Thanksgiving Traditions

Thanksgiving is a time to gather with family and cherish the blessings in your life. This year, like every other, I continued the tradition of returning home to the house where I grew up with my husband and children. I grew up in a small, country town called Groveland, FL with my mother Janet, father Richard and four brothers Rick, Scott, Kurt and Chris. I delight in the peace and simplicity of returning home as I watch my children play carelessly with their cousins on the vast open property that I as a child once roamed. We celebrated Thanksgiving last Saturday which was the 22^nd of November and just so happened to also be my birthday! The year I was born Thanksgiving happened to also fall on the same day, from what I was told my father accidentally burnt the turkey that year because I’m assuming he was over taken with excitement that his new baby girl was finally here! Since that day anytime Thanksgiving falls on November 22 my brothers make a burnt turkey in remembrance of dad.

When the whole family comes together we have about twenty two people with my mom, brothers, aunts and uncles, and everyone’s kids and significant others. Mom prepares a feast fit for an army; the spread is huge! But isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about? To eat, enjoy family and friends in a relaxing loving environment… and eat again. Just to give you a taste of what was prepared, we had two turkeys (one deep fried by my husband the other smoked), a ham, my mom’s signature baked mac and cheese, fruit salad, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, rolls, oh and not to forget the desserts: pumpkin pie, pecan pie and chocolate delight! Sitting around the table listening and watching all the different conversations take place is one of my most favorite parts. Another tradition we have is after dinner everyone plays a game of kick ball together. It doesn’t matter what age you are; everyone participates in this exciting family game. The kids love when it’s them against the adults.

I truly enjoy the family time gathering at Thanksgiving every year at moms. I also have a thanksgiving dinner at my house with my intermediate family, and we lounge around all day. It’s very causal usually after deep frying turkeys for all these dinners Mike is pretty tired of it. ;) This year my group of friends is having our first annual “friendsgiving” dinner on Saturday night (I will defiantly need my trainer Matt next week). I love spending time with my loved ones near and far Thanksgiving is the start of a joyous time in the year. We just got our Christmas tree Wednesday night I can’t wait to decorate it with my kiddos. This season is my favorite time of year when we come together as a family and appreciate what we have and sharing our blessings with others less fortunate than us. 

Ending My Teaching Tour with Premiere Birmingham

This past month has been a busy one for me, as I finish the year with my educational tour my last stop was in Birmingham, Alabama for Premiere Birmingham.  I must say the attendees of this show strive for education and seem to engage more in the classroom with Q & A in wanting to know How, What, & Why with the nuts and bolts of haircolor.

The first day of the show was my “Gold Standard of Haircolor” workshop hands-on class which seemed to fill up quickly. Most hairdressers learn by physically doing what is being taught, so I believe you have to get your hands in it at times to understand it. The workshop included three applications: an Over-the-top application for a seasonal change, taking the Ombré to a Sombré look, and the American Baliage which is panting the hair in long foils to create a natural look using shade on shades. It was ratifying to show these attendees how to hold the brush in creating a soft starting point with each section they foiled. With each workshop hands-on class I hold, the attendees leave with a goodie bag filled with a few pieces of Beth Minardi Signature shades which include the Demi-Crème & Demi-Liquid lines along with some MLCC  (Minardi Luxury Color Care) styling products  and a single DVD from my Hues of Natural Perfection collection.

After the morning hands-on workshop class, I had one ninety minute lecture class. I actually loved this lecture “The Truth about Hair Color” because it was a more intimate lecture, which started a great deal of conversing between the attendees and me. I always tell them the lecture is about “you guys” rather than the agenda I am supposed to follow. As I mentioned earlier, the attendees at this show were very passionate about learning and much more comfortable with asking me questions.

The last day of the show I did was a special VIP class called “Beautiful Moments”, where attendees register to spend a very intimate hour with me discussing haircolor. Premiere randomly selects ten attendees to spend this time with me; a major part of this class was talking about celebrity haircolor formulas. Some of the celebrity color reformulations we discussed included Emma Stone, Carrie Underwood, Blake Lively, and Shea Mitchell, just to name a few!  We went in depth about the formulas and how to achieve these rich dimensions. I felt this was a wonderful topic to chat about, because most of the time clients bring in pictures of celebrities asking for that particular look and or haircolor. (Side bar) it’s important during a consult with your client that you are able to distinguish every aspect of the photo they bring in, because we all know majority of the time it’s never 100% of the celebs natural hair. There are many “tricks” Ms. Hollywood has in glamourizing celebrities ;) My VIP members also received a goodie bag filled with many special gifts.

Overall this has been a great year full of exciting shows, great lectures and fun workshops. I have really grown to love the open communication with attendees and listening to their thoughts and opinions about haircolor. I honestly cannot be more thankful that I’m able to live my passion, inspiring the minds of beauty professionals near and far! I am excited to see what next year will bring!