Big Girl Panties Diaries — Entry #81 - Lipstick, Spanx, and a Dress That Lies on Your Behalf
“Never underestimate the power of lipstick, Spanx, and a dress that lies on your behalf.”
Some mornings, I wake up feeling like a queen. Other mornings, it feels like the world already staged a coup and forgot to tell me. But the reality is—meetings don’t care, presentations don’t reschedule themselves, and life doesn’t pause just because you’re running on caffeine and prayer.
So what’s a girl to do? I stand tall. I swipe on lipstick like it’s war paint. I blast my Don’t Mess with Me Mix—the playlist that convinces me I’m entering an arena, not a conference room. And then I head to my dress collection — which is one of the reasons I always overpack. Because here’s the thing: I don’t just wear dresses, I collect them like some women collect fine wine.
A good dress can do things Spanx can only dream of. It skims, it hugs, it flatters, and sometimes it magically helps you “lose” ten pounds without a single crunch or kale smoothie. Honestly, who needs therapy when you have a wrap dress that erases regret and carbs in one swoop?
Pair that dress with heels that click confidence into the floor and jewelry big enough to double as self-defense weapons, and suddenly, I’m not just showing up—I’m serving CEO energy with a side of runway.
And here’s the best part: nobody knows the truth. They don’t see the exhaustion, the under-eye circles, or the pep talk I gave myself in the bathroom mirror. They don’t see the mom quietly carrying the weight of a daughter’s chronic illness, always searching for answers. They don’t see the nights of not enough sleep and the mornings I’m scraping together energy I don’t have. And I know I’m not alone in that. What they do see is a woman who looks pulled together, commanding the room in a killer dress.
Sometimes you don’t feel your best. Sometimes you are exhausted and searching for energy that doesn’t exist—when even caffeine taps out. And that’s when it’s time to pull up those Big Girl Panties. And a huge shout out to everyone who feels like this and still consistently shows up - I see you!
Big Girl Panties Diaries Rule: A dress can’t fix everything—but sometimes Spanx, lipstick, caffeine, your Don’t Mess with Me Mix, and those Big Girl Panties buy you just enough strength to keep showing up.
✨ If lipstick and Spanx are today’s survival kit, mascara and duct tape had their moment too — [Entry #72: Duct Tape, Mascara, and Other Ways I Hold It Together].
✨ Sometimes the dress carries me. Sometimes it’s my daughters. Read more about resilience in [Entry #73: She Got the License—And I Got a Masterclass in Resilience] and [Entry #74: The Sister Who Holds Us Together].
✨ Because let’s be honest: the polished version of me isn’t the whole story. I unpack that in [Entry #38: Professional Me Is My PR Team — Meet the Real Me].
✨ And for those nights when no dress (or caffeine) can save me? There’s always [Entry #78: 3 A.M. Knows Things You Don’t].