It's (Not ) Always Sunny In Philadelphia

In fact, June was unseasonably cold, and much more cloudy and rainy than what we normally experience this time of year in the City of Brotherly Love. Early summer? It felt more like mid-spring!

No, I'm not fretting yet about our wedding weather (though I have been researching cute umbrella options, just in case). Right now, I'm too preoccupied with what all this moisture's been doing to my hair.

(source)

Unlike Sister Bruschetta -- who has awesome natural curls that seem to thrive when there's extra humidity in the air -- I'm stuck with wavy(ish) hair that reacts unpredictably at best whenever there's a greater than 10-percent chance of precipitation.

And since the mister and I have resumed our morning visits to the gym with renewed enthusiasm (more on this to come), my a.m. routine has been squished into half an hour. Which means that my 'do is either all up (hello, ponytail), half-up or all down. Straightening my hair on damp days is a complete waste of time, so if I opt to let my locks air dry, I'm "rewarded" with an awesome and seemingly contradictory combination -- limp and frizzy. I'm not crazy about options two or three -- since they make me look like I'm back in college (or worse, high school!) -- but don't always want to stress my strands with daily ponytails.

I hate complaining this much when the answer -- lose a few inches -- is so obvious. With an elegant updo planned for the wedding, though, I know my fine hair could use a little extra "oomph," so I'm not about to chop off any now that we're under two months and counting.

So can you help me, hive? What are your go-to products to fend off the frizzies and give your hair extra (or, um, just some would be peachy) body?

The Long and Short of It

Gimme head with hair
Long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming,
Streaming, flaxen, waxen

Just a few years ago, I had my own head of "down to there hair." Freshman year in college, I decided to grow my usually shoulder-length locks for a worthy cause. Then, a few weeks before starting senior year, I kissed a sizable chunk of my tresses goodbye. The stylist pulled my hair back into a ponytail, grabbed a ruler and snipped through at the ten-inch mark. It was nerve-wracking and exhilarating all at once!


Then, she cleaned up the rough cut.

I snuck out to have make my donation without telling any family, friends -- or even Mr. Bruschetta! Surprisingly everyone with my new 'do was so much fun, and I loved the short style after a few years of something much longer.

So much so, in fact, that after college, I adopted an even shorter length, keeping my hair jawbone-length.

Even after our engagement, I clipped my locks one last time. But, I realized on my first dress-shopping outing that the wispy look wouldn't work for my wedding day vision (especially considering that late August in Philly [hazy, hot and humid!] will mean frizzy, unpredictable strands and the definite need for an updo!), and sought to return to my roots (::wink wink::) with a style that's slightly longer than shoulder-length.

I've been treating my locks lovingly -- only occasionally blow-drying, and seeking to speed growth by taking a daily biotin vitamin -- but still sometimes miss my shorter style!

Is the weather influencing your wedding day hairstyle?

Seeing Double?

My wedding hair and makeup trials are this Sunday, and I have zero inspiration photos. Zip. Nil. Nada.

So, I'm going to spend the next few days doing some necessary homework. My "textbooks"?

• Beauty Riot
• The Hair Styler
• Hairpedia

My cluelessness also extends to makeup (eek!). I thought an easy place to start would be identifying the celebrity I most closely resemble, so I could target the makeup search to my "double" -- but when I uploaded my photo (and just a note: this picture is about two years old, and my hair's grown a bit past my shoulders since then!), two sites generated completely different match lists!


So, whatdya think? Who's walking around Hollywood with a Miss Bruschetta-like mug? And where do you recommend I search for hair and make-up inspiration?