Hot spot

Yesterday, my husband took me to the mecca for stylish ladies who lunch -

I walked inside the door and immediately noticed this lady -  

She looked colorful and unique.  I love the striped top with all of the necklaces.  I would never have thought to pair that with the blue and green shoes and the large yellow purse - but it all works.


Then, I saw this lady who was wearing what I consider to be a perfect summer outfit -

She was wearing classic black and white (with high wedges from DSW) punched up with aqua jewelry.  Her outfit was elegant, flattering, and fun.


I saw this lady sitting on the patio near us -  

I especially like her shoes, which she purchased at Belk -

As we were leaving, we ran into our neighbor Amanda, who always looks stylish and beautiful - 



I will definitely be back to Zoe's Kitchen, and next time I will try to pay a little more attention to the food.

A little flattery, please

Lest I bore all my readers with my introspection this week, I thought I would change the subject today and talk a little about flattery.  I don't like flattery from people, but I do like it from my clothes.   Let's take the peasant blouse for example.  I am seeing it gain in popularity, and it's actually hard to avoid.  So, I myself purchased one a couple of weeks ago -



Ann Taylor Loft

I was drawn in by the print, because this was during my print obsession. 

This shirt is extremely comfortable and was on sale.  However, once I got home and looked at the pictures, I realized something.  The elastic at the waist adds puffiness at the exact spot most women are trying to lose it.  Why would I want wear something like that? 

Well, one reason I might compromise a little flattery is if I love the item regardless.  If this blouse had been a bright color rather than a neutral, I probably would have kept it.  But the fit didn't do anything for me and the color didn't either, so that was 2 strikes against the flattery.

This style of blouse is evidence of the "push" marketing that occurs today.  Someone far away from us decides what they think will sell, and then pushes it out into the market.  Adding elastic to something makes an exact fit less important, and voila! you sell more tops. 

Now, I know the next time I see a friend wearing a peasant style top, she is going to say, "I don't care what you say.  I like it."  My response will be, "Good.  Then wear it.  Seriously."  My intent is not to talk you out of peasant style blouses - or anything else that is not perfectly flattering.  I myself own plenty of not perfectly flattering items (skinny jeans, for one).  I just want you to make your own decisions and not be "pushed" upon by the one-size-fits-all designer far, far away.

Shifting balance

A friend asked me the other day if I have found my "soul balance" through my blog.   The funny thing about balance is that you have to keep shifting in order to maintain it.  I am definitely happier as a person.  About a month ago, I hit a zone in which I was painting, sewing, and photographing to my heart's content.  However, I am so busy now with everything that my blog has created that my children are feeling neglected.  I feel out of balance as a mom (thus my "failure" post yesterday).  So, once again, I need to re-analyze how I spend my time.       

One surprising development that has come out of my blog is my current obsession with photography - especially "street style".  So, I am constantly trying to figure out how to make my pictures better.  My biggest challenge is low lighting.  So, this week I rented a 50mm f/2.0 lens, which means that it has a larger aperture to let in more light.  Let me show you the difference the wider aperture makes.  (I wish I had the same exact picture with 2 different lenses, but my children won't sit still for that.)

So, here are two pictures in the same spot of our yard at the same time of day.  I took the first one with my 40-150mm f/4-5.6 lens -

Pretty good, but then look at this one taken with the 50mm f/2.0-



Can you see how much brighter the second one is?  The camera is letting in so much light it looks like I used a flash.  Here are a couple more photos using the lens I (sadly) have to return today-

I'll tell you about my other balance issue tomorrow...

Failure

I fail every day at something - and some days, multiple things.  I fail as a photographer by choosing the wrong camera setting for a photograph (often).  I fail as a friend by not realizing until later when someone is trying to talk about something deeper than what's on the surface (at least once a week).  And I fail as a mother almost everyday.  Just tonight, I ran out of compassion for my children after their constant complaining all day and finally told them, "Go to bed.  I'm done." 

It crushes me when I really think about it.  But I know this - I can learn much more from failure than from success.  Failure gives me the time, the humility, the honesty, and the motivation to analyze the problem in order to change it.  In the end, it shows me that I need God.

This year, I'm reading straight through the Bible, and no one fails more than God's own people.  But God never abandons them.  In the midst of their failure, this was written -

"Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." 

Personally, I'm looking forward to a new morning...

Lunch hour shopping

A friend and I were supposed to go out to lunch but ended up spending our lunch hour at Anthropologie in the up-and-coming Westside of Atlanta.  We browsed the sale racks, and I found this skirt in raspberry -

I like the bright color, as you know.  However, what am I going to wear with all of my brightly colored tops?  So, I tried on the skirt in khaki -

I liked the khaki better in the store, but now I think it looks too safari.  I brought them both home, so I can decide later.

I also tried on some harem pants -

They are soooo comfortable but look dumpy and (once again) safari on me.  Here is where a little styling helps.  Around the corner, walked this sales girl wearing the same pants -

Now, it does help that she has model-like proportions.  However, she also paired the pants with a slim fitting shirt, a belt and higher wedges.  And she pushed the elastic higher up on her leg.  All of these changes made the pants look much more stylish -

I'm going to wait for them to go on sale.  Even if I don't end up with any clothes, Anthropologie is always worth the trip just for the decor -

Atlantic Station fashion - continued

Yesterday, I showed you a few people I spotted at Atlantic Station.  Here are two more -

I love this multi-colored dress she purchased from Urban Outfitters a few years ago.  The diagonal stripes create a very flattering shape.  It is such a perfect summer dress.



 This outfit may be a little warm for Atlanta weather right now, but so cute if you can bear the heat.  The strawberry sweater is adorable -

And the ruffled skirt is so fun -



Summer style - Atlantic Station

I always find it challenging to put together nice outfits in the summer.  So, I was looking for some inspiration on Saturday and found some very stylish people at Atlantic Station -

I love her H&M blouse with the shorts, t-strap flats and cute green purse.  She looks very cool (in a literal and figurative sense).

This guy looked very classy-casual in his yellow vest worn over the denim, a cool hat and leather slip-on shoes. 

 

This is a great maxi dress paired with a denim jacket.  You know the colorful print makes me happy.

This girl's outfit is very summery and put together.  The scarf over the tank top is a nice touch.  And she is wearing another great print on her skirt from Forever 21 -

Come back tomorrow, and I will show you the two other great outfits I found...