Decisions

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Yes. I'm still here. 

I've been super busy with work and with my house and haven't had the time to post. My house is a money pit and a time suck. I spent an entire weekend last fall just digging a trench to bury an electric line. I was very, very proud of that trench, but it still wasn't my idea of a fun weekend.

When I'm not taking care of the house, I'm working side jobs so that I can earn money to maintain it (like paying the electrician to replace the electric line). Now that my kids are grown, there's no point in keeping the house any longer, and I can't wait to move!

Unfortunately, I tend to be a saver -- a collector of goodies (my parents used to say that if there were two of something, I started a collection). So my house is packed full of stuff, and I mean full. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all this stuff ...

Image from theberry.com

And no -- this is not my stuff! 

When I get overwhelmed, I have a hard time making decisions, and that includes deciding what to wear. More often than not, I'll end up pulling out the same old, same old ... and I just end up feeling like nothing ever changes. I've been trying to find some new and fun ways of wearing my "same old, same old" clothes to try and combat those feelings.

shirt -- Rafaella (Boscov's)

sweater -- Designers Original (thrifted)

skirt -- Carlisle (thrifted)

boots -- Dansko (outlet)

With that in mind, I turned to the news for a source of "fashion" inspiration. Today's outfit was inspired by Geraldine Ferraro, who passed away last Saturday at the age of 75.

In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro made history as the vice presidential nominee for the Democratic Party -- the first woman to run on the ticket of a major party. You don't have to agree with her politics (I did!) to recognize her achievement.

I'm wearing a skirt, because she typically wore skirts and dresses (as opposed to pant suits). The colors I selected -- red, white, and green -- are the colors in the Italian flag. In addition to being the first woman, she was also the first Italian American. She often said that that was a bigger obstacle than being a woman.

My green was more of a forest green, and I added a statement necklace. I know that statement necklaces were not in vogue in the 80s, but that's okay. My sweater actually had a matching tank that went with it -- I think these were called twin sets.

I don't remember much about the 1984 presidential campaign, but I do remember the nationally televised debate between Ferraro and the then Vice President George H.W. Bush, and her saying, "Let me say first of all that I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude, that you have to teach me about foreign policy." I probably did let out a few whoops at that point! And does anybody else remember the Fritz and Tits slurs that were directed at the Mondale-Ferraro ticket?

Some other notable facts about Geraldine Ferraro: 

1. Was born on August 26, 1935. A scant 15 years earlier, women were given the right to vote.
2. Skipped three grades, and graduated high school at 16. 
3. Taught second grade in the New York Public Schools for five years. While teaching, she put herself through Fordham Law School at night. 
4. Kept her maiden name in honor of her mother, a seamstress, who supported the family after her father died. Ferraro means blacksmith in Italian, originally derived from the Latin ferrum meaning "iron."  
5. Was a stay-at-home mom for 13 years before joining the Queens County District Attorney's Office. 
6. Headed the Special Victims Bureau at the Queens County DA -- the real-life model for NBC's award-winning Law and Order SVU.
7. When asked to describe Ferraro, Barbara Bush was once quoted as saying “It rhymes with rich.” Bush later apologized. 

I had a lot of fun using Geraldine Ferraro as my inspiration. I also learned a lot about her. I'm not sure that I liked this outfit on me that much. I mean, I think that I looked okay, but it seems more like I reverted back to a style that I was comfortable with rather than trying something new. The way I put it together was new, but not the look. I did wear boots, which was something that I never ever used to wear, and I wore a statement necklace, which was new. I always used to wear small and dainty.

How do you think I did?