Leggings And Sweaters Go Together Like Peanut Butter and Jelly

Hi to all my Gal Pals,

As I get older I get more and more conflicted as to how to handle my future as I age. My explanation is going to be like one of those dark comedies. I hope I don’t offend anyone by what I am going to say but these are my feelings. The best way to help you understand is through an analogy of algebra. When I was a freshman I was told that I needed to take algebra, so I took algebra. I don’t know about you but, while I did well in algebra I hated it! I hated it because I really didn’t understand how this was relevant to my future. I was told because I really didn’t know what my future would look like I “might “ need it so that all bases for my future were covered. So fast forward to the present. I have really been interested in the mind-body connection as we get older. I found a good essay from the DASH program at DASH.HARVARD.EDU that I thought was interesting. I am going to put some excerpts from the essay into this paragraph that I think “might” help me with making decisions about my future. “The ability to sense bodily states declines in older age as does one’s activation of physiological systems, both of which may contribute to an impairment in the mind-body connections”. “…there are obviously some serious downsides of not having strong mind-body connections.” “…the lack of association between the mind and body “might” impair the ability to make good decisions.” That tells me I need to start making some serious decisions right now! Let’s face it, Crabby Maxine totally understands where I am coming from when she says “At my age, a “party favor” means somebody helping me out of a low slung chair.”

Here is my dilemma. I have been told that keeping my mind active will help it to function better as I get older. I do crossword puzzles and read at least two books a week to help stimulate the verbal part of my brain. I always have a jigsaw puzzle going on my dinette table to help with the visual-spatial part of my brain. However, my body is breaking down due to a very serious car accident that had me laying flat on my back in a hospital bed for two months and I have already had quadruple by-pass surgery. Once again, I am having to make a decision on what “might” be in store for me regarding my future. It is like algebra all over! I “might” have a fairly healthy old age with a good mind-body connection. However, I could be like my dad who had a fairly good body but had dementia or like my grandfather who ended up in bed in a nursing home (my mother and grandmother died in their 60’s from heart problems). Do I want to be one of those old timers who is laying in a nursing home bed and visitors say “It is a shame because her mind is so sharp?” If that is the case I would rather have a dull mind and be in “LALA Land”. If I end up with dementia does it really matter that I engaged in all those mind sharpening techniques? Maybe my time would be better spent writing a journal and writing on the back of photos in my many photos albums identifying the people in the picture and their relationship to me. Once again I am in a quandary about my future because I don’t know what I “might” need. Do I let my mind go to “LALA Land” in case I end up in a bed in a nursing home? Does it really matter if my mind is sharp only to lose it to dementia? Do I keep doing those mind building techniques in case I do have a decent mind-body connection? Isn’t it crazy the things we think of when we are in the last part of our lives! It is like Crabby Maxine says, “Eating, napping, no teeth, toilet troubles, being a baby is just a practiced run for old age.”

Before we get into today’s fashion topic I want to remind everyone about one of the reasons I started this blog. It was to highlight that even though we develop belly bumps over 55 we don’t have to be uncomfortable by using tight body shapers if we want to look good in our clothes. We can put together outfits that allow us to breathe without having to resort to the crushing of our bodies. I subscribe to the Aunty Acid way of thinking about it. According to her there are “The Five Stages of a Woman’s Life: To grow up. To fill out. To slim down. To hold it in. TO HELL WITH IT! I have the body I have, bumps and all, and I am tired of trying to hold it in. Todays fashion blog is about leggings and how to properly wear them as part of an outfit. Let’s face it, leggings tend to highlight every bump on your body. But when worn with the correct top, they can look fashionable and be comfortable at the same time. But before I start the fashion show I wanted to understand the difference between leggings and jeggings. I was under the impression that jeggings were leggings that looked like blue jeans but there are a differences between the two. Jeggings are slightly less stretchy, they have a rougher feel than leggings, and the fabric is slightly heavier because many have a small denim blend in the material. Apparently, jeggings now come in different patterns and colors which was exclusive to leggings. The reason I bring this up is because the form fitting bottoms I will be wearing are apparently both leggings and jeggings.

It is so hard to believe it is still winter! My neighbors early daffodils are 7 inches tall already! Chicago weather! You gotta love it! Anyway, I decided to show another picture from my last house because it kind of goes along with todays blog of things that go well together.

When I put my planters together I always think of color, form and texture. I also consider how well it goes with the environment it will be placed into. In this picture, you can see that I took into consideration the red chairs and decorations and asked myself what could I do to accentuate this grouping using color, form and texture. I think that these things go together like peanut butter and jelly.

So let the fashion show begin.!

If you have been following my blog from the beginning you may recognize this sweater from one of the first posts. You never want your pants to be the focal point of your outfit. They should be more of an accent piece. When you are trying to figure out how to design a room, you first have to figure out the focal area. Same concept when putting together an outfit. The leopard pattern in these jeggings are very busy so I bring the eye up by creating a focal point around the fur of the sweater. The brown and black colors of the sweater look great with the same colors in the jeggings. When I wear a long open front sweater I will always choose a long top to wear underneath. In this outfit I chose a short sleeved brown top that could easily be worn as a mini swing dress. I have it belted with a leather looking belt to go along with the animal fashion theme that you will also notice in the jewelry. I think jeggings look great with black pumps.

I love this grouping. They really accentuate the outfit. The jungle animals of the necklace set up the scene for the rest of the accessories. They really go well with the pants and I chose both black and brown rings and stayed with the gold metals because of the gold in the belt. The earrings and bracelet have that African flair. I got the necklace, earrings and bracelet (which came in a group of 3 bangles) for $1 each at the library resale event.

This is one of my favorite sweaters. I love the flair of the scalloped hemline at the bottom that matches the end of the sleeves. I also love the color because winter clothing can be so drab. I have told you before that I have no problem wearing white in the winter. These are white jeggings and they have back pockets. I paired the outfit with champagne colored pumps which have a peachy tint that matches the sweater.

Once I layered my butterfly and flower necklace with white pearls the rest of the accessories fell into place. The metal in the necklace is gold so all the rest of the metals were gold and white. The grouping of bangles contain gold, gold and white, and white pearl. There is a little bit of bling in the center of the flowers of the necklace so I wore the faux diamond earring jackets around the pearl earrings. Wearing more than one ring on a hand is a trend that I have adopted. I wore my tri-colored gold and my white flower rings on one hand and my pearl ring on the other. The coppery rose gold watch looks peach with this outfit.

It might be hard to see in this picture but this is a black and taupe cap sleeve sweater and because I tend to get cold in the winter I put a black, long sleeved shirt underneath. It looks like it could be a sweater dress but the wind could easily blow open the front of it. The high neck collar looks great with my long neck and it has two cute buttons on it. I have on black leggings and black pumps.

I wanted to pull out the taupe colors in the sweater so I paired the outfit with mostly taupe colored jewelry. The feather pin is the star of this grouping and I worked off of it in my decision for the rest of the pieces. Once again, I decided to wear multiple rings, two on each hand because I love the look. One of the rings has a little bit of bling to match the center of the feather pin. The other rings I chose contain both black and taupe colored stones to compliment the colors of the sweater and the feather pin.

Well, good news! I lost all my holiday weight! By going back on my strict allergy diet and having a colonoscopy I was able to shed the 5 or 6 pounds I gained over the holidays. Therefore, I did not have to join the gym but I am going to physical therapy which provides me with the stretching exercises I need. It is funny how we can rationalize our weight. I prefer to think of my body the way Aunty Acid thinks of hers “I have a Rock Hard body well protected by a cushion of fat”. I don”t celebrate Mardi Gras but I am a partaker of Fanny Mae chocolate Easter eggs. Doesn’t it always seem like there is something to celebrate requiring the eating of delicious but fattening foods? I am going to combine my topic of aging with my eating of fattening foods with a quote from Aunty Acid, “My brain cells are dying. My skin cells are dying. My hair cells are dying. Yet my stubborn fat cells continue to lead strong , healthy lives.” Go figure!

Well this is where today’s blog ends. I hope you enjoy St. Pat’s Day and have a happy Easter. Always remember, God loves you and so do I.