Reverting back to my 9-year-old self

Yep. I did It. I asked the hairdresser to give me a middle parting. A horrific choice if you analyse the situation in detail. As a bit of fun, lets do just that!

Reasons I shouldn't have a centre parting:

• I have a distinctly round face. Everything I've ever read about hairstyles for round faces warns against middle partings, particularly ones without a fringe. I learnt this at about primary school leaving age and never looked back. It's true, my face looked less round, and a side swept fringe works wonders. 
• I am currently channelling a sort of 1950's style thing with my clothes and hair. I have in fact just mastered the voluminous Marilyn Monroe style quiff fringe thing and love it. I am also assured I am slowly becoming Sandy from Grease, which suits this 50's look. (I'm not getting a perm, don't worry)
• My roots REALLY need doing. 

And do you want to know the reason I decided to take the plunge? Ignore all advice and any better judgement I may have? I woke up and my eye liner had done something in the night and migrated to my lower lash line, making my eyes look a bit darker than normal. It reminded me of a sort of Brigitte Bardot, 60's look, especially because I'd clearly had a restless night and my hair was a bit all over the place. 

Always eager to change the way I look, I googled Bardot and that was it. I'd booked a trim at the hairdressers for that day anyway, but 30 mins before I got in my car to leave, I made the spontaneous decision to print off a photo. Now that's the defining moment. The second a photo is presented to a hairdresser you never know what might happen. They either get really excited and go for it with gusto, or they look at you as if you are insulting them, like 'Why are you showing me a picture? I'm a professional, I know what hair looks like'. Luckily, today my hair stylist was loving it. 

This is the picture I showed her. A bit ambitious perhaps seeing as it was actually of Brigitte Bardot, one of the sexiest women of the 20th century, but oh well, gotta aim high, right? 

I must admit, I've never really got on with hairdressers. With a face as large as mine and hair that is naturally fine and fairly straight, any form of careful blow drying results in flat hair and a face that looks much much larger than it really should. In this case too, the mid-length middle parted fringe also looked a bit like I was channeling Backstreet Boys circa 1996. No matter how much training a person may have, apparently my hair refuses to produce volume for anyone but me. 

Nevertheless, a day later, lots of wonderfully plumping dry shampoo and a bit of back combing and I like it. Thank god. It may not be in keeping with any of my clothes, music taste or general obsession with 40s and 50s pin up girls, but it's something a bit different, eh? 

As I say, I've never been able to stick to one style for long, so it was only a matter of time before my stylistically defiant self did something like this. 

Here's a couple of pictures for you so you can see the results of my little experiment. 

You have gotta love my facial expressions. I apparently have a problem with looking sane when taking photos of myself. 

So, who knows if it was a good idea or not. It could be one of those moments where I look back in 6 months time and think 'Bloody hell what was I thinking?!'... only time will tell. To be fair, the 'rules' also tell me I shouldn't really wear pencil skirts, especially leopard print ones, but that's not going to change any time soon...and at least I don't have to worry about the insanity of heated rollers any more.

And all this happened because I can't be bothered to take my make up off before bed. My mind baffles me sometimes.

Books and Belly-dancers

I have just returned from a gloriously sunny week in Cyprus, and thought I might share a few things with you, just in case you happen to be overly interested in my life (understandable).

General overview:
Duration: 1 week
Company: Parents
Food: Half Board, disappointing, but I did give shark a cheeky nibble...also disappointing.
Activities: Sunbathing, reading, the occasional Aqua Zumba sesh, and appreciating the 'evening entertainment'

I may look happy, but the lack of food on the plate says it all...

Now for the details:

Books
The only time I ever read books is during the one week a year when I am abroad. I blame the lack of internet connection and the fact there really isn't much else to do. Saying that, I like my reading to be productive. I like the odd fiction, but generally I am a self-improver. I want to learn things that might potentially make me sound a bit more interesting in conversation: "I read in a book once that....". Generally that shouldn't be followed by a scenario from Fifty Shades (unless the time is appropriate).

So this year, my current interests revolve around stylist-y things, and burlesque, a new obsession of mine (about which I'm sure I will be posting a lot about in the near future). I chose 'I <3 Your Style: How to Define and Refine Your Personal Style' by Amanda Brooks, and 'The Burlesque Handbook' by Jo Weldon.

I trusted amazon and these books came highly recommended. I was not disappointed. They were both really interesting and informative. I will do a mini-review of each of these books on a separate post in case you really couldn't give a damn about the books I read.

Evening Entertainment
I love evening entertainment in Hotels. It reassures my faith in the performance arts, and I admire the people who have taken the initiative and followed their dreams. I witnessed an array of cabaret shows and there was a distinct theme of either West-End musicals or world dance themes. Loved it though, although I would love to spend a day with each company sprucing up their costumes. They are clearly well-loved, and much appreciated by the crowd, but I couldn't stop my critical eye being cast over each show. But generally, loved it. Totally my thing. Someone let me be a showgirl.

Belly Dancing
I mainly put this in the title because it sounded cool. There was a distinct lack of belly dancing during my holiday, but I did spend a substantial amount of euros on a full-on black and gold belly dancing outfit. I cant resist sparky things that jingle when you shimmy.

So that's it, I doubt you care that much, so I'll leave the rest to your little creative minds to fill in. Maybe I did a spot of scuba diving and swam alongside sharks (unlikely), or perhaps I jumped up on stage and joined in with the Entertainment Teams rendition of 'Oom Pa Pa' from Oliver (you never know...). The possibilities are endless.