GOSSIP FROM THE GIRLFRIEND GATHERINGS

Learning from YOU to empower ME !

Fashion in Mid-Life – Nails

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I am told real women know the fashion trends.   I must confess that I am not a real woman because I have been too busy to keep up.    Now, I’ve decided to peruse the fashion magazines and website to get up to speed so I can be ready when I unveiled the improved me in a few months.   I am starting with nails because recently my manicurist shocked me with a revelation of my choices.

I have worn crystal nails with a French manicure for years now.   I love them.   They are timeless and classy.    So, I show up for my appointment and my manicurist starts to work on my nails.  I have been going to her for so many years that I don’t have to tell her what I want anymore because I am consistent with my choices.   As we are chatting she tells me that no one is really wearing the French manicure anymore.    I was flabbergasted.   I asked her if she was sure and she told me to look at the fashion magazines.   I did and I noticed that everyone was wearing color.   Thus was the start of my nail transformation.

The first thing she convinced me was to stop wearing the crystal nails.   She told me that I had such lovely nail beds that I should quit wearing the crystal nails.  We removed the crystal nails and I let my nails grow out over several months to reach an entire new set of my natural nails.   The only nail service we did during that time was a manicure and the occasional polish which presented another set of problems.   Which was the right type of polish?

My manicurist suggested the shellac nails because they would last 2 weeks.   Well, mine only lasted about 3 days.   After 3 days they would start to peel off even with me wearing plastic gloves to do my house cleaning.   After several attempts, I gave up on that type.   I needed something that could withstand my 60+ hours of keyboarding per week.   I needed something that I could touch up if they started to chip in between manicures.   After all, even if it was in my budget, I can’t get a manicure/polish daily as I am a busy woman.

My latest discovery is working out for me.  I love it.   It is CND Vinylux.  The simple and fast drying application is a wonder.  I bought it at http://www.sleeknail.com.  Supposedly, it will last only 1 week but I have been wearing my recent color for almost 2 weeks now with a minor touch up of the tips.   I love that I can do my own touch ups, too.  My plan is to go every 2 weeks for a manicure so this works for me.  I am enjoying wearing my own nails and the different fall colors.   Plus, it seems my keyboarding has minimal impact on my nail polish.

You know when your age is beyond 39 you need to be careful with your fashion.  You want it to be relevant and appropriate yet sexy.   Sometimes, you may want to hold on to that old style but you risk being dated.   I considered that and made my nail change.   I am happy with the results.

 

QUESTION(S):

Can you please share your nail beauty techniques?

Get a Grip – On CHANGE

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SuperChgWoman“Change.  The frightening frontier.  This is the personal journey of a baby boomer.   Her ongoing mission: To manage the life process by jumping on, riding with, and holding on to change – to seek out a healthier and peaceful lifestyle – to boldly transform a lifelong dream into a creative new life!”

I have a simple resolution for 2015 and the years ahead.    I need to get a grip.   I have foregone many healthful and helpful practices in my life for the sake of convenience.   I have made some choices for the sake of comfort because what I really wanted to do was a bit uncomfortable.   Now, I am paying the piper because even though I have a good life it is not the great life that I know I can reach.   Since I truly believe the idiom that the present day is the first day of the rest of your life, I have decided to implement the practices that will improve my health and lifestyle.  I have decided to be uncomfortable so that I can be propelled to the next level and to my destiny.

I know I am human.  I will have days that I will vacillate.  So I used my creative juices to make a method to help me with a kick in my butt on those days.    Meet my little friend, Greta Grypp, at the top of the post.   Her whole purpose is to be my change manager, my voice of reason, my cheerleader, and my shero when the road to permanent life changes becomes a little steep.   When I start to succumb to choices and behaviors that will veer me from the path of change, I will envision Greta with her booted foot raised and in position to kick my butt into compliance.

My first mission is to introduce my creative voice to more readers through my blogging life and through my budding novelist life.   This is the most difficult mission because every writer has an inherent fear of putting their words out into the universe.  Also, the publishing world is changing and there are some great but frightening choices for new novelists.   Greta will probably wear out a couple pairs of boots kicking me with this mission.

My second mission is to get healthier.   You know when you are younger you can get away with skipping out somewhat on a healthy routine but when you become “vintage” (as my blogger gal-pal Vintage Woman at http://www.amivintageyet.com calls it) you can’t do that anymore.    I have decided to make a simple start by doing three basic things (1) eat natural, gluten-free, and single-ingredient foods (2) move – walk, dance, bike, play, jump, whatever – my body for at least 30 minutes a day.  I call this my 3-6-5 Move movement (3) Drink 96 ounces of water per day.    For me, these three changes need to be implemented simultaneously for beneficial results.   Each month, I will make another change to enhance my healthier choices.

Now, I have my initial missions and my cheerleader but I need a virtual crew.   I have a virtual crew for my first mission (the writing life) but I need a virtual crew for the second mission.   It is always fun to have others to share the healthy lifestyle changes with as you gain confidence and knowledge from the interactions.   I plan to give a Greta Grypp report periodically on my progress with information on discoveries I make along the path of change.   Hopefully, some of you will consider joining me in the 3-6-5 Move movement and report back with comments on your progress, too.

Change is really all about choices.   Choices are the compass and the wheel of life.   They make life movement and they control the direction of that movement.   Because of that sometimes it takes all of your courage and will to make one.   However, the opportunity to make a choice is a gift and the change it engenders is the reward.

QUESTION(S)

Will you come join me in the 3-6-5 Movement?   If so, reply back with a comment on the post.

Letting Go for the New Year

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Evening SeaIt is the last day of the year.   The New Year starts on tomorrow.       December 31st is a good day to look back on the past year and “let go” of those internal and external things that will prevent you from productively moving forward in the New Year.   A “letting go” ritual is a good way to start implementing change in your life.

A “letting go” ritual can be as easy as making a list and physically destroying it or using your imagination to create an entire “letting go” scenario.    One scenario I employ is to imagine I am standing on a small cliff over a beach watching the rolling waves.   Riding on each wave is something or someone that I am letting go.   I like this scenario because it is not destructive……it is not “labeling” the thing I am letting go…… it is just simply carrying it away to another shore.

For some of us, letting go is difficult – especially when there is another person involved.   However, it can be a cleansing and healing experience.   It can be a peaceful ritual that can truly foster personal growth.     Consider it as another positive way to bring in the New Year.   Try it.

QUESTION(S):

How do you celebrate the end of one year and the start of the New Year?

A Coward Is As A Coward Does

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Sunday started out really great.   My girlfriends and I drove to Galveston to share some holiday cheer at Sunday brunch.   It was fun.  We chatted and laughed while we ate great food with our continuous flow of mimosas.   We talked about seeking joy for the season and hugged our “so longs” as we departed back to our lives.

However, one of my friends arrived home to discover that her husband of 30+ years had departed from their marriage.   While she laughed and enjoyed a holiday brunch, he packed his clothes, golf clubs and wrote her a one word note that said B-Y-E.   He walked away from his commitment with her and did not have the decency to tell her face to face.

It is not easy to know that this has happened to someone you know – your friend.   You worry about their emotional well-being.   You wonder how you can help.    You know that it will be a difficult journey for her until she reaches acceptance.

The old saying that states, “You never know what goes on behind closed doors” is really true.   I remember dropping my friend at home from a previous girlfriend brunch this past summer and her husband came out to the car with the umbrella because it was raining.    I thought how thoughtful he was towards her.  Now, a few months later and 4 days before Christmas, his actions are deviously different.

The real fact is this man is a coward.   There is no other way to describe him.    Merriam-Webster defines a coward as “one who is too afraid to do what is right or expected.”  A wife of 30+ years deserves and expects that her husband will have the respect to look her in the eye to deliver news to her – whether it is good or bad.

I told my friend that she will survive and this may be the best thing that ever happened in her life.    She has already survived a serious stroke a few years ago so taking the steps to rid herself of a coward will be like a walk in the park.    We, her family and friends, will be here to help her through it.

Plus, I think he will soon discover too late that sage advice from blues singer Johnnie Taylor – Cheaper to Keep Her.

Click here to hear it.

 

What Color is Your Lipstick?

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HiRes

 

I have had a long lasting relationship with lipstick.   It started when I was a young girl watching my Mom, who was (and still is) a very beautiful woman, applying her makeup.   She would always put her lipstick on last and it was as if putting that lipstick on was sealing a jolt of confidence into her persona.   However, she would always pause a moment for a second look and complain about her lips because they were so thin by African-American standards.   As I looked up at her in the mirror she would look down at me and tell me she was glad I did not have her lips but beautiful full lips like my father.   This made me feel just as beautiful as she looked and I couldn’t wait to grow up to wear lipstick.

When I started wearing it, I bought all of the vibrant bold colors and I wore them proudly.  Every morning when I lavished my lips with those colors, I must admit I felt more confident.   Perhaps I exuded that confidence, too, because one day a co-worker tried to burst my bubble.    It was summer and I was a young, twenty-something, popping female.   This particular day I wore a bright orange lipstick which I knew looked good with my brown skin.    My desk was in a large area with other workers. As I arrived to the office and sat down at my desk, my co-worker looked me over and said “You know men don’t like it when a woman wears a ‘loud’ colored lipstick.”

I gaped at her.   I felt my confidence slipping away……departing from me.  I decided to hold on to it.   So, I looked her in her eyes and said, “I don’t wear my lipstick for men.  I wear my lipstick for me.”   KAZAAM!   I snatched back my confidence with the quickness of a Muhammad Ali punch!   However, even though I said that as a comeback, I later realized it was true.   I continued to wear my vibrant, bold colors but I did start paying cursory attention to how my dates/boyfriends reacted to it.

Well, one boyfriend sung praises about my “bee stung” lips.  He was so obsessed with them that he became upset when an artist drew a sketch of me and captured the likeness of them.   He said he did not like the fact that the artist (a male) saw my lips in the same manner he did.  I found that amusing.    Another experience was on a first date when I wore a lilac lipstick with my attire.   The guy couldn’t take his eyes from my lips while I talked to him.  It was to the point that I became nervous.   So, I think my co-worker was wrong in her assessment and the real issue was she did not have the confidence to wear those colors on her lips.

To me, lip color is the first visual cue of your level of confidence.  You should definitely choose and wear the colors that make you feel good because when you feel good you will look good.    There are so many brands of beautiful lip color and I have over 100 tubes of lipstick but if I had to choose a color that personifies confidence it would be Borghese Scarlatto.   When you wear that red one you are saying to the world – I am Woman!

So, girlfriends, wear the bold, vibrant colors on your lips.   Be the 3 B’s in your lip color – Bold, Bright and Bodacious!   Kiss your man all over his face with those “loud” colored lips because if he is in to you he won’t mind.

QUESTION(S)

How do you feel about wearing bold and vibrant lip color?

What color is your favorite lipstick?