Today was one of those days when I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to write about. Then a comment appeared this afternoon on one of my Facebook posts…
THE STORY
…Yep, the same Facebook post that I wrote about on Friday when I was discussing how I respond to trolls. By the way, thank you all for your supportive comments, but fear not, there isn’t a troll in the world with the ability to silence my voice.
When I first started this blog five years ago, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I’m sure that’s probably the case with most of us. My original and only intent at the time was to share my love of fashion through my daily outfits, and to perhaps inspire other women to express themselves more freely through their fashion choices. Over time though my other first love, writing, started harassing me to be unleashed.
I’ve truly loved writing every since I was a wee one. I believe it all started when I won a poetry writing contest in elementary school sponsored by our local newspaper. The reason it had so huge impact on me was because of my teacher that year. No, it was not because she was fabulous; quite the opposite actually. As I’ve mentioned a thousand a few times, I come from one of the notoriously bad families in the area in which I live. Sadly, even though I was a child, this woman passed judgement on me from day one. She made it her life’s goal that year to humiliate and belittle me at every opportunity. You can imagine her chagrin when I, the little white trash nobody, bested her “finest” students with very little effort.
That was the moment that I got my first taste of what it felt like to be judged for who I was, not for whom I came from. And my friends, it tasted pretty damn sweet. Fortunately for me, a few years later I was blessed with an amazing Language Arts teacher in middle school. Oh, there were days that I despised her; she was tough and she was relentless with her criticism of my writing. But her relentlessness came from a place of kindness.
She knew that I had it in me to be a good writer. She knew that I was not defined by where I came from. She held me accountable and never once permitted me to slack on my writing, and for that I am eternally grateful. To this day I still have that award winning poem from elementary school as well as my favorite essay that I had written about my mom with Mrs. Smith’s red pen scrawls all over it. Every once in awhile I still pull them out and read them just to remind myself of where I came from.
Now back to the Facebook comment…a reader commented on the fact that subject matter aside, she enjoys my writing skills. I have to tell you guys, that comment made my day. It took me back to younger me, but in a good way. I felt like I used to back in middle school when I’d get back a piece of writing from Mrs. Smith with “Well Done!” scrawled across the top of the paper in red ink. This to me, illustrates perfectly the point I was making with Friday’s post. Negativity serves no useful purpose and said at the wrong time to the wrong person can cause great harm. On the other hand, a positive comment can, unbeknownst to the writer, be just the thing to put a smile on someone’s face and provide a gentle reminder of memories long tucked away.
THE OUTFIT
Oh, the outfit…I ain’t gonna lie, I had a tough time putting this one together. When Jennie picked “Yellow” as our Ageless Style Link Up theme for April, my brain went all teenage girl. I emailed her and said, “Ewww…Jennniiiieee…yellow??” Did you read that in a whiny teenage girl voice? You should have, because that’s definitely what I sounded like. I had to dig through my attic to find even a smidgen of it in my wardrobe. I Do Not Like Yellow. No sirree, it is one color that is not my friend. I do wear mustard, although it’s probably not “yellow” in it’s truest sense of the word.
The first outfit that I had worn last week was a disaster. Once I looked at the photos, I was like, ummm…no. And quite honestly, this one doesn’t make me much happier than the first one. To add insult to injury, after I was done taking the shots I realized I had put on no accessories. As in zero. Nada. Are you kidding me? How did that even happen? In any case, since even though it looks all pretty and Spring-like, it was actually only 29 degrees outside so I was not re-shooting because of missing jewelry. So my friends, use your visualization skills and picture some layered necklaces and a bright pink belt.
I will say though, the shoes are pretty damn fabulous. I’ve only worn them a few times because they don’t fit quite right. I kept them around though because they are so pretty. And for me, what saved this entire look are the cute little daisy print ankle socks from Berkshire (you can see the Candlelight Shimmer version on my Instagram). When they contacted me in regard to trying out their Spring anklet styles I was totally on board since I’ve been having a moment with cute socks. They work so well with pumps (and more pumps) as well as ankle boots and I can’t wait to try them out with my dressier sandals too.
Berkshire is one of those companies that I purchase from again and again. I love their tights, both sheer and opaque. I typically no longer purchase tights from stores because I do really love the range and quality that Berkshire offers. And now I’m a big fan of their anklets as well. I’ll undoubtedly be purchasing more in the coming months.
THE TIP
If you want to try out a print or color that you aren’t sure you like don’t go full-on with it. Try sandwiching it between colors that you do love, like I did here; I layered the yellow shirt between pink and white. Also, if a color isn’t particularly flattering on you, but you’d like to wear it anyways, go for shoes and accessories in that shade. That way the color isn’t near your face which is typically the problem with colors that don’t play well with our skintones.
THE LINK UPS
Check out the weekly link ups I participate in for even more fashion and style ideas… BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN AND LINK UP WITH MYSELF AND MY LOVELY CO-HOSTS FOR THIS MONTHS AGELESS STYLE LINK UP!!
Shoes: Boden (Similar); Blazer: JCPenney (Similar); Jeans: JCPenney (Similar); Shirt: JCPenney (Similar); Anklets: Berkshire
Daenel ~ Living Outside The Stacks blog, instagram, pinterest, twitter
Debbie ~ Fashion Fairy Dust bloglovin, blog, instagram, pinterest, facebook, twitter
Jennie ~ A Pocketful of Polka Dots blog, instagram, facebook, pinterest, twitter, bloglovin
Jodie ~ Jodie’s Touch of Style blog, facebook, instagram, pinterest, bloglovin, twitter
Jonet ~ Fabulously Chic Over 50 blog, facebook, , instagram, pinterest, twitter
Kellyann ~ This Blonde’s Shopping Bag blog, instagram, bloglovin, twitter
Lisa ~ Coast to Coast blog, facebook, instagram, twitter, pinterest
Paula ~ Dimples on my What blog, facebook, pinterest, instagram, twitter
Shelly ~ The Queen in Between blog, instagram, bloglovin, pinterest, facebook
This month’s guest co-host for the Ageless Style Link Up is Amy from Amy’s Creative Pursuits. Amy writes about fashion, travel and all things beautiful. Show her some love on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Bloglovin’!
