Frankly My Dear Shingles, I Don't Give a Darn

So remember the scene in "Gone With the Wind" when those pesky Yankees had burned Atlanta, Scarlett O'Hara had alienated pretty much everyone, and to top it all off she had not a thing to wear? Did she hunker down at Tara, feeling sorry for herself? Well, maybe --it's been a while since I watched the movie-- but I know ONE thing she did do. She took those green velvet curtains down and soon had a fabulous new dress. Talk about taking lemons and making lemonade.

Well, yours truly was getting a little sick of letting her Shingles determine her destiny, so on Friday she decided to get the heck out of her own split-level Tara and have a night on the town.

She employed cover-up, Bare Minerals, and creative bang placement on her face, then set about dealing with those 4 inches of roots. Channeling her late mother circa 1985, she went to Sally Beauty Supply and bought Fanci-Full Temporary hair dye in Spun Sand. This quickly transported her back to the days of Lanz of Salzburg flannel gowns, Wayfarer sunglasses and Steak-Ums, but on to business...

Disclaimer: Donna (hairdresser) if you are reading this, and I know you are, please don't kill me when you read the next part.

What did our young lady do next? She said, "48 hour patch test be damned! 'No use on open wounds' be damned! Rubber gloves be damned!" and squirted that stuff all over her head. When she dried her hair, what did she see? Tons of gray. Damn.

Did this stop our Modern Day Scarlett, who would otherwise be resigned to yet another Friday night of soccer carpool, church youth group and watching baseball on tv? Heck no. She got out her sticky blond cover-up crayon and went at it, oh yes she did. And you know what? She looked fine.

Counting on dim lights and relying on the promise of her Sorority Little Sis who said, "These guys have been drinking on the golf course since 10 am," she headed off to the Fraternity Benefit Event to see a bunch of people she hadn't seen since 1991.

And you know what? She had fun.

As an added bonus, a huge canker sore in her mouth hurt like heck but made her nonexistent upper lip swell up in a youthful manner. Nothing like a little homemade Restylane when you need it.

p.s. Photo edited to exclude unrequited college crush. I could have edited him ALL the way out, but what fun would that have been?