Work?

 If I was able to work in any of these offices, I would have a happy life.

However, if I was able to call this my office, my life would be complete.

Here are some little gems I have been waiting to fit into posts ... Realizing I may never get there, I thought fortuitously combined, they would make the perfect Friday post.

 

 And remember there is nothing like

Teenagers

Normally I keep away from the "teenage stereotype bandwagon"... I have always assumed teenagers were just as charming as can be... In fact as far as I remeber, I was a delightful teenager. I usually kept a spotless kitchen for my working mother, always kept my dad in freshly pressed shirts and I tried to be the peace keeper of the house.

Of course, I only remember it that way... I think my siblings remember things slightly different.   

 But seriosusly as a mother of a teenager now, I am starting to question my position on "teenager-hood" I swear sometimes (and I really do). 

Saw this... Loved it. So bloody true.

Flightless Bird

Once upon a time someone said this to me:

"Everybody falls in love with at least one redhead during their life and never forgets her."

I was doing some research on shampoo specifically meant for red heads when I came across a blog called something like "I have red hair too!" It's a blog where women write in and tell the stories of what it was like growing up with red hair and the stereotypes that went with it... As I was reading their stories, a flood of memories came rushing back to me as I reflected on what it was like for me... 

I was the only girl in my entire grade with red hair. Now that I think about it, probably one of the very few in my entire school...Which of course targeted me straight away....When you are little, the last thing you want to be is different.  I was called every name, from the cute ones like strawberry shortcake, to the dumb ones like carrot top and Annie. When I got a bit older I was even subject to the crude ones... Some which made me cry....All of which affected me. Even in my own family, my sister just above me, with her very long and very platinum hair  was referred to by my dad as "Blondie" while  I was lovingly called  "Red".  (Which seems to be the name of more than one dog I have since known in my life.) Even my very best friends would innocently refer to my hair color as "orange". Which actually seemed to be the most painful of all the comments. You would think maybe their moms would have educated them on their colors.

Side note: Not only did I have "orange hair" my sweet mom insisted I perm it twice a year. When I finally realized I had a choice in the matter, I shut that tradition down faster than she could say "spiral"... Of course by then, the name Annie was already a permanent staple in the nick names file. My cute mom. :)

Every time my mom would take me to get my hair done, I would quietly ask my stylist to dye my hair brown. She would say the same thing she said  every time... "Honey, do you have any idea how many girls walk through my door asking me to give them your exact color??? And you want to change it? Your mom would kill me! Besides, you will love it when you're older!" To which I would silently console myself with,  "This lady doesn't have a clue what she's talking about. She has brown hair."

I truly had concerns that I wouldn't get asked out on dates, that I'd never grow out of the name calling and that the redhead stereotypes would follow me my whole life. But in the end, it worked out... I had my fair share of dates...  No one calls me ginger anymore...and believe it or not, the redhead stereotypes do follow me around, and I am okay with that... (Mostly because I've come to terms with the fact that they are mostly true.)

 

And I was blaming the kids at 

school for calling my Annie?

Now I am enjoying my hair. In fact, 

I think I am quite lucky to have it.

This is my sweet Nadia. 

She was the opposite of me...

she begged me to dye her hair "really red".

Then we did some purple streaks.

(But not really the point of this post)

I'm trying to remember my point... Oh yes. If I could tell all those beautiful little girls out there that are lucky enough to be born with red hair, or strawberry blond hair, or even orange hair... Hang in there...It gets better. In fact, it gets great!