This is how the conversation went in the car the other night:

Me: The Blond around my face looks like it’s growing out really silvery. Like sparkly blond.

Husband: You mean gray?

Me, HORRIFIED wide-eyed, mouth open response: It. Is. Not. Gray. I said silvery dammit. It is just really light blond.

Husband: So silver? Like gray? You’re going gray?

Me: Stop saying gray! It’s not gray! Conversation over!

But yeah, it was totally gray.

For the last 20 years I’ve been various shades of blond. I kept up with it religiously, only letting it grow out a bit when I was pregnant. As soon as I hit the 2nd trimester, I was attacking those roots with a vengeance.

Now that I have a toddler, and a heck of a lot less “me time” I decided to go back to my natural light brown with highlights. I’ve always had natural blond bits around my face. Recently I discovered those parts might not actually be blond. When I let them grow, turns out I may have been going gray for years.

When I mentioned this new development to my friend Cindy, who rocks a full head of the silvery stuff, she told me they were “naturally effervescent strands of delight.” And while I love the description, I’m not sure I’m ready to be that effervescent.

I made a salon appointment for next month to go get my hair a little more blond all over and blend in those sneaky strands. I’m 42 and not quite ready to embrace the whole “aging gracefully” thing. I’m still putting up a pretty good fight, and on the forefront of that battle is my love affair with the perfect blend of blond.

So when did you discover your first strand of gray? I’m pretty sure there is a direct correlation between having children and suddenly sprouting silver!