Candy

Friday was our last day in Atlanta. We left that afternoon. But before we left – so much went on.

First of all, last night, Freddy, Evelyn, Joe and I went to Two Urban Licks – GREAT RESTAURANT and unbelievably affordable. We had great food. Very cool atmosphere. We started with a drink. I had a Wine By Joe Pinot Gris. Our appetizer was what they call a “stack.” It was crab and fried green tomatoes with a balsamic sauce, topped with a avocado and scallions. For an entree I had the Alaskan Salmon over whipped potatoes. So good. It was very fresh with an almondie-butter taste.

Afterwards we went out back and played a round of “Botchie” ball – I’m not sure how to spell it. Girls against guys. Girls won, of course. During the game, Joe went in and bought a round of Patron Silver Tequila shots. That’s where MY trouble began.

The rest of the night was fine. After Two Urban Licks, we cruised back home. The babysitter gave us the run down on the evening, and surprisingly, Joey was fast asleep in his little bed. ((I told her before we left that there was a 50% chance he wouldn’t go down without a fight, so don’t worry about it unless he shows signs of passing out.. Evidently he rubbed his eyes raw, and so she thought that was his sleepy signal. She was right! Nice job, Margie!) We stayed up for a few moments after the sitter left, just shooting the breeze, and then we went to bed. I had a headache when we went to bed, but I had no idea what was about to happen next.

BAM. About 3 a.m., I woke up HUNG OVER and SICK. I was so mad at myself for taking that tequila shot. I forgot that the last time I drank a glass of wine and had a shot, I was DONE FOR. I would have much rather been run over by a truck. Not that much alcohol (as we hardly EVER EVER drink and if so, its so wimpy), but the combination of the two just sent me to the cleaners. So, I was back and forth to the porcelain throne until about 5 a.m. We had to wake this morning at 7 a.m. and I was DREADING the headache I was about to feel, and having to be functional for Joey at that hour. Joe was perfect. It didn’t even touch him. Poor Joey - I kept him stirring most of the night as I got up and down.

Believe it or not, we slept right through the 7am alarm (all of us did….even Joey, surprisingly), and I woke up to a text from Evelyn asking me if I was up. Ooops. We needed that extra sleep but it put us so far behind. We flung out of bed, my head REELING with pain, and tried to pull ourselves together. We had so much to do. In 45 minutes we had to leave to get our hair cut, and we also had to pack up a u-haul full of stuff from Freddy and Evelyn. I took Joey down to get his breakfast started while Joe got ready. Thank God Illiana, Evelyn’s housekeeper/nanny, showed up to help out at the house today, and she said she was going to watch Joey for us while we went out to get our hair cut. BIG RELIEF. I handed Joey over and went to get ready.

We bolted out of the house to make it to the appt on time. I was a little nervous – I have no idea why. I guess because I dont' really "do" salons and I get nervous around caddy women, and salons are chock full of them. We went to Jameson Shaw salon, and it’s a very well known place. Turns out, my hairdresser today was Candy Shaw, Jameson’s daughter. She is the star of the show there, apparently. She has quite a few high profile clients. She was my hairdresser, by chance, today. Evelyn booked the appointment, and she was my hairdresser.

The whole experience was actually comical to me. I felt like I was watching the Devil Wears Prada in the flesh. Even Candy’s assistant’s name was Emily.

We walked in, and we were greeted at the door, and given the grand tour. Everyone was really overly sweet, which made me think that their smiles were painted on, and the moment they turned the corner into their breakroom, they scowled and would say things like “Oh she’s such a bitch!” and “Did you see her tacky Wal Mart purse?” and “SHe wears such cheap make up.” Maybe I’m wrong, but….most likely I’m not. Haha!

The place was swarming with young wannabe hairdressers and beauticians. Several were already to their professional stage, but Jameson Shaw is also a “school” for hairdressers, etc. So I’d say about 75% of the people working there could be considered students. Mostly women, but there were some men.

After the tour, the guy that greeted me at the door, handed me a smock in a bag and showed me where the dressing rooms were. “Dressing rooms?” I thought. “Do I have to remove my clothes to have my hair done?” I ducked into the dressing room, and put my smock over my tank top and prayed that I wouldn’t be caught still wearing my shirt when they start the hair process. Besides, I was prepared to tell them where to stick their smock if I was asked to change. (Thankfully, no one said a word.)

I walked out and wasn’t sure exactly where to go (it seemed like one of those carnival house of mirrors – I was so lost) so I went back to the front and asked. They led me back to Candy’s chair and I was greeted by Shane, the young man that was going to shampoo me.

He was the coolest guy in there – the most unpretentious down-to-earth guy. He made some cracks about my long hair and I told him it was getting too hard to lasso so we had to do something about it. We talked about his girlfriend and that she was biochemist. I almost said the it seemed that their roles were reversed (him playing with hair, and her whipping up pharmaceutical chemicals to cure cancer), but I thought that might offend him, so I didn’t, and just chalked it up as “cute” that their dinner conversations where probably quite interesting. He then had a hard time combing out the tangles in my long wet hair. I told him not worry about my scalp, and that it would grow back. He laughed and figured that if I had hair this long, it was probably a close bet that I could withstand a beating by a comb.

After the shampooing (which, mind you, it was a 20 min process, which is 19 minutes longer than I spend shampooing AND conditioning my hair with my own hands), I plopped down in the chair for the cut. Candy came by about 10 minutes later, and asked me how I wanted it done. I told her “pretty simple, really. I like my length, but need help with shaping and texture” blah blah blah, and she knew exactly what to do. She went at it, and in 15 minutes, the cut was done.

I need to mention that she would be considered “Miranda” in The Devil Wears Prada, as she constantly had “an” assistant by her side to whom she barked orders to. Once one assistant was off to do a job, another assistant would fill her spot. Maybe I should call these assistants “runners” as Emily was her real “assistant.” It was interesting. You could tell she was large and in charge. That’s fine. It was interesting to see the dynamics.

After the cutting, she ordered two girls to double team drying my hair. Drying my hair is a task in itself that I hardly do unless I’m actually taking the time to style my hair, of which, most of the time, it styles itself without much effort from me. So my thoughts were, “You really don’t have to take the time to dry this mop…” What an ordeal. It took them 45 minutes to an hour to dry my hair. I wanted to tell them that if they would have just left it alone to air dry, it would have dried quicker. But the whole experience was pretty funny. I listened to these girls’ conversation the whole time they were drying my hair (believe it or not, I could hear over the dryer noise). It was easy to tell that they were slaves to the salon, but they couldn’t stand being Candy’s “runners.” They weren’t very savvy on keeping their salon secrets. “Stacy, should you or me go over and greet that girl in Jenny’s chair?” “How many times are we supposed to ask if someone wants a drink?” I smiled under all the hair they had flopped over my face thinking that they’ll get it someday. Maybe not. I hope so though for their sake.

After the drying, Candy came back over and cut some more off my hair, so maybe it was necessary to have so much drying going on.

Joe was finished only about 20 minutes before I was, so it was pretty good timing. Anyway, the place was pretty crazy. Lots of craziness and an interesting dynamic mixture of people. I’ll definitely be back. But I miss my Rhonda in Nashville. If I’m closer to there, I’ll go to her, Otherwise, I’ll go to Candy.

After haircuts, we bolted back to Evelyn’s to pack up. I was so messed up last night that I couldn’t pack the night before. We had to lightning pack and get on the road. Next stop – Pensacola Beach FL to visit cousin Joey and his family. And so my next post with pictures soon.....