Tuesday, November 08, 2005

I have the most massive headache and I can't remember the last time I had a headache like this but Piper gave me a head massage and it did lift my spirits some.

This weekend is Finn's big birthday part and I spent some of today preparing for it...getting balloons and favors and such. The funny thing is that when I dropped off the girls at Mom's Day Out, I noticed that just about every other mom I passed was dressed the same way as me...like we had just rolled out of bed, put our hair up and put on some clothes that looked like we possibly were going to or had already worked out but really just comfy clothes to be lazy. We gave each other knowing looks and smiles and felt guilty about not keeping it together. On the other hand, Oprah did another show about "real" women and how advertising is changing its focus away from unattainable beauty to real-life everday beauty from overweight beauties to freckles and stringy hair. I was encouraged by this, but where is the line between real-life beauty and "letting yourself go."? I think it's all about how you view yourself and your own opinion of yourself.

It made me think about the Oprah show I saw last week about women who had just "let themselves go." It kind of ticked me off. Truthfully, the women who were spotlighted on the show had some major issues that led to their downfalls. It was depressing to watch. But it made me think about the show "What Not to Wear" on TLC. Now eventhough I do like that show for the hosts witty and sarcastic remarks that ultimately humiliate the poor innocent soul that had been nominated, I have to take issue with the operation as a whole. Most if not all of the time the people they are "making over" do need help, the help they give is not realistic. They throw away ALL of your clothes and then give you $5000 to buy an ENTIRE new wardrobe in one of the most expensive cities to shop, NYC. The hosts also give you "rules" to follow and examples of appropriate ensembles. What really irks me is the outfits that they expect you to put together and wear to places like the grocery store and carting the kids around. I'm sorry but there is now way that I am going to wear something that I have to iron or have dry cleaned on a daily basis.

What happened to staples like a nice white t-shirt and a pair of good fitting jeans with flip-flops or a cute pair of sneaks? It does make me think about myself though. I don't usually wear make-up unless it is a special occasion and you're lucky if I spend more than 5-10 minuteson my hair. I am trying to look more put together so that Jason doesn't look at me and want to throw-up.

Does this post have a point?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ouch... you're really making me feel bad... head ache and you're still blogging.

Anonymous said...

You know, it is funny you should mention this. Laurie and I were talking about this on our way back from the in-laws. See, her sister is up on the fashions, etc. She doesn't have children (she's getting married next year) and doesn't want any for a few more years (at 30yrs).

Well, over the weekend she is talking to Laurie and insinuates that Laurie has 'let herself go'. Laurie's immediate response was "I am fine with the way I look."

I agree that the BIGGEST part of discovering 'the line' is how you view yourself. I believe that if you really are proud of who and what you are then you’ll still take care of yourself. You won’t wear clothes that don’t fit or clothes that are falling off. You’ll wash your face, brush your teeth, and comb your hair. Comfy jeans aren’t really once with gaping holes and ball point pen drawings all over them. You know the kind where the guy is using a belt sander on his pants… yeah… those. Now, some may disagree, but you can look nice and still be overweight, have freckles, or stringy hair.

I love my wife and really like it when she dresses up, but she doesn’t need to get ‘dolled up’ just to go to the store (especially Home Depot), but if she is feeling the need to do it (even if we’re already 10 minutes late) I encourage her to do it. I really believe that it is for her more than anything. Ok, sometimes she does it for me, but it comes back to the basics of how you feel about yourself is how others will view you. I really believe that.