A rainy Friday trip to the thrift store with my daughter and again with cooler temperatures means another opportunity to wear jeans, which will not be possible too much once our summer heat and humidity hit!  

It was really raining during this shoot and my dear seventeen year old photographer did not have an umbrealla so it was a quick shoot where I find it hard to give a geniuine smile while my son was miserable...

My daughter and I had a really good time thrifting and she tried on a ton of things.  Surprisingly she ended up buying 9 items.  She is usually so picking and hardly ever gets more than three or four items per trip… She purchased two sweater dresses which will work for subsituting if she does reach that goal.  She also found a great blue dress with a v-neck line and A-line skirt that even had built in shapewear and was perfect on her.  It was the exact style she wanted for her graduation.  She has a wedding to attend and maybe she will let me photograph her wearing it????

My Jeans, striped tank, purse and shoes are all thrifted… Sweater is via Metrostyle last year and no longer available.

I just wanted to add this close up because I am so proud of myelf for how comfortable I am with patten mixing.  It was just a few months agao that I even attempted it, but now I can do it without even really thinking about it… One of the great benefits for me so far as a blogger…  Also note that I stuck to the black and white with no pop of color in sight… that is a tough one for me, but I am liking stretching myself in that way.

This was yesterday’s look and when I posted it on a forum I mentioned that part of my happiness factor with this is the green wedges that I purchased last year.  For me these shoes represent the success of begining the journey to taking care of myself.  They aren’t just a basic color like white, tan or black that I might have had, they were an unsual color that meant a step up in self care.  This was part of my recovery after years of not taking care of myself in what I call the weight gaining years (when I was caring for my mother for 4 years and mourning her for another two years)  It just feels right to share this with you my Dear Readers, as well as the ladies on the fashion forum..

Dear Readers,  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and appreiciate you taking time to read my blog and comment.  It seems like every time I question if I am reaching my goal to inspire others, that a reader will leave me a comment that touches my heart.  It is really uncanny the timing of when this happens and how it is so needed.  So Dear Readers, I thank you for that!  Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! 

Gratitude:  I am grateful today for my son for taking the photos in the rain and not even giving me  a hard time about it.  I am grateful for a fun thrifting trip and time alone with my daughter.  I am grateful to my husband who bought me flowers.   I am grateful that my husband was home early and took my youngest out alone to run errands (alone time with parents and only one child is precious and we strive to give them each that).  I am grateful for a wonderful phone conversation with a dear friend and the plans we made for a girls lunch on Sunday!