Some of my favorite memories of my childhood involve sitting on my grandma's bed, the sounds of the Lawrence Welk Show playing in the background while watching grandma and grandpa got ready to go out to dinner or Saturday evening mass. Grandma in her girdle, doing her hair and makeup. The scents of White Rain and Aqua Net mingled with her perfume as she dabbed on her rouge and slashed on that bright pink fuchsia lipstick.

During my childhood, moms still did their hair up in curlers to get ready for an evening out. A big Saturday night date always involved mom walking around in curlers all afternoon or sitting under the mint green polyester bonnet of her portable hood dryer as she folded laundry in the family room. Mom was never big on makeup, just a little lipstick and maybe a touch of eyeshadow, but her hair was always done up just right for Saturday night.

This all came back to me the other night as I was getting ready for my Saturday night mystery date.* I decided to put my hair up in hot rollers. There I was in the bathroom, doing my hair, putting on my makeup, spraying hairspray and dabbing on my heavenly Lancôme Hypnôse. Isabella walked by, came in and sat down to watch her mom get ready for Saturday night. She took it all in, and as the perfume and hairspray mingled, I saw her take a deep breath.

For the first time in my life, I truly felt like a grown up.



*Oh, we saw Sha-na-na in concert in Freeport. It was an absolute blast! If you like music from Grease, go see them with your friends who love to sing, dance and have fun. We had tons of fun doing the hand jive, dancing like fools in as we watched the show.