Remember those scenes in When Harry Met Sally where the couples are sitting on the couch discussing how they met?
I love stories like that.
I remember our first date like it was yesterday.
He picked me up at the back door of the house that we live in now and I greeted him with a smile full of red lipstick, an add-a-bead necklace, 4″ high bangs sprayed with Aqua Net hairspray, and an incredible outfit consisting of a prairie skirt and a sweater vest covered in glued-on plaid bows.
I think I might have even had on high-heeled shoes and socks with my name written on them in bubble letters.
At the risk of stating the obvious…..
…I looked amazing.
My heart skipped a beat when I opened the door and saw him.
He was cute with these dimples and brown wavy hair and big brown eyes that kind of looked like Johnny Depp and he had his own car.
And he loved my red lipstick.
All the really important things in life.
It’s been years since that first date and our wedding and there have been a few things he’s discovered along the way.
I come up with more ideas for crazy DIY projects than anyone on this planet.
I tear up ALL THE TIME at random commercials.
I have no idea which way is north, south, east, or west.
I completely and utterly underestimate the amount of time that it takes to do something.
I am known to change conversation directions at the drop of a hat.
And that there are always at least 47 tubes of Loreal 350 British Red lipstick all over our house.
Seriously.
Those red lipstick tubes are everywhere.
In the desk drawers.
In the bathroom.
In the car.
In the kitchen drawer.
In all my bags and purses and make-up kits.
I can’t help it. I like to put on a little red lipstick at the drop of a hat and I don’t want to have to travel far to do it.
But sometimes?
All that red lipstick preparedness lets me down when I least expect it.
Sigh.
Like our anniversary dinner on the cruise.
It had been the most wonderful night.
We celebrated with friends and the waiters brought out courses of salad and soup and rolls and lobster and steak. We finished off the dinner with a two-layer dessert with our names on it and everyone sang and clapped and celebrated with us.
And after the meal was finished.
After the last cup of coffee was done.
We decided to head over to the show.
I put down my coffee cup and smacked my lips and realized I had eaten off most of my lipstick and reached for my faithful British Red 350.
Except.
Except in all the haste of getting ready and checking my outfit and walking down hallway after hallway to get to the restaurant on the ship…
…I forgot my purse.
Oh. no.
And my British Red was 7 decks down and 2,000 steps away.
An anniversary night without lipstick?
Could I? Would I?
And even without the commercial where the guy is wiping down mirrors and singing Love Sweet Love and then takes center stage and sings his heart out…
…I almost started to cry.
// Loreal British Red 350 //
And then I turned around and saw this.
My husband’s hand.
Holding out a tube of Loreal British Red with a twinkle in his eye.
“Looking for something?” he said.
How in the world? WHAT?
Somehow, someway without me even asking him to bring it? He knew I would need a little red lipstick so he popped it into his pocket.
It was just an ordinary moment but he made it extraordinary. He knew I’d need that red lipstick because he knows me. And right then and there in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on a cruise ship….
….I fell a little more in love with him.
If I could go back all those years ago and give a little advice to that 19-year-old KariAnne in her bubble letter socks.
I’d tell her to floss every day.
And buy Apple stock.
And listen to her mother.
And buckle her seatbelt.
Be kinder to her bangs.
And marry the man….
….who brings along her red lipstick.
PS Thanks for all the questions. The dress is old from Tuckernuck, but if you want to see the lipstick that launched a love story?
You can see Loreal British Red 350 here (and there’s a $2 off coupon right now if you want to try the most amazing red lipstick).
disclosure: affiliate links are used in this post.
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