Eye Cream - The windows to our young-looking souls

A re-post from a few years back. Just a friendly reminder to slather some sort of cream on your eyes so people wonder if you got a face lift over spring break. (Note to self - Reminder for next spring break -- price out face lifts.)

Here is the deal with eye cream. It may or may not work and we will never really have the answer (once we are wrinkly we may think, "Oh crud that stuff didn't work," but maybe it DID and we are less wrinkly than we would have been - and maybe not, or maybe if we had used a better brand or more or whatever and this goes on forever).  

If you see me with glitter under my eyes,
just go with it.

I don't think it can hurt to use it though. Lotion seems to soften things and softer things mostly look nice.  So here are the Tired Girl's tips for eye cream:

1) Use it - it doesn't matter what brand, just put some kind of cream around your eyes before bed at night.  

2). Use your ring finger and tap the cream on and around your eyes - so that you don't mess up your eyes by putting too much pressure on them and all that - it's just the most gentle way to do it.

That's it. 

Well one more thing - I keep eye cream by my bed (because I like to hurry and lay down in the evenings, so it's one less thing to do standing in the bathroom, that I can instead do lying in bed). I also keep some by my computer in my office and in my travel bag. I have different brands everywhere, but I think if I have access to the stuff I will use it. I talk about that idea with other supplies - here. 

Pair eye cream with Frownies. And then also quit your job, so you can sleep in and have someone read you everything on your computer and phone so you don't have eye strain and you'll like the most rested version of yourself. 

There is some dog slobber hiding here in places too, so don't look too close. Here is my Olay cream.

Here is my Yes to Blueberries Cream.

Camera or Virtual Assistant?

I use my phone a lot and the smallest fraction is actually talking to people - no offense to people.  Just like everyone else in the world I suppose, my phone houses almost everything important.  I won't give you the list because you can piece it together. 

The feature I use more than anything else I think is my camera, and consequently my gallery is like a virtual file cabinet. The book I saw at that one gift store that would be a great birthday gift for my mom - I don't text or email it to myself, I just snap a photo. The replacement blades for Joe's electric razor, there is a photo of the number on my phone. The brand of salsa I like, so I don't forget when I am at the store = photo.  A picture of my feet before I get on the plane so I can compare to after because sometimes they swell and I want to be able to tell = photo. The name of the fabric I like at Joann's so I can go home and google it to find it cheaper = photo. The design on the a plastic cup that I might want to paint = photo.  Should I bore you with more? No. I take pictures of a lot of things.  

I don't take too many selfies -
I haven't mastered any part of it.

To me this is a great trick for Tired Girls.  There is no scrolling through your emails to see where you emailed yourself the address of your friend. You don't have to think "What month was that that I got her card and it made me remember to add her address to the Christmas card list? Well Nina retired in January so maybe it was then, maybe that was the party, OR was it in March when she sent the invite for Christy's baby shower?"  

So instead of all that brain energy and digging through your texts and emails you just fly through your photos until you see the photo of an envelope with your friend's address on it. In between the important photos of addresses and style numbers and magazine covers are photos of my friends laughing at a concert and Ralphie laying on every soft surface in my house and Joe smiling big on vacation.  In between the important things are the happy things, so while shopping at Wal-Mart I can revisit my vacation and see the photo of the size of filter I need for my vacuum. 

Not my size, but style can be looked up online

This probably sounds pretty dumb - like "yeah Tired Girl everyone does this", but it both saves me energy and time and makes for a more fun existence (and that is practically my whole goal in life),  so I am sharing.  You know what they say (mostly JFK said it) "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," so this is what I am doing.  

The problem may lie if my phone is ever destroyed or lost. I think if you have an Iphone your photos can be backed up to a cloud.  When I got a new phone a while back they transferred all my photos.  But if you have your phone in your pocket and wade in to the gulf (Joe) or close your tailgate on your truck on your phone (Joe) or get your purse stolen with your phone inside (almost me - my phone was in my pocket luckily) then you have less options.

Here are a whole bunch of possibly non-interesting photos to share with you:

Function - a pic of a swimsuit my MIL bought for my neice and I can look for matching flip-flops for a gift

Fun - Besties at a concert

Function - to remember this song -2Pac is not usually my genre - this was a fluke.

Fun - My wonderful friend and her charismatic dog, Boo.

Function - where we are parked

Fun - Ralphie in the middle of cleaning out the closet project

Function - a slide from a conference so I don't have to take furious notes

Fun - Joe working in the yard (fun for me not him)

Function and fun - a painting I like in a magazine at the doc office

Fun - a poorly lit pic of my mom

Anyone else use their camera phone as a virtual file cabinet?

Frozen cooked meat -

I have a new strategy to take-on dinner.  I hate to use the word hate, but pretty much hate making dinner. For lots of boring reasons it just does not work for me, BUT obviously dinner is needed.

I had never heard of "batch" cooking ( I am not even positive that is the term), I just knew that often when I cook I double the recipe so I have extra - I wrote about it here.

I recently read a Facebook update from a friend, where she described cooking 10 pounds of ground beef at once and freezing it.  Lighbulb!  I had never contemplated freezing just cooked meat to be used later. You pull your cooked chicken breasts from the freezer, they thaw a few hours, and voila. Meat made, and the other stuff can get thrown together easily.



Not making dinner

I made my friend Della tell me every detail about her multi-pound hamburger cooking and freezing activity, but as you guessed and I didn't - it's pretty self explanatory. 

Hamburger works great as does ground turkey ofcourse, but lately I have embraced the bulk cooking of chicken breasts. I discuss my chicken breast grilling success here.

Playing cornhole not making dinner

 

In the meantime I just wanted to share a Tired Girl idea ripped from a friend's Facebook status that has really transformed dinner for me.

At an art museum not making dinner

When I cook chicken breasts, turkey or ground beef I cook double or triple and freeze. I don't let it hang out long in the freezer, just because I am so excited to know it's in there waiting for me - so I often use it all up fast and then make more - always trying to leave at least one frozen bag of meat in the there for true emergencies. 

ANYWAY - the point is I never thought of it, and someone did, and I took the idea, and my life is easier, and dinner is only hated a few times a week instead of every night.

If you would rather eat cereal for a night and get indoctrinated on "batch cooking" then google it and let your mind get blown. 

Or just do it in little bits like this.  Here are my ideas for using my frozen, cooked meat:

At Toomer's Corner not making dinner

Tacos (my all time favorite recipe)
Taco salad
Taco soup (I have a taco problem)

Enchiladas
Chicken on salad -- (this is the main thing I have done so far, since it's summer and the chicken doesn't need to be heated -just shredded or chunked up on to greens - no cooking at all.  Hooray!)
Chicken in veggie pasta
Spaghetti
Chili
LOTS of soup possibilities
Casseroles
Quesadillas
and a bunch more I am too tired to think about.

Any one else have batch cooking ideas or tips? I wanted to name this post "Batch Bitch," but saved it for further down in the post. 

Low Maintenance Style -

So the news here is that Tired Girls' deep desire to wear the public equivalent of pajamas is a "style" and it has a name!

Olivia Wilde making "Low Maintenance"
 look awesome in Drinking Buddies.

Low Maintenance Style -- this girl wrote about it.

If you don't want to read the whole article then the take-away is this:  
"You have to be very clear with your hairstylist that you need a cut that's easy to maintain because you’re not about that life. Your idea of styling your hair is making sure the part is nice..." 

And the (good) news here is that once you find a style of dressing you can stick with it - and people will think you are mostly genius.

Read it here.

If you don't want to read the whole article then the take-away is this:  

Successful people wear the same thing every day.  They may not wear the exact same piece everyday but they are like Smurfette ( a closet full of the same dress). 

Nailed it Doug.

Their energy can be used elsewhere, than thinking about what to wear.

I am obviously highly successful (it's obvious, right?) AND I wear the same thing almost everyday.  

I have about eight pairs of my favorite shorts from Target (they don't sell them anymore) and about 10 various shirts and somehow almost everything goes with everything else (sort of).  I throw on any combination, and head out to walk Teddy.  

Capsule Wardrobes really work here as well. 

I also read an article years ago about someone that interned in Paris and he found that day after day the men and women in his office would be dressed to the nines - just gorgeous, quality, outfits. And THEN his second week of work everyone started the outfits over again. They had 5-7 amazing outfits and they just wore over and over again.  I love that.  

Claire being Claire.

I do that, just with Target shorts and shirts.  So, similar. 

Here is an article about dressing like French women if you are interested. 

If you don't want to read the whole article then the take-away is this: 
French women dress differently than American women - ha!  There are a lot of photos to illustrate this point. 

Not everyone can pull off a Claire Underwood, but she has mastered low-maintenance, gorgeous, sophistication (and killer ambition and weird grace, but whatevs).

So whether you are Smurfette, Steve Jobs, Claire Underwood, or an unknown french woman you can do more with less. 

Well said "Daily Bitch" Calendar.
I think I WILL wear the same thing everyday.

Have a hobby -

We don't all get paid to follow our passion.  Sometimes we just have a job where someone pays us, and we like the parts of our lives when we are not doing that job, better than when we are. 

Not me of course - Hi boss - I love my job. 

When this happens (to the majority of us - as not all of us get to spend the day naming nail polish or testing gin) we need to have this thing called a hobby. Or hobbies, if you are like me and are "hobby rich" ( I guy at a tailgate described himself to me that way and I stole it).

Here is the thing about a hobby when you are a Tired Girl.  You don't need to be GOOD at your hobby.  You can have the shabbiest painting in your watercolor class or spend hours sewing a shirt that will barely be wearable, come in last to every IRONMAN competition, heal every golf ball you hit,  or make the world's most mediocre brownies.  But who the fuck cares?  If you are having fun and enjoying yourself in the process that is the only thing that matters. 

A hobby does not have to be you "practicing,"so someday you can quit your real job and sew cat clothes all day. A hobby can be something you do for fun - that's it. 

There was a time I painted a lot and the more I painted the more ideas I had and the better I was and the more fearless I was and on and on. Was I ever really like GOOD? Nah. But it was crazy fun and relaxing and I loved it, if I hadn't had to eventually get a job I would have kept on like that.

Jackie Kennedy was known to paint as a hobby, but have you ever seen the "Jackie Kennedy Collection" of paintings tour around? No one has I don't think. She is known for saying that she painted a picture for her mother's closet every year for Christmas. I guess she wasn't that good, but it didn't stop her

Write songs for open mic night, paint pictures to hang in closets, dance like Elaine, ruin souffles, enter writing contests, read articles about restoring an old wooden boat when you don't even own one, and "pin" photos of ball gowns you'll never wear.

Why is this is important for Tired Girls?  Because a hobby is a fun place to go, mentally, when our bodies don't always cooperate. Up to your eyeballs in laundry, work obligations, social functions and all you want is to pull on your lounge pants and call it a day? The physical aspect of a hobby doesn't always fit in, but giving your brain something enticing to think about and look forward to when the stars align and you have a minute, is the stuff that keeps us interesting and engaged, and not just the run of the mill, brain-dead-overworked-person. 

Bossy part: Do it. Have a hobby. It makes our lives rich and layered and interesting. Being good at it is the least interesting part. 

This is the opposite of what I mean but I liked it anyway. What it should say is " I am a mediocre blogger and terrible rapper and I still do both, bitches."

Stages of Weightloss -

I gained weight, blah, blah, blah. And then I created and then self diagnosed myself with these multiple stages of weight loss dieting. Notice I have not gone through the "actually losing weight stage" yet, so I have something to look forward to.

For Tired Girls out there in the throes of any of these stages I am just extending my fist in the air to you. Solidarity. I got you, girl.  I have been there or I am here now - in fact these stages are more of a cycle as they seem to keep coming back around. 
Here they are in the order I am lucky enough to participate:

Considering - 

An oldie, but a goodie.

"I am going to just eat a little less and move a little more, no big deal. Not going to freak out or deprive myself. I'll have this taken care of in no time."

Freaking Out - 
"I am going to walk everywhere and only eat grapefruits and potatoes. I'll hide all my clothes except for workout clothes as I'll be more likely to get on the treadmill if I am already dressed for it. I'll start jogging. I'm getting up at 5 tomorrow morning and jogging on the treadmill and then I'll walk to the grocery store and to Target. And I'll get in like 16,000 steps every day. I'll be in great shape in no time."

No Way - 
"I can't do this. I am starving. I am not meant to subsist on such a restricted diet. I need cheese. It's not worth it; there are too many other miserable things in life to be hungry on top of it. There has to be a better way. Forget it, no way."

Spending money - 
"I am going to hire a personal trainer - no matter the cost. Then I'll go to one of those doctors that give you shots, so you aren't hungry - doesn't matter how much that costs - you can't put a price on your health. Then I'll go and get those Myer's Cocktails, that IV therapy stuff that athlete's do, again no price tag on health; the important thing is to feel good. Then I'll go once a week to acupuncture, and I'll be relaxed and happy and will lose weight. Then I'll buy a Vitamix, and that Shakeology stuff and drink a diet of smoothies and veggie juice - doesn't matter how much all that costs - it's worth it. I'll feel great and be in the best shape of my life in no time."

Medical Problem - 
"There is obviously something wrong with me. There is no way I haven't lost any weight. It's like my body needs the fat, like it can't let go of it. Maybe my thyroid is off. Maybe I have a'syndrome' of some kind. Maybe my body doesn't process food the way it should. I'm going to the doctor and I'll bet I'll find out something is really wrong and I'll get all fixed up and be back to my old self in no time."

The holidays - 
"It's the holidays/vacation I am not going to worry about this crap right now. I'll revisit my clean eating plan later. I don't want to ruin this event by feeling stressed out. I am just going to enjoy life."

Grief veiled as "acceptance"- 
"I guess I'll never wear those yellow jeans or that black bikini again. I guess this is my new body. I am not even going to try anymore."

Crying - 
Quiet sobbing.  "How did it come to this?"

Rebellion - 
"Who the fuck cares that I have gained weight? I don't! I like me for who I am and I don't care that there is just a little more of me now. I am not like unhealthy. No one cares that I sort have a second chin. I went through A LOT with those damn fertility drugs. I'll wear my chubby body as a badge of pride. I tried something in this life, I tried for something I wanted and it didn't work and now I have a new body and I am not ashamed. I am just going to embrace this and buy new clothes. This will be fun; I'll feel better in no time."

White Noise - 
"La la la, denial, denial, denial, derp di derpity derp, pizza, pizza, pizza, apple pie, club sandwich, treadmill not even plugged in, pizza, denial, denial."

This is me talking to myself when I continue to
show up in the "Spending Money" stage.

And then I cycle back to "Considering" and around I go. Since my weight gain has occurred over the past two to three years I have rotated through these a few times. 

I'll let you know when something changes and I manage to start losing weight. 

Did I miss a stage that any of you have gone through? 

I won an award -

So 27 million years ago I won a blog award!  It may not have been that long ago, but as a Tired Girl my time is always skewed. When I say I am going to do something I look at up and four months have gone by.

But literally about two years ago a friend of mine announced her internet awards for the year. 

My awards, if I was so organized, would all go to various cat and dog videos from the internet.

I am not making light of this award,
I just really wanted to use this meme.

Luckily for me her tastes are more human, and I was chosen! Cut to me holding a bouquet of roses.

I received her "Best Series" award for the miserable and sometimes funny "Thank You Hormones" posts.

Full disclosure here: This person is my friend. So basically she officially gave me a "like" on Facebook, but it sure felt special.  There was a whole category and everything.

Here is the actual post and her other awards.  
Also further disclosure: I don't read a lot of other people's blogs. I don't want to accidentally take an idea, or more realistically borrow someone else's voice. Sounds dumb, just trust me. But my friend at Crown and Owl wrote this particular post, I read it, AND I think about a lot. This is it: here