Fall fashion weather is here!

At long last, fall is here.  I love this season, the changing colors, halloween, diwali treats, preparations for thanksgiving and most importantly, fall clothes!  I am re-thinking my entire fall wardrobe this year and no, that does not mean heading to the mall to buy loads of new clothes, though I will need a few key pieces.  Watching the blustering wind blow through the trees with barely attached colorful leaves has sent me searching for my leaf earrings, the ones with the dried out pressed leaves dipped in gold.  I got those as a gift from my Dad years ago and now they are actually in style so I need to dig those out.
Amazingly, there are lots of flowers in bloom at this time of the year that has me craving beautiful floral patterned brooches and belts.  Yes, belts!  I picked up a couple of belts with huge flowers for buckles and they are just mouthwatering. The beautiful rust and burnt brick colors of the leaves has made me think of a nice bright winter coat, I don't have anything except black so I will probably need to shop for one soon.
What else is left?  BOOTS, BOOTS BOOTS!!! I have tons of those, black flat ones above the knee (can anything be more sexy?), everyday gray ones with buckles, high heeled black and brown ones ready for work and ultimate alligator skins in high high heels!
Once I buy a couple of cute cardigans in rustic fall colors and a winter coat, I will be totally set for the season.  I am planning to layer, layer, layer all my cute summer dresses over warm snug leggings, and boots topping off the outfits with cute little cardigans and short army jackets (from my daughter's closet). 
Don't forget one last thing, THE BELTED CAPE, yes, Kim Kardashian says it is her favorite piece of clothing for the fall and I agree, okay so I bought a basic black one though I am really into color but I think it is going to look fabulous anyway.

Why not a woman cave???

You know, men have been talking about "man caves" for a long time now.  I think there is even an HGTV show called Man Caves so why don't women have caves?  I have always wanted...no, NEEDED an exclusive space to myself.  In the beginning, when my parents lived in a huge British style bungalow in a corner of India, I would sneak out in the mornings to rest my face on the cool stone columns of our front porch or climb the guava tree in my grandma's garden to get away from it all.  Though I never really shared a bedroom with anyone as a child, locking myself in my own room was not enough. I HAD TO GET AWAY OUTDOORS!

The need to get away has intensified tenfold in my adult life, no space in the house will do since I always feel like cleaning it up or can't be sure that someone wont burst in on me.  My tree climbing days are over and I am never quite sure where I could go. The home office is too much of a public space.  My master bedroom door does not lock and as a result kids run through the master suite like it is a secondary playground. I've tried converting my closet into an office space thinking it would be more private than my bedroom but I just end up wanting to clean and organize.  I've tried pretty much every other space in the house, the kitchen, the guest bedroom, the breakfast table, and on and on.

I try outside, the deck is too easily seen from my kitchen, my yard feels wide open, not enough nooks or comfy hiding spaces to get away there. My house, not sufficient.  What is a woman to do?

Why not a woman cave???

Okay, so I have had the worst, worst, worst tummy ache since Monday morning and it will not go away!  Tummy aches are not the best things for fashion, I don't feel like wearing anything other than my softest oldest pjs.  I feel like my tummy is sticking out about 4 inches more than usual and there is nothing I can do about it. I hate it, i need a woman cave to crawl into!

Fashion Diet over Labor Day

I had to do it, I took hubby and the kids to North Georgia Mountains for hiking and a spectacular luncheon at Montaluce Winery.  Afterward, we toured the Tuscan style villas on the property which the girls loved.  We happened to bump into some Naturalists on our pre-lunch hike, they taught us all about poison ivy, and growing wild flowers in Ga.  I was so inspired, I bought some rooting powder.  I am on the look out for some honeysuckle cuttings, so let me know if you have some in your yard and are willing to let me snip a few branches.
I know, I know, you want to know if I was fashionably dressed for the winery.  I admit, it was a balancing act since we wanted to go hiking and then the winery.  I wore a shirt dress with a casual jacket thrown on top for the hike, then took the jacket off for the winery and that seemed to work.  I felt relaxed and casual without looking like I was going to the gym.
I bought a new dress for the month, yes, it has sleeves!  The new dress did double duty and was worn for social events both on Sat and Sunday night.  I think I got my $20 worth from it so now am ready to wear it during the day.
Lots of people have found it necessary to comment on my gray roots, thank you good friends ;-) not to worry, I am finally getting my hair colored and cut today!! Not ideal, since I won't be seen socially after it, but soooooo overdue that I don't care.
All in all, I think the fashion diet is still ON!  Instead of wearing something really worn out, I even took the time to wear a nice casual dress to hang out in the house all day yesterday.

Fashion Diet Day 3

I am doing well today!  Back on track, I think...exfoliated like nobody's business this morning after some moderate exercise.  Blackened my shameful gray roots with an Oscar Blandi touch-up pen.  That pen is starting to be too much of a crutch but it has been over 8 weeks since my last color and my colorist can't get me in until next week.  I am getting on a 6 week schedule with that magician (Renee at Salon Verde in Roswell) starting with the next one, can't let this happen again while I am on the fashion diet.  Renee is a real life fashion icon for me, she is always dressed casually chic, her hair is always carefully styled in a sexy messy semi up-do and her make up is understated perfection.  I get inspiration every time I spend some time with her.

Decided on a nice cool dress today so hopefully I wont have to change when it gets into the 90's outside like it did yesterday. I would like to post pictures but it is a girl thing... I am way too bloated to photograph well this week and blogging is supposed to be a confidence booster so I will start posting pictures when I feel I can take the scrutiny.

BTW, I made these muffins yesterday that are incredible so I thought I would share the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk (I used almond milk)
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I think you can substitute apple sauce, I'll try that next time to make them really healthy)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. In a small bowl, combine milk and oats; let soak for 15 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together egg and oil; stir in oatmeal mixture add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into wet ingredients, just until combined, fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups until cups are 2/3 full.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Fashion Diet Day 2

The first day of any diet is fun even exhilarating but usually by the second day, I want to go back to eating my usual fodder of pita bread with peanut chutney and diet coke.  I remember trying to fake my way through the GE...maybe it's the GM diet, I forget which.  Monica and Deven lost lots of weight on that diet and were surprised when i told them I had not lost any.  Deven caught me, when he asked what I'd been eating.  "You Fool" he said in his usual style, "you are not supposed to eat pita on this diet, no wonder you didn't see any results".

I am determined not to fake the fashion diet!  I think I have prepared well for day 2 of the fashion diet.  I had my exercise clothes laid out last night; this morning I got up and pulled on a cute gray workout ensemble before I stepped out of my room.  I felt more energized knowing that I looked pulled together from the get go.  Even my kids seemed to respond to me more readily than they usually do.   Confident in the knowledge that I had moisturized well last night, I showed the bottoms of my feet in yoga class without any embarrassment.


End of the day now, and the outfit I had chosen for the rest of the day was a complete miss!!!!! I was so stifled by it that ended up changing out of it for a comfy choice...basic black canvas dress which has been my favorite this summer...back to the pita and peanut chutney I am afraid.  Since it was a miss, I am not posting the pictures that my hubby was kind enough to take.

I did do well with the rest of my beauty regimen, I curled my hair (something I haven't done in years), used the nose strips I had promised myself, combed my hair multiple times throughout the day, etc.

Style icon & end of the day update

Kim Kardashian!!!  Need I say more?  I love her style.  I wish she would post daily pics of what she is wearing so that I could keep up with her look.  The reason I like her style sense so much is that she has a voluptuous figure, and darker coloring similar to mine...makes me think that I could copy some of her style and feel fairly confident that it will work on me.  BTW, did you know that the Kardashians are teaming up with Bebe to market some of their stuff.  Can't wait to see those styles locally.

I suppose I am due for the first log entry, so here goes.  Since I started blogging this afternoon, here are some of the things I did (it has already been exhausting!):

- Brushed my teeth with whitener
- clipped, filed and painted my nails (OPI Birthday Babe)
- washed and styled my hair
- The outfit I chose was a combination of old pieces from my closet;  skinny jeans, black and white stripped tank top with white camp shirt cinched with a brown belt.  I accessorized with two silver necklaces, one long one with multiple chains and a shorter one that I used with a colorful glass pendant.
- I remembered to wear make up....dark liquid liner for the top of my lids with a little bit of mascara and a kohl liner for the bottom. Basic pink lipstick (one that I got in a free gift set from clinique) topped off with some lip gloss (Mia Bellezza - Goldi Luxe).

I changed out of the outfit later at night to go for a walk...walking outfit was khaki capris with the same tank top I wore before minus the jewelry.

At bed-time I slathered on lots of luxurious lotion everywhere after my usual beauty routine and am now off to bed in pjs. I was so focused on fashion today, I hardly had a chance to eat, I hope that lends to some health benefits...

Oops, almost forgot!  I am supposed to pick out my outfits for tomorrow. Let's see I'll need one for the morning walk and exercise routine, and one for the rest of the day, the pressure is definitely on. I'll see you on the other side of the closet.

Beauty regimen and buying rules

Well, as I started giving this some more thought, I decided that some background information, details about my beauty regimen, buying habits, etc. would be helpful in helping me analyze my fashion.

Background - I am an Indian American (not to be confused with American Indian), meaning I was born in India and migrated to the US when I was a little girl. I am in my 40s, am married with 2 children.  I work at home as an independent Medical Writer or Clinical Project Manager (basically work for pharmaceutical companies).

Beauty Regimen - I use proactiv since I've had acne for a long time now and always seem to be battling breakouts.  Other than that, I am not very regular about getting hair colors, hair cuts,  facials, manicures, pedicures; hec, I don't even take the time to moisturize problem rough areas before going to bed every night.  It has been well over 2 months since my last color and cut, there are gray roots about 2 inches long showing all along my hairline, my nails badly need some maintenance and my heels really need to be filed.  I do get laser hair removal, well, because it is a necessity for an Indian woman!

My Closet - is full of clothes that I've mostly bought on sale.  I hate spending more than about $15 for a piece of clothing, $10 for a belt, $20 for shoes, $5 for other accessories.  Does that sound like I am cheap?  Well, I take pride in it.  I love finding things that fit well for a steal.  This summer, I bought about 6 dresses at Target that cost me less than $10 each and fit me perfectly!

I am hoping that the fashion diet will help me realize that I can put together lots of great outfits without having to buy more; have softer skin, more stylized hair and nails without running to the salon more often and keep my figure in great shape since I want the first two to look great.

Here are some things I want to do every day:
- Brush my hair and teeth 3 times.  Brush my teeth with whitening enhancer one of those 3 times.
- moisturize my entire body
- create the outfit for the following day complete with jewelry selection and shoes
- Do a load of laundry and iron.

Weekly, I will:
- File my nails
- Paint my nails
- Use nose strips to remove blackheads
- Apply masque to my face
- Exfoliate my entire body with besan and yogurt

Monthly, I will:
- Get my hair colored & cut
- Buy one new outfit for a social occasion

I can't think of anything else at the moment and the bus is almost here!...More later.

Fashion....diet?

I am not what you would call, "into fashion" but I do like to dabble a little bit.  Okay, so I have some hits when it comes to fashion and a LOT of misses.  On days like today, when I went to the grocery store wearing pink tennis shorts (which are about 10 years old and have the grease spots to show for it) paired with a dingy white reebok tee, I am definitely missing the mark. I am reminded of the day many years ago when I was probably wearing something equally unattractive.  I was making the usual run to the grocery store see, when my 3 year old daughter innocently asked, "Mommy, do you think you look pretty?"  Well, I am known to admire my reflection in the mirror more often than I'd like to admit so I answered, "Yes, sweetie, I think I look pretty." 
Without missing a step, my Sweetie replied, "No you don't Mommy, you are not wearing pretty clothes and girls should always wear nice clothes!"

Well, that wake up call should have been enough, but sadly, no.  Fashion is like dieting, I seem to do really well for a few days when I am motivated and then fall back into old bad habits before I even know it.  Since this is going to be a lot like dieting, I have decided to keep a log of what I wear so that I can justify how great I look or hang my head in shame.  Just like keeping a diary of the foods I eat everyday when I am on a diet, I am going to log what I wear everyday.

It is almost time make myself pretty for the school bus stop!  I'll let you know what I wore and if I can figure it out, even post a pic.  Wish me luck, hope I look as pretty as I think I do.

I hope I can keep up the fashion diet longer than I stick to those other diets!