Brows and Birthdays

Those of you who know me well (and pay attention) know that I'm not the girliest of girls. I go through phases where I'm more interested in makeup or nail polish or jewelry but for the most part I'm not really all about the primping. Anway, there is one girly-type thing that I have discovered that takes so little effort and makes sooooo much of a difference in how I feel about myself and the way I look: eyebrow maintenance. I don't remember when it occurred to me for the first time, but for a couple of years now I have tried to make an effort to keep my brows under control. Over the past couple of months when I have been going through the superdrama, brow maintenance sort of fell by the way until I looked up one day and realized I looked a bit like the cookie monster. That same day T called me Andy Rooney (because that's what friends do) and I realized that something had to be done.

I had always felt a little clumsy about grooming my brows myself because sometimes the shape didn't come out quite right (one memorable time I accidentally waxed about half of my brow off and it looked like I had stuck hitler's mustache on my forehead). I always thought it would be the coolest thing ever to have my eyebrows professionally "done" in a salon, but I wanted to wait until it was really necessary because it ain't cheap and frankly I didn't want them to mock my amateur attempts at brow shaping (Yes, I am paranoid about the eyebrow waxing ladies judging me. Yes, I know this is absurd). So finally, the state of my brows reached 'needs professional help' status and I knew it was time to bring in the big guns.

I didn't want to just go to the salon for my eyebrows and I didn't want to go by myself, so I roped B (T's GF) into going with me for a spa day. We each signed up for a facial, a manicure, and the aptly named "brow design". When we got to the salon we were asked to fill out a form that asked some fairly invasive health questions and made us both a little wary. We were early, so we waited slightly anxiously (okay I did...B had done this before and was totally relaxed). When my aesthetician was available (awesome job title), she came and got me and led me into a room with a massage table, dimmed lights, meditative music playing and a little fountain. Already we were veering widely from my preconceived idea of what getting a facial would be like. I was thinking I would sit in a chair and they would put some stuff on my face. Um...no.

My aesthetician closed the door and explained that now it was time for me to 'dress down' (uh...what?) and that I should take my shirt off, lay on the massage table and drape the sheet over me. Oh dear. Not what I had in mind. I went along anyway, because that's what you do when you're in an awkward social situation, especially when you're paying for it.

So anyway, it was a little strange but I got over it. Having someone 'design' my brows was not entirely unpleasant, but there were some moments where it felt like the entire top half of my face was on fire. Also, she trimmed my eyebrows with tiny little scissors which was interesting. The facial and the manicure were pretty standard, aside from the surprise nudity. My brows came out looking completely fabulous, like the best ever, like I am in love with them. Eyebrows. I can probably just maintain the shape as it is at home but if they ever get unruly I will probably go back and have them done again. I'm keeping my shirt on this time though.

On a completely different topic, Friday, June 13th is my 31st birthday. T and B will be out of town with B's family, Brian will be busy running a half-marathon, I'm already having dinner at my parents' house on Sunday for a collective celebration(my birthday is the 13th, Brian's is the 14th and Father's Day is the 15th), and W doesn't do birthdays. So that leaves me in the unenviable position of spending my birthday alone. I had a good mope when thinking about this initially ("okay, my options are go out and get drunk by myself (sad) or stay home and get drunk by myself (sadder)"), but then I realized that if nobody else is going to show me a good time then it is totally up to me to make sure my 31st birthday doesn't suck.

So my birthday weekend, I'm going to the coast by myself. I'm borrowing a car and some camping gear and I reserved a site with beach access at a state park and I'm going to find out if I like camping. I've never really done it before, so there will probably be things I don't think of or that I would have done differently with some experience, but whatever the result I will be doing something new and learning something about myself which is always good. I am sure I will have many fun stories to relate when I get back.

That's it. Hope everyone's week is going well!

xo