Team members

Last night at my book club (BTW, we discussed the wonderful Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish & I recommend it for any book club out there. It's a crowd pleaser!), the discussion turned to fixing stuff and then to mechanics.

"Do you have a mechanic you really like?" asked one book club member. Turns out she does have a trusted mechanic and she shared his location, his work ethic, his fair prices and his convenient location. I almost wanted to hear a noise in my engine just so I could check him out.

"I don't have a mechanic I love," I shared, "but I've really found the right hairstylist. It's taken me how many years of living in this town, but I have a keeper." In fact, while sitting at my book club meeting, I was looking forward to the hair appointment I had scheduled for this afternoon. Now it's evening and I am home from that appointment, still basking in the hair-dried glow.

"What makes you like her so much?" asked someone in the circle, and I expounded on the reasons. Let me count the ways:

1) She came recommended by my friend Jen - whose color I really admired one day.

2) She shares a name with my daughter. So, of course.

3) She is conveniently located two blocks from my work and two minutes from my home. In Bryan. Yes! I like to support the hometown businesses.

4) She never tries to sell product. Product singular, right? Cause that's always how hair people refer to it. (Pet peeve!) In fact, this salon doesn't have any product for sale. This should probably be my number 1 reason, I like it so much. See, I don't want my hair stylist pushing me to buy stuff ... because I am terrible at resisting sales pushes! I usually leave stylists who "suggest" various shampoos and waxy pastes. Even the stylist at Great Clips tried pushing something on me. No more. I was done. My kids still go there, but not me. Costs too much - a $12 haircut and a $25 bottle of shelf decoration.

5) She doesn't make ridiculous chit chat the whole time. In fact, we sit in silence with each other for long stretches of time. It's not that we never visit. Today I asked her what her granddaughters were going to be for Halloween. She asked me about my job. But it's also okay if  I read one of the many celebrity magazines she has stacked AT her hair station. "Do you want another magazine? Here's the new People," she said this afternoon, handing me the just delivered issue.

6) It's a relaxing experience. I'm doing cut and color now, so the appointment involves application of the color (pleasingly cold), setting the color under a hair pod blowing hot air (uncomfortably singe-ing), relaxing into a shampoo (heaven on earth), and sitting in the spin-around chair for the cut. And for the style. (She styles free of charge.)

Today when I walked in, she took me to the shampoo station straightaway. It was delightful, just the right end-of-week relaxer I needed.

"Oh my goodness, you're getting color, right?" she asked with a start, right after she had rinsed some delicious-smelling creme from my hair.

"I am, definitely." These gray hairs don't disguise themselves, am I right?

"Well, I'll just have to shampoo you again after we put the color in," she said with a laugh.

I smiled inwardly. Two shampoos in one appointment? My lucky day!

7) The price is right. $55 for a cut and color. Pretty much can't be beat in town. One of my coworkers told me that at the salon she frequents, a highlight and cut was $120. More than double my full color, cut and style deal. (She's now looking into making an appointment with my stylist.)

ETA: I still think $55 is a lot of money. I hope I didn't sound spendthrifty! The last time I went in for a cut and color was in July. I stretched that cut and color out for three months and touched up my roots myself. So yay for budgeting, but boo for shaggy layers, less than professional blending and split ends. If I can go two months between appointments, I'll be pleased. Three months was too long, especially since I work in a field where personal appearance is so important. (Guffaw!)

8) She is a sweetheart. I've been to her salon four times now (and have blogged about her before), and I am touched by her positive energy. She is friendly and encouraging to the other stylists, for example, and she compliments me too, i.e. "Oh, your red hair is so beautiful!" I don't even bother pointing out that SHE's the one to thank for the color. Her compliment is sincere, without any claim on the finished product.

This afternoon, we happened to be talking about car accidents on the highway that runs through our community. She asked me if I had seen a particular cross at one of the major intersections. "That's my baby," she said. "I just put out fall flowers this week, I change them every season. Never a day goes by that I don't think of her." It was a very poignant moment with a lovely person. I choked up, actually.

So even though I don't have a mechanic on my team (yet!), I am grateful for Annie, my hairstylist.