Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Back Behind the Chair

On Saturday I had my first day of work at my new salon, Another Dyemension. It's out in Helensvale, which is a suburb about a half hour north of us that's pretty ritzy.
So far I am LOVING working here. It's a small salon, with only six staff, but a very positive environment. The salon has recently just moved to an all organic product and color line which I've been having fun discovering and playing around with. There are two apprentices and they do EVERYTHING for the seniors- get capes and clients set up, shampoo when needed, sweep and tidy up stations. They are so on the ball, it's impressive! Seniors are expected to just deal with clients and make money! There is no washer or dryer at the salon. The owner, Joanne, takes it home with her each day.
I've only worked two days so far, but have been fairly busy. I was almost completely booked up on Saturday! It's interesting how the bookings and schedules go. My day can totally change from beginning to end. Unless you have personal clients (someone who's requested you), other clients in the salon can get shifted around to someone else if you are running behind. Prices are different too- color is way higher then at home! And retail product is about twice the price- most shampoos are around $40 for a standard retail size 12oz bottle.
I'm somewhat of a novelty so far too. Everyone loves to hear stories about how things are different in Canada. No one believes it gets as cold as it does!
Joanne is very impressed with my work and doesn't think it will take me long to build up a clientele. It feels so good to be back at work- I didn't realize how much I missed it until now!
I've finally discovered some beauty wholesalers! Now I don't have to pay as ridiculous prices for my tools as I thought. However they are still more then at home, and not as much variety to choose from.


On St Patrick's Day we headed out to the nearby casino, Jupiter's, with Hamish and Michelle. It's pretty nice inside, very clean and well run (it's like a fancier version of the River Cree) and is huge, filled with lots of little lounges, buffets and restaurants. It's a hotel as well. Hamish won $100 in black jack, Joel and I lost our change at the slots. (We're not allowed to take pictures in there- I tried and was sternly reprimanded, so that's why there's not any). We randomly met a guy from Edmonton too, what are the odds?


Last night we met a couple from New Zealand at the pool (this is the meeting place apparently) so now we know all about Kiwi-a-gogo-land. Everyone complains so much about it I don't know why anyone lives there.
The weather the last few days has been all over the place. It will start out sunny, then clouds will blow in, then a storm and mist, then the clouds will blow away and the sun will come out, all within an hour! It's also been incredibly humid. Thank goodness for our pool and air conditioning!
I'm starting to feel alot more comfortable here, even thought there are some things I'm missing about home. Having a schedule will be nice- I'll be working every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday- and I'm going to try out a few different fitness groups next week. I'm starting to know my way around pretty good too and am more confident in my driving (but I really dislike Brutis). Now that we'll be back to having two incomes we'll be able to do more too, explore, try new restaurants, and of course shop! Trying to think what else is new, but I think that's about it. We're trying to save some money after having to spend a bunch getting settled, so we've been pretty boring. I'm trying to get my Photo A Day set up as fast as I can, so keep checking there for more pictures or random information about the Gold Coast. Hoping to do some more scrapping soon too.

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