How to Remain Lovely When: You Wake Up Late!

Being a lovely person means that not only do you have to strive to look lovely, but feel lovely too. When one wakes up later than their usual expected time, this can throw the lovely out of whack. Case in point: this morning. I don't exactly know what happened...I think I set the alarm? I perhaps hit snooze too many times? All I know is that all of the sudden, in the middle of a dream about a baby pirate whispering pirate secrets to me, my head screamed: WAAAKE UP! Luckily! It was 7:08. I'm usually up by 6:20 and out the door by 7:30. Whoops. What's a girl to do when she has twenty minutes to get ready and out the door? [Aside: I am sure many of you out there get ready in twenty or less minutes and are always lovely, but while I usually give myself an hour, this twenty minutes seemed very short.]

Focus on the basics: Number one, clothing. Here's my little advice to you on this front: solids! Lucky for us ladies, the whole "color block" trend is in. Stick to solids on this one. Avoid patterns. [The only way I would use a pattern on a day like this would be if the pattern had a very strong predominant color which I could pair with a solid.] When there's no time to plan a gorgeous outfit, as I know we all do (so says the girl wearing the stained shirt, and knowing it was stained at the time I put it on--not so lovely), stick with the basics; you don't want to have to be worrying if your patterns/textures match, go with whatcha know. Think about the basic color wheel and then pair two colors. Today, I am wearing blue khakis with a brown shirt and blue wrap sweater. Do the blues match perfectly? No. Does it look somewhat cohesive? Yes. Do I look like a normal law-abiding citizen? Sure, I do. We're good to go then!

Number two is a stop to the bathroom: teeth and makeup. Now, I'm not one to discuss much about makeup, as I rarely wear much of it, but I do always wear one thing: mascara. Brush your teeth, throw some mascara on, if you have it and have the time, I'm a proponent of blush, as well. It all makes you look just a little more alive and a little less zombie-like (I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've used the word zombie on Lovely). Don't forget your hair, two words: pony and tail. It's days like today on which I love headbands. They seem to make even the greasiest ponytail seem somewhat glam. Number three is something I am a huge, huge fan of: earrings! A lovely girl never leaves home without earrings. Or, at least, I don't...perhaps it was because I waited until I was sixteen to pierce my ears, but ever since then, I have been obsessed with earrings. Besides my engagement ring, they are the only jewelry I wear. This may be odd, but I always carry around a pair of fake diamond studs, and dangle earrings in my bags. So, even if I leave the house without them, I still have some with me. Earrings are a perker-upper (have you noticed, I like making up terms?), they frame faces and make any outfit a little more cohesive looking. Also, they take .2 seconds to put on, so when you're late in the morning, they're a quick way to make yourself look ready to go.

By now, you should be all ready to go. And, it wasn't even so stressful...you can still feel good about yourself. Remember, this happens to everyone! Who hasn't slept late in their life? No one. My mother always said, on days like today, "Don't let this throw you off for the rest of the day." Good advice, Mom. If your biggest issue of the day is waking up late, then you life must be pretty nice...nice enough to maybe stop for a coffee and muffin.

What's your plan of attack when you wake up late?