30x30: What My Hair Taught Me

30x30 ITEMS

Blazer: Charter Club brand (secondhand), $10

Sweater: Gap brand (thrifted), $5

Skirt: New York & Company brand (secondhand), $12

Boots: gift from mom

ACCESSORIES REPORT

Bead necklace: Wal-Mart, $8

Lace necklace: local craftswoman, $10

Owl pin: gift from sister-in-law

Right hand ring: gift from mom

Tights: Forever 21, $1.50

I'm back in the saddle again, returning to my favorite picture spot to show off this blazer-centric look. I loved participating in the last Everybody, Everywear event and especially enjoyed seeing the way other bloggers wore their breton stripes. This time around, everyone's rocking the classic blazer. My little navy number is one of the best wardrobe staples I've ever come across. I wore it just last week with khakis and a plaid shirt, but trust me: I was more than happy to whip it out again.

If you've been here before, you may notice that my hair is a might darker than it once was. As I mentioned in a post a few days back, I had an unintentional hair dye mishap on Friday night. I'm a natural blonde but have been enjoying an orangey-red 'do for the past six months or so, and I just meant to refresh that color. Since my usual hair dye was sold out, I grabbed a similar color from another brand -- but, oh no! After leaving the dye in for the specified amount of time and then rinsing it out in the shower, my hair had a dark maroon hue. Not what I was going for. There were also a few patchy spots, places where I hadn't applied the dye thickly enough. It's a risk you take when dying hair at home, I suppose.

Now, the color isn't ugly, and I tried to remind myself of that whenever I looked in a mirror and felt a little bummed. It's just that I was crazy about my previous red; my main frustration came from not having the color I wanted. After asking for your guys' input, chatting it up with my husband, and looking at my locks with fresh eyes, I've decided to just go with it and let it be. The color also evened out a lot after washing it a second time.

Does everyone remember the Sheryl Crow song, "Soak Up The Sun"? It was kind of a big deal in its day. Well anyhow, there's this one line where Sheryl sings, "It's not having what you want; it's wanting what you've got." My mom and I were driving along and listening to that song on the radio one time, years and years ago, and she told me that there was a lot of wisdom in those words. I think we sometimes have to choose between loving what we have or being dissatisfied with it. In this case, what I had was maroon hair. I didn't want it at first, but I chose to start wanting it. Just like Sheryl and my mom taught me.

So that's your life lesson for the day: if you have the choice, start wanting and loving what you've already got. It has a beauty all its own.

(I look like I'm fist-bumping you.)