Hello to all my Gal Pals,
The countdown is ticking away, three down 9 blogs to go. I thought I would write about the fun of getting old. Crabby Maxine defines cognitive aging so well stating “I find these days that most of my conversations start with ‘Did I tell you this already?’ or ‘What was I going to say?’ and I can identify with her. When I was working with students who had cognitive learning disabilities, I would attempt to identify their strengths and use these strengths in helping them to get to the same outcome as their non-disabled peers by developing strategies they could use. In other words, using different means to get to the same goal. I am finding that I now have to use this type of cognitive strategy for myself. In a past blog I wrote about the mind-body connection or rather the deterioration of it as you get older. Most of the research articles I read talked about maintaining good health to enhance cognitive thinking. While this may be true, I don’t think it really addresses the problem. I am finding that I have to retrain my brain to help keep my body safe. Let me explain. We all know that we are feeling the chronological age of our bodies but our brain keeps forgetting that we are no longer in our 20s and 30s. Many of you are going to be able to relate to what I am about to say. When I go out to a two hour lunch with friends and slip out of the booth to stand up, I have had to retrain my brain to wait a few seconds before I take a step or I am going to do a body plant on the floor. I walk 2 miles a day, 7 days a week of which a third is power walking. My legs are in fairly good shape but my joints still stiffen. Another example is lying on my back on a beach blanket at the beach. I have had to teach my brain a sequence of steps to get up, otherwise, I look like a turtle stuck on its back. Even with using these steps I am just hoping that other beach goers think I am doing the ‘downward dog’ yoga position. Oh well, I just have to suck up my embarrassment and move on. It’s like Aunty Acid says, “Getting older is just one ‘What the hell!’ moment after another”.
Today’s fashion topic is the use of daisies in fashion design. Flowers have always had an important role in the fashion world throughout the ages. The daisy symbolizes purity and innocence but most of us see it as a symbol of romance. We love to pull on its delicate petals one by one while saying ‘he loves me, he loves me not’, hoping to get the answer we want. The 1960s counter culture movement, often referred to as the flower-power era, embraced the daisy as a symbol of non-violence and unity. In fashion, the daisy has been a recurring decorative design or pattern especially during the bohemian and hippie fashions of the 1960s and 1970s. Most of you know from past blogs that this is my favorite fashion era. The daisy became a symbol of free spiritedness and rejection of mainstream fashions. Today, the daisy print continues to be popular during the spring and summer months as it gives off an air of being carefree and playful.
March is an exciting time for gardeners. This is when we start planning our garden design. I might be biased but I think Shasta daisies should be in every garden. Anyway, there is so much planning that goes into the gardens whether you are designing for a large perennial garden or a smaller border garden. Some might be replacing plants while others are starting from scratch. For beginners, my best design tip is to know the bloom times of the plants you are considering. I love it when wholesale nurseries send out pictures of a garden where every plant is in bloom. Now most of you experienced gardeners know that the bloom cycle of every perennial is approximately 4 to 6 weeks. If they all bloomed at the same time you would be left with just greenery for a large majority of the growing season. We keep the garden colorful by a rotation of bloom cycles of perennials and an intermixing of annuals. Below is a picture of part of the border garden around my townhouse.
At this time the mass of tall Shasta daisies are in bloom as is one of the rose bushes with its hot pink flowers. When the daisies start to peter out and these roses go for a rest, the rose bush between them will come to life with a beautiful flush of hot pink flowers. This rotation of colors creates a vision of beauty all summer long. Both of the rose bushes will alternately produce two to three flushes a summer.
Ok, let’s get the daisy fashion show underway.
This is one of my favorite 3 season outfits. It gives off a ‘yuppie’ vibe. The sweater is so soft, lightweight and stretches with your movements. It is covered with a pattern of off white daisies. The hem falls loosely at my hips so it hides my belly. Underneath I have an off white blouse with a cute little collar. You know how much I love my wide leg pants and here is why. If you don’t like your thighs, whether they are too thin or too heavy like mine, you can’t really see their shape because wide leg pants fall straight down from the hips. I paired the outfit with my off white dress shoes with a one inch stacked heal.
I think that this is probably the only outfit I don’t typically wear a watch with because of the snug fit of the cuffs. Someone asked me how I found earrings to match my sweater. In this case I bought the earrings well before I bought the sweater. When you have close to 200 pair of earrings you are bound to have something that matches your outfit. It is pretty evident why I chose the daisy bracelet and ring. The pearl ring is similar to the pearl in the bracelet.
I love the color of this sweater and the dark color really makes the white daisies on the front, back and sleeves stand out. The sweater hemline is a little too short for my taste so I am wearing a lightweight turtle neck shirt of the same color underneath and it hangs 2 inches below the sweater hemline. I am wearing white wide leg pants and white shoes with a cutout pattern of daisies. I am not a believer that white pants and white shoes are only to be worn in the summer.
Don’t you love these earrings! I bought them at Christmas Crossroads craft fair this year. The young woman makes the most beautiful micro crocheted jewelry. I was meant to have them! The bangle bracelet is fern green like the embroidered leaves on the sweater. The yellow watch band really pulls out the yellow of the daisies. I think my choice of rings were perfect for this outfit because of the colors.
This daisy outfit is for all of you who like something real casual. I bought the matching sweatshirt and T-shirt at a craft fair. Navy blue looks so good against white jeans. For Christmas I got a cute pair of Sketcher slip in boots that are like wearing slippers so I thought I would get myself a pair of Sketcher slip in sneakers. I love them!
My favorite accessory in this grouping is the two tone blue flying insect ring. The yellow earrings were chosen to match the center of the daisies. The white of the watch and yellow of the bracelet really stand out against the navy blue sleeve cuff.
Well, I guess it is time to talk about my weight. I think it was Aunty Acid who said “Do you ever feel like your body’s check engine light has been on but you keep driving like, ‘nah, it’s fine’?”. That is how I feel about my overeating lately. I am upset that I gained two pounds and I have not yet lost my Christmas weight. I find that I am eating a lot of comfort food along with leftovers from the party I threw for my sister (and blog photographer) for her 70th birthday. I tend to eat when I get stressed and right now I am stressed about the political climate and how political decisions might affect my income and health. I need to lose this weight because I am a model in the Lockport Woman’s Club fashion show on April 6th and I might not fit into my outfits. Today I am getting a lot of exercise because I am taking a stress test. I should be able to pass it because I have lots of stress. I haven’t figured out a solution on how to balance all of this. I know Aunty Acids solution, “I’ve put my scale in the corner of the bathroom and that’s where the little liar can stay until she apologizes”.
So, until next time remember God loves you and so do I. Happy St. Patty’s Day!
A Peek Into Pam’s Closets 