Category Archives: Uncategorized

And she was all YELLOW

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Lately, I’ve been inspired by sunny yellow colors.

I saw this bikini online and now I dream of sashaying along a tropical beach in it.

But yellow is not a new color for me.

I’ve attended weddings in bright, happy yellow:

And I’ve been inspired by yellow in the photos I’ve taken:

I did happen to also get inspired by this outfit:

And it makes me want to get my own paint splatter overalls.

I have several friends who are artists who would laugh me out of the house if I told them I would pay money for a pair of paint-splatter, deconstructed overalls.

But it’s true.

Look at these ones online for $168.

Honestly, if I had more confidence in myself as an artist, I might attempt to design a pair myself but since I’m not a painter I might have to commission a pair.

Also, I could just get these for $42.25.

They’re pretty cute.

Sense and Sensibility

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Perhaps Bridgerton influenced this new trend but I’m seeing a lot of corsets worn over shirts for style.

Quite frankly, I love the look but I’m wary of the style.

First of all, corsets are remarkably uncomfortable.

Secondly, wearing UNDERWEAR as OUTERWEAR can only serve to make me look bulkier, and I’m not down for that.

However, I fell in love with this look from Instagram with a woman in black leather leggings and a leopard printed corset top.

I know, I know.

Too bad there’s no picture of it from the front, but I love the idea of wearing black faux leather leggings with a corset top and heels.

Faux leather leggings are easy to find but the corset top has proved a lot harder to find.

There’s this:

And this:

But then, oh yeah, I came across this and it STOLE MY HEART:

What a shame I can’t afford spending $2,500 on a corset top!

We’ll see if this takes shape into an outfit or not.

It does occur to me that being 47 and wearing faux leather leggings and a corset top might not be the best fashion sense, but when have I ever been sensible when it comes to style?

One is the new two

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Haven’t you heard, being single is the new happy.

I have a friend who dates several men but she considers herself single.

No one to slip their laundry into your wash load.

No one’s dysfunctional family to deal with during the holidays.

No one to fight with over how to spend your Friday nights.

Life is simple when you’re single.

You want to go to a party?

You go.

You don’t tentatively accept pending a collaboration with your partner.

I’m happy being single.

It’s easy for me.

As easy as breathing out and breathing in.

Yes, there are things I miss.

Snuggling for one.

And someone to watch movies with on a Saturday night at home without feeling like a loser, for another.

But I’m making my peace with being perpetually single.

Haven’t you heard?

One is the new two.

The world is FILLED with endless possibilities.

Trash the dress

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There’s a thing on TikTok, I’ve discovered which amuses me greatly.

It’s called #TrashTheDress and as you’ve maybe surmised, it’s about taking your wedding dress and completely thrashing it.

I mean, I SAVED my dress but I’ve never worn it again and part of me does think it would’ve been cool to get pictures of us trashing the dress in the pool or in the ocean at the end of the wedding party.

@sarahgracemeck

Trashed the dress👰🏼 but so worth it for the photos @brandonmeck #trashthedress #tulum #weddingdress #wedding #foryou

♬ Memories (Drinks Bring Back) – Ajay Stephens

That said, it seems an alternate thread has popped up where #TrashTheDress means you’re getting divorced and so you completely ruin the dress you wore to your wedding while a hired photographer takes professional photos and video of you doing it.

@rosielindsay5

#burnthedress #divorce #photoshoot #burnthedresschallenge #trashed

♬ original sound – Rosie Lindsay

Occasionally, the song playing in the background refers to the husband cheating on his wife.

Ahem.

And NOW, there’s something even more nasty than thrashing your own dress:

Doing a boudoir photoshoot to commemorate your divorce.

Yes, you read that right.

Something to say that you’re untying the knot and re-entering the dating pool.

Well, you know what I say?

@boudoirbyeleven

Untie the knot…A Story #photography #boudoir #fyp #foryou #elevenboudoir #trashthedress #selflove

♬ Surrender – Natalie Taylor

Good for her!

I think every woman should experience a boudoir photoshoot at least once and who am I to judge how someone should heal from their divorce?

Belated Anniversary Celebration

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When EXACTLY did I meet Tejas?

I met him at a Thursday Meet and Greet in March of 2015.

The EXACT date?

March 19, 2015.

That’s our anniversary folks.

Occasionally, people will ask me why I paired up with such an odd friend.

A man 10 years my senior.

The answer is simply that he helped me out, found me a place to live at Burning Man, and took responsibility for the success of my first burn upon himself.

If that isn’t friendship, I don’t know what is.

Maybe you need to know how bonded you become to your neighbors during a burn.

Maybe you need to know the robustness of friendships forged on the playa.

To truly understand my loyalty, you would need to understand Burning Man.

So I think my burner friends get what I mean when I say that if shit comes down the pipeline, he’s one of the people I want in my corner.

I think we should all celebrate the anniversaries of meeting people who are important in our lives, be they lovers OR friends.

Maybe we should think about celebrating our FRIENDVERSARY, after all they’ve lasted longer than many of the relationships we’ve had.

And so I celebrate my friend.

Steadfast.

Supportive.

And always up for a good time. . .

Tejas!

A diet I don’t hate

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I’ve officially been on my diet for over a week.

In the first week I dropped 10.2 pounds and 4 inches.

That’s a lot of water weight and the equivalent of a little over a gallon of milk (which weighs approximately 8.6 pounds).

I’ve been exercising regularly and I must admit I’m feeling better than I have in a long time.

I’m energetic and I’m productive.

I don’t lay around my bedroom, watching movies like I used to.

I’m up and at it, making presents for friends (like a quilt), hiking in the hills, playing piano (learning Hey Jude) and practicing my Swedish (vad gör du).

I’ve even started going through my drawers and eliminating things that no longer serve a purpose in my life.

Like panties that are too large.

Or too small.

I eliminated a bunch of g-strings because whoah, do I have junk in my trunk.

No one needs to see that on display!

LOL, I’m more of a boyshort kinda gal anyway.

Pretty soon, I get to look forward to buying new clothes to fit my new body and I’m SO looking forward to that!

I literally can’t wait to reach a standard size and have regular clothes fit me.

It has occurred to me, now that I’m eating to recharge my body and not to entertain myself, that I was killing myself slowly with food.

Well not anymore.

I’ve learned portion size and how to eat small frequent meals that are healthy and nutritious to ward off hunger and stay hydrated.

The one thing I’m REALLY pleased about is that I’m not ever really hungry.

I HATE being hungry and I’m so relieved that on this plan I seldom experience hunger the way I have in the past.

No wonder everyone hates diets.

But this is no simple diet.

It’s a lifestyle reorganization plan.

And it’s working splendidly.

 

P.S. I plan to celebrate my journey with new boudoir photos.  Nothing like a non-food reward to motivate me and keep me engaged!

Tranquil Ocean

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I may have gotten a little excited about the 50% off Spoonflower fat quarter fabrics.

Just a little.

I bought 26 fat quarters to make my niece Bella a custom quilt yesterday.

Today, I bought 18 fat quarters to make a custom quilt for my nephew Calvin.

First, I found this OUTSTANDING window pane quilt pattern made with Kate Spain Terrain fabrics.

The exceptional fabrics make the quilt really stand out.

It’s probably a quilt I can knock out in one or two weekends of work, I think so it’s what I call an “easy” quilt project.

Unlike the current project I am working on which will take 50 – 100 hours of work (all for my kid who wanted it).

Spruced Goose Quilt

And just because I like lining up all my fabrics in a row and looking at them in one glance, here are the Spoonflower fabrics I selected for a watercolor underwater themed quilt for my nephew (who is REALLY into seahorses):

If I’m shinin’ everybody gonna shine. . .

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For Halloween, I want to make a Lizzo-inspired costume

I mean OBVIOUSLY as a white chick, there’s nothing I can do about my skin tone.

But her ICONIC STYLE?

Definitely right up my alley.

This dress from the BETs is quite inspirational and I LOVE THE IDEA of getting dressed up in a wedding gown style and emulating not just Lizzo but also Madonna and Britney Spears.

I found something similar on Fashion Nova, not exactly the skirt and bustier combo I was looking for, but CLOSE:

Of course, I need to accessorize with a white lacy veil, square black sunglasses, white sneakers and FLUTE:

And there you have it – a Lizzo-inspired Halloween costume.

If I’m shinin’ everybody gonna shine. . .

Oktoberfest

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Last year, my friend Nadine and I hosted Oktoberfest at the local bar on Thursday afternoon Happy Hour at Burning Man.

It was a total riot!

We played German music and served ice cold (well, compared to PLAYA temperatures) German beer to thirsty guests.

We had such a good time, we decided to do it AGAIN!

Nadine took care of the beer and bought several pony kegs of light and dark German beer for us to serve.

I took care of the music.

I was careful to download SEVERAL Oktoberfest playlists from Spotify, since last year’s fiasco of a super short playlist of German oompa music played on repeat until my head was pounding  from horns and drums.

This year I used “Oktoberfest Hits 2019” by Megaparty, and BOY! was it a hit!!!

It included very basic Oktoberfest music along with a bunch of German pop music (like Johnny Däpp).

Honestly, you should listen to Johnny Däpp.

The whole song sounds like an homage to Johnny Depp.

Which, if you think about it, is a very good thing.

Of course we went through beer like water and before we knew it, we were back to serving COCKTAILS to guests who stayed to enjoy the music.

In particular, there was a couple who dressed up in traditional German costumes and who danced the whole afternoon away listening to the music.

I was pleased to bring a little German beer and music to them, they seemed to genuinely miss their home country.

And in the end, I got a lovely postcard from one half of the couple, thanking Nadine and I for “serving real German beer” and playing an amazing playlist of songs for them to enjoy.

My magic moment on the playa?

Watching them dance their asses off to “Sweet Caroline” by Weisenrocker.

Check it out on Spotify!