Is the Summer of 2010 Really Over?

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Judi

The leaves are falling. The squirrels are climbing all over my trees and eating the acorns and the leaves are falling all over my lawn.

Is the Summer of 2010 really over?

They say that the older you get, the faster the days and years go by. I guess what they say is quickly becoming true.

Since it was 92 degrees this past weekend, I was able to sneak in one last bathing suit beach walk. The sand was windswept. It looked just like a painting, like someone had used an Etch-a-Sketch and designed a geometric carpet in the sand. It was so smooth and flat. There were no piles or mounds of sand.

The little sandpipers were back, scurrying along the waters’ edge. I think they like the empty beaches. There were no groups of people to get in their way while they searched for sand crabs. I love to watch the sandpipers.

Is the Summer of 2010 really over?

I don’t want summer to end. I want to ride my boogie board one more time. I only had one chance to ride it this summer. (Actually, I did have more than one chance to ride my boogie board, but I didn’t have the courage to get on it after the first time. I am such a wimp. However, if the summer of 2010 was not over, I would definitely try to use my boogie board again. Yes, I would. And I’m going to take special care to make sure that my boogie board is stored away properly this winter, so I will be ready to boogie next summer.)

Is the Summer of 2010 really over?

I am sad to leave the summer of 2010 behind. Like Anne Morrow Lindbergh says in her book, A Gift From the Sea, “Rollers on the beach, wind in the pines, the slow flapping of herons across sand dunes, drown out the hectic rhythms of city and suburb, time tables and schedules. One falls under their spell, relaxes, stretches out prone. One becomes, in fact, like the element on which one lies, flattened by the sea, bare, open, empty as the beach, erased by today’s tides of all yesterday’s scribblings.”

I so enjoyed relaxing, de-stressing, riding my bicycle, barbecuing, and reading on my back porch at my ‘condo on the corner at the shore.’ I still have not finished the book I started at the beginning of the summer. I’ll have to finish it this Fall.

Is the Summer of 2010 really over?

I don’t want summer to be over. I don’t want to pack up my summer clothes and move my winter attire back into my closet. I want to keep my flip-flops on my feet and flip and flop in the sand.

Wait, wait, wait, maybe I do want summer to be over. Maybe just a little bit of me wants summer to be over. Maybe my feet want summer to be over.

Wait, my feet are starting to talk. What are they saying. Hold on. Yes. I hear you dear feet. What is that you say?

Yes, you are right. I do want to wear my new red suede shoes with sling backs.

Yes, that’s correct. I do want to wear my new purple suede flats bedecked with jewels.

Yes, uh, huh. I do want to wear my new brown suede kitten-heeled shoes too.

I guess I have to pack away my summer flip-flops and put my feet back undercover in all my pretty suede shoes.

The summer of my 52nd year is really over. But, I still can row my boat like I did tonight at yoga class. Yes, I can.

I settled into the boat position and held my feet up. I waved my arms from side to side, like my yoga teacher N said to do. Back and forth I went until my boat became weak and wobbly. It started to flip over. The waves of my stomach overturned my boat and down I went sails and all.

It takes a lot of core strength to keep my boat afloat. I have nine more months to practice until I have to get back in the high seas again. Maybe if I keep practicing my yoga boat moves this winter, my middle aged middle will be flat as a pancake and ready to boogie or maybe even get in a bikini by the summer of 2011.

Judi

(Did I say bikini? I must have been dreaming about my Rosemarie Reed striped bikini that I wore when I was 25 years old. I loved that striped bikini. Good thing Rosemarie isn’t around anymore. Right?)

Fashion Fitness For Fall 2010

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Judi

I’m a tad upset that no designers invited me to their Fashion Week fashion shows. I’m a bit peeved that all the fashion publicists resisted sending an invitation to their shows. I’m feeling a little jilted that no one called me last minute to save a prime runway seat for me.

Tom, Diane, Vera, and all the rest, why didn’t you realize that you (or your publicist) left my name off your list? I know you aren’t focused on designing great clothes for baby boomer women like me, but let me tell YOU that WE are the majority not the minority. You should really cater more to baby boomer women.

That’s okay, I can’t think that far ahead anyway. Spring 2011 is not on my fashion calendar right now. Spring 2011 is more than seven months away. It’s time to do some Autumn shopping. And now that I’ve completed my ‘fashion fitness for Fall 2010,’ reading the September issues of Vogue, InStyle, More, and T-New York Times Women’s Fall Fashion magazines, I’m here to give my take on some of the Fall trends.

After lifting and turning more than 2000 pages of style advice these past few weeks. I’m exhausted and I haven’t even done too much Fall shopping yet. (Ooh, I forgot, I did go to Nordstroms’ pre-sale. Does a pre-sale count? Ooh, and I did just go buy five, yes, five pairs of shoes at Lord & Taylor this past weekend. But, they were having a sale and if I bought at least three pairs of shoes I received 30% off each pair. And since it was truly amazing for me to find five pairs of shoes that fit me…I just had to buy all five. I’m soooooo glad that kitten heels and ballerina flats are in style this season. I bought two of the same pairs of shoes in two different colors = four pairs of shoes plus the one pair of brown shoes that I originally needed. Am I becoming a shoe-a-holic??? I never bought this many pairs of shoes when I was in my 20′s, 30′s, or 40′s.)

Enough about shoes. Now for my take on some of the other Fall trends. I can tell you that I don’t have too much positive news to share. I didn’t fall in love with many of the Fall fashions. According to Instyle magazine’s reader poll, the top trends are:

- Painterly prints. (I did like prints on some of the dresses I saw in the mags. But, since I am shrinking, I’ll have to keep my prints to a petite size.)

- Extreme nail art. (Not for me. No crazy colors on my nails. At my age, I need to keep my nails simple.)

- Beehives and back-combing. (I think I’ll keep my short, pixie cut. Wonder if I can put a fake beehive on my head for Halloween?)

- Red and purple lips. (Perhaps I’ll try the red lips. Purple is my favorite color…but, no purple lips for me this Fall. I’d rather have a purple skirt or a purple dress.)

- Minimalism vs. Volume. (I prefer the pared down look for my petite figure. I do like camel colors and I now wear black too, as long as I accent it with one of my preferred colors. However, I think I’ll pass on the volume. I don’t want to go back to the 1950s shaped clothing.)

- Bold, bright hues for makeup. (Bold and bright colors are not flattering with my wrinkles. I need to keep a matte finish on my eyes and face.)

- Thigh, high-heeled boots. (I did look at some of these boots during the shoe sale this past weekend. Nope, not for me. I think some of these boots would hit my waist. I am only 5′-2-1/2″ tall now. I’m shrinking…remember?)

- Military fashion dominates. (Okay, I like olive green. It is one of the colors in my Color Me Beautiful color pallette. (I had my colors done more than 20 years ago and I still carry the pallette with me when I shop. I like the colors and agree with the CMB professional’s recommendations.)

- Gray, rich gem tones, and black-on-black are all trendy colors for Fall. (No gray for me, it’s not in my pallette. Ooh, ooh, I love rich gems, especially purple amethyst crystals. Did I ever tell you that I read that amethyst crystals are said to help a person “overcome anger, hate and fear, heighten emotional strength, boost energy, help insomnia, bring meaningful dreams, enhance creativity, knowledge and wisdom and bring contentment? So glad I bought those purple suede shoes with gems on top – I knew I felt better when I was wearing them last week. Okay, I forgot, these shoes are also new. That’s right – I bought them during the pre-sale. Now I have six pairs of new shoes for Fall. I am a shoe-a-holic!!!)

Now that I have all these shoes, I’ll definitely need to go shopping for more clothes to go with them. According to Vogue, some of the other Fall trends include: tweeds & plaid, rocker girl styles with lots of leopard prints, country weekend sweaters and mitts, and twenties attire. Twenties attire was my favorite – I so want the Dagmar pink velvet dress with the gems on it.

Finally, I was so glad to read the T feature about “New York’s most exotic fashion creatures” – Suzanne Golden, Patricia Fox, Lynn Yaeger, Iris Apfel, and Tziporah Salamon – most of whom are boomer women with incredible style. Each is unique in her own way, especially Iris Apfel, the elder state woman of the bunch. Iris is 88 years old and quite a fashionista. I don’t know Iris, but I hope I’m as fashion conscious as she is when I’m in my 80′s. As she says in an article from The Observer:

“You learn as you grow up, if you’re intelligent – or even three-quarter witted – that there’s no free lunch. You pay for things in various ways. Living, loving, everything else is a matter of the same principles: you learn to work with what you have. And there’s nobody today who can’t do something to help herself.”

Iris, you’re absolutely right. I can help myself.

Autumn begins this Thursday. Is my closet ready for Fall? Ooh, I better go get last season’s clothes out of summer storage and see what fits. I think it may be time for a shopping trip. It’s all part of my “fashion fitness” and trying on clothes makes a great exercise routine.

Judi

P.S. – I’ve decided to donate money to my local Food Bank every time I go clothes shopping. This way, I will not only look good, but I will also help feed the hungry. And I’m going to donate my old clothes to GoodWill, so those less fortunate can look good too.

Finding My Authentic Self

Posted on September 11, 2010 by Judi

I’m back to blogging. It was nice having a two week break. I did read all 1500+ pages of all my fall fashion magazines (didn’t see too many trends suitable for my age group…will catch up on those details in another post). I missed you all and I hope you missed me too. I’m back and I’m setting my new rhythm for fall.

I find that the fall season is always a time for reflection. It must be the Jewish New Year that makes me reflect. I usually reflect on the rabbi’s sermon during the holiday services. The rabbi’s words of wisdom somehow seem to touch me in a certain way that moves my spirit. His talk this year was about “becoming your authentic self.”

Rather than answering the age-old question of “what do you want to be when you grow up, you should ask yourself who do you want to be?” said the rabbi.

“When you strip away your career, who are you?” said the rabbi.

I felt as though the rabbi was directing his sermon to me, like he was having a conversation with me.

Have I not been working on this for the past three years, since my husband passed away and I became a widow?

Have I not been working on this for the past three years, since my children went off to work and college respectively?

Have I not been working on this for the past three years, since I entered therapy?

As I focus on my life at this moment, this very moment, I am finally starting to accept the little and big mind and body imperfections that come with age.

As I step back and look at my career, I am finally accepting that I am a talented corporate executive and have been for the past 25+ years. And I am working on answering the question that my therapist asked me a few weeks ago about ”What motivates me to work so hard and what success means to me at this point in my life?.”

As I settle into my third year of finding my ‘authentic self,’ of being who I am and not who someone else wants me to be, I realize that finding my ‘authentic self’ is a journey.

Yes, finding my ‘authentic self’ is like a painting that is never finished. My true self is a work in progress.

I have come a long, long way since 2007 when I started counting down to my 50th birthday. I have come a long, long way since 2007 when I became a widow.

“Who am I?”

I am a caring, sensitive, truthful, person. I am a great mom, sincere friend, loyal and loving mate (was to my late spouse M and am now to my boyfriend L).

Oh, yes, I am a fashionista. Perhaps I am a frugal fashionista. (“How is your foot doing?” asked a colleague the other day as she glanced at my foot which no longer carried a black boot. “My tendon is better,” I replied, “but I am wearing flats.” “Those must be Fendi flats,” said my colleague. “No Fendi flats,” I replied, “They are Tahari.” Does she think I wear Fendi? Me wear Fendi? I was so flattered to think I am such a fashionista. I guess I should not be surprised. My name does end in an ‘i’ and so does Fendi.)

Oh, yes, I am a fashionista. It felt so good to step out into the crisp fall-like air and feel the cool breeze last night. It felt especially good to carry my new plum leather satchel and wear my purple suede flats bedecked with jewels. I felt like Cinderella who had found her perfect shoes (with her perfect mate). While the heavy satchel (which I adore) weighed me down, the purple suede flats with their rubber soles made me feel light and bouncy.

I felt ready to jump up and down and scream:

I’M A WORK IN PROGRESS. I’M READY FOR WHATEVER CHANGES LIFE THROWS IN FRONT OF ME OR ABOVE ME OR BELOW ME OR TO THE LEFT OR TO THE RIGHT.

But, please life, don’t let it rain. I don’t want my purple suede shoes to get wet right now.

Judi