Grateful For

Hello All!  This has been a strange week with highs and lows.  I celebrated a birthday.   It just so happened that my new glasses, a sure sign of the passing of another year, were ready to be picked up on the day.

I had to finally admit to myself that I needed new glasses (and progressive lenses at that) as it was getting too frustrating to keep lifting them up to read small or fine print.  Luckily, lenses have come a long way since my mother's day when you could see the telltale line going across the middle.  When I put on my new glasses, I felt so thankful and grateful.  The frames of my old ones had warped so they sat crookedly on my face and  the arms were bent out of shape too.  It just felt fantastic to have glasses that sat properly and securely and to have the proper prescription too.  There was a really good sale at the optometrist's at the time which made the prescription, while still very expensive, not horrifically out of reach.  I used the points from my glasses towards getting a pair of sneakers.

Yes, I am finally at an age where comfort trumps fashion!  They are my first new pair of sneakers in 15 years.  And I have to say, they are incredibly comfortable.  It was a bit odd at first walking around in a pair of flat shoes but the ease and comfort have me sold.

And finally, birthday flowers from Monsieur.  He is getting a hip implant tomorrow.  The first attempt a year ago was a disaster with the surgeon breaking his femur into 5 pieces.  The second attempt will be performed by a new surgical team.  We are hoping and praying that all goes well.  Please send lots of positive thoughts his way!  I am going to do my best to keep up with blogging but, if it is a little quiet around here for a while, it will be because I am busy going to the hospital.  Otherwise, I will "see" you on the flip side.

I am linking up with Share Your Cup.

What I Am Wearing

Hello All!  I admit that I am a bit of a nosy parker and really love "What Is In My Handbag" and "What I Am Wearing Now" posts.  I can have a virtual rummage through someone's handbag and ogle their closets.  So today I thought I would do a "What I Am Wearing" post.  Winter came late this year and so I am still wearing a winter coat and boots when I go out.

The red tote bag was a Christmas gift.  It is vegan leather so I am curious to see how it will hold up over time.  I love how leather ages over time and just looks better and better but I am definitely open to trying vegan leather.  Of course, I remember when vegan leather was simply known as "vinyl" (!!).

Do you get bored with wearing the same winter outfit over and over again?  I have really embraced having a capsule wardrobe but when faced with the winter glooms, wearing the same winter coat for months on end does tend to add to the general seasonal dreariness.  One way I get around this is to switch out my accessories on a regular basis.

I have a small collection of vintage brooches, all thrifted, which I love and I will pin one to my coat just to add a bit of fun.  I love the penguin as he is such a cute little guy and reminds me of "March of the Penguins" (which I have never been able to watch all the way through because I get too caught up in the fate of the penguin chicks).  Do you have a favourite?

I do hope Spring will finally show itself.  Then I will switch out my wool scarves to a silk scarf.  I have a small collection of vintage scarves too which I love.  Scarves are a great way to change up an outfit.  Because almost all of my accessories were thrifted and/or vintage, they didn't cost a fortune and, when I look at my wardrobe, I don't feel a sense of deprivation because I know I can switch up a look if I am feeling a sense of ennui.  Do you have any thrifty fashion tips that you would like to share?

I am linking up with Share Your Cup and Woman In Real Life.

Being OK With Good Enough

Hello Friends!  I have so much on my mind these days. Do you ever have minutes, hours, days like that?  So today, I thought I would just ramble a bit and have a chat with you.  The uppermost thing on my mind is something that I read in a national newspaper.  It was about the rise of "fast home decor."  Much like "fast fashion,"  the article blared out that consumers needed to be "educated" about throwing out their current home decor and replacing it regularly (how regularly?  Every 2 weeks?)  with whatever is trending at the moment.  One interior designer opined, "I honestly think the home decor shopping cycle is not what it should be...I don't think that it's as cyclical as it could be or maybe should be in terms of the way that people live in their homes.  I think there's a laziness to the way we treat our home accessories..."  It doesn't help that with Spring and Easter around the corner, I always feel the desire to freshen up my home.

Vintage Easter Papier-Mache Eggs

 Now I don't know about you but my wallet would disappear in a puff of smoke if I was replacing my home decor over and over again.  Never mind the horrendous impact on the environment of constantly tossing out things.  To be honest with you, way, way back when I lived with my family far out in the 'burbs and driving into the city on a Saturday was an enormously exciting event, I would probably have read the article without blinking an eye and come away feeling like a country bumpkin, woefully out of step with "fashion."    The one constant message I have had thrown at me all my life, from demanding parental figures, and now from clever marketers, is "You are not good enough."  I absorbed that message and it became a running voice in my head that lead to constant feelings of inadequacy.  So I would work myself into the ground trying to gain approval, juggling multiple balls in the air.  Moving to the city as a university student,  I was seduced by the siren call of endless high end stores that called out to me to buy the latest hot thing.  I would see these fashionable girls on the street and I would want to be just like them.  Looking back,  I am embarrassed thinking of the money I wasted on the latest trendy thing and how I would mindlessly toss it aside as soon as the newness had worn off.

Vintage Papier Mache Egg.  I have to face the fact that I have a collection.  But look at the adorable faces!

With time and age, comes a semblance of wisdom.  Slowly, I have become more and more comfortable in my skin.  I know what I like and don't like.  I like vintage things, I like that they have scratches and scrapes because it is part of the history of the piece which makes them unique.  I like having something on display in my home that I have had for a long time because it uplifts me and makes me happy.  Don't get me wrong, I love going into decor shops and admiring all the pretty new things on display.  But now I can admire what I see and walk out again. Or I can absorb the ideas and try to recreate it in my own way, putting my own stamp on it. When I do buy something, I have thought about it and bought it hoping that it will last me a long time. And you know what?  That growing sense of sureness in myself feels sooo good.  Instead of comparing myself and my home to a gorgeous magazine layout,  I am learning to be ok with my home.  Maybe this is all part of learning to be okay with me.  My home may not be good enough for Architectural Digest but it is good enough for me.  And maybe I will always be a Country Mouse in a big city but that is okay too.

I am linking up with Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson and Woman In Real Life.