I've decided I'm growing my hair out

I love that long beachy mermaid hair, it's so fun and playful. I like my short hair, but I think I've had it long enough. Growing it out is going to be a long series of awkward phases, but I bought hello kitty hair clips today so hopefully that will help me get through it! The thing is, I like my hair short, and I like it long, but not so much in the middle. Also hopefully I will not get angsty and chop all my hair off ruining all that growing work! Here are some pictures of what I'm going for that inspired me. I'm also thinking of bleaching it, and maybe adding colored, washed out streaks (like a mermaid!).