Being girly

I have never deemed myself a girly-girl.  I have always been more comfortable in jeans than in a dress.  When I do dress up, people comment.  Not in a bad way, but in a way that says "you look great, not that you usually look bad, but you normally don't look like that."

As I have mentioned a few times lately, I haven't been taking very good care of myself.  In the last year I just haven't made "me" a priority.  As Mother Nature has teased us with Spring I have felt the winter blahs subside (and then come back again- damn freezing rain) but the glimpse of sun and warmth has been enough to get my brain working.  "Hey!  You!  Take care of yourself.  Get off your ass!  Treat yourself!"  So, that is what I did.

I have a dear friend and her name is Alicia.  Our friendship comes easy.  We enjoy each other's company.  We love each other's kids.  Our husband's like to golf, grill and enjoy a beer.

We may not see each other weekly or even monthly, but it doesn't matter.  She gets me and I get her.  And she forces me to be "girly".

Alicia is a "cosmetician".  A "haircutteress" as Cory once called her.  Actually now her business card says "Master Designer/Educator".  She is the real deal.  Without Alicia my hair would be mousy brown.  Without Alicia my hair would have been flat on my wedding day.  Without Alicia I would never have discovered the joy of a pedicure.  And without Alicia I would not be typing this post with bronzed hands, and a healthy body glow to match.  Yes, my friends- I have been spray tanned.

I texted Alicia because my winter low lights had run their course and I needed to lighten up for Spring.  Plus, due to a new vitamin regimen my hair was A LOT longer after the usual amount of time and the pony tail was getting old.

But a haircut and high/low lights was not all that was in store for me this glorious Wednesday.  Alicia is an educator and her educatee needed pedicure practice, and Alicia needed models (and I use that term loosely) to practice her spray tan application- would I be interested? Umm, yes.  Yes, I would.

So I drive to Jackson trying to find comfort in wearing my bathing suit in March in front of only Alicia.  I arrive late, as usual, and the magic begins.  I tell her my hair is too long and she does the rest.  And that's OK, because I ALWAYS love my hair after she does anything to it.  I may question what the hell it is she's doing to me, but it always looks fantastic.  Me and my tired dawgs thoroughly enjoyed the pedicure.  I couldn't have much leg massaging because the lotions would have messed with the next step in my mini-vacation but it was lovely to sit there, soak my feet, drink my latte, and return emails on my phone.  Do I know how to relax or what?

After my pedi, my hair was rinsed, toned, cut and dried and then I entered a small room and put on my bathing suit. Ugh.

But let's not dwell on what can not be changed over night.  Let's think about how a simple spray gun gave me in a half hour what I normally would need a week in Hawaii to receive.  Golden bliss.  And then some.

You see, spray tan is pigment that reacts naturally with your skin.  But the pigment has to stay on for 8 - 10 hours to realize the full effect.  It also gets darker the longer it's on.  So, while driving home I looked pretty good (minus the messed up new hair and no makeup, etc.)...

...by late evening I looked like an Oompa Loompa and was really glad I had no where to go.  As I watched television I could feel my girls "look" at me, and then I would look at them and they would laugh.  "You just look so different."  Ya think?

Truthfully I scared myself come bedtime.  I wasn't orange but I was dark.  To say the least.  So I showered and watched the pigment go down the drain fully expecting to look like my normal booty-ass white self when I emerged from the steam.  But I didn't.  I looked healthy.

So this morning I showered again.  Moisturized generously, per my Master Designer's instructions, and Ta-Da!!  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

It was hard to get a good shot of my leg.  But I think you can get the idea.  Of course due to the camera angle it looks like I have a wee little foot, and a calf the size of a tree trunk.

I'm not dolled up by any means.  And you may have no idea how pasty I was before, but at least I look alive, and my hair looks good.

I never really thought I would ever go for the "spray tan".  But once again, Alicia introduced me to something I would have otherwise been too chicken to try.  Will I do it again?  It depends.  Ask me next winter when the "blahs" are in full force.

All in all, I feel better.  I feel kinda pretty.  I feel inspired to wait until it's warm outside and then really get out there and exercise.  (It's sunny today but cold as crap out there.) It was fun to be pampered for a day.  Maybe next week I'll book a facial and a massage.  And maybe next week a magic gnome will bring me loads of money to pay for said facial and said massage.  You know a little magic in the name of girly-ness?  Come on, it could happen.

Where would I be without my girlfriends?

As you get older you really find out who your true friends are, and, you find out who you truly want to be your friends.

I have many great friends from all parts of my life.  I am so blessed to have each and every one of them and we stay in touch the best we can.  Even if it's been awhile since we last spoke, we are able to pick right up where we left off.  No awkwardness, no lulls in conversation.  It's the best.

The friends that I have made more recently in my life are primarily parents of the girls' friends.  Which is great because with kids, work, houses, etc. how else are we supposed to meet anyone?  Especially genuine people who don't care that we look the way we do ;)

Through the beauty of the bus stop I have made some fantastic neighborhood friends.  I say neighborhood friends because they live in the neighborhood, but we are truly friends.  We laugh together, we vent together, we watch each others kids, and we enjoy adult beverages together.  Sometimes we do all of that at the same time!

Every other week or so the neighborhood ladies, and a few others, get together for coffee.  The last meet up I had to miss because my daughter had strep throat and no one wanted our Swann House Cooties.  So after a long weekend I invited some over this morning for cocoa, coffee and conversation.  We had a great time and I didn't realize until they left how much I needed that conversation. 

These ladies don't judge me.  They don't care that I show up at the bus stop in my pink-heart jammie pants.  They don't care that sometimes I don't make my way to the bus stop at all, but they do check in to make sure I'm OK if I'm not there ;)  They are just true, genuine friends that I am so blessed to have found at this point in my life.

This morning they tried Cold Stone Creamery Hot Cocoa with me.  We loved it.  It's very rich and creamy, with great flavor and yes, it's great in coffee.  I mean REALLY great.  It's also great with marshmallows- especially the snowmen ones :)  I think you should try it, and if you look below you can see a whrrl of me and two of my favorite people trying it.  I love cocoa.  I love my girlfriends.  I would be lost without both :)

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Disclosure:  I was compensated by Collective Bias for my Cold Stone Cocoa Girlfriend Gathering.  All opinions are mine and mine alone.

Welcome Home Mo!

I am so excited.  My dear friend Maureen is moving home from Amsterdam this week.  I have not seen her in person in almost six years!

Mo and I worked together at the first advertising agency I was employed by after college.  In fact she was hired to be a talent peep with me when I was on maternity leave for my first born.  So I come back to work with a new person in the cube next door and I liked her, I really, really, liked her!

I liked her so much that when I accepted a new job about a month later, I brought her with me as soon as there was an opening.  So, I think you get the picture.

Right before I had my youngest drama queen, Mo left me.  Yep, she up and moved to Minneapolis, which is where I last saw her.  And being the jet setter that she is, three years later she moved to Amsterdam!!!!  Her illustrious career has left me in the dust, but that's ok.  She younger, probably wiser, and has now seen the  WORLD.

This week Maureen is returning Stateside to start a new job in Portland.  Talk about one side of the world to the other!  She is stopping off in Detroit so that we can hang out and I can pretend I am young and can hang on a Thursday night :)

I chatted with her earlier this week after the movers had come and cleaned out her apartment.  This is no ordinary endeavor.  This isn't hiring New York movers to move you four blocks north and three blocks east.  This is, "OK pack up my worldly possessions in your truck, load them on a boat (or do they use planes now?) and maybe, hopefully, I'll see them again in a month. Or so."

With a corporate move you generally have the backing of your company so you are fairly safe with who you choose, and not too worried about what is cost.  But if you're moving to escape the economy chances are you are footing the bill.  At least during this recession you have the internet to see what other peeps have to say about Two Guys and their Truck.

When we moved 55 miles in late 2001 we employed all of our friends and family to help us.  We had just survived Christmas and closed on a new house, there was no money for movers.  Now, all these years later, like everything else on the internet you can go to CityMove and see which movers suck and which ones will wrap your Faberge Egg with the most care.  You can also post your own move and let movers bid on the job!  I will readily admit that I check the internet before I do just about anything anymore.  You just. Never. Know.

Anyway, let's all wish Mo a safe trip back to America, and let's all say a silent prayer that her Fabrege Egg arrives in one piece.  Then let's all agree to make a road trip to Portland to see her bad-ass-self.  Personally I will also selfishly wish that her next move is back to Detroit, or at least Chicago, so that I can see her more often.  I know a cool place she can find some movers.

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine.