Items # 34, 36, & 39: Learn 4 New Beauty Techniques, Try 4 New Restaurants, and See 4 Movies in the Theater

40 Things for 40 Years in 40 Weeks: Items # 34, 36, & 39 (Things I Really Enjoy): Learn 4 New Beauty Techniques, Try 4 New Restaurants, and See 4 Movies in the Theater:

My #40for40in40 list is varied and sometimes a bit random but it gave me a goal this year and a list is a format that I work well with in my every day life. Make a list. Check off the tasks. Feeling of accomplishment follows. Boom.

I’ve found that having kids makes it so much harder to get through my daily list but I have learned to lower my expectations and set manageable goals for these are the days that you will not get back with them. Someone told me once, “The days are long but the years are short” with kids and nothing could be more true. Some day not so far from now, the boys will be in their rooms not wanting to play with me or talk to me for that matter, on their phones or out with friends.

I did want to include the simple things I just really enjoy doing or need to remember to do for myself on this list because I felt that this list should feed my soul but not all of my goals had to be some hair brained scheme like going indoor skydiving. So for those reasons I added #34, 36 and 39 to my list: Learn 4 new beauty techniques, try 4 new restaurants, and see 4 movies in the theater.

#34 Learn 4 New Beauty Techniques: For 6 years I’ve been in yoga pants, hair up, no makeup and not feeling all that glamourous most days. Lack of sleep, taking care of little people and therefore lack of energy and motivation just had me giving up on trying to pull myself together every single day. I even received the looks from the other Mom’s at daycare drop off that said, “Wow, she’s really given up.” But our kids are up at the crack of dawn and they don’t just go down and fix themselves a bowl of cereal for breakfast. They want eggs, sausage, oatmeal, you name it. So by the time we get through the breakfast rodeo, get my husband off to work and the kids on their way…I rarely have time to get myself ready for school drop off. So I added this goal to my list and vowed that I would pull it together more often.

I was lucky enough to spend a girls weekend with my friend Michelle in September (previous post). This girl inspires me because she also has two crazy boys at home, works full time and always looks amazing! So she helped with this item on my list with several great beauty tips and a trip to Sephora that weekend whereupon I discovered 1: a great new concealer… aka “8 hours of sleep”; 2: Lash Conditioner; 3: Eye Brightener (also a mom necessity); 4: Brow Filler (well Nancy tipped me off that I needed this a while ago but I found a product I liked on this trip); 5: A fun new red lipstick; 6: Make Up Setting Spray and 7: a better way to apply my eye liner. Following that weekend I still wanted to try one more thing… Botox. Okay people don’t judge until you haven’t slept well in 6 years and feel like you are 100! So I tried just a little bit in one spot in November and so far I like it. Stay tuned… Ha.

#36 Try 4 New Restaurants: We cook at home most days but we do love to eat out once in a while as long as it is somewhere really tasty. We get stuck in restaurant ruts though so I vowed to try 4 new restaurants this year. From simple to fine dining, I have tried 4 new restaurants in Seattle and on the Eastside and 6 new restaurants in Portland! Goal achieved… waistline expanded!

#39 See 4 Movies in the Theater: I love going to the movies. Always have. The popcorn, the candy, the now reclining seats you can reserve and just fully escape into another world, another life, another story other than your own for 2 hours. My taste is not sophisticated but I am okay with that! This year I have seen 5 new movies - The Circle, The Big Sick, Home Again, Bad Moms 2 and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. See… not sophisticated but I own it.

Thank you for all that helped me complete these three items! And to those daycare mom’s with the judgey looks… watch out. I’m back. I’ve got good concealer and I know how to use it. Maybe not at drop off but I’m going to rock pick up.

And so that completes #34, 36 & 39 on my list. 25 items checked off the list and 15 to go! Stay tuned for more… #40for40in40