Ode to Youthful Energy

My father always says age is in your mind and even as he turns 65 and the arthritis seeps into his bones he gets up super early every day and jumps right into the day head first exercising, gardening, playing with his dog. He gets it from his mother – and really this post is a tribute to her – my grandmother, the ageless beauty. She passed away 3 days after my son was born and it was one of the most devastating days of my life. She was 87 going on 27. My entire life people mistook her for my mother. Yes I strongly resembled her but she also just looked so young and she made it seem so natural. I know of trips to the Dr. for B12 shots or a little botox here and there but really I think the secret to her beauty was her boundless energy. She couldn’t sit still – she worked at her gallery all day M – F, she hosted elaborate openings and entertained clients late at night and on weekends she would brunch and shop. She was also a firecracker and kind of scary (I think Shelly can attest to this ha ha), but all of that energy that she put out there was like the fountain of youth for her. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and when she finally had to give up working every day she started to deteriorate to her passing. Now with two kids I am exhausted, yet when I have that extra hour to nap I never take it. I just like to go and hopefully I’ll continue to go for a long long time. In my teens I jokingly started to call her “Granny” to annoy her and when my young cousins were growing up they picked it up – she may not have ever forgiven me for that but she laughed about it. Here’s to my Granny – I love you.

And now for my challenge…I realize it is almost half way into the month but I actually started this already… tackling the drawer. Granny was always in my business, which included keeping up with my looks. On our weekends together I was lucky enough to piggyback onto some of her facial appointments at some of the best places in NYC – Ling, Mario Bedescu. And at those appointments we almost always bought the moisturizer, tonic, spray. It all went into my drawer and I really never used any of it religiously. I’m not good at keeping a beauty regime – I sleep in my make-up from the day. So I’ve started washing my face at night instead of just when I shower and following up with a good moisturizer - the Ling Collagen Cream has a very clean scent and does leave my skin feeling moist in all the right places without feeling greasy. And hey, its claim of fighting wrinkles is an added bonus. I also have a Kiehls Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado that I try to put on my puffy eyes every morning. It is a routine I have to stick with and so far so good. More reports from the drawer to come…