Well the beauty of long long hair is that except the basic tasks that keep it from turning into dreadlocks (regular combing and brushing, conditioning) you don't have to do alot of crazy stuff to make it look good.
Go to a salon and ask them to trim off the dead ends, then give you long layers. If you have the $, you can opt for some highlights and lowlights for dimension but for waist-length hair, that process will be 4 hours and about $150. So it's up to you. After they cut/highlight it, go home and have a friend use a curling iron to make some simple little curly waves like the ones I have in my profile pic. For that you will need something to add texture (like texturizing mousse, can be found at Walmart or Target or you can ask the salon for the Redken version because it's a little better quality) and then some hairspray. (aussie works just fine)
If you want to opt for sleek striaght hair, you can blowdry, flat iron and then massage some garnier fructis hair shine oil into the ends.