I have been without power since Friday night. Having lived in Florida through many hurricane seasons, this is not my first experience with power outages. Once in 2005, after Hurricane Wilma, we spent 16 days without power. That one was particularly difficult because the average temperature was 85 degrees with about 76 percent humidity and my one-year-old daughter was a mosquito magnet (I could have played connect the dots on her).

Although I am not necessarily a high-maintenance girl, I do like basic conveniences for primping—say for example light, in the form of a light bulb! But this weekend I decided to go au naturel both out of necessity and as an experiment. I am talking Bare Faced Naked...But why such an extreme you say? Well, I think once in a while you just need to look at yourself and embrace what you see.
I am of an age where a little bit of blush, mascara, and even my favorite red lipstick makes me look quite a bit better (read: younger, more rested, etc.). But it's important for me to look at my bare face in the mirror once in a while and say  "I am beautiful right here, right now." The truth is I am only going to get older, and I will never look this good at this age again.

So here's to Mother Nature forcing me to stop and enjoy the moment!

Swimming champion and Hollywood mermaid Esther Williamspassed away last week at the age of 91. Growing up in Miami and watching reruns of her movies, I always marveled at how glamorous she looked even when soaking wet.

As a tribute to her and to celebrate the upcoming first day of summer (June 21, and please say it's coming), here are some waterproof and swelter-proof products that will help you look as alluring as Esther, even if you're only dipping your toes in at the municipal pool.