TiaraMeSue

Ok. I kind of have a thing for wearing things on my head:

  Sometimes on my face:

But mostly, on my head:

And ESPECIALLY a tiara:

(Ooooohh! Spaaahkley!!)

A lot of times people look at me like I’m ridiculous. They probably think that at 46 I should’ve grown up by now. To them I say:

PBLGGHT!

and:

And:

Anyway, it started the way it always starts for any kid, in school. The teachers made crowns and hats out of paper to set you apart on your birthday (the paper dunce cap was also a means of setting you apart), and make you feel special. How many of us girls got tiaras in a dress-up set that we wore even when we weren't dressing up? Then it was the Burger King crowns. Thankfully, I grew out of that when I was about 22. It is well-documented that I wear tiaras on my birthday (birthday). I celebrate them all. But to be honest, it did start out somewhat defiantly, in a kind of “I’m worth it” thing. I certainly wasn't feeling it when I decided I was going to make a big deal out of the birthdays (and it was a conscious decision). I do now. I am worth it. It is now no longer just about reflection and kissing the previous year goodbye while fervently hoping for a better future. I DO celebrate me, and I do feel so much better about it.

Thanks to Facebook and the fact that I post a little here and there, the subject of my birthday tiaras has come up. It’s even grown; people now give me tiaras as gifts (I have a nice little collection going). This means I have tiaras to wear for any occasion: birthdays, holidays, International Tiara Day (yes, there is one: International Tiara Day), Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, or any day I just want to feel special. People always treat you ‘special’ when you wear a crown.

We never seem to do enough to make ourselves feel special anymore, it seems. (Or, most of us don’t. Maybe it’s just me.) And when we try to do something special, it usually ends up being something big, (because we haven’t ‘treated ourselves’ in a long time) which means we do it very infrequently. I’m not suggesting everyone go out and start wearing tiaras—that would take attention away from me! But do something, no matter how small it seems. Something you can do as often as you need a pick-me-up. Fun nail polish (my second choice), wearing a special piece of jewelry (even if it doesn't match your outfit), anything that you appreciate as special, that you designate just for you. It doesn't even have to be something that anyone else would recognize as special; as long as you know it’s for you, it’s special. Do it for you. Treat yourself. Treat yourself special. Because you are.

(I was kidding, though, about y’all not going out in tiaras! If that’s what you want then by all means, wear them!—I like seeing them, too! So spaahkley!)

*I have to thank Rob for coming up with the title here. One would think that since I was Italian something like this would've eventually come to me; but I'm a piss-poor Italian - I hate pastry!