Tag Archives: dress

Double Florals

Last week I wore double florals for the first time to work on Wednesday, and then my car broke down. Which means that I now consider double florals to be bad luck.

Also the broken car threw off the end of my week.

The car is already 16 years old, I’ve been driving it for 8. I’m not saying I want the car to die, but I’m preparing for it to die… by browsing for a new car. Like a very old, very sick pet who’s quality of life has really fallen. Maybe it is time? I’m thinking Prius C? Go ahead and judge my decisions now. But tiny car, major MPG, probably won’t need to be replaced for MANY more years. And I have a big ole’ chunk of change in my savings account with no defined purpose…

Double Your Fun

I snagged this dress from the sale rack at Target for a couple bucks and wore it to work on Friday and then out to the ‘clubs’ that evening. I wanted to show off my ‘restyling’. For work I tried to keep it classy with a little undershirt and chunky necklace (to neutralize any cleavage), and some flats.

For the bar that evening I put on my very favorite tallest ‘karaoke shoes’. And got ready to dance the night away. I know, this one isn’t exactly a big swing. But I always love how much ‘cooler’ I feel in a pair of good heels compared to plain flats.

We’ve had a lot going on at the casa de Cline lately. So I’ve been a little absent from the internet. Sometimes even when I have time to blog it seemed important to make a little other things a priority. Like the boyfriend, reading fantasy novels, taking naps, and realizing that my brunette roots are REALLY obvious, so I’ll be stopping to get some pick-me-up dye on the way home form work today.

I Language vs. You Language

I ordered this top (dress) from Modcloth a couple of months ago and even though I love the pattern & the cutout on the back I literally cannot wear it as a dress because the skirt part does not fit me.

I am pretty much totally happy with the way I look. I love my curvy bits, and my freckles, and my short legs, and my funky short hair.

But still I find plenty of things that don’t fit me, or aren’t flattering, or are just plain weird.

In college I took a business writing class. The professor went into specifics about ‘I language statements vs. you language statements’.

You Language

“Your joke wasn’t funny.’

I Language

“I don’t think that was funny.”

‘You language’ puts the blame on the receiver, and can easily be interpreted as an attack.  So you shouldn’t use in business writing (or arguments with your spouse).

When I am in the dressing room it’s easy to fall into those familiar “I language statements’

‘I am to fat for this dress’

‘My hips are to big for this’.

The truth is that the dress isn’t right. There is nothing ‘wrong’ with me, or with you. We are not at fault when an inanimate object doesn’t look good on us. It’s weird that I still use these statements because the clothing doesn’t have feelings, I won’t disappoint a skirt when I tell it ‘Things just aren’t working out’, there’s no reason to say to a dress ‘It’s not you, it’s me’.

I think ‘you language’ belongs in the dressing room. Lately when I step into a dressing room I’ve been practicing my ‘you language’ statements like.

‘This skirt is to small.’

‘This top doesn’t suit me.’

‘This dress is not proportioned correctly.’

Which is exactly the problem I ran into with this Modcloth dress, the top fits me well but the bottom will not pull over my hips, because my hips are wonderful and this dress is to not proportioned to fit my body type.

Progress is More Beautiful than Perfection

I need more skirts with a chiffon underskirt.

Everything seen here is second hand, don’t you love it when that happens?

Please know, I am paraphrasing Rhi from Hey Gorgeous in the title

This has become my mantra for the next couple weeks. Although I would not consider myself a perfectionist, I sometimes find myself paralyzed when things aren’t exactlythewaythatIneedthemtobe. (Is that what perfectionism is?) When that fear stops you from doing something new, or trying something different. Sometimes it is better to push forward than to try & make everything ‘exactly correct’. That is something I’ve been trying here on this blog. Sometimes I publish posts I am not 100% happy with or an outfit that didn’t turn out quite right, because movement & change are sometimes more important that being perfect.

Maybe you know the feeling… that you shouldn’t pick up the pen because you aren’t “talented enough”, that you shouldn’t have friends over because the house isn’t spotless, or even that you shouldn’t wash the dishes right now because you don’t have time to wash all the dishes. These moments, they are the ones that I want to avoid. I’m going to pick up the pen, and throw that party, and only wash five dishes.

Because five clean dishes is better than no clean dishes.

I think that is a metaphor. I’m not exactly sure what for, but I’m writing it here anyway because things don’t have to be perfect!

So I saw nearly this exact outfit on Pinterest a couple weeks ago. And I thought ‘oooo that is really pretty’ and I filed it away for a ‘special event’, or a night that I knew something amazing would happen. And then I waited for the ‘right’ time. But then I read Rhi’s post and decided I would wear it today, because everyday should be ‘special’ and I will make something awesome happen.

The Blanket Scarf

This scarf isn’t anything special, it’s a big yellow pashmina I bought at Old Navy (or was it Target?) for $12 a couple years ago. It’s 100% acrylic the little strands constantly come un-knotted. But it is enormous, and that is why it is my ‘blanket scarf’.

I don’t do a lot of traveling but the one traveling tip I have, take a ‘blanket scarf’. Layover in Chicago have to sleep on the floor in the airport? BAM, blanket scarf! Eight hour road trip to Dragon Con and you are trying to sleeping in the backseat of the car? BAM, blanket scarf! Guy next to you on the plane won’t turn down his little air nozzle thing? BAM blanket scarf! Hot date with your significant other during the summer, but you know the movie theater will be super cold? BAM! Blanket Scarf.

This scarf has been to Boston, Chicago, Columbus, LA and Atlanta with me. It went on my first date with Curly-haired-boy to see a midnight showing of Blade Runner (the best movie ever), it had been to countless other movies and plays with me because it goes with nearly all of my outfits. Overly air conditioned convention centers & movie theaters, outdoor events that start during the day and then get colder when the sun goes down. There are tons of places that I get cold and need an extra layer of warmth. Which I think more than anything just shows… that I have really poor circulation…