Versatile Style by Tracey

My Dear Readers, 

I think I finally discovered the reaason I am having such a hard time 

dealing with this recent weight gain…

It’s not so much the weight as I’ve had fluctuations before that didn’t make me crazy like this one has.  

The difference????? 

Menopause, or more specifiaclly that dreaded middle age spread….

This weight gain in my waistline has completely changed my body shape, 

which has always no matter my weight , remained hourglass…

This was a recent Mom on the Go Look… 

My photographer took it on a wonky angle, lol.  

To make my dilema with this body more clear, I liken it to an artist always using a rectangular shaped 

canvas in different sizes for decades only to be given a circular canvas….

That’s how I am feeling because after all, I am using style as my artistic expression.  

My t-shrit from Jane.com says: 

“Inhale Love, Exhale Gratitude,  Just Breathe ” 

I wanted another crossbody purse and indulged in this one from QVC …

Enjoying my boho beach wave hair!   

uschia and Navy is a favorite color combo of mine 

and quite franly wearing this outfit felt the best I’ve felt in awhile.  

I think the swingy fun of cullottes was part of it.  

Gratitude

I am grateful that my niece will start coming every other week starting next Tuesday!  

I am grateful for the fun of bowling with my two sons.  

I am grateful for the bond between my two youngest as they found a new bond in playing chess, the best part is they are playing it on their phones so when my son heads back for summer classes in college, they can still do this.   

I am grateful for the fun anticipation of the long awaited Journey concert!  

I am grateful for dear friends and how they build me up with their compassion and kindness. 

Back in December Groupon offered Tickets for 

Journey/ Doobie Brothers/ Dave Mason 

and I bought them for my husband as a Christmas Present. 

Well Friday is the big night and I spent tonight on You Tube getting in the mood.

As I was about to turn 50 , my husband I began talking about bucket lists and one of the big 

things we decided was that we wanted to start seeing some of the old bands before they were gone. 

This coming concert surely meets that goal as this is 70’s Rock n Roll we all grew up on. 

Check out their long hair and all those mustaches, lol..

Should be a fabulous concert with this Trio, sure to bring back feelings of 

my youth and days when my father who died in 1979 was still with us.

Dear Readers, I hope you enjoy this little sampling of what I’ve been doing tonight for the past few hours checking out a lot of videos and getting myself prepared for a fun night with friends.  

Today was a pretty good day that began with a trip to the bowling alley to use our Summer Pass that gives us three games each day for the price of just $31.95.  We pulled into the parking lot and all said , “oh No!” at the same time… The first thing to greet us was the sight of 5 yellow school busses which were empty except for the lone driver in each one.  We went inside to ask when these kids in the city summer camp program were going to be leaving the premises.  The noise level was beyond what we were prepared for and we got our answer and high tailed it out of there .  

We just flipped our plans for the day and headed to BJ’s for a few groceries we needed.

It was nice and quiet when we returned at 12L30 just as the last two buses were loading up to leave.

So we learned not to use our Summer Pass on Tuesday or Thursday mornings, lol…

In the afternoon it was all about cooking as my son home from college made us his potato soup that he tried for the first time this year living in his first apartment.  I spent the time making Veggie Frittatas and the Oatmeal/Banana Power Bites to help myself and DH stay on track for the week…

Thank Goodness I have a long island in the kitchen as my daughter decided this was the time and day , that she too needed to bake Pumpkin/Nutmeg/Applesauce treats for the dog…

A silly rainy day in the kitchen with my kids was so wonderful as I realize that times like this will be disappearing as they all go their own ways.  

And you should have seen me dancing as my daughter put a music channel on cable.  I definitely burned a lot of calories during my afternoon that led to evening of baking cause I didn’t finish until 7:30.   

Just for fun, I will leave you with my stroke of Mom Genuis that happened today..I see thngs that can help my teen bowler, yet he doesn’t appreciate my wisdom and actually gives me nasty looks and gets all moody… I know what I have to say is of value, cause I am one smart woman and a great observer, but what I was doing was obviously not working… So when my daughter ran out to get a few groceries for her doggie treats, she picked me up a little notebook that I can carry in my purse.  The plan is to write down my helpful observations and discuss them with them when we aren’t at the bowling alley and he is much more receptive… Problem solved and he loved it… My saying,  “Give me a Problem and I’ll Jump at the chance to find a Solution! ”  Now I am just bragging cause my kids all know the truth I really do excel in that arena and they quite often are surprised at how creative my solutions can be… I may not like my weight right now, but no worries folks, I love myself!  

IF you got this far , Thanks for reading my musings of the day….

I didn’t blog recently because I am feeling the weight gain and seeing it in photos

and frustrated and quite frankly embarassed…

I am not being hard on myself or inflicting any blame as I know that this is truly to this 

crazy change of life period called Menopause and the lack of sleep that causes carb cravings.

I am sticking to low carb, low sugar and for the first time ever have my husband on board. 

My dear husband works long hours and has the worst eating habits ever, but because he has an hour or so 

in the day to commit to going to the gym, he’s in the best shape of his life.  We as a family however are so concerned that 

he eats so healthy for his meals, but then after dinner (late night)  he goes crazy on desserts and I mean eating portions 

that we all find shocking.   Now that he is on board with low sugar, I knew I had to find a solution for his sweet tooth.  

So of course it’s off to PInterest, where I found this recipe

I used what I had on hand and subbed some Muscle Milk Powder in with 

the cocoa as I’d seen other recipes that used that ingredient.  

My pack rat daughter saved three of these trays that she doesn’t remember what was originally

in them, but kept as part of her baking supplies.   

My husband loved his new treat and kept asking me the ingredients.  

He ate five of these and I am fine with that as I know it’s better than the amounts of crap he was eating.

My other new thing is making what I call Power bites I tried this recipe as I had the items on hand

I did change it up a bit with adding in Collagen powder for more protein and 

quite a bit of cinnamon, sorry I don’t measure just go by eye.

I do think next time I will add in Vanilla protein powder for a bigger protein kick.  

Our consensus was to wipe off the peanut butter as it took away from the taste.  

I baked these at 350 for about 12 minutes in my mini muffin pan, flipping them at 6 minutes in.

My husband tried one that night when he came home and loved it,  He tried a bite cold and said the flavor was ruined. 

He took them to work and had them warm and said they were ok, but reheated in the microwave was his favorite way. 

Our plan is to make all kinds of varieties , switching them up each week for him to pack for afternoon snacks as his days are very long and can last from 9am to 10-11pm….  You can finds so many options on Pinterest if interested….

Proud to say DH has stayed on track with me this week!  

And in more fun, I bought these prints on Jane.com for just $4.99 for the set.  

You can’t see well as my lighting is off , but they are in Sepia tones and I matted them 

with an olive mat and black frames I had on hand.  

I’ve literally been dreaming of prints like this for awhile and am thrilled with the results.  

They are keeping my beloved lone boat picture company….

I am so grateful that my rough and tumble boys did not break this picture 

growing up, as they sure broke a lot of other things, lol   

Dear Readers, Thanks for Stopping By, Wishing you all a Fabulous Weekend! 

All I could thnk of when I put this look together was the fun element 

of texture in the open weaved knit sweater ,

the moto detailed pants, the necklace and the straw hat. 

I love adding black with pastels, but since it’s summer, 

I added a few elements of white into the mix with the purse,

a white bracelet, the silver necklace and the navy and white striped hat.  

I have been loving the look of the moto style pants for a long time, 

but every time I’ve seen them they’ve been around the $40 mark and I 

just wasn’t sure I like them enough to warrant that cost.  

Alas Jane.com kept having them on repeatedly for $34.99 , so I finally indulged.

In fact , they are currently available Here

I’ve come to the conclusion that I will love these a lot more with the weight loss I am 

currently working towards.  

Today was a very low key day, just hanging out and relaxing with my kids….

With all the days we’ve been going bowling to help prepare my son for his State Tournament 

this weekend , it was a nice break for us all.  

Tomorrow is another day of bowling practice, lol…

This week leading up to the bowling tournament is going to be busy, but the good news is that 

it’s close to our area this time( last year was 5-6 hours away)  and we don’t have to get a hotel for the two day event.

 He is also not bowling first thing in the mornings,

so that makes it easier for us to travel the 45 minutes to an hour for the two different locations.  

With him taking first in individuals for his division  and first overall in City, the pressure is on.  

I love this sport because he gets to bowl based on his average and how well he does above that average,

so he’s really just trying to do his own best score.  

This Weekend I went to Norfolk’s Harborfest 

where I had VIP Tickets for Rick Springfield.

I went for ulitimate comfort in my outfit choice. 

I knew two things to begin with, that I would wear my Clark’s Slip-ons,  which are sold out currently.

They do have some AS Is ones available here 

My Harold Feinstein crossbody bag is also sold out but here is what Amazon offers by his line. 

I love this Susan Graver Chffon Top. 

It comes with the tank , but I wore it in spring over a black long sleeved tshirt. 

 I added my Halston Lariat necklace because I adore it and can’t wear it enough, lol!  

It’s currently available only in gunmental. 

If you are a regular reader, you know I adore Summer Festival Season and Music.

 I danced for the entire time Rick Springfield played and had a fabulous time.

Not the best picture as I had a few drinks and not the steadiest hands….

The night even ended with Fireworks that went through music from each era , so I chair danced and sang throughout….  my favorite moments of that was when they played David Bowie’s-Starman and Prince’s- Purple Rain, 

It was a very hot 90 degree day, so I added a fedora for the event. 

My freind Sue and I waiting for Rick Springfield…

Gratitude

I am grateful for the fun night with my friend. 

I am grateful to my husband for giving me the VIP tickets to take a friend. 

I am grateful for the fun today (Monday) at my son’s bowling clinic where I challenged him to get a 200 and he succeeded with a 204!   

I am grateful for a fun Monday night taking my 3 children out to dinner.