Hair, Halee and How's this for a birthday present?

About two years ago, I started getting my hair highlighted. From the first time I came home with highlights, Paige (who has always thought herself to be 10 years older than she really is) has been begging me to let her color her hair. Well, after trying a couple of different places, I finally found a stylist who is DA BOMB-DIGGITY! She seriously rocks! (Hi Halee!)

Two weeks ago when I was in to get my hair done, Halee showed me some new colors she had just ordered. For me, they were pretty out-there colors...pink, yellow, orange, fire-engine red, etc. But she knew that Paige wanted hers done and grinning like crazy, Halee suggested I should let Paige get her hair colored. "Just a couple pieces right in front."

See, Halee loves my girls and she's SOOOO good with them! She even gave Paige her first eye-brow wax a couple weeks ago. (No, seriously, the child NEEDED it! Poor thing has her dad's eyebrows.) And the girls love going to see her because Halee gives them cuts they love (not just your typical kids' cut) and will spend time messing with their hair showing them how to make it look "cool".

Well, yesterday was a banner birthday for Paige. She turned 12, and I've always considered 12 to be a milestone of sorts. I know for me, it kind of marked the end of childhood and the beginning of young-adulthood. More independence, more responsibility, more freedom, more making my own decisions. And I feel like Paige is really entering that phase of her life, too. Dad and I decided that we'd let her mark this birthday with something really dramatic. So here's what she got for her birthday....









































Now, before anyone has a heart attack and says "WHAT did you DO????" it's not permanent! It'll last about 30 washes so about a month. After that, she will have a few blonde highlights because Paige's hair is so dark, we had to highlight before putting in the pink or else the pink would not have shown up at all.

The sunglasses were a gift from Dad. Halee works at the liquor store part time with him, and he had given her a few dollars with instructions to pick out some accessory from Daddy. The glasses, of course, added just the right touch.

As you can probably already guess, Paige walked around all night last night like she was the Queen Bee! And this morning, when I came upstairs at 6:30 to get her up for school, she was already up, dress, and ready to leave. She'd been up for over an hour flat-ironing and primping so that her hair would be just perfect for school. (I guess she was excited to go to school today!) She was already planning the big reveal to her friends, too. Ah, she kills me sometimes!

Here's both girls at dinner last night. While we were eating, I asked Paige if she was disappointed that I didn't make a cake this year. She laughed and said "No way! This is better than any cake!"

I guess Mom did good this year!