Promises I Can Keep

At the threshold of each New Year, I vow to become a thinner, thriftier woman who smokes less. And at the end of every year, I am still have a few extra pounds, credit cards that beg for mercy and a pack a day habit. My blogmate posted some very realistic resolutions that actually sound as fun as they are attainable. I like her style. I even stole one of hers!

1. Spend more time outdoors: As much as I feel I deserve to vegetate on my couch while indulging in a Real Housewives marathon and eating chips, I always feel so much better when I hit the road, beach, trail or tennis court. Inspired by my continued reading of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (seriously... I have read it three times in the last month. I am a little obsessed), I am even kicking around the idea of hiking part of the Appalachian Trail one day. Not that I am quite ready for it now but let me go all Chinese proverbial and point out that every journey begins with a single step. My stepdaughter wants to learn how to place tennis so I need to drag myself out of the house and in to the sunlight on weekends. We are moving to South Carolina in the summer, thus giving me an excuse to get out and explore a new area. There are so many reasons to DVR those Housewives marathons. After all, I can always watch them at night!

2. Start pairing all the wine I drink with actual homemade culinary masterpieces (made by me, of course!): My Pinterest boards dedicated to food are insane. You would think I was Julia Child. And while I do get the occasional wild hair and prepare a gourmet five course meal, most nights (especially weeknights) find me going for the conventional grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. Which is fine but would be so much better if I made a grilled Swiss and apple sandwich and a tomato basil soup from scratch. In 2013, I would like to stretch my culinary prowess and challenge my palate more often. My stomach will thank me.

3. Drink more wine: Duh!

4. Continue to tinker with this blog and still have fun doing so: Our blog started out as a way for two friends to keep in touch and inspire each other from across the miles. I have a blast doing and I feel like we have already come a long way (just take a peek at our earliest posts... and realize they are only four months old). But I can still step up my game artistically and style-wise. I have a notebook full of outfit ideas that need to become a reality. I have a tripod and a slightly better camera than when I started. The tools are in place, now it is time to use them.

My Fashion Manifesto

 


A few months ago, I vowed to quit buying fashion magazines. I really hate them. I have enough people in my life telling me what to do (Hi mom! And don't get me started on my mother-in law...) I would buy a fashion magazine in the hopes of keeping up with the latest trends but you could find me an hour later, curled up in the fetal position, lamenting on why I never whipped up a feast for twelve of my friends in less than thirty minutes or why I was wasting away my fertility or why I couldn't have eyelashes like Kim Kardashian. Fashion magazines aren't about fashion; they are huge guilt trips for women. With the rise of Pinterest and fashion blogs, I figured I could get my cues from there instead. So I quit buying Cosmo and Glamour and Marie Claire and In Style. And I don't miss any of them.

At first, fashion blogs freaked me out too. I am a suburban soccer stepmom who drives a SUV and lives in a town that finally got a Kohl's last month. I doubt I will ever find myself at New York City Fashion Week. The closest I come to designer clothing is when Target rolls out a collaboration. I am not a size zero or twenty two years old or even a real blonde. Some fashion bloggers made me feel almost as guilty as magazines had.

But I started to dig deeper in to the fashion blog-o-sphere. And I started to find people who had quirky and chic styles that began to inspire me. But I never found someone like me (well... except my blogmate but I have a theory that Leather Peacock and I were separated at birth).

So here I am: a thirty four year old size 12 who shops at Marshall's and blogs with her like-minded best friend. I am true to myself, I have found new inspiration and I no longer feel guilty.

Sweater dress: Mossimo at Target
Necklace: Humanité
Tights: Target
Boots: Lane Bryant