Fresh Relaxer, Shorter Hair, New Stylist?

Okay I barely made it to 12 weeks because my hair and I were fighting something awful the last few weeks.  My hair was feeling really brittle no matter what I did to it a few days post wash.  I think I mentioned a few weeks, possibly months at this stage, my ends were looking a little funky and that was confirmed today after my hair was good and straight.  The hair at the back of my head hasn't really suffered much but my sides were supporting my lazy and were wilting as a result.  So I lost a good three inches on each side but my hair looks full and feels better right now.  I really like the woman who did my hair she's funny, prompt and was pretty affordable.  However, she was a bit pushy and her shop is in definite need of an upgrade.  The chair was busted a bit, worked but it has seen better days.  There was exactly one sink, two dryers, and limited chairs.  Mom went with me and had a blast chatting with the random women in the shop but after seven years of being kinda spoiled in a different kind of environment this was definitely a new experience.  Plus as I said she was kind of pushy.  My old stylist knew I wanted to take care of as much on my own as possible and this woman wants to see me again pronto.  She says it's to remove some of the yellow tint to my gray but eh not sure.  So that leads me to my first poll for the fall about how to decide on finding a new stylist.  The woman I saw today came highly recommended so I don't discount that and really I am a bit of a passive client which may not be the best for anyone lol.  So I'm open for suggestions and anything else you want to share in the poll or on this post.

I did take a photo so you can see what my hair is looking like now.  It's a shorter version of my last cut in June.  I tried to take it with my new Samsung Galaxy 4 but my fingers and the touch screen not loving each other yet for that anyway.  Surprisingly adapting to that lack of keyboard option pretty well.  The hair in the back is still on my neck and driving me slightly crazy.  The hair on the sides when stretched hits my collarbone.  All that slightly lighter hair on the top is JUST GRAY.  I mean it will happen in its own time man that's a lot of gray isn't it?  I'll make a separate post for all of my other randomness.  This is really just for the hair kids lol.