To Our Recent Brides:

We hope we were able to help make it an amazing day for you. We'd love to know how you feel about your experience with Adorn Salon and Boutique -- and we want other brides to know too! Please write us a review on WeddingChannel.com and share your thoughts!

Beautiful Dreaded Mermaid Ombre

Check out the beautiful mermaid dreads of one of our clients. Thanks, Lacey!

Costume Drama: Rebecca and Stacey win their category!

Adorn salon's very own, Rebecca and Stacey, worked arduously day and night to construct this beautiful, pink headpiece for 2014's Costume Drama Fashion Show. Their category was transformations. In the first picture with the model, she is in the kimono that she took off during the show to reveal what is pictured in the last picture here! Rebecca and Stacey also did the makeup on the model for this show. 

Help Support Heather Smith

Help Support Heather and read about her healing journey here.

"Heather Smith's family and friends are uniting to raise money to help with her unexpected and serious medical condition. Support her now!

On June 3rd Heather was admitted to Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC with severe Diverticulitis which had formed a large intestinal abscess that had also surrounded her bladder, uterus, left ovary, with severe inflammation and infection. Once this happened a life-threatening condition known as sepsis was diagnosed. At this point a tube was inserted for drainage of infection and fluids that had formed around other organs. A week later, a large hematoma was found by ultrasound around her ovary and a stomach tube was inserted for drainage of this. She has been on IV antibiotics since admission and drainage tubes for the abcess. They have not found out how to treat her yet with continued white blood cell counts being high, fever and as of now Pneumonia also.
I want to thank all that are praying for her, sent flowers and visited.
My name is Cindy Martin, Sam's Mom and as Heather calls me MeeMaw (lol), and I have set up this donation site to try and help since I am 7 hrs away! It is to help her since she can not work, some major medical expenses (which are out of pocket due to the Insurance changes in Jan.), cost of living for home expenses that go on even if you are sick and we still don't know how they are going to treat her or even if they may move her to Duke. It is all still up in the air and we are going day to day.
Heather is a very sick young lady needing all of our prayers and help! Let's help take some stress from Heather and her family by donating out of love for her~
Much love for Heather,
Cindy M~ (Sam's Mom and Heather's MeeMaw as she calls me, lol)"

We love you so much, Heather. Get well soon! - Your Adorn Family 

Stacey Wins Saturday's Most Stylish Stylist Award

This girl has got it going on! Way to go, Stacey!

Kendra Turner: A piece of the city's heart

“The Mediator Between Head and Hands Must Be the Heart” (Metropolis, Lang, 1927)

    There has always been a great disparity between those who make decisions and those that are directly affected by the decisions made. A lot of this has to do with access to information and with communication. In Fritz Lang’s movie Metropolis made in 1927, he addresses “the head” as a group of people that exist literally above the laymen and make unrealistic decisions about “the hands’” livelihood. The final message of the film is that there must be an individual or a group of people that can act as a communication line between citizens and those in power. There are obvious contemporary parallels to that societal dynamic Lang was referring to in 1927. Things have only become more convoluted and bureaucratic over time. It is rare to find people passionate enough to, not only take the time, but enjoy communicating and empowering people to change their realities and impact the world we share. Kendra Turner is a true “heart” who has dedicated her life to demystifying the processes that exists to help people, but whose complexity deter people from changing their situation for the better.

     Turner has worked in local government, corporate business, non-profit, and has consulted with local neighborhoods and businesses on various community building processes. Turner explains, “I’ve had about 20 years of experience in customer service, communication, PR and marketing. Really, just relationship building. I’ve figured out how to make that kind of coalesce into being a consultant and doing things I really, really love, that I do well, and that also tend to scare a lot of people,” she adds, “It feels really good because I get to help people  deal with things that are stressful for them in a way that, not only addresses their solutions, but helps them build skills so they can do it on their own.” Turner is very adamant about not doing things for people, but with them in a way that will allow them to do the same thing on their own in the future.

    It wasn’t always obvious that Turner would end up working for the city. “I took seven years off between my sophomore and junior year of college and had a restaurant and wine consulting career. I sang in a jazz band and did all those things that you do when you are not in college and in your early 20s.” She eventually did return to school to complete her Undergrad, and then went on to get her Masters from WNC in Public Affairs. This is when she landed an internship working for the city. She recalls, “In that particular semester [that I had the internship], I had three jobs and a full course load, which was insane, I do not recommend that. I had a three year old and was planning my wedding too. It was insane.” Turner, however, was made to handle that type of lifestyle; she has always been heading in this direction even if it was not a direct path.

    Turner talks about her influences saying, “My father was an amazing non-profit leader for many years here and he ran MAHEC for about 16 years.” Turner goes on to explain that her father was the most influential person in her life and taught her the importance of recognizing the power in working for causes greater than yourself. Being a mother has also motivated Turner in a lot of ways. “The measure for me, really, is; what would my daughter think, how would she perceive this, what am I teaching her? As a woman, I’ve worked in a lot of places where women are necessarily the majority [construction and politics]. Oftentimes, I’m not only the only woman, but also the youngest person in the room and I like that I’m that person. I like that I’m there and can take those lessons I’ve learned (sometimes, the hard way) and talk to my daughter about why it is that way and how, sometimes, it’s harder for women.” Turner is also a member of a women’s executive group called Mastermind where she gets together with other motivated women like herself and talks about things they have done or created, as well as, future possibilities.

   One of the stories Turner told her group on a retreat they had with women from all over the country goes back to the days of her first internship, she says:

                I had this internship with the city and they noticed I had a way with some of the more passionate citizens who were really engaged and active in their neighborhoods. That was around the time that the Coalition of Asheville Neighborhoods, the development community, city council and city staffing, to some degree, just had a lot of different opinions about how we should be growing. You know, everybody had the same goal, which was that they wanted to contribute something and they wanted to make this city a better place, but not much happened because everyone had a different idea of what a better place looked like and so there wasn’t much discourse or progress. Mostly, it was the same conversation over and over. Finally, and I’m not sure if they thought I could really do anything or if I was meant to be a speed bump for the angry mobs, but they made me the first neighborhood coordinator to act as a community service representative when it came to communities - all different types of communities: residential, merchant, business, and development. I was to be this conduit for two-way communication between the citizenry and neighborhoods and city staff and city council. They all felt different ways and, sometimes, I would come up with solutions, but I think the biggest value was having someone to communicate the message in a balanced, objective way and also to communicate with folks about the different processes they could access. This lead me to creating “Who To Call in City Hall,” which was was basically a brochure with all the different departments, and who to call for what, and how the development process works, and what the first steps are, and then where things will lead, how you can get involved, and what the various possibilities are.

Turner was able to clearly see that Asheville citizens were driven to make changes, but getting lost in the process of how to make those changes. Her current work now deals with the same kind of processes from a development aspect. She has partnered with designers, marketing professionals, and others from various backgrounds to create a business that allows individuals to access everything they need under one roof.

In February, Turner started a company with a business partner called Real Property Consultants, LLC. She is also on the board of directors at Asheville City Greenworks, she was the campaign manager for Terry Bellamy in 2011, and is a community volunteer. Her main focus will always be and has always been on enriching the community. “People will sink a lot of money into something that ends up not working and they end up devaluing the property and then they will have a building no one can use. It will stay vacant and it won’t contribute to the tax base or create jobs or contribute to creating an active community,” Turner explains. Thus, she has made it her business to ensure that the development processes she is involved in, activate and engage the local community for the better.

Alopecia Areata and My Mom

   Alopecia areata is a skin disorder in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the hair follicles, preventing new hair growth and resulting in bald patches on the scalp. In most cases, people recover in a year, but sometimes the bald patches remained for longer periods of time.

          A common natural remedy for alopecia areata is to make a mixture of thyme, rosemary, lavender and cedarwood essential oils in a carrier oil, like jojoba, and massage the scalp with this mixture daily to stimulate hair growth.

          This issue is particularly close to my heart because immediately following my mother’s remission from breast cancer, she was diagnosed with alopecia areata. Imagine losing all your hair due to radiation, then have it finally grow back again, and then have it fall out all over again in patches. Amazingly, she didn’t let it devastate her and took it in stride. I remember, she incorporated the essential oil regimen into her routine and eventually the bald spots went away, but we never discussed the emotional aspect of it all.

        My mother is a strong, lighthearted woman. She is often mischievous and likes to not take life too seriously. Although she can worry about her children something fierce, she never dwells too long on the negative. A true Michael Franti fan, she loves to enjoy life and terrorize her children with practical jokes. The only makeup I’ve ever seen my mother wear is lipstick for pictures, special events, and visiting family. She despises perfume and any synthetic ingredients, only using sandalwood and egyptian musk essential oils. Her favorite item of clothing is a dress that reminds me of an oversized cotton bag. She finds it incredibly comfortable and has replicated the exact pattern a few times in different colors, so I could finally stop hassling her about wearing the exact same dress too often.  So you see, she is not wrapped up in vanity, but for anyone anywhere, having your appearance drastically change is transformative in so many ways. In her own words:

Well, at the time, I didn’t know you could get steroid shots from a dermatologist. I used an herbal oil mixture of lavender, cedar, and rosemary in a jojoba base. I shaved my head and massaged the oil mixture into my scalp three times a day. The experience taught me to love scarves. Haha. Seriously though, to be grateful for my life. It could be a lot worse. It taught me to look within and tap into the LOVE that is always there, the compassion, the joy, and to focus on that. To share that as there is always someone who needs that.

My mother has a big, open heart. The best thing for her to do during that time was to take care of her body by nourishing it with healthy food and to do relaxing things like deep breathing and yoga.

       Here’s my favorite recent picture of my mom at a Michael Franti concert: