Outfit Collection: Raileen by Stop Staring!

You know how it goes, you find a style you love and then you buy one in every color.  It may seem excessive to some, but if you've ever been the kind of person who has a really hard time finding clothes that fit them well, then you know the absolute joy of finding something that not only fits but makes you look and feel amazing.  And if you are this type of person then it only makes sense to get one in every color, in fact it would be downright foolish not to. 

Such was the case when I came across this Raileene dress by Stop Staring!  I loved it so much that I bought one in every color and I've never looked back.  So, today's post is a tribute to all the Raileens in my life and how I have loved and styled them over the years.

Queen Bee for a Day (Dress)

It's been a while since I've done a Selkie post and there's a very good reason for that which I won't go into in this particular post, but the time is approaching when we will have to address that well-dressed elephant in the room.

For now, I just wanted to share a few photos of the pinkest of pink dresses.  I love pink, but even I was afraid this was just a little too much for my retinas to handle.  But, then I figured, being able to see is overrated anyway, so I went back and bought this Queen Bee day dress.  

I did buy it used while paying full price and getting it one size too big, if that shows you my level of desperation and regret.  Of course, the minute I received it in the mail, it restocked on Selkie.  No matter, I have my dress now and as soon as these photos were taken, I cut the bell bottoms off these sleeves and made them simple ruffle sleeves so that I can wear sweaters over them now.

As a matter of fact, I just did this to all my day dresses.  As much as I do like the look of these bell sleeves, they were so heavy they kept sliding down and so full that I could never wear a cardigan over them and I live in a world of constantly blasting A/C, even in winter, so I have to be able to layer up.

I'll have to do a post with the after-shots of this dress because, really I think the alteration is just as nice but more practical.  In the meantime, I have seen a few jaws drop upon seeing this stunning print. and I'm right there with them every time I open my closet and see it too.  The print isn't just bold, it's incredibly detailed and beyond gorgeous.

It reminds me of something from the French Court, perhaps painted by Jean-Honeré Fragonard.  So, intricate and floral you can practically smell the perfume on the roses.

Soon, soon, soon we'll discuss my Selkie absence, because really, it's time, but for today, just soak in all this pink and try not to hurt your eyes.

Shopping Info:  Queen Bee Day Dress from Selkie, shoes & Headband are old from SHEIN

Annual Update: The Seven Year Switch

I was devastated, broken, sobbing on the floor, begging for my mama, and in between sobs, in a moment of silence I saw something.  Maybe I had drifted into sleep for a moment, but it seemed like I saw it before my waking eyes.  I saw a beautiful room decorated with garlands and bouquets and glowing lights.  There were lots of little round tables covered in white linen cloths.  Every chair was filled by a toddler, a little girl, a young lady, a young mother, all in white dresses of different sorts.  They were all old friends, even the very young, and they were chatting and waiting....they were waiting for me.  

I stood in the wings, watching them all for a moment.  Then all talking stopped and they all turned to look at me because they all were me.  They were me at every age and phase in life and they were waiting to hear how it all turned out.  It was time.  I crossed those long awful steps to the podium, every footfall echoing in the now silent room.  I looked at every face, hopeful, expectant; I opened my mouth to speak and the words stuck in my throat.  How could I tell them?  In the midst of all this pain and loss, how could I look at all their innocence and hopefulness and tell them that their dreams would burn and their hard work was fruitless?  

Frozen at the head of that room, tears forming, my throat closing tighter and tighter.  Just when I thought I would shatter to pieces, I felt a hand slide across my shoulders and draw me in for a firm squeeze.  I turned and as I turned I heard a voice say, "It's Ok.  You can sit down now."  She sounded like me, but not quite.  Her voice was surer and stronger, and so peaceful that it calmed me.  Just as I turned to look into her face the vision broke.  I was still lying on my cold cement floor, curled up in a ball, tears soaking my cheeks.  It wasn't much, just a moment, but it was enough to give me hope that there would be a time when I wouldn't cry every moment and there would be a life beyond my grief.

This year marks the seven year anniversary of it all.  Seven years; and I am still standing.  Seven years and it suddenly feels like someone has flipped the switch.  The other day something happened which would have had me running for the hills seven years ago, hiding from the fight, hiding from the confrontation.  Now, on the other side of all this hurt and loss, I faced it, I fought it, I won.  I faced it because even though I have lost some of the best parts of myself in this fire, I have also lost some of the worst.  Fire doesn't just burn things away; it purifies;  it refines.  I have lost my trust and innocence, but I have also lost the part of me that obsessively cares what other people think, the part that worries how I am perceived, the part that avoided confrontation and called it "keeping the peace," the part of me that feared losing anyone or anything.  I feared a lot of things actually.  I was a coward, actually.  

I have spent the past seven years hating this brokenness, bitterness, grief.  Then this new awful thing happened and I found that I had the strength to handle it because I was broken and made stronger in the healing.  I was burned up in the fire and refined as gold.  Don't get me wrong, if I had my choice, I would still not have chosen this path for myself.  But, I didn't get to choose.  And the fact is that warriors are not forged in times of peace, but in battle.  Strength doesn't come through a go-lightly life but from carrying a burden so heavy for so long.  I am not the person I was.  I am someone else.  Someone who values peace but isn't afraid to fight, someone who can love fully and let go freely.  Someone who can look back on her younger self, wrap my arms around her shoulders and truly say, "It's Ok.  You can sit down now."

Small Changes Around the House

It's that time of year when I look ahead to the impending winter months trapped indoors and begin to wish that I had a home I enjoyed spending time in.  When we moved into our home about six years ago, it was supposed to be temporary, just for a year or two until we could build our dream house, so beyond slapping some paint on the dark walls so it looked less like a cave, we didn't really do anything to make it ours.  Well, six years later we have a giant pit dug for the dream house and no further progress. We can't get anyone out to our property to build one dinky little house when there are so many multi-million dollar building projects going on around us because contractors and all others in this skilled labor field, go where the money is and it is most definitely not here.

To that end, Mr. Bleu and I have had a long talk and decided that after six years of waiting, it's time to start fixing up and adding on to our house in order to turn it into our dream house or as close as humanly possible.  We don't need contractors for this, we can do it ourselves one room at a time.  This feels good.  I feel like I have a goal, (FINALLY!) and the gears have been turning.  I decided to start with this cedar closet which was given to me along with second, smaller closet about 20 years ago when I lived in a house that just like my current house, had teeny tiny closets.  I always promised myself I would repaint one day.  Today is that day.

It's a beautiful piece and in great condition.  The first thing I did was remove all the hardware and take the doors off.  Then I borrowed Mr. B's power sander and sanded it top to bottom.  This took about two hours and a whole pack of sanding sheets as the varnish kept getting warm and gumming up on the sanding pads to the point that they no longer worked.  After sanding, I wiped everything down with a damp cloth and let it dry.  Then Mr. Bleu and I glued these floral wood applique pieces which I purchased from Amazon to the doors and the center bottom panel.  I let them dry for an hour.

After that I began applying the Chalk Paint.  I did two coats to the entire closet and added a third coat to the doors and the cedar stripes bled through.  The third coat didn't really seem to help much, so I decided not to over paint the piece and accept that a little bleed through was probably to be expected with this type of wood.

After several hours of drying, Mr. Bleu and I watched ExtractIIon while we used finishing wax to seal the chalk paint.  Finishing wax comes in a variety of colors and is applied just like car wax (Mr. Miyagi style) by using a clean rag and making small concentric circles.  We left the dresser to cure over night and in the morning I used a clean rag to rub down the wax again.

(Look at that disgusting carpet!  It will be the next thing to go.)  After that it was time to put all the hardware back on.  We added some feet from an old chair that is on it's way to the dump, so that the closet now stands a little taller.  I also changed out the knobs on the doors for these polished brass numbers.

Is it perfect?  No, but nothing I make is perfect, so I have come to terms with that.  Do I like it much better than before?  Absolutely!  At some point, I may take it outside for one more coat of paint, but for now, I am content to leave it as is and it certainty makes the room much brighter than it did before.

While the paint was drying I also dry brushed some white over the top of this ridiculously fancy and hopelessly yellowed vintage headboard that I bought a year ago for a song.  And, I like it much better now too.  The home renovations continues and I will keep you posted as I tackle curtains, the fireplace mantle, and tile next.

Wear Your Vegetables

When I was a stay at home mom, I made myself get up and get dressed and do a little make-up every day.  I didn't have to, but I did it because to me it was a mental cue that it was time to go to work.  That's right, being at home was my work, and I dressed up for it as I would any job.  I wore dresses occasionally, but not my pretty stuff because there was no point.  No matter what I was wearing it was under an apron all day because due to my oldest daughter's allergies, I had to cook three meals from scratch and then do all those dishes.  I lived in that apron and yearned for the times when we went out so I could wear my pretty dresses.

Entering the work force has definitely provided me with opportunities to dress up.  It has been a blessing and a gift to work in a place that has allowed me to dress however I wish so long as it is both modest and professional.  I've worn things that were extremely fancy and incredibly colorful and creative and it's been loads of fun to finally be able to wear all my pretty things.  As much as I love my new/second job things are a little different there.  It has the same basic guidelines for dress, but it's a totally different vibe.  

I have noticed that I dress more conservatively at that particular workplace.  Because  the work is of a more serious nature wearing my regular clothes feels like too much, like wearing a clown costume to a funeral home.  Wear a clown costume to a carnival or a child's birthday party and you're right in line, but wear one at the funeral parlor and suddenly tongues wag. So, like any rational person who is secure in themselves, I have adjusted my style to suit the location and the work.  I wear trousers more often now and my dresses tend to be in more neutral shades

I'm not totally a conformist, because I still wear whimsical prints with my trousers and just the other day, my officemate and I were walking down the hall and someone asked if we had coordinated wearing dresses together.  I said, "No, we're just in sync!"  Later I asked why someone would ask us that and she replied, "Before you came here no one really wore dresses at all.  Now that they've seen you, more people are wearing them."  Holy smokes, it only took 42 years but I'm finally the cool kid.  So, even when you have to tone it down a little, don't be afraid to wear your style and be yourself.  So, today's outfit is my standard trouser-sweater combo but unlike typical office wear, I chose teal trousers instead of khaki or black and my sweater is covered in veggies instead of stripes or dots and it makes me happy.

Shopping Info:  Trousers from FemmeLuxe, Sweater from ModCloth

Barbie Days

With the Barbie Movie releasing and everyone having so much fun dressing up to go see it, I thought today would be a good time to review my Barbie x Unique Vintage outfits from the past few years.  Truly these have been some of my most favorite pieces to style.  They have both brought back cherished memories and fulfilled childhood dreams.  If you are going to see Barbie tonight, I hope you'll don your pinkest, frilliest, girl-iest dresses and enjoy. 

Outfit Collection: Navy Blues

I've been doing this little blog for nine years.  Nine Years!  This is one of the longest relationships of my life!  Anyway, after so many years, it occurs to me that sometimes it's nice to go back and look at what I've done in a certain area rather than constantly creating new content.

So, today's post is a look back on some of my favorite looks in one of my favorite colors: Navy Blue.  From polka dots and plaids to nautical whimsy, we've run the gambit with this color and it just keeps on kicking.  So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite outfits in Navy Blue.