Another Long-Winded Kathi Shopping Post©

[Kathi Lake]

Wow, where does the time go? It seems like weeks since my last shopping trip. Hmmmm, let's see. Thinking about it, it has been about three weeks. Wow, I'm way overdue! :)

Last time I went shopping, I went to lunch with a wonderful Utah sister, Shaylee. We had a wonderful lunch, some great conversation, and, of course, shopping. Shaylee was in boy mode to conform to the wishes of her spouse, so it was mostly me doing the shopping. I brought home a beautiful sheath in a wonderful black and ivory large herringbone plaid. It fit great, but needed something for the top to hide my lumberjack-like arms.

Another wonderful Utah sister, Sue, asked if she could go shopping with me someday. Sue and I had gotten to know each other pretty well through our many posts on here, so we made a plan to do both lunch and shopping. First, she wanted me to introduce her to my wonderful friends at Ulta. I asked them and they were more than happy to. One of them said, "Yay, I'm so excited! I love playing with you guys!

So, Friday morning dawned as most mornings. Get the kids up, dressed and fed, do my daughter's hair and pile everyone into the "Fun Bus" (minivan, in other words) and off to school. I then came back and started with a nice close shave. Yay, no nicks this time!! I usually use an electric as I'm a klutz, so anytime I can come away not bleeding is a plus!

After my shave, I moisturized and let my face "rest" a bit while I gathered all of my stuff - makeup, wig, purse, my outfit for the day, forms, etc. I also grabbed my sheath that I bought a few weeks ago to do some "outfit-matching" shopping. I then did my makeup using my new foundation - Smashbox's Full Coverage. It is a liquid-to-powder foundation that does a great job of coverage. Hey, if it can cover this ugly hairy mug, it's got to be good! :)

I finished my makeup, paying special attention to my eyes. For some reason, I just wanted to feel pretty today, and felt that my eyes were especially key. I brushed out my wig and did a single coat of one of my favorite polishes, Suzy Sells Sushi by the Seashore by OPI. I had let my nails grow out quite long lately. Each time my wife and I held hands this last week, she made it a point to press on my long nails, showing she knew what was going on.

I put on my undies and hose and prepped my chest for the forms. My left boob I got in perfect position the first time. Rightie and I had some issues, however. No matter where I started, it seemed that lopsidedness seemed to be in my future. Finally, after thinking WWDPD (What Would Dolly Parton Do?), she slid into perfect place! I then donned my bra and lace cami and slid on my new black leggings. Oh my gosh, they are so cute!! I just love the way they make my sticklike legs look curvy and cute. I finished with my new long cardigan in a pretty ivory. It has a cute fluttery bow on it - very feminine. I then added my wig, my new magnetic earrings, my bangle watch and my wedding ring set. I stopped off by the entryway mirror for the traditional "you look good enough to go out" pep talk and lip-gloss application.

I grabbed my purse and clicked off to the garage. Realizing that I was thirsty, since I have a Big Gulp every morning for breakfast, I stopped off at my normal 7-11. Although I have been dressed many times, I thought that this day - the Friday before halloween - would be the one day that I could go in. I grabbed my purse and sashayed in like normal (yes, I normally sashay. I'm trying to break that habit as it bugs my wife to no end :)). I said hello to the girls at the counter, Pam the owner, and Kim, the twenty-something heartbreakingly cute gymnast. I got my Coke and came to the counter to pay. I asked Kim if it was a slow morning. She started to answer, did the "double-take, jaw-drop, eye-pop" and said, "Oh my God! When you came in the door, I thought "Wow, she looks like a supermodel" as tall as you are, and kind of recognized you. I thought maybe you had a sister." Pam asked me to turn around and show them my outfit. I did a twirl for them. Kim said, "Wow! Cute butt! Is that yours?" I laughed and told her that the only padding was up top. She then said that I had to teach her to walk in heels like that since she is so short. Pam asked how I was so good at walking in stilettos. I told her that it really wasn't that hard. I just put them on and never had a problem. She said that I was just born to be a girl. We laughed and I left. Nothing was ever said of why I was dressed this way. I assumed that they would assume that I was in a costume for Halloween. Works for me!

After that, I went to Ulta to meet Sue and my friends. We'll continue that in the second post.

Kathi

[Kathi Lake]

I pulled into the parking lot at Ulta. They had been open about 15 minutes and their parking lot was pretty full. I had to park a ways away. Ah well, these pumps (4" BCBGs) are very comfortable to walk in. They're kind of high, but I find that they are the perfect height for me - anything smaller and my walk gets a little funny. As I clicked in, I walked around a bit until I saw Sue. Luckily, she had told me how to recognize her - a ponytail and earrings. If you know anything about Utah, you'll know that that is a bit out of the norm. Couple that with a guy being in a cosmetics store, and I was able to find him pretty quickly. We tried to find Britney, but she wasn't in the store yet, it seemed. I grabbed Jen, and after a couple of snide comments from her on my outfit and size (sarcastically, I hope :)), introduced Sue. I told Jen that Sue was primarily there for foundation-matching. Jen grabbed a pile of items after looking at her skin tone and we went back to the salon area. We chatted for a bit as she was tending to Sue's face and then I went to say hello to the others. Britney finally came in. Apparently, she remembered after telling me that she could help Sue that she had to help the kids at her son's Halloween carnival. She said she was so sorry. I told her that Jen was doing a fabulous job in the back. We went back to see how they were doing. Jen had done one side to see how each color looked. She chose one that looked the best, did the other side, added a bit of blush and called it good. I think it looked great! Nice even skintone and color.

We went to the front of the store and Britney showed me pictures of her kids costumes. They were, of course, adorable - just as she is. Like Jen and the girls there say, they'd love to hate her for how beautiful she is, but she's too sweet! After making some very nice comments on my outfit, she asked if she could take a picture. I told her I would be happy to! She said, OK, pose! I said I wasn't very good at posing, so they gave me some suggestions. I went with the typical "hand on cocked hip" pose. They said I looked sassy. Hey, I'll take sassy! :)

I needed a refill on my favorite lip gloss - Dolly by Bare Escentuals, so I went to the counter. The girls loved my outfit and said I always had cute clothes and a great sense of style. Britney said that my legs in the leggings looked about as big around as her arms would in them. She also said that I was such a motivation to them all - to go on crash diets, that is. I keep telling them that they're beautiful and that they shouldn't equate skinny with beauty, but they just accuse me of thinking like a guy.

After that, it was time to head on to Salt Lake for some power shopping - after a few errands, of course. The first stop was for my traditional "Fashion Industry Bailout" funds. After all, why should automakers have all the cash? Sue and I walked into the bank, and I got a big hello from them. One of the tellers said that this was the first time she had seen me dressed, other than pictures. I received my funds and I was off! The next errand was to a beauty supply store for a Paul Mitchell conditioner refill. Sue was a little nervous as she normally shopped at a store a few doors down, but doubted that the people were looking out anyway, so we walked in. This is another store where I had only been in while in guy mode. I simply acted as if it were perfectly normal for me to be dressed as a woman, and she treated me the same. I paid, thanked her and left. I then filled up my car for the trip to Salt Lake and we were off.

The next part will be our adventure at White House/Black Market. It will likely come sometime tomorrow as my family and I are gearing up to go to the University of Utah football game. Go Utes!!

Hope you're enjoying the long-windedness so far. The best parts are yet to come.

Kathi

[Persephone]

At last! Another great Kathi shopping post!


these pumps (4" BCBGs) are very comfortable to walk in. They're kind of high, but I find that they are the perfect height for me - anything smaller and my walk gets a little funny.

Oh, girl, do I understand that one! Anything between flat and 3" just plain doesn't work for me. I feel like I'm walking in those reverse Birkenstock things. Three to four inches is perfect, above that and I definitely know I'm wearing heels.

Just came up with a thought -- I wonder if it has something to do with shoe size? I'm a size 10 and 3" heels must be a good bit higher on girls who wear size 6. Yipes! What does that say about girls who wear size 6 Louboutins with 5" heels?


Hope you're enjoying the long-windedness so far. The best parts are yet to come.
Kathi

Can I fly out and join you on one of your shopping trips? Or would you like to come here for one?


She said that I was just born to be a girl.

You weren't just born to be a girl, Kathi, you were born to be Barbie, the doll that has everything.

:hugs:Love Ya! :hugs:
Persephone.

P.S. -- OMG! I just found out that Christian Louboutin said that Barbies ankles (or arches, depending upon the version of the story that you believe) are too fat! Really!

October 17th: "Shoe designer Christian Louboutin is giving Barbie a makeover, an honor bestowed on other fashionistas in the past. But it seems that Barbie has fat ankles. Or arches. Or something.

"All heck broke loose this week when Women's Wear Daily reported that a Louboutin spokesperson said that the French designer 'found [Barbie's] ankles were too fat.' In other words, Barbie has cankles.

"Yes. Cankles. On a doll.

"Then 'Louboutin's people' backtracked, saying that it was Barbie's arches, not her ankles, that were too large, according to the New York Daily News.

Whatever he meant, we think it's safe to say that Barbie is many things, and none of them is fat.

The issue appears to be the doll's ability to wear a toy version of Louboutin's signature stiletto heels, which in real life are five-inches high with signature red soles."

From http://www.parentdish.com/2009/10/17/designer-louboutin-says-barbies-arches-are-too-fat/

[Sara Jessica]

You weren't just born to be a girl, Kathi, you were born to be Barbie

But I don't think Kathi has cankles!!! ;)


Ah well, these pumps (4" BCBGs) are very comfortable to walk in. They're kind of high, but I find that they are the perfect height for me - anything smaller and my walk gets a little funny.

How coincidental is it that as I'm reading this part, Kirsty MacColl's "In These Shoes" comes on in my iTunes! If you haven't heard that tune, you should check it out...you'd love it.

About your post, I love the long reads. Bring on the other parts Kathi!!!

[tinalynn]

No way Barbie has cankles! LMAO!!!! The french guy just doesn't like American dolls, darn snob... I wear a size 8 and 4" is as tall as I can go without changing gate. Just like Persephone, 3-4" is perfect...

Long winded, yes, but well written and fun to read! Thanks for sharing - I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

[PretzelGirl]

Hopefully it is okay, but I would like to jump in with another viewpoint without getting ahead of Kathi (can't interfere with this story!).

As Kathi said, after a lot of PMs, we decided to meet up. Not meeting someone on this board was previously one of my wife's boundaries and she recently has agreed to let that one drop. I need to take her out for that now! So I do look forward to meeting other local members.

To say I was excited was an understatement. This was to be my first "person like me" I would meet and also only the second person I would come out to. That it was Kathi with all the good adventures just added more to it. It turns out that I am now out to five (or more) SAs, so I guess being outed grows exponentially. I chose at this point to still be in drab and Kathi was gracious in accepting that. I hadn't yet really had a make-up "look" yet, so I felt that openly getting the foundation match and continuing with the rest of the day was a good forward step and I would move on from there. My nerves going in were mostly around the fact that the Ulta was only 2 miles from my house and the remainder of the trip (to be told by Kathi) was in the general direction of where I work. But I decided that I would put that aside as it was too good a time to pass on (and I was in drab after all).

So I got to the Ulta just as it opened and contributed to Kathi having to park further away. Since I didn't know any of the ladies there yet, I just browsed around probably looking like I didn't belong. After a while, I saw Kathi come gliding in and she spotted me right away. Once again, she was looking good and does cut quite a figure! Kathi went ahead and set me up with the foundation match with Jen. In a concession to my nerves, I asked that we did it at the hair salon area since the make-up chairs were right in front facing the doors. It became quickly apparent that I was going to be doing more listening than talking as Kathi and the SAs just started chatting it up with a lot of girl talk. The side effect was that it relaxed me and I ended not having the nerves for the rest of the day. After Jen was done working on me, we went to pick up what products she used. Naturally, the two main ones were sold out. So I guess I have an excuse to come back when they restock. After a small amount of encouragement, I left the make-up on. It was a nice conservative look, so someone would need to get in my face to really tell it was there.

So then we are off. The thing that struck me the most as we went to the bank and the beauty supply store was how comfortable Kathi was. She was in her zone so to speak. Now that is a goal I would like to attain.

But I will stop there so not to step on Kathi's story. I do want to say Thank You! It was a great day and a day of good steps forward thanks to you.

[Joni Marie Cruz]

Love your stories, Kathi. Sounds like you had a great time. Enjoy your weekend, sweetie.

Hugs...Joni Mari

[TxKimberly]

Awesome Kathi! Sounds like a purty nice day to me. I also have a pair of 4 inch BCBG stilettos that I think are quite comfortable and are one of my favorites.

[Kathi Lake]

But I don't think Kathi has cankles!!! ;)Ewwwww! Even the word "cankles" sounds yucky! I'll definitely have to check out that song, Sara!


Hopefully it is okay, but I would like to jump in with another viewpoint without getting ahead of Kathi (can't interfere with this story!).Sue, you're not interfering or stepping on anything, you're augmenting - that's a good thing. I'm so glad that I helped with your nerves. Like I told you and the other girls at Ulta, that's the main reason why I dressed - to put the target on my back, so to speak. I thought if I was dressed, then you wouldn't be as nervous. I hope it helped as I really wanted to show you how easy it is to get out there and interact with people as if it were normal - because it is.

Kathi

p.s. the Utes won over Wyoming! It was an OK game and we almost blew it a few times. How appropriate that I got a bit scared on Halloween. :)

[Kathi Lake]

As Sue and I drove to Salt Lake (well, I drove. Sue rode in the passenger seat :)), we took the time to chat about our families, our backgrounds, our jobs, and who we are. I've always loved getting to know people. Sure, you can formulate an opinion online, but the real-time give and take of conversation really helps people bond, I believe. We talked about how friendly the girls at Ulta were and how I have never felt judged by any of them there. In fact, it's usually the opposite. It seems that my odd hobby is something that they enjoy seeing and hearing about. Gee, who knew? :)

Oddly enough, when we pulled into the shopping center, there were no spaces left in front of the store. usually, I can pull right in. We had to go up to the top level of the parking garage. Luckily, although the weather was kind of icky, the snow and ice hasn't started yet, so I felt reasonably confident going down the outside steps in my heels. As we walked in, there was no usual squeal of greeting, as Michelle was nowhere to be seen. Another SA, who had helped me before greeted us as we walked in. She asked me what I was looking for. I told her that I had seen the leopard print cardigan and had fallen in love with it, and described another top that looked incredible in the catalog and the web. She seemed puzzled by my description of it (a black top with white swirl patterns on it. The sides were gathered into a knot in the front - very cute!). She called out, "Michelle, are you here? We're looking for a top." My heart lifted as she came around the corner, and I got my smile, and, of course, a squeal.

I described the top again, and she pointed to one and said "Is that it?" It was, of course. She knows her stuff. The other SA had already "tagged" me, so she went around the store finding cute things that I might look good in - from bustiers to cardigans, shrugs to pants, it was another try-on frenzy! Have I gotten across how much I love this place? :)

At one point, Michelle was standing near us talking and I glanced away from her (trust me - this is a hard thing to do - she's gorgeous - all 90 pounds of her) and saw The Dress. When I saw it, I went into total girl/gush mode. Everything left my brain except the desire to see myself in it. We went back to the try-on rooms and I started my marathon. To let you know how much my brain had left me, I realized halfway through that I had never introduced Sue to the ladies in the shop. I heard her making introductions, and felt terrible! Sorry Sue!!

Anyway, the first item I tried on was the beautiful snow leopard cardigan. I have always been a fan of the long over lean look, and this sweater is beautiful. Michelle said I look great in this look because I have nice shoulders and slim hips, which are accentuated perfectly with this silhouette. Seeing myself in the mirror is always a treat - not because of how I look, but because of how I feel. I am always amazed that I get to do this. Everyone seemed to think that the sweater was a winner, and it didn't take long for me to agree. The next item was a sleeveless mock turtleneck in the same snow leopard print as the sweater. I paired it with a stretchy silk cropped shrug and a cute pair of leopard print stilettos. Overall, it wasn't bad, but the shoes were a bit small and I didn't like the rounded toe, and I liked the cardigan a bit better. I love the new leggings, as they went with everything so well! While I was trying on everything, I shared a mirror with a beautiful woman trying on an adorable sweater. There is no way I could wear something like this as some things are too feminine for even me! :) I did tell her that it looked gorgeous, and she complimented me on what I was wearing as well. Thinking about it, Sue was right in her post. When I go out, I just engage in chatting with everyone. Call it girl talk. Call it chit-chat. Whatever it is, I am just comfortable being me, and others seem to be comfortable around me.

I tried on a few more items, including the black and white top, and then moved on to dresses. I had brought the black and ivory sheath with me as I wanted a top to complete the outfit. I tried it with the shrug and came out. Michelle and the other SA loved the dress. Honestly, looking at the colors, it's kind of surprising that they didn't carry something like it. The SA that was helping me said that she would gladly take it if only it was her size. I think she was underestimating me as many of the items she brought were in the size 0 range for the bottoms and the tops. With my shoulders, I am much bigger up top. Anyway, the dress actually looked very cute with the shrug I already had at home (score!), so I then tried on The Dress. The dress is a short black evening dress in a stretchy material. It has a pretty asymmetrical neckline with three-quarter sleeves. It has a wide belt, which is nice as a belt helps me define the waist of the dress where it needs to be on my freakishly tall body. I came out in the dress and went to the mirror. I think Sue saw me first. I'll leave it to her to say how I looked, but I will tell you how I felt. Seeing me in that dress in the mirror, with Michelle smiling at me from behind, almost brought tears to my eyes. What is it about a dress that makes a person feel so very feminine? I know it sounds odd, but looking at myself in the mirror, I felt happy, pretty, feminine, and a bit delicate somehow. Michelle just whispered a wow, instead of her normal amount of compliments. To me, I take that as one of her best compliments ever. Oftentimes, SAs will tell us that we look good or the dress fits perfectly or other things meant to "sell" us the clothes. Michelle's stunned whisper spoke more to me of how I looked than volumes of compliments from anyone.

There was one problem. It was too small. It puckered around the bust and was a bit tight elsewhere. I asked the SA if she could get me a size 2. Normally, I'm nowhere near a size 0 or 2 in dresses as my upper body is much larger than my lower, but the stretchiness of the material allowed me to fit into it. She brought the size 2 and I tried it on. As I walked over to the mirror, two things were obvious; One, whether or not I bought it today, this dress will be mine someday. Two, it was getting increasingly hard to pull myself away from the mirror. Now I don't think I'm a necessarily vain person. Sue in fact told me a few times that day that I was too hard on myself and should cut myself a bit more slack. Gazing at myself in the mirror and finally not seeing a guy staring back was really starting to affect me. Call it pure narcissism, but it was hard to pull myself away from the mirror and go back and take the dress off. They have two three-way mirrors, one at one end of the store and one at the other. I kept walking back and forth, looking at the woman in the mirror. Sigh. On the way back, the SA remarked how wonderfully I walked in heels and wished that she could still spend a day on them, but health problems had pretty much put a stop to that. Wow, not being able to walk in heels. That would really suck!

Well, after trying on a few more things (A few. Hah!) I realized that Sue must be getting bored watching me try on all these clothes. I put my leggings back on and the leopard-print cardi. It was so cute, I decided to wear it out of the store. I took my purchases to the register and promised, after prompting from Michelle and the others to come back soon. Yeah, like I need prompting! It is so good to go to a store and be treated like not only a normal woman, but a favorite customer as well.

By this time, it was around 1:00. Lunchtime! Tomorrow I will go over the rest of our day. Although the end of Daylight Savings Time gives me another hour of sleep, it has been a long day. Once again, to those of you reading all this drivel, I hope that you find my adventures at most educational and at least humorous - even if you're laughing at me, you're laughing. That's a bonus to me. :)

Kathi

[Ronni Seymour]

Always love reading your adventures!

[steftoday]

you rock Kathi! great yarn, as always!

[boardpuppy]

Hi Kathi,
I havenn't been doing any laughing but a lot of smiling and much envy is flowing as I would love to have seen the parade, if only you had a red carpet to walk on during the show. I love you adventures.

Hugs,
Alice

[PretzelGirl]

To let you know how much my brain had left me, I realized halfway through that I had never introduced Sue to the ladies in the shop. I heard her making introductions, and felt terrible! Sorry Sue!!

Awww... how can I care when I see those eyes light up! It worked well for me as it gave me the opportunity to break the ice with the SAs. My turn to get some girl talk in. Plus after at least a dozen changes, I had to ask them if there was anything that didn't look good on Kathi. They really liked a lot of the outfits on her and when Kathi went in the changing room, they sometimes ended by doing the bend at the waist and mouthing "Oh My God" slowly (in particular when Kathi tried on "The Dress"). They were definately a fun pair.

[Kathi Lake]

. . . when Kathi went in the changing room, they sometimes ended by doing the bend at the waist and mouthing "Oh My God" slowly (in particular when Kathi tried on "The Dress"). They were definately a fun pair.Hmmmm, I'm not sure how to take that. Usually when someone bends at the waist and says "Oh my God!" it is closely followed by scrambling for the nearest toilet or trash can. :)

My gosh, what a busy day!!

It started with early service at my church. From there we drove up to where my oldest son is going to college about 60 miles away. We went to his church, and then to a river. The purpose? I got to baptize my son! Yes, this is the son who recently found out about Kathi. A few weeks ago, he called and asked what I was doing on November 1st. He then asked if I would like to baptize him. Duh! So, I grabbed a pair of hip waders and off we went, followed by about 60 of his closest friends. It was very nice. It would have been perfect if only I had known that the hip waders leaked. :)

We then took him to lunch and filled up his car with gas (he's still a teenager, after all) and off we went back home. I don't know if you all care about the small details of my life, but I feel that writing is very cathartic, and if I don't write, I'll explode. :)

Where was I? Oh yeah, lunch!

Sue and I were going to go to a local Irish Pub - McCool's - but it just seemed a bit too busy. Instead, we settled for Red Robin. There we were, two guys - one dressed very differently for Utah. The hostess sat us down at a table and our waitress took our orders. Sue and I continued our day-long conversation. During the meal, a cute 7 or 8 year-old girl kept peeking over the wall at us. I smiled at her, she smiled at me. She kept popping up and looking at me. Finally her mom looked over the all. She looked at me, smiled, and then her face froze for a second. I smiled at her again, and we traded knowing smiles. You can tell when a smile is genuine, and hers seemed to be.

I was a little nervous as midway through the meal, three guys seemed to suddenly realize that I wasn't what I appeared to be. I heard a little laughter and some comments. It seemed that one was embarrassed as when he told the other two how cute I was, they clued him in. Ah well, he obviously didn't listen very closely as I don't really change my voice or anything to appear more feminine. As I told Sue, if someone takes me for a woman, I won't disagree. I don't necessarily lead anyone on though.

As we left and went back to Ulta, Sue and I talked about my comfort level. It's odd, I don't really think of myself as comfortable or uncomfortable in doing what I do - I just do it. Some of it comes from honestly not caring what others think. Some of it comes from thinking that what I do is normal - for me anyway. Much of it comes from the belief that when I dress in these clothes, I don't feel that I am changing in any way or putting on a persona. I am just me, whatever I choose to wear.

We arrived at Ulta and the girls noticed my new sweater. We told them of our adventures and Britney told me that she put me on the list for their employee 40% off sale. That was so nice! She also reminded me that she still wanted us all to get together for a "Girls Day Out." I have to say, shopping with Shaylee and Sue has been a lot of fun, but I am definitely looking forward to going out with these girls. It should be a day to remember!

below is a picture of me in all my end-of-day, hair-frazzled, makeup-wilted glory. Here's proof that the people who mistake me for a woman are seriously nearsighted!

Kathi

[Sara Jessica]

below is a picture of me in all my end-of-day, hair-frazzled, makeup-wilted glory.

First of all, congrats on your son's Baptism. I'm sure there had to be at least a little extra sweetness in the event given what you two have gone through in terms of disclosure over the last several weeks.

As for your picture, you gotta love those end-of-outing shots when we're at our frazzled best. But seriously, you still look terrific!!! And I love your new sweater! :)

[dennisGTS]

Kathi, your story makes me want to get a plane ticket and fly out to Utah just to spend the day with you! Sounds like you and Sue had a lot of fun shopping and trying on clothes! :daydreaming:

[Kathi Lake]

Can I fly out and join you on one of your shopping trips? Or would you like to come here for one?
Kathi, your story makes me want to get a plane ticket and fly out to Utah just to spend the day with you! Sounds like you and Sue had a lot of fun shopping and trying on clothes! :daydreaming:Hey, with airfares this cheap, why not? Come on down!! :)



I'm sure there had to be at least a little extra sweetness in the event given what you two have gone through in terms of disclosure over the last several weeks.

As for your picture, you gotta love those end-of-outing shots when we're at our frazzled best. But seriously, you still look terrific!!! And I love your new sweater! :)Very sweet indeed. As I have said before, I keep waiting for it to be weird, but so far, so good. Everything always does work out for the best!

I don't always post the best pictures of me for a few reasons. First of all, I don't take too many pictures. I would rather be trying on pretty clothes than clicking the shutter. Second, like women, we don't always look our best. That doesn't mean that the world stops to wait for us to powder our noses.

I thought you'd like the sweater. When I first saw it, I immediately thought of you as it seems very much your style - incredibly feminine and classy, but with an edge.

Kathi

[Sara Jessica]

I don't always post the best pictures of me for a few reasons. First of all, I don't take too many pictures. I would rather be trying on pretty clothes than clicking the shutter. Second, like women, we don't always look our best. That doesn't mean that the world stops to wait for us to powder our noses.

Like you, I don't take too many pictures at all so for the most part, what you see is what you get. Of course I will pick and choose what little I can but I really hate it that the world won't wait for me to powder!!!


I thought you'd like the sweater. When I first saw it, I immediately thought of you as it seems very much your style - incredibly feminine and classy, but with an edge.

Animal prints are soooooo in style this season. I've seen several tops that are beyond classy. And the white background ones are particularly "in". But like we talked about, I have to wonder if there is a "rule" about mixing animals. Seems like your new sweater is leopard, would it clash with my new white background" giraffe slings??? I think it would, probably too busy of a mix. I do have a black and white patterned tank top that I'll test the theory with someday soon.

Hmmm, now that I thnk about it, I'm not sure I've ever seen a white giraffe!

[Kathi Lake]

Animal prints are soooooo in style this season. I've seen several tops that are beyond classy. And the white background ones are particularly "in". But like we talked about, I have to wonder if there is a "rule" about mixing animals.Oh yes, animal prints are definitely in! As for rules, the only one I know of is one I see violated every day - too much. Animal prints are more of an "accent piece" in that you only need one item. Often I see an animal print top, and shoes, and a purse. Like most things, anything is good in moderation. Then again, it depends. The other day I had a sleeveless turtleneck in an animal print with a black shrug over it and black leggings. The leopard-print shoes really tied everything together and overall, the outfit wasn't too overpowered by animal print. If I had worn the shoes with the cardigan, however, it would have probably been too much.

Kathi

[sherri52]

I wear a 13 womens shoe. If it isn't 4 1/2 or 5" heels they feel like flats.

[Sara Jessica]

Oh yes, animal prints are definitely in! As for rules, the only one I know of is one I see violated every day - too much. Animal prints are more of an "accent piece" in that you only need one item. Often I see an animal print top, and shoes, and a purse. Like most things, anything is good in moderation. Then again, it depends. The other day I had a sleeveless turtleneck in an animal print with a black shrug over it and black leggings. The leopard-print shoes really tied everything together and overall, the outfit wasn't too overpowered by animal print. If I had worn the shoes with the cardigan, however, it would have probably been too much.

Kathi

Very good point Kathi, I learn something new every day. I'm now torn on mixing up the patterned tank top with the heels. It might be too busy.

BTW, here is a link to the same exact "giraffe" heels I recently picked up.

http://www.zappos.com/kate-spade-hart-black-sand

Funny they call it python but everything I have found on these heels calls them giraffe with the exception of a pair that recently sold on ebay, those were called leopard. And they call the background sand instead of white. I guess upon a really close look it could go either way. And the black satin in the same style is super pretty as well.

[Kathi Lake]

Oh Sara,

Remember, rules are meant to be broken by the bold! You, my friend, are bold enough and confident enough to get away with anything! Like I said, I had a patterned top, but black leggings and a shrug covering some of the top, and the heels poking out from beneath all that black. It worked. According to the reactions I received from Sue and Michelle and the girls at WH/BM (both the ones they gave me at the three-way and the ones I didn't see when I went back into the dressing room :)), it worked very well. I think your outfit would work for you as well. C'mon girl! You can do it!!

Kathi

[VeronicaMoonlit]

Moar fashionista goodness! Yay! Now go back and get....The Dress Obey!

Veronica Rogers

[Kathi Lake]

More fashionista goodness! Yay! Now go back and get....The Dress. Obey!

Veronica RogersI hear and obey oh wise one!

Seriously, I think I'll save getting The Dress until I get to have the Girls Day with my friends at Ulta. As The Joker said, "Wait'll they get a load of me!"

:)

Kathi

[brmacea]

You've started to copyright your adventures?lol Always entertaining. Can't wait for your adventures with your friendly SAs.

[Kathi Lake]

You've started to copyright your adventures? lol Always entertaining. Can't wait for your adventures with your friendly SAs.Well, they're not copyrighted as much as easily recognizable, it seems. Think about it - if you read one of my long-winded yarns and didn't know it was me, you'd still know it was me, right? :)

Kathi

[S. Lisa Smith]

What a great day!! You looked great!!

[Kathi Lake]

Thanks Lisa. By the way, you looked great in your legging pictures as well! Don't they feel great!?

Kathi