As we’ve discovered, our little hero Moonie is a fan of the Suite Tart salon in Providence. When Moonie and I arrived there today, proprietor LuLu Locks and visiting educator Jose Ocana were gearing up to lead a coloring class for fellow stylists, lending welcoming smiles to their color models.

(That was us! Whee!)

We hadn’t been to Suite Tart since they acquired the property adjoining their tucked-away suite, so right away Moonie ran off to explore the new digs. I found him in the front window, entertaining the lovely hair mannequin (he introduced her as “Lola”) with one of his favorite hair jokes.

“How does a stylist make a phone call?” he asked his new friend Lola.
Lola was quiet, so Moonie supplied the punchline.
“She cuts it short!”
Lola remained quiet.

“Come on, buddy,” I said to Moonie. “There’s a lot more to see!”

And there was.

First, there was the new front area. It isn’t yet ready for the public, but that didn’t stop Moonie from running around, oohing and aahing over the funky new space.

Then there was this adorable little Moonie-sized phone holding Suite Tart business cards. Moonie was delighted.

“What do you get when you cross a telephone with a pair of pants?” he asked.
“What?” I asked.
“Bell bottoms!”
He giggled.

“How can you tell when a bee is on the phone?”
“How, buddy?”
“You get a buzzy signal!”
Moonie howled at his own joke.

Then he was off, checking out some of the Alfaparf products that Suite Tart carries every day.

He couldn’t WAIT to see them in my hair. LuLu was demonstrating a balayage (a coloring style) ombré (the transition from a darker to a lighter shade). In Moonie’s book, I was going to get “mermaid hair,” a funky coloring trend uses dark and light shades of several colors, and that of course was the perfect occasion for Moonie to trot out his favorite mermaid joke.

“What did the ocean say to the mermaid?”
“What, Moonie?”
“Nothing! It just waved! WAVED, get it?” And he was off again, laughing so hard that he rolled around and kicked up his teeny toes.

Meanwhile, LuLu mixed up customized colors, inspired by a combination of flames and Moonie’s bright pink hair.

Moonie, himself accustomed to itty-bitty foil wraps and colorings to keep his perfectly-pink locks looking their best, was more than happy to watch someone else undergo the process. He even tried to lend a teeny hand.

The Alfaparf coloring products smelled delicious, letting off a strong sugar-and-spice cherry scent, so the hardest part of the process was keeping Moonie from licking my strands of hair before the colors could set.

Then LuLu washed and dried my “mermaid” locks, and we all checked out the results – which were fantastic. LuLu, as always, did an AMAZING job; her stylists learned a bit about coloring my type of long, easily-tangled hair; Jose was a wonderful resource; and Moonie had a ball with his new and old friends.

Here’s how my hair turned out:

Moonie very much approves of the pink.