Fashion Friday: Chop Chop and Beauty School

I took the plunge (for me) on Monday and cut my hair the shortest it has been since my junior year of high school, 13 long years ago. (Those of you who knew me then know why it has taken me so long to muster the cojones to do it again. A bad cut is scarring.) Your sweet comments gave me the last ounce of courage I needed to do it. So without further ado, here it is:

It's an angled cut, so it is longer in the front than it is in the back, which is awesome because it allows me to still pull it back into the world's tiniest ponytail. So no, it's not crazy short, but it feels that way to me. It's been a breeze to style so far, and I am really enjoying the change.

For those of you who are hair and makeup challenged like me, you have to check out Lauren Conrad's newish blog, The Beauty Department.

Yes, this is the same Lauren Conrad of Laguna Beach and The Hills fame. Confession time: I adore her! There are few women younger than me whose style I admire (I tend to look up to people older than me style-wise), but Lauren always looks perfectly polished and chic down to every detail, albeit still youthful. And as much as I used to love bad reality T.V., I also admire her for having parlayed what could have been 15 minutes of fame into a career as a fashion designer, young adult fiction writer - and now - blogger.

The best part of her blog are the hair and makeup tutorials that are so easy that even I, who until recently couldn't curl my own hair, can do. I have already done three of her tutorials with much success: the Get Catty, the Every Day Wave, and Ballerina Bun. Again, if I can do them, so can you. Check it out!

(All images via The Beauty Department, except the first one, of course!)

Have a great weekend!