To Matter

I've always made it a point to love my jobs - to only do something because it is what I love. I am blessed to have that option in life. Sometimes I've probably taken it to the extreme. I've always set out to be THE hairstylist you would prefer over anyone else or THE photographer you would choose. Recent events in my health have knocked me off this high-horse of pride and someday I hope to share that with you.  But on this day... this is a day that did matter. This was a day that God used my talents for His Glory and to comfort someone else. On this day, I can look back and see how God used me despite of my own need to be important, or my need to feel like I matter. On this day, I was able to see pieces of a puzzle coming together of encounters over the years, sharing our lives, and sharing our hearts.  
Click Here to read Cassie's Story. A woman that inspires me on so many levels.

Contact Donna Harris Photography by clicking HERE

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Merry Christmas!

Friends, Family, and Treaured salon clients, please know that you are valued and appreciated. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and that you are surrounded with love from friends and family. See you in the new year!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

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Just a personal update from my other blog :

Check it out!

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If you follow my photography blog, you know life has been busy for me. While I've been away from the salon up until 2 weeks ago, I was pretty much 'back to work' since the end of September. In the month of October, I photographed 4 weddings, 8 families, and a 1st birthday party....it was pretty exhausting after just having a baby 5 weeks prior! But I had a blast and even though I am glad the fall photo craziness is over, I feel super accomplished when I look back at all the happy families and the great memories I captured.

My family has been through a lot lately with the passing of my sweet nephew. Thanks to all who've reached out and expressed your condolences. It is very much appreciated.

Milo and Roman are growing fast, fast, fast! Here are a few photos to catch you up.


At 11 weeks old he no longer needs a swaddle to keep him asleep. Growing so fast make me melancholy but seeing that peaceful surrender to sleep is just "oh so cute".

my little man. Now over 2 1/2, he really is less of a baby and more 'big boy'. So smart, sweet, and helpful with his little brother.



My husband. My helper. I can't do anything without him.
The rubber bands around the wrist are from the diapers we got from our diaper cake (a gift from the gals at salon).

Christopher says it's a good way to keep track of diaper changes. Don't worry. He does his fair share. ;)


Just look at these dolls. Roman sings this made up song to Milo: "Cutie, cutie, cutie...cutie. I ever seen."

So that's my what's going on at home. My first few weeks back at the salon have gone over perfectly. It's been so fantastic to see all my wonderful clients. I say it all the time but it's so true, you guys are awesome. I love my job and it's because of my great clients. You are very much a blessing in my life. If I have yet to see you, I miss you and look forward to seeing you soon! And if we don't have your next appointment set up, contact me. I still have holiday hair appointments available for select days.

Enjoy these next couple of weeks... Don't rush too soon into Christmas (even though the department stores want you to), we've still got Thanksgiving to enjoy. ;)

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STYLING TIP OF THE DAY

“No matter how hard I try, my “oomph” vanishes before my very eyes. HELP!” Is this you?

Have no fear! You can get a great amount of volume in your hair without having to resort to the dreaded, "Bump-it".

Remember, it’s all about the backcombing.



Follow this fail-proof backcombing how-to for a great base your volume legs can stand on:
1. After drying the hair, get rid of every last tangle and snarl with a strand-friendly flat brush.

2. Separate a one- to two-inch section of hair to backcomb. The smaller the section the tighter the backcombing result. Clip away the rest of the hair.

3. Hold the section straight up from the scalp and with the other hand, place a small comb directly into the underside of the section, (where the backcombing won’t be visible) an inch or two away from the scalp. Gently comb the hair toward the head, causing the hair to bunch up at the base.

4. Release the section and smooth the surface with a brush or with your hands.

5. Continue throughout the entire area that you want to tease—top, sides, etc.

6. Mist with a long-lasting, weightless volume shaping spray.


My favorite? Hands down, it's the Paul Mitchell Extra-Body Finishing Spray. It works on EVERY hair type and is flexible enough for styling without giving yourself 'helmet' hair.

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Trend Alert!

Here's a super sweet look at what hair color choices are 'in' this fall. This season is going to embrace mocha and cappuccino tones and buttercream blondes. (Hey, if it sounds good enough to eat, why not try it out on your locks!)

Here's a good example of warmth for the fall, Victoria's Secret Model Lily Aldridge, is rocking out the honey hued highlights with a deep chestnut base color. The look is mastered by making sure it doesn't look 'too perfect' by having the highlights actually end up lighter at the ends.

I absolutely love this look and you just might see a hint of this color on ME when I come back from my baby vacation. ;)

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My dear Salon Clients!

By now, a number of you have been into the salon to get your hair done without me.
While I am happy that you are still looking your best, I must say that I miss you all! I'm hoping things are going well and would love to hear from you. If you can, shoot me a quick email at donnaAharris@gmail.com to let me know how things are going (good or bad). As usual, I always want to make sure my clients are happy!

Just a reminder that I'm taking appointments via email for the rest of the year, so let me know if you haven't scheduled your holiday appointment yet!

I'm loving my time off and enjoying my family.

photo by Kelly Manno

Check out more of our family photos at Kelly's blog

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Baby Update!!!!

Check out my newest photos of Milo by going to Donna Harris Photography!
He's a little over a week old! :)

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Baby's Room!

I was surprised at the salon the other day by a wonderful gift...a diaper cake!

The staff all pitched in so that Lacey could make this awesome cake. Lacey didn't know anything about the room or our colors, the gift just happened to match the baby's room PERFECTLY.

I absolutely love how our design efforts turned out! It makes me super excited for this little boy to arrive.

While I'm not too big on having a themed room, I can't help but love the giraffes that are scattered playfully about. This big 4 foot tall giraffe was actually something that Christopher won at "Dave and Busters". Roman thinks it's his gift to give to baby brother once he arrives. I'm interested to see how that goes over. :)

The bedding was the initial inspriation for the room decor. It's fun to have all the different prints, patterns, and textures.

This is one of my favorite pieces. It was a scale that my mom used on all of us!

So, that's the baby's room. I admit it. We find ourselves in there all the time trying to imagine what life will be like once he arrives. With one week left before my due date, I hope we don't have to imagine much longer!!!

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Busy Scissors!


So I grew up with all brothers and all boy cousins. I spent many, many years either playing video games or watching my family memebers get to the end of Zelda, beat Super Mario 3, fight the final fight in Mike Tyson's Punch Out... I've even enjoyed a few games on a ColecoVision. Then I got married to one of the "biggest kids" and avid video game players around. We've collected our share of Xbox, PS2 and PS3 and Nintento Wii video games. ....but I don't think I could ever convince my brothers, cousins or husband to play this video game!

Check it out!!!!

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Fall Color Predictions!!!!

Ok, I understand we are in the midst of one of the hottest days of the year. So who's thinking about fall when we're just trying to survive the heat, right? Well my favorite trend magazines say that this year's hot (or let's think cool since we're talking seasonal change) fall hair color is going to be Chocolate and Mocha shades.

Mocha Choca Latta YaYa


For Fall/Winter 2010, it’s all about hot chocolate and mocha. I'm not talking calorie-laden scrumptiousness (but I won't turn down a Starbucks hot chocolate any day!), but rich, envy-inducing hair color. Sounds delicious, huh? Take style mavens like Salma Hayek Pinault and Catherine Zeta Jones for example. Both always have impeccable color, especially when they embrace the darker shades. Catherine’s shimmering color brings out her gorgeous eyes and full lips. Salma’s color and style always highlights her cheek bones and smoldering eyes. Dark, strong tones exude a sense of confidence, beauty and sex appeal.

To keep your color rich between appointments, consider an at-home color enhancing shampoo and conditioner to help maintain the richness of the color.


Aveda's Black Malva is a good choice. It brings out cool, deep tones in dark shades and discourages the appearance of red or brassy tones. Contains organically grown aloe, black tea and emollient-rich black malva that's been wild-crafted—sustainably gathered by hand in its natural habitat. Be sure to ask about it at your next appointment!

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Trend Alert!!!
Top knots have been a favorite on fashion-week catwalks, with celebrities and around town.



The first image is from Catherine Malandrino’s most recent fall show where lead stylist Odile piled the models’ hair into curly, highly-textured buns.

The next one, while I feel is a little severe, still works as a decent top knot at the Marc Jacobs spring show.

Now Hollywood’s leading ladies are rocking modern, chic versions of the top knot to complement their sassy summer wardrobe of sleek minis, cropped jackets and smart shorts.

Recently, Vanessa Hudgens (pictured far right) wore my favorite version at a red carpet event. Her dark locks were pulled up into a perfectly imperfect knot with a few face-framing strands left free. This sexy summer style can surely take the heat—making it perfect for beachfront weddings or all-night raves. I've been starting to see it around town and will be interested in how this fun, summer time updo transitions to the fall! :)

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You may remember about a year ago I posted a story of a bride getting married on Memorial Day weekend. Well, this isn't the same post but it's the same family! Ashley graciously asked me to do her hair for her wedding and I was super excited to oblige!

Here's the story. Amber got married on Memorial Day weekend last year and a few weeks later her sister, Ashley, got engaged (What a smart man to wait until after the wedding for each girl to get their day of glory!). And a few DAYS later she asked me to do her hair... almost a year in advance! Well, I was super excited to do her hair but I also had booked a wedding to photograph the Friday night before AND that very day...on top of being 6 1/2 months pregnant! (What was I thinking?) But I love this family and wouldn't have wanted to miss being part of the day in some fashion so I was happy to be there for sure!

So, enjoy a few step-by-step photos of her updo....

Ta-Da! Ready to walk down the asile.

One of my favorite photos. These are all the girls that were in the wedding party who also come to me get their hair done. I love them all!

(All Photos courtesy of B.Fisher Photography - Thanks Beth! I wish I could have gotten a pic of you and I too!)

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I feel truly blessed.

Recently, I've put together a letter to my dear clients updating them on salon plans and other things regarding baby #2, and it has caused me to reflect upon how lucky I am to have a fantastic, loyal client base.
Sometimes I get so frustrated because there aren't enough hours in the day, enough days in the week or enough spaces to offer last minute appointments. I HATE disappointing people. I hate not being THE person to make your hair look great or have you feel fantastic from a new color experience. However, I tend to forget that the reason it's hard to make an appointment with me is NOT because I don't have the time, it's not because I am choosing something else over my salon time, it's not because I don't care... it's all because I DO care and I already have a list of clients who demand my time (and I love that!).
As much as I do love being needed, sometimes it takes an opportunity like this to cause me to step back and realize that I have a great group of people in my life that I get to see on a regular basis and cut, color or style their hair. And that NOT being able to be "everything to everyone" doesn't mean that I've failed... it just means that I'm successful to so many others. :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you for that success!

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Yep, it's a BOY! ...oh, yeah, and I'm pregnant.

If you were wondering when you missed the announcement, guess what, you didn't. This little guy was a secret to you and the rest of the world until recently. We decided not to tell anyone that I was pregnant until we found out the gender of the baby. We took advantage of Roman's 2nd birthday party to surprise our close family and friends. You can check out the video clip below to see how it all went down:







We had the ultrasound framed so that people could sign it and we'll hang the keepsake in our new little boy's nursery.

So that's the 'big news'!

It's been nice having my pregnancy fly by unnoticed but it will also be nice to have it out in the open where you can celebrate with me!



Of course, I'll have all kinds of details coming up about what you need to expect while I'm on maternity leave. We've survived this once before, remember? :) I'm not going to quit on you, I promise!

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Roman is totally enamored with Elmo and loves watching 'Elmo's World'



Can I be honest? Totally honest with you all? I sometimes hate blogging. Not because I hate putting up photos, or sharing my life, or even writing. I guess I just feel like sometimes my blog has become something I HAVE to do instead of want to do.
I can't remember the last time I just sat down and totally just wrote what I was feeling without making sure I had all my tasks or blog 'to-do's' checked off my list.

I'm breaking all the rules in this particular blog:
1.)My photo today has nothing in particular to do with this post. 2.)I am copying this exact blog and shamelessly posting it to my other blog so that I don't have to write 2 originals. 3.)And I can't think of a third rule to break so I am writing a useless sentence for the sake of completing the tone of this subject and finishing off this paragraph. ...pretty cantankerous, huh? :)

Ok, so don't hate me. Don't think "Oh, I am not hiring her as my photographer or having her style my hair because she has a poor attitude." I'm really just blowing off steam. In fact, I'm pretty super pumped about a few upcoming things in my life. I can't believe how booked I am for the Spring! Weddings and Engagement sessions, Senior photographs, Newborn Sessions and Family sessions all from March to June! And business at the salon is steady as usual. I am so very thankful to have two passions that allow me to spend time with and support my family! Speaking of family, my little guy turns 2 this month and we're having his birthday party this weekend. It's not a lie when I say I can't wait run back to my blog and share the events of his birthday with you (It's going to be a blast)! Plus, I've got other big news coming up! You'll have to check back next week to find out more.

Thanks for listening to my rant. I promise my disposition will be a little sunnier next post. :)

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The Salon has been going through a lot of great transformations and our continuing Aveda education is one of them!



First, we get a sit-down class on the awesome haircolor that we are using...




The class included many Aveda stylists in the STL area. We were warmly welcomed by a nearby salon that hosted the event.

Just a side note, this sunglasses model at the salon freaked me out and frankly was a little distracting during the class! Hee Hee!


Then it was time for hands-on work!





If we didn't have a model, we worked on each other. It looks crazy but at least they're still learning, right?



I shared my model, Lindsey, with a stylist from another Aveda salon.
We worked really well together!





Lindsey fully foiled and ready for some new color!



Here she is BEFORE...

...and AFTER.





So, that's what's been going on recently. I know it's been awhile since I've updated, I've been pretty busy with photography stuff too.

I've been having alot of fun with this group. We all really love what we do and have fun doing it together! :)

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Last year I talked about my sob story of how it was going to be the final year getting a family picture taken with Santa because 'our' Santa was retiring & the timing was right because my husband was tired of the Santa Picture (he's been doing a Santa photo since birth!). So we agreed it best to leave it to our son Roman get his photo with the Big Guy from here on out.

... Well, that didn't happen! At the very last minute, right before it was Roman's turn to see Santa, I turned to Christopher and said, "I can't stand it. I've got to have our picture with Santa!" So, of course, he obliged (probably not happily, but willingly). So that's the story with this recent photo. :)

At the salon, the close of the year brought me to something that I've been anticipating since the spring: Emily's wedding!
The day finally came and her hair ended up looking stunning. We had been slowly transitioning her color from a strawberry blonde to a firey red. I think it went perfectly with her wedding attire and the holiday season. :)

I stole a few of these photos off of Kelly Manno's website to show off her hair:






It's been nice to end the year with a bang!

Merry Christmas and see you next year!

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