Lauren Dimet Waters is a blogging veteran. She’s at the helm of the Fountain of 30, formerly Second City Style. A fellow Core Fusion enthusiast and mom of two. Lauren is savvy about all things style, so I hit her up for her Five Rules for Life. Here they are, in her words.

Over the years I have changed my rules for life and swapped some out for others. For instance, my mom taught my friends and me to always have enough ice for 40 (people), but I live in NYC now and having 40 people in my home, let alone enough storage space for that much ice isn’t going to happen. Now if I should move to the burbs and have a house, I may add that one back in. I also used to say, never eat anything blue (blueberries are really purple and therefore don’t count), but I recently tried a blue drink that was yummy, so scratch that. If I get to make a wish it is always “please let me eat whatever I want and not gain weight,” but that’s not the question I have been asked. So here are my current 5 Rules For Life:

1. Shop sales.
I love a great bargain as much, if not more, than the next person. There is nothing better than the feeling you are the luckiest person in the world to score a great deal. If it’s on sale and you really wanted it even when it was full price, beg, borrow, or steal to get it. Just make sure you can return it. We always reserve the right to change our minds. That “it” bag you wanted at the beginning of the season may no longer work for you. Even at 50% off!

2. Never say never. 
I always said I would never meet my husband in a bar, marry a lawyer or live in NYC after the age of 30. So exactly three months after I had ‘the talk’ with my parents that I was OK being eternally single and would probably never give them grandchildren (and I was older than 30), I met my future lawyer husband in a bar in NYC. We now have two sons and live in NYC.

3. Be honest with yourself about your body. 
It took me years to figure this one out and I have the photos to prove it! At some point in your life you have to face the music, we all have parts of our bodies we love, and others we hate. So not every trend or style you are dying to try is going to work for you. Just like not every hair style will work with your hair (remember the Farrah Fawcett style? I do! My ‘wings’ flipped forward because my hair was too thick for the style. NOT attractive.) For instance I have a rather large chest which I don’t particularly like. I had a reduction years ago and they grew back after having 2 kids! So now I don’t wear many boatnecks and baby doll styles are not my friend. A big part of growing up is accepting yourself and not trying to fight what you have…or don’t have.

4. Don’t buy anything too tight and think you will one day fit into it. 
This one is related to the one above. You won’t. This lesson was taught to me by my mother who is tiny yet claims she is a size 8! She refuses to wear anything tight, just in case she eats a big meal…which is never. The point being, you can always take something in. You can’t always let it out.

5. Don’t ever go in the sun without either a large hat or sunscreen or both!
But who really listens to that? I sure didn’t and am paying the price. OK, by the time you are 21 one should really listen to this. Unless you want to look like a Louis Vuitton handbag from the 60s. Oh and ALWAYS use eye-cream and in a pinch Vaseline works for everything (lips, crow’s feet, actual feet, dry cuticles, eye makeup remover) and you can find it for 99 cents.

Thanks, Lauren! Stay tuned for more Five Rules installments. “Five Rules,” is a series on Rouge18 in which I ask others to share their five rules for life about anything and everything. You can learn a lot about a person by reading which five things govern their actions, no?