Don't Mess With Taxes

I'm not a real girly girl. Neither am I tomboy.

I'm basically lazy.

That means that when I discovered that I looked pretty darn good with just a few swipes of a mascara brush, I dropped my previous full makeup regime, which ate up at least half an hour of my day.

Now I admit that I do look even more gorgeous when I carefully apply full eye makeup, foundation, blush and powder and take time to style my hair instead of letting it, post shampoo, air dry naturally. And I do go all out, cosmetically, from time to time.

But then again, for a lot less work, I'm still pretty easy on the eyes when I take the more au naturel route. Or so says the hubby, and he's the one that really counts, right?

Plus, I now get to sleep an extra few minutes every morning and beauty sleep is important, too.

So, on a day-to-day basis, I tend to just let my unretouched beauty shine through.

That said, while I might not be a girly girl, I'm still a girl. And as such, I still dabble in cosmetics. I'm especially amazed by the variety of products. Some of the packaging is astounding.

And there's the primeval artistic allure of what can be done with a dab here or a brush stroke there.

So when I got a catalog from, according to the cover, "New York's hottest spa" (even though the return address was in New Jersey), I thumbed through it. And a couple of items (no need for details; a woman deserves to keep some secrets!) intrigued me, so I ordered them.

It took me a couple of weeks to decide to actually place the order, as the items were much more expensive than I'm accustomed to paying. But I eventually decided I deserved the treat.

Oh, yeah. The name of the hot spa: Bliss.

Yes, the name played a part in my decision. The thought of having something sent from a state of contentment, joy and euphoria added to the appeal. Kudos to the marketer who came up with the name. 

It also made the e-mail I got a few days after placing the order all that much more fun: "We thought you'd want to know that your box of bliss was sent out today."

Wow! My bliss was on its way! I couldn't wait.

And today, my box of bliss arrived, via FedEx ground.

It was a bit anticlimactic. The driver just dropped it on the porch. I didn't expect him to fall to one knee and sweepingly hand my packaged bliss over the threshold to me, but he didn't even ring the doorbell, assuming I guess that no one was home on a weekday afternoon.

At least I heard the "plop" and his truck drive away and was able to quickly retrieve my bliss.

It came in a pale blue box, not quite Tiffany blue (although I might could have gotten a small -- OK, very small -- trinket from the famed jeweler for what my two items cost), but a soothing color, nonetheless.

The box also is very well constructed. Too large, really, for its small contents (including a couple of free samples), but it's a container that I will definitely be able to reuse.

And the "bliss" emblazoned in big white letters across the box's top made me smile the minute I saw it.

Sure, I knew it contained something more tangible and mundane, but at least for today, I can honestly say my bliss arrived.

Painting "Cosmetics on Green" by Peggi Kroll-Roberts, courtesy The Vault Gallery of Fine Art