Cheetos and Rosé
On Valentine's Day I posted the photos from a shoot my friend, Kayla and I have been dreaming up for a year. (This is the same Kayla that worked her styling magic in my guest room). It's dreamy and pretty and cheeky and funny. It makes me belly laugh and I want to let you in on the story behind the whole thing.
So as I've mentioned, this month marks one year from when my marriage ended. My ex came over to let me know that it was over. While he's the one that broke it off with me, I'm the one that went to the lawyer's office and filed for the divorce. By this point, the Coronavirus was just starting to rear it's head in the US and people were beginning to feel a bit cautious about going out in public. I met with the lawyer. I filed for a divorce... and then I went home. All by myself. In any other time, I would've gone to a friend's house. But things were changing quickly and no one knew exactly what we were dealing with as far as COVID was concerned and I didn't want anyone to feel unsafe. So I was alone.
I had just had one of the most grown-up and sad experiences of my life and now I was sitting at home in the quiet. I wasn't devastated any more. I had already cried all my tears. At this point I had fully accepted this outcome and was ready to move onto the next chapter of my life. Now knowing that there was no hope for our marriage, I was very ready to step into singleness. So, the night that I filed wasn't necessarily a sad night for me... but it wasn't happy either.
I was feeling feelings of relief and exhaustion and sadness and happiness all at once. It was very confusing. I didn't know what to do with myself, so I poured myself a bath and a glass of rosé. I opened up a bag of my favorite guilty pleasure - Cheetos, and I tried to unwind. Now for those of you who don't know, the bathroom in my house is bright pink. This is pretty common for houses built in the 50's and boy is my bathroom a retro time warp! So there I was, soaking in my bright pink bathtub with an open bag of Cheetos floating in the water and a big glass of wine in my hand. I took a look at myself and just started laughing! How did I get here? It was ridiculous and hilarious and honestly, I loved it.
When I told Kayla about my choices for self-care that night, she had the idea to turn it into a photoshoot. She envisioned glamming it up and tell the story in a fun and cheeky way. I thought it was brilliant so that's what we did! Last week, we got together and finally made the shoot happen. It was so much fun and Kayla's talent for styling and shooting were on full display. And here, my friends, is the fruits of our labor and the visual retelling of the day I filed for divorce.
If you want to know more about my freaking talented friend Kayla, check out her Instagram! (linking it here) . She is a stylist and a creative consultant so if that’s something you need, hit her up! She does virtual and in person consultations. Shoot her an email! kaylamariehenley@gmail.com