A Modified Leibster and A Brief Memorial Day Note

Here's an obligatory outfit post to start.

(Taken close-to-but-not-really-on Memorial Day)  

And a hint at things to come. You'll be seeing a lot of fans this summer.

                                          ~*~*~*~*~

                                  A Modified Liebster

Thanks to Debbie at I Love My Lemonade Life for nominating my blog for the Liebster award! It's always an honor when a blogger friend nominates you for a Liebster.  It says they like what you do and want to encourage your efforts and introduce new readers to your blog. Doesn't get much better than that in terms of bloggy support. If you haven't met Debbie, you should. She's an artist at the positive approach to life, and her blog is always a treat to read!

Here are the questions Debbie devised for her nominees and a my answers to them :

1.  What would be your super power if you could pick one?

Most days, my Highest Self would want to be able to manifest world peace and end world hunger. However, my Highest Self is on her annual imaginary vacation, so I'd like to be SuperLottoWoman and be able to magically predict winning lottery numbers.

2.  Fill in the blank. I am a closet ________ fan.

I admit it... I'm a complete GIRL GENIUS  fan.  (Click on link for current page ....)

I love this "gaslamp fantasy" adventure comic strip by Phil and Kaja Foglio. You can go right to the beginning of this long-running web comic and follow the crazed adventures of Agatha Heterodyne . ( Just below the main mast head, click the black and gold button. That will take you to the very first episode from November 4th, 2002. Beware, my friends, this is addictive.)

3.  If you knew the world was ending at the end of 2013, what would you do differently?

Everything. I'd probably do everything differently!!! Yikes ... what a question!  Is it?   Do you know something the rest of us don't know?

4.  Do you push the elevator button more than once?  Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?

Of course I've done that. Common sense and elevator manufacturers say that it doesn't. However, I've found that it actually helps, sometimes. It makes me feel better, anyway.

5.  What was your favorite toy as a kid?

I had an old fashioned, Victorian era china-doll replica named Anne. I miss her.

6.  You’re in a time travel capsule. 

 Where are you going?

Somewhere I can rendezvous with The Doctor and Clara and convince them to let me tag along for a while.

7.  Why did you start a blog?

So many reasons! But one of the most basic was to see if I'd enjoy blogging. I've found that I do.

8.  Which Disney princess are you and why?

Merida, definitely. She's the most flawed of the Disney princesses. Like her, I'm prone to micromanaging my world, and that sometimes works out badly.

9.  Morning person or night person?

I used to be a night person, but I'm trying to be more of a morning person.

10.  Do you have a daily routine or do you take the day as it comes?

Some days are pretty regimented, but I have a luxurious amount of time to do what I will, when I will.

11.  How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?

Fifty something, in pretty good health, all things considered. That's based on how I feel, most days.

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Here's where the modification comes in.  A proper Liebster response would be to nominate eleven other bloggers to go through this process.  Because I'm really bad at knowing who would enjoy a nomination or has the time and energy to come out and play when a nomination is tendered, I'll simply open the process and invite anyone who wishes participate. 

If you are reading this, consider yourself nominated.  Feel free to answer the following questions on your own blog, and make up questions of your own and post them for anyone who wishes to answer.

Or, to make it even easier, you can just post your answers at the bottom of this post!

My questions for you:

1. Summer's almost here ... STYLE-wise, what are you most looking forward to?

2. Conversely, what is your biggest summertime STYLE challenge?

3. Poolside cocktails or water bottle at the beach? (Do you sense a theme  here?)

4. What was you favorite food when you were a kid?

5. What recent film do you most regret missing?

6. What's your favorite perfume?

7. Your spouse (or spousal equivalent or significant other) gives you a little Tiffany-blue gift box, tied up with white silk ribbon. What's in it? (Don't be afraid to dream a little!)

8. Who is your favorite character from any of the Harry Potter books?

9. What will you next pair of shoes look like? (Again, don't be afraid to dream.)

10. What was your favorite subject in school?

11. What was your least favorite subject in school?

That's it!

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A Brief Note on Memorial Day

I'm a bit of a military history buff. You wouldn't think it, would you? This particular national holiday always touches me deeply because of it's origins. In my mind, twentieth century military history began with World War I, the war that was supposed to end all wars. It's estimated that 10 million men lost their lives on the battlefield and another 20 million were wounded.  World War II was even more horrific, followed by all the wars since. All this is difficult to think about, but I believe it's imperative that each generation learn and understand the history that precedes it. 

Please pause a moment today to remember all those who gave everything in service.

Orange and Navy ... Peppers and Ice

This post is dedicated to two of the muses and their specific ideas that have inspired this post. Please pop over and take a look at what they recently taught me about combining Navy Blue and Orange:

Alison at Get Your Pretty On 

Alyssa at Matchy Matchy Midlife 

I just love the idea of these two colors working together to give us all something fresh to see. When I see this combination on the street, I'm delighted.  Look at that!

Part of that enthusiasm is due to the color relationship between orange and blue. They are complimentary in their primary forms ... plain old orange and plain old blue across from each other on the color wheel. To my eye, the orange instantly becomes more interesting to look at when it's paired with blue. Hot and cold, peppers and ice, an orange life vest floating on a cold blue sea ( Eww. Where did that come from?) There's a nice little edge to the combination that I'm enjoying a lot. For me, it's deliciously uncomfortable.

Here's what happens when I start thinking thoughts like that:

This pairing looks better in motion ... I love how the little faux peplum flutters a bit when I walk.

This is my Duro Olowo tote from JCP.  

I works with way more pieces than I thought it might.

This floaty top is from Kohl's Simply Vera collaboration with Vera Wang.  I'm really drawn to this soft, Asian inspired iteration of navy and orange.  You'll be seeing much more of these little silver pumps.  The fan?  I have a collection of hand fans that I use all summer.   Stay tuned for more about these as well.

P. S. And just before I posting today, I found these orange and blue lovers who are thinking similar thoughts.  Lots of variety in their interpretation and application, but definitely a common theme here.  See them at:

Paula at Fashion Over Fifty 

      (please note her nifty drawing as a bonus)

Lisa at Dreamz N Wishz  

Alice at Happiness at  Happiness at Midlife

Tamera at Menopausel Supermodel

Looks like a movement to me!

One thing thing that is always hot and never cold is the gathering at Peppery Patti's Visible Monday !  Do stop by and see all these adventurous women in their glad rags.

Summer Love

Here are the last of the printed jeans I'm determined to show you. I'm going to bend the unspoken outfit-post rules here and beg you not to say anything bad about them, 'cause I just love them. You know how these love affairs start. You're cruising through the store (in this case JCP ... yes, again) and something almost jumps off the display or flings itself off the hanger, right at you. "Take me home ... you'll look beee-you-teeee-fulll wearing me! I was made just for youuuuuuu."

Well. Maybe, maybe not. But I don't care. I was just enough in possession of my wits to take them into the dressing room and try them on. And, because I could just slip into them without too many hops and wiggles, and because of the unusually flattering dressing room lighting ( which never exists in this dimension) I fell officially in outfit-love. Sold. MINE!

Another reason I love them is when I asked my husband's opinion, (after making all the obligatory flattering noises) he replied,

"Don't be offended, 'cause I really do like them, but they remind me of those drapes we used to see in the late 50s when everything was, like, tropical."

Yes I do remember. In 1959 Hawaii became our 50th state. Everything was Hawaiian and lots of women were wearing muumuus and every kid wore thongs ( contemporarily, they are flip-flops ... not to be confused with the almost-underwear item.) Many homes sported bamboo furniture and living-room drapes featuring big tropical prints. Just like my jeans.

But instead of being aghast at his very apt comparison, I like these vivid jeans even more because of it.  They also remind me of some very pleasant, sun-soaked and sandy, beachy Southern California days of my childhood and young womanhood. Also of some really great dates at Trader Vic's and my first Mai Tai in a Tiki mug. And I think about all that and more whenever I look at them. Good thoughts.

Again, I just love the connection between clothing and ideas.

Yes, they are trendy. But, after all, a trend refers to an idea translated into clothing. Trends and trendiness get a bad rap in their current extended meaning. It isn't a compliment if someone calls you a trend-chaser. I know all that. However, if you're going to voluntarily make the slippery slope slide into trendiness, what better time is there to jump in than in summer? And, even better, in old age? Summer is the ideal time for this addled but excusably enchanted behavior. One hopes, anyway.

And I have to give special mention to these shoes. I am similarly seduced by these shoes, and am tickled that they work well with these pants. I tried, but I just can't get a photo of them that does them justice. They are made of a beautiful, taupey-brown lamé stuff, and as much as I love them, they don't get out and about much as they deserve. They look happy to me with this outfit. This will be their year, I think.

My pants and I are showing up at the sophisticated hippy-chick Patti's place and her Visible Monday celebration. Please pop over and see what all the other wonderful wahine are up to!

Are We There Yet?

Never, ever have I heard or said so much about the weather. And in rural areas, one discusses the weather a lot. Northwest Arkansas (some miles north of us, but still ...) had SNOW in early May, for the first time since we began recording weather here in 1819. According to the National Weather Service, records were broken all over the place. Probably where you are, too, either warmer or cooler. Our last two weeks here brought temperatures as high as 81 degrees ( about 27 degrees C ) and as low as 34 degrees ( just over 1 degree C. )

No matter what your opinion is on the broadest ramifications of these changes, their causes or the effects on our long-term survival as a species, you will surely be aware that one of the most practical and pressing issues is woefully unaddressed.

When can I reasonably begin wearing sandals?

Along with last week's spring closet pruning, the shoe closet (my not-cute euphemism for disorderly boxes of shoes I have piled in our extra bedroom) was included in the process. Bad timing. So now, I'm doing a lot of trotting back and forth between shoe-storage areas (a better description) pulling out and putting back shoes that I thought it was safe to store. I've decided to stick to close-toed shoes for most outfits until our weather settles down into some consistent behavior. But I am thinking about new sandals, and we all know anticipation is half the fun.

So, for the nonce ...

Last week I threatened you with more printed pants. Here are some, with transitional jacket, shirt and close-toed heels and big, silly grin. I'll wear these bright pants a lot during the summer, if it ever arrives. And I'm pretty sure their essential casual playfulness will look better with some cute summer sandals. Understand that as I say that, I am fully aware that I will regret wishing for summer when temperatures reach triple digits. But that's part of the effect that just the right shoes can have over a woman's hold on rationality.

Speaking of the right shoes and the appearance of irrationality ... I bought these this weekend, on CLEARANCE, in my very own size, and they are comfortable (yes, they really are !) and they are exactly the shoes I wanted to wear with a specific dress. That never happens to me. You will see more of these fairly soon.

Gold glitter shoes irrational? I think not.

I'm linking up with the always pretty and mostly rational Patti at her Visible Monday gathering, so be sure to stop by and see what everyone is up to!