A short hair cut would look nice on you, then. As for the bangs, if you don't want them, you could go for a more sideswept bang look, instead of having them straight down, you could ask the stylist to cut them so they sweep to one side. That way it won't look too nerdy, and your mother might be happy with it.
But it is your hair, and you should do what you want to do with it. As for a color.. well it depends. Do you look better with darker colors, or lighter colors? If you base yourself off those sorts of things, you might come up with an answer!