Shoes and Hair

When moving to a new city there are certain things that need to happen before you feel like you "really" live there and aren't just passing through. For some it's finding a doctor or dentist. For me, it's two things: It's finding the meal that I would have to have when returning at some future date for a visit and finding a hair dresser. 

The meal came pretty early on since the food is just so darn good. In New York, my must have food actually isn't anything too fancy. It's basic and easy to get: Getting off the plane I like to head to the nearest grocery/deli and get an egg and cheese sandwich on a roll. The other must have is a bagel - H&H, if I can make it happen. New Yorkers all have their favorite bagel and there is no disputing someone's favorite bagel. Just accept it and move on. Oh and if I can make it over to Bloomingdales, I'll try to get a frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity. Here, in Portland, the meal I would head for right away is the pork sandwich at Ping. 

Finding a hair dresser was not such a simple task. In fact, I fought it for a long time and flew back probably twice a year to New York to get my hair cut. I know it's a problem. I could list a thousand reasons why I held out so long, but at the end of the day my hair guy Tonee in New York is just so amazing. I am not alone in this thought. Other friends of mine who lived in New York, but have moved out of the city to other places - even as far as California - make pilgrimages back to New York for a Tonee visit. A Tonee hair cut experience is great. Let me explain, I usually don't have any real input on how my hair is cut so Tonee adopted a style of his own. He got inspiration from the shoes I wore to my appointment. Once I learned this I'd pick out a pair of shoes to wear that fit my mood and as a result I always ended up with a fabulous hair style. 

I know this is not normal behavior, but as they say "It is what is." See, I have thick hair, a lot of it, and oh yeah, it grows like a weed. I really shouldn't be going 6 months between hair cuts, it's simply not fair to the drains in the house. So I finally surrendered and found a hair stylist in Portland. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to find someone. There's a friend of mine who always has great looking hair and she says she doesn't do anything to it. That's my kind of style. So I tried her person, Twila. Not knowing what I wanted when I went to my first appointment I decided to wear some fun shoes and wouldn't you know at the end of the visit I had another fabulous hair cut that matched my shoes. Better yet, I found a great stylist with the loveliest personality - I've already gone again.

The sad part of the story is that I'm heading to New York next month and while I fully intend to have my bagel and egg sandwich during my visit, I don't think I'll be seeing Tonee. I guess this means I don't have to pack an extra pair of shoes ;). The moral: Portland is beginning to feel a lot more like home.  

Now, if only I could find a dentist.