Day 33

I'm calling this outfit "Whatever Wednesday"

So I'm in a better mood than yesterday, but my pain levels soared up overnight. I barely slept last night and I really hurt today. Enough that I took one of the good pain killers and called my chiropractor to get me in because my spine is just not ok. I have lumbar scoliosis, which normally doesn't bother me too much, but every once in a while it sets off my upper back because the lower back gets all whacko. Yeah, isn't that fun? When you have lower back issues that cause upper back issues? It's just great. 

 *ugh*

So today is a day that I give no f's about fashion. It's all about being comfortable and wearing something that doesn't hurt me, because clothing actually hurts my skin when this crap flares up so I have to wear things that are basically 100% no buttons, no zippers, no irritations, nothing uncomfortable. On the plus side, it means my t-shirts get worn, right? Also, if you recognize the characters on the shirt, and know what it's referencing, you and I can for sure be friends. 

I really wish I would stop being in pain. *sigh* Oh well. It is what it is and life goes on, right?

Today's OOTD: Simple jeggings and a t-shirt. 

No idea where the tee came from, as the husband bought it as a birthday present. I think it's probably from tee spring or something. Jeggings from Wal-Mart and they are honestly one of my most comfortable pairs. They're very much "fake denim" (aka, cotton dyed to look like denim) but that makes them extraordinarily comfortable. They have a fake drawstring tie that drives me nuts, but that's ok.  They don't have that drawstring tie anymore. I cut it. I was wondering why I hadn't thought of that before. 

Anyway, paired with my mustards because brown and yellow are a good combo and there is some yellow in the top outlining. :)Plus they make me happy. I debated wearing my torties with this, but I want their maiden voyage to be when I'm pretty, so not today. No jewelry but the wedding bands, hair up, no makeup. Aka, I'm a mess, but hey, I'm still smiling! <3 

Oh! My husband finally helped me figure out how to make my front camera NOT flip the picture, so you can finally see me the way I'm supposed to be, and not mirrored. hahaha.

Wow, this picture really shows off my heterocromia, which makes sense as it always gets stronger when I'm having bad pain days.

Hopefully the spine doctor fixes me right up.

Love you guys!!

Day 32

Day 32! 

Today's outfit was honestly a bit challenging to put together. I got this skirt on clearance a while back and haven't really worn it, as it's been difficult to pair with anything and look right. 

Well, I bought this shirt more recently to go with those black and white polka dot pants and it does, but it hasn't sung to me as to what else to pair it with. So I thought why not try these two together and I love it. :) 

Both shirt and skirt are from Lane Bryant. Necklace from Amrita Singh and shoes from Tieks in ballet pink. I could have also paired Poppy with these, but I tried it and it looked unbalanced. So I went with my gut and picked BP's. :)

Close up of the necklace.

I need to do some packing and organizing today. I might actually accomplish some of that. I'm hurting a bit today so we'll see if my back loosens up enough for me to do so. Right now, it's hexagons and stargate. I didn't make a whole lot of progress on my hexagons yesterday as I kept getting distracted by stupid stuff. I have got to stop doing that. 

My brain has been really "froggy" lately. Which is to say that pain signals seem to block my brain signals. It's not your typical "brain fog" (aka, forgot what you were doing, etc) it's more like, I just sit there and space out for five minutes and come to still having no idea what I was doing or what happened. It's a byproduct of brain damage I had as a young adult and it's annoying. It's A LOT worse when my pain levels are higher and well, frankly, they've been high lately. Not determentially so, just annoyingly so. Enough to hinder my every day, but not enough that I can't take a few RX painkillers and get through. 

But I'm trying. And I'll live. So I smile and keep going. 

And onto the pictures that didn't make it today to the TA group....

My face when I am giving my trash guy the stank eye for knocking over my trash cans, but it's not full on stank eye yet. lol.

Don't blink! I swear I'm not stoned, just blinking.

Day 31

Randoms first: 

My husband is a dork. We had a discussion about if carbonara has mushrooms in it or not. I was like, it doesn't. He insisted it did. I said marsala does, but not carbonara. We got down to the nitty gritty and I googled it. Guess who was right? Me of course. Duh. lol. He's silly. He ALWAYS googles something to tell me I'm wrong (because I'm stubborn and won't admit it without proof) so when I get to do it back and I'm right, it's quite satisfying. hahaha. 

He laughed. It's all good. He's good to me though, he got me the entire stargate collection "just because". He knows I used to watch that show all the time, so he found them all for me. I'm pumped. <3 I'm probably going to binge watch it, because I haven't seen it in so long and it's gonna be so cheesy. I can't wait. ^_^ 

So yeah. Today it's supposed to be 80-something, and I was feeling jeans and a tshirt kind of day. I'm hoping to channel cooler temps and fall like weather (I'm really done with summer) so I went for mustard. 

I debated doing my make up today, but decided nah in the end. I do have a really kicking yellow eyeshadow though so maybe I might still. I dunno. Not going anywhere so I'm unsure if I should bother. It's so much work. Bleh. 

Mustard and white striped shirt from Old Navy about 2 years ago. They always have stuff similar to it though. Dark wash jeggings from Torrid, Mustard Tieks for the win today. I am totally loving these and am so glad I got them!!

My earrings are amazing pineapples from Amrita Singh. Don't mind my hair, it's not brushed yet and still a bit damp. I'm trying out a new shampoo and conditioner, so I'm air drying it to see how it lands, as that's normally how I do my hair. I'll review it once I find out if I like it or not. 

I'm still making ALL the hexagons trying to get rid of some yarn. It's turning out to be very fall colored. I'm cool with that. I need to block them soon. 

Mr. Noodle came out this morning to say hello, but shortly after this went back underground. I might make him come out later. lol. His picture under the cut. 

Day 30!

I'm calling it now - I've been doing this for a month, because 30 days! Who knew I'd get this far? Well, not me!!

Happy Sunday!

Today I woke up feeling like I wanted to be a little extra. And what do we wear when we want to be extra? Fascinators of course! This is a very English thing to do, but we really need it here in America. I'm trying to bring it into fashion on this side of the pond. lol.

Today's OOTD: This beautiful Grecian style dress by Torrid (bought at least 3 years ago, maybe even 4?, so I don't think they have it on their site anymore) Biscotti Tieks, Amazon tassel earrings and this amazing hair fascinator by Starcrossed Beauty over on Etsy. She's got amazeballs stuff, and it's all very well made. I love her stuff. I want more.

Is it a bit much? Um. YES! It's EXTRA!! duh.

Without the fascinator (don't mind the rose petals all over the ground, they're dying, and I couldn't find the broom to sweep this morning. Which means it's probably in my teenager's room because she never puts anything back. LOL) 

With it, being all extra....:) 

Never be afraid to be extra guys. If it's who you are, (and it's who I am for sure) don't be afraid to shine! Who cares if it's not someone else's style?! Good thing they aren't you, right? You're amazing, you're perfect - go be extra! 

29.5

Hello Mr. Mailman, do you have tieks for me?

Yes! He does!!!!

OH MY GIDDY AUNT these tortoiseshell Tieks are AMAZING. Leopards ain't got NOTHING on my torties! They fit like they were customized for me. I am just over here DYING. In other news, the Mojave didn't fit and they ARE way more sparky in real life than they are online, but I'm not sure if they're really me. They're also tight, so I'd have to size up - which I have never had to do for tieks. All my others are an 11. I have no vegans, so I can't compare, and I don't have HP either. While I love the flower, I am wondering if I shouldn't send these ones back (bye pretty flower) and get something else.

Mojave

Tortoiseshells!! (don't mind my messy table, we're packing and stuff, and things are everywhere.)

Day 29

I need to find a way to keep my jewelry that's not "tossed in a box", but that's going to have to wait until after we move, because there is NO ROOM in this house for anything I already have, let alone more. So picking out of a box it is. I will say, Amrita Singh jewelry gave me an idea to help organize it all. They put their jewelry in little mesh baggies. I was trying to figure out how to keep things separate without being too cluttered and I think that's the answer. Like, jewelry in a box, but in a bag IN the box, so it doesn't get all snagged up. So now I have to go to the dollar store and find mesh bags. I honestly know I have a ton, because I use them in my Mary Kay orders, but with that on suspend for the move, they're in storage. *headdesk* Go pay 5 bucks at the dollar store or go rummage through storage....eh, 5 bucks it is. It would probably cost 5 bucks in gas anyway. LOL!

So yeah, project for me: Go through my jewelry and see what to keep and what not to keep. I have some stuff that really just needs to go. I know I do. And I have some stuff I know I want to wear more, but it's just not accessible. So I'm going to fix that soon. Speaking of jewelry, I'm not wearing anything today but the wedding bands. My ears need a break and it's too humid for necklaces or bracelets.

Weekends are both good and bad around here. Husband is home, which makes things more complicated and also better. Complicated because he always has to be doing something I don't want to do at that time, or getting in my way when I'm trying to do something, or wanting to go somewhere that's not in my plan. Better because it means I get snuggles, the recycling always gets taken out, and I get to give him Honey-Do projects. But mostly snuggles. Yay snuggles. ^_^ (Yes, we are THAT couple.)

Anyway, on to the fashion! Today I'm wearing a LOUD Jessie dress by Lularoe that I bought from Amy Welch - again. I guess she's my Lularoe Lady now. ;)

I honestly had a hard time picking Tieks for this dress. I started off with Poppy, but they weren't quite right. Pop Pink are too bright, Razzleberry was too pink. Fuchsia would have been perfect, but I don't have them. Also, possibly Pacific Green, but nope. Honestly even Electric Snakes might go with this, but I don't have those either. So I went with Outrageous Orange. I think these were honestly the best pick as they really bring the orange out in the dress, and match the dress in LOUDness. :)

Seriously, this dress is loud. Zebra print AND flowers? AND POCKETS!? My kind of dress!! <3 

Also, I'm trying out a new thing with the phone where it sets a timer, then takes a few pictures in a row, but gives you five seconds to reposition. I think it works! lol. We'll see. 

No Mr. Soba Noodle today. He's hiding. 

Day Whatever It Is. We're still in the 20's. 27? 28? Whatever.

I'm thinking about doing a new thing starting Monday. Something like...Tieks of the Week. Where I wear the same pair all week, but pair them with different outfits. Cuz, y'all know I love my tieks. ^_^ 

Today I went comfy/casual. I wanted to wear a pair of neons, but I also wanted to wear my Shell/Ariel shell shirt (because this is SO COMFORTABLE AND SOFT) The jeans I just snagged a pair, but they work well. Not the most well fitting pair though, as they're a bit big (woo/boo! Woo! cuz that means I've lost inches when not even trying to! Boo! cuz new pants are expensive!). 

So yeah, I kind of threw together a look today. Don't mind it if it's not 100% looking put together, cuz it wasn't thought out at all. lol. 

Shell Shirt and Jeggings by Torrid, Unmellow Yellow shoes by Tieks, Monica stud earrings by Amrita Singh.

I picked the Tieks with use of a random number generator app I have on my phone. I numbered them 1-4 on my table and they picked #4 which was UY's. 

Do you know how hard it is to get an earring shot and not look like an idiot in the picture? So hard. I am NOT one of those perfect instagram models. Also, I didn't brush (or even finger comb) my hair and you can tell. Oops.

I keep waking up early, and I think it's because I'm on a new medication dose. It's infuriating to be off my old schedule but also great because I like being awake early enough to get things done. So yeah. Problem is that I've been in a decent amount of pain lately and I'm just like, ehhhhhhh. Don't wanna! I need to start pushing myself to do more. I took a hiatus on packing boxes for the move and I need to get back to that. One box a day is my motto. Easy right? Not really, but it can be done, seeing as how we're not in a rush to move. lol. 

I guess this is a just keep swimming kind of day. It's supposed to be nice (hot 82, but not like, scorching) so we'll see if I can maybe seal some of my tieks today. Problem is we DO live in a crappy neighborhood, where people like to run through yards and steal things, so I have to stay with my shoes after I carbon pro them, which means being outside where Mother Nature can get all up in my nasal cavities. Ew. Can you tell I like the indoors yet? LOL. I wouldn't mind being outside if nature would stop trying to invade my body with her allergens. Ok, I might, but only because I like air conditioning and I'm not a summer person. Fall though, that's my jam.

So yeah. I'm not profound or inspiring today. Just blah and trying to finish out this week on decent footing. Just keep swimming! 

You know, it might be a good day to just watch Disney movies...

Oh, and Happy Friday!!

Blooper pics:

Trying to be cute, but then realizing your timer was already on 1 second. That face....LOL!

The other two I just didn't use. Also, it's early enough you can see the sun. Ewwwww. Hi sun! 

Mr. Soba Noodle Behind the cut:

Sir Snek said hi to me this morning when I went to get my shoes. He was like, MOM! It's FOOD DAY?! Please? MOAR FOOOOOOOD. lol. I was like, no, but you can come out later. He's roaming a lot right now, so I'll likely take him out for some exercise on the porch later.

Sir Snoot de Boop!

Hi Mr Soba Noodle! <3 

Pictures below the cut. I'm saving those with snake sensitivity. See? I'm nice.

Day 27

Ohio - One day it's 75 and 20% humidity. The next it's 82 and 69% humidity. *sigh* Is it October yet?

I was going to wear a dress today, but I decided to just be comfy instead. It's another laundry day, and while I have plenty of clothing, I kind of wanted to wear something I wore before, but it's not clean, so alas, I cannot. So I went for comfy today. I want to wear my California Navy's with this, but with those in question about being returned, I cannot. If you're not from TA, My CA Tieks came with a weird imperfection:

They fit WONDERFULLY, but the imperfection is a bit odd. I put in for an exchange and I'll keep whichever pair fits best, regardless of imperfection. It's not a scuff (more like a scar in the leather) so I'm not TERRIBLE worried about wear and tear, it's just odd.

Anyway, On to today's outfit. Shirt by Liv Activewear (A subset of Lane Bryant), leggings by Torrid (yes I have two pairs like this, these are the clean ones. LOL). No jewelry today, just wasn't feeling it. Love Potions on my feet, because LP's go with just about everything! 

Like I said, had I had my CN's for real, I'd have worn those, as it would have brought the blue down with the black, making them look better. Oh well. No biggie, as I have no plans to go anywhere today. My eyeballs are being weird (new nasal spray is drying out my eyes, consequently messing with my contacts and my glasses are on hand in reserve all day) so I don't want to drive unless I have to, and I don't have to today. So being a homebody in activewear it is. 

Blah. I need my teenage slave to do my laundry. hehe. One of the benefits of having a teenager is using her for all the chores I don't want to do. Muahahahaha! I *should* condition and carbon pro some of my tieks today. Eh, we'll see. I might just sit and read all day too. I dunno yet. I smell a lazy day and that's ok. Sometimes we just need those. Yesterday was all go go go and hard on my brain, so maybe I should just chill today and rest up. 

Oh! I did get Mr. Snoot out yesterday. :) I'll make a whole other post with him, because I got some good pictures. <3 

*drums fingers on desk* I have nothing really profound today. I mean, you can't expect greatness daily, right? :P (this is sarcasm y'all. My ego isn't that big.) But in all seriousness, I think I'm on chill brain. Time to take a break. 

Makeup and then No makeup and glasses!

Make up! It helped the dysmorphia go away a bit. 

This lipstick is BOMB. It's DOSE of Colors in the color stone. Stays REALLY well.

Went to Costco to shop with Chloe, and I had to buy contact solution (I needed it anyway) because my contact was blurry. (Gross bit ahead) I normally just lick it and put it back in if it's being weird, but it kept being weird, so I opened the contact solution, stood over a trash can and took it out and there was some kind of makeup transfer on the lens. I think it was from my eyeliner that I wore. I've never worn that eyeliner before, and I'll tell you what, I'm never wearing it again! 

 I had to use the solution about 6 times in the store. My eyes were STILL blurry. It got to the point where I cleaned them enough, and took the makeup off my bottom waterline where the eyeliner was as best as I could with the saline solution just so I could drive home. I got home (safely), took off all my makeup and put in new contacts (needed to anyway) and it happened AGAIN (must have missed some eyeliner) so I took them out and put on my glasses because I was DONE with that nonsense! 

Chloe says I look like a secretary. *rolling my eyes*

But yeah. Rough eyeball day too. What the heck body, get your sh*t together. I'm pretty sure I still have a bit of eyeliner on, but my eyes are irritated so nope, not touching that right now. My other thought was that it *might* be that my eyes are acting weird because I started a new nasal spray. If that's the case, I won't be able to use it because I LOATHE wearing glasses any more than when I absolutely have to (I've had them since 4th grade) so I'd really like to not have to wear them. And I'm super blind without them. (like, -8.00 and 7.75 blind) Go #teamcontacts

*sigh* Rest now eyeballs and brain, you've had a trying day.

Day 26

--------------------------

I'm going to preface this post with the fact that we ALL have bad body image days. Today is such a day for me. I tried on about 10 things after writing this post and I didn't like ANY of them on me. This tells me that it's in my head today. While it's not the most flattering outfit, it's probably fine and I'm stuck in my head today, as everything else wasn't right either. 

--------------------------

So, this is a shirt. However, but I might move it to my pajamas. I can't make up my mind how I feel about it. I think I'd like it A LOT more with the right belt, but I have no belts. I've never needed them much, as I've always had good fitting jeans (and a butt and hips to hold them up. lol) Even if I DID have belts, I doubt I'd have the *right* belt for this look, as I'd want to go with a gunmetal and silver color with a touch of burgundy and well, yeah. I'd not have that in my wardrobe. *shrugs* Oh well. No belt and I look like I'm wearing pajamas and jeans. *smh* Today isn't starting off very well for me.

This is NOT the most flattering look on me. I know this. It is, however, comfy. So I'll roll with it today. It's only 75 out today, so it's not terribly hot. I had my hair up at the start of this, but then I wanted to take a picture of my earrings so I put my hair down and left it that way for the rest of the pictures. I wear it up a lot as I can't stand the feeling of hair in my face, or on the back of my neck. I should just shave the bottom hairs and get it over with, but I can't seem to commit to it. lol. 

My earrings are amazing however - from Amrita Singh - and I love them. They're gunmetal in color and fun to wear. Not heavy at all and kind of have a satisfying gentle swishy tinkle sound when I move my head.

I *almost* wore make up today. I might put some on later and come back and edit the blog/make another post. It may or may not happen. I guess check back in later today and see if it made it (or just come back tomorrow). lol

I'm not a huge fan of Torrid jeans to be honest. They don't really fit right, they never stay where I want them to stay and I miss Lane Bryant's perfect fitting TT jeans already. *sigh* These are Torrid's jeggings. I'm not a huge fan, but they'll do. The shirt was on sale in the clearance section. It's long, which honestly DOES make it look like jam-jams. 

Pants and shirt by Torrid, Raspberry Truffle Tieks by Tieks. :) 

This was the most flattering shot I could get today, and it's a good one. But let's look at the reality shots, shall we? 

I'm leaning against the rail and the rose bush totally snagged my shirt. lol. 

Eh, not too bad.

Reality of Torrid jeans falling down. They NEVER STAY and I've got hips and a butt! I hate belts usually, so I won't really wear one. But because they fall down, you get belly rolls. Which is fine. *shrugs* reality. But not terribly flattering.

Same.

Just being silly now. But hi, real talk, belly, thighs, arms. I'm a big girl!! 

The funny thing is that while I see imperfections, I showed these to my husband and he goes, "You're so cute." and kissed me. I said nothing about how I felt about them, just that I wanted to show him my outfit of the day. He's always loved me for ME and not for what I look like. I wish more people saw the world like he does. 

We focus too much on our imperfections. And I try really hard not to, but it's honestly hard for me not to go change into something else today because of what *I* see and pretend this outfit never even happened. I won't, because it's comfortable, and while I don't feel like it's terribly flattering, it's not AWFUL either. Am I comfortable in it? Yes. As comfortable as my lemon dress? Oddly - no. I'm not. And that dress exposes far more of my insecurities in general this this one does. Here, my arms are covered and my legs are covered and it's less revealing in general. But it's not as comfortable for some reason. It's interesting how clothes can make us feel. 

I might end up throwing on something else today too. I'm not sure yet. But for now, this is outfit of the day, #26. 

Day 25

The weather is back in the 70's! Thank goodness. I am DONE with that 90 degree nonsense. I am not a summer person. I'm sitting here like, BRING ON OCTOBER! lol. 

Finally though, that means I can be comfortable in my leggings and jeans again. (And dresses!) Heck, I'll just be comfortable. Which ya know, comfort is the name of my game!

I look at it this way. If we have to wear clothes, why suffer? Why do we go through this whole "I must have an amazing flat stomach and a great bra" nonsense. Well ladies, here's the thing. 

YOU DON'T. 

The whole bra fiasco I just went through with the bra tearing my skin off, (Oh, which by the way, I will be posting resolution about that as soon as I hear back from them the second time...) made me realize that my comfortable, non underwire bras are just as good as any others and that I do NOT need to torture myself every day with this underwire nonsense. I'm a 44 DD so don't give me that "I need underwire or they sink" nonsense, cuz GIRL, OF COURSE THEY SINK, IT'S CALLED GRAVITY! 

Bonus points if you know the movie this gif is from. :)

But you can get some decent ones that aren't underwire too. Granted, they're not going to work as well, but why do we need it to? It's just basically there to prevent boob sweat from bugging us, right? Heck, go without a bra if you want to! Even if you're a bigger girl! I don't think I'd go completely bra-less just for the sole reason that I hate boob sweat. 

It's got me thinking though. Why do we do this? Why do we try to make our stomachs flatter than they are? I mean, once in a while for a fancy party or something, sure. We all want to put in the extra hour and look fabulous on occasion. But daily? I know there are some of y'all wearing those spanx daily! And wearing uncomfortable bras because they should be replaced about every 6 months and at LEAST $30 a pop (haha, mine are closer to $60-$80) that's not happening. It's expensive. So we wear them to the ground and then get wires poking everywhere and are uncomfortable all day.

I'm telling you right now to STOP IT. You look beautiful the way you are, imperfections and all! Embrace that stomach. It likes tacos! ( And maybe has had kids too!) It's OKAY to have a tummy. Supermodels have a stomach when they sit down too! We're giving our daughters (and sons) unrealistic expectations of what a body looks like. We see it as imperfect, so then they see theirs as imperfect. Our sons see our complaints, and then get girlfriends and point out those complaints to their girlfriends, because that's what their mom did. We've normalize hating our bodies! We're telling our daughters that bras are an uncomfortable reality we deal with to look good, and that stomachs aren't normal. But WHY? Because society tells us so? And that's good enough of a reason?!?!?

Have you ever been to the art museum and seen the pictures of the women who were pale and naked and laying on their chaise lounges/beds? They weren't thin things with no stomachs. (NOT trashing thin women. There are plenty of naturally thin women out there too!) However, the thing is, women weren't desirable as THIN until the 1966. It was called "The Twiggy Phenomenon". Before that, the most desirable women had curves. Just look at our art history of paintings: 

Francais: La Venus d'Urbino

Stomach pooch.

 (Also, WHAT is going on in the background? Why does that kid have her head in a  chest? And why is that lady rolling her sleeve up like, "Kid you're gonna get it if you don't put your toys away?" Do you think that was SUPPOSED to have gone into the painting? lol!)

The Three Graces by Rubens, Peter Paul

Do you see all that implied cellulite? Muscles AND side rolls? Whhaaaaat??? Stomachs! BUTTS!

Nude From The Back by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

This one shows back rolls and a stomach and THIGHS! She's a big girl! *gasp*

Venus and the Lute Player: Tiziano Vecellio

Titan showed that women have rolls too! And this is supposed to be Venus - the Goddess of Love.

Woman with a Parrot by Gustave Courbet

This one even shows that womens boobs fall over and spread apart when we lay down. *gasps*

And this one from Bosch shows back rolls and a stomach too!! 

(Also science is proving that women had perky boobs back then because they didn't wear bras.) 

Now I don't want to discredit those of us who are lucky enough to be born naturally thin at a time when it's desirable either. In the 1900's, it was an hourglass shape and women twisted themselves into corsets. In Ancient Rome, it was all about being pale and fat, because it showed by being pale that you could afford other people to work for you, and that by being fat, you could afford fine foods to become fat on. (That mentality stayed around for quite some time...which explains why 1700's fashions had all that extra padding in the hips, even for the poor women!) Shiny hair was desirable as it meant women were healthy, so women would put oil into their hair and comb it to look shiny. (We're STILL doing that one!). 

The list goes on and on and on, how we twist an manipulate ourselves to look better, be more desirable. These days it's underwire bras and spanx. Longer eyelashes (to the point where we are putting FIBER in our mascara to make them longer and fuller, that CANNOT be good for your eyes ladies!), lip plumper for "kissable lips", eyelash, skin and lip primers, stuff to keep it on longer and "stay put" so you can continue to look like perfect paintings or dolls. You know what? If a man wants a doll or a painting, I'll buy him one. I'm going to continue to be me. If I want to wear make up for myself, I will. But I don't need it to be desirable! And neither do you!

I have an idea. A challenge of sorts. You know - what the heck - why not? We'll do a challenge. I challenge each and every one of you reading this right now to give up something society tells you is necessary for a day. Or a week even! Go to work without make up. Go to work without a bra. *GASP* (or at least without an underwire bra.) Don't work out this week. Don't cook meals. Don't clean. Don't be a dutiful wife because your husband thinks you should. And if you're one of the guys? Don't take out the trash this week. Let her do it. Don't shave your face. Tell people you're trying new skincare. Heck, TRY new skincare if you want to. Defy all of that societal that BS, because IT IS BS!! While I am focusing more on the women, men have a HUGE pressure to be a certain "mold" too. (My husband and I have discussed that at length. Men get sh*t on too. Maybe I'll go into that another time.) 

We have got to stop this seeking perfection. Perfection doesn't exist and it's just hurting our psyches, individually, collectively as women and collectively as a human race. MEN are seeing women do this. What kind of image is that giving our boys? That their future wives need to be "perfect" too?

 You know what's perfect? You are. Right now. Without ANY of that stuff. 

Read that again. 

Phew. I really needed to get that out. Fashion is about what's trending - sure. But it's also about helping you express yourself, your identity and above all in my world - COMFORT!

Now....onto what I'm wearing today.

Dress from Amazon (forever ago, so no link, I'm sorry!) Jewelry from Amrita Singh and shoes from Tieks! We finally got a break in the heat, and I'm going to enjoy the heck out of it. Not as muggy, not as hot and I'm going to go to Costco! Woot!

This very comfortable 100% rayon dress I bought off of Amazon about 4 years ago. It's one of my favorite summer dresses and I always get A TON of compliments on it. It has the exact same back as the front, so no matter which way you put it on, it's right! (I mean, what's not to love about that!?) It's got so many colors and a beautiful patterning to it. 

You can wear it with so many tieks! I see MB, Sapphire, Mustard, Biscotti, Chocolate Brown, Cream, and what I chose today - Tieks Blue!  

I honestly went with TB because of this beautiful bib necklace from Amrita Singh. Oh and look, my hair is down AND brushed. OMG! Still no make up though. LOL! 

In other news, yesterday Chloe and I went to the doctor and we (FINALLY) were able to convince her to do the shot to get rid of the wart and not the freezing. *HALLELULAJAH* 

So those suckers should clear up in 1-2 shots. We have an appointment next month to see if she'll need a second dose, we're hoping not. She said to me when it was done, "Mom, it hurt less, but I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT FROM YOU!" lol. It's like she knows I'd have said, "I told you so" or something!! Instead I said, "Well, you should have known that I was right. I always am." To which, I got glared at. hehe.

Hopefully this will be the end of all things warty. Goodbye warts. We won't miss you.

Oh, and Mr. Soba is still in "nap mode" after eating, (You can still see his bump of a mouse digesting in there if you know what to look for. LOL) but he says hello. :)