30 Before 30 // New Hair Color!

#16: Get the courage to finally dye my hair.

I did it! Well, it was bleaching rather than dying (I got a balayage, to be exact) but the point was to make a change to my hair color. I didn't really take any before/after pictures, but pictures in past posts can show you my original hair color. It was fun to change things up, but bleaching reeeeally destroys your hair (go figure) so I think next time I'll go brunette. That won't be for a while though.

Another item of my bucket list checked off! Whoo!

Hair loss. It's a doozy.

My hair magically stopped falling out during my pregnancy. It was awesome! So much hair! When I combed or brushed my hair there would be only one, maybe two stray strands that would come away.

Now here I am, almost 4 months post-partum, and my hair is falling out in small fistfuls. It's not the greatest feeling in the world. I've told myself that as long as no bald spots show up I can deal with it! I don't want to worry about having a female comb-over. Noooo thank you. Nicole likes to help the hair-loss process along by casually grabbing strands and pulling ;) She does it unintentionally right now, but if she's anything like her cousins then she'll be obsessed with hair not too long from now.

My hair is also getting darker by the day. Look at the roots! (And no, I've never dyed or highlighted my hair.) At this rate, I don't think I'll be able to call myself blonde for too much longer. It's a shame 'cuz I liked my natural golden locks. Maybe some sunshine can fix that? Hooray for spring and warmer weather!

I've also felt great recently because I've limited myself to only posting on one social media site (that includes this blog) every few days, and I love that rule. It's amazing how much happier I feel when I'm not worrying about when I last took a new Instagram photo, wrote a new blog post, updated my Facebook status, etc. (because for some reason I feel an urge to post things while lacking the inspiration to post something "good".)

SO much less stressful. I remember a time when blogging didn't stress me out so much. It was back before I started interacting with other bloggers, actually. I'm making a return to that "blogging is fun" feeling by extracting myself from the outside blogosphere. I even considered making this blog private, but I won't go that far. Just... no more going out of my way to interact with other bloggers for this girl, or worrying about the "quality content or no content at all" rule (which I never follow anyways).

Let me tell ya, I feel better already. Blogging for ME! Let's make this fun again.

I got bangs. Yep.

Please excuse:

1. The weird way that the whites in these pictures are glowing and bleeding (smartphone camera issues)
2. The poor quality of the photos (smartphone camera issues)
3. The fact that I forgot to take the name tag off my dress for half of the pics ("pregnancy brain" issues)

I  (obviously) do not have the talent, know-how, or patience for Photoshop. Photo snobs... get over it. #DSLRsomeday

dress - Mikarose  //  belt - Kohl's (old)  //  heels - Famous Footwear

Yesterday morning I walked into a hair salon and came out with a fringe across my forehead. Talk about major change! I haven't had bangs since about 4th grade... and the bangs I used to have when I was little were the "bubble bangs" that were typical of 80s/90s kids. You know the ones I'm talking about. Curling irons. LOTS of hairspray.

Here's a childhood classic, for your viewing pleasure.

Oooooh yes. If that doesn't scream out "90's child!!!" then I don't know what does.

I've been warning Doug for a while that I wanted to try bangs. Doug, for whatever reason, doesn't like bangs in general and he really didn't want me to get them. Of course, I went ahead and got them anyways. I'm stubborn, ya know. He'll just have to get used to them! We'll see how long the bangs last before I decide that they're too "high-maintenance" and grow them out. For now though, I love having a change in hairstyle! It's been a looooong time since I've done something different.

And ya gotta admit... the weird white glow I have around me in these pics makes it seem kind of ethereal... that's cool, right? Right??!?   *Sigh.   Note to self: just don't wear white for pictures.