1) TFWSRUSANTEHHAC (the friend who shall remain unnamed so as not to embarrass her husband and children) and I were caught stalking the young stars of New Moon in a Dateline NBC - style sting and we were subsequently hauled off to the slammer. We were rotting away behind bars until yesterday when a member of one of our families finally noticed we were missing and bailed us out. (Thank heavens for dirty socks and empty milk cartons. Without them, we'd likely still be locked up!)
2) TFWSRUSANTEHHAC and I have been so busy shooing away admirers after we got our hair cut and colored at Hot Heads last weekend that we’ve barely had time to come up for air.
3) I prepped my pillow with the scent of lavender as per the day 14 instruction in the O Magazine Pretty, Quick Challenge. This resulted in a swarm of bees coming through an open place in my screen and stinging me repeatedly. (On a positive note, I now have Angela Jolie-esque lips.)
4) I subbed in an AP Environmental Science class at the high school this past week and was so inspired by the lesson plan that I caught a flight to Copenhagen to take in the last of the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
5) My father’s 80th birthday party is this weekend so I’ve had to channel my creative juices in a different direction these last couple of days.
Anyway, I do have some cool things to share and I will do so shortly. In the meantime, hope you have:
*Rediscovered rollers (Pretty, Quick Challenge - Dec 12th )
*Perfected your complexion (Pretty, Quick Challenge - Dec 13th)
*Prepped your pillow with a lavender fragrance or baby powder (Pretty, Quick Challenge - Dec 14th)
*Tried a dry shampoo (Pretty, Quick Challenge - Dec 15th)
*Properly applied your eyeliner (Pretty, Quick Challenge - Dec 16th)
*Touched up your roots (Pretty, Quick Challenge – December 17 th), and
*Shimmered** (Pretty, Quick Challenge - today).
**To shimmer, the magazine is advising us to mix one part bronzer and two parts body lotion. We are to apply this mixture to the tops of our shoulders, our collarbones, the length of our arms and the top of our shins.
Here’s a brief recap of my recent beautification efforts or of the efforts that have been made on my behalf:
I had my roots touched up on the 12th (instead of today) by the fabulous Diane. In addition, my hair is now slightly darker and it has really cool chunky blonde highlights. I am so happy with it and I can’t wait to show it off at my Dad’s birthday party! TFWSRUSANTEHHAC had her roots touched up too. Alisha did her color. It looks amazing! (Jessica was the stylist for both of us and she also did a great job.) **This was TFWSRUSANTEHHAC’s first time at Hot Heads. Though she’s been a Park Ave gal for most of her life and though Sanford is a bit of drive for her, she’s got a follow up appointment at Hot Heads already scheduled for January.
***A gallon of gas - $2.61
***a cut and color at Hot Heads - varies by length and technique, but certainly always a great value
***a flattering and very current new hairstyle in an exuisite shade perfectly suited to a person's skin tone and personality - PRICELESS! :)
Since I didn’t have any lavender fragrance to “prep my pillow” with this past Monday, I spritzed it with the Bath & Body Works Butterfly Flower Eau de Toilette I received as a Regis & Kelly Mother’s Day Show audience member this past May. A delicate balance of “French Mimosa petals, Asian Syringa flowers and Tenofolia Orchids” - along with a splash of tangerine for good measure - this is the most over the top floral scent in my dresser top collection.
Though this assignment was supposed to help me sleep better, and as a result, improve the quality of my skin, it didn’t have the desired effect. I’m afraid my dog, Brandy, and I both sneezed multiple times during the night. (She did end up smelling a little better than she normally does though and I think I saw a manly man black Lab give her a second glance when we were on our walk early the next morning.)
I went to the high school in full make up this past Wednesday, including carefully applied foundation and eyeliner. Since substitute teaching at a high school requires me to be somewhere other than my bed at 6:45 am and since I am not a morning person, I almost never take the time to do this. I generally apply a quick dusting of powdered foundation before I bolt out the door and some tinted lip moisturizer on the drive over to the school. This affords me just enough coverage to keep me from frightening my charges. (Though it's not likely that I actually would frighten them, even if I skipped my abbreviated morning routine, since they rarely look up from their not so carefully concealed cell phones, their good morning hugs and massages, their hair braiding and lip gloss application activities and their paper wad basketball games, I still put forth the effort. I don't want to be perceived as being inconsiderate or of causing anyone emotional harm.)
In addition to satisfying my December 16th requirement of properly applying my eyeliner - I started at the inside corner of each eye and followed the upper lash line to the outside edge taking care to slightly bring the line up at the end, thereby giving my eyes a lift – I also made sure to follow the December 13th notes when applying my foundation. (I started at the center of my face and blended the foundation outwards in an attempt to make my complexion look more natural and to eliminate the possibility of my having a clearly delineated makeup line on my chin and/or near my hairline.)
To draw attention to my less ghastly than normal morning face, I put on a much trendier outfit than I would ordinarily wear to substitute and I switched out the rimless reading glasses that I thought were Sarah Palin chic for a pair that TFWSRUSANTEHHAC says are much less “old lady-ish”. I’m pleased to announce that the extra attention I paid to my appearance that day paid off. A certain fashion forward sophomore girl, whose only interaction with me up to this point has been to roll her eyes when I told her she couldn’t leave in the middle of class to take her boyfriend’s notebook to him in another building, did a visible double take and told me that she liked my outfit.
Tomorrow, I will be making up for lost time and checking off four of the five remaining activities. This should just about make me current in my quest to look fabulous by the start of 2010. I will be:
1) Reviving my eyes (after a late night of finishing up place cards and party favors). The suggestion (Saturday, the 19th’s task) is to use tea bags or a bag of frozen peas, but it is more likely that I’ll be using a cold, wet washcloth
2) Rediscovering rollers
3) Applying a bronzer tinted moisturizer, and
4) (Sunday, the 20th’s task) Hunting down a mousse.
****Though I’m committed to the spirit of the calendar, I have switched the order of some of the activities up a little and I have decided to opt out of the dry shampoo assignment because I already kind of, sort of tried that when I was in college (I used powder at the time) and because I don’t have any “gentle eco-friendly” dry shampoo on hand.
This will be my Dad’s first big milestone birthday party without his Mother in attendance. (She passed away the year she was to turn 97.) Since she always made it a point to have her hair done, to apply lipstick whenever she left the house, to wear carefully coordinated outfits and jewelry (particularly for special occasions) and to wear her trademark, one inch heeled, non orthopedic, impractical, dressy leather shoes, I am going pull out all the stops and represent her well at the party.
I’ll check back with you shortly. Until then, try to forget how awful it is outside by making yourself all glowy and sparkly, revive your eyes and pouf up your hair. While you’re at it, you might want to consider a trip to Hot Heads for a cut, color and make up consultation and application, so you, too, can be so busy shooing away admirers that you won’t have time to come up for air.
No comments:
Post a Comment