coco and kelly's hair, in two parts.

PART I: AWKWARD CHILDREN WITH THICK AND UNTENDED HAIR

though we were loved, nicole, aka coco, and i were the fifth and sixth children in our family. our older siblings were busy teenagers and i think my mom kind of didn't know where we were for a decade. certainly we were not bathing or brushing our hair or getting dressed cute. that's probably not true, but it feels like it. i mean, someone had to have cut my bangs, i guess...

look at her- even at one she can't wait to get her hands in my hair.

this picture is to show you that we really did look like orphans. also, it's funny. also, grant says this picture is very similar to what nicole posts on instagram of herself now, ha!

aaaannnnd...the lion thick hair and super awkward phases have begun. we look super happy about it. look closely, i am monkey pinching nicole's hand. not sure why, a lot of angst started about that age.

scariest picture of all time. obviously i tried to sponge curler my whole head because i never did get that perm i begged my mom the entire 80s for. i really like coco's lion mane bowl cut.

me trying to use kelly kapowski as a hair resource unsuccessfully. nicole still in her lion mane years. which lasted pretty much her whole childhood. sidenote: this gorgeous lake was a favorite family vacation spot. that makes me laugh so hard i am crying right now.

and this is just plain awesome. a headstand at four? a wife beater and prison shorts? all held steady by the trusty lion mane.

PART II: REDEMPTION

when cate was one, my mom had just passed away. grant was a full time student and we were broke. i was also learning of my hormonal infertility and was gaining weight like crazy. i couldn't afford clothes, and definitely couldn't afford a decent hair appointment. i didn't know how worked i looked. it was a hard time, i did my best. but i was emotionally unstable.

one day a little hipster college student friend of ours, single, southern cali rich, with no job and free money from her parents to blow at anthro and urban stopped by our house. she looked at me in my sweats and bunned hair with bad roots, sighed and said "i would so love to give you a make-over." but snotty like, you know.

because of the timing, the hormones, the good desires i was acting on to not be worldly and not spend money we didn't have on things that weren't really important, and because i delusionally thought i was pulling it off ok, it was probably the meanest thing i had ever heard. i am rarely offended by anything, but that night i sobbed.

something had to be done. nicole and i were poor college girls, but we had good genes to work with, dang it! coco took one for the team and went to hair school. thank goodness. turns out she's amazing. she can do everything with the skill of an artist- color, cuts, make up, lash extensions, anything. awkward no more for the little neglected hair sisters...

our too thick hair has been properly layered. our grown up dishwater blondes have been made just the right shade for our respective skin tones. she has mastered straight and beachy waves and big curls all.

if you have ever once been upset after a hair appointment, don't have a stylist you love and have complete confidence in, or one that doesn't entertain and make you laugh while workin fast, or you just don't want rich hipster girls telling you you need a make over, it's time to go to coco.

she's relocated permanently to utah county. she hasn't chosen a salon yet because she's been traveling so much, but she is doing hair in her (adorably vintage decorated) home this thursday, friday, and saturday. then next month she will announce where she will have a booth. the thing is you'll want to get in this weekend if you can/ need your hair done. wherever she's lived she immediately gets a full clientele and has to turn appointments away. to book for this weekend, email:

nicolereneer[at]hotmail[dot]com.

you will not regret it. plus she can teach you how to do beachy waves on yourself. or give you a brazilian blowout. it'll change your life.

Comments

[Tara]

If I could, I would be there in a NEW YORK MINUTE.

[Debbie]

I laughed about what Grant said about Coco's instagrams. In fact I laugh at all his comments. I think you married a funny man. Also all of these pictures are beyond fabulous. I always looked like an orphan too.

[Katrin]

Should her travelling ways ever bring her to Vienna, tell her to better pack a her scissors. I'll make the Apfelstrudel and Schnitzel. :)

[kristinecmetcalf@gmail.com]

amazing pics!!! you and coco...forever darling.
wish i could be in utah this weekend.. i could use some coco magic!

[Jill]

This is a really fantastic post. Wish I still lived in Utah.

[Lindsay]

i wish i didn't live in new jersey :( i really need a hair cut, and i don't have anyone i want to go to. womp womp.
p.s. aside from all the FAB hair shots, the blue doors in that last pic are gorgeous!

[jane]

gosh i loved this post. those pictures are SUPER awesome. amazing hair days you two had. I love having nicole do my hair. I wish I was in town this weekend cause it is in such need. Miss you two. You're so beautiful and your hair is so lush.

[francine]

that is the sweetest endorsement of your sister! loved reading this.

[ahmoothaa]

i wish i am living in Utah now! sigh, I need coco!

[Rachel]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHA! seriously!

[glor]

oh my...i just caught my breath from laughing SO loud. 1st, I think Nicole is pinching you back. 2nd, Grantage... 3rd, Nicole totally cut off one side of my long hair while I was asleep in bed. I opened my eyes to see scissors on the floor and tons of long straight blonde hair... I think she was 2 or 3 and I was in college! Maybe that was the beginning of my chin length bob. So maybe SHE was cutting your bangs back then! 4th, Mom used to cut the back of my long straight hair into a point, ala Marsha Brady. 5th, Mom had many talents, but hair and clothes for her girls weren't one of them. even for us older ones. just saying. Oh, that post made my night. Miss you, Grantage and Cate!

[jana]

i don't even know you guys and those pics had me laughing so hard. your hair now has made up for the hair trauma you endured as a kid.

[Alicia]

This is by far the best blog post in the history of blot posts. Love u and ur Nicole. So much like me and my Nicole:)xoxo