Playing Dress Up With My Daughter

Recently, I asked my daughter Mallory about her plans for Valentine's Day and then I braced myself to be crushed: this year she will have a date and I will not. Luckily, she didn't tell me about some grand plans that would make me feel like a complete and utter FAIL. She and her boyfriend will be enjoying a romantic dinner at home and he will be doing the cooking (this is good, this is very very good). Then I asked her if she wanted to dress up for the occasion and if so would she like to go shopping.

After she squealed with delight she agreed to an afternoon of Mommy Dresses Up Mallory. We went to get her makeup done at a local salon, found some lovely shoes (I simply cannot say sexy where my own offspring is concerned), and then shopped at Macy's where she refused to decide on a clutch purse for the evening and chose three of them. The women in my family are an indecisive bunch but we are well dressed.

First, we did the makeup counter and used all Bare Escentuals colors that sound delicious and look fantastically subtle. Malloyr has features that would respond to "warm browns" Shelly, the resident estetician, wanted to give Mallory "dreamy eyes" after I nixed her use of the term "sexy eyes" (see above). Either way, they turned out fabulous. Here are the color choices and where they went:

"Coffee Bean" - Shelly wet the tip of a small pointed brush and went along the upper lid of Mallory's eye

"Queen Tiffany" - This almost gave off a purply look to it and went into the crease of her eye.

"Dark Blonde" - A shadow that she used with a medium sized brush to fill in her brows.

"Queen Phyllis" - This one was used in two places: under the arch of her eyebrow on the brow bone and then in the corners to highlight the eyes.

Since we focused on the eyes she didn't want to create an overly dramatic look by adding lip color and instead just put on a sheer gloss.

Next, we looked at shoes. (At this point I must stop and meditate to properly display the spirituality of the moment. Cross yourself, spit over your left shoulder, and shout "Amen!" if you have to do so.)

Since they are staying home for dinner and she doesn't have to walk to the car, restaurant, or dance floor in them she decided to go with something SUPER FUN and SUPER RED that came from the design collection of the SUPER Carlos Santana. The saleslady assured us that even though they have a high heel they are a very comfortable shoe (and she was short, so maybe that was a vote of confidence?).

Finally, we looked at purses. Mallory and every woman I know have enough little black dresses to keep us clothed for the remainder of this decade. Instead, she wanted to add a signature piece like the shoes or a barrette or a purse and found three adorable clutches that all seemed to call her name. She decided against getting any of them but hugged them long enough for them to recognize her when she returns to the store in secret to buy it.

Without her mother bugging her and making her the dress up doll.