a party two weeks ago:



My personal opinion of this picture? I look gross. Something about my hair getting that long irks me; it looks slightly unkempt, which is especially frustrating because this is after I took a straightener to it. Which, at this length, it really dislikes the straightener idea. Sure, it'll look good for the first half hour. But once I decide to, I don't know, live my life, it frizzes and loses the nice, shiny straightness.

I've always had pretty long hair - that picture shows it basically at its longest. I love it, but it's at this point where it's just a little too long. Last year, during the spring semester of my sophomore year, I got my hair drastically cut for the first time in a while. Here's a picture about two months after getting it cut Super Short:



My hair doesn't grow too fast, so that's just about the length it was right after the cut, give or take an inch or two. I've recently been debating if I want to get it cut that short again. But I'm also considering making a compromise and going with the length that's kinda in between, but leaning more towards the shorter cut:


(Don't mind the ridiculous posing - it was a two-hour car ride to a part for fourteen-year-olds. But I digress.)

This picture represents exactly what I want my hair to look like every day. The debate, however, is triggered by the knowledge that if I go to the salon and only get it cut semi-short, it'll grow back pretty quick. As much as I'm not a super-huge fan of the short cut, I get plenty of growing-out time.

ON TOP OF ALL THAT. I've been considering layers. In the past, layers were intimidating, because layers = lots of styling necessary. Considering my morning routine in high school barely included brushing my hair - never mind styling it - layers were out. Basically because I was lazy. However. Now I have more time for (and less hatred towards) getting ready in the morning. So.. the question of the day is, layers or no layers? Never mind the fact that I don't know a thing about how long I should get them. Advice? Is it worth it? Or should I just stick with what I've got cause it works?