Happy Weekend : The Kansas City Zoo

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Megan

This year we were fortunate enough to be gifted a membership to Kansas City Zoo, and man oh man, are we wearing that thing out! It’s funny, I’ve lived in Kansas City for nine years now, but until this spring, I think I’d only gone to the zoo once or twice. Horrible! Now that we can go whenever we want for no cost, we have been going as much as possible. This week I decided to spend a one-on-one day with Mr. Tate before summer starts and his schedule is thrown for a crazy loop. After a breakfast of Starbucks at the park, we headed for the zoo, where we spent the day growling at polar bears and laughing at monkeys. It was a fantastic day.

In fact, my day with Tate was so fantastic, that Miss Lulu got a tiny bit jealous. So yesterday, after school let out for the summer (ahhhh!), I took Lu and a friend back to have a fun day to themselves. We are officially zoo addicts.

I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday weekend, and if you’re in KC, check out our fabulous zoo! You won’t be disappointed!

That Red Lipstick

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Megan

A few years ago I decided I wanted to try wearing red lipstick. I don’t know why the urge to sport scarlet lips hit me right then, but it was love, I tell ya. I wanted so badly to be a girl that could pull off red lips. When I saw women wearing it, I was in awe. They seemed confident, smart and independent. They were sexy, sultry and gorgeous. They were what I wanted to be…or more accurately, they were how I wanted to be seen. I was a young, working mom, and I felt like a kindergartener in a class of high schoolers. I hoped red lipstick would be the ticket.

But oh, red lipstick and I, we’ve had a rocky road. My first attempt at red lips was documented here all those years ago, after my husband claimed I looked like the Joker from Batman. I put it to a poll on this here blog, and you all sweetly told me what was up. It didn’t look great. When I look back now, I cringe. The color was too dark and too blue for my complexion. I did, unfortunately, look a lot like that evildoer from Gotham City.

My red lipstick and I have come a long way since that fateful blog post. After other failed attempts at finding the right shade, I finally went to the cosmetics counter and begged for help. The ladies at MAC found a perfect shade, and we’ve been best friends ever since. They also introduced me to the secret of red lips…red lip liner. It keeps your shade in place and also keeps the red from bleeding outside of your lip lines. Basically it helps make you look like Marilyn Monroe instead of someone who just had a giant glass of cherry Kool-aide.

But here’s the thing about those red lips. Even after I was taught by the pros and was rocking the look on a semi-regular basis, it didn’t feel right. I was always worried I looked weird and out of place. Could everyone tell I was a phony? That I really couldn’t sport this daring look? Were they pointing and laughing behind my back?

My husband, the original red lip hater, didn’t help things much. Even with the right color he HATES my red lips. Every single time I wear it, he comments on how much he doesn’t like it. And while that can sound harsh, there is a really sweet reason behind it. He likes me the way I am. He doesn’t like me all made up and, in general, finds me much sexier with messy hair lounging in my sweat pants. Red lips are just not his jam. He thinks they cover up my natural beauty, and he will probably never like how they look on me. Same goes for anything gold, gaudy or glam.

So for a long while, every time I wore this particular look, the routine would go like this: I’d put on my red lipstick, he’d say he hated it, and then I’d head out for the night feeling insecure or crappy about how I looked. Let me point out, he never said that I looked bad or was ugly, just that he didn’t like the red lipstick, but in my head, that was converted to “You are the ugliest person alive!” Which, I mean, come on! So dumb.

Then, a few months ago, I was participating in an online course where one assignment was to email people that loved us with the question, “What is my superpower?” One of my best friends sent this back:

“Your superpower lies within your red lipstick which allows you to kick major ass!”

This simple, funny comment flipped a switch in my brain. My red lipstick was my superpower! It was my signature! And it didn’t matter if people liked it or not. Seriously, the fact that some people like it, while wonderful, isn’t the point either. I LIKE IT. I LOVE IT! So I will wear it, regardless.

Since then, I’ve worn my red lips to dinner parties, movie nights, conferences and most recently a photo shoot for Sweet Lemon Magazine. Honestly, I don’t wear it on date nights with the husband, but that’s more out of respect for his right to have an opinion. Plus, it’s a lot less work to wear sweats and messy hair, so if that’s what gets his engine going, it works for me!

The moral of this story? This very long, vapid story about lipstick? Be you. Wear what you like, not because people will love it and not because people could hate it. Wear it because it’s your superpower, and if I’ve learned anything, it’s the world could use a few more (confident) superheroes.

This post is part of the Love Yourself Linkup. Visit here to learn more and read some amazing posts from real, beautiful, smart women.

These Girls

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Megan

Last fall Lucy joined the third soccer team of her short soccer career, one that is mostly full of girls from her elementary school. She has actually played for a few years, once on a random team of girls we didn’t know when she was in the pee-wee league, and two seasons on a team with her preschool friends, but this is the first time we’ve really felt at home. On our first team, Lu was by far the smallest and all the other girls were looking to be the next Mia Hamm. The second team was full of awesome girls, but it was far from our home, so getting to practices and games was a pain, especially as I was working full time.

But this team seems to be the perfect fit! Lucy is having a ton of fun hanging out with her friends from school at practices and games, and the team is very focused on skills and teamwork instead of just winning games. Which was a good thing this season, because for whatever reason, the league decided to make our tiny team of first graders play up a grade. We had several girls who had never played soccer before, playing against 8 and 9 year old girls who had been playing for years. These girls had such a hard season, and yet they kept smiling until the end. I am so proud of each and every one of them for working so hard, even when certainly wasn’t very fun. Our coaches were endlessly patient, and I feel pretty lucky they focused on the growth of our girls this year instead of on winning or losing. I’m actually sort of proud of our group of parents too. It’s the worst watching your kids get beaten in every game, especially when it’s so obviously unfair, but we tried to stay positive too. I think the great attitudes of our girls reflected what awesome parents they have.

Hopefully next year our league will be a bit more evenly matched, but until then, I’m going to focus on how proud I am of this team!

Happy Weekend : The Last Before Summer

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Megan

Today was a little funny around the Crazybananas house, it’s the last Friday before summer break. In less than a week, school will be out and our first summer with me at home (more) will commence. I am so very excited. In the past, summer’s have been sort of hard for me and the kids. With my old work schedule, and Lucy’s school schedule, all “summer” meant was scrambling even more to get childcare. It certainly never felt slower than the school year, in fact, it was probably more chaotic. Two summers ago we had a nanny full time, which was WONDERFUL, but so expensive. Last year Lucy went to daycare back at the place where she went to preschool, and where Tate goes, but it was still hard. She wanted to sleep in and hang at the pool, but our schedule just didn’t allow for that. I hated her missing out, and dreamed of late wake-up calls and lazy days in the summer sun.

This year is so completely different from where we were before. I will still be working two days a week in the office, and our fabulous former nanny Amanda will be with us on those days. But three days a week plus weekends it will just be me and the kids! I know it won’t be easy, and there will be days when I wish I could escape to an office, but hopefully those days will be few and far between.

The one thing I will miss are my mornings alone with Mr. Tate. For the past two years he’s been tagging along as we’ve run Lulu to this or that activity, with little regard to his wants or schedule. But while she was in school this semester and I was home, we finally got some time to hang out alone. Today we had our last lazy Friday, laying around in our PJs and playing trains, taking breaks only to watch some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It was lovely.

Next week it will all change. Again. That seems to be a theme in this here life of mine. So far, change is good. Let’s hope we keep the streak going!

A Photography Guide for the Non-Photographer

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Megan

So, you got a new camera for Mother’s Day, huh?! Lucky you! Or maybe you finally got your friend’s hand-me-down point and shoot. Or you’re just an Instagramming fool, taking tons of shots with your phone or other mobile device. Well, you don’t need to be a professional photographer to take beautiful photos, and you certainly don’t need the most expensive camera on the market. With a few easy tips and tricks, your photos will look awesome, regardless of your professional status or equipment.

1. Find the Light - I think this is the most important rule of thumb when it comes to any kind of photography. Light will make or break your image, and natural light is the way to go. Look for interesting shadows or backlighting that is a bit different from the norm. If you’re taking portraits of people, make sure not to have them in direct sunlight. Find a shaded spot or head out on a cloudy day instead. In terms of shooting time, first thing in the morning and right before sunset is when the natural light is at it’s best, so if you can work around that schedule, do it.

2. The Rule of Thirds – This is a basic photographic principle that’s pretty simple for even a novice to use. In it’s most simple form, the rule of thirds says that the frame of the photo can be broken down in to a grid with 9 parts and if you place the subject of your image on those grid lines it will be more interesting to the eye. For nerds like me, it means, simply, don’t center your subject. Crop at an angle that is a bit different and that can take your photo to another level.

3. Learn Your Camera - When I got my first digital SLR camera, I spent the first two months reading the manual cover to cover. It sounds tedious, but that was the best thing I could’ve done. Every camera is different and if you don’t understand what the buttons mean than you’re never going to get the most out of it.

4. Find Tutorials Online - The Internet is a magical place, isn’t it? It’s full of experts who will help you with pretty much anything, and that extends to photographers! Some of my favorite photography tutorials are on the Pioneer Woman’s site, where she goes through everything from exposure to aperture to focus to Photoshop with easy to follow images. If you’re looking for great photography apps, I’ve done a few round ups of those right here and here that will really help you out if your a smartphone photographer.

5. Have Fun! – I know, that’s annoying advice, but it’s true! Keep trying different things until you find what works for you. Get out and shoot whenever you can and eventually you will find yourself with images that will blow your mind. Happy snapping!

(All photos in this post, other than the first one (by Christina Gepner), were taken by me with the iPhone 4S, proof you don’t need a $3,000 camera to get some fantastic results!)