I Never Ever Will

A few weeks ago I was on the phone talking with one of my girlfriends reminiscing about our days at our alma mater Howard University.  It seemed like yesterday when we were hanging out on the “yard”, dancing all night at the Ritz (no longer there) and wearing our little black dresses (I’ll leave it to your imagination what we used to call the dresses) to the club.  These days there is no little black dress, it's more like the black wrap dress (to hide the tummy).  

As we continued to talk we laughed about the good 'ole days and thought about turning 40.  We thought of those things we said in no way would we ever do...like:

• The electric slide (our mothers and their friends love this…they can keep it).
• Wear elastic waistbands in our clothes. Unless it is for workout clothes, elastic really should not be allowed in "street" clothes and called fashion.

On the flip side, now at almost 40, we find ourselves doing these things more:
• Getting dressed to go to the grocery store…somebody is going to notice.  Remember when you could just go to the corner and get noticed because you were 21?   Now, you have to do your hair, get dressed and put on makeup.  But oh, it’s so worth it!
Male stranger:  Excuse me, you are simply beautiful!

You:  Well, thank you.  It's nothing, I wake up like this!  

• Not taking a shower before you go out. What the hell, no one is going to look anyway.
• Not buying cheap clothes anymore.  My body doth protest too much.
• Knowing drink limits.  40 and drunk? Not a good look.
• Taking a nap before you go out.  If you want me out past 12, I need to recharge.
• Choosing…cleavage or legs, one or the other, not both. It’s all about distraction really.
• Getting more compliments from women than men…what is that about?
• Getting plenty of compliments from men; the compliments just come from married men…what is that about?
• Hearing “Yes, Ma’am” and looking around for my mother to see they are talking to me. DAMN!!!!
• Hearing “Miss Tami”.  The hair rises on my neck, why can’t I just be Tami? Sighhhhhh.

I know my friend and I are not the only one’s with our own list. What about you? 

What do you find yourself doing more now? What are those things that you will never do now that you are 40? Share with the rest of us.  

Open Thread

I've been writing for a couple of months now, learning what I do best and what my thousands of (yea, right) few readers enjoy.  While this blog is as much about my evolution it is also about you.  It is about us and our wonderful journey to a turning point in our lives...the big 4-0.  The rageous years.  

With that said, I would like to know what would you like to see more of, less of, none of?  I'll do my best to create posts within those requests but you know me...I'll do what I want in the end.  :-)  Isn't getting older great!  You can say and do what you want and not really care what the heck any one else thinks.  Ok, ok, ok...I care...a little.  SMOOCHES! 

P.S.  How do you like my new photo?  It was from Inauguration weekend.  

 

It's Friday!

Many hours late I am with nothing to say, because I'm working away!  Hey, I made a rhyme!

Man, that's a small picture...note to self: don't post so late so you can find better, larger pictures!  

Have a great weekend and let the fun and games resume bright and early Monday morning.  Stay out of trouble or for Anonymous (you know who you are) have fun while getting into some. We are 40 now, so who the hell do we have to answer to anyway!  ;-)

Yellow No More

One of my "To Do's" on my Rocking 40 List is to get my teeth whitened.  Not only are yellow teeth unattractive, they age you so...change the things you can change and don't worry about the others (you know the exact saying I'm sure).  

While I'm readying my purse to part with the $600 my dentist requires I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I went to TarJay to look for a short term alternative and came across the Advance White product line from Arm & Hammer.  Not only was there a toothpaste (which I had used before with no memorable change) there was now a booster.  The booster promised to make your toothpaste work 3x better to get those yellows pearly white a nice shade of tan (well, it said 3 shades).  

$3.99 for the Advance White Toothpaste and $5.79 for the Whitening Booster  

I've been using the products a couple of times a day (when I'm not too lazy) and I love the combination.  My teeth really feel clean when I brush and....drum roll please....

...my teeth are actually brighter!  Almost off-white now!  YEAH!!!!!  I'm still getting them professionally whitened but this will keep me happy until I can stomach that vanity dental bill.

I should have taken a before yellow picture but I didn't.  It's a good thing this blog is about being 40 and not a beauty blog because I would fail for sure!  

Bottom Line:  Great buy!  

Has anyone else tried Arm & Hammer?  Have you had any good results with another at home whitening product?

O' Pam...

photo source

Pam, Pam, Pam!  I'm speechless.  I just don't know what to say right now.  

I mean the boobs. foundation. black eyes. tan gone awry.  

Can someone help me out?  

We Should Be Having Sex

A recent article in The Guardian -The Joy of Confidence, shows women in their 40s are having the best sex of their lives.  Yeah, Baby!  I have to hurry up and find a man, boy toy husband so I can really enjoy my 40s.  I don’t want all of this hotness to go to waste.  

Dating sidebar:  a few weeks ago I was on a date and told an extremely crude man I don't intend to be intimate unless we are in an exclusive relationship since my goal is marriage.  He told me I'm almost 40, I only have 10 good years left, I need to be F$%^*n' someone!  WHATTTTTTT?  Sighhhhh.... yeah that date was a wrap.  But, you know in my date glory, he called again and tried to take me out and wondered what was wrong?  Did I not have a good time?  Uhh...NOOOOOOO!

Okay back to the post:

If you are under 40 and not having great sex you have something to look forward to.  If you are over 40 and not having great sex one reason the article points out is that you simply may not be interested in your partner any longer.  Ooooo, that’s keeping it real, but maybe you can get that spark back to get to great sex again.  Maybe you just need to loosen up a little, gain a little more confidence, learn yourself a little more (another topic for another day) or say to hell with convention (this is left to you for your interpretation).  Whatever it is, this is your time.

So, go have a little or a lot of sex...just have it.  It’s okay, the survey says so.

Are you having better sex in your 40s than you did at any other point in your life?

No More Gray Down There. Yes, There!

Last Valentine's Day I went to my neighborhood nail salon to get my eyebrows jacked up beautiful and at the counter there were a few boxes of stencils for down there. I chuckled and thought...cute.  The woman at the desk told me her boyfriend loved them, but I didn't think another thing about it considering I'm a big fan of Brazil, they are very sexy down there (hee hee).  My passport is full.  Been visiting Brazil ever since that first little gray in my 20s.   That very first piercing scream which resulted in a phone call to my mother hoping for sympathy but all I heard was roaring laughter.  I immediately thought, to hell with this, Brazil here I come!  

Fast forward to this morning.

I was reading one of my morning blog's (before 8am of course) when it highlighted a product for coloring your vay-jay-jay (thanks Decorno for the fodder).   Betty color for the hair down there (the same company as the stencils). From someone that grayed prematurely (10% by age 12, 25% in college, 50% in 20s, now 75%) I thought BRILLIANT!  FINALLY!  Maybe I can visit another country from time to time instead of Brazil always.  I do wonder how the other side lives.  However, I quickly realized reading the blog, not everyone appreciated this brilliance. Ahhh....youth.  Ok, ok. I know I'm still young (shut up).  I'm just fortunate to have so many aging challenges (yeah, whatever).  The bright spot to all of this is I still look young.   On my knees kissing the ground...thank you!

Despite the haters, I still think Betty is a genius product and many of those women who are hating on the product now will be the same women who want to purchase it in about 10-20. Heck with the way vanity is rising these days, it may be 5-10.

What do you think? Would you try Betty?

BTW...I do know this post is after 8 am and I watched TV on Friday (I'm only human, I'm going to pray now!).