The self-made hair curlers idea had been gleaned from the glossy pages of Glamour magazine. The directions in the article said to leave the hair pinned for 20 minutes, but I knew from previous experience that it would take longer. With a four hour drive between myself and Thanksgiving dinner, I figured leaving the hair pin helmet in place was my best bet.

I had made other preparations for this day. The night before, so as not to interfere with the securing of my coiffure, I had painted my fingernails a flashy gold color. I figured there was no need to go to a professional for a look only intended to last one night. I also waxed my legs for some inexplicable reason. Even though my planned outfit of jeans and a casually elegant top wouldn't show any skin, somehow the waxing just seemed right.

For make up I packed a four-pack of eye shadow, liner pencil, foundation, powder, blush, mascara and lipstick. Just the very basics, don't you know. Once at my interim destination, I applied an eye of appropriate smokiness for the circumstances. Not too subtle, but not too loud. Alyson would've been proud.

After unpinning my hair and shaking it out, I glued it in its oh-so-accidentally glamorous position with hairspray. A layer of lipstick later, I was ready to go. Total elapsed preparation time was a mere 7.5 hours.

And who, you might well wonder, was the audience for this feat of death-defying girlishness? My family, of course. That's right; I spent a day of my life primping and preening for a group of people who pretty much have to like me anyway. And you know what? It was almost a little bit fun to do all that preparing. If nothing else, it was worth it to see the look on their faces.