Walking through Kroger today I noticed an Almay makeup display. The sign featured Hollywood’s beloved Mother-Daughter duo Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson, who is the company’s current spokesperson. The advertisement reminded ladies to remember their own moms this Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 12).
“All the best makeup secrets come from my mom,” Kate was quoted.
If my mom and I had a makeup campaign, my quote would be: “All the best advice comes from my mom.”
Whether it is beauty advice, boyfriend advice, style advice, etc. – my mom has the answers to just about everything.
I do not know how she does it, but mom is an expert at smoothing over any situation. I could be at the point of hysteria and in about 30 seconds my mom can calm me down and make me see the light.
She says that this wisdom is partly due to the fact that she isn’t 24 anymore, like I am, and has gained experience “just by living.”
Once when I was in Kindergarten I swear my mom read my mind. It was one of those bad, stormy, tornado-watching days in Middle Tennessee and my class at Tulip Grove Elementary in Hermitage had been practicing our “tornado drill.”
For a little kid, the tornado drill is almost as scary as the real tornado. We didn’t know what was going on other than the fact that the lights were off, the thunder was roaring and we kept receiving these emergency instructions. I remember being at my desk and just wishing as hard as I could that my mother was there.
Lo and behold, not 20 minutes later there was a knock on our classroom door – and it was my sweet mama. This was quite a few years ago when school security was not as tight and parents could stop by for a visit in the middle of the day.
She didn’t stay long, just wanted to make sure that I was okay since she knew how scared I was of storms.
She has always been there for me – cheering me on in school plays, in the bleachers at every football and basketball game I cheered at in middle school and high school, teaching me how to accessorize and match my shoes with my purse, sacrificing things for herself so that I could have the perfect prom dress, homecoming dress, Abercrombie jeans, limo ride on my seventh birthday or a brand new Mustang when I graduated from high school.
And yes, she also taught me about makeup. How to contour my cheeks, which eyeliner will last through a night of dancing, and the mantra that Miranda Lambert has now made famous: “Go and fix your makeup, girl. It’s just a breakup!”
“Because,” mom says, “When you look good you feel better. You never let them see you sweat.”
I hope that one day in the future I will get married to a wonderful man and have a baby girl of my own to share all these life lessons with. Of course at that point my mom will probably have to move in with us because I won’t have a clue what I am doing – and like I said, she has the answers. (Ha Ha)
This blog is dedicated to my mother, #1 fan, stylist, therapist and best friend, Pamela Garrett – and all the other incredible mothers out there who have gone above and beyond for their babies. Mothers are truly angels on earth!
