21 Days: Day 17

I ate a baguette today at Panera. I contemplated telling them not to include it with my otherwise Fast-friendly meal, but I didn’t, and it was there, and it was delicious. I felt guilty for about 47 seconds, and now I’ve confessed and am moving on.

1. I woke to my alarm, which isn’t my favorite. No snooze. Counted lots of blessings not the least of which being no dog messes. She needed to go out and come back in and go out and come back in about 17 times, which freed my mind to focus on nothing else but being grateful. And, “ooooh, look at all these steps before 6 a.m.!”

2. When you focus so much on gratitude and meaningful experiences, it sometimes makes it hard to narrow it down to just one. That’s a good problem to have. Here was my favorite today.

I absolutely love subscription boxes. I currently get Birchbox and Bulu Box and have gotten Box of Happies, Beauty Army, Fab Fit Fun VIP. Chloe got Birchbox and Bonjour Jolie. And Lily got Kiwi Crate. So when Peyton told me he wanted a Loot Crate for Christmas, I was excited because it’s so much fun to get a surprise in the mail every month.

Today, after much anticipation, his first shipment arrived. If you’re unfamiliar with Loot Crate, it is a subscription box for gamers. He was so pumped he practically skipped in from the mailbox. Then, he opened it as we ooooohed and ahhhhhed over each treasure inside. So simple. But watching him nearly burst with little-kid giddiness soothed my soul.

3. I may never stop writing thank you notes. Every time I think I’m going to run out of people to thank, a memory jars my heart.

After an amazing lunch with one of my super-hero girlfriends, who always inspires me to dream bigger dreams and expand my vocabulary while simultaneously making me laugh til I nearly pee, I had to go to Wal-Mart. A few months ago, I bought a Rubbermaid mop thing, which I love, but it was faulty, so they gave me a $25 voucher to replace it. Unfortunately when I tried to use the voucher, the mop itself was only $23.97, and I had to have at least $25 worth of Rubbermaid merchandise. It wasn’t a big deal, but the whole determination of this took about 15 minutes, and I was mildly irritated and now running behind to finish my errands and pick up my kids.

So, I’m hustling out, when I hear, “Hey! Hey you! Stop, wait. Stop. Yes, you, come here.” I doubted this was directed at me, as it was coming from one of three old men sitting in front of Subway. Continuing to pay no mind as the pedestrian traffic flow stopped, I hear, “Hey, YOU, with the nice backside.” At this point, pissed off for whomever was being catcalled by these geriatric benchwarmers, I whipped my head around, and he spits out, “NOW I GOT YOUR ATTENTION.”

I was prepared to give him a not-so-nice piece of my mind, but I was fresh from a discussion about when people do stupid, mean things it’s because of something that’s going on in them. And I looked at this old dude in his tattered, dirty clothes leering at me with his few remaining teeth and…sighhhh…I just smiled.

What would you have done? That shit makes me CRAZY. If he had been clean or young or even had a full set of teeth, I probably would have lit into him. But this guy was already so far down…dirty and nearly toothless…I could hear Brad Bell in my head saying, “Babe…that’s like kicking a kitten.”

How was your day? Did you make anything fabulous to eat? Did you cheat on your fast–misery loves company 😉 Did you encounter any dirty old men?

xoxo

Fast On.

For 21 days, we are joining our church family in the Daniel Fast (we started Monday, so this is day 3). If you aren’t familiar, this fast involves eliminating meat, dairy, animal products, sugar, coffee, tea, leavened bread and more. You basically eat fruits, vegetables, and nuts and drink water.

Historically, people have fasted for many purposes: clarity, peace, closer relationship with God, an answer to a prayer and so forth. My fast is about surrendering deeper to God’s call on my life. I didn’t make New Year’s resolutions this year for several reasons. First, resolutions feel a lot like rules, and I don’t like rules. In fact, I have spent a good part of my life breaking them. And second, I have quit all the things I want to quit, and I don’t intend to take up any new bad habits. If I do, then I’ll rethink this next January 1st.

What I do, however, is start every day with the promise of being kinder, more patient, more compassionate. I really believe turning 40 changes you, and I feel now more than ever that I can really be in the moment. I no longer get all worked up about a stain on the carpet or a broken glass or any other sort of material loss that would have unhinged me before.

Things aren’t as important anymore. I used to want new furniture and new clothes and new stuff (we did just get a new car, but that was a necessity not a luxury), now, I am outrageously happy with what I have. My kitchen table scarred with glitter, nail polish, paint, and more. My sofa worn from three kids bouncing on it. Our house and our stuff is more than good enough.

And in that same vein, so is my body. This morning, when I looked in the mirror, instead of seeing hair that desperately needed to be washed, I saw little fingers twisting that hair to fall asleep at night. I saw the one perfect curl that falls beside my face every morning because my husband twirls it around his finger when he falls sleep. And I am enough. My unwashed, uncolored hair is good enough.

Instead of thinking what new exercise I could pin (yes, pin, someday I will actually do them, maybe) to flatten my stomach, I remembered the three times that same stomach had been stretched to outrageous proportions as my most precious gifts grew inside. My not-as-flat-as-it-once-was stomach is good enough.

I looked at the lines on my face and thought not of what new wrinkle cream would come in my Birchbox, but instead of all the experiences etched in those lines. I might have considered the wrinkle cream for minute; give me a break I’m in process. I thought of eyes that winked at my little athletes so they knew I saw their play and lips that had kissed so many boo boos and feverish heads. The face in the mirror doesn’t look the same as the face in my mind. The face in the mirror doesn’t look the same as it did 10 years ago, but it’s good enough.

In my 20’s and 30’s, I wanted to take pictures and make scrapbooks of every single moment (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but now, I just want to live in those moments. The memories are all ready captured in my heart and my mind.

So today, hungry, 15 pounds away from my goal weight, with dirty hair and a cold, I’m good enough. Good enough for my beautiful husband, my amazing little loves, my friends, and most of all for God. So, if you are looking in the mirror and seeing flaws, please stop. Look at what’s right. Be as kind to yourself as you are to your best friend. See yourself as the person who loves you the most sees you. You are more than good enough; in fact, you are wonderful, and you are loved.

Do You Believe in Magic?

So I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m turning 40. Ahem. Tomorrow. Well, the awesome folks over at SheSpeaks heard too and sent me this awesome L’Oreal Paris Magic BB Cream to try and blog about.

If you pay attention to skin care, facial products, beauty products–I’ve told you all a million times how much I absolutely LOVE my Birchbox–then you have probably heard of BB cream. It is  “Beauty Balm” and supposedly comprises serum, moisturizer, foundation, and sunblock and a bunch of other stuff in one super-product. I tried another brand when it first came out, and my reaction was…eh. I used it. It was good for putting on to go to the gym so I didn’t look like a corpse, and daily but with reinforcements such as foundation and powder.

Based on that experience, I didn’t have high hopes for L’Oreal’s version, but I am always up for trying new things.

It comes in a cute little tube and directs you to dot on your face and then blend in. When I squeezed a few drops out, I was less than confident, as it was kind of a whitish color. Anyway, I dabbed and blended and didn’t notice much difference. However, I washed my hands, looked back in the mirror, and my face was FLAWLESS. I mean…as flawless as my face gets, I am 24 hours away from being 40. My skin tone looked even with a hint of color. My blemishes and pores had vanished. And overall, my face looked smooth and shine-free. One of my issues with the other BB Cream was it gave your skin a “dewy” finish. If you all ready tend to be oily, like me, dewy is not an adjective you look for in your skin care. But with this cream even after a workout, my face still looked pretty even and smooth. Magic is right!

I’m really excited about this product! I’d show you before and after pictures, but I’m a generation too late for “selfies,” so my mirror pictures are pretty sad. Still, I’ll try to give you something. Later.

*This is a sponsored post, but I really really do love this product and will buy it when my sample runs out!