kim's mardi gras expérience #3

i have a girlfriend that i have known since i was 14, crystal is her name.  she always had fab hair and this year chris was turning 40.  she decided to have the biggest party ever and she really outdid herself but more about that later.

the morning after i decided not to get a perm, i went to my stylist really unsure of what i was getting.  i wanted a smooth and realistic transition out of my weave so i opted to get my hair lightened.  i had never had my own hair lightened, never needed to...the sun did a great job of lightening my hair every summer but for the last two summers, the sun couldn't get to my hair so my hair looked extra dark.  i have had highlights in the past but i figured if i lightened my hair, many would not even realize the weave was gone, they would instead think i had a trim.  so...i had my hair lightened, i got highlights, shampooed and then a blow dry...all followed by an astronomical bill. i never realized how much the sun was doing for me naturally or how much money it was saving me.  next summer, back to the natural sun highlights for sure!  i decided i would skip the next week at the salon since i had already paid enough money to get my hair done for the month and then i remembered my girlfriend was having a party.  parties mean cameras and cameras mean you must look halfway decent.  well i did look halfway decent but my hair had been puffy all week and my only relief was to stick bobby pins in it around the edges to hold it down...even after a few days of that, i had to use ponytail holders, so back to the salon i went.

on the day of the party, it is hot, muggy, stuffy...a day weather forecaster's refer to as the 3 H's...hazy, hot and humid!  i arrive at the party and i already knew it would be great but i am met at the entrance to her backyard by a midget handing out mardi gras beads and masks.  there are fire eaters, stilt walkers, knife eaters and tiny bicycle riders.  there is a mechanical bull, a photo booth, two dj's open bar, a mardi gras chair to take pictures in, a photographer and all the NOLA food you can imagine.  in addition to the adult bar, chris made a signature drink, the purple passion.  everyone was in purple, green and yellow and everyone had a ball.  it was an all girl party and boy did we party, party and party some more.  the night ended with a beyonce impersonator...and the party of the year award goes to....crystal!!!!

sounds like an absolute blast right?  oh it was.  when i arrived at the party, my hair was bouncing and behaving.  i had just gone to the salon that morning.  i had a protein treatment for my newly colored hair and although adventurous when i left the salon (i had my stylist whisp it to one side) by the time i made it to the party, i had my signature part down the middle of my head and bobby pins trying to hold the puffiness down for the day.  i was at the party with a dear friend, dana.

for the first 30 minutes, i know my hair looked good and i thought, oh this natural thing will be easy, my hair is bouncing and behaving, moving and shaking!  did i mention how hot it was?  at one point, i went to wipe the sweat from my brow and something didn't feel right  so i reached up and felt the top of my hair.  it was certainly puffing up.  i took a photo booth picture and in the pictures, my hair was definitely bigger than when i arrived but nothing to write home about...it still felt like a ponytail holder could do the trick, too bad i didn't have one with me.

green mardi gras beads as ponytail holder, hair as bird's nest

there was great music (who were those dj's) and now jello shots and it became increasingly difficult to sit down.  i mean i love music and i love dancing and due to a knee injury, i haven't been to zumba in 8 months so here was my chance to get it in!  well at one point, i realized my hair had enough. it began to feel like a bird's nest so i took off a string of green mardi gras beads and made a makeshift ponytail holder.  i mean the beyonce impersonator still hadn't arrived and i was parked a mile away so at this point, let's just make the best of this situation and continue to have a great time.  i figured the bobby pins still had the sides held down so how bad could it be?  (is it me or does anyone else realize whenever you ask yourself this question, you find out how bad it could be?)  so the friend i was with, dana...i should have known something was up because all night i would tell her to look at my hair and all night when she looked she would laugh, uncontrollably.  no matter how many times i told her to look, it never seemed to get old, she would look and laugh hysterically.

my jack nicholson look

dana asked me to take a picture of her in the mardi gras chair and after i did she decided to return the favor.  when i saw the picture the only thing i could think of was that i looked like jack nicholson when he played the joker.  internally i panicked but true to form i remained calm as a cucumber on the outside.  how could dana let me walk around like this all night?  the bobby pins were holding the front down but what about the sides of my hair that looked like they were going to fly away at any moment? i had too much invested at this point and beyonce still hadn't arrived so i moved the bobby pins back to hold down my hairs on the side just in time to make it to the dance floor for the wobble.

trying to clean up the jack nicholson look

that night i got home and i had to laugh.  i am not sure if i was laughing to keep from crying or if i was laughing because it was funny denamug but somewhere between crystal's backyard and my bedroom...a 4 mile span...i had turned into the cowardly lion, no really...a lion.  i could not even get my hair into a ponytail holder.  i tried to blow-dry it and then i put on my satin scarf....unsure of what the morning would bring.  what i am sure of is life is about relationships and happiness.  if i had it to do all  over, i would have skipped the salon that day for sure.  some felt i should have skipped the party. never.  again, this journey is about making more memories, not less.  i have to get this natural thing down because i hear next year, crystal's having a luau and i want in...front and center!