Gwen Stefani, L'Oreal and Sugardaddy's

On Monday, James (the owner of the salon I work at, Sugardaddy's) and I, made the trek to Seattle to work back stage at the L.A.M.B / L'Oreal fashion show. It was such a wonderful experience and I walked away shocked by the rave reviews I got from some of the leaders in the industry and incredibly inspired by the work of the platform artists (when's our next photo shoot??? I have ideas I want to try out!!)

We started the day at the salon Marco Two Union Square at 9 in the morning to color the model's hair.



Marco was who James assisted under back when he was starting out. The salon was beautiful! And the staff was helpful and very talented. The model we worked with started off with hair that was washed out, blonde with dreary brown thrown in. Definitely did not compliment her beautiful features. After James and I collaborated with L'Oreal's portfolio artist, we decided to make her a stunning red head. Not only did we drastically change her color, we also decided to add on a good 5 inches to her length. So I tackled the task of coloring the platinum blonde extensions to match her beautiful new red.

This is our girl, prior to her wardrobe change:


Six hours later, all the models were colored, styled and ready for wardrobe! So we piled into the cars and headed to the Sky Church inside the Experience Music Project. That venue is bad ass!



Once we arrived at the venue the models got some last minute hair and making primping and started into wardrobe. During our little bit of a break, Kirsten Magrini who is the head of L'Oreal West Coast had James color her hair to a stunning pale blonde and then asked me to give her a 1940's pin-curl style (talk about nerve racking! This women is the top of the top!) This is Kirsten in her fabulous style, along with Maya Webb who is L'Oreal's head of education.



After working so hard all day, it was finally time for the show and the party! Everything came out beautiful and even though Gwen was not there, she was there in spirit and getting a glimpse of her Spring 2010 collection was amazing! Here's our model, in her amazing outfit.



And once the fashion show part of the evening was over, James, I and the rest of the Sugardaddy's crew enjoyed our night out and celebrated our hard work.





This was such an amazing experience! I was so happy that James had asked me to be involved and that I was able to meet so many amazing and talented people. Two of my absolute highlights of the evening was first when our model received the loudest cheers and most "wows" out of all the other models (go team Sugardaddy's!) Second was when Marco of Marco Two Union Square came up to me after the show and told me how amazing he thought I did and that I was going to revolutionize the industry. I was floored to have such a wonderful compliment come from such an accomplished stylist in the industry.

I guess I am kinda good at this hair thing after all. ;-)

Things change quickly...

How funny that my last post was me asking the Universe to send me someone to love and poof here he is. Well not poof really, we've been friends for a few years, but were never romantically involved until now. He's such a sweet guy and treats me so well. I'm one lucky girl.

This will be the first time in awhile that I've had a boyfriend during the holiday months. Which means I get to all the cutesy couple stuff again; kissing under the mistletoe, shopping for Christmas gifts together, visiting each other's families for the holidays, cuddling up on the couch and watching a christmas movie. I'm excited. Things feel a little more settled and normal now. I missed that feeling, I missed having a hand to hold.

Less then three

"I'm looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can't-live-without-each-other love."

Just putting it out to the Universe. Please bring me someone to love, someone who has passion and desire. Someone meant for me.

Because you're worth it...

When Sugardaddy's became a L'Oreal flagship salon, James wrote a blog about it and what L'Oreal means to us on the salon's blog. One part of that blog really stuck with me, it was L'Oreal's mission statement, "Because you're worth it". Meaning that every woman, regardless of money should be able to feel beautiful about themselves. And growing up in a working class household with a single mom, I know what's it like to stop spending money on luxuries when money is tight.

So, on October 26th I will be doing all services at 50% off. So if you've ever wanted your hair cut or that fabulous new color and you thought you couldn't afford it, then call today to make your appointment with me for the 26th. And to make it convenient for every one to come in, I will extend my hours that day from 10am-9pm.

See ya at the salon! And please, share this with your friends!

Sugardaddy's Salon
834 Bay Street
Port Orchard
360-895-7817

*50% off only applies to services done by me (Tiffany Miner) and space is limited.

Sayonara, again...

A few months ago, I posted this blog:

If you never try, you'll never know

And then a little while later went back onto okcupid thinking maybe I was too harsh to judge, maybe I didn't try hard enough, blah blah blah. So I tried again, with the same results. Now I've deleted my account for the second time and this time for good. No more online dating. Done. Fin. No mas. It doesn't work for me.

IF there is a guy out there for me and right now that's a huge IF, he's not on there. I know it in my heart.

So Mr Right For Me, if you're out there I hope you find me some day. If not, well, then I guess I will be just fine.

Sayonara okcupid!

F**k Cancer!

As most of you know, I am a cancer survivor. When I was 25 I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphona and after 6 months of chemo I was declared in remission and I have stayed in remission for 3 years. I was one of the lucky ones. There are many people out there who have not beat the disease and it has taken their life. Cancer is a horrible disease and almost everyone has been effected by it in some way.

It was because of cancer that I decided to get into doing hair. When I lost all of my hair I realized how much of my identity I lost as well. I didn't look sick until all my hair was gone, only then did I feel like I could no longer hide my disease or pretend everything was fine. I decided, at that moment, that I wanted to go to cosmetology school and eventually help other cancer patients with dealing with hair loss and getting wigs properly fit to flatter them. Anything I can do to help find a cure or help ease the overwhelming discomfort of a cancer battle means a lot to me.

So from now until September 24th, I will donate $5 for every haircut I do to the Light the Night Walk. Light the Night is a walk held on fall evenings in communities across the U.S. and Canada, it is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's walk and fundraising event to pay tribute and bring hope to people battling cancer. Thousands of participants raise funds for vital, lifesaving research and patient services and, on these special nights, they carry illuminated balloons in a show of support from a caring community. On September 25th, Seattle will be holding it's Light the Night Walk at Green Lake and this year I will walk with them. It is very important to me to raise as much money as I can for this cause.

If you cannot make it in for a haircut, I will also be accepting donations at Sugardaddy's salon or through my Light the Night fundraising page (http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL10/TMiner). No donation is too small!!

Please share this with your friends and family. Let's kick cancer's ass, one hair cut at a time!

Matters of the heart...

Whatever happened to asking a girl on a date? I mean a real date, you pick me up, you maybe even bring me a flower (and I said a flower, I'm not expecting a bouquet, you can pick one out of your neighbors yard, it still counts) we go to dinner, you dress in something nicer then beaten up jeans and sneakers and the most you get at the end of the night is a kiss and you're ok with that. Is that asking for too much? I don't think so. And you know what, I'm not settling for less then that. I deserve to have a guy who wants to put forth effort. I deserve a really great first date.

Thank you modern medicine for the state I'm in...

Who would of thought that the pain in my right knee that started four years ago this month would turn into a battle with cancer and a pain that I may have to deal with for the rest of my life. As I type this I am sitting in a recliner in my living room with my right leg elevated, hoping and willing the pain to go away. It's hard to describe it, it almost feels like the inside of bone hurts, like it's cold, like my leg is stiff, like someone took a hammer to my muscles and beat the shit out of me. It's all that wrapped into one leg. The pain doesn't happen every day, I've yet to figure out if it's caused by any certain activity, sometimes it lasts all day, sometimes all night, sometimes just a few hours. All I do know, is it sucks.

I have no pain killers, no tylenol, nothing to take. Not like tylenol ever works anyway. And I think tomorrow, when I see my oncologist for another check up, I'm going to ask for some relief. Something to just make it tolerable. Last time I did that, they shoved a ton of vicodin in my direction and sent me on my way. After 7 months of taking it, I became somewhat dependent on it and when it became time to go off the pills due to an upcoming surgery I was having, I went through full blown withdrawals. That is not something I want to repeat.

All I want, is the pain gone. At least for tonight.

If you never try, you'll never know...

About a year ago I signed up for the online dating site OkCupid.com and about 3 months ago I signed up for eHarmony.com, and I have had zero luck with both websites. I was pretty bummed about it, especially considering a really good friend of mine met her husband on eHarmony and I know a few people who have at the very least scored a couple dates off of both websites, but the more I think about, the more it makes sense. My type of guy is not on those websites. If there is someone out there who is perfect for me, my other half, my soul mate, they are not online looking for love, in fact, they are probably at a local band's show instead.

So I'm throwing in the online dating towel, I tried it and now I know, it's not for me. I would rather get rejected the old fashioned way...in real life. ;-)

I reject your reality and substitute my own...

My life is weird. No really, it's weird. I graduated from high school exactly 10 years ago and if you would have come up to me on my graduation day and explained what my life is like now, to me then, I would have thought you were on something. Seriously, I would not have believed you at all.

I don't talk about a lot of this to anyone besides close friends, because I'm not one to brag or name drop or anything like that. But I thought, it really doesn't matter and no one really reads this anyway, so who cares.

An example on why my life is weird. In the past week I've had 2/3 of my favorite band at my house to sign some of their merch for an auction I am working on for them. Weird. I know them, they know me and I work for them (again, WEIRD!). While I was sitting on the couch this morning, watching tv and enjoying my time off before I go to work at the salon (again, weird, I actually do something I love for a living and I don't hate my job) one of the above mentioned members of the band drops off a box of merch he just finished signing and sends me a text telling me to check my front porch. WEIRD.

How did I get this life? It's way too cool for me! Haha And at the same time, this life of mine has not turned out the way I planned. Ten years ago if you would have asked me to describe my life at 27, almost 28, I would not have said, hair stylist, living in Bremerton, WA, working for MxPx and building a salon and business of my own. Never. Not a chance that I could of even dreamed up this life. I would have said, mother of a few kids, married, living most likely in Orange County, still trying to be an actress but just a stay at home mom who can't get an acting job to save her life.

I believe everything happens for a reason, the choices I made (even the impossibly small choices, like going to my first MxPx show) have lead me down the path to the life I now have before me. All the speed bumps, all the tears, all the heartbreak, all the laughter, all the good times, all the moving boxes, all the crappy temp jobs...all of it...lead me here. I'm so curious to see where my next small decision will lead me. I want to look back at this post in 10 years and think, "man, you had no clue what you were in for or where you will go, life is good".

Here's to turning 38! (In ten years).