A Hairy Situation

This was my hair two weeks ago:

This was the picture I brought in to the salon:

This is what I said to the lady:
"And could you also thin my hair? Thanks." (My hair is SUPER thick and I get it thinned every time I cut it.)

This is what she did:
Cut the top layer shorter than the rest in order to "thin it out". (Usually they use thinning shears underneath the hair.)

This is what I walked out of the salon looking like (the smile is fake - I was livid):
Oh, and she didn't get a tip - I've never stiffed a hair stylist before.

Does THIS look like....................................................................................THIS???
Uh, not even close!!

Since the lady did an awful job on my hair, and didn't even really thin it out, I had to go out and buy a pair of thinning shears (I wasn't about to go back and ask her to to thin it out - she'd probably just take more off the top!). Now on top of the haircut, I spent $15 on thinning shears. I shouldn't have paid for the haircut in the first place, I know.

The good thing is that now I can thin my hair in between cuts. And I know which salon NOT to go to!
This is all of the hair that I thinned myself:

This is the color of my hair after I dyed it "Dark Ash Blonde" (and left it in for 10 minutes longer than I was supposed to):

Yeah, not really blonde, at all. More of a honey color.

I feel like I look like a 30-something soccer mom. No offense to yous guys, but I'm 24! And I don't even have kids!
It is easier to manage, but I'm still not in love with how it looks. Give it two months and maybe I'll like it. After it's grown out. :/