Time for a Quick Rant!

I'm definitely super busy trying to get ready to go on vacation - with work, with Carter's graduation, etc. But I decided I needed to take a break for a few minutes today for a quick rant!

So this morning, I heard a commercial for Thomasville furniture. More specifically, the "Thomasville Promise". In other words, they are jumping on the same bandwagon that all the major car companies are:

Hyundai Assurance Plan

Chevrolet Total Confidence


Ford Advantage Plan



Seriously though, call it what you want to call it, but isn't that what part of what got us into this economic crisis?? We want a nice house, so we take out a mortgage we cannot afford. We want a nice car, and heck, if we lose our job, no worries, we're still covered. Same thing goes for furniture now apparently - let's not worry whether or not we'll have a job in 6 months, Thomasville will take care of it! Whatever happened to responsibility and living within our means?!?! I have definitely fallen victim of this from time to time..which is one of the main reasons I'm taking the time to rant. But in this day and age, who hasn't fallen victim to this stuff? It's everywhere. I mean, you want something TODAY at Lowe's? Open a Lowe's card and charge it! Want something at Neiman's? Charge it!

Statistics show that Americans carried approximately $832 billion in credit card debt in 2008 and that number is expected to grow to a projected $1,091 billion by the year 2010. This works out to over $5,000 in credit card debt per cardholder (not household) and that number is expected to increase to nearly $6,200 by 2010.

Probably the main reason I'm so interested in this is because I'm a marketing person. Yes, I'm sure that many of these offers will drive foot traffic into car dealerships, furniture stores, etc. which is exactly what they are trying to do, so good for them. But I'm also a realist, and I'm sure that the fine print for these offers is longer than anyone could imagine! These offers are NOT "no strings attached", whether they make it sound this way or not, you will eventually have to pay for that car!

I really think that a lot of America's problems (and my own) are because we all feel too much entitlement. We are entitled to a nice, new car and brand new furniture. Why? Because that's what we had growing up or that's what we didn't have growing up and deserve it now - either rationalization works here, and I've heard them both. Another big reason for entitlement is "because that's what everyone else has/does". What a difference I think it would make if we all just stopped caring what everyone else did and look to the real standard we should set for our lives - Jesus. I know it would definitely make a big difference in my life and allow me to be more content.

I'm so glad I can see these things, but most importantly, I've got to live them. I don't want to be so leveraged when it comes to finances. I want to be content. I don't want to be like the rest of the world. Christ says not to be, and I'm starting to really understand why.

Here are some verses I want to meditate on to help me guard against these things:

1 John 2:15 (NIV)
15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

John 16:33 (NIV)
33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

1 Corinthians 1:27 (NIV)
27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

1 Corinthians 2:12 (NIV)
12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

1 Corinthians 7:29-31 (NIV)
29What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

1 Timothy 6:7 (NIV)
7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

Luke 16:13 (NIV)
13"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

James 2:5 (NIV)
5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

James 4:4 (NIV)
4You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

1 John 2:16 (NIV)
16For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.

1 John 2:17 (NIV)
17The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Fashion Forward....Or Not So...

As I have not been failing to mention, we are headed to Hawaii soon. Well, vacation for Michael and Allison, always means shopping. We both love to get some fun new outfits before we go on vacation. It's one of our "things" and we budget it into the overall cost of the trip.

I have always been a haphazard shopper when it comes to shopping for clothes, and I don't want to be that way anymore. For some reason, I used to morph into the style of whoever I was shopping with and that caused my wardrobe to be very strange and oddly eclectic. Like, if I shopped with my Mom, I would somehow always end up with godawful (sorry Mom!) Harold's or Talbots clothes that are just not me. Granted, Harold's is not all bad though I guess this is a moot point since it's gone now. If I shop with Michael, I end up with way too many trendy, chest baring pieces that aren't 100% me and also some random things like graphic tees (more on this later). Keeping my husband's tastes in mind when I shop though will always be a priority and to be honest, I do like showing off "the girls" from time to time.

Other reasons for my bad fashion issues include, but are not limited to:
-Pine Cove...sorry girls, but we sometimes dressed like idiots and the bandanas that we cut to make into headbands wouldn't even be cute on my dog, Kosmo
-Pine Cove...did I mention, I got a perm before I started working there during the summers because I thought it would be a good idea so that I could just wash my hair and go (this never worked because I cannot force myself to be that kind of girl and not once did I leave the cabin without fully drying and diffusing my horrific permed hair)
-Pine Cove/Texas A&M...for some reason, many of us felt the need to bring our terrible camp fashion sense to school with us and continued doing the headband/bandana thing (I'm not talking the cute headbands that Leighton Meester is constantly wearing on Gossip Girl)
-Texas A&M...anytime I wasn't wearing sweatpants, a t-shirt and my hair in a ponytail, I would get asked by multiple people: "Why are you so dressed up??"

Here are some horrific pictures of me at Pine Cove and at Texas A&M:

Yes, I believe that is a turtleneck that I'm wearing under my t-shirt in the above picture.

So I decided to go on a quest to finally determine my style and be more intentional about what I buy so I don't continue to end up with clothes that stay in my closet WITH TAGS STILL ON for another 10 years. Yes, I still have clothes in my closet after about 12 different moves, from 10 years ago. It's disgusting. One of the worst was my pair of purple corduroy pants from Abercrombie that I kept telling myself I might one day wear with my also unworn granola-ish chunky brown leather clogs. Yeah. I'm serious though. I really did tell myself that for 10 years. There is something wrong with me!!

Here are almost exact replicas of said outfit that was never worn:



And from now, I renounce my old fashion ways! After quizzing several trusted people on what they think my true style is and what looks best on me, I have finally come to my conclusion.

My true, authentic, ME style is not only what I like best but also what I feel most confident wearing...so that I'm wearing it and not the other way around.

My signature style =
-Anything pink
-Anything feminine and girly
-Lots of dresses and skirts
-Anything dramatic and over the top
-Sometimes preppy, sometimes trendy, sometimes classic
-Very Charlotte, sometimes Samantha (hardly ever, if ever Carrie...I'll never be among the first to adopt a trend, that is for sure)
-Limited jean-wearing
-NO graphic tees (sorry, I just hate them and cannot do it, but they probably look cute on you!)
-No neutrals and probably no J. Crew
-Lots of make-up...but in a good way
-Big, Texas-style curled and teased hair (very blonde and long, possibly with clip-in extensions)

So please, if you can help it....if we get together to go out for lunch or something, and I'm wearing a semi-casual "day" dress with flats (or even heels) and some nice or trendy jewelry and my hair done up like I'm about to participate in a beauty pageant, please please please don't ask "Why are you so dressed up?". I will forever thank you because, to be honest, I think there's nothing wrong with looking nice and getting dressed up for no real reason (though I personally do think lunch with a friend is a great reason), and I'm sick of having to answer that question. If I don't wear jeans, I consistently get asked that awful question, but the answer is "I'm just not really a jeans girl, sorry....this is what I'm comfortable and confident wearing and I don't need to explain myself, thank you very much".

And I realize the main reason I get asked the "Why are you so dressed up?" question is because whoever is asking the question is the one who feels insecure because they are wearing jeans and a graphic tee, but don't try to make me feel insecure by asking that question in order to make me feel like I'm too dressed up. Just let us each just be who we are. By the way, I'm not really speaking to anyone in particular here...it's just a general rant about all people because it's something I face every day - at work, at home, at church, etc. :) Yes, I know I go to church at The Village and it's a sin to get dressed up for church....well, I'm a sinner anyway, so I plan to continue dressing up for church as much as I would if I still went to Prestonwood.

Even when I was a little girl, dresses were always my 1st choice:



These guidelines will hopefully help me avoid some of this in the future:

You cannot really tell in this picture, but I am wearing black suede chaps with lots of fringe over some soffee a.k.a. "cheer" shorts. The reason I know this is because I did this all the time. And yes, that is my horse, Chief in my backyard in Emerald Forest. My sweet Dad used to let me have him spend the night in our backyard because I loved it so much!!


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I am color coordinating my soccer ball and pigtail hairbands (socks too if you could see the whole picture: left foot - pink, right foot - black) so they match the team colors...which is pretty much the main reason why I never ended up playing sports.

I actually like this girly outfit and big bow and cute snaggle teeth even though I'm sure this is a fashion faux pas in most people's book


Way too old to be wearing a jumper like this in the 4th grade!

And I plan to carry this better style sense throughout my entire life from now on...when it comes to decorating as well. I've been very haphazard about it....transitional, old world, contemporary, french countryside, traditional...well, no more.

Regardless of my decorating style, here's what I want my home to be:
-Clean and neat
-Orderly and uncluttered
-Peaceful
-Live-able
-Personal
-Welcoming
-Inviting
-Warm
-Elegant but casual
-Tranquil
-Bright
-Timeless

Before I buy things, I'm going to ask myself if it fits into the kind of statement I want my home to make. Essentially, I want it to be a haven for my family where we can live and be authentic while also being a place that is hospitable and inviting for friends and family. First and foremost, it's got to be live-able. My dogs have taught me that without a doubt!! Furniture should be used...not worshipped and not something to stress about when it comes to wear and tear...that defeats the purpose.

One of my favorite places that is the essence of what I love for the home is Ballard Designs! It's sort of a more girly, feminine version of Pottery Barn. Though I definitely like brighter colors than what they used in this season's collection.








Just to be clear:
I'm not dogging you if you are granola or otherwise "fashion-challenged"!! I just want to make that clear. If you are granola (or trendy or preppy, etc.)...just own it, work it...be authentic and be YOU!! I'm all about keeping it real and that's the true meaning behind this post! And I do still like to wear sweatpants, a t-shirt and my hair in a ponytail from time to time as well!