March 18, 2011

these moments



Last night I left the boys with Roy and went to go get my hair done. On the way, I listened to Pearl Jam's Binaural album (meh) and while I was there, I read two tattered copies of Poets & Writers magazine (awesome). One of my graduate school professors was profiled in January's issue for getting her book published, and I was grinning while reading about it. She was one of my favorite professors - I interned with her, actually.

Right before Christmas, my mom treated me to a trip to the salon. I hadn't had anything done to my hair since I dyed it pink, and I was in desperate need of something. My hair has gotten lighter and lighter over the years, thanks to various stylists I've seen, and so I wanted to try to get back to my natural color (which is a kind of icky mousy color) so there would be less maintenance. So I got some lowlights. I really did like it at first but after awhile I started to feel really blah about it. So this time I decided to go for some more highlights, plus some red. My stylist also taught me how to make my hair look "beachy" by styling my natural waves. I was surprised at how cute I looked - most of the time I feel like a smelly old hag who is covered in mashed up food and spit up.

I came home a happy girl and was greeted by Roy, who was holding a sleeping Simon. Apparently Simon was not happy that I wasn't there to put him to bed and finally conked out in Roy's arms after screaming a whole lot. Poor little guy. We got Simon off to bed and Roy gave me his anniversary gift to me: a Daytrotter T-shirt! I was stoked. I have downloaded so much free music from that site so I'm super happy that I got a T-shirt to show my support. Bonus: the T-shirt was made in L.A., so we essentially bought local. Big fat yay.

(The picture above is me in my new hair and Daytrotter shirt. I am so happy in this picture because I feel so pretty. Honestly, I feel guilty sometimes for wanting to change my appearance through different hair color, etc. I feel like I should just accept myself as is and that by manipulating my appearance I am just giving into what women are expected to want while also not setting a good example for my kids. I have a lot of Very Serious Conversations with myself about how I should not want to get my eyebrows waxed, but there is no denying that when I look in the mirror, I am horrified by the giant bearskin rugs hanging out above my eyes. I just feel better when my hair is lighter and my eyebrows thinner. I enjoy wearing makeup because it makes me feel pretty. I like having flattering clothes. I can't help these things; maybe I should stop feeling bad about wanting to feel beautiful. I mean, as long as I recognize that true beauty comes from within, it's all good, right? I don't know. I struggle with this - a lot.)

I ate two special St. Patrick's Day cupcakes our neighbor gave us and went to bed. The remainder of the night sucked. Simon was up a lot during the night, and it was a definite flashback to more challenging times. We've had a couple of other difficult nights this week, which is strange because Simon has always done remarkably well at this sleeping thing. Oh well. There's not much I can do about it except hope that this passes quickly. Perhaps we will try some new things if this continues. In the meantime, zzzzzzzzzz.

But then.....



This morning Becki and I hit up the Savvy Chic Kids presale. The sale opens to the public on Sunday, but because I'm a consignor, I got to shop early and bring a friend along. Roy was a saint and stayed home with the kids (plus Becki's son Luke) while we went and dropped entirely too much cash at this most awesome of sales.

Here's what I got (see picture above - cute kid not included with purchase of these items):

an inflatable baby pool
10 summer outfits (mostly for Simon, some new with tags)
6 pairs of shoes
a big ol' bag of Mega Blocks
4 pairs of BabyLegs
4 cloth diapers
1 wool diaper cover
a wooden ride-on toy
a little Ikea chair (My friend, who was a volunteer for the sale, got to shop earlier than me and bought this for me because she knew I wanted it. Yes, I have awesome friends.)
a space-saver high chair/booster seat for Simon
a sun hat for Simon

I didn't deviate too much from my list. I got some amazing deals and I know everything will get used. However, I still feel guilty because I went over budget and I did some impulse buying. It is funny the space I get in sometimes, when I just become a rabid consumer. I try so hard not to be in my day-to-day life and then I go to something like this and lose sight of everything we're working for.

I know that I should not be so hard on myself. After all, buying used is a wonderful thing to do. I think it's that loss-of-control feeling that got to me, but at the same time, I felt absolutely elated to have scored such great deals. I mean, Stride Rite shoes for $5? A wool diaper cover for $8? You can't beat that with a big fat stick.

I'm choosing to focus on the positive. I got my kids some nice previously owned things, most of which they'll both be able to use. Emphasis on the previously owned - the green factor is huge, and that makes me happy. And in order to shop early, I got rid of some stuff we weren't using, and even if it doesn't sell, it'll be donated. It'll never be in my house again.

Happy weekend, everyone.

5 comments:

Cynthia said...

You look gorgeous in that picture! Skinny Minnie :)

Becki said...

I love your hair, the waves look great on you!

alyssa said...

You look beautiful! And you made out at the sale! Awesome!

Kimberly said...

Looking good Leslie! :) Happy you treated yourself to some time out of the house. Being happy with ones -self how we are...it can be a struggle for me as well. I go in streaks. I'll go forever without having my hair even trimmed, but then when I get it done, I LOVE how it feels. Might be something to do with taking time for me vs everyone else...

Looks like you got some awesome deals on the kids stuff too!

Unknown said...

You look beautiful!