Coffee and a Conversation
As Told Over Brunch is a home for intelligent discourse from the twenty-something perspective - so the stuff you gossip about over mimosas on Sunday morning or over takeout on your friend's couch when happy hour ends too early. We love chatting about our lives, whether it be the relationships we’re building (or destroying), lessons we've learned at work, struggles at school, growing pains we've felt, or even the food we’re talking over.
When I told people I was getting my closet professionally organized, people’s reactions can be largely grouped into:
….Do you really need that?
…I’ll come so I can tell you what clothes you need to get rid of
….Is she hiring??
For the past year, conversations about shopping have normally gone like this:
Person 1: “Wow, I love those shoes/pants/shirt/scarf, where did you get them/it?”
Person 2: “At Target/Loft/H&M/adorable boutique! You guys will have to go check it out!”
Person 1: “Forsure!”
Me: “Oh, I’m actually fasting from shopping so maybe next year!”
Read MoreI won $100 at work, but they couldn't hand me cash for tax purposes, so I got a $50 gift card to H&M and a $50 to Target. That way, I would force myself into buying clothes, but I could also be practical at Target. I legitimately laid in bed one day on the Target website and brainstormed what I'd like to buy. I decided on tampons, a hamper and mouthwash. Let's just breeze over the fact that it took me hours of thinking to decide on those three items and move on to an even bigger problem.
I had $50 to H&M. That gift card was almost guaranteed to spend itself. Until it didn't. I picked out a bright pink top (trying to expand my colors in my wardrobe), a flowy summer top (it was on sale for $2) and a blue sweater that sat like a tent on my body but had tigers on it (because it had tigers on it, duh). It cost me $25 total.
Read MoreAs the roommates and I went for a brisk walk last night, we took in what would be the final walk of the summer. And while typically I'd feel upset about the end of summer, this year, I can't but only be a little sad to see the summer sun set. Because autumn is officially here. A time for jeans, plaid (is plaid still a thing, I hope so because I love it), boots, sweaters, scarves and hats. Well, not so much hats because I'm not a hat person, but I like the idea of being able to wear a hat.
I have a special place in my heart for New England falls, but last year's Richmond fall was equally wonderful. And with the plethora of fall-themed activities I have in mind, this autumn will be sure to top it all. Pumpkin flavored everything, carving pumpkins, picking pumpkins, taking pictures next to pumpkins, and thinking about pumpkins only comes second to apple picking, cider drinking and perfect fall weather walks. And changing leaves. And falling leaves. And the scent of fall. There's really nothing better.
Plus, the perfect fall weather means that you don't have to worry about your toes looking good all the time, a headband is an easy way to make your hair look presentable, and if you gain a few extra pounds, who cares? No one is seeing you in a bathing suit anymore.
So if none of that made any sense, I get it. I'm so excited for fall that it's almost impossible to prioritize which reasons are most important.
I hope you all share in my enthusiasm, dive your feet into your boots and enjoy the perfect temperate weather.
During my lunch break today, I went over to Party City to get a flapper costume. There were two different options, which was ideal, as my roommate needed one too, so I bought both of them. One was red and marked "one size fits all" and the other was black and marked "large." I neglected the gym to run them home to show my roommate before she headed out for work. We decided that we would each try them on and then pick whichever seemed to fit each person more appropriately. Since she is working, I was the guinea pig for trying them on. I put on the black "large" one first. It fit really well and was long enough that I didn't feel like a total slut. Then I put the red one on.
Let me take a pause here to elaborate on my body type. Full disclosure:
I'm not a stick, nor would I even say I'm skinny, but I wouldn't say I'm fat either. Yeah, you can tell I eat candy on the reg and, as I already admitted in this post, I am pretty good at making excuses to not go to the gym. But I am by no means a beluga whale.
Now back to the dress. Me and my still-carrying-some-baby-fat-at-22 body got pretty excited to try on the red dress after the general success of the black one. I throw it over my head, and notice it's getting stuck a bit more. I pull it all the way on, and have the pleasure of getting to tug at it to make it sit right. It's shorter and tighter than the same dress in black labeled "large."
Well, shit. How good does that make me feel that a dress proclaiming that it fits ALL is nice and snug on me? On one hand, I'm like "whatevs I guess that costume company is just like Abercrombie and are assholes that exclude fat people," but then on the other hand I'm like, "I'm not actually fat, so why are they marketing this as fitting everyone, when clearly it's not going to?" And then if I had a third hand (so I guess maybe my foot), I'm like, "well, maybe I could hit the gym a bit more, and maybe I do need to lose a bit of chub."
While I try not to let weight-issues bother me, I did used to be a baby meatball and have always had body conscious issues. Little reminders like this always sort of suck. While I'm going to still wear the dress, and going to rock the shit out of it, there'll always be a bit of extra smug snugness there to remind me that everyone apparently is skinnier than me.
A few weeks ago, someone was talking about using StumbleUpon, and I was like, "OMG that's not even a thing anymore!" Seriously, hadn't been on that website in years, and I have long since thought it gave way to Buzzfeed, Reddit, and Mashable. So naturally, I dug out my old password and got back into stumbling just to see if it still enthralled me like it used it. I can't possibly conceive wasting the amount of time I used to on the site, but it was still fun and entertaining. This one article from it stuck with me above all the rest, "45 Life Lessons, written by a 90 year old."
I can't say I take advice very well. People tell me things and I consider it, and then do whatever I feel like anyways. However, I love reading advice and seeing if any of it matches up with things I already think about or were planning on doing. So, when I stumbled upon the article with 45 pieces of advice, it seems natural to ignore 44 of them and listen to one:
This is my favorite piece of advice from the list because sometimes I imagine being old and getting away with everything. No one gets mad when old people say mean things because they grew up in a different time or they don't know what that means in this day and age. Old people can wear whatever they want and NO ONE SAYS SHIT TO THEM. I'd love to be old, except for all the health issues and the whole being closer to death thing.
So any advice that tells me that you can embody the old person eccentricities without being old, I'm all in. Out of all the advice from that list, I probably picked the worst one to follow. Here's how I applied it in real life:
No one would suggest this as a work outfit, except that old lady that said I am allowed to be eccentric. And you know what I have to say?
No one else likes this outfit. There's glitter, sheer, boots, yellow, Ray Bans, a cardigan. Total confusion, but you know what? There's no point in waiting until you're old to be who you are.
So lately a topic of conversation has been my style, which is hilarious to me because I have no style. I wear what is closest to me, what is clean, or what seems fitting for the occasion. It has caught me totally off guard that people actually think there is something visually appealing about whatever finds its way onto my body. Here is my best way of explaining what my attire consists of:
Taking the first two bullets, it is safe to say that at least half my outfits were not bought by me, and many were never intended for me. Then I think any "summer" outfit can be made into colder season outfits by throwing a cardigan over it.
I hate taking the time to match things, so sometimes I'll wear a thick sweater from the 70's with boots that look like I could be a biker. When over half your attire comes from external sources, it's really difficult to assemble outfits that actually go coherently, ESPECIALLY with the fact that my sister is a stylish preppy dresser and I pick out clothes based off of how on sale it is.
Lately, I have also been buying black clothes. It didn't start intentionally, but I bought a few pairs of colored pants, so I bought some black tops to go with them. Then it turned into me just buying black clothes because it's easier to match things with black. I got a bit of shit about it lately, but hey, it worked for Johnny Cash, so why can't I do it?
Anyways, I'm sure if you've made it this far, you're wondering where this post is going. So here it is:
While I consider my outfits sort of compromises of the least objectionable collection of items, people think it makes me look versatile, professional yet personable, and a modern representation of a working woman. So, even if you think you look crazed some days, someone is going to look at you and think you've got a bit of swagger.