The Young and the Restless

The time Kylie's hair hijacked my birthday

Since Kylie hadn't started school yet, I was excited to spend my birthday getting our hair done and going to lunch. Kylie has wanted to do an ombre color on her hair for a while, she saved up to pay for half and was so excited to color her hair for the first time. And then it turned into a disaster.

This definitely wasn't what she had imagined it would turn out like, I called the hair dresser back to see if she could some how blend it more so there wasn't a distinct line.

She suggested adding highlights, which seemed like good idea, but it turned out even worse. This is literally the look that I envied when I was in high school. But that was almost 20 years ago and the chunky highlights aren't really the thing these days. There were so many tears shed. She was starting school on Monday and her life was officially ruined. She was never leaving her room and was going to home school until it grew out. Or so she thought. I spent hours researching options, texting and calling friends and family that did hair to see what they would suggest and since it was bleach I was getting so many mixed recommendations and I wasn't quite sure what to do. I really didn't want to spend another $100 to get it fixed but I know how important self image is at this age and I wanted her to start her first day at a new school feeling confident and beautiful. Jason took me out to Joes' Farm Grill for my birthday dinner then we went to Sally's afterwards where I felt semi confident that we could fix this on our own. 

In between the tears she was so sweet to put together a little spa for me and gave me a pedicure. It was very unexpected and definitely the highlight of my not so spectacular birthday. She also used her money to buy me a new wallet, phone case and watch band. It meant so much that she was not only thoughtful enough to use her own money but that she thoughtful enough to notice things that I needed. She has great taste and I really loved it all.

The next day Addi came over and helped dye her hair back. I should be offended that she would rather have her fix it then me, but I figured if it got messed up she would probably hate me for at least one third of a lifetime, but she couldn't stay mad at Addi for long. It just so happened to be Addi and Jayden's birthday that day, so now this whole hair saga had managed to hijack two more birthdays. But thankfully it worked! That was a lot of time and money to get her hair to look exactly like it did to begin with. But I'll tell you what, she has never appreciated her natural hair color more than she did at that moment. She went from lowest of lows to the highest of highs and I was glad to see her back to her normal happy self.

So that's the story of how I spent my 37th birthday. I didn't get a single picture, there were no cake and candles, no lunch and no shopping spree, but it was definitely a memorable one. I was grateful for the home made cards and family and friends who called, texted or dropped by treats and gifts and for sweet friends who took me to lunch the day before. I'm still hoping to get a picture with my kids that I can add later, but for now here's a mental snapshot of what 37 looks like: Smoothies for breakfast, Gossip Girl on the treadmill, on-line grocery pick up, black toenail polish, Inside Edition and Fixer Upper, blueberry cheesecake ice cream, Friday night movies in bed, Thai Chili, home remodeling plans, white Vans, Young House Love podcasts on cleaning day, wondering if I'm too old for ripped jeans, Magic Tree house bedtime stories, eyebrow pencils, Young Womens, black white and gray wardrobe, photography, gold accents and quinoa bowls. Just to name a few.  Here's to 37.....