Strike Two For Feminism

Today the BWJ staff hurtled its way through yet another rite of passage. Today was the day that I showed up at the Red Door Salon for my practice hair and make up session. I was not exactly looking forward to this, though I can't say why. It sort of seemed like large chunk of time to give over to beauty for one freaking day, but I rallied my spirits and took public transportation to the Magnificent Mile and the results were way better than expected. For the visual readers, I have a before and after picture of my make-up. I am not posting the hair do we settled on because (1) it was shock to me what we ended up doing and (2) there have to be some surprises on the Bridal Caboose.


So, here's me in the pilfered sweet potato blazer from J. Crew in a "before" shot. No make up at all, and I barely put a brush through my hair. This is how I normally look before I apply my regular make up, which is Estee Lauder powder, a little bit of Prescriptives concealer, and some Norstrom's Rack lip gloss. Mine is a very high couture life.
Here's me after sneaking into the poorly lit bathroom at the Salon so I can take a picture of the "after" application. So, this was after 27-year old Sidra Luna used my face as a canvass to to her "art." I hate to admit it was sort of fun. I emphasized at the onset that I want to look natural, and I want to be able to recognize myself when I look at the pictures. I listed all of the people I do not want to look like: Jon Benet Ramsey, Tammy Faye Baker, Ru Paul, anyone on a float in the gay pride parade, anyone working the late shift at the Baton Club. I think she got the picture. She asked me who I did want to look like and I told her Neve Campbell, Lauren Hutton, Eryka Badu. You know, I was trying to keep it real.

Anyway, Sidra did a good job. My eyes weren't too smoky and my lips were pretty subtle too. As long as I didn't have some garish colored eye shadow or fake eye lashes, I was going to be happy. I am glad I did it, even though it seems a little overkill. I have heard lots of stories about women who had bad experiences on the day of their wedding when their hair turned out hideous and they had to scrub off make-up and start all over again with the L'Oreal products from CVS.

Also, hell froze over today. I forgot to mention that. Yes, I always said hell would freeze over before I would go get acupuncture. Well, denizens of Hell, get out your Gortex, because this little bride had about 12 needles poked all over her body today and it was a really amazing experience. It was probably most amazing to me because I am sometimes shocked by my own willingness to try new things. I ended up allowing one Jackie O'Neill to puncture me today because I want to give myself every opportunity to relax and take more joy in right now.

As a matter of fact, 4 weeks from this moment, I will be eating dinner at my own wedding reception. How CRAY-ZEE is that? I want to be there when the time comes. I want to be fully there and present and taking in all the people, the vibrations, the food, and the warmth of family and friends. Part of the reason I don't really care about how my make-up or hair will look is because the bigger challenge-- and bigger reward-- will be getting my body and mind to cooperate with the schedule. That is, allowing myself to free fall into the joy and shock of getting married. Who cares if I have a chingnon or a swoop or a French twist? Who cares if my eye lashes are brown or black?

So, I got a recommendation from a bridal caboose rider to see Jackie for acupuncture. I liked it way better than massage because, frankly, it's less messy. I liked it better than energetic body work, which I experimented with back in the Fall of 2005, because it's a little less hokey pokey to me. I also liked the paperwork for acupuncture. I was asked to list the ailments or areas I would like to address with my treatment. I listed in this order:

1. Relaxation
2. Joy
3. Great sleep
4. Less PMS symptoms
5. Less muscle aches and pains
6. Availability for fertility abundance
7. Joy

Jackie graciously went with my list and assured me that the work we would do would be a good aid to all of the things I want in my life. I closed my eyes during the needle insertion process, because I didn't want to infuse the experience with any innate squeamishness I have about sharp objects piercing my delicate epidermis. She put the needles, gave me a lovely scented eye patch, and left the room.

So, there I was laying on a super comfortable table, eye patch lulling me to semi-sleep and needles in my arms, stomach, ears, forehead, and ankles. My busy, turbo-charged brain actually stilled. I felt some waves of heat through my body. It felt almost sublime. I felt a million miles away from my day job, from the pressure of trying to keep up with Jeff's energy level around the wedding, and from the hundred messages in my head that just chatter all day long to the tune of "Christie, you are not doing enough...Christie, you are not doing it right....Christie, you are wrong." At one point, all my mind was "seeing" was field of wheat stalks blowing in the wind on a perfect late fall day. I never thought I would day dream about amber waves of grain!

The best gift was that the judgmental part of my brain that thinks Chinese Medicine is really a euphemism for "here comes a malpractice suit" was quiet long enough for me to get some benefits for my body, mind and spirit.

It was a precious 7 minutes I had with myself. I even made a follow-up appointment for two weeks from today.