Waiting to Exhale

Vest: Calvin Klein, Sweater: F21, Leggings: Marshalls, Shoes: Dolce Vida, Bag: Aldo, Watch: Michael Kors, Bracelet: Buddha from Alex and Ani, Crystal from Celene Stones (celenesrones@gmail.com if you want one, ModaFresca readers get 15% off one, and 20% off of two).

Greetings! I hope all of you fiesty minxes had a great weekend.

Above is what I wore on Saturday while I was out running errands/getting some work done (my standard uniform of an over-sized shirt with leggings... nothing new under the sun). Below is what I put on later that night when the Manfriend and I went out to dinner to celebrate our friend's 40th birthday.

This dress is tight. Like... tight-tight. It should be advertised as coming with a built in "easy-does-it" feature. It does wonders in preventing you from overindulging in both food and/or drink. I was in a constant state of sucking in with this little number. CON-STANT.Except when I was sitting down for dinner behind the cover of a table. Then it was time to breathe. If I had to title Saturday night, it would have been called "Waiting to Exhale". Shit.

Oh well... sometimes you wear enormous baggy sweaters and leggings (80% of the time), and other times you go with your man's choice. THIS second-skin ensemble... this was his pick.

I guess I should feel fortunate that I am with a man who encourages me to love my body. He's not into skinny, or petite, and he is WAY more into athletic than boney. Thank GOSH for the fact that we are all attracted to different body types, right? What a boring world it would be if everyone was into the same things!?!

I'm trying (really hard) to appreciate my body more instead of being pissed at it for not being thin. I have spent my WHOLE.DAMN.LIFE wishing/praying/trying (short of any surgery or injections) to change my body. I have ALWAYS wanted to be effortlessly thin, AND (as I have expressed a million times before) to have much smaller boobs. I spend SO much time being resentful that I wasn't blessed with being naturally svelte that I rarely express gratitude for the body that I do have. One that (when I feed it properly) is healthy and free from pain. One that has strength, endurance, and an insane amount of flexibility. One that does a million things for me that allow me to live comfortably. Things that I don't even have to think about (my heart beating, breathing, digestion of food, healing of cuts, bruises, aches and pains, etc.) I mean, if it does ALL this for me, is it really fair to "hate" it because it carries around some extra lbs.? Nope... it doesn't seem very fair.

This should seem obvious and easy to put into practice... loving yourself and the body you live it, but it's not and I am not alone. Sometimes though, you only realize how ridicuolous it is to hate your body when you see someone else hating theirs. I had a glass of wine after work with a friend of mine last week. SHE is thin. When I met her, I just assumed that she was always that thin. Welp... she hasn't been. She used to be 20-25 ilbs heavier and now she watches everything she eats. She said that she steps on the scale every single morning and that number staring back at her dictates how she is going to feel about herslef that day. I felt terrible. I wanted to shake her by the sholders. I wanted her to love herself and give herself grace. I wanted her to break up with her scale. I wanted to go into a tirade about how amazing the human body is, all it does for us and can do for us. How many people would "kill" simply to have a body free from pain and/or life-altering disease? I wanted to lecture her and talk some damn sense into her. Instead, I just sat there silent. I nodded my head, I understood.  At the end of the night, on my drive home, I realized that in order for me not to be a hypocrite I have to start practicing self-love, gratitude, and grace. Easier said than done, but what a WASTE if at the end of your life you looked back and were ashamed at how much time you wasted NOT loving something because it wasn't "perfect". We don't expect perfection from other people? Why do we expect it from ourselves? Is it not enough to be loving, caring, intelligent, motivated, successful, a good mother, partner, sister, friend, employee, creative, nurturing, etc.????

My Manfriend ALWAYS says... "Some day you're going to wake up and you are going to be old, and you are going to be so mad that you spent your younger years NOT appreciating a body that you would now KILL to have". And ya know what? He is 100% correct.

Yup... he's smart and hot. BOOM!

Dress: ASOS, Bracelets: CeleneStones@gmail.com

Harry Potter's Mittens

Blazer: Ralph Lauren, Skirt: Target, Tank: Lotus, Shoes: Jessica Simpson, Bag: Target, Watch: Michael Kors, Ring: LeVian, Gloves: Gift, Scarf: Asos

1. First things first. I look like Harry Potter. I know.

I didn't plan it that way, but it happened nonetheless. Blazer with the gold emblem... plaid scarf... glasses. Nailed it.

Sidebar: Wanna see something adorable? My niece, Kelsea, and nephew, Canaden, as Harry Potter characters for Halloween. Canden is playing his part with the ice grill. Awesomeness runs in the family. Obviously. 

2.  These are my new glasses. They came in yesterday. They look kind of like the little fake ones I have sported before, but these ones have a legit prescription in them and everything. From far away they look black, but they have a brown, tortoise shell look up close. I'm supposed to wear them all of the time. We shall see about that. If history repeats itself, chances are strong that I will accidentally sit on them and break them within a month. Okay... week. Within one week.

3. Did you notice my gloves? They are my new favorite things. They were a gift from my BFF. I love them. I can use my phone, camera, turn up my radio without slipping, find things in my purse, punch in my debit card info at the gas pump... ahhh... the possibilities are endless. Plus... if my fingers get cold, I just curl them into my palms and tuck them in. They are dope and I love them. I want to put one REALLY long string connecting them so I can put them through the sleeves of my coats to prevent from losing them. Old school style. 

Anyone remember THESE? Or is this not a real thing and just something my Grandma Hess knitted for me and then tried to convince me that other kids wore them this way too??? I could only find like one picture of them on all the interwebs. I bet my grandma uploaded it.