An Ordinary Day...

Wednesday, April 12th started off as an ordinary day. The alarm sounded off at 6:00 a.m. like it always did. Reggie did his work day morning ritual, showering, grooming, selecting a suit and accessorizing with the perfect accents for Read more

Why are some people mean?

Why are some people mean? I'm not talking about a little mean, but bazaar, go out of their way to be mean. Recently I've encountered a few mean people, I remind myself that these situations will make me a stronger Read more

Maldives

Our last trip of 2016 was to the Maldives. Last year was one full of excursions, We traveled to Cameroon, Paris, Bali, Hawaii, New Orleans, New York, Chicago, Lake Tahoe, Atlanta, Napa, San Francisco, Dubai, and I must say Read more

Quote

It's okay to venture out of your comfort zone... Lately I've been doing it quite often. This weekend is going to be one of renewal, my personal Super Bowl. What are your plans? I will be working today and tomorrow. Happy Read more

Do you enjoy yourself?

Both of my kids are in New York, my son is in school in the Hudson Valley and my daughter is living in Brooklyn and working. So we are officially empty nesters, and have been so for a while Read more

sadness

Makeup? or Cover Up?

Posted on by Gigi in friendship 2 Comments
monique

monique

In my photography business I use a professional makeup artist on almost all my shoots. I tend to form strong relationships with the artists I work with, hence professional relationships often creep over to friendships. Monique Woolley was one of those, she was a delightful young woman that could easily have been my daughter. She came into my  business at a time when my other makeup artist had a medical emergency, and was going to need time off to heal. The first time she worked for me she came in with her platinum blond curls, and her stylist diva mom Amour, the 2 of them waved their magic wand and transformed my sister Romanna, not only physically but mentally.

Monique

Monique

I got to know her family, and she got to know mine. She loved her little adorable 7 year-old boy Noah, we would adjust our schedule so she could always tend to her mommy duties. She always updated us on the current Noah story, while drinking my signature tea latte that I would make for her. She talked about her family a lot, her brothers, her sister and her mom and dad.

Monique & Noah

Monique & Noah

 

Over the year and a few months that I got to know her, we shared lots of laughs and stories about being a celebrity makeup artist in Hollywood, and interesting tidbits about how some clients you had to talk to their assistants while doing their makeup, because “they” did not want to speak to a “lowly” makeup artist directly. She was a perfectionist, always going beyond to please our clients, everyone who she touched loved her. She had a way of putting everyone at ease who sat in her chair, even the ones who were unsure about the “makeup” process and what the outcome would be. She could please the young ones, and my diva clients who were set in their ways and not open to new trends. I’m now learning moment by moment that behind that beautiful smile was a sad woman, a woman who was battling depression. Just like the makeup she so skillfully applied hiding blemishes and imperfections on my clients she was a master in concealing her pain.

Monique

Monique

I started thinking about how most of us are hiding our blemishes daily, with our own “makeup”, including moi. It becomes so routine, like the concealer, I never go out without, tapping a little bit on to camouflage those little annoying dark spots that never go away completely.

I can’t help but to wonder is there something I could have done. How could I have missed her sadness, and then I think about myself and how I am a master of hiding my emotions, while I’m an open book for the most part we all have the little shit that stays in the crevices.

I questioned why is it difficult for me to emote and I came to the conclusion that I’m a good listener and everyone can “dump” on me because I’m so “together”…Really?  Not at all…I conceal a lot of what is going on in my life. I’m stressed about my business, I’m stressed about results from medical tests, I’m stressed about my kids, the list goes on and on. I don’t talk about it much, mostly I listen to others, most who are clueless to my struggles.

What to I do about it? I meditate, practice yoga and make sure I do “me” on a regular basis. Going forward though, I am going to share my feelings, listen to others closely, because at the end of the day we all want to know that someone genuinely cares about us and our well being. If you are feeling pain…reach out to someone you trust, don’t hold it in…we do care.

RIP Monique you will be missed by so many…

The last day I saw Monique

The last day I saw Monique…

 

 


CHAOS

Posted on by Gigi in My Life, Uncategorized 2 Comments

 

lily

cha·os  (ks)

n.

1. A condition or place of great disorder or confusion.
2. A disorderly mass; a jumble: The desk was a chaos of papers and unopened letters.
3. often Chaos The disordered state of unformed matter and infinite space supposed in some cosmogonic views to have existed before the ordered universe.
4. Mathematics A dynamical system that has a sensitive dependence on its initial conditions.
5. Obsolete An abyss; a chasm.

Originally I had a different post planned for today, something light and “happy”, but as I was driving home chatting with my girlfriend, our call was interrupted by another call from her sister, of course we quickly released the line as we were talking about frivolous things. Within seconds my phone rang again and my friend screamed “MY BROTHER DIED” and before I could respond the call dropped. I immediately thought about when I lost my own brother a little over 3 years ago, and all the complexities of losing a family member suddenly, a complete state of chaos. Death brings out so many emotions in all of us, relationships are compromised, you learn a lot about your family, sometimes you see a side you don’t even recognize.

Tomorrow I will be back, with a “happy” post. I know everyone says this, but don’t take your family and friends for granted, our lives are so fragile and anything can happen to us at any moment. Take time to tell your loved ones how you feel about them, if you are having a conflict try and resolve it.

Thank you for taking a moment out of your day to stop by my blog, and I love all of you…

Xoxo,

Gigi

sadness

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