Daily Life - Morning Routine (C0237)

Jacob:

Stephanie! Did you just get to school? But you were up and about when I left the dorm this morning! That was about an hour and a half ago. This happens all the time! Why do you always take so long to get ready the morning?

Stephanie:

It's a skill. What can I say? I don't know why, I just have a long routine.

Jacob:

Please explain because it makes no sense to me. How can a girl's routine be so complicated? You get up , you shower, you get dressed , you brush your teeth, you're out the door. Half an hour, tops.

Stephanie:

Jacob, you have the luxury of having a haircut that rarely needs styling. I don't. I have to set aside about an hour and a half to get ready in the mornings. Every day, I wake up and head straight for the shower. Every second day , I wash my hair. If it's a hair-washing day, I frequently need to wash my hair twice because it gets really oily. Then I usually put in a conditioner and have to rinse that out too. Because my hair is so long, I seldom manage to take a shower in under twenty minutes. Afterwards, I often put on a pot of coffee and get dressed while I wait for it to brew. I take a long time to get dressed in the morning. Every now and then I remember to choose my outfit the night before , but usually I do it in the morning. In all , getting dressed takes about half an hour , at which time my hair is now semi-dry so then I have to style my hair. From time to time I'll put my hair up, but oftentimes I blow-dry it straight. And then, because of the texture of my hair, I regularly have to flat-iron it to keep it from frizzing. That's another twenty minutes or so. After that, I have my daily makeup routine.

Jacob:

True, I hardly ever see you without your hair done and your makeup on, even when you show up to class in sweatpants. Tell me, how long does it take you to choose that outfit in the morning?

Stephanie:

Not funny.

Key Vocabulary

up and about

out of bed and beginning to move around

set aside

to keep time for a particular purpose

frequently

often

seldom

almost never

at which time

whenever

from time to time

once in a while

oftentimes

frequently

makeup

cosmetics applied to improve your appearance

outfit

a set of clothes

Supplementary Vocabulary

curling iron

a tool for making straight hair curly

face wash

a soap used to clean the face

mouth wash

a liquid used to clear germs in bad breath in the mouth

french press

a specific technique to make coffee

body wash

liquid soap used to clean the body

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