WHAT’S UP WITH THE LIPSTICK?

Greetings, my name is Mia!

Life can be crazy—honestly, it often is crazy. I work full-time as a technology leader at a large financial services company, I’m married, and I have three kids. And that’s only scratching the surface.

My youngest son is autistic and non-verbal, which makes it challenging to find time to do things just for myself. In late 2022, my husband gave me the chance to plan a trip anywhere I wanted. I think he assumed I’d pick Florida or something nearby. But once I started looking at travel within the U.S., I quickly realized how expensive it had become. Shockingly, it was actually cheaper to fly to—and stay in—another country.

A couple of weeks after Christmas, I told my husband I’d be going to London at the end of February. He thought I was joking. I was not.

In less than two months, I planned a solo trip to London and took off on my own. I’m not sure whether he expected me to bring friends along, but I decided this trip was going to be entirely on my terms—my timeline, my choices, and the freedom to pivot whenever I felt like it.

I’ll share more details about my London adventure in another post, but that trip ended up being genuinely life-changing. I explored an entirely new part of the world, but I also explored myself—the direction I wanted for my life, the goals I wanted to set, and the appreciation I deserved to feel for who I am and who I’m becoming. I even had a fun makeup consultation at the iconic department store Harrods, where I learned something important: I can and should wear red lipstick.

That lipstick became my statement piece. A small reminder to be bold—and to fiercely protect my joy.