Where have you gone, Aura Mae?

Howdy, kids.  I don’t want you to think I have been abducted by aliens.

I have been hit with some startling news and am spending all my free time (when I might otherwise be writing to you all) researching info about doggie bone cancer.

My girl dog, Georgia Mae, is in dire straights.  She has been diagnosed with bone cancer in her right front ankle.  The tumor is getting visibly larger every day and she is lame in that foot.

I am looking into treatment options and reading real world stories of families who have gone through this with their giant breed dogs.

If you have any insight, I would love to hear it.

I promise I will be back writing as soon as I get a grip on this.

Finally, a Farmer’s Market I can attend!

Courtesy of Ed’s Diner

I hear the Proctor Farmer’s Market has lots of food (ingredients, not prepared) items, but it is Saturday and you know where I am on Saturdays.  There is one downtown on Thursdays, but in the middle of the day.  I don’t have a scheduled lunch hour (hairdressers every where are laughing now…lunch hour…ha ha ha!)

So, much to my delight I hear we have another market on the horizon.  Tuesdays.  In the evening.  When people are off work.  And it’s right in my neck of the woods at 6th and Pine (Starbucks, Engine House, Masa, etc.)

And, even better, I hear it will be lots of food type vendors and fewer flowers and crafts.  (No, I have nothing against flowers and crafts, but I like food better!)

Maybe I’ll see you there!

Read more about it (and the cheese lady in the picture) here.

And get more specifics from the offical 6th Ave Farmer’s Market website here.

Yes, I am fat. And I am cute anyway.

I read a lot of blogs about happiness and personal growth, etc.  This video popped up on one called Shapely Prose. If you are (or know someone) who is fat, check this out.  If you are just generally dissatisfied with your body and can’t accept yourself, check it out (and read my book! )

For the record, I have been thin.  I know what it takes to be thin.  I am not interested.  I disagree with the statement “nothing tastes as good as thin feels.”  I am perfectly content with who I am at this place in my life. If my size becomes a barrier to my desired lifestyle, I will do something about it.  In the meantime, I am fat and happy.  I wish the same for all of you.

Switch-Flops - why didn’t I think of that?

How cool would it be to have a pair of flip flops in every color of the rainbow to match every outfit?  How about if it was one shoe, but with interchangable decorative bits?

Watch the video and order online or find a retailer, all the while asking yourself why you did not think of this brilliant idea.

A personal journey through the world of online dating - Updated

I don’t think that anyone necessarily plans to be alone and lonely; sometimes it just happens. Perhaps it’s because they got caught up in a career race, or they live somewhere with a limited dating pool. Maybe they’ve been dating the wrong person, they’re divorced, or perhaps it’s because they have simply postponed couplehood until nearly everyone they know is paired up, and the ones who aren’t simply don’t look appealing. However it happens, there comes a day when as satisfying as being a singleton may have been, they suddenly realize that they…are lonely.

My friend Judie at Gear Diary is doing a series about online dating.  She is a grown woman, with a grown child, and a growing business.  She would like to have some companionship, as would, I am sure, many of you.

She has published the first in a five part series. This one is about how she is choosing which service to use.

Part 2 is about writing your profile. (I will add links to the remaining posts as I get them.)

Part 3 is about the do’s and don’t’s of actual dating.

My favorite online dating comment is from a client.  She sent an email to eHarmony after having used their service for a few months.  It went something like this:

I did as you asked.  I filled out all the forms and was completly honest.  I am pretty sure I told you that I am really shallow and that looks are improtant to me.  Why do you keep sending me ugly men?

Azarra gets some great PR

One day last week our cute FedEx driver brought us an envelope containing a copy of Short Cuts ( a consumer magazine.)  It seemed an odd thing to be FedExed, so I gave the mag to my client and asked her to flip through and see if she could figure out why this was sent to us.

It took some time, because this is almost at the end of the magazine, but she found the reason.

In their Salon Directory, there were two salons reviewed.  Gary Manuel in Seattle, and little old us.

I only have one question.

Who the hell told them we were “warm?”

What’s next in the salon refresh?

You may have noticed that we have been doing a bit of freshening up at the salon this spring.  New shampoo chairs, a new color processing zone and a streamlining of the retail space have all been completed.

If you thought we were done, you were wrong!

The large back wall that is currently covered in multi-colored squares is getting a mural.

Thanks to Rea, a School of The Arts student (who is also our client) we will be getting some lovely original art.  It will probably take the whole summer to finish and I will keep you posted of the progress.  If she’s in the salon working on it when you are there, feel free to say hello!

So far we are in the development stage.  We talked about what kind of items spoke to us and what would work for our customers.  She came back with a few rough ideas.  Here is the one that we selected as our launchpad.

Seriously? A hair hat?

Why didn’t I think of this?

See the whole menagerie here.

What are you doing for dinner Thursday?

Pacific Grill is having an Argentine Wine dinner this Thursday (June 12, 200 .

It sounds pretty fabulous. Five wines, and a five course Chef Tasting dinner for $95 a person.

If you want to go, you better call soon.  Reservations are required.

For reservations and information, please contact Chip Venzone at 253-627-3541.

MP3 technical assistance needed!

I was on the radio, and I have a link for the file of the audio, but I can’t seem to dowload it, just play it.  As we already discussed, I am not a MP3 expert.  Any of you care to help me learn this?

Here’s the link to the page.

Here’s the link they gave me for the MP3. When I click on it it opens a page and starts playing.  I tried right clicking to download, but I am not given that option.

Feel free to explain to me why I am an idiot.

If you want to listen to the show, I am the first guest, so I come on right after the hosts do their welcome.

If I Were A Rich Woman

Do you fantasize about what it would be like to be a celebrity?

I am happy being under the radar because I couldn’t bear the paparazzi, but the perks wouldn’t be all bad.

What would you like the most?  Glamour magazine asked women what they would most want and you can read the results here.

Getting Energized!

Carrie and I went to Los Angeles this weekend to attend the American Board of Certified Haircolorists‘ annual Energizing Summit.  We go every year.

I taught two sessions of the same class on branding and marketing for salon owners.  Carrie and I both assisted at two sessions of Correcting Haircolor Disasters with our buddy Jessee (kadusguy) Skittrall.

When we weren’t busy with teaching, we grabbed some classes on motivation, creativity and coloring dark & textured hair.

Carrie also participated in the speed foiling contest.  She did not win any prize money, but her mannequin got high marks, and she will be giving it another try next year.  Last year’s winner was competing and she didn’t place this year.  The competition is stiff, I tell ya!

Getting back from LA was a little grueling. You know the drill: delayed flights, crammed full of passengers, getting home in the middle of the night and rolling into work pretending to be awake in the morning!

We are glad to be home, energized and ready to try new things to make your salon experience even better. See you soon!