Flip-It Friday: At What Age Did You Become Yourself?

THIS.

Every since I was a baby I wanted no one's help. 

STAHPIT was my first word. (As in, "Stop trying to help me" ... or maybe, "Stop touching me.")

Either way I was hopelessly I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T:

"She cook, she clean, never smell like onion rings"

(This video is hilarious and I don't know why. Maybe it's how censored it is.)

So one day I decided I didn't need help dressing myself. 

I got out everything red I had and put it all on at once. 

My debut elicited laughter and I went straight back into my room to pout.

Now I realize that that was my true self. 

Hopelessly independent and critically susceptible to public opinion. 

When did you realize your true self? 

I always imaged it was around the 4th or 5th grade, but maybe I'm just projecting my own experience on everyone. Something about being old enough to think for yourself but young enough to make bold statements. 

Move Along, Nothing to See Here

Don't laugh at me when I try something new and fail.

I'll get pissed at you and have a hard time forgetting it.*

Like the time I got dressed as child in all-red-everything. It wasn't cute and I got laughed back into my room and out of going to church.

Like anytime I've attempted to make a serious craft. I plateaued at 10. Let's just buy our needlepoint pillows and driftwood candle holders from now on, shall we?

Like the time I put all commas in an expense report instead of a mix of commas and decimal points and ended up asking Finance to subsidize a $4 million dollar cocktail event.

Go ahead. Laugh if you feel like you should. I'm tired and you're arrogant.

*Read: My ho-hum mind forgets everything. My angry mind forgets nothing and will recall your rude superiority the next time you look weak in front of me.**

**This doesn't apply to the Mr....(Honey, I correct your choice of words because I love you and you're hilarious. And you can correct my blog because you're a gracious, righteously terrified editor.)

I wonder if drunk people ever try to "santa" down a chimney...?

This past weekend my Father in Law (FIL) asked my Mr., in front of me, if he ever got sick of my positive attitude. I piped up saying, "You and I are more alike than you know!"*

See, he doesn't read this blog. He doesn't know how much I complain on here. Just like you guys might not know how much I am really positive in real life.

So I decided to tell you what I DO like for once.

Twitter jokes. Brevity + Humor = Speaka-muh-language.
Flat shoes. Marrying a short man and living in a walkable city means that ditching the heals is a welcome necessity.
My job. This is the first job I've ever really liked.

My life overall right now.

The Mr. and I are keeping an eye on one of our neighbor's places while they're away getting married and said couple has roof access. They have a cool built-out deck area and gave us the OK to jump up there while they were gone.

Last night after getting home from a fast weekend away (thanks for coming out, Berta!), we got the neighbor's mail and decided to check out the roof while delivering it. A storm seemed to be approaching from all directions but the winds were low and the air still warm. We stayed outside until the drops were fat enough to make you blink, taking in a complete 360 view as the tallest building nearby with roof-access. A beautiful local church steeple, smoke stacks on renovated warehouses turned lofts, and The Sears Tower all seemed our peers. We felt a little Fiddler. A little Mary Poppins. Or maybe I was the only one who felt I could break out into song. But being up on the roof, being unparalleled reminded me of how wonderfully, simultaneously alone and together I can be in a city of millions.


---
*He's a glass-half-full kinda guy... but there's acid in his glass and he's being water boarded with it.

Math, Math, Math ... Elvira!

I belong to flash sale sites like Fab.com, Ideeli, Rue La La, Jetsetter, Groupon, Joss and Main, etc.

And have logins to other favorite online stores like ASOS, ShopRuche, Everlane, etc.

I occasionally click on the email promptings or log on to see how I can spend my money.

I need a lot of things:

reliable winter tights
a rug for our living room
a trip somewhere tropical in February
a chandelier for our dinning room
scented candles for housewarming gifts
sweaters that pair well with button downs
comfortable flats for the office

Did I say need? I mean, first-world-need/want.

Thankfully I get overwhelmed when I have two things in my cart and end up closing the browser window in a panic.

Was I really about to spend $100 on 2 sweaters?

I know that this is a lot of money to some and not so much money to others. For sweaters anyway.

The past few clothing purchases I've made have been hit-or-miss in satisfaction. I even find that the more I weed my closet of the unwearables, the easier it is to get dressed.

You have one pair of black pants and 4 sweaters that look good with those pants and 2 pairs of shoes that hit the hemline just-so, so you only have ... math, math, math ... 8 options for an outfit. Easy!

But you know what I have no problem spending money on? Others who really need it.

I love to love people with my credit card. And I can't tell if that statement is endearing or sad.

So when I got an email prompting from Kiva this morning, I click-clicked through to find Elvira's story and click-clicked to help her buy charcoal to sell.

from Kiva.org

She lives in the Philippines where the average annual salary is $1175. She needs a $400 loan to continue her business (... math, math, math, that's 8 fancy sweaters).

So if you feel like going on a shopping spree to help people all over the world with a lil' micro-lending, check out Kiva. And when you get paid back (and I usually do), you can relend the money for even MORE giving and shopping!


---
I am in no way compensated for this post. I just really love Kiva and believe in their mission. 

Innies and Outties

If the following things go "out" of fashion this year, I'm totally cool with it:

platform shoes
(am I the only one who can't walk in them? I assume that's why Lena Dunham was walking like a newborn deer at the Golden Globes last night) start video at 2:30

see-through shirts without a tank top underneath

chevron

matching shoes/bag/belt/earrings/headband/anything

super-tight clothing

acrylic nails

Things I'm hoping don't go out ever, or at least not in 2013:

skinny jeans

over-sized button downs

Aztec print

black tights

Ombre hair color

lace

plaid

gold

Full Disclosure: This whole post is a shrouded rant about how I can't find a comfortable, stylist, unique pair of black pumps without a freaking platform. Help me, Rhonda!

The Real Cost of Cheap Fashion

I just read this excerpt of a book on the high cost of cheap fashion. (Of course, NPR... you go, NPR)

Ironically enough, I found in a post from a blog called The Budget Babe. It reminded me of when my friend Makenzie vowed to take a year off from buying new clothing - and she got her mom and sister to join her! They would stick to buying only thrifted clothing or buy from ethical, sustainable sources. (Underwear and socks were the exception.)

I have thought lately about my choices in clothing. My personal budget has an awesome dip in if for the first time in probably a year. I haven't spent my "fun money" because I usually spend it on clothing or shopping for myself and I can't bring myself to buy another shirt or candle. I will even go as far as wandering around a store for 20 minutes carrying a pair of shoes just to put them back and leave the store. I can't do it. I get guilty thinking about where the shoes were made, who made them, how they can possibly be so inexpensive, and, selfishly, if I even really LIKE the shoes or if I'm just looking for the purchase-high.

I really want to read the book by Elizabeth Cline referenced above. Maybe it will spur me forward into ethical clothing choices. Maybe it will give me hope that I won't look like an outdated homeless person if I vow to make better fashion selections - or none at all.

Flip-It Friday: Group Projects Are Not My Bag

Do you like working in groups?

In school I never liked working in groups. It was too hard to communicate a vision and have a few people carry it out. It's hard to get people to share a vision, do work on time and make it look and sound cohesive. I found that I was either withdrawn from group work or a dictator when it came to organization. I have an all-or-nothing approach to working with others and it's coming to my attention again. I just don't trust others to do things the way I would (my perceived "right way") so I do it all myself or don't do any of it.

Are you like that? Or do you like group work? What's your style?

---

As for the bag portion of this post, I am looking for a new handbag. My old ones are dirty beyond cleaning, torn and mended over several times, or cheap-looking and a poor investment (to the thrift store they go!).

The new bag has to be perfect. Neutral enough to go with everything, but spunky enough to make me proud to carry it/seem as an individual. Big enough to hold normal purse things as well as emergency shoes and a lunch (I commute in the city, so there is no "backseat/trunk space" in which to stash my stuff). It has to be also be small enough to not be too heavy when I have to walk miles a day (sometimes). It has to be durable. It has to have clean lines and not a lot of fringe/adornments. It has to be classic looking and say "I'm a professional," and, "I'm cool without trying too hard". It would also be nice if it were ethically made, eco friendly and/or recycled.

I was looking for something like this from ASOS:

This is still all wrong though. Not unique. That dang lock just danglin' would bother me. Looks large and heavy to me. Uncomfortable corners and possibly not a supple leather.

When I saw this on etsy:

Handmade

Small, woman-owned business (even if it costs some oil to ship it from Thailand)

Unique in color, style, source (so it is unlikely that someone will have this exact bag)

Nylon (lightweight, waterproof and easy to clean)

Pretty and professional (have you ever seen a giant bow look so subtle?)

Large, but dainty looking

Doesn't cost a fortune (I was preparing to spend a fortune for the first time in my life on a bag!)

Winner.