Wednesday, January 10, 2007

You Have Great Lips

Here in Hawaii, my make-up seems to melt away before my 2nd breakfast, so I only wear mascara, and I have a feeling that soon, that, too, will become a Sunday Only item.

My hair has issues in the humiditiy so I wear it one of two ways, neither of which requires a blow dryer: either parted on the side and pulled back into a tight low bun(I think I need to buy a flower pin to go with it); or scrunched with a little gel, the front pulled back with a chomper clippie into an Alice-in-Wonderland (McBride speak for whatever you call that hair-do when you pull back your bangs and other front hair and leave the back down.)

Also, the dress code here in Hawaii is very casual. Flip-flops are it. Anything with flowers is great. A bit of fabric wrapped and tied at your waist is a lovely skirt. But you're not allowed to wear just your swimsuit in the commisary (military grocery store.) Bummer.

I've been feeling like a bit of a slug. No make up. No blow dryer. And then, last week, I had the worst breakout of my grown up life. It was like being 14 years old again. A volcano on my cheek and another on my jawline. Blech.

Not very elegant or stylish. In fact, I've been feeling a bit invisible.

Friday afternoon, though, I was at the base (I mean POST, sheesh I just can't remember that) Outdoor Rec. Center (a place where you can rent all manner of things - tents, boats, and bouncy things) renting scuba tanks. The man who runs the place is a little freaky, so I made Nathan come with me. And while we were ringing up the order, the check-out-girl looked over at me and, said "You have really great lips!"

She made me blush. And smile. I smiled all the way home, and Nathan teased me about it all weekend.

Awwwww. How sweet of her. That one little compliment really made me feel lovely. And beautiful. I even remembered to put on a bit of lip gloss before going to the store this morning.

Her quick words made me want to give more random personal (but not too personal) compliments to people. To smile more. To meet the eyes of the bagger at the grocery store. To introduce myself to my neighbor down a few doors. To paint my toenails and buy some cute new flip-flops.



And you know what? I really do have great lips!

6 comments:

Mary said...

You really do have great lips! How nice of that girl! I'm so glad she made your day like that, we all need a pick-me-up now and then! I understand feeling frumpy. Blah. Sorry about the breakout, I'm sure your skin will acclimate to the new tropical air soon.

Syd is so cute! I love her freckles!

Suzanne said...

What a unique and nice compliment! It's a good thing that the creepy guy didn't say it, or it probably wouldn't have felt like a compliment!

How nice that you don't have to wear makeup or use a blow dryer. I'll bet that you have 30 extra minutes each day! :)

Super Happy Girl said...

Suzanne said it all.

Humidity is not a girl's friend. I hear you on the breakouts :(
I hope getting used to the climate will take shorter than longer. Living in Paradise comes with a bit of a beauty toll, even if for a while, but hey, you got great lips!

Deanne said...

I'm having issues with my skin too. I can't seem to keep my forhead clear!!! I wash my face about once a day with a cleanser thingy and it just won't work (it helps but not completely)! I know its the water because if I go to my parents for a week it clears up then gets yucky within a few days of returning home. Ewwweee!

Too bad I don't have great lips to divert peoples attention downward! :)

Anonymous said...

Isn't it nice what a random act of kindness can do for the soul? Here u were focusing on the neg., and she zeroed in on the good. :)

Glad to see you back in action - hawaii looks awesome! hugz!

Donna Boucher said...

Katie and Syd could be sisters, don't you think?

I have no lips and really admire full natural beautiful lips!

Smack!