I remember the “old” me…Back in the old days, I used to have my hair trimmed every three to four months, I’d have a mani/pedi done every two weeks, I used to have my eyebrow waxed on the regular. Now, it’s a dress up day if my hair is actually down, it’s a miracle if I have my toes, even more so if my fingernails done, and let’s just say I give Bert from Sesame Street some mad comp when it comes to bushier eyebrows! I remember the days when I was carefree, when my weekend would start on a Thursday evening…hey on some weeks it started on a Wednesday. I used to be fun, perhaps even funny…where has that girl gone?
As mommas, it is really easy and quite understandable when we put our children before us. But I am discovering the importance of taking a little time for “me”. A few weeks ago, I was going through a funk. I was more tired than usual, I felt like I looked like a raccoon with the dark circles around my eyes, and I guess it just kinda put a damper on my spirits. I decided that I needed a pick me up! Although I am a momma, I was first a woman and needed a little bit of woman-ness back in my life.
Heels For a Week
I am a flip-flop kinda gal. I can wear flip flops in the (Valley) winter, I can wear flip flops in the rain, I can wear flip flops to go for a walk. My clothing can be worn with flip flops. Flip flops to me are the greatest shoe wear ever made, however, they have a way of making any outfit extremely casual. I challenged myself to wear heels everyday for a week. It was tough because it was so different from what I am used to, but it instantly made me feel better about my attire. My relaxed clothing suddenly looked chic and polished by just adding a pair of heels. This gave me a little pep in my step to help me feel a little more put together.
Get a Blow-Out
This was a total splurge on my part. My hair is at the odd in between stage of growing out. I feel like I can’t ever get it styled just right so I tend to get frustrated and just put it in a ponytail (a barely making it into the rubberband ponytail). I decided to take an hour to let someone wash and blow dry my hair. The result: my hair looked ah-mazing! I was able to chat with the stylist about my hair dilemma and she was able to offer tips as to how to do my hair. You can go to any salon for a cut and dry but if you are not in the market for a cut, there are new blow dry bars that are popping up around town that can see you usually on a walk-in basis!
Get Your Wax On
Or thread on, or tweezers on! It always amazes me how much I feel my face has transformed when I have clean eyebrows! For me, my eyebrows are the easiest thing to ignore. I tend to think, oh it’s just one hair strand and then the next thing I know is that I’ve got big bushes above my eyes! Take a moment to clean it up…even if paying for someone to do it isn’t in your budget, grab some tweezers and pluck it up.
Get a Make-Over
I know most of the momma’s reading this probably have some experience with some type of make-up but getting a makeover can be a huge way to get some girliness back in your life! Gone are the days when you could only get a “free” makeover at a department store with the purchase of X amount of dollars worth in product. You can head to your nearest Sephora because they offer a variety of absolutely free mini makeovers. You can learn how to get the perfect brow, how to achieve a smoky eye, or get the perfect lip for your skin tone. You could also contact a Mary Kay rep to give you not only a free makeover but a free mini-facial.
Girls Night Out
I’m a single mom so having an evening out on the town is virtually impossible! Recently, us mommy bloggers at RGV Mom’s Blog had our quarterly meeting. We began our night at 6 pm at the new Blue Onion. It was so refreshing hanging out with other women and just chatting away. Granted, most of our conversation was about our children or past and future blog posts, but it was great being able to enjoy my dinner without having to worry about cutting food for my child. As difficult as it may be to achieve, gather up your gal pals and head on out! Catch a movie, enjoy dinner, possibly adult beverages, go bowling…just do something for yourself that you cannot normally do with the children in tow!
These are all tips I do sporadically when I’m feeling a little down. As a momma, I know that many of these suggestions are a luxury on both time and money, but sometimes to be the best mommas we can be, we need to recharge ourselves. Of course, there are many ways for self-improvement and I’d love to know what you do when you need a little “me” time improvement!
