Weekend Update and Vacation Day Dreaming

Another semi-quiet day at the office when I'm supposed to be doing a number of things, none of which are due today and Dragon Lady isn't calling, so I'm feeling relatively at peace with the world, waiting patiently for the hours to pass.

The weekend was fun and productive. I was a social butterfly and saw not one, but two girl friends for brunch and dinner, respectively. I completed my third treatment of laser hair removal on my nether regions, and instead of doing shots of bourbon beforehand as my brother had advised, I opted to ask the technician to turn down the strength of the laser. Excellent move on my part. Freaking brilliant! Because this time, instead of feeling as if I was being stabbed repeatedly with red hot knitting needles, it felt more like I was getting an intricate tattoo etched into my clitoris. Not pleasant, mind you, but a huge improvement over the last two torturous experiences.

I also cut and colored my hair, which I had been wanting to do for months. I had reached that stage of growing out my hair when all the icky layers had finally been eliminated and I was liking it, but was also noticing split ends and feeling as if I needed a little more body. A little more va-voom and bounce. That's a terrible, misguided thing, this desire for body. It leads, inevitably, straight down the miserable path back to layers. Sure enough, that's basically what happened.

I tried to explain to the new stylist that I wanted some more volume around my face and therefore wanted angles starting from an inch below my chin. I was picturing something sleek and smooth, with a nice curling under effect at the bottom of my tresses ala Charlotte of Sex and the City. The hairstylist however, despite my repeated requests for "angles" somehow heard "face -framing layers."

Thus, I know have a large chunk of layered hair that stops just passed my chin, and then longer hair extending down past my shoulders. I feel floppy and messy, and like the longer thinner hair looks like a sea of rat tails poking out from under the layered mess. The back, thankfully, is not layered, but I feel weirdly like I have some type of elongated mullet going on. This is absurd and all in my head, but still discombobulating. I liked my long one-length hair. Why, oh why, do I always get caught in the layers trap? It's going to take months to grow it out!

I'm also not sure I'm wild about the color. The greys are gone - a fact Raj innocently pointed out immediately upon seeing the new 'do for the first time - as are the sun-tinted glints of brassiness, but the color is dark. I'm afraid it might look as if I'm wearing a dark, opaque, hair helmet. I know I'm painting a ghastly picture. I think I just need to get used to it. As I was telling my mom the other day when she was bemoaning a too-short cut, it's only hair and it will grow back, eventually. But, even knowing that intellectually, I still can't stop myself from feeling the urge to cut off all the long pieces and make everything even-ish again.

Now, for the really exciting news: I have two vacations coming up. The first is a trip Raj and I will be taking in September, one week to British Columbia. At this point we are tentatively planning to fly into Vancouver and then drive up to Calgary to go hiking, river rafting, and perhaps climbing in BANFF. I am so excited for nature, camping, tents, smores, cards, and snuggling with Raj that I can barely stand it!! I've never been to B.C., so you if you have ideas, please let me know. Don't be shy.

The second vacation is the present I'm going to give myself after I quit this god-forsaken, but well-paying job. I am going to travel for 2-3 months, clear my head, see more of the world, and just enjoy myself away from the stress of work. I also want to use the time to connect with myself and think about what I want out of the future in terms of a career. But have no fear, I'm not going to put any pressure on myself to figure it out while I'm away. I'm just going to let things percolate.

Ideally, I would like to travel with someone (ideally Raj), because I feel like travelling is the best when you can share the experience with someone else. Some of my fondest memories of my friends and family are of times that we've travelled together. I'm really excited right now because I just persuaded my brother, Frey, to travel for the first month with me. Coincidentally, he'll be quitting his job right around the time that I do, so it's perfect timing to travel together. Raj will join me in the middle for at least two weeks, and hopefully I'll work something out for the remaining 6 weeks.

So, the thrilling question that I'm going to have to figure out during the next few months is where shall I travel? I'm in love with Asia, so will be in the eastern hemisphere. I think I'll definitely go through China, and maybe New Zealand. What do you think internet?

What are the top 3 places you would like to visit in the eastern hemisphere?