Holiday photos: Salon sparkle

Somehow Christmas always slips up on me–despite the holiday aisles that bloom in early November, the Black Friday hoopla, and the Yuletide music on 101.9 that now precedes Thanksgiving.

Then I step into Lynda’s Salon in Metairie and suddenly I get the spirit.

The salon claims a mid-century modern vibe with authenticity, from the S-shaped shampooing loungers to the over-the-head dryer chairs. And the holiday decor, too, harks back to days when mantels were heaped with glittery largesse and boughs were frosted and weighed with tinsel and everyone got in on the decorating act.

I can remember one year when my mom made us all string yards of real popcorn on red thread and made a gooey fake snow that she spooned onto branches one by one for a more realistic effect. Lynda’s decor reminds me of that careful attention to holiday decor, in an era when you didn’t just buy instant mockups or blowups off the shelf, but put thought and care and hours of careful set-up to get the desired effect.

It makes Christmas suddenly seem real.