Confession- it has been a gnarly week.  I mean like, knots-and-glue-in-your-hair gnarly.  Family in the ER, intense encounters with students dealing with mental disorders, nightmares about said students, friends dealing with scary situations, hostile customers at work, random disappointments here and there- enough to keep you feeling like painting your nails is pretty meaningless.  But as I reflect on this past week, I’m reminded that small things like painting your nails are blessings that do have meaning.  They’re rituals.  They’re routines that we go through to jog our memories of what we love and how much we have to be thankful for.  They’re routines that remind us of beauty and joy, and that we need to peace and order to function.  Things like that center us and give us rest.

So, I came home on Friday from a long week in much need of that kind of rest.  I was able to wash and blow out my hair (not two things I frequently do together), and draw on some serious Friday night eyeliner (MAC eye kohl in Smolder, and in case you’re wondering, Adam Lambert uses the same stuff so you get the picture).  My husband and I went to a new restaurant in one of our favorite hoods (downtown Fullerton) that did not disappoint, spent time (laughing, belching, sometimes swearing) with a couple of our favorite people over dinner, and watched some It’s Always Sunny.  I ate mac and cheese and played with a cat.  It was good night and I was provided with the exact kind of rest I needed.  But here’s a little somethin’-somethin’ that made coming home yesterday really good … I found this little gem in our mailbox:

Yes, it was the January 2013(!) issue of InStyle magazine with Amanda Seyfried looking the Grace Kelly kind of classy on the cover.  My heart skipped a beat.  And not only because finding new mags in my mailbox is definitely on my top five list of favorite things ever, but because I also knew that this was the issue that would, in fact, be featuring my face.  And there I was, on page 20, victory rolls and all.  Remember that post that I um … posted?   I know I called them “liberty rolls”, and I suppose their true name, at least according the Andrews Sisters and every Rosie the Riveter out there who kissed a WWII vet, is actually “victory rolls”, but who cares when you’re wearing them in a magazine.  Here I am wearing liberty, no, victory, I mean, here I am wearing WHATEVER ROLLS!

And so I have found my relaxation for the weekend.  Even today, I was able to spend some time catching up with a friend wandering around my lovely neighborhood, and for me, relaxation naturally also comes in the form of stuff like this:

Face mask, hair mask, completely natural body wash that I (finally) found on sale, and Clarins’ uhhhhh-mazing brightening energy mask known as Beauty Flash Balm that has garnered a cult following of its own.  That’s some ok-now-that-you’ve-rested-let’s-wake-you-the-frack-up beauty routine going on for a Saturday.  And now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to paint my nails.  Because it’s important.  xo, MR