I'm very well aware that it's a very different color than I asked for.

As a friend put it, "You look sort of like Rogue from x-men"
Basically it blends pretty well except at the roots, where it's dark brown / near white / dark brown / near white / etc. I've got color treatment shampoo to darken it up some towards golden and protect it. Part of me enjoys when a change comes about that I didn't ask for, because new things can be interesting. They said they can darken it up some if I decide I'm unhappy, but I don't want to damage my hair any more than was already done by lightening it so much.