What I like to do (for all over color at least, I let the pros deal with the complicated stuff) is buy professional hair color online (for cheap) and activators as well. Basically for all over color (and good grey coverage) you mix 2 oz of the color with 2 oz of the activator and so on.. so 4oz color = 4 oz activator. Use a bowl and brush (cheap at sallys or online) I like Mastey personally because it is ammonia-free and safe to leave on stubborn grey hair for a little longer than 45 mins without heat. Anyway, you should leave the color on 45 mins. Initially it may be more expensive than buying at home color, but the creme activator you get is pretty big and can be used more than once. The color on this site is 7.99 and the activator is 5.99 (you would use 20 vol). It's a very cheap way to get professional color results. Make sure to use a good post color conditioner treatment to lock in the color. Here is the website for Pro Salon Products (where I get my color): http://www.prosalonproducts.com/Default.asp Here is a link that might be useful: INEXPENSIVE PRO SALON COLOR

I once was told by a salon owner to not tip him. I guess because all of what the owner charges goes to that person (even though they have expenses), but with someone working for the owner - a portion of their income goes to the owner. I tip 20% to my hairstylist and also the massage therapist I go to. I recently went to a new massage therapist and did not have much cash with me that day and I always use my card. I should clarify that both my hairstylist and the massage therapist have card thingies set up in their name - it does not go through the shop. My hairstylist knows to let me add tip to the charge, but the therapist didn't. So on my first visit, she didn't get a tip. I didn't have the correct amount to tip her in cash, and she didn't have change (LOL!!). So, Pesky, the next time I saw her, I simply doubled the tip to make up for the previous visit. She does a fabulous job, works me in, and has done wonders for a shoulder/muscle problem I was having. I usually use my card, unless I know they would prefer cash, but that's simply for my own convenience. tina

Debbie: Congratulations on the move and so glad your accident turned out to be not too traumatic. Steph; congratulations on your clean out and demolition. Must be a huge weight lifted. Missouri; I have found Windows 10 to be more similar to previous versions than 8. I had a seamless transition and no hiccups with any of my software. I had a blast of work this weekend to round out the month. I made a trip to Ikea and found about half of what was on my list and things that weren't on my list. I got the underbed storage boxes, some divider boxes for my dresser, pendant lamps and lampshades, the wine rack which I turned into a reed rack to store the long tools for weaving. A pair of hanging planters were a complete impulse buy. My dresser is more organized ( I could use a few more boxes). Things that don't fit and/or don't like are in a pile for the thrift store. When I get the underbed boxes made up I'll go through my stash of smaller clothes to them and put them under the bed and check periodically to see if I have shrunk into them. That will clear out the closet quite a bit. The bedroom table lamp has a new white shade, the pink shade I bought for a pendant light over the dining table ended up on my old bridge lamp and the pink satin shade that came with the bedroom lamp is over the dining table. There's another plug in pendant to go over the circular sock knitting machine in the studio and that will let me move the floor lamp back over to its usual spot by the loom with the new warp. One thing I really wanted were some rollaround drawer units for the studio. Nothing at Ikea had the drawer depths I needed. When I got home I got online and did some searching and found a set of three, with the correct drawer configuration. The drawers are fabric boxes, which is a little scary, but most of things intended for them are not heavy items. The fabric is a pattern of birds on blue. I've been struggling with color for the loft, but I knew there would be birds, so this will give me a starting point for curtains and focal wall colors. Delivery will be slow on these. One thing I wished I had bought was a small stool. It had a small hole cut in the top and a small removable cloth bag beneath. Perfect as a hamper for my hand and machine knit socks that get washed separately. However I have a small table that needs a little sanding and varnish. I can cut a hole in it and make a bag for my sock hamper. The rubber broom arrived. It works well on hard floors and has a low profile, so it can reach under things better than a regular broom. It is not designed for rugs, I don't think it would work well, the 'bristles' are short and soft. It picks up hair off hard floors very well. I use it in conjuctin with my eye-vac, a cpu shaped vacuum 'dust pan' Sweep stuff up to it and it just sucks it in...no more chasing that last line of dust onto a dust pan. I saw a brilliant idea at Petsmart yesterday. A clerk was cleaning the entry matt with a little grooming slicker brush taped to a broomstick. I immediately tried the brush on my thick white fleece blanket which is polka dotted with tiny black cat hair pills tightly twined into the fleece...it worked perfectly. I don't have any rugs to try it on, but I bet it would work. Pity slicker brushes are so small. The new warp is about half threaded. I ordered a skein winder and some coned yarn to make up in skeins and dye when the weather finally turns warm. The snow is nearly gone from my yard. The cats are in a tenative cease fire. Fewer hissy fits, more silence and even some moments of friendliness. Ben really likes Razz, when Razz is hidden under a blanket, Ben will hunt for him, dig him out and give him kisses.

We are currently under contract for full asking price (all cash) after 4 days of showings and two offers, so I (smugly) feel qualified to answer this question. This is our third time selling and the second time with a quick sell in a buyer's market. Here's what we did: Interviewed three real estate agents. They all came up with the same selling price, so we chose a flat fee agency and are saving $12,000 in commissions. This agent was very good, took professional pictures, wrote the listing, posted to MLS, dealt with contract negotiations, the whole shebang minus open houses which we didn't want anyway. Super happy with this company. I did research the agent on Realtor.com before choosing him. Took our agent's advice on pricing. We were not in a hurry to sell, looked at the comps, and agreed that our agent had us solidly in the middle of what we could reasonably expect to sell our house for. Through the 9 years we have owned the house, we have updated everything, including having our very small Florida yard professionally landscaped. Fixed everything that was broken Cleaned everything Repainted where we couldn't clean the walls or trim adequately Decluttered, put a bunch of stuff in storage Staged the house nicely Put everything personal away for showings The only things on counters were decorative Bowl of green apples on kitchen counter for a pop of color against the granite Hung fresh white towels that we don't use in the bathrooms Used tasteful artificial flower arrangements in most rooms Fresh mulch in garden beds Refreshed flowers in front borders Trimmed hedges and trees Turned on all of the lights before showings House was spotless for showings (we don't normally live this way, but it's worth it to get top dollar for our house and not prolong the painful selling process) Turned on our Sonos to soft jazz music Got ourselves, our cats, and the litter box out of the house for showings Here's what we didn't do: Neutralize all of the colors in the house. We have earthy tones of blue, green, rust, and aqua in our house, but everything is not beige, white, or gray.. Get rid of curtains (I posted several months ago about this, ultimately decided to keep them) Hire a professional stager Set the table with plates Scent the house with anything We met our buyers on Saturday for the home inspection and asked them what made them want the house. They said: Loved the landscaping Looked professionally staged Clean and inviting Didn't need to do anything to the house Looked well taken care of We are super happy with our experience selling this time, love our buyers, and are looking forward to the May 8 closing!