Confession: I bought a curling iron.
It’s one of those sleek new kinds without a clip. I think the word is tourmaline? Anyway, I use it. More than I thought I would. If I have time before a dinner out or an event, I plug it in and twirl my hair around and around that long black tube. In the beginning, I burned myself almost every time, but not recently. I’ve gotten pretty good.
I don’t just use it for nights out though. Sometimes, in the morning, I sneak into my bathroom and do it, corralling my often-dirty hair into some kind of coiffure. My friend Heather calls it fancy hair, as in You have fancy hair today! And I like this. The idea of this. The idea of fancy hair.
Why would I do my hair to take the kids to school and park at a coffee shop to write? Because. Because life does not have to be blah. Because I do not have to look like an over-tired mom/writer/questioner-of-everything all the time. No. Sometimes, I can go for it. Just because I feel like it. Just because I want to (or need to) say to the world, to myself: Hey, I’ve still got it. The glamor (glamour?) isn’t all gone.
I took the picture above recently. Little Girl and I had just dropped her big sisters at school and we waited outside for Nanny to come and scoop up my babe so I could scurry off to write. I took out my phone and I held it up and I made the face, the face that says hey there, don’t count me out, and my baby? She smiled. Because she was there in my arms, with me, and maybe because I felt good and happy that morning.
Motherhood? Adulthood? Life? They don’t need to be somber stories. We can glam it up from time to time. It’s up to us, isn’t it?
Advice du jour: Find your fancy hair.
Do you think that parenthood/adulthood can be fancy and fabulous? Do you ever get dolled up just because? Have you become more or less concerned with your physical appearance recently? Glamor or Glamour?
Oh, I love this advice – and what a FUN snapshot!
GlamoUr! Definitely! And do drop brand name of this curling iron. I want fancy hair!
so true!
i just read somewhere ‘life isn’t about weathering the storms, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.’
fitting, yes?
I absolutely love this! This fits right into my intentions for more “yes, why not” than “no, because…[insert practical reason] this summer. Its so so easy to get stuck in ruts & routines, to-do lists and logistics. Don’t get me wrong, I love my ruts and routines & to-do lists, but sometimes….. I think we can all do with a bit more glamour (I really think this is the spelling but I’m getting red squiggly line underneath) in our lives.
Interesting. Since I work full time in an office I have to get dressed up every day. Add church on Sunday and there’s really only one day left in a week that I get to bum around. So, do I ever get dolled up “just because?” No. But, that’s only because I’m dressed up so much of the time anyway. But I suspect there will come a time when I stay home and I hope that when that time comes I will find occasions to have fancy hair just for fun. I think it’s a great idea!
Being a mom to three little ones means work is co-mingled with play! But when I get some grown-up time away, I want my “play” to be relaxing! I think that’s part of getting older and wiser…we(hopefully) learn to listen to our bodies and not run ourselves ragged like we did in our twenties!
For me, playing hard has always been engaging with the people I like the most. Now, instead of friends it’s my husband and kids. So, yeah, the circumstances change but the rules stay the same.
I have been wanting one of those new curling irons without the clip because I never mastered the ones with the clip. I was curious if they worked- you’ve inspired me, I am going to go buy one now!
Wow! after reading your post today I had quite an epiphany! It inspired me to write a blog post on finding my fancy hair! Thank you!
I haven’t seen these new clipless curling irons yet. I’ll have to check them out. I really want hot rollers though. I just got tinsel put in my hair – sixteen strands of sparkle in purple and gold – and I love it so much! Yay fancy hair!
I curl my hair daily! I can relate.
With three kids, a new baby, and a full-time job, I barely have time to brush my hair before work, let alone curl it. But, I admit that I recently splurged on some new hot-rollers, and I look forward to using them on random days. I just love the feeling of beauty even when I have rollers all over my head. Makes a world of difference.