I am a grown woman who really should know after 12 years of bad school pictures that it is never a good idea to get a haircut or shave your eyebrows off before having photos taken. But since I was only planning to get a smidgen shorter version of the style I have been wearing, I thought it was a safe bet. Henri has been cutting my hair for a few years now so its not like I pulled some random stylist out of my hat or anything.
Henri cut my uncle's hair, my step-uncle's hair, my cousin's hair, my aunt's hair and is now cutting Sister's as well as mine. He is great with a pair of scissors but dont let him come at you wielding that teeny tiny curling iron unless you want a little old lady hair-do; rows of tight curls all over your head, lacquered down to last the entire week and beyond. This must be his most requested style because he is quite good at it. The majority of his clients have been going to him forever and if you aren't a regular, it can take a while to get an appointment. Henri is the "smartest man in the world" (consensus taken) on any given topic including politics, travel, fine art, to cars and physical problems; you name it. He even studied with Sassoon way back in the 70's, so I take my chances, but I also take my own big curling iron. See, I plan ahead. I also take my own hair color so Im assured of not scaring anyone, particularly myself with some off the wall shade.
Henri sometimes feels the need to share his knowledge while gesticulating wildly, with the captive audience in the salon. This can be informative especially if you suffer from prostate problems because he is an authority on this. Seriously, he speaks on the subject and has been written up in the paper, picture included! But since I dont suffer from that particular malady I generally grab a Vanity Fair and slide under the dryer so my hair color can marinate and the humming noise can take me away. Henri has wonderful magazines, too, Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, People, etc.
Being a true artist with a pair of scissors, Henri is most concerned with a "good line". I am assured of a wonderful hair cut each time I go. That being said, Henri doesn't "style" my hair. That is up to me. Even so, it was rather frightening when I left the salon, got in the car and studied myself in the rear view mirror. To my horror I looked like Buster Brown doing a poor imitation of Anna Wintour. Oh well, I do have that 'good line'.
Friday evening we had our family photo shoot in Southlake. Time had run out, my hair was still more Buster than Anna a full week later! This was to be our last 'family' photo for a while, (at least until the memory fades and I can guilt them into another one). Not because I want it to be the last family photo, but because Gary and Rhys hate it so much and I have grown weary of the fight to get them to acquiesce. I wanted it to be a fun experience, our last family outing before Rhys takes off for his new life in NYC. I figured there would have to be liquor involved at some point but hopefully not until after the session.
The studio was rather unconventional, in the warehouse district of Southlake. I liked their website and the pictures posted looked interesting, a little different than the standard shots we have had in the past. They encouraged us to bring the pups and have them join the fun. The atmosphere in the warehouse kind of loosened us up and everyone slowly began to have a good time after grumbling in disbelief at being asked to lie on the floor. It was a relatively fun and painless shoot. We cant wait to see the results.
For dinner we went to a pizza place in their Town Center. I figured we might as well have the complete Southlake experience since we all braved the awful Friday traffic to get there. The restaurant is in one of those new concept type shopping areas where its like a small city of stores with streets in between. After about half an hour of walking around in circles trying to locate the address, the boys were able to use the GPS on their phones to walk us to the restaurant. When we opened the door, we were greeted by several cute young girls who invited us to a wine tasting upstairs (this is where the liquor comes in) before dinner. Rhys and I enjoyed the liberal wine samplings and judged them accordingly, while Gary and Reagan refrained. The pizzas were good, too! Happy and all liquored up, the evening ended on a high note.
Still not quite ready to say good-bye to Rhys, Anne and I took him to lunch at El Fenix the next day. It was great as always and we had a good visit. Anne got to hear firsthand of his NYC plans while I stared across the table at my baby boy, all grown up and flying the coop. Rhys has been looking forward to this move for a long time; possibly years. He has plotted and planned and has all his ducks in a row albeit at times those ducks were kicking and screaming. Everything, it seems, has been a colossal effort. But then, New York City is a difficult and challenging place where nothing is convenient and everyone is in a hurry. Not exactly the place for a middle aged Southern lady who is never in a hurry and likes to stop and enjoy little things in life before they whisk by at breakneck speed.
This should be the best time of his lives! I am sad to see him go, yet excited for what lies ahead. Life will change for all of us. I have grown accustomed to calling him up for a lunch or a movie date in the middle of the week as his schedule allowed.
Rhys wants me to get a webcam so we can "video chat". It sounds good but I'll have to fix myself up before our "visit", lest he think Im sickly. I want to visit for real, next fall, maybe a long weekend. I can tolerate NYC in small doses only. The extremely close proximity of people and breathing in all that used hot air combined with the loud New Yorkers who must think everyone is deaf, is just not for me. But It will be a fun trip to plan. There are a few restaurants I want to revisit to see if they are as good as I remember. I cant wait to see him and he hasn't even left yet, thanks to the winter storm! Its as if Texas isn't quite ready for him to go either. Meanwhile I'll have the new family photos complete with Buster Brown hair to gaze upon and keep me company.
Bad Hair and Sad Good-byes
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
IM STILL HERE! you can thank the weather.
ReplyDelete"A southern fried optimist" ... I LOVE it! May I be one too?
ReplyDeletesure, its not an exclusive club! Thanks for the comment:-)
ReplyDelete