Have You Ever Had A “Sex And The City” Moment?

Remember that episode of Sex and the City years ago when Samantha decided to get a chemical peel right before having to go to Carrie’s book release party? Her face was all red and burned, so much so that she decided to wear a black veil, which only made her seem like she was attending a funeral instead of a fun, celebratory event.

When I decided to get The Perfect Derma Peel for myself, I knew I wanted the post-peel skin, that baby soft dewy flawless appearance, but I also wanted to plan it right so I wouldn’t have a Samantha mishap. So I cleared out my weekend, I made sure I had nothing planned except a date with Netflix and catching up on old shows I love. I even set up my appointment for the Derma Peel with the amazing Dr. Linda Li on a Wednesday early morning so by the time I would start peeling, it would be Friday, a day I had already decided I would be working from home to hide away my peeling skin. But just as it happens, we make plans and the Universe laughs. And so it happened.

I got the peel and it felt quite amazing. It seems that since Samantha got hers back in the 90s a lot has changed and right now the chemical peels are a lot gentler on the skin so I was able to head to work shortly after my appointment, which only lasted about 20min. My skin looked just a little tan, which prompted a lot of questions about whether I had gone to the beach. I brushed them off smilingly as I hadn’t disclosed to anyone my plan. I followed all the post peel instructions and I was excited about the results.

And then on Thursday I got a follow up call about a job I had interviewed for in the past. It was sort of a dream job, a great next step in my career. They wanted to see me again on Friday aka the day my face was supposed to start peeling. Yikes! Of course I said yes. What else could I have said? I even laughed to myself as probably the Universe was trying to make me prove how much I wanted this job by making me interview in the middle of a chemical peel. I woke up Friday morning and my skin felt tight and dry, I looked in the mirror and my face reminded me of this one time I saw a snake shedding its skin at the zoo. I thought about canceling the interview, I even wrote the email to do so, but deleted it before I got a chance to send it. So I put on the post peel moisturizer (the only thing I was allowed to use during the peel) and got myself ready. I doubled up on the moisturizer after I parked my car just to be sure the peeling wouldn’t be too visible. The interview lasted 3 hours! That’s 3 hours of my face itching and peeling away, 3 hours during which I not only had to meet with 4 different people, talk about the good and the bad, my goals for my career and even take a skills test. And to think all I wanted to test was how hard I can scratch my face, even scrub off my skin if possible – another thing that’s not allowed during the Derma Peel. Ugh!

I went home that day and spent the rest of the day working trying to push away the memory of what happened. The actual interview had gone quite well, but I’m pretty sure everyone was wondering what was going on with my face since the peeling had become visible by then even with the layers of moisturizer I had on – they never asked though.

On Saturday I woke up in full snake mode and decided I was going to spend the day in applying the post peel moisturizer, having snacks in bed and watching Netflix. Later in the day, of course I got a case of cabin fever and decided a trip to the grocery store would be safe. I put on some more moisturizer, put on a cap to cover half of my face and got in my car. As I was cruising through the healthy and not so healthy aisles at the grocery store, hoping I wouldn’t run into anyone I knew and already planning of using the self-checkout line, a tall handsome man said “hello”.

My mind was going a million miles a minute: “out of all the days when I had stopped to that same store after work, when I was all dressed up, with my hair blow-dried and my makeup done, he had to run into me on this day, the day I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, no makeup and my hair was tucked under a cap.” Plus my dead skin was falling off my face. Clearly it wasn’t my best moment. We did end up talking and exchanged numbers to later go on a date.  By Monday my skin was done shedding and my face looked all refreshed and dewy so I was more than ready to schedule the date.

While we make plans, plans that are solid and on point in our heads, the Universe looks at us and simply says: “I know better.” While my interview for my new job happened as my skin was starting to peel and my random encounter with the man happened when my face was literally falling off, both days when everything should have gone wrong from an image perspective, days when I didn’t look or feel my best, both things turned out to be fantastic stories in my life as I got both a great job offer and a fantastic date the week after.

Whether you decide to get The Perfect Derma Peel at what turns out to be the not-so-perfect time or something catches you in the wrong moment, all you can do is put your best foot forward and trust that whatever comes your way is meant to come your way at the perfect time. Take every opportunity life throws your way and make the best of it. You never know when you’re going to get the opportunity of a lifetime.