The Road Less Traveled.

In the poem “The Road Not Taken” Robert Frost penned the following, “two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth; then took the other, as just as fair, and having the better claim because it was grassy and wanted wear; though as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same.”

This poem has always spoke to me and this year I have felt some aftermath of taking the road that seemed fairer because the grass was greener and appeared to have less wear.  This year has been intense and emotional behind the scenes. Don’t get me wrong; I have been immensely blessed, but the challenges have kept their front row seats for a good chunk of this year.

Two months after my granddad passed away, I was thrown in to the darkness of unemployment and it was a really sad and challenging reality to face.  I loved my job and my boss was one of my best ever, but the timing was off for a number of reasons and it was decided that I needed to embark on a new adventure.  Sword to my heart, but what do you do?  When I took this particular job, I left an 11 year career in an industry that nearly sucked the life and love out of me.  I thrived in it, made great money, had awesome contacts and friends, but the stress was so astronomical that I made the choice for my family of one to join an industry that was much more my forte and made me happy.  What transpired in my next job was a true experience of growth, acceptance that it was for a short time in my life path, but it also had a list of blessings that were added to my life. I was given a task that was challenging and tedious, but equally rewarding.  I felt like I was doing the right thing by taking this road. I took a risk in my career and chose the road less traveled after having been on the grassy, fair path. It was hard, but it was happy and successful as well. 

In the midst of all my adventures, I decided that when I finally came out of the forest of unemployment sadness and stress, I would reward myself with a grand costume adventure this Halloween.  In my last post I talked about geekery and its beauty and this is where mine comes in to play.  I LOVE HALLOWEEN. When I was a kid, my siblings and I looked forward to Halloween and always had fabulous costumes.  This has carried over in to my adult life and Utah is the mecca of Halloween celebration so this feeds my love.  Last year I purchased a pattern with the hopes of being Red Riding Hood.  Life happened and I ended up putting it on the back burner for 2015.  Then I lost my job, was poor indefinitely and didn’t know if I was going to work for someone who even celebrated the holiday.  Fast forward to September when I was presented with an offer with a company that not only celebrates Halloween, but STOPS all business to party for an entire day. I am in heaven.

I was lucky enough to have an awesome artistic posse this year to create my dream costume also known as #RayRidingHood2015.  My costume was custom designed (a joint collaboration) by me and Crystal from Anubis Creations in Salt Lake.  I did NOT want a cape.  I wanted it as a lace-up bodice and all one piece and the “Lord of The Rings” massive hood in red velveteen.  That is exactly what I got.

I also wanted to have a petticoat and was lucky enough to find a black number that is made in the USA from Endless Indulgence on Historical 25th Street in Ogden.  In case it wasn’t cool enough already, I decided that I needed bad ass red shoes and I picked those up at Endless Indulgence as well.

Last, but certainly not least, was the mask.  I STRESS about never having a male counterpart for Halloween.  It’s so insanely dumb, but it’s a total girl moment that I have almost every single damn year.  I briefly voiced this concern to my friend Amanda from Artisan Maskers and she said, “um I will make you a gorgeous, one-of-a-kind wolf mask and you will be both.”  Sold. Feminist independence for the win!  She is so talented and I am honored to wear such a beautiful piece of artwork on my face.

As Kelsey and I were shooting the photos at Union Station in Ogden I got very introspective and borderline emotional when we looked in to the sunset and dual train tracks and the choice of paths before us.  This has been my life this year!  It has been a constant battle of choices, mistakes and heartache, but then getting back on track and finding happiness and my zen again.

The last paragraph of Robert Frost’s poem is powerful and inspires me.  It says, “I shall be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence; two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.” 

It truly made all the difference in my life to take the road less traveled last July when I made the choice to leave a toxic situation and move towards my ultimate happiness in a new career.  Even though there was still sadness and struggle, the end result is the RIGHT result for me and that is the difference that matters.  We can do hard things, my lovelies.  We can achieve goals and trudge through trial even when we think it is UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE.

The moral of the story:  Fear not to take the road less traveled.  It is the road that leads to personal growth and a whirlwind of adventure.

Until next time, my lovelies!

-R

Fashion Feature and Two Bits to Boot.

This weekend a big event took place here in the ‘hood.  The Ogden Marathon was on Saturday.  Because Ogden is awesome and the race is a Boston qualifier, our little home sweet home entertained a lot of people from all corners of the country and world in the course of 48 hours.  I decided that Friday’s fashion feature needed a little O-town history and I upped my game on the photos for my outfit to support this effort.  Historical 25th Street is the road that runs directly in front of Ogden’s historical Union Station.  When the railroad was in full force, H25 was called, “the red carpet of Ogden.”  Because of that it has always been known for its eclectic group of shops, galleries and restaurants.  And you don’t have to dig around too much to find out that it has had its fair share of “good stories” including bootlegging during prohibition, prostitution, and a myriad of other dicey events.  But, it is our history and our story and there are some incredible business owners on the street who do everything they can to preserve the culture, history and natural beauty of our “red carpet.”

This week’s feature outfit is one of my new favorites (I feel like I say that each time).  And the top reason is because it made me laugh when I realized, in the dressing room at D.I., that the very best way to dress this vintage moo-moo up was by coupling it with a Michael Kors belt and Calvin Klein wedges.  Bet ya money both of those incredible designers wouldn’t see that coming.  But, ‘tis so and it is just FUN!!!!  Similar to last week’s feature, this outfit is also epic because it went from total grandma to total awesome with some good accessories and sass.  That is the beauty of repurposed fashion.  Additionally, I feel very strongly that if a piece of clothing can stand the test of time and be modified at any given point to mesh well with the current styles, then it is worth buying and holding on to forever.  Along with that, one of my “tricks of the trade” is asking myself how many outfits I can create with a piece of clothing before I purchase it.  I know lots of women who shop in outfits because they’re afraid to try new things.  Or they just don’t ever shop because they don’t know what looks good on them or can’t think of ways to wear stuff when they are in the store overwhelmed with all the choices.  I get that, but it’s really limiting.  It’s kind of like picking a hairstyle that only looks good when the hair dresser does it and then looks semi-mullet or perma-bedhead when done at home.  If we focus on buying pieces of clothing that stand the test of time and can be coupled with at least 5 things that are already in our closet, then the return on our investment is worth it.  Obviously, there is always an exception to the rule (a hot pink pair of Jessica Simpson cork wedges come to mind), but overall, if we can shift our way of thinking to “how many outfits could I create with this?” it will save us time and money and we will be happier.

The details on this outfit are as follows:
Dress: Deseret Industries (Made in Hawaii)
Necklace: Deseret Industries (Handmade)
Earrings: 8th Avenue Thrift (Instagram Shop)
Belt: Michael Kors (purchased from TJ Maxx)
Shoes: Calvin Klein (purchased at Macy*s)
Bracelet: Chic Style (South Ogden, UT store)

Last, but not least, I want to sincerely thank my fabulous friend Sarah Boucher, future published authoress and educator extraordinaire, for humoring me and going with me to Union Station on Wednesday night and snapping these photos.  She’s a pooped inner-city kindergarten teacher by Wednesday, especially this close to the end of the year, and I really appreciated her getting off her couch to help.  It didn’t hurt that I fed her, but truly, she is such a good friend and sport.  And if you think I’m funny, look her up on Instagram @sarieboucher and on her blog/website www.saraheboucher.com.  We were blessed with good lighting and I didn’t have to do too much editing to make something simple, yet awesome for all of you.  Good friends are my blessing right now.  Well, always, but especially now, I have felt the unconditional support as I’ve had some frickin awesome curveballs.  Even last night we were an hour late for leaving because I needed a mental time-out and then I dropped an earring down my goopy bathroom sink drain.  UGH.  Life.  I tell ya.  And no offspring to blame it on.  But, lemons to lemonade and we made it and had lots of carbs and tasty dishes at Union Grill afterwards.

Moral of the story:  Ogden kicks ass, moo-moos look cute with fancy accessories and I have great friends.

Until next time, my lovelies.
-R