The {Almost} Perfect Sister

Last night I got to accompany Sean to a cocktail party that's thrown at the beginning of this annual convention they do in the insurance world each year.  I was excited to go {in the minority for sure!} because I like to get dressed up, I like an open bar, and I like talking to other adults, even if it is a lot of awkward small talk.  Is stay-at-home mom written all over my face?

Thankfully my sister, in the kindness of her heart, agreed to watch the kids.  I love her for her readiness to spend time with her nieces and nephew.  I love that she lives close to us.  I love that my kids love her and think she's so fun.  Problem #1 for the night to happen - finding a sitter - solved!

Problem #2 - what the heck am I going to wear?!  Being the stay-at-home mom that I am, I hardly have anything in my closet that even resembles a cocktail dress.  But really, even when I wasn't a stay at home mom, I hardly had anything in my closet that resembled a cocktail dress.  One of my biggest strengths and weaknesses is that I am so practical.  The core of who I am just will not allow me to spend $100+ on a dress that I am hardly ever going to wear.  I just can't do it.

But my sweet, kind, fun, twenty something year old sister loves to get dressed up.  And her budget and inner core are very different from my own, so I got to raid her closet.  And even though she is 2-3 inches taller than me, and we are built very differently, as we analyzed while I went through her closet hours before the cocktail party, I found a dress that worked!  She even provided the matching shoes - my feet are still paying the price of those heels! - and jewelry.

Problem #3 - my hair.  I have a hate/hate relationship with my hair.  It's just blah dark brown, hasn't been cut in over 6 months, has no body, and I just plain have no idea what to do with it.

About a week ago while surfing pinterest, I found a hairstyle I wanted to duplicate.  It had a step by step video, it seemed easy enough, and the girl seems to have similar hair as me.  So what if she's a hair-stylist and went to school for this and does hair for a living?  I could totally figure it out and make it look just like hers.

I tried for an entire hour to fix my hair in this do.  I think the video is slightly over 4 minutes.  Sean was being very patient, feeding the kids and getting everything ready before my sister came over and we had to leave.  I just needed to be alone and concentrate.

I finally got the hair done to my liking.  I thought it looked pretty good if I did say so myself.  And I did.  To myself.  In the bathroom mirror.  Now I only had 20 minutes left to do my makeup and put my dress on, but that's double what I normally have, so that was fine.

When my trendy, fashionable sister walked up the driveway to babysit, I pranced out in my her heels and dress, wanting her to say how fabulous my hair looked, that she couldn't believe her practical, plain sister could do her own hair outside of the regular down, flat, drab look she normally has and have it come out looking so great.

You have two bald spots in the back of your head was what she said.  Brutally honest, trendy, fashionable sister.  Apparently I hadn't pinned the back properly and had pushed the pins up in such a way that showed two bald spots on either side.  The front looked so pretty and perfect, but there was no way I could walk around all night with two bald spots in the back of my head!

There was no time to fix it.  We were already running late, and Sean's patience was thinning by the second.  So I pulled the pins out, ran my fingers through my hair, tsked at myself in the mirror, and was ready to go.

Running low on patience husband was not so keen on taking a picture before we left, so I quickly gave Hattie my phone and said snap it!

The only photo of my fancy-shmansy night out :(.

I had to go with the regular old flat, I obviously don't know what to do with this mop, hairstyle.  But the silver lining is Sean decompressed in the car, and I got over myself.  We had a good time! 

And I need to make a shout out to my seeester!  I am so thankful for her.  Thankful she was there to spend time with my kids while I got to have a night out on the town with my husband.  Thankful she loaned me a pretty dress and stilettos and earrings to match.  Thankful when I called at 8 (when we said we'd be home) and asked if it was ok if we stayed out later, she said yes, even though she was tired and had to go to work the next day.  And, most importantly, I'm thankful she didn't let me walk out the door with two bald spots in the back of my head.

I am now on a quest to send her to beauty school, so she can learn to fix hair {particularly mine!}.  Then she would be the perfect solution to all of my date night problems!  Because, you know, that's her ultimate goal in life. ;)