Merry and Bright

I am in a ridiculously good mood today-- one of those bouncy happy moods that's making me unable to sit still and act like the grown-up lawyer I'm supposed to be (or supposedly, currently am). My jumpiness has extended to my writing because I don't even know where to begin, so I'd like to offer you a bullet point list of things that are making me smiley and squirmy right now:

• I'm going to a party tonight.  It's the annual champagne tasting party that the head partner in my section hosts every year at his (gorgeous) house.  His wife does all the cooking (she's incredible) and our office managing partner selects the champagnes.  It's my favorite party of the year and my sister is babysitting the kids so JP gets to come!  There are people in my section who have never met him and I'm pretty sure they doubt his existence.  Yay for physical proof of my husband and for delicious champagne and gourmet food (and not being pregnant so I can partake in everything!).

• I'm wearing a fabulous red dress to the party tonight.  I found it at Ross for $29.99 (pricey for Ross, so you know it's nice).  It's Calvin Klein, fits like a glove, and reminds me of Mad Men. 

• The fabric and "fits like a glove"-edness of the red party dress left me concerned over the "I've had two children and one of them is only 6 months old" squishy tummy pouch thing I have going on in my midsection.  Luckily, I cleaned out our kitchen junk drawer, the only drawer in my house that exists without any organization because chaos must reign somewhere, and found a $100 Nordstrom gift card.  It must have been JP's, there's no way I had a gift card I wasn't acutely aware of and itching to spend, but he had no recollection of it either.  I took my gift card straight to the lingerie section of Nordstrom this morning, verified the amount available (apparently it was purchased in 2007) and came away with a magical belly smoothing band that was made by wizards. 

• Thanks to my band of wizardry and magic I look like a size 2.  Well, not really, but I do look like someone who has not had two kids and does not love cookies and fun sized York peppermint patties as much as I do.  It is awesome.  It is comfortable.  I felt like I was glowing, even after I took it off, just because I knew what I could look like. 

• Bouyed from my experience in the dressing room, I stopped at the Clinique counter to pick up bright red lipstick for my red party dress.  (This is not a normal pre-party warm-up for me. I've actually never bought anything at Nordstrom before, but I had this gift card that materialized out of thin air and I was determined not to be super practical about it.  I was going shopping and I was not going to obsess over prices and whether or not I could get that cheaper online or buried in the bursting racks at Ross.)  I don't own any lipstick and I rarely even remember to put on my lip gloss once I've left my house, even though it fades by the time I get to work, but I'd read that "everyone has a red" and I was going to find mine- and hope my belly band had given me the courage to wear it.

• I found my red.  Oh my gosh you guys, it is so bright, but it is TRANSFORMING.  My eyes were 5 shades bluer, my teeth were whiter -- I was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans without any other make-up, so I expected to look like an undredressed clown, but my lips looked amazing.  That feeling has kind of faded, so I'm hoping I still have the guts to apply it tonight before JP and I leave, but I stared in the mirror the whole time I was paying for the lipstick (and matching lip liner, a must with red, apparently), completely transfixed by how blue my eyes looked. 

• I got my hair cut for the first time since January.  It looks shiny and pretty and way better than I can ever manage to style it on my own.

• These shoes, in silver leather, were sitting on my desk when I walked in my office at 1 pm (I also had an eye doctor appointment and bought all the kids' teachers' Christmas presents, it was a busy morning).  I ordered them just yesterday afternoon (god bless zappos); they are my Christmas present and are amazingly comfortable.  Also shiny.  For those like me who love to hear about whole outfits (the "Claudia" sections of the babysitter's club books always had me transfixed), I'm wearing a black and white diagonal striped top that is kind of clingy stretchy with an asymmetrical ruffle at the top, black dress pants, silver tear drop earrings, and my new silver shoes (formerly dark red peeptoe pumps). It may just be self-confidence carry-over from the belly band, red lipstick experience, but three different people have told me I look great today. Or it's magic. I'll turn back into a pumpkin tomorrow, but I feel different today and I'm savoring it.

• Lastly, this morning Landon started to lose it when I was getting his jacket. Just as I opened my mouth to say something, he burst out with, "No, I will NOT pull it together."  It made me giggle then and it's making me giggle now.

Happy Wednesday everyone!