Feel The Breeze

Hi to all my Gal Pals,

Did you ever have one of those weeks where you feel like you are in a plot twist of a bad sitcom episode or as Aunty Acid says “Yup…It’s been one of those ‘Too much sh*t – not enough shovels’ kinda days”? Well, I recently went through one of those weeks. It started one dark Sunday night when I was moving some of my flower containers to protect them from the asphalt guys who were going to be putting in a new driveway early the next morning. Just as I was finishing I tripped over a small ground cover bush and slid head first into a bed of mulch. I am taking blood thinners and believe me when I tell you that my forearm looked like I had been in a bloody battle and I badly bruised the bones in my right hand rendering it almost useless for weeks. The very next day I went to the dermatologist, showed her my arm and told her I bit my bottom lip two months ago but the sore would not heal. She took a biopsy. Later that week I tried to pick up something heavy having to use my bad hand and ended up with muscle spasms of my back for three days. At the end of the week I got the diagnosis from the biopsy of the tissue submitted which turned out to be squamous cell carcinoma. To make a long story short I will have surgery with one doctor to remove one-third of my bottom lip on the 15th then on the 16th I will have surgery to do a lip reconstruction. I am thankful that I have good health insurance, that medicine has made such wonderful advances and that my cancer was caught early. I was lucky that I had been scheduled to see my dermatologist that week for my yearly checkup. Otherwise I would have had to wait months to get in to see her. By the end of that week I felt like I was in a never ending game of Whack-A-Mole. Anyway, I decided to hold off this blog for a week or so ‘till the skin started to heal on my arm and on my biopsied lip. It remains to be seen if an August blog is possible. Hopefully I will not have to go through another week where my life is a chain reaction of “Oh no’s!”.

I do not do well in hot weather because I have a faulty sweat system. The only part of my body that sweats is my face so I tend to over heat in hot weather. I have been known to get really sick or pass out. I tend to hibernate on those over 90 degree and high humidity days. I agree with crabby Maxine who says “Was going to run some errands but it is HELL NO degrees outside”. They say to wear loose fitting clothes to help you stay cool and to me short dresses fit the bill. If the temperature is over 85 you will find me wearing a short dress. I throw one on in the morning to walk the dog then dress it up a bit for the days events. Nothing catches the breeze and helps you stay cool like a short dress. Being comfortable trumps my vanity so regardless of how much I dislike my knees I wear what makes me feel good. Short dresses are flattering for all body types. The key is finding the silhouette for your frame. Whether you are dressing up or keeping it casual, it’s the ultimate summer essential every woman should own. Whether you are heading to the beach, having lunch with friends or just running errands, a short dress allows your skin to breathe while offering a chic, polished look. All the short dresses I am wearing in this blog have pockets which I love.

Plants are a lot like people. They don’t like real hot weather. My horticulture professor would tell you anything above 85 degrees stresses a plant. I am going to give you a little biology info about plants so you understand why it is important to water plants early in the morning whether they are in the ground or in containers.

Stomata are small pores or openings found on the surface of leaves. They control the transpiration of the plant. Transpiration occurs because the plant takes in more water than it needs for photosynthesis and gas exchange. Also, plants can use transpiration to stay cool. Stomata close in hot weather to help the plant retain water if it has heat related stress because plants absorb water better when not under stress from heat. The best time to water is from 6 to 10 in the morning. If you have to water later make it around 7:00 to 8:00 in the evening when there is still some light so the plant roots will continue to absorb the water and dry off the leaves. If you water after dark you are encouraging overwatering which causes bacteria and fungal diseases. That is because after dark photosynthesis does not take place and the stomata close therefore transpiration does not take place. If transpiration doesn’t take place then the plant has no way to get rid of the excess water. I am sure many of you already know this but the one question I get the most is “Is it OK if I water at night?”. You now know my answer.

Because I am not sure what to expect after reconstruction surgery I am also not sure if I will be able to get out a blog in August. So I am showing 4 outfits today. So let the fashion show begin!

If you are going to wear stripes keep them thin and keep them vertical. I got this cute little short dress from Hustle and Heart boutique in downtown Mokena. It is so light weight and I love the contrasting horizontal stripes on the pocket and sleeves. I have short dresses that are sleeveless but I don’t like my upper arms so I started buying only short dresses with sleeves. With all of my short dresses I just throw on the dress to walk the dog then I add the accessories to go places. I paired it with my white Clark sandals and feel comfy throughout the day.

I chose these pieces because they seem more casual. Most are gold and white except for one of the bracelets. I added the navy and gold bracelet because the combination of white and navy seems so nautical and the bangle bracelet has tiny anchors on it. I love to wear a grouping of thin gold rings on several of my fingers.

I love this dress for many reasons. It has an empire waist so it hides all sins, I love having pockets where I can put my keys, and I like the square neckline. The full skirt really catches the breeze and who doesn’t love daisies. I paired it with my flowery, white sandals to go along with the daisy pattern. Add a few accessories and I go from dog walking to lunch with friends.

This is a grouping of white, blue and silver. The dress and watch band are a denim blue. I chose these earrings because they look like petals of a flowers. The white stone ring has a shape like a daisy petal and the silver star sapphire ring has a white star so they go perfectly with the outfit. I felt the silver and white pearl choker necklace looked good with the square neckline.

Olive green fashions were trending this year. I think in past blogs I talked about how green goes with every color just like the base of plants in a flower garden. The higher waistline minimizes the tummy. The V-neckline is perfect for a short necklace. The sandals are pink as are the rest of the accessories.

Pink is the theme of this grouping. The flowers in the earring match the center flower of the necklace. The pink butterfly ring goes beautifully with the pink roses in the other ring. The pink watch band and rose gold love bird bracelet go so well with the rest of the grouping. The other bracelet is actually a necklace that I double up to wear as a bracelet and I chose it because the beads look similar to the beads hanging at the bottom of the necklace.

This is truly T-shirt dress. Nothing better than white on a sunny day. When I wear white I love the monochromatic look. Since a T-shirt dress is so casual I paired it with sneakers. I love slip-on sneakers.

What I love about pearls is that you can wear them with a casual outfit like a T-shirt dress or jeans as well as helping to dress up a more formal outfit. Other than the white watch band each accessory has an either a real or faux pearl.

Now here is where I talk about how I did this past month with my weight issue. I think Crabby Maxine can best describe how I did in that area when she said “My new low-fat diet is really working. The fat’s hanging lower each day”. Unfortunately I am a stress eater and this has definitely been a stressful time for me. After they took a chunk out of my lip for the biopsy I could only eat soft foods and what is softer than cupcakes, cheesecake and ice cream. All I craved was comfort food after I got the diagnosis but those foods are not always the best choices. I agree with Crabby Maxine who asks “Why does comfort food lead to so much dis-comfort?”. I felt like I was 7 months pregnant and had to wear loose clothing so my short dresses were perfect. Once these surgeries are over I go on vacation and I don’t want to have to watch what I eat. I probably will think about going on a diet after that but I have to agree with Crabby Maxine when she’s says “I’d go on a diet but that seems like an insult to the fine folks who make cheesecake and I, for one, won’t stand for it!”. You gotta love her, she says it like it is.

Well, until next time remember God loves you and so do I.