To Cheat or Not To Cheat?

I am thinking about cutting my hair - really short. I have not been at all happy with it lately. It is floppy and flat and annoying.

I had been having thoughts along those lines, anyway, but last week I saw this girl walking down the street, and she had dark brown - almost black - hair, in a pixie cut with long bangs. Cute enough, but....but!! But the crown of her head was highlighted in a lilac/lavender/periwinkle blue color - very subtle, yet very distinct. And it was beautiful.

As I was walking toward her, going into my building, she stopped and looked like she was waiting for me. Turns out, she was! She told me she was a hairstylist, just starting her practice at a shop on the same street as my office, and she handed me a card for a free haircut. "I'd like a chance to earn your business," she said.

I want her hair.

Actually, I more than want it. I covet it.

So you are probably thinking, then do it! What's the big deal? Just make an appointment with her, and do it.

I am really, uncharacteristically nervous about doing that, though. Those of you who know me well, know that I have had short hair, long hair, and hair about every color between blond and black, including various forays into the reds and auburns, and often some combination of all of the above. But this time, I am kind of freaking out about it. What if I don't like it? What if people think I am "too old" to be wearing such a cute, young, hip hairstyle? I mean, I know I am kind of too old for purple hair, but I was thinking: what, am I going to be *not* too old for it next year or something? If I want to try it, it might as well be now....

This is kind of what I am thinking of:

Only with color more like this:

But worse than the scary, what-if-I-don't-like-it jitters (after all, it's only hair, and it grows, right?) I am thinking about being unfaithful to my hairstylist. Tisha has been "my girl" since I was pregnant with the twins - so about the last 13-14 years!! In all that time, only two other people have done my hair - once when Tisha was on maternity leave, and once when the previous salon she worked at closed and she didn't have a booth at another one yet. Both of those were understandable and undertaken with Tisha's complete knowledge and approval.

But this - this idea of going to someone new, for something major, behind Tisha's back? I don't know if I can do it.

And yet, I don't know if Tisha can do the hair I want. It seems like even when I take her pictures of cute new hairstyles, I always come out looking somehow, the same. And I really want *different*.

And, it's not like I can just not call for an appointment anymore, because Tisha always calls ME. She only works one day a week, but the day varies, so as I am paying for my last style on the way out, she usually writes down the week I will most likely want to come in for my next trim. Then, she calls me at the beginning of that week and says, "This week I'm working on Tuesday (or Wednesday, or Thursday, or whatever....). Are you ready for a haircut yet?" Then I tell her yes, and she says, how is whatever time, and so on. So when she calls me, and I have strayed, what will I say?

Since she has been doing my hair for so long, I knew her when she was single, I was invited to her wedding, I brought her baby gifts for each of her two children, we exchange Christmas gifts every year, and so on. Lately she and I have been comiserating over divorces, too, since she is also going through one, and her ex was also unfaithful. And, I know money is really tight for her, since she had been a stay-at-home mom and reduced her client load to the one day a week prior to kicking her scumbag ex out. She is trying to build her client base back up, but still! How could I do that to her?

I imagine that what I will probably end up doing, is taking pictures to Tisha, describing what I want, and then having her cut it but not quite "get" it. Then, I will end up going to the new girl to have her fix it, and - finally! - give me hair like hers. Then, since Tisha will have been the one to cut all the length off, maybe she won't notice that I had gone to the chair of another....

What do YOU think?