My Old Lady

Granny Hannah (courtesy of her "100th Day of School" celebration at school)

She's such a cute little old lady...note the hankie tucked into her sleeve.

Spring Dressing

I got that fateful email from Jcrew this morning alerting me to the new styles that have been added to their Final Sale.

So this is the outfit I "bought":

Jeans with belt (ignore the shirt and shoes for this outfit)...

Fantastic blouse...seriously dreamy...

I'm swooning over this jacket...totally in love with putty right now...

And these killer heels...I'm a sucker for any heel with a bow.

So there...my homage to Spring. I'm totally in the mood, if the dang weather would simply cooperate. Spring, come soon!! (but not before I can get a pedi).

She

I think this evening will be one of those moments in my life that I will look back on with perfect clarity and exclaim "THAT was the moment I first felt like a parent."  I fully expect there to be more moments like this, and I imagine I've probably exclaimed this to myself before (i.e. birthing said child, caring for said child during sickness, etc).  What resounds to me most, however...is that tonight I feel some cosmic shift happening in the lives of me, my husband, and my daughter.  

Before tonight, I now realize, I was mostly caring for the basic needs of my child, as any parent does.  I keep her well-fed, clothed, take care of her when she's sick, make sure she's prepared for school in the mornings.  I love her deeply, and I know she feels it.  

Her needs are changing.

We've gotten to a point in parenting where it is our job to cultivate.  We've prepped the soil as best we could, laying a good foundation for out little seedling to take root...praying feverishly for strong, straight roots.  Tonight was our first glimpse into the enemy forces aimed directly at our little one.  We are wrought with the desire to protect this thing we've been given, this lovely creature of innocence; be we also know the damage that comes to a sheltered child.  

So...how do you teach a child, namely a girl, to know she's beautiful?  I can whisper it into her flowing, downy hair all day long, but will she hear me?  What is it about girls, women, that need to hear this from others?   How do I make her understand that regardless of what other people may say, she is a unique creation, stitched together by the Almighty Himself for no other reason than to know that she is loved, and that she is to love;  that she is worth more than the sum of her parts.  

It is true what they say:  having a child is making the decision to have your heart go walking around outside of your body. 

Ugly Chic

Many people may not know this about me, but I'm a total fashion fiend. Seriously...I love looking at the fantastic fashion spreads in Vogue, and reading oh-so-hip fashion blogs.

My husband recently read a Yahoo! news excerpt on the "10 Worst Fashion Trends of 2009". I can't remember all of them...but a few were harem pants (gag...might as well call them 'diaper pants'. Who was responsible for that one?), neon colors, and *gasp* Uggs.

This got me thinking...have you ever noticed how ugly some fashion trends really are? Not just shoulder pad or granny-floral-print ugly...but genuinely ugly. This past seasons runways were full of ugly...

Now, I understand that runways are meant to be somewhat abstract and artistic...but really...how man of the above pieces would look good on their own? Meh...not so much.

However...there have been some trends this year that simply do not make sense to me at all...but I love them. I cannot pull them off, but I love them, nonetheless. For instance...boyfriend jeans with high heels. Who put ill-fitting man jeans with amazonian high heels together and said "Kismet!" is beyond me...but I kinda, sorta want to kiss them for it. If you've picked up a JCrew catalogue lately, you've seen the following repeated ad nauseam.
It's just so fantastically mis-matched that it totally works. Looking through the multitude of JCrew catalogues I have, you see the "mis-matched" idea duplicated page-after-page in fantastic new ways! Oh and does JCrew ever love to belt stuff. Skinny belts, thick belts, ribbon belts. Seriously...if I had all the money in the world, the only place I'd shop would be JCrew. Forever and ever, amen.

Back to "Ugly Chic" however...the Yahoo! article mentioned Uggs. Yeah, so what? I've got a pair, and I love them. Did I buy them because I thought they were precious and beautiful and lovely? Nope. I know they make my size 9's look like 14's, and I don't care. They are freakin' warm, and I like them. I like the way they look...even though I know they are ugly. Hence..."Ugly Chic." In a world of beautiful shoes, Uggs are the ugly stepsister. They are the English Bulldog of the shoe world. It's kind of like that couple you see at the mall, you know...the one with the super-attractive guy and the 'what happened there?' girl? That girl is an Ugg. She's comfortable, but not cute. You totally know what I'm talking about.
Let's keep with the footwear trend and bring up my next piece of 'muy feo' footwear. Tom's shoes. I have two pair, and I adore them. I'd sleep in them if my husband would let me. Great cause, comfortable shoe, totally 100% ugly. These shoes remind me of ace bandages. And the toe looks like the side of a wrapped package with the ends tucked into one another. All that's missing is the tape.

But, do I shun these to the back of my closet as a "what was I thinking?" moment? Heck no...I'm wearing them as we speak and am plotting which color I want next. These feel good on my feet and darn it if I don't LOVE the way they look. I have simply determined them to be ugly, but fantastically so. They transport me into another fashion reality where I am an easy-going, whatever-I-have-on-works, I-know-they-are-ugly-but-I-can-pull-that-off kind of girl.

It must be said, however...that it is in total bad form to wear your Tom's to the point where your big toenail saws through the canvas and pokes out, leering at passerby's. Go buy another pair of the ugly things and retire those, please. *gag*
So...maybe we are all becoming so self-confident that we can wear determinedly ugly items, or previously considered ugly trends (like mis-matching), with ease and grace. I have a feeling our future holds great new achievements in the Ugly Chic movement. I look forward to it, as long as it is done well, and is, above all, original.

Unlike the following picture. "Uh, Ashley? The 80's called...it wants it's outfit back."

Are you Freakin' kidding me?!

I'm in luhhhhh-ve. This years Deluxe mascot was a freakin' adorable sock monkey handcrafted by Fried Okra. He was black and white and cute all over. So...naturally...upon arriving at Deluxe, my son gravitated to one of these little sock-simians. The Blue/Green/Tan on on the right is Vince, Ethan's new little buddy.

(I'm sorry, but, how cute are their hiney's? And those tails...the tail just kills me).

And since I loved them so much and couldn't figure out how to explain to my husband why I had the urge to buy one for myself and sleep with it every night....

I bought the little argyle cutie for my little niece (also a cutie). Her name is Paige (the monkey, not the niece). The niece's name is Hazel. Hazel Eveline...how purty is that?!

And, no...I could not resist the opportunity for a cuteness-infused photoshoot.

Seriously...go buy one. Like, now. You can get them here.

Where did it go?!

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