dark brown hair to blonde

I tried dying my dark brown hair bleach blonde,without the help of a hairdresser and it came out a yellow/mustard colour, I went to the hairdressers and thankfully they just put a semi permanent chocolate brown colour on it, it looks much better now, Im going back in a few weeks to get a strand test to see what colour my hair would go if I got highlights (Im gradually going to build my hair up so its blonde), but I have to wait until at least next month, I desperatley wanted blonde hair and was too impatient to wait and I paid the price. Just a word of warning, please anybody who has dark hair that wants it blonde, go to a professional no matter what anybody says to you. 

Yeah it seems silly that they would dye it dark only to bleach it again. It may be because they want it to rest for a while. How's the condition of your hair?