Almost to Spring

A few nights ago, the first of the spring rains arrived.  It was such a mild day that I threw open the windows and let that gentle storm be the lullaby for us all that night.  The next morning bright shocks of green clover and tiny green buds on the tree branches greeted me.

Finally, finally, and ever so slowly it is starting to be spring.  We still have a week or two of the drab and maybe a few chilly days, but spring is beginning.

I still haven't really been out to take photos, but when I do, prepare yourself for so, so many flowers.  I was going through photos from previous years, looking at the dates and trying to get a feel for how much longer it would be before I can go out and take photos in blossoms of any kind and I was overwhelmed by just how many different kinds of flowers bloom around here in so short a space of time.

It really is remarkable that so many of my photos come from roughly a two week time span.  I only hope all the pretty dresses I've ordered will actually arrive in time for the flowers.  Ugh, the wait is agonizing.  I'll think of something though, because we simply cannot have spring on the blog without flowers.

Fingers crossed, everyone, only a couple more weeks to go!

An Unexpected Stop

It's wonderful when things just work out.  It's also rather unexpected--at least in my life.  I usually make a plan B for every situation and sometimes a plan C when things look too impossible.  Even with all that preparation there are still things that come up which knock me for a loop and that, quite simply, is called living.   

That's why it's so nice when things actually do work out and even better when something comes together even though I haven't been planning it at all.  Take this little field of snapdragons for example.  In early October I was driving with a friend. She takes a different route than I typically do.  I've never really minded taking the long way home and that day was no exception since I was in no hurry.  

That's when I spied this field of snapdragons growing in perfect rows, just lazing in the sunshine, practically begging me to stop.  I didn't stop right then, but I did make a point to come back within just a few days to take some pics and I'm glad I did because not only was the lighting just perfect, but the frost swept through only a few days after my little photo shoot and all these lovely flowers were gone.

I was sorry to see them go so soon after discovering them, I know they'll be back next year and I'll to enjoy their beauty once more.  Plus, spring is nearly here with lots of glorious flowers on the way to enjoy.

Shopping Info:  Dress from SheIn, flats from Charlotte Russe

Making Rainbows

There's an old saying that the last mile is the hardest mile.  There's another old saying that somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue.  Ok, that last one is less a saying than a song, but there's a reason these things keep getting handed down through the decades and that reason is they contain truth.  Right now, we're in the last mile of winter, spring is almost here, and skies are almost blue and I'm finding it an impossibly long and difficult wait.

I've been in a slump.  It happens every year.  Call it an end-of-winter-holy-crap-when-will-it-be-spring kind of slump.  It's mental.  It's physical.  It's emotional.  I just haven't had the energy to go outside in the freezing cold for any creative reason. The house seems impossibly small and overly cluttered.  All of my orders have still not shipped and it's been six weeks!  The treadmill is gathering dust, and my stash of chocolates is dwindling.  I'm frustrated and I can't settle myself to work on anything.  It's not about creativity; it's been about survival-for my animals or for our family-but nothing else.

It happens when spring is so close, I can smell it in the air and feel it in the breeze, but it's just not here and neither are my supplies for all the things I want to do and I feel like I can't take anymore snow storms, or gray cloudy days or freaking postal delays and I just want to go outside and do things, any things!  Deep breath.  It happens every year, remember.  This too shall pass, and maybe I can help it along.

Sometimes when life hands you storm after storm after storm, you have to find a way to make your own rainbows.  While everything is still quite gray and bleak mid-winterish, this little spot is always colorful and I've been working on some creative spaces inside my home since nature is not cooperating as quickly as I'd like.  I hope to very soon have some images with loads of flowers and cheerful sunlight.  And for everyone like me who is white knuckling it until spring, just hang on, we're almost there.

Shopping Info: Ixia Top from Poshmark, Skirt from Collectiflondon.com, Heels from ModCloth

Should They Stay or Should They Go: Getting Rid of Your Clothes

Today's post is fresh on the heels of some major spring cleaning.  I thought it was appropriate, not only because this is how I and many others like to ring in spring, but also because this little outfit came together as a result of my efforts.  Going through my old things always results in at least one or two new outfit combinations that occur because I've tossed this and that on the bed and looked over to see the perfect outfit has come together by chance like rolling the dice.  (Keep scrolling for the outfit that came about from today's cleaning session.)  But, spring cleaning is a chore and a challenge and a very difficult one for those of us who have emotional attachments to our clothes.

For some of us, our closets are photo albums and dream journals.  We open them and remember what we were doing when we wore something and the sentimental attachment prevents us from letting go.  Or we look at that lovely gown we'll probably never have the opportunity to wear and think "one day...maybe...."  For some of us our clothes are more like a hobby, a collection if you will and although it will never be complete, we love the thrill of finding that next special piece.  I fall into all three of those categories which is why I haven't sold clothes in seven or eight years.  

I love them all and I don't want to part with any of them, and that was fine when we lived in a large house with walk-in closets so big they weren't just a gateway to Narnia, they could hold the entire world of Narnia at the back, no gateway needed.  The trouble is, we no longer live in a huge house and storage space is a very rare and precious thing here.  There is in fact only one closet in the house.  It contains a wardrobe large enough to clothe ten people in a space litter bigger than a coffin for one (now you may be wondering, do they make coffins for two?  I think it's possible.  Some people love each other to death.  bwah hahahahah.  You just read my terrible joke!) and guess who got that one and only closet?  That's right, me.  So, I don't feel it's right to go beyond the space I've been given when others didn't get the space at all.  

I've also noticed that more than a few of the things I bought five or six years ago have begun to disintegrate, I'm talking particularly about those novelty purses made from "vegan leather."  In spite of the fact that I have carefully used them and stored them properly, they are flaking and peeling.  The sad fact is for most material things it's either use it or lose it.  So, I've decided to get rid of a few things, let others enjoy them before they're past their prime, and make a little room in my closet in the process.  The trouble is that as I mentioned above, I love everything in my closet.  Each piece wasn't just bought, it was curated.  Parting with it is easier said than done.

When I'm struggling like this I do a few things to help me overcome the mental tug-o-war.  1.  I ask myself: Do I still like, or have a use for this.  If the answer is no, then it's easy to put it in the get-rid-of-pile.  2.  I ask myself: When's the last time I wore this.  If it's been more than two years, it automatically goes into the maybe-pile.  Once I have a maybe-pile, I sort through and ask myself, would I rather have this or that new thing I've had my eye on.  If the answer is this, then I put it back into my closet, but more often than not, the answer is, I'd rather have that new thing, so it's time to go.

I won't say I've never regretted parting with something and went out and bought it again.  I see it all the time in the ISO's on the BST groups, so I know I'm not alone.  But, for the most part, it feels pretty good to be rid of the burden of things, things, things.  Did I mention that at the back of my closet is the panel for the water heater and when it went out I had to take everything out of my closet and then spend hours putting it back before I could go to bed at the end of a very long day?  That's enough to motivate anyone to clean out their stuff.

Here's are two great tips that I have used in the past to help me curb the clutter: 1. limit yourself to X number of hangers.  Once they're full you have to get rid of something if you want to buy something new.  2.  Face all your hangers backwards on the rack.  At the end of the year you'll know which things haven't been worn and can consider parting with them.

If clothes are your thing, don't worry if other people in your life don't understand.  Love what you love.  But, remember that there should be balance to it.  Too much of a good thing and it becomes a burden.  Make it a point to go through all your clothes once a year and sift out the unwanted, unloved, or just unused articles of clothing in your wardrobe and pass them on to someone else, thereby opening yourself up to new things, more space, and more freedom.  So, let's start cleaning!

The Gentle Demands of Spring

All my blogging creativity is currently on hold.  Not just because all the lovely things I have on the way are literally on hold somewhere in far away factories or post offices, and not only because I had to warm the bench this month while I was recovering from a cold, but also because spring is now almost here and there are so many things demanding my attention here on the farm.  The road to successful farming is a long one, best taken at a steady pace while mainly focusing on the steps directly in front of you.  

I once had a professor say that of all the professions in the world, he admired farmers the most because it was the only profession in the world that based its entire success (or failure) on the incontrollable element of weather.  Growing up on a farm I can tell you just how much stress that places on the farmers and their families.  So why do it?  Well, first of all someone has to, but I think the main reason is the purity of the work.  The simplicity and the truth one finds in being a steward over the earth and the miracles of watching things grow.

This spring we've started our seedlings indoors for an early spring garden, but we've also decided to incubate some chicken eggs to hopefully hatch in time for the beautiful weather.  We've raised chicks before, but never hatched them ourselves, so this is a new experience for all of us.  We've decided to leave the majority of the work to our teenagers in an attempt to bolster their knowledge of farming and self-sufficiency before they leave our nest.  Not surprisingly they are resisting us, but I'm confident we'll win out in the end.

So, things might be a little sparse here on the blog for a while.  Not to worry, I'm just tending to the gentle demands of spring on the farm: planting seeds, petting baby bunnies, turning eggs under a light to keep them from getting too toasty, and praying for good weather.  I'll see you soon.

Shopping Info: Skirt from Collectif, Top from Forever 21, Qupid Heels

Aliexpress (Floral Dreams Dupe) Dress

First off, let me say that I love Teuta Matoshi's Floral Dreams dress, I LOVE IT!!  It is my favorite of all her dresses and I wished more than anything that it came in Tea Length, because as it is it's quite long and I would have no occasion on which to wear such a dress.  So, I put it out of my mind...well, I tried anyway.  

I made this for my youtube video, but they want my phone no. before they'll let me use it, so I'll just use it here instead.

There are so many of Teuta's look alike gowns out there, but no so much on this one.  I looked and really only found one on Aliexpress.  It carries a price tag of less than $90 from a shop called Lorie.  I messaged the shop and asked for photos of the actual dress and this is what they sent me:

It didn't look drop dead gorgeous like Matoshi's but I was so glad that they had some photos of what I could expect.  They also informed me that if I wished to order the dress, I needed to do so by the following day or the factory would be shutting down for the holidays and I would not receive the dress until mid to late March.  Impulsively I ordered the dress right that minute. This was on January 22nd.  In spite of the fact that I placed my order "before the holiday shutdown," the dress did not arrive until February 23rd.  Of course I ordered several other dresses a few days later and they still haven't shipped.  While I was waiting, I realized that because Teuta Matoshi's gowns are made to order, there was a chance they would customize a dress for me.  I contacted them and they agreed!  More on that in another post!

Going strictly by the photos I would say that the Aliexpress dress is lacking all the dreaminess and ethereal majesty of the Matoshi's version.  It's a pretty dress, but it is a watered down version for sure, a shadowy reflection.  Once I received the dress and opened it, I was impressed by the quality and details.  I was not expecting the level of work that went into it.

Is it just me or does this dress say Fairy Garden wedding?!  I like it.  I really do.  It's pretty and it fits decently.  Although I did order one size up from my usual, it's not the width of the dress, it's the lowness of the bodice.  (The ladies need to be a little higher than this dress allows.)  There are five layers of tulle in the skirt, so it has plenty of volume, plus an opaque skirt lining with a train at the back.  This dress comes with an attached velvet belt and an extra velvet belt so you can wrap it and tie a bow.  It also has a built-in corset front with boning and the cups offer support, but there is also a built in adjustable bra-back so you don't have to worry about what goes under this dress.

The applique flowers, while not an exact match to the original are lovely and there are a few jewels--sewn, not glued on-- as leaves among the embroidered foliage which gives the gown extra sparkle.  There are also some strings under the arms which I have yet to determine how to tie.  They just don't make sense, but I will figure it out eventually.  For today, I just tucked them in.

*Sigh* As much as I wish there weren't, there are a few cons that I feel I need to mention.  1. The photos of the actual dress weren't listed anywhere on the site even though they were available upon request.  The seller explained that all their dresses are made as ordered so they don't have photos of a dress unless someone orders and asks for them.  That sounds like a terrible business model to me.  But even if they do have photos, they don't post them.  I don't know why, but it would be so helpful if they did.

No. 2 on the cons list is that this seller has fake reviews.  I've seen several reviews that were fake and I know they were fake because they contained images of the real dress.  One review's photos were taken from Matoshi's customer reviews.  Another looked like it came from an ad.  Not Ok.  People rely on those reviews and it's pretty deliberately deceptive to fake them.  Buying anything that's "inspired by___" in the global marketplace is always a risk.  The only guarantee you have is that it will not measure up to the real thing.  However, that doesn't mean you can't find a bargain now and then.  For all its issues with honesty, as a stand alone dress, if you can pretend you never saw the original, this is actually a decent dress that I don't regret buying.  I may change my tune when my Matoshi dress arrives at my door, but for now, no buyer's remorse in sight.  If you liked this Aliexpress review, I have a few more on the way....hopefully....someday...if they ever get shipped.

Flex Your Creativity

The woods are full of fairies!

The trees are all alive:

The river overflows with them,

See how they dip and dive.

What funny little fellows!

What dainty little dears!

The dance and leap and prance and peep,

And utter fairy cheers!

Yes, tis the season of the fey folk, the fairies and the leprechauns, and all things of the Emerald Isles, so I thought it would be the perfect time to bring out my fairy dress once more.  Do you know what's it's not the perfect time for?  All the practical effects I'd like to add to this photo, but which would have doubled my time outdoors in the freezing cold air.  No Thanks.  I'll try again when it's over 70F/20C outside.

This dress is such a fairy dream!  All that's missing is my wings.    I wish I fit into it a little better, but I am still working on that.  Everything about it is so gorgeous, I can't wait to see what Lirika Matoshi's imagination will bring us next.  If she does launch any new spring styles, I'll let you know.  I wonder what the next "strawberry dress" will be.  I can't even imagine.

How's your imagination these days?  I've met more than a few people who believe they were born without creativity, but how can that be.  All kids have such vivid imaginations.  How about you. Do you believe that imagination is just kid stuff or do you believe it's a muscle you need to workout to keep going strong?

I think it's both.  Imagination definitely comes more easily to children, but being creative is something you use or lose.  Ok, maybe you don't lose it, but it definitely becomes atrophied.  Creativity isn't just for photos and scrapbooking, it's a survival tool.  It says, I'm in a bind without X but if I use Y and Z I bet I could get by.  Not to sound like an old lady, but creativity could save your life.

Hopefully you'll never be in that kind of a scrape, but at the very least, flexing your creative muscles now and then makes life a little more interesting.  Paint an accent wall, assemble and photograph a still life, try something different with your hair or, dare I suggest, try something new with your style.

And do yourself a favor and don't look to the experts for something creative.  The so-called experts play it way too safe.  Each January I research projected fashion trends and do you know what people are saying for 2021?  Pretty much the same things they say every year.  Let me sum it up for you: Super Boring Stuff.  Big shoulder pads (how many times are they going to try to make those come back!?) Big belt buckles.  Black and white color combos.  I feel like I'm reading a horoscope.  It's all so vague they can't be entirely wrong.  Which of the fashion experts would have predicted that a ruffled pink dress covered in glitter strawberries would be the fashion sensation of 2020?  None of them.  None.

Don't trust the experts to do all the thinking for you.  Use your own imagination to create your own unique style at whatever you do.  The more you do, the better you'll get at it and the more interesting things become.  Well, I think that ties things up neatly for today.  The End.

Shopping Info:  Pink Sky Midi Dress from Lirika Matoshi

Stylish Compromise

Sometime you have to temper a serious tweed with something frothy, pink, and girly, you know create a compromise between the two styles. You may remember my tweed obsession of the autumn and this little second hand skirt was part of that theme's acquisitions.  I never really found just the right way to style it until now.

I found this top while on a shopping trip with my daughter to spend her Christmas money.  I pulled it off the rack for myself, but the way she gasped, I knew she would be the one taking it home.  Then....I found a second one!

There were two and only two of these tops, and I didn't want to intrude on my daughter's burgeoning sense of style, so I asked if she would mind if I bought the other top.  She said she wouldn't mind as long as I promised to never ever wear it on the same day as her.  Naturally I said I'd do no such thing and was already planning our mother-daughter dress alike days where I'd show up at her school and meet all her friends.  

She knew I was only joking and I have loved seeing the way that she styles her top because it is just her style and the way I wear mine is just my style.  It's not always that mothers and daughters can reach a peaceable compromise, but it feels pretty good when we can.  It also feels good to have finally found the right top to compliment this skirt.  Win-Win-Win.

Six More Weeks of Sweater Weather

We've done a lot of gorgeous gowns lately, I thought maybe we'd take a little break for one of my wear-to-work casual looks.  As you can tell, it's still winter, definitely still sweater weather, and I'm freezing.  Jeans, sweaters, and my trench coat are all still staples at this time of year, and probably will be until April.

This conversation came up at work recently.  Are jeans appropriate?  Most of the staff voted yes.  I vote no-with exceptions.  If you work in a place that's very physically demanding or perhaps prone to getting your clothes dirty, then jeans by all means.

Denim was made to be a work fabric for people who did very hard jobs.  I once read a book where they bragged that the best kind of denim was made by never washing it.  In this way it became resistance to water, mud, blood and all the other sorts of things a cowboy encounters on the ranch, and that a good cowhand never traded his blue jeans. 

Now, if you do that kind of work of something similar, jeans are for you.  But, in the office, jeans can be very unprofessional looking.  The reason I vote no to jeans in the workplace is mainly due to the way in which they're worn.  Not as chic fits, dark washes, and with stylish heels.  No, they're mainly worn to be casual and comfortable, which usually turns into faded, baggy, and sloppy.  

Jeans can look quite chic and I don't oppose them altogether.  Just remember to treat them the way you would a tailored suit.  Once they start showing signs of wear or not fitting well, it's time to retire them to the weekends & yard work only pile.  Stick to dark washes, straight legs and a mid rise waist for a safe and timeless style of jeans, or venture out a little with something like my high waist flare bottoms jeans from Femme Luxe.  Remember to pair it with a blouse or button down, a blazer, and some heels and you'll always be work appropriate.