Colorado Recap (Part 4) Makeup and Big Metal Chickens

One thing I was determined to do while in Colorado was to take better care of myself. I wanted to get back to taking my vitamins everyday, drinking more water, and start doing my hair, wearing makeup and whatnot.

I used to be real good about things like that back in high school - I loved getting all gussied up just to later on prove that I'm still just as awkward and unladylike as possible.

But at least I looked good being strange.

And I still do.

I told my sister, "You need to reteach me how to do my makeup."

"Are you kidding me?" She answered. "I barely put mascara on, you're the one who was always good at makeup and hair stuff."

I was?

Pretty soon she'd be telling me that I've had a big ass my whole life.

She did.

And then proved it with pictures.

Whatever. Baby got back. Or something.

I did keep my promise to myself, and brought along my big ass makeup box to keep at it every day. Unfortunately I also developed a bit of an addiction and spent WAY too much time and money at Walgreens picking up the latest Wet N Wild Color Icon eyeshadow palettes.

With my new bold red hair I decided that I loved color and I wasn't going to shy away from it anymore. Big ass be damned, my face was gonna get attention - and the good kind.

Purple and Blue Shadow, Shimmer Lipgloss

Green and Gold Shadow

I got daring and let my hair down (literally) and wore black eyeliner for the first time ever.

And then with support from Twitter and my sister, I got bold and gave myself bangs

And with every new look, every new morning I felt better. 

And feeling better about myself made it easier to deal with going off my medication.

I remembered how good I felt when I'd lost 16 pounds. And I remembered how it was easier to deal with my depression and my OCD when I felt good about myself.

So as with weight loss, eyeshadow, lipgloss and a curling iron will be pieces to my new prescription of living furiously happy.

And speaking of living furiously happy . . .

My sister and I came across this piece of awesomeness while out shopping.

I had been reading Kristine older blog posts from The Bloggess, so when I screamed, "They have big metal chickens here!" she knew exactly why I was so damn excited.

Kristine: Oh jeez.

Me: It's like I've found buried treasure!

Kristine: But instead it's a metal chicken.

Me: Take my picture with the chicken!

Kristine: Are you seriously thinking of buying that?

Me: His name is Henry.

Kristine: Oh jeez . . . It has a broken beak.

Me: It just makes him special. And if I don't buy him, who else will? Will the next person understand his specialness?

Kristine: How are you going to get that on the plane.

Me: Oh.

Kristine: We're not going to be the people who bring a metal chicken as our carry on.

Me: But we could easily be those people.

Kristine: How much is it?

And there was where the line was drawn. I'd only carried so much money with me to Colorado, and I'd spent most of it on eye shadows. I had to say goodbye to Henry with hopes that someone else appreciated him as much as I did in those few moments we had together.

I sent the picture to Matt and he texted back:

Matt: That is awesome. I seriously hope you bought it.

Me: I didn't have enough money.

Matt: It's okay baby, we'll get you a big metal chicken someday.