Hair today...

and hopefully gone before June!

Unlike fellow bloggers Hawk and Uni (do you mind if I call you Uni?), I am NOT in love with my hair. I've gone through a number of styles in my 29 years...and some of them have been pretty rough. Don't believe me...check it out:

I created this to be like the Transformation feature from InStyle for a team event a while back

As you can see, I used to be blond*. And tried to hold on to that color for a bit past its peak. There were many dollars spent on highlights which were probably not good for my already tough-to-manage hair.

I started growing my hair out in late 2009 for a fall 2010 wedding I was in. Let me tell you, having hair past my shoulders for the first time ever drove.me.CRAZY. As in, I went to get a haircut the day after the wedding, with bobby pins still in my hair.

Showing off the still intact hair and flowers after the wedding
We drove home 4+ hours and I went straight to the hairdresser from the car

Why do I have so much trouble with my hair? Well, it's thick and somewhere between straight and wavy. We're not talking beautiful laid-back, beachy waves when encountered with moisture...oh no, it just looks messy.

See? Not cute.
Also not cute - getting SOAKED on Jurassic Park when it's 40 degrees.

It takes forEVER to dry and, oh, I have NO idea how to style the back. 

Terrible.
I'm going to try to ensure that people only see me from the front.

I'll stop complaining because, to be honest, I'm doing this to myself.

When I think about hair for the wedding, I absolutely love styles that require more hair than my preferred chop cut would allow. And, I've been really happy with updo results when I have sucked it up dealt with longer hair (I know I do not have long hair...just long for me).

This was for a gala we attended in May - so 6 months of hair ago
I really liked how it was able to be a bit unstructured (due to there being enough hair to work with)

I think the side chignon "look" works well for me since it allows me to have a less severe / more sideswept look up front and gives a little more "drama" to a typical updo. I also hear it's easy to put in a veil!

Wedding chignon - I liked how my bangs were a bit "poofed"
I'm not a fan of how I look with tightly pulled back hair (especially without bangs)

Me and MOH J
Tried my hand at a self created chignon - wasn't too shabby

So, in an attempt to be able to have a beautiful chignon with some fun detail in the back (along the same line as the gala hairdo above), I'm continuing to suffer grow my hair. This means lots of headbands, bobby pins, ponytails and hats along the way.

This is more fun than my typical weekend hats

I'm still looking for inspiration pictures to share with our wedding day hair stylist, but, if necessary, some of my previous styles will hopefully suffice to communicate the vision. However, if you've seen any fun, unstructured chignons, please share (along with support from the "short haired girls living with long hair" club)!

Bees - please tell me I can make it 6 more months...and will you support me if I do a PWC the day after the wedding?

*Blond or blonde??