On stranger tides

I've been feeling really strange lately. Call it a combination of homesickness and probably being the oldest person in my summer program. But whatever it is, it is driving me nuts with thoughts of tattoos, piercings, leather jackets, three-wheeled badass bikes and dyed hair.
So this is what mid-life crisis looks like. Well hello you!
Fortunately, I've always been a bit more conservative when it comes to rebellious streaks. Maybe because I'm just too lazy, too sensitive to pain and too cautious with money to make any of the above a reality. Or so I thought. Till I woke up this morning feeling the world would crash down if I absolutely did not dye my hair. And so I did.
In China. I let a Chinese person dye my African permed hair. I died a little inside every ten seconds or so but the thrill was probably equal to a bungee jump. Let me explain it within a broader context. 
After moving to the US two years ago for college, I have never let anyone touch my hair except on my two trips back home (GHANA anyone?!) I take care of my hair myself, which includes relaxing, washing, blowdrying, straightening or curling depending on my mood/occasion and yes even braiding!!
The only thing I cannot YET do by myself is to give myself a haircut. Wah. And I so do love to have my hair trimmed and to have the ends looking straight. I blame it all on that big whop (yes that's what I call it), when I hacked off half my hair in July last year.
So after six months of no trims, I was beginning to get desperate, even dreaming of having my hair trimmed and sipping wine (don't ask me why). The end result, killed two birds with one stone by having it trimmed and dyed a nice shade of reddish brown today. Here are the before and after pictures! Did I pull it off? Yes? No?
        


                                                                     BEFORE

                                                                          AFTER