Task 10: Have a freebie make-up session in a department store

This particular task might seem a rather trivial and self-indulgent one to some, but for me it's definitely a one for the Facing Fears section. In glossy department stores I’ve spent more years than I care to remember head down avoiding eye contact with make-up consultants when walking through the beauty sections. Those perfectly made-up faces, flawless complexions, immaculately painted nails, beautifully styled hair – quite terrifying!  And I’d imagine sitting at a counter having my make-up done whilst hundreds of women (also with perfectly made-up faces etc) were walking past and thinking to themselves 'That poor make-up consultant - she's got a job on her hands there'. But at the same time, my mini phobia has resulted in total ignorance on my part about products and techniques that might be best suited to my maturing years. Hence having a freebie make-up session in a department store seemed a task well worth adding to my list. 

A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking ahead to our forthcoming weekend in New York and had another of my light bulb moments - Bloomingdales is located just a few blocks from the hotel we were due to stay at, so perhaps I could make Task 10 even more challenging for myself and have that make-up session in one of the glossiest department stores in the Western world......?

I identified three strategies to help me complete the task:

1. Head for Bobbi Brown counter (Bobbi Brown's philosophy of ‘be who you are’ sounded good)
2. Book appointment in advance (chance to pre-select understanding make-up artist)
3. Ask Lucy to accompany me to appointment (to act as my protector and stop me from running away)

 And so it was that on 21 June at 2.30pm Lucy and I arrived at the Bobbi Brown section in Bloomingdales. We were late, it was 32 degrees outside and my appearance was glowing to say the least.  But once sitting at the counter in the expert hands of my very welcoming make-up artist, Alison Tam, I began to calm down. I allowed Lucy to take a photo of me without my make-up on (unbelievable) and I very quickly forgot about the people walking past me (NB did they all have perfectly made up faces? I haven't a clue!)

When Alison had completed her work, she gave me a mirror to show me the results and I was actually able to scrutinize my reflection without flinching. I especially loved her very skilful use of eye-liner and the light as a feather foundation (effective but subtle - or ‘pretty powerful’ as Bobbi Brown would say). 

During the make-up lesson I was given loads of make-up tips and ideas without any pressure whatsoever to buy anything. But if there’s one key message I took away from my session, it's that good quality make-up brushes are worth their weight in gold, and so I did splash out on one (along with that fab foundation and eye-liner of course). And now I’m not only the enthusiastic user of a new make-up range, but also potentially a more confident customer at make-up counters in smart department stores. So Fenwicks beauty department in Tunbridge Wells, be warned, I may yet pay you a visit!

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Task 33: Visit the One World Observatory in New York

When I started putting together my Sixty at 60 list a few months ago, I knew that I'd be visiting New York with Andrew and Lucy in June 2015, and since it’s one of my favourite places in the world (and indeed Lucy's favourite place in the world), it seemed only right and proper to include an NY-based task, with the two provisos that it must be a new experience for me and one that would be a fitting tribute to the city.  I thought of taking a trip on the Staten Island ferry….or walking the length of the Brooklyn Bridge….or climbing to the top of the Statue of Liberty. Then I spotted an article in the Times reporting that the Observatory at One World Trade Center would be opening to the public on 29 May, and had a light bulb moment. On each of our weekend trips to New York since 9/11, Andrew and I have made a point of going to the World Trade Center site to watch it regaining its momentum and sense of identity. And so it seemed a fitting task indeed to visit the One World Observatory and celebrate the completion of OneWTC. Within ten minutes of reading the Times article, I had booked tickets for us on 21 June.

We woke up three days ago to the sight of rain, mist and murk in mid-town Manhattan. The weather forecast indicated heavy showers at 11.30 am, the very time at which we were due to be crossing the threshold of OneWTC. However, just as we emerged from the subway, the breeze picked up, the clouds miraculously parted and there soaring high above us was OneWTC shimmering in the sunshine. 

We felt a whoosh of excitement - maybe we'd see more than just a blanket of soggy clouds from the top after all? Once inside the building we joined a long but fast moving queue for the lift, where we watched an amazing 30 second potted history of New York whilst whizzing up 102 floors to the Observatory. We all piled out of the lift and stood in front of a screen to be shown a slickly compiled film of some typical NY montages. Then the screen finally rolled back and oh my word - there was New York's skyline in all its sunlit glory. It was quite a goose-bumpy moment and everyone broke into spontaneous applause (I felt thoroughly American).

The views from the observatory were amazing - the skyscrapers of Manhattan looked like Lego building blocks, tour helicopters buzzed like flies below us, the Statue of Liberty was a tiny figure in the distance, and the river Hudson snaked its way around the city. Every view seemed to demand a thousand and one photos - but here's the most important one, providing you with evidence that I really was there!

 It was a very special experience and I found I had a big smile on my face from start to finish - New Yorkers must be truly proud of what they have achieved. 

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Task 1: progress report on my running programme

My friend Linda asked me a couple of days ago whether I’d actually managed to get out running yet (good point - after all the post setting out my plans to run a 10k only said I was going to start running…..) So here’s some evidence for you Linda! The picture below shows me on my return from my second run this week. I look a bit of a sorry sight (although in my defence I was laying it on thick to try and get some sympathy from Andrew – none forthcoming of course).  The good news is that my ankle seems to be coping well with the shock of returning to running circuits and it did feel nice (for a short time anyway) to be stretching my limbs again.

  

And hot off the press, I’ve now registered for the Tonbridge Running and Riding 10K on 25 October:

Vivien Hunot is entered for Tonbridge 10k Main Entry List on 25-OCT-2015  

http://runningandriding.co.uk/tonbridge-10k/

So Task 1 is cast in a tablet of stone (not an Ed Stone I hasten to add) – no turning back now....

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Task 28: use my senior railcard to visit Liverpool for the day

Just look at what arrived in the post this morning - I think I can now officially call myself a senior.

The next step is to plan my daytrip to Liverpool  - one third off my rail fare courtesy of Senior Railcard.....it's time to embrace becoming a wrinkly!

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How to follow my blog (if you feel like doing so that is!)

 It would be lovely to think that a small coterie of you might want to follow my blog over the next year and from my point of view it would be great to have some people breathing down my neck (ideally in a supportive and friendly way!) to make sure I’m working through the tasks. 

So…… if you would like to continue reading my posts on and off until I complete the Sixty at 60 challenge, my suggestion would be to become a subscriber to my blog, and you’ll then automatically get an email from me whenever I publish a new post.  All you need to do is:

 1. Put your email address in the box at the top of my blog

2. Click submit

3. Verify your email address when you get an email from Feedburner

4. And hey presto, you’ll be a subscriber!

This will be completely anonymous (Blogger won't inform me if you do subscribe), but if you decide that you'd like to let me know, just send me a quick email with the words I’m following you by email in the Subject box. 

The task that got away....

When I started putting my list of 60 tasks together, I initially included ‘Have a letter published in The Times’. However I’ve twice before (way back when, it has to be said) submitted letters to The Times Editor on some random topic or other and neither letter ever saw the light of day in the column. So having decided that my chance of success was zero, I ditched that idea in favour of having a request read out on Graham Norton’s radio show (see Task 47).

Anyway, yesterday I spotted an uncorrected typo in a small article at the bottom of Page 17 in The Times that made me smile. I threw together a couple of sentences (it took me about 5 minutes) and submitted it to the Letters page. I didn’t think anything more of it until this morning when I got to the letters page and guess what………. 

Gratifying I'll grant you, but also a little frustrating!  Graham Norton – I am now in your hands. If anyone knows how I can improve my chances of getting a request read out on his show, then I'm all ears.

Task 1: Complete a 10k run in less than 60 mins

Of all the tasks on my Sixty at 60 list, I think it's fair to say that Number 1 is going to be the one that really puts me through the mill (although squeezing a note out of a saxophone and learning the lindy hop both run a very close second.....).  In my forties I endlessly talked about how much I’d like to run a marathon, but never did anything about it – in my fifties I endlessly talked about how much I’d like to run a half marathon and never did anything about it. Now I've hit sixty I’ve scaled down the distance to a mere 10k (so important to keep my goals measurable, achievable and realistic as they say in CBT) – but the key difference is that this time I'm actually going to do it!! 

Before officially committing to Task 1, I decided it would be wise to do some practice runs to check that I was actually up to it. So I bought myself some very brightly coloured running shoes (my daughter in law Liz who knows about such things assured me these shoes are totally on trend these days and wouldn't make me a laughing stock in the running community) and a rather sporty looking running outfit. Here are the shoes - I'm going to spare you a photo of me in the outfit.

 I put on my gear, slipped my phone (with Runkeeper http://runkeeper.com/ newly downloaded, thank you to Sam my hairdresser for that tip - very helpful app) into my pocket, took a deep breath and stepped out into the lane in front of my house, thus exposing my outfit (far too new-looking), lack of stamina, and strange running style to the world at large. To my amazement no one stopped and started at me (in fact they just got out of my way) - way to go Hunot!  Over a 2-week period I extended my running distance, stupidly ignoring all aches and pains in my feet, until one morning I reached the dizzy distance of 5k. Runkeeper was very pleased with me and I was pretty elated with myself, until I spotted that my right ankle had blown up like a small balloon. One physio visit and diagnosis of a pulled liganment later, I found myself on a strict regime of nurofen gel, elevated leg, frozen pea compresses, and inevitably I suppose - no running.

Four weeks later my foot has healed (hurrah!) and my Sixty at 60 running programme starts tomorrow. This time I intend to build up my distance/pace s-l-o-w-l-y.  Mantra – ‘I am 60 years old.....I have a 60 year old body.....Keep it real.....’  I’m about to register myself on an official 10k run in Tonbridge at the end of October. Updates on my progress will follow. Now get training woman. 

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