I did something today I have never done before

In my nearly 8 years spent in Vienna, I have never gotten a haircut, ever. Today that changed. Out of sheer necessity both to my physical and mental self I walked into a salon and got a cut, for fear that I was going to pick up the kitchen shears and attempt to cut my own. It wasn't nearly as traumatic as I expected it to be. Ya know what else? I like it. Of course, I never really know if it is a good cut until I wash and style it myself, but I watched her cut it, and I think she might have fixed some past few hair cut damages. Everyone always underestimates how long it will take, even when I tell them them that I have REALLY thick, curly and kinda unruly hair. They just have to see for themselves. She kept saying "Wow, you have incredibly thick hair. It's crazy." She started with an awesome wash including a great scalp massage which many hairdressers are nervous to do for fear of tangling the mass of hair. We then spent a few minutes talking about what I wanted, and what didn't work on my hair i.e. texturing (try explaining that in German!) Once she felt clear she went to work. She was really thorough and I think the cut alone took more than an hour. Thank goodness I didn't request highlights. I am enjoying my natural hair color after years of adding a little blonde here and a little blonde there. After that, she asked if I wanted her to blow it out? Umm, heck ya, do you think I can do this on my own?? That took her another hour, and I always feel bad at the end when I have watched them work really hard, but man I love the results! And I tip well for their hard work.

I think I was really nervous to put my hair in someone's hands with whom I didn't communicate well. While I do speak passable German, details such as trim, layers, blending, curly/straight, thinning and all other sort of "hairdresser speak" is beyond me. I learned that they call layers: steps "stufe" and curly is "lockerl" (which I kind of knew). It felt SO good to get my hair cut and blown out after almost a year without a cut. Yes, the last cut I got was March 18th, 2008. Yes, I was that disappointed in it. I had to let it grow out because I was worried that it would just keep getting shorter and shorter, and my hair just becomes more mushroom-like the shorter it goes. What is it about a haircut that can make someone feel so good? I love it! If I had the money I would pay to get a wash/blowout once a week, just like ladies did in days gone by. It can last me almost all week long. Whether or not the haircut is a good one, I felt great walking out of the salon, like myself again, but hopefully its a nice cut. For that superb feeling alone I think regular salon trips are important!