Hair

They were definitely footsteps. No doubt about it, and getting closer, too. The woman forced herself not to turn around, not to look, even though she desperately wanted to. Her training took over. By maintaining her pace, acting as though she were unaware of her pursuer, she would have the element of surprise when it came time to act.

To act.

The sidewalk was clear all the way to the intersection about a quarter of a mile away. There were cars parked along the edge of the sidewalk but no traffic moving along the road, and there wouldn’t be in this neighborhood, not at this time of night.

To her right were brownstone apartments, one after another, no alleys or other cover nearby.

There was nowhere to hide. And then…

“Agent Patton!”

She wheeled around into a fighting stance, drawing her weapon from her purse.

“Wait! Don’t shoot!” said the man before her. He was young, tall, well built, wearing black slacks, a white shirt and blazer. Probably ex-military. Most importantly, he appeared unarmed. “The codeword is Idlewild. Idlewild. Don’t shoot.”

Idlewild. Yes, that was the codeword. “Déjà Vu,” she replied, lowering her weapon.

“Affirmative.” Slowly he reached into his jacket and withdrew a small black phone and handed it to her.

She took it and slid her fingers in a pattern across the smooth glass screen before bringing the phone up to her ear. A message started to play. “Good evening, Agent Patton. This is the Producer.”

Her employer had a flair for theatrics.

“Your mission, should you choose to accept it, Agent Patton, is to star opposite Tom Cruise in this winter’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol. Please press 1 followed by the pound key if you accept this mission…”

She tapped the virtual keyboard that appeared on the display and returned the phone to her ear.

“Excellent. You have chosen to accept the mission. This phone will self destruct in 5 seconds…”

Haha! I wonder if that’s how Paula got offered the Mission: Impossible job. Something tells me probably not (although it would have been really cool). 🙂

Paula Maxine Patton, born December 5, 1975, only started acting seven years ago, after trying her hand at producing and screenwriting. Now she’s making up for lost time with a Tom Cruise blockbuster under her belt.

She and her singer/songwriter husband Robin Thicke, son of actor Alan Thicke and Gloria Loring, started dating when they were teenagers and have a one-year-old son together now.

Kid sure is lucky to have such a talented, beautiful secret agent actress for a mom.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Scranton’s Dunder Mifflin Paper Company was just a stepping stone for Harvard alumna Rashida Jones. The daughter of media mogul/musician Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton, Rashida Leah Jones (born February 25, 1976) had a very good year.

From Pennsylvania’s Dunder Mifflin, her fictional employer on The Office, to the Parks and Recreation Department of a (fake) town in Indiana, and all the way out to Hollywood, Rashida showed this year why her high school classmates were wise to vote her “Most Likely To Succeed.”

I saw three movies she was in this year — Friends with Benefits, Our Idiot Brother and The Muppets — and really enjoyed them all. She plays a lot of approachable people on TV and film, and hook or crook, I think she always looks great, whether dressed up or down.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I’ve had other brushes with bangs, like the time my mom cut my hair into a lopsided Dorothy Hamill bowl cut, or the gravity defying ‘do I wore for a time in my hair bear teenage years (that thing ensnared more insects than a Venus Flytrap!), but none of them prepared me for the full-on blunt-cut bangs I embraced a few months ago.

And that’s because they weren’t just bangs. Dude. They were BANGS! — all caps, bold, with an exclamation mark.

I’ve liked having them these past months, but I gotta say — I wish I’d given more thought to what I was getting into before I took the plunge, because these real deal bangs have been a commitment.

For starters, there’s the monthly trims, and this is where it helps to have a stylist who does them for free. Ideally, he or she would also be someone you like to hang out with, because you’ll be visiting them often. Then there’s all of the doo-hickery involved in keeping them neat and tidy. To be blunt (ha!), there’s a lot.

So if you’re contemplating a jump to blunt, consider these three lessons I learned from getting bangs.

1. Expect to Itch

Good grief! The first week was the worst. I spent every waking moment resisting the urge to scratch my forehead and brows. It was hella annoying (coincidentally, this was when I started referring to my bangs as Lloyd Christmas), like that day I went to work in the city wearing ill-fitting underwear. I couldn’t really do anything about it at the time (going commando was not an option), so I just had to grin and bear it.

Thankfully, the itching subsided, and now Lloyd only gets on my nerves for a day or two after a trim.

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