Please Stand By....

I am having some issues with my camera not syncing to my computer so I cannot upload any photos at the moment. Hope that the I.T. guy (i.e. me) can get it fixed tomorrow.

But in the mean-time and in-between-time.....

Fashion Eye Candy via The Sartorialist:

So fresh and so clean!

Love the bag

Color combo = CUTE!

Stores that I will visit when I am when not so economically challenged:

1. Zara. Sweet Zara, I hear your name in my dreams, calling for me to come back to you. "Nothing but death can keep me from it!" 

2. Anthropologie. Anthro, with your high prices and simple patterns, you wistfully make me want to learn to sew and then I think of finding fabric, and a pattern, and someone who will actually be willing to teach me and I think, "eh. Or I can just buy this for $98745111678943165798765 dollars." (Or wait for a sale!)

3. Thrift with wild abandon. Heck I may even spend $40! (Do you know how much loot I could get for forty bucks? But let's not get crazy.....


Until next time.....

Nina Simone

"I'm just a soul whose intentions are good, Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood"

Let Me Be Transparent!

I have a friend, I'll call her Deatrice (that is actually her name) who loves to use the phrase, "Let me be transparent." As in "Let me tell my truth even if it hurts." So I thought I would take a few sips from the transparency cup and share.

I had my 20 year high school reunion last week. Yes, 20 years, can you believe it?!?! I was nervous about attending, I'll admit, I felt that I didn't have everything in place that I thought I should have done from 20 years ago when I last saw some of these people. In high school I was involved in lots of activities; cheerleader, student council, sports, thespians, honor graduate and I felt that I hadn't lived up the expectations that others had of me or that I had of myself for that matter.

So I hemmed and hawed and vacillated about whether I would go and was talking to a friend about not going and he asked me what was more important, me spending time with friends that I wanted to see or missing out on a fun experience because of the pressure that I was putting on myself? Isn't it amazing what we do to ourselves? I was doing that; no one else was saying that I should have been a brain surgeon or a world renowned something or other. It didn't take anyone else to say I wasn't ____________ (fill in the blank) enough, I was doing it to myself! I was thinking that people would judge me because of what I wasn't instead of loving me for what I AM. And what I am, right now, at this moment, is enough.

So I decided to attend the reunion and of course had an amazing time! Everyone was so genuine, which I do miss here in Dallas, I don't run into that too often but it was so fun to hang out, reminisce and reconnect with my Belton High School class of '90 Tigers.

So when you have those moments of not feeling ___________________ enough, here are a few quotes to get you through and keep you going on the journey to being your authentic self:

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second rate version of someone else." -Judy Garland

"The tragedy is that so many people look for self-confidence and self-respect everywhere except within themselves, and so they fail in their search." -Dr. Nathaniel Branden

"It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not."  -Author Unknown

....And now to the style part of our program. I didn't have any additional funds to buy a killer dress for the reunion so I had to make do with what was in my closet. I've had this seafoam green dress since last year but never wore it because I thought it made my boobs look big (i.e. ginormous, not in a good way.) But I figured it would have to work. I paired it with my fave yellow/orange flowers and my pewter Steve Madden Luxe platforms.

In The Fashionista's Closet:

At the end of the night, I pulled my hair into a puff because of the humidity. This was after the reunion at a local club and I had to crop out all the incriminating stuff!

Dress: Lapis via Ross for $12(!) I remember thinking that this dress was sorta Anthropologie-ish and the price was ridick, so I bought it with nowhere special in mind to wear it last year.

Flowers (worn in hair): Michael's $1 each. I debated about wearing the flowers pinned onto the dress but I knew that there would be major pictures from the neck up so in the hair they went!

Shoes: Steve Madden Luxe

I hope that this post helps someone feel a little bit better today.....

In The Fashionista's Closet: Independence Day

I do not like to wear shorts. OR should I say, I do not like most shorts, I think the Bermuda length is good for me. I think that shorts are unflattering on most women, especially the short shorts that highlight thunder and cottage cheese thighs. *I'm not judging, I'm just telling you what I've seen. Also, if you consider this a problem area, consider where the shorts stop on your leg, this is the area the eye will be drawn to. We need to camouflage the problem areas and highlight our assets. So if you have the legs for it, by all means go for it!

I was going to suck it up and wear shorts this weekend to my town's 4th of July festivities because I was a jewelry vendor and I thought that wearing shorts would be more "practical" because of the weather, walking and moving around that I was going to be doing. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I had on my sister's shorts, a tank top and hat and was self talking myself into wearing the darn things. "It's just one day, they're just shorts, what's the big deal?"  But I just couldn't do it. So while at Walmart getting me a $5 folding chair, I bought myself a dress.

A $12 dress. A white dress. I braved the rain, the wind, the heat and the moving around and I didn't get a smudge on it, that I could see. I was pretty pumped about that and felt that I deserve to feel comfortable in what I'm wearing, whatever the occasion.

It's important to remember to be Independent, be an Individual, BE YOU!

 These pics were taken at the end of the day

Fedora: Eugenia Kim for Target
Necklace: Bought it for $1, yes $1(!) at a garage sale
White dress: Faded Glory at Walmart
Silver flip flops: Mossimo for Target

In The Fashionista's Closet: Shoulder the Load

I love this dress although it's a little big, The sleeves are phenomenal. I want to take it and have the length shortened. Also, the belt is too 'cutesy' for me, it has a heart shaped buckle. I'd like to swap it out for a wide belt or sash of some sort but I wanted to wear this dress today in all of it's unaltered glory:

Dress w/belt: Thrifted
Wedges: Steve Madden

Thanks to Deatrice for doing me a solid and snapping my pics today!

Girl Crush! Solange Knowles

I am really feeling Solange Knowles' transformation since she chopped off her hair and began to exhibit a more natural vibe. Her style has always been off the beaten path, I think she has grown into her own and the hair was the final step in the process. She's confessed that her recent fro is a weave while she let's her hair grow out but I love it nonetheless. *By the way, what type of hair is that, Solange, I may want to experiment!*

Here are her pics from a recent style profile at Refinery 29:

Adore this look!

Her shoe game is ridic

You can peep more pics and read the entire interview HERE.

In The Fashionista's Closet: Miss Match

I was working on this outfit post of what I wore to church Sunday and read T Minus T Plus' post on "being matchy"  and wanted to give my input. I am a fan of contrasting colors, I typically like to wear two colors that don't 'go together' Here is what I put out to wear for church on Sunday:

BUT although I loved this color combo, I didn't wear it because frankly, these shoes hurt my feet and I didn't know how far I would have to park from my car into church. And there's nothing worse than not being able to walk cute because your feet hurt. You may think you're playing it off, but no. You just look like your feet hurt.

So instead I wore this:

Can we not discuss the poor quality of my picture taking skills because I have no tripod? Thanks.


Here's a close up of the shoes:

I loved them because they look like shoes for a doll

So as you can see I, not being a particular fan of the 'match' did in fact match my shoes to my dress although I didn't purchase them together and had no intention of wearing them at the same time. I also resisted the urge to carry my yellow bag and opted for black. So see friends, really it's all about your personal choice. No one was harmed in the matching of this outfit. 

Dress: Ross circa February 2010
Peep toes: Betsey Johnson via Ross circa December 2009

In The Fashionista's Closet: Hip Hip Hooray!

I got this dress at a thrift store for about 7 bucks, it looks very hippie chick. (Or should I say hippie chic!) It had a small tear on the seam but I stitched it right up and it's all good!

Full disclosure: I set the timer on the camera and was rushing to get in place and I stumbled but still tried to salvage the shot:

This is my second shot after the trip up:

The shenanigans I go through for my readers!

And here are a couple of close up shots of my hair:

*Sorry for the pale face, I had just put my foundation on*

 

These are twists that I do using Qhemet Biologics Amla and Olive Heavy Cream and Eco-styler gel. I don't part when I twist my hair except in the front to make it look neater. I then gather the twists together while rolling them and use bobby pins to hold. I've been doing this for years and people always think that it's complicated but it's not.

That's all for now. It took me forever to do this post, my computer was running slowly so I finally transferred or deleted the bazillion photos that I had stored. Yay to progress!