Raising my glass(es) to Sarah and Tina

Supporting Barack Obama from the start, I remained a little suspicious of Sarah Palin throughout this historic presidential campaign. But since she was the first female VP candidate chosen to run for the GOP, I really wanted to respect her. And a small part of me wanted to like her. So I listened carefully to every televised speech or pitch she delivered, and even felt sorry for her while I cringed through the infamous Gibson and Couric interviews.

Things just got worse for Sarah as the McCain campaign unraveled. But in the midst of it all, she reminded us of something we'd never fully appreciated until she took the podium: Women look stunning in glasses. Not surprisingly, the amazing Tina Fey -- who looks gorgeous in specs, too -- became a household name after her first Palin parody on SNL.

Not long after I turned 50, I followed the advice of a fashion-conscious friend who insisted it was high time I tried contact lenses. Glasses make women look older, she told me. (Furthermore, she added, I should never, ever wear my reading glasses around my neck.) So I got a prescription for contacts, and for a while I felt liberated. It was fun to view the world without a frame around it. And I never had to wonder if my earrings clashed with my glasses.

But the novelty wore off as soon as I discovered that contact lenses dry out quickly. I had to stock tiny bottles of re-wetting drops all over the house and in my purse. Needless to add, contact lenses are much more expensive than glasses, and in my case, they don't cancel out the need for reading glasses.

Lately I've been taking longer breaks from my contact lenses -- thereby saving myself a few extra dollars in the midst of this awful recession.  I started wearing my glasses again, and while I can't afford Sarah's snazzy designer frames, I don't look so bad in the pair I already own. So thank you, Sarah Palin and Tina Fey. Thank you for restoring the pride and dignity of American women who wear glasses. You've inspired us to look beyond the obvious.

Cindy La Ferle blogs and writes about home, family, and (sometimes) politics at Cindy La Ferle's Home Office: www.laferle.com