Happy New Year’s Seattle! Emerson Salon is taking part in some 2012 New Year’s Resolutions of our own and this year, our team’s goal is to become even more integral to our community’s and clients’ lives. Now more than ever, small businesses like us really bolster a local and diverse neighborhood like Capitol Hill much more than a national chain. We reinvest our energy back into you!

One major change at Emerson Salon we’ve made with the new year is that all stylists have switched over to become self-employed, renting their chairs and managing their own books. While you will still get the same great hair services from your team at Emerson Salon, this means that each stylist is working to build their own business and future. One change is that you might see is that the staff at Emerson are taking part in a new revolution in small business called Square. Through a mini-card reader, any smartphone can swipe a credit or debit card and be free of costly credit card machines and merchant-services contracts. Through Square, you can pay, sign, tip and receive email receipts in seconds, its pretty amazing!

Going forward, each stylist will be managing their own schedule and appointments and will be sure to let you know the best way to get your appointments booked, but we will still have our salon email and phone for your convenience. If you are a new client, feel free to write emersonsalon@gmail.com to book or look for contact information on a particular stylist’s profile. We appreciate your patience during the transition and we are confident the adjustment will be minimal and smooth.

An additional note, D’Arcy and Lancer have been accepted to WashingtonCash.org’s 8 week business training course at the end of January. This is a great non profit resource that provides small business entrepreneurs ongoing support with bookkeeping, tax calculations, goal setting, savings, coaching, etc.

Seattle, what are your New Year’s Resolutions? What changes will you make this year…..a hair change maybe! We sure hope so!

Post by D’Arcy

I styled rapper Katie Kate’s hair for her recent show at Capitol Hill’s Comet Tavern. I clipper cut one side of her head every three weeks to give her a dual look with one side short and one side longer, giving her the visual impact she needs to get noticed. I iron curled the longer side of her hair with Alterna Caviar Working spray around two four strand braids. Next, I bobby pinned up the shoulder length hair into a faux bob leaving one large wave/curl in the front. To finish I sprayed with Extra Hold by Alterna Caviar because the style needed to last for eight hours in addition to being able to endure a sweaty musical set in a small bar.

Coming up soon! Katie Kate will be performing LIVE on KEXP on September 24th, so listen for her hit “Tote Bag” from her upcoming album. We can’t wait!

Post by D’Arcy

Photo by Caswell

Photo by Tomika

Check out one of our favorite Capitol Hill artists Lisa Dank.

Lisa Dank “Cookies” (remixed)
Cookies (Sammy LaForge Radio Edit) by sammylaforge

Catch Lisa Dank at this year’s Gay Pride and the Capitol Hill Block Party

We are very happy that our favorite taco truck Marination Mobile has finally opened up a restuarant on Capitol Hill, Marination Station.

My favorite! Aloha Sliders and Golazo Energy.  If you get the chance, check them out at (1412 Harvard Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122)

On Capitol Hill, we have such a rich culture in the arts which includes wonderful fringe theatres that put out works that compare to some of the bigger houses in town at a much lower price.

One of our stylists, D’Arcy, participates in local productions regularly and will be performing in a late night series entitled, “The Secret Lives Of My Coworkers,” hosted by Michele Colyn Oct 29th – Nov 19th at 11pm at Annex Theatre. It will feature local talent Bret Fetzer and will also include short videos by Michael Cyril Creighton, Ann Carr (Upright Citizens Brigade) and Adam Wade.

Tickets: $10 General, $5 Student/TPS/Senior/Military, Pay What You Can Night: Nov 6th at 11pm and Nov 15th at 8pm (Ticket info here).

You’ll be entertained by wacky stories about the people you love to love or love to hate- your coworkers!

As part of this weekends fantabulous Capitol Hill Summer Sale, Emerson has a super fabulous event planned that is going to be loads of fun and is going to let you walk away with some valuable hair tips and techniques. At 2pm on Sunday (the 29th) stop by the salon where Ellen, one of our lovely stylists, will be giving a hands-on demo on how to do a loose and casual, yet completely awesome, summer updo. She’ll show you the easiest way to make this must-have style work for your hair, and demonstrate how you can do it yourself at home to have salon-beautiful hair every day!

This is going to be a great event, so bring your friends and stop by to meet the Emerson team and get some styling tips straight from the experts!

Post by Amelia

Whatever you do, do not miss Capitol Hill’s huge Summer Sale that’s going on through the weekend of Thursday, August 26th to Sunday August 29th.  There are going to be mad deals, sales and events all weekend long up and down Pike, Pine and Broadway in the heart of Capitol Hill! The Hill has everything you need for whatever you feel like doing. A picnic in the park; shopping for the whole family; breakfast, lunch and dinner; dance lessons; yoga classes; night life and oh so much more!

Don’t miss the highlight of this awesome weekend: the kick off Mobile city party on Thursday night. There you can get a map of all the participating business and the list of the awesome events they’re planning. Then spend all weekend walking around and visiting the businesses and grabbing some great deals and fun events!

Emerson has a super fabulous event planned for Sunday, the 29th. At 2pm stop by the salon where Ellen, one of our lovely stylists, will be giving a hands-on demo on how to do a loose and casual, yet completely fabulous, summer updo. She’ll show you the easiest way to make this must-have style work for your hair, and demonstrate how you can do it yourself at home to have salon-beautiful hair every day!

Don’t miss what promises to be a rockin’ weekend, and make sure to come by Emerson on Sunday at 2:00 to get some valuable hair tips, straight from the experts!

Post by Amelia

This year’s bock party was nothing short of CRAZY INTENSE. It’s been reported that almost 30,000 people showed up over the course of the three-day festival to see the 60+ bands. Among the highlights for most, MGMT, the Dead Weather, Blue Scholars, Atmosphere, Holy F**k, Mad Rad, !!! and so much more. Below are some photographic highlights. For these pictures and hundreds more, go check out the Capitol Hill Block Party 2010 photostream on Flickr.

The Crowd packs the mainstage on Saturday

Some people couldn’t help but try out the crowd surfing waters

Jack White’s the Dead Weather perform the last set on the mainstage on Sunday night.

MGMT rocks the crowd as the closer for Friday night’s show

Yeasayer enjoys the sunshine-and their adoring fans- on Friday afternoon.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this block party so successful and amazing. We at Emerson will be looking forward to next year, but I’m sure we’ll see you before then!

Post by Amelia

The Capitol Hill Block Party is always an eagerly awaited event, and this year’s party promises to be bigger and better than ever. There are some huge headliners that tend to inspire statements like “OMG! Are you kidding me!?!” from my friends, like New York band MGMT, hip hop group Atmosphere, and Jack White project The Dead Weather. There are also some lesser-known local bands that will no doubt round out this already impressive line-up.

The Blue Scholars (playing on the mainstage on Sunday evening) are a Seattle hip-hop group made up of DJ Sabzi and MC Geologic. The two met at the University of Washington in 2002, and since have exploded on the hip-hip scene, playing at Sasquatch and Rock the Bells, and opening for Kanye West at Bumbershoot in 2006. Their music is a poignant and engrossing blend of catchy beats and pertinent social and political messages. ““So many people are in their own fishbowl, thinking they know what the world is, but never get the opportunity to see anything beyond their immediate environment,” says Sabzi. “We’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to establish real human connections with people we’ve discovered aren’t really any different from us, because music has broken down the superficial barriers that would otherwise keep us apart.”

Head Like A Kite is playing at Nuemos on Friday, and the show should be a great one. The Seattle band’s music is made up of irresistible dance beats, “bombastic drums and live instruments glitched and deconstructed around swirling pop melodies.” They are renowned for their theatrical shows; replete with fog machines, stuffed animals thrown from the stage, and elaborately designed sets. How can you miss this? It’s impossible for it not to be a party.

The Redwood Plan’s website states, “We are a party, and you’re invited.” Go to their performance on the main stage on Saturday afternoon to see what it’s all about. They have been named “one of Seattle’s newest and greatest dance punk bands” by the Stranger, and have racked up similar praise throughout the Northwest.

There’s still time to book your appointment at Emerson Salon this weekend and get a free ticket to a day of your choosing! There’s going to be tons of food, vendors, and activities; this is definitely something you don’t want to miss! Give us a call to set up an appointment today, and we’ll see you out there!

Post by Amelia