“Did you recently go through a bad breakup?” Mimi, my hairdresser asked me while I unbraided my waist-length hair. “Nope,"I said, "but I’m sure. I want to do this.” My heart was beating like a jackhammer in my ribcage and the butterflies in my stomach felt more like pterodactyls. Mimi reluctantly chopped off my twelve-inch ponytail in a single swoop and then proudly held it aloft like a hunter showing off her forest catch. Now, I am not...

It's close enough to Boston,...