M was taking a few vacation days and had mentioned doing some running around when she got off work Saturday morning and I thought it would be good to get out and about since I haven't done much of that lately due to the heat. Unfortunately, J had to work an early shift which for her is 8-6 and couldn't go out with us. So, as is normal, I was up early to get her lunch prepared for work and once she left I set about doing some "clean up" work on my body. With it being so hot, I had wanted to wear a dress - I've picked up several "summery" ones lately - a couple of longer ones, and a couple of knee length ones. I had worn one of the shorter ones (a black and white one) the other night when J and I ran out to grab some things, so I wanted to try out the other which is an orange and white one. Orange isn't normally a color I pick out, but I'm making a concerted effort to get some brighter colors in my wardrobe since most of what I have is black or other dark colors. Now the other night when I ran out with J my legs weren't exactly in the shape I'd like so I opted for some pantyhose which I really did like - it was the first time I had tried "suntan" ones - but I knew it would be too hot for those so I needed to touch up my legs, and while I was at it my arms and chest needed some work and obviously my face.
M and offered to help me with my makeup. Normally I wear a heavy foundation, but that was picked out probably two years ago when I was just starting my laser. It's a nice foundation, but with it being so hot and my face being so much clearer now thanks to the laser, M felt I could get by with some concealer and BB cream. I was a bit skeptical, but in hindsight I think it was a good choice and it actually held up pretty well. Actually, we went fairly light on all my makeup, it was probably as close to a "natural" look as I've ever been out in and going forward, especially while it remains warm it's probably the kind of look I'll be trying to use for the most part. My outfit consisted of the aforementioned orange dress, a bra and panties, and my favorite white heels, though I took a pair of casual orange flats that I really like, but don't normally get to wear in case my feet hurt. Normally I don't do that, but I haven't worn heels very much this summer and I knew I'd be out for a while. Back to the outfit, I really do love the dress, but it was an experience as it is more of a summery dress and I'm not used to wearing those, so I felt almost a little "naked" at first. :) We added a bit of jewelry, a nice little necklace that I picked up a while ago, a matching "gummi bear" bracelet and earrings that we found at Claire's recently, a cheesy anklet since I love those, and my prior wig - the shorter one - since it was so hot. I also swapped out my favorite black purse with a one that J got me last year. Here's the "outfit", try and ignore the expression as M managed to snap the photo at an inopportune moment. :)
We had initially thought we'd go looking for a new pair of flats for me, probably at Payless since they carry my size, as the pair I wear primarily has seen better days. We were also going to run by a Dollar Tree, perhaps get some lunch, and then do some grocery shopping as she needed to get some things to make a dinner that M2 had asked her for. So nothing really special, really just a few errands was to be it.
We ended up hitting two different Payless stores and I never really found what I was looking for - at least not in my size. The current flats I tend to wear actually have a bit of a heel on them and while I didn't like that when M first gave them to me, now I really do. They had some similar, but one pair was slightly too big and one slightly too small - at my size they only do full sizes and I really needed either something on the half-size or if the larger pair had not been a "wide" they might have worked. M did find a couple of pairs of really cute wedges, one of which I wished came in my size. :)
We also did hit a couple of Dollar Trees, M had a field day there, I personally didn't find much, but the overall experience was good. The highlight of the day was probably our lunch. There's a place not too far from us - Ethyl's Smokehouse, that we've been by hundreds of times over the years and never tried. Mainly because it has the look of a "bar" and we don't really drink. However, I really wanted to try something new and M had expressed a desire to try it as well so we ended up there. I won't dwell on the experience as I've already written a Yelp review on it, but suffice it to say the food was good, and the service was excellent. And while I was making an effort with my voice, I know it slipped a couple of times to our server and yet she never faltered with pronouns nor changed the way she treated us. We'll definitely be back. We did also hit the grocery store, a new "Ruler Foods" which from what I understand is basically Kroger's version of "Aldi". It's far enough from us that we probably wouldn't normally go in there, but we did get enough things to make it worthwhile and again everybody was so nice there.
It was so hot, that despite bringing a cooler and getting ice, we decided to bring the food home and the intent had been to call it day since M had been up all night working; but I had been talking about getting a new purse since my favorite black Guess bag is showing some wear; so she talked me into heading over to a Ross as while it's not my favorite place to shop, they do have some nice purses that are fairly reasonable. As it was, I found several I liked, including a couple of Betsy Johnson ones that in years past I never would have even considered. But all in all, I *liked* them, I didn't *love* them so I couldn't pull the trigger. The trip wasn't a waste though as we picked up several clothing items for her, J, P, and myself, as well as a cute pair of wedges similar to the white ones I had on today.
We stopped at a McDonald's as I had to use the restroom (again), and that store happens to be across the street from a Beauty supply place that M frequents so we went in and looked around. Normally I'm not a huge fan of the place as their jewelry and such isn't really my thing. However, I did find a couple of cute things for my hair (hopefully), and a nice anklet, all for a dollar a piece. They do also have a huge amount of wigs - the vast majority of them very cheap. The even carry the brand I use (Estetica) and while those aren't overly cheap, they are a good 20+% cheaper than what I normally pay. I'm tempted to try a couple of the ones they have as there were some I liked in the $40-$50 range and I normally pay $150-$300 for mine. If they work out, then great, if not, well I'm not out all that much. The highlight of this visit was how polite the store personnel were. The person in charge recognized M and asked if we were sisters. I don't know that I believe that she really thought that, but I would believe I was at least passable enough for her to say it and that made me feel good as at this point we had been out about 8 hours and my makeup hadn't melted. :)
From there we hit another grocery store to get a few more things for M's dinner and headed home. By the time we put them all away it was well after 6pm and J was on her way home. Now normally I would have removed the hair, makeup, and clothes, and settled into my typical around the house wear. But I still felt good, I thought I looked reasonably good, and I wanted to take J out to dinner. With it being Saturday and me telling M that I'd see that P got up for work and we'd take her to work, we didn't have a lot of time, so we settled on Qdoba since it's close, it's quick, and we can agree on it. :) Despite a bit of a debate over something, it was a nice dinner out with J, and it capped off a really fun and nice day for me. All told I think I ended up in about a dozen stores and restaurants, as well as several ladies rooms, and had no issues, and was treated incredibly well everywhere. I guess that last part shouldn't surprise me as I almost never have an issue, but me being a glass half-empty person I always sort of expect to. Now if I could just get the voice down, things would be even better.
I know it probably sounds like a dull day to many and in reality it probably is. But it wasn't about what we did, it was simply that I was able to be out and about the whole day with people I really like and care about and have a good time doing it. It was also great to be able to get out in such minimal makeup (and no foundation) and still be at least reasonably "passable". That was a lesson I needed to learn as I have a hard time justifying the time to do a full makeup job to run to the store, but what M showed me only took her 5 minutes tops (so probably 10 for me LOL), but is something I could do for those short little spur of the moment trips and I'll feel better about myself than going out without hair and makeup and being basically androgynous. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that look, goodness knows I've done it a lot over the years. But I am one of those people that does want to wear the dresses, makeup, heels, etc., and a lot of times I don't because I feel over dressed. However, dressed like this, I felt comfortable in places like the grocery store and that made me feel good.
With that I think I'll wrap this up as I've babbled on for what seems like forever and as I said above I'm sure this topic will bore most people, but I had a great day and I wanted to be able to look back on this post and remember just how great a day I had.
- M
No comments:
Post a Comment