Revisiting Goals
(Image via We Heart It)
As my birthday nears, I keep reflecting on my previous post about the tasks/goals I set for myself at age 26. If I wanted to be pessimistic, I’d say that I did pretty well in failing to achieve even half of these goals, but I’m not going to go that route. Instead, I’ll think of what goals I did achieve and what I’d like to work on more. In the meantime, I made a list of more “realistic” goals that I think can be achieved over the course of a year:
1. Take a long vacation by myself overseas.
2. Write at least 1,500 words per week.
3. Become a better photographer.
4. Run a half marathon.
5. Master the art of wardrobe minimalism
6. Start taking dance lessons.
7. Scale back drastically on the meat eating.
8. Become a better blogger.
9. Complete rock my first year of graduate school.
10. Find at least one thing to smile about each day.
Friend Friday: Size
I have decided to participate in the weekly Friend Friday Q&A sessions, provided by ModlyChic. I thought the topics were stimulating and opened up wonderful dialogue. This week’s topic deals with size, which in a discussion can be polarizing in itself. Here are my thoughts on size, the term “plus size” and my own size struggle.
4. Should the mainstream fashion industry be showcasing more plus size models?
I think the mainstream fashion industry should showcase more models of all sizes, ethnicities and backgrounds. The mainstream fashion industry without any varied cultural representation and instead remains hegemonic has been influential for years. The thing is, when you start to see the same “type” displayed in magazines over and over again, it’s easy to ignore everyone else as if they don’t exist. Only recently has fashion become democratic to allow “other” groups participate– women of color, plus-sized, etc, but still not as a regular occurrence. I hope that instead of having a “very special issue” of some magazine, it becomes more commonplace to feature models that are plus-sized and skinny alike next to one another without creating a big hoopla.
5. For you personally, how do you view your size, the struggle with it through the years, your ideal size, etc…
Personally, I have had my own struggle with my size and working to get myself back down to a comfortable size. I’m not ashamed of the fact that I’m larger nor do I try to hide it, but I do know that I’m not as comfortable in my skin as I used to be nor am I as healthy. Instead, I am taking it one step at a time and not worrying about the numbers associated with my size, but the my overall health. I can lose X number of pounds, but am I healthy? Did I go about losing the weight in a healthy way? Those are the concerns that I must focus on.
A Whole Lotta Look
I usually don’t write much about my weekends or other extracurricular activities, mainly because I either forget to bring a camera or I never feel that there is anything that exciting happening. I did decide to shake things up a bit. My friend and I habit of taking food pictures whenever we grab dinner, so I thought I would share.
On Saturday evening, I had a scrumptiously delicious dinner with a friend at a place called Carnivale. I indulged in yummy Caipirinhas and had one of the best steaks I’ve had in a long time.
This steak was no help at all in my attempts to stop eating red meat.
I did get one outfit picture before we entered the restaurant. I bought this dress during the great Asos Curve clearance (which is still going strong).
Yes, I know there is a whole lotta print action going on there. At first, I was a bit worried about buying the dress since the print was loud and I almost bought the dress in a much more muted color. However, I decided to go ahead with the loud, poppy print. I mean, it is summer, right?
I hope your week is off to a wonderful start!
A Nice and Quiet Holiday
I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend–or even a wonderful weekend for those who don’t celebrate. I felt like this long weekend was a much needed break from some usual commotion and took full advantage of it.
Since the weather was beautiful, but steaming hot, I decided that dresses were going to be the way to go. And although I’ve declared my love for black, prints ruled out this weekend.
The first dress is a vintage dress I ordered from persephone vintage a couple of weeks ago. I loved the print and the dress fits perfectly. The 2nd dress, I picked up from Target earlier in the year. I usually hate standing out in such a vibrant print, but I remember it being particularly dreary when I bought the dress, so I just wanted anything that screamed “summer”.
My activities mainly included catching up on TV shoes (now on the Tudors, even though I’m still giving the side eye to Jonathan Rhys Meyers, but I do like James Frain), trying to stay cool and catching up on reading. On the 4th, there wasn’t much open by way of restaurants or cafes, but local, smaller bookstores were open. With a sudden urge to grab some good “fun” summer reads, I left with a stack of books.
And…I’ve given myself until end of August to finish this pile. Considering my tendency to fall asleep super early on weeknights after the gym and dinner, I’m not sure that’s going to happen.
I did find a quiet cafe around the block still open. I bought small cup of gelato and focused on finishing Murakami’s Norwegian Wood.
And although I didn’t finish during the visit, I am almost done. Now, I’m psyched since I’ve learned a movie adaptation is coming out and the stills are heartachingly beautiful.
Hope you had a happy holiday weekend!
Crossroads
Image via We Heart It
There hasn’t been one word.
Not a peep.
I’ve been pretty quiet lately and I haven’t really been able to dedicate much time to writing on my blog as much as I’ve wanted I have felt incredibly guilty about not leaving this blog alone for so long, especially when I had a few minutes of down time and would opt to watch Breaking Bad or spend time outdoors as a diversion.
The rest of the time, I had to focus on life and trying to get things on track. It’s been one crazy month, but I am glad that things have finally calmed down and appear to be working themselves out. I think I’m in a good place now and excited about what is in store.
During this past month, I haven’t been very fashionable and haven’t even worn very much makeup. Being so preoccupied, most of my posts would have been pretty uninspired, and I do not like posting when there isn’t much feeling behind the words.
The only thing I can think to do at this point is pick up and continue where I left off. I hope you are still here with me.
The Lena Horne I’ll Always Remember
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I’ve been watching old videos of the late Lena Horne lately and came across this Gap commercial from 1997. Ms. Horne looked as stylish and beautiful as always.
Rest in peace to a woman who has always given us that bright smile.
Slow and Steady
(Image via We Heart It)
That image above is not really how I feel about my computer at the moment, although I do feel like I should be easier on the machine. It’s the reason I’ve been MIA from the internet for the past week or so (occasional tweet not withstanding) and I haven’t been able to post. One of those nasty viruses broke down my computer and so I’m pretty much starting over. You know what? It feels like a blessing and a curse at the same time.
I’m hoping to be back more regularly this week and definitely next week. Lots of ideas in mind and feeling great with the spring weather. Hope you feel the same!
Settling into spring
Spring has always been a season that I’ve never paid much attention to. I think it’s due to the weather in Chicago remaining relatively chilly for such a long time after the season “officially” begins, I’m always ready to jump right into summer. I am beginning to take time out to notice to beauty of spring. I took the picture above and the picture below while I was walking to grab some lunch:
The only fashion confusion that I encounter during this season is that I never really know when it’s appropriate to wear open-toe shoes without hosiery. Instead, I just defaulted to my newish pair of oxfords, which are really starting to show some wear and tear.
What do you love about Spring?
And a Happy Easter to you, too.
I honestly forgot how much fun it can be dressing up for Easter. When I was a little girl, my mother took much delight in dressing me up on Easter Sunday, color coordinating my hair ties and sending me off to church with my dad. I didn’t grow up in a deeply religious household and we were what I’d like to call “fair weather Christians” since we only went to church on Easter and Christmas.
Now, my parents and I meet up for Easter brunch each year. Although we don’t do the church celebration and have simple brunch, I still enjoy dressing up for the occasion.
I had a different dress mind than what I wore today, but er, things weren’t working out too well. This old dress from The Limited has always worked well as a backup for that very reason. The gray tights were also meant for the other dress, but I was running late and my mother is very mindful of what time proper brunch begins, so I had to go. Ditto with the necklace. I threw on my Jeffrey Campbell 99 wedges for comfort.
How is your holiday? I hope that you are having a wonderful Sunday afternoon!
I’m back and I’m sorry
It’s actually somewhat painful to look at the date of my last blog post and know that I so casually just stopped writing altogether during the past few weeks. Well, it wasn’t necessarily casual, but I definitely felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders during that time. What a horrible thing to say, huh? Considering some of the things I had going on in the past few weeks, writing on this blog really had to be put on the back burner and the least of my concerns.
Plus, I also felt like I was almost losing my voice in some way. I almost began to feel like I was experiencing what many call “blogger burnout”. Not that I’ve always been the most regimented blogger around, but I was really beginning to struggle with things to write about–and when that happens, I always take it as a sign to step back and reevaluate. I had to rewrite what my mission and goals were when I first began blogging.
I never began this blog to make any money or become a super popular HBIC. I began writing this blog to serve as an outlet for writing about my hobbies: fashion and beauty with a sprinkle of other goodies here and there.This is what I plan on getting back to as I begin to rebuild and regain my voice.
For those of you who have continued to read this and support this blog, I genuinely say “Thank You”. I’ve missed this blog. I miss settling down after coming home from work and writing about my interests.
I hope I can start again and keep it moving.
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