Mini-Makeover of Me

Jun 1, 2011 by Sara

I’m so excited – I can barely stand it. I just shed what feels like 10 pounds – of HAIR!!!

I’ve needed a haircut – badly. My friend Lisa is a great hairstylist and I trust her. I didn’t really have any plans to do a makeover but when I saw her on Tuesday out of nowhere I asked her: “How long does your hair have to be to donate it?”

Lisa got excited and said, “OMG, you want to? YES! Let’s do that!”

So today I went to her home salon and we did it.

And I LOVE it!

Here’s the before:

I’d like to believe I’m not ACTUALLY this pale, but the camera don’t lie. I will confess that the bags under my eyes are excessively big and dark because I stayed up watching Endeavor land last night, which I will admit was AMAZING!

 

Anyway, here’s the after:

Now I need to work on my tan!

Whaddaya think?

Here’s what will be donated to Locks of Love

 

Thank you Lisa!

 

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My Royal Wedding Viewing

Apr 29, 2011 by Sara

As you’ve probably heard by now, I was a little excited for the Royal Wedding.

It was an event that promised to reflect memories from my childhood and some of my own wedding memories and from the moment Prince William and Catherine Middleton announced their engagement, I knew I would be up watching it LIVE.

For me, that meant staying up all night and watching the coverage from midnight on. In California, the procession started at 1AM PST and the vows occurred around 3AM, with the kiss from the balcony not until 5:25AM PST.

I’ve been talking about this event incessantly and I was very excited when the day finally arrived. My girlfriend Kristina and mother in law were some of the first to commit to watching the wedding with me LIVE. They stayed true to their word and we also recruited some of my other good die-hard friends.

So without further ado, here’s a recap of my Royal Wedding Viewing Party:

The evening started with a night out to dinner, we thought it appropriate to bring Wills & Kate along.

When I walked into the restaurant with my blue fascinator and life-size Kate & Wills cardboard cutouts, my dinner companions just about fell off their barstools. The maitre d’ kept asking me if he could ‘take my package’ and ‘put it somewhere’ to which I politely replied: “no thank you! They are coming with me”

So we set them up facing the restaurant and next to our table.

 

The meal was great, the reflections and discussions about the royal couple, marriage, and life in general was super fun. The boys that joined us (hubby and spouse #1) were good sports throughout the whole thing, good thing or we would have sent them home!

I brought cupcakes for dessert that were emblazzoned with Union Jacks and Cupcake Toppers from the free printables I’d mentioned earlier. And we had a great time with the photo props I had downloaded from paper and cake.com

 

Next we went dancing at a “local” pub which is fodder for a whole other post!

By 11:30 PM PST we headed home where some of took power naps and I started texting my other friends that we were back home. One by one, my adorable friends arrived in time to celebrate with us: 12:45AM, 1:25 AM, 1:45 AM, until we were 7 strong gathered around my living room watching the fairy tale unfold on tv.

I took some pictures earlier in the day of the party setup since I knew I would not have time later. Here’s what the house looked like:

There was also a giant Union Jack hanging in front of my house:

 

When Prince William and Harry started for Westminster Abbey, my excitement level grew and I knew it was time to see if the kids wanted to watch. My 4 year old son Jack originally said “Yes!” and then quickly said “I mean no. I want to sleep” when I went to his room while his big sister, Anna jumped from her bed into my arms and I carried her into the living room.

At 3:00 AM, right as the vows were being said, my darling husband emerged, dressed for the day, and ready to watch for as long as he could stand it. He sat there, next to me, with Anna curled in my lap, holding our daughter’s hand. It is a special moment I will treasure forever.

The room collectively gasped as Catherine Middleton emerged from her car and revealed the most gorgeous wedding dress. A dress, reminiscent of a renaissance princess, with lace overlay and an incredibly small waist.  The look was made incredibly more romantic by the thin veil and sparkling tiara, steeped in tradition, that simultaneously dazzled while not obstructing her gorgeous smile as she walked the length of the abbey.

I loved the moment when the best man, Prince Harry turned to peek as Catherine entered the nave. He smiled and jovially turned back to William, still with his back to the aisle, and undoubtedly relayed how beautiful his brother’s bride-to-be looked.

I loved the moment when during the vows, Prince William shyly grinned after his new bride correctly repeated his long list of proper names. A daunting task his mother had famously flubbed during her wedding to Charles.

I loved Catherine’s entrance, her graceful poise and smile as she glided down the aisle with her father.

I loved the maid of honour, her sister Pippa, navigating the long aisle of Westminster Abbey in that drop-dead gorgeous dress, with two 3 year-olds at her sides. That was a feat!

I pretty much loved it ALL.

This might be my favorite picture from the wedding snaps so far:

This was definitely one of “those” memorable events in my life and I was totally excited to share it with my friends and family. I’m extremely grateful to my husband for putting up with me and to my daughter, mother in law and good friends for sharing this memory with me.

Thank you everyone, I promise to return to normal now.

Well, except for maybe talking about the Royal Honeymoon. I’m still betting on Mustique. Anyone care to make a wager?

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My Birthday Is My Favorite Day Of The Year

Apr 16, 2011 by Sara

So this is lining up to be the best birthday EVER! William and Kate are going to provide some of the best eye-candy on the 29th and then the next day is MY birthday!

As I mentioned birthdays are a big deal in my house, and this hype seems to have rubbed off on me too. Now I fully look forward to celebrating my birthday every year which wasn’t always the case…

Between the ages 12 to 30*, somehow I always ended up crying on my birthday (*except my 17th – see below). I didn’t really look forward to it. Maybe it had something to do with the general angst of the tween years (but we weren’t called ‘tweens’ then) or my parents’ divorce or losing my mom. Whatever the reasons, birthdays during this time period were kind of ‘bleh’.

On the flip side, all birthdays before age 12 were magical, my mom made amazing animal-shaped cakes with treasures tucked inside and we celebrated with a couple of friends.

Some of my most memorable birthdays went like this:

• Age 8: I received a Fisher Price Cassette Player with two tapes: Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, featuring I love Rock and Roll and the other cassette was The Beatles. I listened to them incessantly.
  

  source: http://www.dougbowski.co.uk/

• Age 10: the “double digits” birthday. I had a party at school with homemade cupcakes, got a cake at home before we left for England to see my grandparents, then on the plane all the passengers of our transatlantic flight sang Happy Birthday to me over the p.a. system.  THEN, I got a slice of cake from First Class! When we arrived in England, my grandparents had bought an enormous beautiful birthday cake complete with royal icing flowers. I ate a HUGE piece and then promptly threw up. Still might be my most favorite birthday ever…

• Age 17*: Great birthday despite being smack in the middle of the ‘dark birthday ages’. My boyfriend (and future husband) got take-out from a 5-star restaurant that I refused to go to with him (because what 2 teenagers eat at 5 star restaurants?) and he set it up on the deck of his boat in the marina. It was SUPER romantic.

My worst birthday was my 15th birthday:

• While my friends all got their learner’s permits on their 15th birthdays, I flew to Montreal with my Mom for my parents’ divorce proceedings. I went in case the judge needed to hear from me. Fortunately, they settled right before the hearing, unfortunately, my mother fell apart before my eyes and I was left to scrape her off the floor. It sucked.

 

Then my 30th birthday rolled around and a funny thing happened… I kind of turned my string of bad birthdays around.

I was VERY self-conscious about turning 30 as this seemed like a huge milestone in one’s life and I was very pregnant. I was depressed about not having my mom there with me to share this birthday and the birth of my daughter and I really just wanted all the celebrations to be over quickly, so I opted to have a combined 30th birthday & baby shower.

(By the way, there are NO pictures from this birthday/shower because I looked like a HOUSE. Well there ARE pictures but I will not be posting them. I did not do pregnancy well so you will just have to use your imagination.)

It ended up being a great celebration and caused me to view things completely differently. I was celebrated and surrounded by my close friends and family and I felt very loved. The baby received all kinds of very thoughtful gifts and I received kind words of wisdom and encouragement from my mother’s friends. It was an amazing moment where I was able to open up my heart and reecive all of the love and attention being directed at me.  Maybe it had to do with the baby, but I realized I could not focus on the negative empty spaces in my life anymore, and I had so much to be thankful for. I had so much to celebrate! So all of a sudden I loved my birthday again!

From that day forward I’ve looked forward to my special day and in fact, I’ve kind of played it up and milked it wherever possible.  Nowadays, I plan my own birthday so I get exactly what I want. I tell my husband exactly what I want every year, which is usually a card and he writes me a sweet letter ( so honey, this is what I want again this year).

It’s been great.

This year, I feel like I’m getting 2 parties, the Royal Wedding Viewing Party AND we are going out for dinner on my birthday. Bonus!!

So I’m planning both and while I know what I will be wearing for my RW2011 Party (see here) I thought I would try something new and have you guys help me pick my ‘birthday’ party dress.  It has to be from Piperlime.com because I have some serious coupons to use up there plus I get another 15% off because it’s my birthday.

So which dress do you think I should sport?

Let me know what your favorite birthday memory is!

Maybe least favorite?

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Kindergarten: A Rebel In Training

Mar 29, 2011 by Sara

 

Looking back on Kindergarten I have 2 memories that stand out as clear as day. First, I remember walking home, 2 blocks by 3 blocks, by myself, for lunch and then watching The Flintstones upstairs in our stuffy 3rd floor “den” with the brick red corduroy couch.  Does anyone even let their 5 year old walk to school any more?

Second, I remember the day I almost got expelled. Yes, sweet little me – almost expelled, from Kindergarten. Apparently, I was a little rebel in training.

Here’s how it went down; the teacher left the room, (how she did not get fired for that move I will never know) and I looked around at my classmates and declared: “Let’s go somewhere!”

So we did.

Single-file, past the pine cubbies with the multi-colored plastic bins, out the classroom, and with a quick left we headed outside through the double doors. I led my class of 18 kindergartners into the drizzling spring rain, around the block and out of sight from Edinburgh Elementary. Nobody saw us leave.

I was in front, walking quickly, almost skipping. It was brisk and we had no jackets, every mother’s worst nightmare. There were no teachers, just us, skipping and giggling. We knew we weren’t supposed to be doing this and I remember the intense thrill.

I have no idea how long we had been gone for, must have been at least 10 minutes.  I can only imagine the panic we I must have caused our teacher. Can you imagine? Walking into your Kindergarten classroom and the ENTIRE class is missing?? How do you explain that one?

We were discovered on the third leg of the block and brought back to the classroom where the Principal and my teacher were waiting…

When asked whose great idea this promenade had been, my rebellious streak screeched to a halt. I immediately told the truth.  I was in deep doggy doo-doo.  The school was NOT happy with me and they threatened serious punishment, possibly expulsion.

But I never did get in any real trouble. The threat of it all was enough to scare me straight and the school realized the teacher was just as much on the hook for leaving the class unsupervised. At home, I don’t remember getting punished either. I think my parents secretly thought it was pretty funny and were just as surprised by my random break with character.

Today, I understand that my act of defiance had everything to do with my age and I was learning how to navigate life and its many rules. I see it in my own two children and their testing of limits on a daily basis; whether it’s Jack urinating on the play structure or Anna “borrowing” $5 out of my wallet. But if they are EVER missing from their classrooms I know I will have a panic attack and heads will roll!

The irony of this story is, that today, I’m the biggest rule follower I know. How this gangly little rebel with the pin straight blonde hair grew up to be me I have no idea.  Today, I hyperventilate at the idea of breaking a rule.

From time to time, I  do like to think that I’m still a bit of a rebel, even though I’m totally not. Maybe that’s another reason why I love my tattoo so much.  I like to believe that in my truest form of self, there is a little streak in me that will, when the moment is right, go with the flow and disregard the rules. Not break any laws, just do something that is a little out of the norm. But those moments are few and far between and I am the quintessential goody two shoes. Or am I?

 

 

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Detour Back To Me

Mar 18, 2011 by Sara

I had planned to go around the world then move back in with my boyfriend of twelve years, only hopefully as his fiancée.  But that didn’t happen.

This trip was to be our escape from the hell we had just experienced and a chance to press restart. After my mother’s death, we were both mentally exhausted and decided to run away.  I went to Nepal, he to Costa Rica. We planned to meet up in Vietnam and then tour Southeast Asia, traveling for 3 months or until we ran out of money, whichever came first.

On the day we arrived in Indonesia, the rupiah hit record lows.  The country was in a financial meltdown and we appeared to be the only 2 tourists on the island of Lombok.  The Sheraton’s airport runner begged us to follow him to their resort by dangling room service on an oceanfront balcony practically for free. After weeks of hostels and a few extra bucks left in our hiking pants we jumped at the offer.

The setting was romantic and perfect but I couldn’t have been more obtuse.

With five days left in the trip, every time he put his hands in his pocket I imagined a ring box emerging. But no little velvet black box materialized, only the clunky key fob from the Balinese hotel we were staying at.

I started to feel like a complete idiot.

Over continental breakfast on the balcony, I asked him what the plan was when we returned to New York.

Silence.

I got up the courage to ask him if he saw us getting married. The look of shock was an answer in itself but I heard him say: “One day. But not, now.”

There was no turning back from this point. My life had just taken a major detour, I packed my bags. He held my hand in the cab to the airport and we tearfully said good-bye, I love you, and I got on the next plane for the States.  Over the next few weeks, we only communicated by email in order to divide up our belongings in storage.

My two best friends, my mother and Alex, were no longer by my side.  I cried, I wallowed, and I had a real good pity party with friends. Then, I crawled out from under my covers.

I had loved him, I still did.  And even though I had thought we should be married, he was right, we should not. Not now…

He knew what I did not yet; I had lost my true self to my grief and the safety of our relationship.  We’d have to risk saying good-bye in order to find ourselves again. Getting married because everyone expected us to was not the answer.

Over the next year, I went back to work and moved into my own apartment.  I reconnected with friends and made a new life for myself.  I took a film class and traveled to the Great Wall of China. While I still grieved for my losses, I saw myself smile and I heard myself laugh.  I focused on my likes and dislikes, I focused on myself, until…one day… there I was… ME… and I promised to never let her disappear again.

Every day I strive to remember the important lesson of this detour, to stay true to myself.  I’m much happier for it, and after nine wonderful years, I am happily married to my best friend, Alex.

Thank you honey, for loving me enough to let me go so I could find myself again.

 

This week’s Red Writing Hood assignment is to write – fiction or non-fiction – about a time when you took a detour. Where had you intended to go and where did you end up?

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