I'm Here for the Party!

I think the last time I spent so much time working on my appearance was my wedding day.  Hair, nails, tan, accessories and such were of utmost importance. 

Fast forward nearly eleven years now, and while I do care about my appearance, everyday life with work and the kids preclude me from caring about all the fine details.  Most wives and mothers understand that everyone else gets taken care of first.  And if there's time (and money) left, then we get taken care of. 

For example, while bathing the twins is when I give myself a "pedicure," which consists mostly of a quick soak (while sudsing down two squirmy kids), a quick buff, and, if I'm feeling really fancy, a quick polish.  Manicure?  What's that?  And my hair gets done every two months, if I'm lucky.  There's no time for a tan, not even in the summer.  I mean, how and when would I really "lay out"? 

So this need or desire, call it what you will, to get all polished up for Vegas was both a luxury and a stressor.  I've had an obsession with the hair color of Cheryl Cole (seen below) for at least a year now, so the hair part wasn't that difficult, except for not knowing how I wanted to fix it.  My hairdresser kindly presented a tutorial on my hair on how to curl it with a curling iron--the right way.  That was very enlightening (as, honestly, I didn't realize how many things I had been doing "wrong").

 o

As for my fingernails, while I prefer the gel nail method, I decided that since my nails were ravaged by everyday wear and tear and the winter cold, I'd have to go with a full set of acrylics, something I haven't done since college. 
 

Before

After

I've never been a fan of my feet, and the older I get, the uglier they are.  Just so you understand the sad state of my feet (my picture is purposefully deceptive), the other day, Jacob saw the callus on the side of my big toe (which I've been told is due to the way I walk).  He said, "Mama! What happened to your toe?"  I guess it did look like a case of leprosy next to the soft newness of his not quite three year old skin.  I don't even want to think about what the pedicurist thought of my feet as she filed and buffed those suckers down.

Before (this was also my before tanning lotion too)

After  (I decided some glitter sparkles were appropriate)

But the biggest problem I had was with the tanning.  I haven't been in a tanning bed since before I was married.  And I always felt guilty and anxious about using them anyway.  We've all heard the horror stories about people's insides being cooked and have seen the pictures of women with sagging wrinkled cancer riddled skin.  Besides, I don't tan that quickly.

I'd used the tanning moisturizer in the past, so I thought I'd try that.  But the smell was so bad, and while it did darken my skin, the results were not "dramatic" enough.  I took before and after pictures, and you really couldn't tell a difference in the pictures.  I knew it was time to consult authorities in matters such as these:  my students.

Several female students advised that I should get a spray tan.  I got a spray tan once, and it was awesome.  But the downside was that when it started wearing off, it somewhat peeled or flaked off in sections, which was creepy looking.  When I expressed this concern, my students looked at me with a somewhat blank expression, which, I've come to learn, means, "what is she talking about?"  It was then that I realized the spray tan I had was nearly a DECADE ago!  Apparently, great advancements have been made in spray tan technology as they now fade rather than gruesomely shed.  (It's times like these that I sadly realize that while I continue to get older, my students are always the same age.)   

So a spray tan it was:  The process was super fast and easy, and the results, though not as long lasting as I had hoped, were outstanding!  If you've never tried a spray tan before, I highly recommend one if you need a quick "tan" within 48 hours.

So after all the shopping and preparation, 

now I can proclaim, "I'm Here for the Party!"