LEAH AND MOLLY UNLEASHED

We escaped. We left the 20 mile radius we tend to “do life” in and went to the big city. We were Thelma and Louise – minus the crime spree. We left autism at the door. We were free!

But don’t think that freedom didn’t come at a price. We had to leave lunch and dinner ready to heat up, supplements ready-to-go, and instructions for every possible scenario.

Our agreed upon departure time was noon, however, I was ready to go by 9:30am. Molly – not so much, as she is chronically late. It was not for lack of enthusiasm, she just couldn’t find an outfit she felt was “big city shopping” worthy.

First stop – Kohl’s. Thanks Elizabeth for the great tip you gave us about the cute paisley dress! Unfortunately, they did not have it in our size. We failed miserably at finding stylish summer dresses. They were either too grandma, too fattifying, or too hoochie coochie.

So, we aborted our mission to find dresses as a replacement for our daily, unflattering, comfy, stretch pants and t-shirt ensembles. We decided to focus our efforts on make-up instead.

One little hiccup… how do you match make-up to blonde/pale orange hair? That’s right – I tried to fix my hair fiasco and walked away with shockingly orange hair. The cut is a million percent better, but the color is… well, a picture speaks a thousand words…

Not so pretty.

We headed for the Bobbi Brown section at Nordstrom’s. But were scared off by the sea of clown faced, Chuckie doll make-up artists beckoning us to their counters. We said, “Sayonara” and trekked across the mall to Sephora instead. The make-up artists in Sephora all looked like they had come back from a rave. We asked ourselves, “Are we out of touch? Where is the dewy, fresh-faced make-up we long for? Is it out of style? Why does it elude us so?”

As soon as these thoughts crossed our mind, we were accosted by a woman with flaming red hair and make-up to match, asking us to sit in the make-up chair for a consultation. I decided to go for it (Molly gave an evil cackle as I was the guinea pig). To our surprise, my make-up artist was pretty darn good. She listened and was patient and I walked away with an everyday make-up look I can be proud of. According to Molly, it makes my eyes “pop” and my face “glow from within” (minus the two “blemishes” on my cheek). Look how much fun we had in Sephora…

Molly’s turn. Molly is a fan of Bare Escentuals and insisted on going to their boutique for a consult on how to do eyes and lips. We had to wait for Molly’s appointment, so we decided to get a cup of tea to kill the time. We were shocked and dismayed when they told us the amount we owed for two measly cups of tea… we had to take out a second mortgage on our houses! Since when has tea become $5.00 a cup??

The make-up gal Molly was assigned to in Bare Escentuals looked like she was all of 13 years old. Molly requested a natural, every day look. However, she walked out sporting 10 pounds of very “un-natural” purple eyeshadow. We wondered if the girl has been formally diagnosed with MLD, “Make-up Lingo Dyslexia.”

Molly decided to risk the clown faced make up artists at Nordstrom’s because she had become obsessed with this picture which she saw at the Bobbi Brown make-up counter:

We don’t ask for much in life… was it too much to ask for our make-up to look like this… our definition of dewy, fresh-faced, 2012 make-up?

Back to Nordstrom’s we trotted. Molly got right in with the make-up artist. She asked the lady to re-create the look in the picture. However, on Molly, the eyeshadow did not look quite the same. On a twenty-something, the glitter looks pretty, but on a 30-something mom, the glitter was a little too disco. But the make-up artist did a similar look (minus the sparkles) and Molly was thrilled.

We learned a valuable lesson – don’t assume clowns can only do clown make-up. If we are ever allowed out of our cages again, we plan to make another appointment with this lady to learn additional make-up looks.

What a successful day. Both Molly and I left the mall feeling pretty, the closest we’ve felt to our pre-autism selves in a long, long time. We actually spent 6 six hours without thinking about or discussing autism, even once. We were refreshed.  We had a new pep in our step.

Molly walked in her house only to be greeted by her husband who said, “What’s up make up face?”

WHOMP WHOMP… feelings of prettiness flushed down the toilet. Maybe Molly should have gotten a matching hoochie coochie dress to go with her new “face” after all.

Up next: We’re starving… new diet is in jeopardy. Stay tuned for the continuing saga of “Recovering from Recovery.” -L&M

For more “New Year, New Us” posts and our ongoing quest to recover from recovery, go to: http://ventography.wordpress.com/category/new-year-new-us/.  How are you “recovering from recovery?” Please share with us your tips and suggestions.

A shout-out to  http://puzzledmommy.wordpress.com/ - we love https://www.birchbox.com/. Since we don’t get out much, we love having the alternative of the latest and greatest make-up products coming right to our door. Great find.

A shout out to Rob who had the dishwasher unloaded and Annie’s bed made when I got home. You’re the greatest. -Molly

L&M CONFESSIONAL: We know we are giant hypocrites. We just blogged about the toxic ingredients found in make-up. We had good intentions to find healthy, organic make-up. But once we saw the illustrious Bobbi Brown picture, it was all over for us. Our willpower was gone. We were a marketer’s dream. We fell for the promises made by that picture… that we too, could look like doe-eyed twenty year olds and we need poison make-up to do it. Please forgive us.