Lessons from Laura
So on the plus side, the (flat! stringy!) pink hair was really not that noticeable*. However, I’m surprised I did not blind anyone with the force of my forehead glare.
Oh, and that is not a shirt poking out of my sweater. That is my bra. I am spectacularly awesome.
By the way, Laura read Paige’s report on false eyelashes and said she got it exactly right: go for the individual lashes instead of the strips. They last longer, look better and really aren’t as hard to apply as you’d think. (Go Paige! Could you not just die happy now?)
She has the most gorgeous orange Kelly bag you have ever seen, although to my credit I refrained from asking to pet it. I did possibly feel up her (self-designed, self-made) dress a little bit, and I also snorted red wine after she told a story about her three-year-old getting loose on the sidewalk one time and dashing out onto Madison Avenue while Laura booked after him and shrieked at a young couple to STOP THAT KID FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, but they only stared blankly at her for awhile before asking if she was that lady from Project Runway.
Laura repeated her assertion that it’s simply self-preservation that keeps her dressed up and pulled together all the time. It’s so easy to lose yourself in motherhood — you spend half your day in sweats or go to the office in a stained shirt because you put everyone else ahead of yourself. By taking a few minutes in the morning to make yourself feel beautiful (or at least fully human), your own self-confidence will improve and you will be treated better by everyone around you. That’s the way our world works, and just because we’re mothers doesn’t mean we should be martyrs who cease to be real women.
And we don’t all have to do exactly what Laura does to achieve Laura levels of confidence — it’s personal. It can be as simple as putting earrings in, or a pair of great jeans. Wear lipgloss to the breakfast table or use your favorite perfume on a Tuesday for the sheer hell of it. Some days I do wear sweats all day, but you know? They are super cute sweats and I feel super cute when I wear them. I take care of my skin and wear mascara every day. Call it vanity, call it pretension. I call it keeping myself out of a bad, dark place.
ALTHOUGH SERIOUSLY. WTF. CAN ANYONE RECOMMEND A GOOD SHINE-KILLING PRESSED POWDER?
*I’ve since added pink streaks back in since we’re not yet at our fund-raising goal. Got a couple dollars? Maybe? I feel entirely too precious at this point.