Number 81 - On the road to becoming a classy lassie

Ladies, we all know the following to be true: if we are make up wearers, an item that we should all possess is a good red lipstick. You know, the one that makes you look like you've stepped out of the 1940's and makes you feel super glamorous, like one of those perfume advert women who have one hundred stubbly, attractive men in suits gazing at you in wonder and awe, as you sweep through the room in your silk gown and glare slightly, as perfume advert women seem to be prone to doing. Yeah, that lipstick.

I haven't got one of those cool, edgy faces. I look like a porcelain doll, but I figure you gotta work with what you've got, so I decided that yesterday was the day to make my lipstick purchase. I was going into town for a hair appointment. Now, my confession today is that, before yesterday, I had never been to a 'big girl' hair salon. I'm lucky with my hair. It's generally pretty good quality, falls straight and doesn't need any real maintenance (which is just as well, as hair is one of those things I seem incapable of understanding. Number 29 should sort that, see http://dayzeroproject.com/user/hannahelizabeth), so I've gone for a cheap and cheerful cut every time. However, the fabulous Groupon provided me with an oppourtunity to do this for the first time on the cheap, so off I went.

Much as I hate to say it, it's worth it. I left feeling amazing. They treated you like royalty. I got my hair dyed darker, and as I left the shop, Tom Jones was singing 'She's a Lady' in my head. It was awesome, and I had my strut on.

I went to the Debenhams make up counters. Now, at this time of year, doing this is a little terrifying. There are hundreds of women grabbing products left, right and centre, and I was overwhelmed. Seriously, the fear that some brush-brandishing beast from Yves Saint Laurent is going to stab your eye out with a mascara wand is an entirely justified one around Christmas. I ducked and dived my way through the crowds to the Mac make up counter, as they've always had a good range.

I was browsing away for about three seconds when a woman came up and asked me if I needed some help. I explained that I wanted a good, red lipstick. She immediately had about a thousand suggestions, all of which she flicked onto the skin of her hand with a brisk stab, and then she took me over to the chairs to try some on. Having explained I knew little about make up, she then gave me a tutorial on how to apply it all properly, and rushed to and fro from me to the lipstick stand until I found exactly what I wanted, coming up with some suggestions that I would never have picked up but actually looked pretty good. If any women out there are reading this who, like me, are very unsure about lipstick and want to give it a shot, I highly recommend the Mac make up counter. They are brilliant!

Of course, once I had my lipstick, I felt the need to just look at the liquid liner. Just look, y'know, not buy... whoops. I ended up buying more than I meant to, but leaving that counter, I did feel like a million dollars. I went on to spend an amount of money on myself that is absolutely unforgivable around Christmas. I don't regret it yet, but probably will in a couple of days. My family may not get presents, but I'll look good this Christmas. That's enough, right?

Numbers 23 and 31 - Wishes and intentional fun

So, today is, obviously, a magical day. 11/11/11. Unfortunately on this most fantasmogorical of days, I am still in bed. Bed is where I have been for close to a month, recovering from what is essentially THE PLAGUE. I am now suffering from post-black death fatigue, but starting to regain my energy bit by bit, and my mental capacities along with it, hence why I finally feel capable of writing an entry today.

'The plan' for today had been to do 11 fun things (stolen shamelessly from another friend who had done the same thing on 10/10/10 last year). However, having missed so much university at this point, the priority has to be getting myself well enough to work again, so instead I embark upon day 23 in bed, most of which consists of watching the West Wing, writing a novel (see no. 94) and enjoying the fact that I am now well enough to stomach eating something other than uncooked noodles.

However, I did manage to have my glimmer of fun today. I got an internet clock up on my computer screen that would show me the time to the very second, and at 11:11:11 on 11/11/11, I made a wish. Now, I know that all of my millions of dear readers are quite desperate to find out what my wish was, but, of course, it will not come true if I tell anyone, let alone post it on the internet, Sorry, folks, you're just gonna have to make something up. Total let down, I know. If anyone is reading this out there, post a comment below and make up what you think my wish was. The wildest and weirdest gets a prize... or somethin'.

Anyway, this post is also about my number 31. My number 31, to do something fun each week, may sound silly. However, the reason I wrote it down was because I realised that I am rarely intentional about doing things that I want to do. There are so many obligations, so many 'shoulds' (that never seem to get done anyway) that sometimes I know I have missed out on enjoying my life. I don't resent my obligations most of the time. They make you a responsible person when you do them, and that is never a bad thing. However, I don't want to look back on my life and realise that there was a period of time where I didn't really enjoy anything.

I took a rather stark look at myself a couple of months ago and became aware that my default setting for going out and doing stuff was 'no'. I then figured out that there was no reason that this was the case, and so I secretly experimented with myself, and vowed that I would say 'yes' to ANYTHING I was invited to as long as it didn't clash with any other invitations, and do you know what? I was markedly happier. I was a little more tired, but I was just enjoying my life more than I have in years.

Having gone from that to being in bed for so long, I am now fully invested in fun. Being isolated for this long certainly makes you appreciate being out and about and healthy more, I can tell you! I am invested in being intentionally active in enjoyment of life, which is the reason I feel I can cross it off the list. There are many others in progress, but they will be ticked off once I know I have created a habit. Fun is now something I recognise as a very basic and simple way to be more joyful day to day, and I have no intention of going back. Embrace the good times people, and I will hopefully be posting some more entries with my adventures soon. I know it's been a long time, but progress is being made, slowly but surely.

Until next time, kids!