Our Investment

About a week ago, I got to do hair for one of the girls that Isaac goes to school with.  Her name was Amy, and we did a full hilight/lowlight with a cut as well.  I had an absolute blast doing it--especially since I haven't been able to do much hair for the last four months or so--but one thing that kept bugging me was that the chair I had her sit in didn't go up and down like my old Salon 101 chair.  I don't know if she noticed or not, but I kept bringing my foot up to "pump her up" so that she would be at a more comfortable height.

Later on, while I was talking with Isaac about it, I happened to mention my awkward habit to him and he asked how much salon chairs run for, generally speaking.  I responded that I wasn't absolutely positive, but I the ones I had seen were usually under $200.  To my surprise, he told me that maybe I should look into purchasing one for when I do hair for people out of the house.  It would be an investment that would probably pay for itself in a pretty short amount of time.

Needless to say, I jumped on the internet right away to start checking out chair prices.  $150.  $160.  $175.  $190.  Wow.  Okay, that's a little higher than I thought.  It was still under $200 though.

Until I added in the cost for shipping.

On average, it cost about $50 to ship a chair.  Ouch!  I kept looking and looking, browsing, and searching.  Finally I decided to check Sally's to see if they had anything decent.  I mean, really, this chair didn't need to be anything fantastic, just your basic styling chair that could go up and down.  There were two pages of chairs to look at.

The second page was where my little miracle was.  There, halfway down the page on the left-handed side was a Pibbs Basic Styling Chair.  And the price?  $70.  BAM!  I started oohing and ahhing and Isaac asked what I'd found.  I told him that I had to research a little bit, but I think I had just found my chair.  When I told him about the price, he was a teensy bit skeptical--simply because it was about half the price of all the others I had looked at.  Even the ones on Ebay!

I told him I thought it was probably just a model that they discontinued and were trying to get rid of.  But I researched anyway.

First, I checked the dimensions... maybe it was a kid's chair or something.  Nope.  It was about the same as the chair I used to use at Salon 101.  Just a half inch smaller.  Then I checked the hydraulics.  Those were the same too.  And the warranty?  One year for the chair, five for the hydraulics.  Works for me!  Last, I checked out the brand.  They seemed to check out fine as well.

Hmm.  Well... why not?

I talked with Isaac about it one more time, relaying all my findings to him, and then we decided to purchase it. I filled out the mailing and billing information and hit "purchase."

And then I started to squeal.

Isaac turned and looked at me.  "Babe, what are you doing," he asked.
"I'm just so nervous!!!  I've never bought a chair before!  But we just got it!"
He did his little laugh thing that he does and went on with his business.

I just kept staring at the chair.  Hopefully it wasn't a defective one or something.  At least if it was, we could return it.  But then we'd have to find a new one and the chances that we'd find something so cheap twice.... well, not very likely.

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A couple days ago, Isaac had to head out to the bank to deposit a check, get some gas, and make some copies of some medical school-related things at the school.  I was busy making some potstickers in the kitchen (click on THIS for a link to the recipe.. they were DELISH!) when he came up with a hydraulic pump.

I'm sure I looked like my eyes were going to pop out of my head.  "THE CHAIR IS HERE????!!!" I screamed.  He smiled.  "Yep."

As soon as he set it on the ground I was staring at it.  Just looking at it, probably similar to a mothers who just gave birth to their first child.  I loved it already.  Probably because it was ours.  Not that Isaac would be using it much, though.  So I guess, really, it was mine.  My own beautiful, simple, styling chair.

Snapping out of my trance, I had to run to the kitchen because I was frying the potstickers and I realized they were probably burning to the pan.  

Minutes later the chair half of it arrived on my husband's shoulders as well.  Can I get a hallelujah?  Yes, please!  I was immediately down on the ground, finding the parts to put the footrest on the chair.  For a moment, I thought they had forgotten to send me the screws.  Then I saw them taped to the metal frame.  About five minutes later it was assembled.

My baby.

She doesn't have a name yet, but I'll think of one.  It has to be special, because a name is forever.  Even for a styling chair.  I'm entertaining Seana.  It's a Gaelic name that means "gift from God."  And she really was, too!  The day she arrived (after I'd made sure she wasn't defective and all that) I went to go message Lindsey and Meg about it.  I was going to include the link directly to the Sally's page where I bought it from, in case they wanted one too, but it was gone.  Literally.  There was nothing there.

Isaac, modeling the chair this morning for me.

Apparently it was God's will that we be able to purchase a cheap, functional styling chair.  And I am SO thankful!  Now, to put it to good use!