A Little Piece of Home at The Marcy Spa & Salon and #SpreadTheKindness Link Up #25

Military life often takes you far away from your friends and family. Usually for the duration of the service member’s career. Sometimes, if you get lucky, you might find yourself stationed very close to home. If that happens, it is typically only for a short period of time…a year or two. So with each new place you find yourself, you have to make new friends and discover new places for your shopping, dining, and personal care needs. I have always believed that a great hair stylist is just as important as a reliable mechanic. Because, let’s face it, I am as incapable of cutting my own hair as I am of servicing my own vehicle!

*This is not a sponsored post. This is an honest review by a very satisfied and extremely happy client.

We have been stationed at Fort Drum, New York, for over 4 years and I was fortunate enough to find an amazing hair stylist in the first year that we lived here. But she has recently retired her scissors and so I began a new search for a trustworthy, edgy, daring, fabulous stylist whom I could call “my stylist”! Over the past 6 months, I have tried out a few new stylists and wasn’t really pleased. Nothing worth comment really. Just not for me. Until last week. I found “my stylist” in The Marcy Spa & Salon located on Public Square right in the downtown area of Watertown, New York.

Let me tell you the story…I was desperate for a face waxing last weekend. It was 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday and I was just getting ready for the day when I looked in the bathroom mirror only to discover that with the onset of this month’s menstrual cycle came a brand new, very black, mustache. These wiry little hairs were reaching out from above my lip like Medusa’s hair with a score to settle.  I cannot lie…I screeched a little.  Oh, the joys of premenopausal womanhood! And my eyebrows had already become quite unruly, too. Generally, I would make a mad dash for the mall to get a quick wax job done, but frankly I just didn’t feel like driving to the mall. And I had recently been frequenting shops on the downtown square and knew of two salons right there just mere blocks from my house. So I searched them on Facebook. The first one was closed. The Marcy was not. So I called and they had an available appointment for me within the hour. Score for me!  Medusa would not win this time.

So I went in and I was welcomed into the most calming environment by the friendliest of staff and offered a drink and a seat while I waited for my appointment. Then a stunning woman named Laurel came out and guided me into a cozy little room with relaxing music playing. Our small talk quickly led to a wonderful discussion about our businesses. I did not know right then that Laurel is the owner of this lovely establishment. I had Shelbee’s Shoppe set up at EyeCrave Optics that weekend and later that day Laurel stopped in and found some fabulous gifts for a birthday party she was attending. Then she very graciously invited me to set up shop in her salon!  We have since agreed on the day of her grand reopening event on June 30! I am so excited and honored to be part of her exciting day! Thank you, Laurel!

 

This is Laurel, Owner of The Marcy Spa. If you are needing to slay Medusa on your face, Laurel is your girl!

 

*Photo Credits: All salon photos were taken from The Marcy’s Facebook page. All of my outfit photos were taken by Aimee.

Fast forward to the following Friday when I had scheduled a cut and color at The Marcy. I did not request any specific stylist since I was a new client to this salon. In fact, I couldn’t even remember the name of the stylist whom I was booked with. But I will never forget her name now! I was approached by the bubbliest, coolest, cutest girl I have ever seen and swept off to her chair. Her name is Olivia and she is simply fabulous! We discussed what I wanted to do with my hair and threw some ideas around. Then before she even began work, she let me know the price range of the services so I could make an informed commitment. I have never had a salon or stylist do that ever before. And it was really nice to know how much I was getting into this for!  Olivia also described every product she was putting in my hair and everything she was doing to my hair each step of the way.

My hair before Olivia worked her magic.

 

 

The ridiculous mess on the back of my head before Olivia’s magic!

 

I know I am getting long-winded and quite wordy, as I often do. And any hair stylist I have ever visited can attest to this trait of mine. A 2-3 hour cut and color session and there is never a lag in the conversation…because I can talk. And talk.  And talk.  In traditional Shelbee fashion, I asked a lot of questions and shared a lot of personal information with Olivia. So it didn’t take long for me to discover that Olivia is also an Army wife (and a reservist in the Army herself…and a mom…and a phenomenal stylist…so she is pretty much one bad ass chick in my opinion). Living in a military community, one question that is always asked when meeting someone new is “Where is your hometown?” Being a Pennsylvania native, I get excited if I meet someone from my home state or even from New Jersey or the New York City area. And I have a few military wife friends where I live who are also Pennsylvanians (Aimee being one of them). Anyway…let me get on with this story…I asked Olivia, “So where is home for you?” And she replied, as we often do, with a question mark at the end (in wonderment if the person asking will actually know of our home town), “Bethlehem, Pennsylvania?” WHAT?! I replied, “No. Really? no you’re not.” She was thoroughly confused as to why I was questioning the accuracy of her answer. Until I responded, “I’m from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.” And suddenly, as if The Marcy Spa & Salon wasn’t already fabulous, it held right inside its pretty doors a little piece of home!

Two and a half hours in Olivia’s chair and we discovered that we had graduated from the same high school (there are two high schools in our hometown). After some Facebook referencing, we also found out that I had graduated with her uncle and she was in the same class with my nephew. Upon further research, I was informed by my sister that she and Olivia’s mother were actually quite good friends during their children’s elementary and middle school years. It was refreshing to find someone so far from home who could discuss all of the fun little things about our shared hometown. So not only did I get a fabulous haircut and color, I made a brand new friend! And I couldn’t be more excited about it. So if you are local to the Watertown/Fort Drum area and need a stylist, The Marcy Spa & Salon is the place to go!  Tell them Shelbee sent you!

A close up of my new cut and color by Olivia.
See how fabulous the back looks!
The amazing and beautiful kick-ass Olivia!

 

To see more of Olivia’s magnificent work, check out her Instagram page at Hair by Olivia. You can also see some other fabulous stylings and other services on the salon’s Instagram page at The Marcy Spa and Salon.

The Marcy offers a multitude of spa services including men’s and women’s haircuts and formal stylings, hair coloring and waxing services, makeup applications, hair and eyelash extensions, massage and body treatments, and new laser services. For more information about the services offered or to book an appointment, you can visit The Marcy Spa & Salon’s website or their Facebook page. Also, be sure to stop by on June 30 from 2:00-6:00 p.m. to celebrate their grand reopening at their new location in the Lincoln Building in Public Square! I will be there with Shelbee’s Shoppe to help with your personalized styling needs! And stick around after for the Party on the Square starting at 5:00 p.m. This is the first of the Summer Block Parties which will be held on the last Friday of June, July, and August. I hope to see you all there!

Outfit Details
Kimono: Shelbee’s Shoppe (The light blue is sold out and I have one left in navy.)

Light Blue
Navy

 

Tee Shirt: Old Navy (No longer available, but similar in color here and here).
Jeans: White House Black Market (From a few years ago. Similar here and here).
Shoes: TOMS Sandstorm Nubuck Perforated Majorca Mules.
Necklace: Cato Fashions (No longer available. Other options here and here).
Hair: Hair by Olivia at The Marcy Spa and Salon.

Now onto more ways of spreading kindness. First let me feature your favorite posts from last week’s link up…

Laura of I Do deClaire shared the cutest summer outfit in Pineapple Print Tank. How adorable is she?

And Nina of Sharing A Journey shared some fabulous new additions to her wardrobe in Summer Essentials and J. Jill Haul. Isn’t her new dress simply gorgeous? You will have to hop on over to her blog to see how she styled her other beautiful pieces.

As always, I am ever so grateful to everyone who stops by each week and joins the link up. I am thankful for your support of my mission to keep spreading kindness in any way that we can!


Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee

Linking up with these Fabulous Link Ups.

I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.

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Shelbee on the Edge