Category :Gray

On Self-Portraits

Tank – Brandy Melville  //  Pants – don’t remember (no tag)  //  Boots – Cheap shop in Chinatown  //  Necklace – Threadsence  //  Rings – Threadsence, F21 and other Misc
One of my favorite music artists sings, “You ain’t nothin’ special. You’re no more celestial than anyone else.”  That’s something to keep in mind.  Yes, you are one of a kind, but so is everyone else.
That brings me to what I want to say today:  for all you/us bloggers, when taking pictures of yourself just get over it.  You’re not the most *anything* in the world – beautiful, ugly, graceful, awkward, funny, etc etc.  You are just you.  And for your blog/site, your readers want to see you.  Warts, bruises, love handles, scars, smiles, dimples and all.  
So when taking self portraits, just relax, have some fun and get used to seeing your face in all is made up glory and it’s made down normal.  I’ve come to *mostly – flawed remember?* accept that I’m also not the most of *anything*.  So you guys see me made up, but you also see me with a face mask on and you also see me like this:

We’re all flawed and imperfect beings.  But at the same while perfection might be fascinating to look at momentarily, in the long run you’d get either bored or very sad.  Whereas, well, with someone like me, you can think to yourself, “Well, at least I don’t make those faces in public!”  
*Because, come on, I know you make them in private*

When Your Child Looks At You Like You’re Crazy

Dress – ASOS  //  Jacket – Billy by Flying Tomato  //  Boots – Feet First  //  Socks – F21  //  Necklace – Threadsence  // Scarf – Kensie
Baby Girl and I are curled up on the couch in the morning.  PJs still firmly on both of us, Dora on the tv, little girl tucked neatly into my side with thumb in her mouth.  I’m reading a post-apocalyptic novel and in a very grueling section it talks about parents sending their children away so they don’t die and how many of those children perish anyway.  
As I read each sequential line of this section, my eyes tear up and my grip on my girl gets stronger and stronger, until the moment when I’m sobbing like a mad woman and clinging on to her for dear life.  That’s the moment the thumb sucking stops and two little eyes turn on me with a, “What in the world is wrong with you mom?” look.  Her gaze gives me a stare that says, “No, seriously? What’s with you lady?”  And after a few seconds, she patronizingly pats my arm and says, “It’s okay…it’s okay.”  
She must think I really take it hard when Swiper takes something from Dora.
p.s.  This is my favorite pic because it looks like I’m checking out my own butt.  Yeah!


Camo Lately

Leggings – c/o Style Lately  //  Top -Vintage Havana  //  Jacket & Sunnies – F21  //  
Shoes – Biviel  //  Zebra Necklace – Lustre  //  Bird Ring – Lulus
Experimenting with leopard print has gone really well lately, so I decided to branch out even more out of my comfort zone with these cool *c/o* Style Lately camo leggings.  I’ll be honest, the idea of wearing these both excited me and made me scared.  I wasn’t sure I could pull them off.  I was scared that I’d look like some dainty little girl trying really hard to wear something ‘tough.’ But I really wanted to give it a try because I thought they’d be really cool and could add a lot of fun to my wardrobe.  Plus, as I’m a big believer of doing things that scare you, I thought, “Well, I can’t not get these now!”  

I’m so glad I did.  They’re fun and comfy and I love how it’s making me think of other pieces in my wardrobe in a totally different way.   Just goes to show that you should break out of your sartorial comfort zone every once in a while.  Bonus: something about walking down urban streets wearing camo leggings makes me feel like I could be in a Resident Evil movie taking on monsters and zombies.  But first I’d have to lose the heels.  And pack my swords.

Daily Exuberance

Top – ChiQle via Bicyclette Boutique  //  Tank – Gap  //  Skirt – Ezra //  Tights – HUE  //  Boots – Feet First  //  Scarf – Street stand  //  Necklace – I forget (old)
Baby Girl goes to the shed with me every morning.  We open the doors and reveal her pink tricycle in it’s nightly slumber.  This reveal is accompanied by a very over pronounced and energetic, “Oooooooooh!” Followed immediately by, “Wow! I like my bike!!” I just love how this simple event evokes such joy from her.  
How do we lose that as we age?

SuperHero Powers

 Tank – Brandy Melville  //  Shirt – hand me down  //  Vest – Shown To Scale via Threadsence //  Cords – Le Chateau
  Boots – Feet First  //  Necklace – Threadsence  //  Sunnies – F21
If you all saw Friday’s Vlog post, you know I was wearing cords and it was established that I’m “country bumpkin” because of it. I don’t think I helped the issue by pairing it with plaid.  Oh well.  You can see that I’m super horrified about this *sarcasm fully intended*   Actually, while I was wearing this vest, I had two men tell me within three hours that they really liked my ‘cape.’  I love that they called it a cape.  Made me feel like a superhero.  Some kind of fashionable Wonder Woman? 

Leaping over tall boots in a single bound, and putting together outfits at the speed of a bullet.  Yup, I’ll take that superpower.  Or if we go with the previous comment, I’m a Country Bumpkin superhero!  Yup, maybe I’ll even bump into Daryl from The Walking Dead and we’ll go hunt zombies!  Okay, now I’m really going over the top.

But really, I think it’s cool how different clothes have such different affects on people.  I am continually fascinated by the various reactions to some of the things I wear.  Whether good, bad, or in between, I love to hear the affects, ’cause it’s all so personal and subjective.

Storm

Top – Joe Fresh  //  Dress – Ruche  //  Tights – HUE  //  Boots – Feet First  // Necklace – c/o This Enchanted Pixie
These were taken literally right before we got hit by a huge storm.  In fact, you can see that the wind is already going crazy.  We got a fresh load of snow mixed with rain, which meant that I was shoveling heavy, water logged snow.  Not my idea of fun, but at least a good upper body workout.  
Spring?  Where are you Spring?
Buller?  Buller?

Projected Self Image

Top & Bracelet – Brandy Melville  //  Pants – hand me down  //  Scarf – street stand  //  Necklace – Threadsence  //  Boots – Locale
If you passed me on the street right now, what you’d see is that bundled up lady in the second picture pushing a covered up grumpy baby, but of course those of you on the web usually only see the first picture there.  It’s clearly a projected self image that, while true, is not representative of the whole picture. *pardon the pun*  It’s like FB or twitter.  The rates of depression have soared because of social media where everyone presents their best selves, the image of the selves they would like to be project to the world, and that makes us all compare ourselves to these false representations of people.  No one can live up to that. 
You never see that the woman jet setting around the globe cries herself to sleep at night.  Or that the man with the perfect family is swimming in debt. Or that our favorite blogger who looks so cute or does so many crafts is in pain all the time.   Nor should you really since social media is public and we don’t air our dirty laundry in public or on the street.  But my point is that as hard as it is we should never compare ourselves to people on FB, twitter, or blogs, because we don’t see the truth behind the pictures.  
Your life is good, warts and all.
Here endeth the lesson

Really Just A Wimp

Top- F21  //  Tee – Etsy  //  Pants – from a swap
Yeah I know.  Bad blogger lady.  But it’s so cold I’m loath to take any pictures.  I’m still getting dressed it’s just that when my body is covered in goosebumps head to toe I’m really finding it hard to get any motivation to take me coat off for pictures.  Which is really to say that I’m too much of a wimp to take pictures in this weather.  C’est la vie.  Spring is just around the corner n’est pas? 
Happy Belated Valentine’s day!  Love you all *hugs*

Swaps And Jerks

Jacket – UO  //  Top – Lucy Love from Trixie //  Leggings – H&M  //  Cowl – ModCloth  //  Boots – Ruche *DIYed myself with the belts*

I was all comfy and cozy when I headed out to a recent clothing swap.  I love clothing swaps.  They’re so fun and it’s great to see everyone getting excited about clothes that you thought had come to the end of their life span.  It’s great because it’s so inspiring and refreshing in this day of “Just buy a new one.”  Also, I wanted to be really comfy and wear leggings so that I can easily throw things off and on.  I highly recommend organizing a swap with your friends.

True Story:
Andrew walked up to Baby Girl and tapped her on the bum.
She responded with, “No please.”
He did it again.
“No please Daddy.”
And again.
“Daddy, no Pleeease!”
He did it once more.
She points her index at him, furrows her brow and says, “Don’t be a jerk!”
He looks at me with a you-taught-her-this look.
I replied,”Well, you were being a jerk.”

Young and Stupid

Top – Timing via ModCloth  //  Dress –  Everly via Ruche  //  Tights – Hansel from Basel  //  Belt & Socks – F21  //  Boots – Locale
Did I ever mention that I’m smart?  No really, I swear I am.  I’m so smart I decided that standing in a dress with no coat on, in the middle of a snowstorm, on the way to kids group just to get some pretty pictures was a good idea.   Me and Baby Girl walked there, though maybe I should call her Baby Abominable Snowman since by the time we arrived she was buried under a two inch layer of snow in the stroller, not moving and just glaring at the world with her toddler brows furrowed.  
It was all worth it though because not only did she have a great time playing, but I was also asked if I was the babysitter and got a huge, “NO! You’re too young!” when I said I was the mama.  So, I would do it again.  ‘Cause I’m just brilliant that way, or I’m just too young to any better.  *wink wink*
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