Mornings are such a rush for me and usually I run the kids to school in my sweats with my hair tied up in a rubber band, no make up. This day was different because my beautiful Costa Rican friend who is tall , with mocha colored skin , and looks way younger than her years, had invited me for coffee at 9. I wanted to keep up , at least a little.

I rushed the boys off to school, came back to the house ,put on some decent looking clothes , foundation, blush , lipstick and grabbing a mascara to put on in the car as my time was screaming away from me and I don’t like to be late. I might add , not whilst driving but maybe at a red light ( oops, sorry person behind me honking). I’ve never been great at applying make up , just the basics. I’ll leave the contouring to the teenagers as I wipe lipstick off my teeth.

Well, I get halfway there and I reach out for my mascara. Not on the seat next to me , not on the car floor , not in my purse , I even pulled over to look for it. I glance into the rear view mirror and all I see are these little piggy eyes staring back at me. My eyes are a grey blue and one of my only decent features in a face full of freckles and crooked teeth. I felt the hair in the back of my neck stand up.

What to do? I’m already running late and I can’t run into a drugstore and the fact that I have 4 new mascaras in my bathroom purchased last week gnawing at my decision.

I’m not kidding when I looked around for alternatives ( ladies use lipstick as blush on occasion and other alternates) but all I had was a sharpie marker. Luckily I talked myself down from that one.

I’m not sure that a male reader who doesn’t use cosmetics can relate but it’s like having a five o’clock shadow going to an important interview.

I once saw a photo of a panda without the circles around its eyes likening that to a lass without mascara ! That’s exactly what I felt , bare.

Nothing for it but to pop on the sunglasses and feign a headache thus hiding the small , and getting smaller the more I stared and worried about them , eyes.

I arrived at her door and as she greeted me I saw that SHE HAD NO MAKE UP ON!

Phew. Glasses off , coffee in hand and then inwardly chastising myself for being so vain and worried. I told her and we laughed. She’s a friend not a critic. I should have known that. I did know that. I do know that.

Needless to say ,there is a small make up kit in the glovebox in the car for such future events.