Coiffure couture

One of the hardest services to replace when moving, in my experience, is the hair stylist. It took four different stylists in three different salons before I found someone I really liked, who was in my price range. (It's still about twice what I paid in Ohio, but it's the going price for this area.) And the gal I ended up with, I ended up with by default.

I was with her for a while, really liked her, then . . .

She left. Went to work out of town, I think. No forwarding address.

So I went with another default person, who was not the default person I thought it was (whom I really liked, too).

So Wednesday, I tried a different salon. And I'm highly amused by the difference.

The previous salon had more of an "up-scale" "salon" atmosphere to it. The place I went Wednesday was a much homier "beauty shop." Owner-operated (the owner returned the message I left and was working the front area of the shop when I arrived), and rather, as George suggested, "Steel Magnolias."

The gal gave me a fairly awesome cut, and was even able to--by serendipity--bring out my natural red highlights.

And the kicker? I got a free cookbook for being a new client. It's one of those homemade cookbooks, like churches or schools or community groups do for fundraisers. It's a collection of recipes gathered from the (I assume) employees and clientele of the shop.

It's really interesting to see the differences and similarities between this book and the ones I have from back home. Lots of crab recipes, something definitely won't see in a mid-western cookbook.

( Recipe rambling and the Joy of Pineapple )