To Outfit Post or Not to Outfit Post...That is the Question.

...or, how I've been inspired by others for the third time while blogging.  Lately, I've been inundating myself with style/fashion blogs - blogs by everyday, regular ladies who want to share their daily or weekly outfits with the world.  Literally, everybody and somebody's grandmother has a "style" blog.  I started "reading" these kinds of blogs while looking for some where to submit my jewelry for a quick feature and thereby generate some sales.  These days, I've gotten to the point where I'll read blogs that the bloggers are reading.  That's how I came across Style by Santina and this outfit.

via Style by Santina

Now, I haven't been following this blog for that long, but I do enjoy this outfit - the sweater, the printed tee she's wearing underneath, the flats are crazy, and the roll in the jeans.  As one who prides herself on "originality", I filed the image in my mental file cabinet and kept it moving.  And then I got dressed - jeans, a cardigan sweater, skinny jeans with a roll, flats, and a printed tee! Dammit...I was inspired by someone else yet again :-) I've also been thinking about adding outfit posts to my blog because if Alissa of Stylish Curves can do it...oh here's my version of the outfit in question. Not exactly the same, but definitely in the spirit :-) I'm still a little meh on whether to make outfit posts a regular thing.

Please excuse the chubby, exercise-less, belly :-)

 and here's a close-up preview of the tyramade necklace I'm wearing (more on that soon).

Happy Birthday Daddy

Today is my father's birthday...he would be 74.  He's been gone for a while, though I can't remember the exact date it happened.  This is one of his paintings (my brother has one and there's at least one more that my mother has; there are large scale wood carvings as well).  Despite his troubles, he was a jazz lover, a true artist, and the reason for my own creativity.  I miss him today more than ever.

The painting depicts my grandmother, niece, and me at my grandmother's house.  My grandmother's house was the center of the family.  It was where we all gathered - funerals, family reunions, whatever.  So, it is a natural scene to show my grandmother on her front porch, cleaning turnip greens while my niece and I look on.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was a teenager when my niece was born, which makes the proportions just right.

I'm pretty sure this is him tending a garden on the side of the house (He actually did this once; he had a garden in our backyard almost every summer when I was little).  I think he may have still been working on it because the male figure's face is undefined.  Having his artwork around helps me remember good things about him (like how he catered my wedding), which in turn, causes me to miss him dearly.  Happy Birthday, Daddy!