I have certainly taken a long hiatus from posting on this site, though not from writing bog posts at all. In fact, this past year I have been quite busy posting on my fitness blog as well as for my TechStylish business (see here for a collection of other posts I have written). The past two years has been a a great journey in adjusting to change and figuring out what works and what doesn’t work in my new life as a mom and stay at home parent.
2013 is gearing up to be a special year for me. I really can’t quite explain why — maybe it is my Chinese horoscope, maybe it is just that it is the last year before I turn 40, and maybe it is because I am at that time of the month. No, it actually started with my hair, of all things.
Here’s how my hair looked at the end of 2012:
 My hair styled and blowdried |
 My hair in a ponytail |
I have been trying to grow my hair out for the past year. Since I started working out last February, I decided that I would try to grow my hair to be able to pull them into a pony tail, especially since I was running and exercising regularly. I had been sporting a short bob for the longest time and I decided that I wanted to go longer in length. I had been communicating this to my hair stylist and I was starting to get frustrated. I finally was able to grow to my hair to the point that I was able to pull my hair back, but my hair was looking messier than ever. My layers look weird even after a trim. When I brought up my frustration with my stylist, he told me, “Irene your hair has not recovered from your postpartum thinness. I have seen this before — sometimes people never recover. I am like a chef, I can only deliver good things if I have good ingredients.” Ouch.
That conversation had me near tears but things like this set me into action. I called my doctor for an appointment. I asked for a lab slip from the doctor’s office and scheduled lab work to be done to check for everything, including my hormone levels. I also made appointment with a new stylist that many friends go to I have been thinking about checking out. I researched hair loss, hair styles, and Pinterested a lot. The doctor confirmed that my hormone levels are fine and my hair is growing (follicles are not permanently damaged). Doctor informed me that extended breastfeeding can cause not only a long delay in the return of menses but also a delay in hair growth. My second opinion new stylist told me that it would probably frustrate me to see the baby hairs catch up to all the layers I have, and most definitely pulling my hair in a ponytail was not helping me.
So I decided to chop it all off, and I am not going back to the bob either. I went for the pixie. Yes, even though I do have a round face. I was somewhat inspired by Robin Wright in House of Cards. Here’s a picture of me right after the haircut. You can still see all the stray hair clippings on my face.
The last time I had my hair short was a little over 10 years ago, and this time I actually went shorter. A friend of mine told me that my haircut has made me look younger. Her comment inspired me to dig up an old picture for comparison. The picture on the left was taken on a European vacation in June 2002, the one on the right was taken in my bathroom after the haircut. I wore no makeup in either pictures.
There is something about this hair that just brings out a certain aspect of my personality — that “I don’t give a care if you don’t like it” part of my personality. My husband isn’t too fond of this hair, but I am enjoying it more and more. This hair is solving many problems for me. I think it is going to save me 10 minutes from my post-workout shower routine. Since my hair grew longer, the more time I have had to spend styling it, and now I don’t have that problem anymore. I won’t be tempted to pull my hair into a ponytail, since I can’t. My baby hairs will get a chance to catch up to the rest of my hair, and you really can’t see any thin spots in my hair like before. Luckily, my son did like my haircut and that does please me!
Now I have all sort of projects for myself in 2013. Stay tuned!