not beach ready
First, here are the shoes. Aren't they fabulous?
And no! Not comfortable AT ALL! But sparkly!
Melynda, I wore them with a brown v-neck shell and a pair of cropped khakis that made my butt look ginormous. Whatever. I had SPARKLY shoes on! With really high heels!
(As an aside, can any of you wear shoes like these, that lace up, with skirts? I see that look all the time, but it appears that I either have the wrong skirts or the wrong legs. Or some combination of the two, which is a bummer as it would mean significantly more wearing of the sparkly shoes.)
So this weekend we're off for a week at the beach, which means that most of my time THIS week is taken up with getting ready to be at the beach. And yes, that means that I have to organize myself AND the boys (no, I don't pack for Wade--he's 40 years old, he can do it his own damn self), but that's not really the issue. Packing is easy; it's packaging that's hard.
Once upon a time, when I was young and toned, packing for the beach meant tossing three swimsuits and a skirt in a bag with a lip gloss and some sunscreen (Bain de Soleil, for the San Tropez tan). Voila! Beach ready!
Today, however, it takes a little more, er, work to get beach ready. Okay, a LOT more work.
First of all, sunscreen. This is the current Friday Playdate sunscreen collection, ALL of which is being used by various people in my house.
Please notice that we have everything from an SPF 8 to an SPF 50. We have TWO kinds of spray-on sunscreen. We have a lip gloss with an SPF 30 (okay, that's just for me, but still). Not pictured is the required bottle of aloe with lidocane.
Oh, and the self-tanner, because GOD FORBID I get a REAL tan.
My plan for next week is to take as little stuff as possible--swimsuits, some shorts and t-shirts, maybe a skirt that can double as a cover-up. Tinted moisturizer and mascara. A little bit of hair goop. Flip flops. I don't want to spend my time getting ready; I want to get up in the morning and BE ready. I want to hop out of the shower (okay, climb carefully out of the shower) and BE ready. The problem is that in order to just BE ready, I have to spend THIS week GETTING READY.
What does it take to get me ready? Let's see . . . haircut and color, full body exfoliation, self tanner to even out the white parts (why do my ARMS get tan but not my legs? WHY?), pedicure, teeth whitening, intensive blemish treatment . . . I think that's it.
I would also like to lose five pounds, but I don't see that happening.
I am torn between wanting to spend the week playing with my children and my adorable niece and NOT wanting to spend the entire week looking like I just rolled out of bed. I don't want to waste time primping (because seriously, this is my FAMILY we're talking about) but at my age the "natural look" doesn't come naturally.
I'm good with going out in public in a bathing suit--I'm even going to pack a bikini (don't hold your breath; there won't be pictures of that). I am 38 years old; I have the body of a 38 year old woman. I have had two babies--I have a little doughy roll on my tummy that no amount of sit ups will ever get rid of and stretch marks that are more visible when I get a little sun on my thighs. Post baby, my butt is bigger (and lower) and my boobs are smaller (and still, somehow, lower) than they were before. I am good with all that.
But I still want to look nice at the beach--healthy and pretty and not worn out or worn down. So this week I'm drinking a TON of water and slathering on the self-tanner and trying to get beach ready. (You can admire my self-tanning efforts in the pictures of the shoes.)
It's hard work, being beautiful.
PS: why is it that my spell checker does NOT recognize BOOBS as a word, but offers me BOOBIES as an alternative?
And no! Not comfortable AT ALL! But sparkly!
Melynda, I wore them with a brown v-neck shell and a pair of cropped khakis that made my butt look ginormous. Whatever. I had SPARKLY shoes on! With really high heels!
(As an aside, can any of you wear shoes like these, that lace up, with skirts? I see that look all the time, but it appears that I either have the wrong skirts or the wrong legs. Or some combination of the two, which is a bummer as it would mean significantly more wearing of the sparkly shoes.)
So this weekend we're off for a week at the beach, which means that most of my time THIS week is taken up with getting ready to be at the beach. And yes, that means that I have to organize myself AND the boys (no, I don't pack for Wade--he's 40 years old, he can do it his own damn self), but that's not really the issue. Packing is easy; it's packaging that's hard.
Once upon a time, when I was young and toned, packing for the beach meant tossing three swimsuits and a skirt in a bag with a lip gloss and some sunscreen (Bain de Soleil, for the San Tropez tan). Voila! Beach ready!
Today, however, it takes a little more, er, work to get beach ready. Okay, a LOT more work.
First of all, sunscreen. This is the current Friday Playdate sunscreen collection, ALL of which is being used by various people in my house.
Please notice that we have everything from an SPF 8 to an SPF 50. We have TWO kinds of spray-on sunscreen. We have a lip gloss with an SPF 30 (okay, that's just for me, but still). Not pictured is the required bottle of aloe with lidocane.
Oh, and the self-tanner, because GOD FORBID I get a REAL tan.
My plan for next week is to take as little stuff as possible--swimsuits, some shorts and t-shirts, maybe a skirt that can double as a cover-up. Tinted moisturizer and mascara. A little bit of hair goop. Flip flops. I don't want to spend my time getting ready; I want to get up in the morning and BE ready. I want to hop out of the shower (okay, climb carefully out of the shower) and BE ready. The problem is that in order to just BE ready, I have to spend THIS week GETTING READY.
What does it take to get me ready? Let's see . . . haircut and color, full body exfoliation, self tanner to even out the white parts (why do my ARMS get tan but not my legs? WHY?), pedicure, teeth whitening, intensive blemish treatment . . . I think that's it.
I would also like to lose five pounds, but I don't see that happening.
I am torn between wanting to spend the week playing with my children and my adorable niece and NOT wanting to spend the entire week looking like I just rolled out of bed. I don't want to waste time primping (because seriously, this is my FAMILY we're talking about) but at my age the "natural look" doesn't come naturally.
I'm good with going out in public in a bathing suit--I'm even going to pack a bikini (don't hold your breath; there won't be pictures of that). I am 38 years old; I have the body of a 38 year old woman. I have had two babies--I have a little doughy roll on my tummy that no amount of sit ups will ever get rid of and stretch marks that are more visible when I get a little sun on my thighs. Post baby, my butt is bigger (and lower) and my boobs are smaller (and still, somehow, lower) than they were before. I am good with all that.
But I still want to look nice at the beach--healthy and pretty and not worn out or worn down. So this week I'm drinking a TON of water and slathering on the self-tanner and trying to get beach ready. (You can admire my self-tanning efforts in the pictures of the shoes.)
It's hard work, being beautiful.
PS: why is it that my spell checker does NOT recognize BOOBS as a word, but offers me BOOBIES as an alternative?
21 Comments:
LOVE the sparkley shoes. And the spray on tanning stuff for the kids is a work of genius.
I love the shoes. LOVE 'em.
The shoes look great!
I hope you guys have a wonderful time at the beach.
We are just barely reaching 75 degrees here, so the beach is a few weeks away for us.
Boobs is slang; boobie is a kind of bird. With blue feet, evidently.
I quit with the kid sunscreen when I read the ingredients and found it to be EXACTLY the same as that of the adult version of the same brand. Every time.
Being beautiful is hard work. And it only gets harder as you get older. Me, I'm considering giving up - er, no, that's not it - um, aging gracefully, yeah, that's it. Because it's less work. I hope.
The shoes are very pretty!!
Ah, the sadness of smaller/lower boobs to complement the larger/lower butt. I know your pain, my sistah.
Normally I buy a gargantuan container of No-Ad SPFgazillion, but I was at a BBQ and used someone's Coppertone Continuous Sport Spray and MAN. I ran right over to Target and... bought the Target generic. But I pink puffy heart being able to just MIST the children and send them on their way. Good stuff.
Anyway, babble much, Mir? Have a wonderful trip!
I have tried self tanner twice and looked streaky both times (much to the chagrin of hubby). Is there a trick they didn't teach me at 'you have a pansy white ass' school?
LOVE the shoes! the sparkly-ness! so fun! i want a pair! and good luck getting ready. i know the getting ready thingy. oy. but how lovely to be 38. seriously. i'd love that. hope you all have a great time. xx
I love the sparkly shoes.
I ended up giving MYSELF a pedicure when I took my kids to the wading pool. Not quite the same thing at all.
I had to use a wee scrub brush in the bath to get off the excess paint.
And take some advice from your little Jen friend. This is what I learned this weeekend: Do not Nair your bikini area TWICE in one day. Do NOT.
Love the shoes--I have two pairs with the ribbons. They are quite difficult to walk in, but they look good, dammit! I have a couple other pairs without the lace-up ribbons and they are much easier to wear, but not as cute.
We have nearly as much sunscreen as you. Let me give you a hint: Target Brand Continuous Spray Sunscreen--half the price. Works great. I bout 5 bottles of it last week as all we do is go outside.
Try the self-tanner cloths from Bath & Body Works (comes in a box of 10). It's like a hand wipe with self-tanner on it (don't confuse the two in your purse) and somehow the cloth makes it go on more evenly. I haven't ever tried it on my pansy white ass (and it IS, trust me), but it works on other pale parts.
Good job, Caroline! Whoo hoo!
I yes, I too saw the Target knock off of the Coppertone spray, but I love--LOVE--the smell of Coppertone. It reminds me of being a kid. So I will indeed pay more to feel younger.
Wait, wasn't that what this whole post was about in the first place? Yes indeed!
LOVE the shoes.
I hope you enjoy the beach. We are having a grand old time, I'm basically alternating between trips to the pool and trips to the beach -- and trying to be as low maintenance as possible (aside from all the required high-maintenance activities required to look low-maintenance, as you correctly referenced...)
No matter what brand of self-tanner I try, my pale white Irish legs turn orange orange orange.
Just be glad that you are fair-haired, because what looks even worse than pale white skin? Pale white skin with black hair follicles! Nothin' says summer like 5 o'clock shadow on your calves!
Wow, I am way jealous that you can wear those shoes. My knees are SO not able to deal with anything that high!
And if you REALLY want to look tan all over, you can find a salon to do a spray-on tan (like where you get in a booth and a machine douses you). You have to do it the day before you leave, as it only lasts three or four days or so, but no streaks!
And Mary P., I TOTALLY know of the blue-footed boobie because my kids LOVE the name of that bird!
Callie, I love the idea of the salon tan--unfortunately, my salon visit this week (for the very important hair cut) will include MY CHILDREN as my sitter was unavailable. Ha ha won't THAT be fun! BOTH kids at the salon with me!
Kill me now. Seriously.
Gosh I'm envious, I can't wear high shoes anymore, my feet just hurt too much! I need to join you in using a self-tanning product. I have serious farmer tan that is just hidious. HELP!
Oh, the smell of Coppertone--reminds me of being a little kid in Tucson, where even in the early 70s fair-skinned children lived in the stuff most of the year.
For smell, I love, love, love Banana Boat. I used it the summer I had a mole on the side of my nose removed, and the doctor warned me repeatedly not to let my nose anywhere near sunlight or I'd have an unsightly scar for the rest of my life and probably never get married and die alone, horribly disfigured by my quarter-inch scar, in a run-down apartment, surrounded by cats.
That was a GREAT summer, though.
Molly, you're so funny.
For the record, those shoes hurt like a mother. I only wear them when I can guarantee that I will be SITTING DOWN for long periods of time. It is nice, though, to gaze down at the pretty shoes while I'm tossing back a Tartini. And after two (or six) who cares if the shoes hurt? Hell, at that point, who even NOTICES that the shoes hurt? Who even remembers they have FEET after a couple of Tartinis?
Not me.
Love the shoes! I'm seeing them with a structured A-line skirt. Khaki, and perhaps just at the knee?
Sincerely,
Stacy London
Ooooh, those shoes are F.A.N.C.Y! I love them. Also, I can never wear the tie-up ones with skirts either. We must both have the wrong legs. Or, I think, just LEGS in general as I've yet to see them look good on anybody.
Also, I have that Neutrogena lip gloss and love it. So tingly!
ALSO, with regard to boobs/boobies, I had a teacher who once crossed out where I'd written "children's pool" and put "kiddies' pool." Like that was the better alternative!
Cute shoes! So sparkly! Your tan looks all nice and natural too. So much better than the 1980s orange tan in a can. Have fun in the sun!
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