Things that Matter

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

~ Martin Luther King Jr. 

dress — First Issue (thrifted)

boots — (Dansko Company Store)

Was my sweater dress supposed to be a dress? or maybe it was just supposed to be worn as a cardigan? I dunno ...  but I think it worked okay as a dress (I didn't get any hairy eyeballs from the people at work, so that says something right there.)

I have a hard time remaining silent when I see something that I feel is wrong. This past weekend was a case in point. I got into a political discussion with one of my Facebook friends. He has since unfriended me, so we are no longer friends. I am not all that upset about losing him as a friend — he was one of those friends from high school who you never really knew all that well, but they reappear in your life, thanks to Facebook. You were pretty sure that you didn't have a whole lot in common with this person, but you want to give them the benefit of the doubt, so you friend them — sometimes against your better judgment.

We ended up getting into a political discussion over something that I had posted. I should have known better about posting it, because I know that politics is a trigger point for me, and Facebook is just not a good meeting ground. On top of that, I haven't figured out how to walk away from a discussion, and to just let it go, and let it be.

Take a deep breath, Kari ... 

I know that I'm not going to change anybody's mind, so why do I keep chewing on it the way a dog does with a bone? I am agonizing, really agonizing, about what I said and how I said it. There has got to be a better way.

How do you walk away from an argument or discussion feeling okay?  And how do you remain vocal about things that you believe in but at the same time keep your cool?

Linking up to Patti at Not Dead Yet Style for Visible Monday. This week, however, I wish that I had not  been quite so visible.

Sparkle Someone Else's Eyes

A sparkly shirt and sparkly shoes ...

Sparkle someone else's eyes
Now woman, get away
American woman, listen what I say

This song was first released by The Guess Who in 1970, six years before I graduated from high school! And now that I have dated myself, I'll say it again — I am really old. But how on Earth did that happen?

shirt — Western Connection (thrifted)

pants — London Jean (Victoria's Secret)

belt — thrifted

necklace — Anne Dick (thrifted)

shoes — Dansko (Dansko Company Store)

earrings — DIY (and why exactly does do it yourself sound so much better than home made?!)

Believe it or not, this was a hard shirt to wear. I thought the spandex-like material would be super comfy, but the sparkles (which don't show up all that well) made the shirt feel really stiff. It fit nice, but it wasn't all that soft. (and on top of that I kept feeling like I was leaving sparkles on the ground behind me ... sort of like a Hansel and Gretel trail.)  And then the color was really odd ... it wasn't quite brown, but it wasn't quite green either, so I had a tough time trying to figure out what to wear it with.

Once I decided to wear it with my old faithful pants, I played off of the gold sparkles on the shirt and used the opportunity to wear some other gold-tone stuff (my belt and necklace) that I have but don't wear all that often (I kind of have this phobia about wearing gold these days). I got the belt at a thrift store the last time I visited my parents, and it was too cool for even my phobic self to pass up. I had to wear it home instead of stuffing it in my luggage (talk about setting off the metal detectors) because it was so heavy (a couple of pounds?!). I was pretty sure that it would have tripped the scales!

This isn't the best picture of it — you don't get the feeling of how heavy it is ... it's like a dead weight (but it is oh so very cool ...). You can see the sparkles in the shirt a bit better too ...

Pardon this interjection while I say that I love this next picture of me because I look skinny. How weird is that? Same day, same clothes, same everything ... so why do I look skinny in this picture and not in the others?!

Anyway, I have to say that the really REALLY cool thing about this outfit is the necklace. Yes. My necklace. I got it in a thrift store; it was in a big ziplock bag that was stuffed full of jewelry for some insanely low price. I didn't give it a second thought until I started writing this post, and then I did some research on it (yeah, I'm still a nerd ...). I noticed that it had a name on it ... Anne Dick, and that seemed worthy of a Google search.

Wouldn't you know ... this necklace was made by the third wife of Philip Dick, the science fiction writer? I read his book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? for one of my book groups  — the 5Bs ... the Bodacious Beer Boozing Book Bitches (and, yeah, I have the T-shirt — erm ... denim shirt — and I wear it proudly).

This next pictures isn't bad either ... LOL. Oh man. I guess I can be kind of vain sometimes, can't I?

Linking up to Bloggers Do Sequins Better, because I was a sparkly blogger today.

And since my shirt, my necklace, and my belt is thrifted I'm doing a double whammy and linking up to Meagan at Spunky Chateau, and her Thursdays is for Thrifters.

Red All Over

What's black and white and red all over?

Hold up your hand if you think the answer is a newspaper.

 

Of course, you knew that if you held up your hand, you'd be wrong. That would have been entirely too easy. Besides, I said "red" and not "read" ... har har har ... Are you laughing yet?

Anyway, today it's me that is black and white and red all over — I'm wearing a black shirt and white pants, and that riddle was so hokey that I'm blushing a bright red.

shirt — Rafaella (thrifted)

corduroy pants — London Jean (Victoria's Secrets)

belt — Aéropostale (thrifted)

boots — Trumpet by Wanted (DSW)

I know that that's one of the oldest riddles in the book (it dates back to at least the year 1917), but it still makes me laugh a little bit. And that's a good thing — laughter is good for the soul. There was a time, not that long ago, when I didn't laugh a whole lot. And I tell you, I was not a whole lot of fun to be around. I was just kind of existing ... putting one foot in front of the other. I would go to work, then come home and work some more, or then crawl into bed so I could get up the next day and do the same thing all over again.

And that's no way to live — a life devoid of laughter is a pretty empty life. These days, I still work really hard and put in long hours, but I try to find the humor in things. I still don't laugh as much as I probably should, but I'm a whole lot better than I used to be.

"With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die." 

~Abraham Lincoln

Linking up to the Every Body Every Wear black-and-white challenge.

Forgive me for the less than adequate pictures ... My point and shoot is a great little camera for outside, but I can't figure out how to take decent pictures with it when I'm stuck inside. I would have waited till the weekend to take them, but then I would have missed the EBEW challenge, and with all the black that I own, I couldn't let this challenge pass me by.

The Most Magnificent Shoes

I really wanted to wear these shoes to work. Really and truly I did.

Aren't they the most magnificent shoes ever?

I seriously just put them up on the table so that I could drool over them for awhile — it was almost shrine status. And don't you think they would have looked fabulous with this outfit?

jacket — Anne Klein (thrifted)

black shirt — Rayna Morgan (older than dirt / don't remember)

skirt — Grace Dane Lewis (thrifted)

boots — Dansko (Dansko Factory Warehouse)

Unfortunately, there was one teeny tiny small problem. 

"What's that?," you ask? 

I couldn't stand in them unless I did the downhill skier pose (you can see the downhill skier pose in this post here — it's aka the motorcycle mama pose).

Not being able to stand in a pair of shoes (let alone walk in them) is actually kind of a big problem — not a small one. So these beautiful amazing shoes had to go back to the store. Sniffle ... sniffle ... sob ... sob. I stroked them a few more times, laid them down gently back in their box, and then slammed the lid down quick so I wouldn't be forced to change my mind and keep them.

I was really really bummed. I so badly wanted to pull off this kind of a look ... 

Can't you just see me? I would be sitting at my desk, leaning back a little, with my legs provocatively crossed. People would walk by my desk, glance over, and just stop dead in their tracks. Their eyes would travel down my elongated legs to those fabulous amazing shoes, and they would think, "Who is that amazing mysterious woman with the leopard print ankle booties?

Yeah. Right. hahahahaha! I find the idea to be rather funny too. 

I realized that if I had to take my shoes off every time I needed to get up and grab another cup of coffee, that I probably wouldn't seem all that mysterious. In fact, I'd probably look downright silly.

I did, however, have a good time imagining myself as looking that way, and I think it helped me pull off my look for the day. I probably stood up a little taller and sashayed a little more, and, in general, was probably a whole lot more confident than I would have been otherwise. I'm struggling these days in my job and feeling rather insecure about what I am doing, so that extra confidence was a bit of a boost. Imagination really can work wonders.

Linking up to Visible Monday with Patti and Not Dead Yet Style. Even though my leopard print ankle booties were in my mind's eye only, they made me feel so much more visible.

Forgetting My Jacket or Not

I'm ba-a-a-a-ck, and it's not because I forgot my jacket.

"... As you can see, I’ve returned, and it’s not because I forgot my jacket. ... The real reason I’m back is ..."

LOL. 

And see, I really didn't forget my jacket.

jacket — Old Navy (thrifted)

dress — Dressing Clio (thrifted)

shoes — Bare Traps (DSW)

I look all flustered here because I can't get past his striking brown eyes. LOL! Anyway ... I actually wore my Blowfish booties with this dress on the day I wore it ... I got the Bare Trap shoes early in the fall, but they still look so pretty in the box that I've been afraid to wear them. (Yeah. I'm weird. I admit it. I have to save something for a few years before I have the courage to actually use it.)

 shirt — Rayna Morgan (can't remember)

shoes — Blowfish (DSW)

The dress was sleeveless, so my old faithful, older-than-dirt top was pulled into rotation once again. This shirt is probably my most used item in my entire closet. I've had it for more years than I care to remember, and I'm dreading the day when it finally bites the dust. It's comfortable and very thin, so I can wear it under anything — scratchy sweaters, sleeveless dresses, low-cut tops, you name it ... I've been looking for a replacement for the past few years, and I still haven't found one that is half as good.

So ... why am I back, and why was I gone? I'm back because the holidays are over ... whew! I bet you would never guess that I don't remain my normal calm, cool, and collected self during the holidays. (hahaha ... The three Cs — calm, cool, and collected — are rarely, if ever, used to describe me. Honestly? Sometimes it's just hard for me to keep my proverbial sh*t together.)

Even in the best of years, the holidays tend to wreak havoc on my day-to-day stress levels. I never have enough time to do half the things that I had set out to do or wanted to do and then before I know it I am running around trying to do a hundred things in the last 24 hours and then poof! It's over, seemingly in a matter of seconds! Breathe Kari, breathe ... And then ... this year ... it probably goes without saying that my job and my commute (and especially my job) sent my stress soaring to new heights!

Hope everybody had a happy and stress-free holiday season.

A thrifted dress and a thrifted jacket, so I'm linking up to Spunky Chateau and her Thursdays Are for Thrifters link party.