VanLadyWhat?

Happy Thanksgiving, my lovelies!  I have exited the 'hood and am home for the holidays in Big Sky Country.  Thanksgiving has always been a chill day of eating, napping and movie watching at my family's house.  This is the primary reason why I always enjoy coming to Montana for this holiday vs. Christmas.  Well, that and Christmas was the BUSIEST time of year in banking and I've never been able to have the time off.  As you recall I purposely made November the month of fashion features (MY FAV!)  because I knew it would be c-razy busy and it was.  But, it was also filed with a few adventures.  One adventure in particular involved a local band called VanLadywhat?  Van. Lady. Love.  So, we're going to talk about it.  Oh and you know the reason why I sported a pretty kick ass tee to Thanksgiving dinner (see above).  

 

I haven't talked about this much, but I grew up in a very musical home.  I also grew up in a very compettive and semi-OCD, perfectionist-laden home, but we won't get into that dirty laundry.  The combination of those has produced humans who fiercely appreciate good music.  I grew up loving The Beatles as much as Puccini and Mario Lanza and I still do.  One of the MANY reasons I love living in Ogden is the amount of local musical talent that I've been exposed to through festivals and what not.  One of those festivals was the Harvest Moon Festival on Historical 25th Street.  It's the biggest event of the year, in terms of foot traffic, for 25th Street and I had heard all about it for months so my two friends and I went to see what the hoopty-doo was all about.  We were pleasantly surprised and had such a great time..as exhibited here....

These pictures were taken as we were sitting on the street listening to the bands.  **Disclaimer** In order for you to know why this is such a hilarious story I will sacrifice my anonymity and will give the entire story.  As we were sitting in our seats and my friend was sipping a cosmo (or two) and Sarah and I were taking duck face selfies, this random, bearded man wearing red chucks walked past us.  Now, you all know that I dig the beardy men as previously discussed in my book review for Becoming Beauty.  I'm also a total sucker for shoes.  And a total sucker for red shoes.  Good hell, this dude had our attention because of it all.  And it was so funny.  We quickly realized that said distraction was one of the members of the headlining band!  Gaaa!  We must stay because of his shoes!  I need to get a life.  The only problem was we had tickets to a play and it was in a playhouse on 25th Street.  I was looking forward to it so much, as were my friends, so we opted to go and we would catch the band in their 2nd set after the play concluded.  If you've ever tried to concentrate on anything after being delightfully distracted you know that it's basically impossible.  I loved the play, but I could hear this mystery band through the entire production and they kept playing GOOD SONGS!  Damn them!  As soon as the play was finished we tried to listen to a few songs from their 2nd set, but it was late and we had to get home....old lady syndrome + lots of drunken Ogdenites = over and out.  I had walked by one poster and saw that their band name was VanLadyLove.  A catchy little name for sure and it spurred my curiosity to look them up.  Social media is a beautiful thing and I found them on Facebook and Instagram.  And you bet I read their bios and figured out if that beardy, red-chucks-wearing distraction had a name.  He does, but you'll have to look him up and figure out what it is.  

 

One of the things I quickly realized about the guys of VLL is their sincere love for their fans.  And I'm not talking their management company loves them....no these guys LOVE their fans.  They are still accessible and relatively normal, unlike many of the other bands that have made a name for themselves after getting their gig started in a garage in the UT.  Not too long after they performed in Ogden they released a new CD called Love Matter.  

It is such a great, great, great album.  It's so wonderful that I wish it was longer!!!  At one point I had taken advantage of the free download that they had offered to promote the album, but my lack of technology skills meant that I didn't listen to it.  Lame sauce, I know, but the reality.  At the end of October I went to visit my friend in Idaho and I needed some new tunes for my trip home.  So, I downloaded as many of the albums that I could find on iTunes.  Um ya.  It was embarrassing how I reacted to the songs when I started playing them.  Those are the moments that I am mucho grateful for my fancy car with a less than desirable car payment and the fact that I was travelling solo......  I can have a concert whenever I want to and be a diva back-up singer.  And that I did.  A four hour drive was made so much more enjoyable with the tunage of VanLadyLove.  Because there is always an introspection piece to my blog posts, I want to share one of my favorite lines from their song, "Neverland."  

"You should take a chance with something greater, greater than you have ever known"

Some might say this is a no-brainer or a tiny bit cliché, but we all have that dream that we are holding back to try, but give it a chance!!!  I love the fairy tale theme of this song, even after having my view of Peter Pan slaughtered on ABC's tv series, "Once Upon a Time."  We all want to fly away to Neverland and stop time when life is perfect and beautiful.  The time when we our snuggling the ones we love, there is food in the fridge, money in the bank account and a full tank of gas in the vehicle.  If you would like to see a great music video for this song, check out this one from their YouTube channel  --HERE--  

So, what's the point of all of this?  What's the adventure I referenced?  VLL took a trip to NYC and upon their return they had a come back concert in Provo at the beginning of this month.  I was determined to go.  Ogden and Provo aren't next door to each other so it meant a bit of a sacrifice for me to get there.  I also wasn't going to go alone because I needed company to venture to Happy Valley.  And who do I call on when I need a crazy wing lady?  The one and only...Sarah.  And why the hell not?  We got each other into this silly fan girl mess so why not make it legit by being groupies???  I hoped to win tickets and when I didn't I was like, "meh, oh well, I guess it's not meant to be...."  Plus I was getting sick and I knew by the end of an insanely busy week I would be dead to the world and so would Sarah.  And then it happened.  Remember the personal interaction with fans because their semi-normal still?  Well, imagine my surprise when I received a message that said they were really sorry I didn't win the tickets and that I should still buy some and come to see them.  How freaking nice is that?  Oh, and they also sent a free audio download of this song.  Brownie points racking up left and right! So I bought the tickets.  And just as I suspected I was sick as hell by Friday and so was Sarah but we were committed to this concert and we were GOING!  Due to some work commitments I had that day, it took some pretty sweet logistics planning to get us down there, but they were the last band to perform so we arrived a little early to make sure we had time to park.  It was quite the experience.  When we walked in to The Velour, it was clearly evident that we were amongst the population of college kids from BYU.  Young, chipper and super sober and "high on life" kids.  Sarah and I quickly took up residence against the wall....prettiest wall flowers in the building...and observed these crazy kids who were much more entertaining than the band that was playing.  We definitely threw off the average-age demographic that night.

During all of this I was posting my sassy feedback on Instagram and the VLL boys were liking and replying and Sarah and I were laughing a lot.  Again, social media, you amuse me on so many levels.  It was finally their turn to take the stage and it was awesome.  Remember I was drowning and felt like shit, but this was one of the coolest shows I've seen.  My reasoning for telling you I have a borderline snobbish opinion of musicians is this....a true, talented musician is one that does NOT need a mixer or an editing wizard to make them sound good.  A true musician performs better in person and even better unplugged.  This is the case for VanLadyLove.  100%.  Their show at The Velour was absolutely unbelievable.  I stood there and couldn't even believe it.  I had been listening to their CD for a couple of weeks and trolling their social media enough to know that they were good, but it wasn't until I heard them live, in a small space with the coolest vibe that I became a true fan.  Even Sarah was mucho impressed with their vibe and talent.  She generally doesn't go to live local concerts because, in her words, 'they're too screamy.'  But, VLL is chill and not 'screamy' at all.  The concert was so much fun and we laughed and laughed, especially when beardy red-chucks boy (you thought I would reveal his name, didn't you?) decided that he was going to progressively lose pieces of clothing because it was so hot.  Here are some phone photos that I took from the concert. 

  The encore included a shirtless bass player!  Lucky us! .... ha ha ha!

After the concert ended they were available for fan photos outside the venue, but it was freezing, late and we were both expiring at a rapid rate and had a long drive home.  In the midst of all the chaos of waiting fans, I noticed that they had t-shirts, but I was too tired to buy one and the colors weren't my favorite (because that matters).  I tucked that away until I was rested and we drove home.  Later that weekend I jumped online and ordered a shirt.  It took a few days before I started to notice that I hadn't heard anything about shipping.  I sent an email to the band on Facebook to check-in and later that night here came an email from the lead singer.  The t-shirt colors had changed and he was just checking to see if I liked the other color.  Seriously?  How cool is that?  I actually liked it better and gave him the go-ahead to send it to me.  A few more days passed and I checked in to see when they were going to send it.  A hilarious banter conversation commenced about them being slow and me saying maybe that was because they were from Provo and dot dot dot..... 

Last week I came home to a package in the mail that I thought was going to be just a t-shirt, but what it turned out to be was a t-shirt, some red sunnies and a CD and they were all autographed.  EVEN the shirt.  I took to social media to thank these four for making a very shitty day turn sunny and snapped a ridiculous late night, cat lady crazy hair photo showing it off.  

I appreciated the extra touch so much.  I'm often the one behind the extra touch for others through #happymailfromthehood and some days I need it too!  There are a lot of other fabulous stories that go along with getting to know the guys of VanLadyLove, but I won't share them all because I've incriminated myself enough for one post.  And I might add that my favorite band member is not the same person as my sister and if I blew HER cover I would be dead meat.  But, I converted her pretty quick just by sending her to their website to listen to their music and watch the YouTube videos.  If there was any kind of grand scheming going on in my head it would include a comeback concert to Ogden in 2015 and a jam session to a re-mix of "Let It Be."  Yesterday my sister and I practiced my part in the parking lot of our favorite restaurant and I'd say I'm off to a good start with my practicing!

The moral of the story:  As with every good recipe, the extra ingredient is always LooooooooooooVE, and there is no exception with VanLadyLove.  Rock on, Provo boys.  Rock on.  

Until next time, my lovelies!

-R

Becoming Beauty: Ethel wrote a book.

So, here we are at stop number who-knows-what on Sarah Boucher's Blog Tour for her debut novel "Becoming Beauty."  In previous posts on my blog I have talked about how grateful I am to have a friend like Sarah.  She has been so so patient and selfless and I can't even begin to express how blessed I've been to have a friend like her who is literally walking distance from my front door.  I've never had that in my adult life and I couldn't have asked for it at a more critical and insanely stressful time of life.  This has been quite the year for both of us in our respective day jobs and obviously, preparing to have a book published on top of teaching the little people has taken its toll on this Ethel-next-door-neighbor friend of mine.  I've decided to share a few tidbits from the perspective of this equally crazy "Lucy" as she has watched her friend bring this book to the shelves.  Then we will talk themes and my favorites.  Ready, set, go!

• It is a lot of work to publish a book.  Once it was under contract with Cedar Fort I lost count of how many times Sarah had to re-edit and re-write parts of the book to make it just perfect.  And some days 'just perfect' meant making the editor happy so they passed her off to the next step.  
• The book cover is by far one of the most beautiful elements of this whole process and when it landed in her email inbox she was SOOOOOOO excited.  The cover was spot on exactly how Sarah envisioned it on the first draft.  So it stuck.  I loved reading the review copy and having visions of characters in my head that were created because of this stunning cover.  
• There is something truly awesome and equally hilarious about reading a book your friend has written.  For those of you who will never meet her in human form, you will not understand this, but there are SO many elements of this book that are ALL SARAH.  I call them Sarahisms.  I will get into this a little bit more as we dig into the content and themes.  
• Sarah has done an incredible job at self-promoting this book during the last year through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and her blog.  The entire year she would write posts and participate in Monday Blogs on Twitter with the blind hope that it would pay off when the release date happened.  It has been the coolest phenomanon to witness the response she has received because of her hard work promoting herself through social media. There is not a single element of this process that Sarah has not lost sleep over.  She went about planning every step so that it was perfect and after her first book launch party, I am happy to say that it worked.  We (I was her self-appointed non-profit publicist) kicked ass and impressed the peeps at Barnes & Noble.  
• This is not your run-of-the-mill fairy tale regurgitation.  Sarah dug deep for each of these characters and exposed their vulnerability and portrayed them in a way that was exactly what we needed to know and forced us to question who really was the beastly being driving the plot.  

And with that, I present, my official review.  

The main character of this book is named Bella, NOT Belle.  And if you even attempt to associate her with another fictional Bella that we are all aware of you should poke your own eyes out.  Our Bella barrels her way into the spotlight the second she enters the room.  When I started reading the book I was hooked by page 5 when Bella says the following about her sister Cassie, "What if I launched a beaded slipper at her head?  It wouldn't cause any lasting damage, I reasoned.  The crowd of men would be gathered about her, eager to catch her every word, and then WHAT?  Looks of stunned outrage would paint their faces as she fell in a graceless heap at their feet."  Ha!  Damn frickin funny and such a SARAHISM.  A behind-the-scenes tidbit about this particular passage....it was not originally written like this.  Not at all.  There was an intention of death (gasp) for the sister and somehow they didn't think that was ok?!?  But, alas, the edit was still so funny and I loved it!!

We quickly realize that Bella has some attitude issues.  I would submit that a bit of karma came her way as her selfish wishes landed her a one way ticket to the point of no return and the home of the beast.  I appreciated the raw dialogue that occurs between Bella and the beast because, quite frankly, she deserved everything that he dished her way.  There was a debt to be paid and she was fulfilling it.  The next quote that I really liked was also the first quote that I shared on my social media because it was some serious food for thought.  

Assuming that we can charm our way to the top while others slave?  Not a big fan!  Are you??  This theme was one that made its way to the very last chapter and it made me smile.  There is so much to be said for those who work hard for what they have and also for those who are happy with what they have, even if it means they aren't the wealthiest of the wealthy.

Next was the discussion of imperfection and attaining beauty at our own speed and in our own manner.  As we read further and further we find that Bella is in a constant battle with her subconscious self and there are a number of dream sequences.  Well that sounds familiar.  How many of us have gone to bed and spent a night in dreamland that really was a battle of sorting out our reality and woke up more exhausted than before we closed our eyes?  I did whilst I was reading the book and it sucked.  It also reminded me that I am still not perfect (news flash) and that my heart aches and stresses just as much as the next human.  

Not a single one of us are perfect, my lovelies.  And our beauty is revealed petal by petal.  And there are going to be days that we are wilty and prickly, but we are ALL ROSES!!!!  Gorgeous, full of love, brimming with compassion and even more imperfection.  Embrace it and let yourself bloom in the timing that is meant to be.

Bella experiences a transformation of heart due to a number of events that are so delightful.  And some of it might involve the interaction with a beardy grump face.  Aw, beardy grumpy men.  Oh, how I love them.

The third and final quote that I will share was towards the end of the book.

Courage is a powerful word.  Bella definitely had courage to stay in a situation that wasn't her definition of ideal, but in the end, the outcome and reward for her courage was the "meant to be" answer.  As I was reading the final two chapters I was a swoony, sloppy girl on my living room couch (it's fire engine red, by the way -- random side note).  It is so sweet and equally funny with a slice of liberating. 

I am so proud of my friend for pushing through the stress and drudgery of being published for the sweet reward of sharing her talent with the world.  I encourage you to find the time to read "Becoming Beauty."  It is a perfect holiday gift for the reading girls in your life and I can't wait to share it with my friends and family.  For those of you who enjoy the electronic reading route (ME!) it is also available on Kindle.  You can find that information here. 

The moral of the story:  When you wish upon a star and write a story, don't be afraid to share it with the world.  It just may end up on the shelf of your local bookstore. 

Until next time, my lovelies!
-R

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Bringin Homemade To The Yard.

Happy November, my lovelies!  This is the third and final fashion feature that is the result of a last minute photo shoot with Kel-Z Photography.  Kelsey is a local photographer from Ogden and we had a great time capturing some of my favorite outfits for themed posts that also bring out my random fashionista side!  I hope you've enjoyed my posts on Mandatory Metallica 

and Polka Dots in The 'Hood

Enjoy!

I've had an INSANELY busy week in day job world and my brain is pretty much shot.  Part of the reason I decided to do an entire month of fashion features is because I knew this would happen the minute November 1 hit.  Tis the season for back-to-back events and weather changes (sickies creeping in) and lots of adventures here in the 'hood.  Fashion features are easy peasy pie for me to come up with because that's how my brain functions so it's been more of a reward to me than a chore.  Selfish, much?  Not really.  This outfit is probably in my Top 5 Favorites.  It's comfortable, classy and different....oh and HANDMADE!  Yep, you read that right.  Not by me, but by an incredible designer from Pennsylvania named Sarah Clemens.  She designs each of the pieces herself and then sews in the wee hours of the night after her sweet babes have gone to sleep.  She is also a home school mamma.  Pretty incredible lady.  I found her randomly through Etsy and I fell in love with her work.  The link to her Etsy shop can be found here. 

I love this picture.  It definitely gives you all a good solid idea of the genetics I was blessed with in the calves department.  And I'm not ashamed to bring your attention to it.  It's not going to change and I have learned to dress with it.  Aren't the tights to.die.for?  Shopko, baby!  ON SALE (bonus round)  And the shoes are a thrifting find that are a staple.   

The necklace.  Here's the sentimental part of my post.  You know, right in the middle so I FORCE you to read it.  This necklace was purchased at a boutique here in Ogden called Ume Boutique.  It is also handmade by an artist in Ogden and I wear it with EVERYTHING.  But, here's the best part...what it says on it.  The words are:

• live for today
• keep your promises
• say I love you
• be grateful
• smile

It doesn't get much more applicable to my life than those five statements.  I've been so overwhelmed with gratitude and love for the people in my life that I have met since I changed careers.  As you might recall life was HELL ON EARTH and I really had no idea what was going to happen next.  If I knew that this big change would include knowing some of the most loving, selfless, intelligent humans I've ever known, I would have not believed it.  But, it is true.  I want to tell each of these people how much I love them every damn day!  Seriously!?  YES!  Seriously!  I spent a lot of my career having people tell me to smile more and to live in the moment.  I am happy to report that I really do live for today, keep my promises, say "I love you" to all who I really feel it for, am infinitely grateful and I have lots of reasons to smile.  And so we move on to the next photo....

Happiness and peace.  No color needed.  That is all. 

In each of the outfit locations we shot a photo of my shoes.  I included that on last week's post, but not the Mandatory Metallica post.  This week's shoe photo was a last minute thought and I'm so glad we took it.  Earlier in the spring, I wrote about how much I LOVE trains and Union Station.  This photo is going to be framed in my house and included on the Ogden Wall because it encompasses so much of what I love and why I'm so happy to call the 'hood my home. 

I love love love this shot!  I also found some interesting history about this structure.  Taken from Wikipedia, "The passenger shelter along tracks 1 and 2 is the only remaining canopy of a series of five. The other four canopies were demolished in April 1969. It was built in 1928 to Southern Pacific plans and is similar to canopies at the Sacramento Station in California, and is 23 feet wide. During the peak of passenger train travel in 1927, a tunnel was built under the eleven tracks with stairways to the surface at each platform. Called the passenger subway, this tunnel allowed pedestrians to access all eleven tracks from the Grand Lobby, bypassing those tracks that were occupied by trains."

 

Next week's blog post is my review of my crazy friend, Sarah's (aka Ethel) book "Becoming Beauty."  It only seems appropriate that I share one of my favorite quotes from the book because it applies to this post too.  The book is a re-telling of "Beauty and The Beast" and the quote is, "When roses bloom, they reveal their beauty petal by petal."  Such is life, my lovelies.  We are ALL a work in progress!  And some days we may feel a little wilty or prickly, but we are still roses.  Gorgeous in every way and revealing our beauty in our own special way. 

 

The moral of the story: Keep on living, keep on loving and have gratitude for your MANY blessings.  Cuz they are all around you. Yes, yes they are. 

 

Until next time, my lovelies. 

 

-R





Polka Dots In the 'Hood.

Happy November, my lovelies!  This is the second of three fashion features that are the result of a last minute photo shoot with Kel-Z Photography.  Kelsey is a local photographer from Ogden and we had a great time capturing some of my favorite outfits for themed posts that also bring out my random fashionista side!  Enjoy!

First of all, I want to thank all of you for kicking ass and taking names by reading my first November fashion feature, Mandatory Metallica. It set a record for most views in a 48 hour period and for that I say thank you. Woo hoo! Rock on! No pun intended...

This week's feature is a thrifted wonder meets victory rolls meets fishnets meet pointy shoes. What more could a girl need?? As you've read before I am a woman who loves to thrift. I affectionately call it thrifting goodness. And why not? Finding one person's junk and making it my treasure is awesome!  There is always a funny story behind my favorite thrifted items. Remember the pink polka dot number? And for the record 1988 still hasn't phoned in telling me they want their dress back....

This dress was found purely on accident. I had a load of my junk to take to the thrift store and I decided to run in real quick to the actual store (always a little dangerous) just to take a peek. I didn't have a lot of time which is a challenge I thoroughly enjoy and I found this dress in the wrong size section of the dress rack. Initially, at first glance, I thought this will be a perfect transition to a skirt piece, but when I tried it on it FIT! All of it!  Together!  Winning! As soon as I bought this dress I knew it was time to book another professional photo session since my beYOUtiful shoot. Email sent and phone calls made to Kelsey and we were ready to roll!

The location for this outfit was the Ben Lomond Hotel on Historical 25th Street in Ogden.  There is so much history in Ogden so I will share some tidbits on this building.  According to the hotel's website, "Ben Lomond Suites Historic Hotel started life as the five-story Reed Hotel in 1891. In 1927 the hotel was completely reworked in an attempt to create a fire proof hotel. Eleven stories were added and the hotel was renamed the Bigelow Hotel. In 1933 Marriner S. Eccles aquired the hotel and renamed it the Ben Lomond Hotel. Then in the 1980s the 350 room hotel was completely renovated and converted to a 120 suite condo-hotel. The Ben Lomond is the last of the three “grand hotels” in Utah that is still being operated as a hotel. Evidence of this legacy can be seen in the crystal chandeliers, marble floors and decorative ceilings as you enter the lobby of this historic hotel, which is listed on both the Utah & National Historic Registers."  It is a magnificent building as you will see by the last picture in front of the windows.  When you walk into the lobby it is like going back in time.  Sometimes I feel like I should have my hair done up fancy and my flapper dress on and my pearls swinging....cuz I totally have that outfit on stand-by at all times....

Now to the actual fashion stuff!  I just want you all to know that I pretty much LOVE fishnets.  And the best day of my life was when I found plus-size (ugh, that word) that actually fit and didn't look ridiculous.  When I was dressing up to the nines every single day for my previous day job, sometimes I would mix things up a bit and wear all black, fishnets and RED shoes.  That gets my point across real well.  The point being, "don't mess with the sassy red shoes or the woman wearing them."  The other thing that I love so very much are pointy shoes.  When I was in college on the East Coast, I remember doing some work on Capital Hill in DC and I saw a girl wearing pointy toes stilettos for the first time ever.  Now let's keep in mind that I grew up in rural, po-dunk Southeastern Montana town.  Anything with a pointed toe usually was accompanied by a pile of shit and a blingy belt buckle.  In recent years I've had to limit my stiletto heels wearing due to feet problems so when I found these flats on Instagram I had to have them.  They are edgy and comfy.  And another piece of advice.  Whenever you find a pair of shoes that fits BOTH of those categories....BUY THEM. 

The earrings.  Aw, the sweet flower earrings.  This picture may seem a bit overwhelming with a good view of my very clean ears, but you all need to see the detail of these great vintage earrings.  I purchased them from one of my most favorite online thrift stores (ya, they exist!)  It is called 8th Ave. Thrift and she is wonderful and has impeccable taste in earrings, among other things.  Her Etsy Shop can be found here.  I love that earrings know no size.  Well almost.  I don't particularly dig the dangly earrings that nearly rip my earlobes or look like I'm headed to prom circa 1991.  Just not a fan.  But, for the most part I enjoy a vast number of styles in the earring department. 

Last, but not least, let's talk about my hair!!!  If I could brag about one character trait it would be my hair.  It has always been a conversation piece for perfect strangers and friends alike and I love it.  However, it is thick and coarse and kind of a pain at times.  For a lot of years I didn't have it thinned when it was cut and that has substantially helped with the weight problem.  This is probably the longest it's ever been in my life and I surprise myself when I get dolled up.  I wanted to attempt vintage hair for this outfit and specifically I wanted victory rolls.  My friend Mandi is an expert vintage hair doer and I petitioned her one Sunday evening to teach me by doing my hair while I photographed it.  Totally goofy and ended up being the best part of my night.  Here's the picture to prove it!  ...you're welcome....

A great history tidbit on victory rolls can be found on another blog called Happily Ever After.  If you're not up for reading her entire post here are some points I found interesting about the hairstyle.  "Along came World War 2, and with it, a shortage in metals due to pretty much all metal being used for the War Effort. I even found a reference to women using pipe cleaners to curl their hair when metal bobby pins became scarce!  But I also read that the hairstyle got the name from the "V" shape you get from the rolls when they're pinned directly on top of your head in an upwards way. Another item I read said they named the style "victory" rolls to honor victorious soldiers."  Whatever the real story is behind this hairstyle I think it is way classy and I had fun creating my own version.  I will admit it made driving to the photo shoot a bit of a challenge (high hair in an SUV=awesome), but I loved how it completed my look.  It's also purely coincidence that this post is going live the week of Veterans Day here in the United States.  I am the proudest granddaughter on the planet for my Grandpa who was an air pilot in the United States Air Force during World War II.  He was stationed in Germany and we grew up hearing all sorts of cool stories about his time in the War.  We also heard an equal amount of stories from my Grandmother about being a wife during this time in history.  She and my Grandpa spent the first bit of their marriage apart as he was flying in Europe and she stayed in the US to teach school in Idaho.  Times were tough, but their handwritten letters kept their love alive. 

The moral of the story: a good polka dot outfit with some fishnets to make a point always has a way of turning a cloudy day into a sunshiney rockin awesome victory day!  So roll with it and strut your stuff!

Until next time, my lovelies and God Bless America and Freedom!

-R

Mandatory Metallica.

Happy November, my lovelies!  This is the first of three fashion features that are the result of a last minute photo shoot with Kel-Z Photography.  Kelsey is a local photographer from Ogden and we had a great time capturing some of my favorite outfits for themed posts that also bring out my random fashionista side!  Enjoy!

Well here we are. November. This week I put together my holiday card (oh ya it's true and I got a screaming good deal) and all I could muster up for the sentiment was "a whirlwind year of tears and triumphs." That, my friends sums it all up in one short sentence. However, those triumphs (plural) include this blog and my original premise and love will always be fashion. And so I begin with this fashion feature to ring in month eleven. 

Mandatory Metallica you ask? Ha! Ya! Mandatory FRICKIN Metallica. I promised last month in a previous blog post that I would tell you about my music tastes and what has helped and continues to help me on my gloomy days. When I lived in Salt Lake and while I was in therapy, I got addicted to going to the gym. I spent a LOT of time numbing reality there. Yes the exercise was good and yes the endorphines assisted me in not killing a few people, but it was still REALLLLY really hard to deal. I remember many a nights of walking out of the gym at 9:15 pm, after 3 intense hours of working out, and still sobbing in my car. So don't think you can sell me on exercise takes it all away. Yes, it does to a point but there will still be days that suck so damn bad that even 3 hours of endorphins and ya still cry. Most of those 9:15 pm departures also included a lengthy drive home to my house and that's when my zen came back a little. Zen restoration with Metallica. There is a radio station in Salt Lake called KBER FM 101.1 and every night at 9 pm they have Mandatory Metallica.  It is glorious and it soon became one of the most therapeutic 15 minutes of my day! I would crank the metal and drive home and breathe. In and out. In and out. And then I would get home, sit in my driveway all crustified from sweating for 3 hours and crying in my car and I would let the song finish. And then I would go back to my reality and go to bed.

So, when I decided to have fashion features for Novemebr I knew that I needed to share this story with you because it has truly been my happy place. There is just something that gets me deep down inside when "Whiskey In a Jar" comes on the radio and I LOVE IT. LOVE. IT

My look in these photos is a must-have look for me in the fall. I spend all of my days during the week dressing up so when I get home on the weekends I want chill, easy, edgy and comfy, BUT! I don't want to look like I rolled out of bed in the trailer park. The t-shirt and cardigan look is so much fun. This outfit was purchased from the following places:

Cardigan, shoes & scarf: Chic Style - South Ogden, UT

Tee shirt: Hot Topic - Ogden, UT

Capris: Macy*s - Salt Lake City, UT

Another awesome touch to this outfit is my jewelry. You will notice a particularly stunning turquoise ring. That ring is a one-of-a-kind design made just for me by a talented local artist called Taveen Jewelry. She did exactly what I envisioned and I love wearing it. The compliments are plenty too. The other ring on my thumb is from a local junk store and I got a fabulous deal for that one too. 

There is a time when we just have to look past the trends and dress however the hell we want to. I will also be brutally honest that this week has not been good for me in the self image department. I've gained some stress then happy weight. We are all at different stages of our lives and the most important thing to remember is to learn from our past, appreciate our present and look forward to the future with faith and hope. That's all we can do. I can't change what has happened in my life, but I can honestly say that it has helped shape me and teach me to be a good human and I know that when I kneel to commune with God that I can say I'm doing my best and right now some might not think my best is synonymous with their best and that's ok. I feel good in my own skin. (Well most of the time). 

The moral of the story: there will be some days that no matter how much we sweat and jump up and down our emotions will still get the best of us. But, there is always those serene moments of Mandatory Metallica that can bring solace outside of the box!

Until next time, my lovelies!

-R