Swimsuit Nightmares

April 26, 2017

I am one lucky lady! LB loves to give me attention, buy me pretty things, take me on vacations. He also likes to send me little “flashback” or “reminder” texts to brighten my day. Recently I received a text from him that read “only 6 weeks and 3 days till our tropical vacation”
I’m so excited!

This eventually prompted me to start thinking about my packing list:

white halter and orange shorts
red/blue striped off the shoulder and white shorts
sun dress with lace up front
sparkly flip flops
floppy straw hat
sunglasses
swim suit

Swim suit???

Yep… it’s time to break out the swim suit again.

I’ll be having nightmares for the next six weeks
You can find a lot of blog posts that attempt to provide helpful information about what type of suit is appropriate for the over 40 age group.

I have a few suggestions of my own:

Just because you are over forty, doesn’t mean you have to resort to a suit that is boring, old-fashioned, skirted or the like. Coverage is important, and more so as we age, but trying to hide imperfections with a larger than life swimsuit isn’t the best strategy. An attempt to cover everything may only draw more attention to those seeming figure flaws. Case in point, if you have large thighs, don’t try to hide them under a swim skirt. You may inadvertently appear to be wearing your tent to a camp-out. Opt for a one piece with a higher cut.

This swimsuit has a higher cut, but it also has a lot going on. Very cute. Proceed with caution.

If you have tummy trouble, a high-waisted bikini bottom may only accentuate the tummy you are trying to disguise. A one-piece with stripes that point downward help slim your figure while providing coverage.

On the other hand, I have talked about The Power of the Peplum in the past for tummy disguise, try something like this

Or we can cover all the bases at once and opt for A Miracle Suit!

Use code “MIDDLE” for a surprise discount.

Have fun shopping!

Monday Monday

April 24, 2017

Bah-da bah-da-da-da

Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
A-you can find me cryin´ all of the time

(Thank you to The Mamas & the Papas)

It’s hard to explain why I have such a hard time appreciating Monday.

I’m not even going there.

Take 2

It’s a new week and I am blessed! I woke up this morning. I am healthy. And loved. I have a job. Which brings me to what I like to talk about… what I wore to work today.

This is pretty cut and dry, but if you are like me and always searching for outfit ideas, here is another one to add to the list. Today I am wearing a red sleeveless blouse. I simply cannot remember where I found this blouse. It may have been Forever21, but I’m not sure.

Dementia.

It has been a bit chilly in the office, so I took along a black cardigan along to keep me warm.

I’ve mentioned this scuba skirt before… or maybe the white one that is just like it. Actually I have a fuchsia scuba skirt, too. They all came from Forever21 and are no longer available, which is too bad. I love them all and pair them with different blouses all the time.

My Brighton tote is a favorite

If you’re shopping for similar items, you can find these basics anywhere clothing is sold as you can see in the following examples…

Looking for a Red Blouse? Check out these suggestions here, here, and here//similar black skirt//similar Brighton tote or maybe this Brighton tote // black sandals (similar, similar).

Shopping is a great pleasure and also therapy… particularly on a Monday evening after a grueling day at work.

YES… I survived another Monday

…but just barely

Any Plans this Weekend?

April 23, 2017

Every weekend is an adventure. LB will almost always have something planned [or have an idea or two]. On Friday afternoon, without fail, someone at work will ask if I have any plans for the weekend. This past Friday the only plan I had was to go home that evening and make little pizzas then be ready for the treadmill Saturday morning.

I did both of those things.

Saturday was such a beautiful day, I decided to spend time outside and show some much needed attention to the sad plants on my deck. Experimentally, I divided and re-potted one and transplanted another [from a pot to the yard], hoping they respond positively. Two of my potted plants resemble the bird of paradise, although they have never bloomed. Another two are plumeria although, they too are bloom-less. My hibiscus plants have lost all their leaves and my croton appears to be depressed. If I put my mind to it, I may have success growing a dandelion, but I doubt it.

Apparently I have a black thumb.

Then onto the treadmill. I try to do 15-20 miles every week; this week I managed to log 16.

I’ve been wanting to stop by Classy Crossroads Boutique, so we made a quick stop before heading out to dinner. LB discovered Classy Crossroads’ first location in Macclenny, FL about six years ago. He introduced me to this little boutique knowing I would love it. Now it is not so little and they have added a second location in Jacksonville.

I found two blouses that I really liked and one I would have purchased, but I was hungry and didn’t feel like trying it on.

After much deliberation, we headed back to St. Augustine for a salad at the Cellar Upstairs

Same salad, same band mentioned in a previous post.

And yes, I’m wearing an orange top again.

Monday morning, I’ll be able to cheerfully answer “what did you do this weekend?” when posed with the question.

Every Outfit has a Story

April 21, 2017

The black skirt with white polka dots… I’ve put a lot of miles on this article of clothing.

It was worn with a black knit shirt and sandals on the first day of my current job (almost 6 years ago). It was also put away and not worn for quite a long time after it tried to eat one of my blouses. Yes I zipped a blouse up in the back zipper of this skirt. The blouse was ensnared in the skirt and I was ensnared in my outfit. With LB’s assistance I was able to [finally] free the blouse, but in the process ruined the zipper. Rather that throw the skirt away, I took it to a seamstress to have the zipper replaced. I realize I could have easily shopped for a new polka dot skirt, but I’m hopelessly frugal.

And now that I’ve made that statement, I can’t resist shopping for a black skirt with white polka dots. A few that I like are

Now my skirt is back in action. In the past I’ve paired it with white, black, red, and yellow.

If you have read any of my posts, you know how I love orange.

In Love with a Cat

April 20, 2017

As I was on my way to work this morning, LB called to see how my drive was going – basically if I was okay – as he usually does. While we were chatting, he was telling me about Elvis watching a lizard out the window.

In case I haven’t mentioned before, Elvis is my cat.

He will be eight years old this September and has been with me since he was three months old.

It was December 12, 2009 and my plan was to give my oldest daughter Stephanie a kitten for Christmas. LB and I went to the Humane Society and looked at all the adorable kitties that were living there. Some of them were in crates; some of them were playing together in the Kitty Cabana. As we walked into the Kitty Cabana I noticed one little black fur ball scurry behind a kitty play set. Of course I went after him. Given the fact that he was so skittish, I was surprised that he let me pick him up. Not only did he let me pick him up, he let me hold him close and snuggle. I had found a winner.
We took him home.

My plan was to keep him for the next several days before Christmas and then take him to Stephanie on Christmas morning.

It was only a few days that he was with us and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to part with him.

The decision was made that I would keep Elvis and go back to the Humane Society for another rescue.

Exactly one week later, we went back and adopted Aymie. She and Stephanie are inseparable.

Elvis has been on numerous trips with me. He has been through several moves with me. He tolerates no visitors and hides under the bed as soon as he is aware that company has arrived. To most people, he seems very unsociable.
However, when he hears me come home, he comes running. He then leads me to the living room for some hello-let’s-have-a-brush time.

He sleeps on my bed at my feet. He is anxious for me to get up in the morning and has been known to sit by my head and pat my nose. His favorite time is when I’m sitting in my living room chair letting him sleep on my lap

Or when he sniffs out the gum in my handbag

He has brought joy to my life and I am so glad to have him!

LB loves Elvis too!

What’s in Your Bag

April 19, 2017

As I strode to my desk this morning, one of my co-workers commented on my pretty handbag.

The comment sparked a group conversation that led to a discussion of all the things ladies carry around in our handbags. “What’s in Your Bag”, I thought, would be a good topic for a blog post.

To circumvent your mounting curiosity, I’ll now divulge my deep dark “pocketbook” secrets.

There are seven main items in my handbag: A wallet, an iPad, a small notebook, 2 sets of car keys (one for my car, one for LB’s), a case containing eyeglasses, a pack of gum, and a much smaller bag that contains all those little necessities that get lost in the bottom of your handbag if not properly contained.

Pretty standard pocketbook stuff. Everyone carries a wallet of some sort. Mine contains my drivers license, debit card, and various other wallet type items. My iPad is a necessity during lunchtime at work because I have my Stylebook to arrange, Instagram to stalk, and other blogger’s posts to catch up on. The small notebook comes in handy if I think of a new post title or other idea to capture before it evades my overstuffed brain. The other items are pretty self explanatory but small bag is the really interesting part…

and I’m not sharing.

so… what’s in your handbag?

[I SO wanted to say “what’s in your wallet”]

Orange and Blue

April 18, 2017

As I revealed in a previous post, orange is one of my favorites. Orange paired with blue is a glorious combination!
But though I’m a native Floridian and have lived in Florida all my life, I’m not a Gator fan. Sorry Folks.
I wish the Gators no ill will, I’ve just never been a fan of the team, or of football in general.

Speaking of football, aside from the SuperBowl (which is in my opinion just an excuse to have a party), the only thing I appreciate about football is the beer and hot wings.

Well… maybe just the hot wings.

As I mentioned, orange is one of my favorites. Together orange and blue create a synergistic effect which is great for a football team. It is also a combination I assemble often as blue jeans pretty much pair well with anything and I have a LOT of orange tops.

My taste in jeans changes every couple of years or so. Right now I’m obsessed with colored skinny jeans from Venus. A few years ago it was Stella boot cut jeans from Express. Sprinkled in the mix of my denim collection are Rock & Republic and a pair of True Religion that I rarely wear for fear that I may destroy them. I can be hard on my clothes (slob) and certainly don’t want to do any damage to a $300 pair of jeans. I don’t worry so much about a pair from Venus that cost $29.

Happy Tuesday!

Take 2

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