Today is Tuesday. And this is exactly why I refuse to make promises such as "I will post about our Glamour shoot on Monday." Mondays are our "family day" and one day where my REAL-LIFE to-do list trumps my virtual/on-line one. We spend the day cleaning, getting groceries, playing games, hiking etc. When the kiddos knock on the door on Mondays they usually begin by saying: "We KNOW it's your family day BUT . . . "
Tuesdays, however, are back to the same-old-same-old. And I'm not sure why my hair and makeup people aren't here yet, but I'm currently sitting in my bed in my pajamas with some seriously out-of-control bedhead because Adam took Jayci to school and brought Caden along so I could NOT hold him for three minutes at least.
Anyways, I left y'all here on Wednesday night after eating a delicious salted caramel cupcake. I'm pretty sure that's what most models eat before big photo shoots right? Thursday morning, we met the crew from Glamour downstairs (after packing up all our stuff and checking out etc) where we hopped in the car they had waiting for us to head to our photoshoot. We ended up in this super-cool building in a giant all-white room with wall-to-wall windows overlooking the skyline. Seriously y'all, I have no idea why I didn't take a picture. I was too overwhelmed and busy eating the yummy breakfast that was waiting for us. Soon after arriving, I met Gad, who was doing my hair. My fellow winner (Keela) described the makeover/getting ready time as being a lot like The Hunger Games and Gad as being like Cinna, and I couldn't agree more. Seriously, beauty base zero y'all.
Speaking of my fellow winners, we were all featured on Beauty Sweet Spot today and you can read about all my amazing co-winners and the work they're doing to make the world a better place. I love them. Also, all of their organizations are totally big-time and legit. They asked me what I did to get the word out about the contest and voting and I shrugged and told them I wrote about it on my blog, Right after I wrote about not-sleeping-EVER and before writing about my spray tan. See? We're totally legit too. Plus, Blueprint 58's facebook page has like 100 "likes" compared to their thousands. Legit.
While my hair was being done, my nails were being painted by a sweet lady. While we were chatting, she told me how she mentors young pregnant girls in NYC, and I couldn't help thinking about just how many woman are doing things to give back and inspire others. I wish every single one of you could be pampered and loved on and celebrated for everything you do!
So at this point, my nails are painted and my hair has been DID. And then the fabulous make-up artist from New Zealand got to work on my face. I'm not bashing myself here y'all, I'm just saying that he had some seriously dark under-eye circles to conceal, as a result of 9 months of sleep deprivation. Just saying.
Then I went to visit my stylist. Yup, I had a stylist. And she had bought beautiful designer clothes for me to choose from that she thought would be just perfect for me. I tried on a few before she convinced me that the purple one was "just gorgeous on me" and I put on a fluffy white robe and slipped my feet into fluffy white slippers to await the photo shoot. In the meantime, I chatted with Jeanine from Beauty Sweet Spot and made silly faces at Adam across the room. He was busy talking to Keela's fiance, an olympic medalist in luge and therefore basically Adam's hero.
I was the first person to go in front of the cameras (we each had an individual shoot before the group shots). Let me just say that Adam was, as a matter of fact, in some of the individual shots with me. Here are his Twitter updates from that morning: "So glamour took one look at me and said we want to do a photoshoot with u too. All my dreams have come true" and "Makeup artist just refused to touch me up for the shoot saying I looked perfect....at least thats what I heard." These might be slightly exaggerated, but he certainly did help me feel less ill-at-ease in front of the camera. Speaking of the cameras, Grace Huang was the one shooting us, and let me just say what a genius she is. I loved her, seriously.
So my stylist picked out some fabulous 4 inch heels to wear with my fancy-designer dress, and let me just tell you how impossible it was for me to walk stand in them. Every few shutter clicks, the hair and make-up artist would rush on to touch me up, and they would knock me off balance every time. Literally, I would grab their shoulders or Adam's arm to avoid falling on my behind in front of the very-large crew. That would have been EXTRA glamorous of me. But seriously, if you wonder how the models in magazines look so-darn-perfect, let me assure you that there's an entire team constantly "fluffing" them to perfection. This one sweet girl even rubbed lotion on my dry-as-all-get-out legs and covered up some zits on my neck. Bless her heart. Now if they can only get me to stop wrinkling my nose when I smile . . .
After my individual shoot, they interviewed me on camera (I slipped my fluffy white slippers on for that, because you couldn't see my feet, that's just how I roll). In my interview, they asked me what I thought about Sally Hansen and Glamour Magazine and what they were doing for us. Of course, I told them I was SO grateful (which I am), but I also told them this: Everyone from these two organizations has been telling me over and over again that they don't do enough and that I am inspiring and changing the world. The truth, however, is that by being faithful to honor woman who are doing important things, they too are making a difference. They are empowering and encouraging and changing the world just as surely as we are! In the meantime they shot Carrie, Keela, and Rachel's individual shots. I'm just saying, they all looked fabulous. For realz.
Then we had our group shots (one of which will be in the September issue of Glamour magazine). Every few seconds, our hair was fluffed by Gad and then he would man the fan which was blowing our hair (I'm not even kidding, this was real life yall). The make-up artist or his assistant would retouch our face, the stylist would retie my bow and adjust my dress, and Grace would remind me to stick out my hip, which I wasn't quite sure how to accomplish without falling on my face in my ginormous heels. Eventually, however, they realized I was basically a giant (I'm 5'11" without heels), and they put me in some lower ones. I've never been so relieved.
Let me also just tell you that I have never been SO out of my element before. It was exhausting. And at one point in the middle of all this, my introvert-self thought how lovely it would be to just curl up in my yoga pants and cuddle my babies and possibly play a round of Spoons with the kiddos.
Then we headed to our fancy "wrap party," next door where we were joined by many from the Sally Hansen and Glamour teams. It was such a treat to meet so many wonderful people who listened to our stories and encouraged us and made us laugh and were really just a joy to be around. Here is where they presented us with plaques and said embarrassingly sweet things about the work we are doing. Then we toasted, mingled, ate the delicious spread of cake and cheese and cake-pops and other goodies. Finally, we hugged our new friends goodbye and headed to the airport.
We flew home, where both our sweet babies were snug in their beds and we crawled gratefully into our own bed to the sound of gunshots down the street. And Caden waking up approximately 30 minutes after I fell asleep. I think he can smell me or something. Seriously. It was such a perfect juxtaposition and picture of our real lives, I couldn't help but laugh. But if I'm being honest? I wouldn't change my real-life, as un-glamorous as it might be, for anything!
Tuesdays, however, are back to the same-old-same-old. And I'm not sure why my hair and makeup people aren't here yet, but I'm currently sitting in my bed in my pajamas with some seriously out-of-control bedhead because Adam took Jayci to school and brought Caden along so I could NOT hold him for three minutes at least.
Anyways, I left y'all here on Wednesday night after eating a delicious salted caramel cupcake. I'm pretty sure that's what most models eat before big photo shoots right? Thursday morning, we met the crew from Glamour downstairs (after packing up all our stuff and checking out etc) where we hopped in the car they had waiting for us to head to our photoshoot. We ended up in this super-cool building in a giant all-white room with wall-to-wall windows overlooking the skyline. Seriously y'all, I have no idea why I didn't take a picture. I was too overwhelmed and busy eating the yummy breakfast that was waiting for us. Soon after arriving, I met Gad, who was doing my hair. My fellow winner (Keela) described the makeover/getting ready time as being a lot like The Hunger Games and Gad as being like Cinna, and I couldn't agree more. Seriously, beauty base zero y'all.
While my hair was being done, my nails were being painted by a sweet lady. While we were chatting, she told me how she mentors young pregnant girls in NYC, and I couldn't help thinking about just how many woman are doing things to give back and inspire others. I wish every single one of you could be pampered and loved on and celebrated for everything you do!
Then I went to visit my stylist. Yup, I had a stylist. And she had bought beautiful designer clothes for me to choose from that she thought would be just perfect for me. I tried on a few before she convinced me that the purple one was "just gorgeous on me" and I put on a fluffy white robe and slipped my feet into fluffy white slippers to await the photo shoot. In the meantime, I chatted with Jeanine from Beauty Sweet Spot and made silly faces at Adam across the room. He was busy talking to Keela's fiance, an olympic medalist in luge and therefore basically Adam's hero.
After my individual shoot, they interviewed me on camera (I slipped my fluffy white slippers on for that, because you couldn't see my feet, that's just how I roll). In my interview, they asked me what I thought about Sally Hansen and Glamour Magazine and what they were doing for us. Of course, I told them I was SO grateful (which I am), but I also told them this: Everyone from these two organizations has been telling me over and over again that they don't do enough and that I am inspiring and changing the world. The truth, however, is that by being faithful to honor woman who are doing important things, they too are making a difference. They are empowering and encouraging and changing the world just as surely as we are! In the meantime they shot Carrie, Keela, and Rachel's individual shots. I'm just saying, they all looked fabulous. For realz.
Then we had our group shots (one of which will be in the September issue of Glamour magazine). Every few seconds, our hair was fluffed by Gad and then he would man the fan which was blowing our hair (I'm not even kidding, this was real life yall). The make-up artist or his assistant would retouch our face, the stylist would retie my bow and adjust my dress, and Grace would remind me to stick out my hip, which I wasn't quite sure how to accomplish without falling on my face in my ginormous heels. Eventually, however, they realized I was basically a giant (I'm 5'11" without heels), and they put me in some lower ones. I've never been so relieved.
Finally they released us from the shoot, announcing that Sally Hansen and Glamour had approved one of our shots for the magazine and we were done. At which point, I happily ate the steak they had grilled for us, along with lots of mozarella cheese and tomatoes. I do, after all, love a good caprese salad.