Summer is finally here. Which is great because it's nice and warm here in Pittsburgh. In 8 days I leave for my vacation. No worries I'll be blogging for lovely New Orleans and probably more frequently from the Caribbean.  If you've haven't friended me on Facebook (Patricia Eimer) or on twitter(@PatriciaEimer) then  you might want to consider it for my real time updates on what I think of the Big Easy and life on a cruise ship.

Anyway, summer is here. Summer is wonderful. I love summer. I am now and have always been a summer baby. So, in honor of summer my darling Mother mentions that my roots are showing. Which isn't bad considering I'm a brunette that just goes a slightly more interesting shade of brown. Not like I go blonde or anything. That would require a ton more upkeep, trust me I know. I did the blonde thing for a while. And it completely doesn't work for me. One day I'll post embarrassing pictures so you can see just how 'not blonde' I am.

So anyway, it's into the hair dye aisle during my weekly grocery shopping expedition. There I am, in the hair dye aisle looking at possible a bazillion different color combinations (3,986 if you want to be exact and yeah, I just totally did that math by myself) and darling Mother makes a rather interesting comment.

"You know its summer. Maybe you should lighten up your hair a bit? It might look nice."

Me: "Okay, what the Hell." A box of Golden Radiance (golden blonde) and a lovely light brown called Caramel Swirl hair dye go into my cart. Then once the kiddos are in bed it's time to begin adventures in chemistry.  Have  I ever mentioned I've always been a bit of a science nerd? Oh yeah, I covet those periodic table shower curtains.

The dye is purple. That should have been my first sign. It smells like something sinister and possibly toxic. It burns my scalp in ways that would be illegal under the Geneva Convention if someone else was forcing me to do this. But apparently it's perfectly fine as long as I'm willingly doing it to myself. Like my ill fated Bikini Wax a few years ago I begin to wonder about having my head examined. Just as I've resolved to call for a psychiatric evaluation the timer goes off and I can get the burning chemicals of fiery pain off of my scalp.

The first thing I notice is that my hair is still pretty dark. Okay, it's still wet. Everyone's hair is a little dark when it's wet. Except for my son the platinum blond but that's another story. I was sure it would dry to a lovely, light caramelly brown color with golden highlights. I just had to let it dry. So off to bed I go and the next morning I look in the mirror. I'm two toned. The top of my head is a lovely light brown. The rest? Well it's the same color as before. Just sort of ashier. Lightening up was a total fail. Which takes me back into the hair dye aisle and back to colors closer to my old standbys. This time I am a lovely mixture I have named Brazilian Garnet. (Mixture of Brazilian Brown and Crushed Garnet from Feria).  

My only consolation? Mrs You Should Lighten Up tried the same thing. Except she was completely gray so there was a lot less color to get through than my dark locks. And she tried the same color scheme. Except, instead of a light caramelly brown she's a shade somewhat related to a copper penny when it's clean.

They say blonde's have more fun but I wouldn't know. But I think I'll have an okay summer as a brunette just the same.