My Favorite Beauty Icon: My Mom

My mom and me: Just cal us "The Cheekbone Twins"

My mom and me: Just call us “The Cheekbone Twins”

 

“You are so beautiful, Mommy.”

These are the words I can remember thinking in my head, long before I can even remember being able to say these words to her.

Then, when I could talk, I told her so much, that she would actually tell me not to.

She never believed them.

But I could never refrain.

Because my mom is THAT beautiful.

I always wanted to look like her, and while I always looked more like my dad, I love that Facebook now tags her every time I post a picture of myself.

Seems like I had to grow into myself before I could grow into her cheekbones.

She will always be the definition of beauty to me.

And, it doesn’t hurt that she’s killer smart.

Wicked combo.

xoxo,
Dawn

 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I truly am The Luckiest.
Happy birthday to the woman –
who taught me how to be a woman,
who loved me as a little girl,
the woman at whom I would stare for hours wishing that I would one day be as beautiful as her.

Happy Birthday to the woman –
I told – and still tell to this day – all of my secrets to.
The woman to whom I would say how beautiful she was every day ad nauseam until she literally made me stop.
My teatime partner.
My margarita partner.
My cheese and Wine partner.
My partner in all things.

I hope that I am as good a daughter as the mother you’ve been to me.
And I pray that one day I’ll be half the mother that you are.
I know that you would like me to live the single life forever and live in Tuscany and Paris and such but seeing you be the mom that you were and are makes me want to be a mom one day.
You just make it look so beautiful.

You have accomplished so many exemplary achievements in your life but this one is your best.
Everything I am is because of you. And I could not imagine a minute without you in my life. I truly am the luckiest.

I love you the whole wide world and back again.

High-Low 10/28/13, Part 2: Dallas Moments ( last 5 out of 10) and Pushing Buttons

HIGH: My Trip Home to Dallas, Part 1

Well, my trip home to Dallas was just one big High, really. So here are the last 5 of my Top 10 Dallas moments.

5) Moments with Mom. My mom is my best friend and we have too, TOO much fun when we get together. Whether it be high tea at Eden Cafe

Tea w/ Mom is one of my favorite traditions that we have. We've been doing it since I was 8!!

or sharing shocking secrets at Mi Cocina

Oh, what will we talk about next? I suppose it just depends on the adventures we have between now and Christmas...

You never know what’s going to come up in one of our tête-à-têtes!

4) With all of my family and old friends in Dallas, it’s always fun to find a new one. That’s why I adored getting to happy hour it up at Truck Yard with my new friend, KellyAnn Sutton of Anthropologie. KellyAnn and I actually met through Instagram!! How current is that? And we were delighted to find that we’re definitely meant to be friends!! So thankful to know her.

Happy Hour at the super cool Truck Yard in Dallas with my new friend, KellyAnn Sutton of Anthropologie

 

3) While many of my friends have nieces and nephews, our family has always veered a bit from the norm. So, I was delighted to get to spend a little quality time with my big brother, David, and my stuffed coyote nephew, Archibald by the pool. Yep, totally normal – us McCoys.

With my stuffed-coyote-nephew, Archibald...don't ask.

 

2) As if you thought we hadn’t gone to Mi Cocina enough already as a family, we also take our friends. It’s become a tradition that we sip margaritas and snack on tex-mex at Mi Cocina with my dear friends from college, Tadd and Jenna Tate. We always laugh our way through the meal and we always – and I do mean, ALWAYS – close the place down!

Another night of oversharing & laughter at Mi Cocina with my family & friends

 

1) One of my favorite bakeries on the planet is Tart Bakery in Dallas. So I was delighted when Tart sent me back to LA in style with a BeautyFrosting-themed cakelet! What a sweet and delicious delight!

A BF-themed cakelet from Tart Bakery in Dallas

LOW: Pushing Buttons

No family is perfect...

Well, after that much fun, something a little dreary was bound to happen. And it did the last night I was in Dallas. Our family went to Meddlesome Moth and, well, my big brother and I ended up getting into a tiff. Here’s the thing about family – the fact that you know each other best and have known each other longest is truly a double-edged sword. After all, they totally understand who you are because they’ve seen everything you’ve been through; but in times of struggle and conflict, they also really know how to push your buttons. So I was sad to leave without telling my brother goodbye. And I hate, hate, HATE doing that. But the upside? We both realized our wrongs and apologized. We’re fine now but I just hate that I left Dallas on a sour note. My brother actually suggested coming up with a safe word so when we start pushing buttons again, we can agree to shelve the dispute for a different time. I liiiiiiike this. Now, just to put it into use…

The Best Gift I Ever Received from my Mom: After A While…

Just in time for graduation, I want to share this with you.

The best gift I ever received was from my mother.

 

Clarice McCoy, my Mother

It was Christmas Day 1995. My senior year of high school.

I was sitting on the stairs of our new townhouse that she had bought following a long-overdue divorce, from my father, after 29 years of marriage.

We were depleted emotionally, physically and spiritually; and, yet, we were also strangely renewed.

When I unwrapped the gift and laid the pretty paper aside, I saw in my hands, a bubblegum-pink tome of a book, “Miss Manners: A Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior”.

I laughed. If you know me, you understand! I immediately loved it!
I mean it was pink! DINGBubblegum pink at that! DING DING!!

Aaaaand it was a 745 page book about good manners, being nice and being a lady.

DING DING DING!!!

Miss Manners by Judith Martin

I ran over to Mom and hugged & kissed her. I felt so proud of, and for, this woman who had recently recovered from the aforementioned divorce AND raising a daughter and son lovingly while living with Interconnective Tissue Disease (a hateful combo disease of Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis).

My Nanny (my mom’s mom and the other beloved matriarch in my life) was there too. I remember that there was such a peace to her that Christmas – like, “Okay, now my baby girl is happy and on her own and all is good in the world. Thank you, God.”

Unbeknownst to us, at the time, it would be her last Christmas.

As I was hugging my Mom, she asked me, “Did you look inside?”
I shook my head no. She told me, “You really want to look inside.”
Inside was the best present I have ever been given.

See, years before – when I was 13 – I had found a quote in a Dear Abby column during our morning newspaper reads at La Madeleine. A small piece of prose that I had just fallen in love with. I had torn out the piece from the paper, recorded it in my quote book and kept it on my bulletin board for YEARS.

I just knew, at the time, that these words would give me great comfort in life. It was a quote-soulmate, if you will. Here ’tis:

After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.

Wow. I was hooked.
At that time, I had told my Mom, “If you ever find the poet or whole poem that this belongs to, please buy it or cut it out of the periodical for me. Pretty please!”
I said that knowing that the request would be lost in time. And I too forgot…after a while.

Now, 5 years later, that very poem, in its entirety, was written HERE in my Mother’s beautiful cursive handwriting on the inside front PINK pages of this book that would become one of my most prized possessions.
She had inscribed:

To Dawn, My Southern Sweetheart and My Southern Belle, here is everything you need to know about “Correct Behavior”. May all your dreams come true! You’re already the most gracious Southern Lady I know. Love and Kisses, Mom (Christmas 95)

Then on the second page was this treasure:

“After A While” by Veronica A. Shofstall

After A While 

(Veronica A. Shoffstall, copyright 1971)

After a while, you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul. and you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning and company doesn’t always mean security.

And you begin to learn
that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents aren’t promises.
And you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down
in mid-flight.

 

After a while, you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure,
you really are strong,
you really do have worth,
and you learn,
and you learn – 
with every goodbye, you learn…

Love you the whole wide world
and back again,
Mom

Well, as I had predicted at 13, I came to rely on these words very much over the years.

Deaths of loved ones that I could’t bear to live without,

friendships that seemed like they’d never end…that ended,

love that was lovely but wasn’t meant to last forever (“kisses aren’t contracts”),

and plans, of a future, that definitely have a way of “falling down in mid-flight”.

But, you know what?
I learned.

I have learned and learned and continue to learn so much every day.

And I am so grateful. I am a better woman, daughter, sister, friend, girlfriend, and, (perhaps, one day) wife and mother because of these difficult lessons learned.

Sometimes you learn things you never even knew you needed to learn! With every goodbye, I did learn. But with every hello, I do, too.

And I would never take any one of those lessons back.

I planted my own garden and tend to it as best I can every day, continue to decorate my own soul (and house and this blog and…), and, well, I’ve learned that with every goodbye you do learn, that you really can endureyou really are strong and you really do have worth.

So, THANK YOU MOM, for remembering my little 13-year old heart’s wish and giving me the grace of a woman at such a young age.

I love YOU the whole wide world and back again.

 

xoxo,

BF

BF Suggests: Share this with your daughter, or mom, or friend. It truly is a gift!

 

 

WWW: Julie C. – an old friend’s photo-fabulous lipcolor on Facebook caught my eye!

So, readers are often asking how I pick a WWW (Whatcha’ Wearin’ Wednesday) girl. I’ve been asked if I ever pick them from my friends, online, on Facebook, from pictures, etc.

In this case, yes, yes, yes and yes.
Meet Julie C:

Julie C. and her concert-“reddy”, perfect red pout in Bobbi Brown Burnt Red

I met Julie in college and we have seen each other a number of times since then – what with weddings, showers, college reunions and even a trip to Santa Rosa, Florida for our mutual dear friend, Cathleen’s 30th birthday!

So, Julie is no stranger on the street to me. But, even with all that, when I saw this pic of her flashing a gorgeous smile with a gorgeous shade of red (along with her college sweetheart-husband, Matt) on Facebook, I had to ask Whatcha’ wearing’, Julie?

 BF: Julie, yet again, that is a gorgeous picture of you and Matt! You have to tell me what you’re wearing in this picture! I loooove that lipstick! What is it? (Too gushy?)

Julie C: Bobbi Brown Burnt Red Lipstick 
with a little Bobbi Brown high shimmer lip gloss over it!

BF: Where did you wear it? Or, shall I say, where did you rock it?

Julie C: Wore it to the Black Keys concert with my husband, Matt, and best friends

Our WWW girl Julie & her husband, Matt

BF: How did you decide on that shade?

Julie C: I love the pop of color and how it makes my lips show up in pictures!
I knew I wanted a red lipstick, and I picked it after trying out several at the Bobbi Brown counter.

BF: Is this a shade you always wear or is it a special occasion shade?

Julie C: Definitely a special occasion shade OR if I’m wearing very understated outfit–like black jeans and white t-shirt. My signature shade is usually Bobbi Brown Brownie.

BF: Did you keep the rest of your makeup simple, etc.?

Julie C: Yes, I keep the rest of my make-up simple… I do like a red cheek though!

BF: What beauty tips/rituals did your mom teach you?

Julie C: My mom dragged me to the Clinque counter my junior year of college! She was always helpful in not overdoing makeup, just making it look fresh and simple. With a pop of lipstick!
She has always been good about her nighttime routine of face washing and moisturizing. And got me into the routine as well.

BF: You have a beautiful daughter, Annie. What beauty rituals and lessons are you planning on passing on to her?

Julie C:  Annie is 9–tear(!)–and now just started getting into my make-up! We have purchased lip glosses so far. I’ve also taught her how to use my lipstick for the lips and then the cheeks for her dance competitions. But not TOO much! Just enough to make her feel good and still her age at those crazy dance events!

BF: Oh my goodness! Where has the time gone? Good plan on the lip gloss! I might have a few tips for you on that! I also highly suggest getting her into a skincare routine at 12. The Clinique counter is a great place to start! Thank you so much for sharing this gorgeous shade and beautiful beauty tips with us! Also, Julie, this photo you took of your kids, George & Annie,  is BREATHTAKING!!!

Photo by Julie Crouch, 2012

xoxo,
BF

BF Asks: Do you want to be our WWW (Whatcha-Wearin’-Wednesday) Girl?
You can! Just send us a pic of one of your fave looks with WWW in the subject line. 

BF QOD: Einstein delights…

BF QOD: Einstein Delights

“The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before.” (Albert Einstein)

 

Oooh, I like that. A lot.

WWW: Julie C. – an old friend’s photo-fabulous lipcolor on Facebook caught my eye!

Quote

So, readers are often asking how I pick a WWW (Whatcha’ Wearin’ Wednesday) girl. I’ve been asked if I ever pick them from my friends, online, on Facebook, from pictures, etc.

In this case, yes, yes, yes and yes.
Meet Julie C:

Julie C. and her concert-"reddy", perfect red pout in Bobbi Brown Burnt Red

I met Julie in college and we have seen each other a number of times since then – what with weddings, showers, college reunions and even a trip to Santa Rosa, Florida for our mutual dear friend, Cathleen’s 30th birthday!

So, Julie is no stranger on the street to me. But, even with all that, when I saw this pic of her flashing a gorgeous smile with a gorgeous shade of red (along with her college sweetheart-husband, Matt) on Facebook, I had to ask Whatcha’ wearing’, Julie?

 BF: Julie, yet again, that is a gorgeous picture of you and Matt! You have to tell me what you’re wearing in this picture! I loooove that lipstick! What is it? (Too gushy?)

Julie C: Bobbi Brown Burnt Red Lipstick 
with a little Bobbi Brown high shimmer lip gloss over it!

BF: Where did you wear it? Or, shall I say, where did you rock it?

Julie C: Wore it to the Black Keys concert with my husband, Matt, and best friends

Our WWW girl Julie & her husband, Matt

BF: How did you decide on that shade?

Julie C: I love the pop of color and how it makes my lips show up in pictures!
I knew I wanted a red lipstick, and I picked it after trying out several at the Bobbi Brown counter.

BF: Is this a shade you always wear or is it a special occasion shade?

Julie C: Definitely a special occasion shade OR if I’m wearing very understated outfit–like black jeans and white t-shirt. My signature shade is usually Bobbi Brown Brownie.

BF: Did you keep the rest of your makeup simple, etc.?

Julie C: Yes, I keep the rest of my make-up simple… I do like a red cheek though!

BF: What beauty tips/rituals did your mom teach you?

Julie C: My mom dragged me to the Clinque counter my junior year of college! She was always helpful in not overdoing makeup, just making it look fresh and simple. With a pop of lipstick!
She has always been good about her nighttime routine of face washing and moisturizing. And got me into the routine as well.

BF: You have a beautiful daughter, Annie. What beauty rituals and lessons are you planning on passing on to her?

Julie C:  Annie is 9–tear(!)–and now just started getting into my make-up! We have purchased lip glosses so far. I’ve also taught her how to use my lipstick for the lips and then the cheeks for her dance competitions. But not TOO much! Just enough to make her feel good and still her age at those crazy dance events!

BF: Oh my goodness! Where has the time gone? Good plan on the lip gloss! I might have a few tips for you on that! I also highly suggest getting her into a skincare routine at 12. The Clinique counter is a great place to start! Thank you so much for sharing this gorgeous shade and beautiful beauty tips with us! Also, Julie, this photo you took of your kids, George & Annie,  is BREATHTAKING!!!

Photo by Julie Crouch, 2012

xoxo,
BF

BF Asks: Do you want to be our WWW (Whatcha-Wearin’-Wednesday) Girl?
You can! Just send us a pic of one of your fave looks with WWW in the subject line. 

Happy Mother’s Day 2012!!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of of you beautiful mothers out there!
You make a difficult-yet-delicate job look as easy as pie!

Sending you as much love, as you dole out daily, today!

Every day I become a little bit more like my mother...and I couldn't be prouder!

Every day I become a little bit more like my mother...and I couldn't be prouder!

For more posts on my Mom and BF’s Mother’s Day Gift-Giving Guide and BF Mother’s Day Card Writing Guide!

xoxo,

BF

 

BF Asks: How are you celebrating Mother’s Day today?

 

BF QOD: A Mother’s Advice

My Mom gave me this poem as a gift. And what a gift it was! My favorite quote in the world. Really, a poem.

For more on that, see here: The Best Gift I Ever Received from my Mom: After A While

"After A While" by Veronica A. Shofstall

After A While 

(Veronica A. Shoffstall, copyright 1971)

After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul and you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning and company doesn’t always mean security.

And you begin to learn
that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents aren’t promises
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of woman, not the grief of a child
and you learn
to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow’s ground is
too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down
in mid-flight.

After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
you really are strong
you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn
with every goodbye, you learn…

The Best Gift I Ever Received from my Mom: After A While…

The best gift I ever received was from my mother.

Clarice McCoy, my Mother

It was Christmas Day 1995. My senior year of high school.

I was sitting on the stairs of our new townhouse that she had bought following a long-overdue divorce, from my father, after 29 years of marriage.

We were depleted emotionally, physically and spiritually; and, yet, we were also strangely renewed.

When I unwrapped the gift and laid the pretty paper aside, I saw in my hands, a bubblegum-pink tome of a book, “Miss Manners: A Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior”.

I laughed. If you know me, you understand! I immediately loved it!
I mean it was pink! DING! Bubblegum pink at that! DING DING!!

Aaaaand it was a 745 page book about good manners, being nice and being a lady.

DING DING DING!!!

Miss Manners by Judith Martin

I ran over to Mom and hugged & kissed her. I felt so proud of, and for, this woman who had recently recovered from the aforementioned divorce AND raising a daughter and son lovingly while living with Interconnective Tissue Disease (a hateful combo disease of Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis).

My Nanny (my mom’s mom and the other beloved matriarch in my life) was there too. I remember that there was such a peace to her that Christmas – like, “Okay, now my baby girl is happy and on her own and all is good in the world. Thank you, God.”

Unbeknownst to us, at the time, it would be her last Christmas.

As I was hugging my Mom, she asked me, “Did you look inside?”
I shook my head no. She told me, “You really want to look inside.”
Inside was the best present I have ever been given.

See, years before – when I was 13 – I had found a quote in a Dear Abby column during our morning newspaper reads at La Madeleine. A small piece of prose that I had just fallen in love with. I had torn out the piece from the paper, recorded it in my quote book and kept it on my bulletin board for YEARS.

I just knew, at the time, that these words would give me great comfort in life. It was a quote-soulmate, if you will. Here ’tis:

After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.

Wow. I was hooked.
At that time, I had told my Mom, “If you ever find the poet or whole poem that this belongs to, please buy it or cut it out of the periodical for me. Pretty please!”
I said that knowing that the request would be lost in time. And I too forgot…after a while.

Now, 5 years later, that very poem, in its entirety, was written HERE in my Mother’s beautiful cursive handwriting on the inside front PINK pages of this book that would become one of my most prized possessions.
She had inscribed:

To Dawn, My Southern Sweetheart and My Southern Belle, here is everything you need to know about "Correct Behavior". May all your dreams come true! You're already the most gracious Southern Lady I know. Love and Kisses, Mom (Christmas 95)

Then on the second page was this treasure:

"After A While" by Veronica A. Shofstall

After A While 

(Veronica A. Shoffstall, copyright 1971)

After a while, you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul. and you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning and company doesn’t always mean security.

And you begin to learn
that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents aren’t promises.
And you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down
in mid-flight.

 

After a while, you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure,
you really are strong,
you really do have worth,
and you learn,
and you learn – 
with every goodbye, you learn…

Love you the whole wide world
and back again,
Mom

Well, as I had predicted at 13, I came to rely on these words very much over the years.

Deaths of loved ones that I could’t bear to live without,

friendships that seemed like they’d never end…that ended,

love that was lovely but wasn’t meant to last forever (“kisses aren’t contracts”),

and plans, of a future, that definitely have a way of “falling down in mid-flight”.

But, you know what?
I learned.

I have learned and learned and continue to learn so much every day.

And I am so grateful. I am a better woman, daughter, sister, friend, girlfriend, and, (perhaps, one day) wife and mother because of these difficult lessons learned.

Sometimes you learn things you never even knew you needed to learn! With every goodbye, I did learn. But with every hello, I do, too.

And I would never take any one of those lessons back.

I planted my own garden and tend to it as best I can every day, continue to decorate my own soul (and house and this blog and…), and, well, I’ve learned that with every goodbye you do learn that you really can endure, you really are strong and you really do have worth.

So, THANK YOU MOM, for remembering my little 13-year old heart’s wish and giving me the grace of a woman at such a young age.

I love YOU the whole wide world and back again.

 

xoxo,

BF

BF Suggests: Share this with your daughter, or mom, or friend. It truly is a gift!