Mundane into "Fun"dane Dare

Seeing as how it's a new year, I thought I'd share a challenge I gave to my friends back in September.

It all started while Geoff and I were celebrating our 2nd Anniversary. We had spent a day on the beaches of Lake Michigan. We were feeling relaxed and laid back.

We had champagne and completed our annual tradition of reading our wedding cards and marriage advice cards. It's nice to revisit and reflect on the messages people sent us on our big day.

It's also fun to read our guests' inspiring and sometimes odd advice. Apparently someone at Table 6 knew something interesting about raisins:

For our Anniversary night, we had dinner reservations at the amazing tapas and even more amazing breakfast bistro, San Chez in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was in this moment that I realized I had zero motivation to dress up. Couldn't I just wear my flip flops and jeans - ok sweats? If this had been a one time thought, I wouldn't have given it much attention, but I realized this had become my personal mantra as of late. Where was the girl who used to love clothing? Where was the girl who liked getting ready for a night out? Why did I have this overwhelming attitude of laziness? Why didn't I want to get done up for our Anniversary date night?

I decided I needed to change my attitude and overall mindset. Getting ready was not a chore, it was an opportunity. An opportunity to play with makeup, hair, jewelry and clothing. I have friends that do this. They are the girls that could be fashion bloggers. These girls inspired me to dare myself to turn the mundane into "fun"dane.

I got up, picked out my dress and jewelry, did my make-up and clipped in my hair. Yep, I clipped in my hair.

I styled myself and headed out to celebrate my anniversary...and I felt great! It became clear to me that I felt better about myself when I cared enough to take time for myself. I felt pretty and confident and I know that I made a better date for my husband because of it.

I wanted to continue this self-dare into my work week. I also wondered how many of my friends were feeling this rut as well. So I sent out the dare to my group of friends with the following guidelines:

"This week I challenge each of you to step out and try something new with your outfit, makeup or hair. Find a tutorial if you'd like and send me the link. Once you've tried this new "look," take a selfie and email it to me. You'll have to master the art of the selfie while rockin' some red lips, a messy updo, a statement necklace or those awesome heels you never wear to work! Let me know how you felt trying something new. Hopefully you'll all have a little fun and like the experiment!"

My friends loved the dare! It gave them the push they needed to try something new. They had fun and heard a few compliments. The most popular look to try? Red lips.

Here's Kate's (DJ K-Swizzle) before and after:

Clearly her personality is a perfect match for bold lips!

Carrie is always up for a dare. She also chose red lips along with curled hair and a statement necklace:

My other friend, Kate ("DZ") went all out and sported a different look/hairstyle each day! So cute!

Cassie straightened her hair and wore the sweater that she used to pass over for a "safer" look:

And Jenny tried both a cat-eye and red lips:

Jenny's co-worker was inspired by her look and the fact that she had "stepped it up." 

Needless to say, we all had fun and it made us step out of our comfort zone or "safe" zone. I have to check myself from time to time to make sure I haven't fallen back into that zone and to remember to have fun with my look. To be more playful. Every day should be celebrated so why not dress for a party?!