{middle-age}

Middle age is happening.  And let me go on ahead and add here that it is a stage that's quite outspoken in personality rolling up on your scene.  I just referred to my chest as smooshed raisin expired milk receptacles this morning to a friend.  Am I proud?No.Am I spot on?  You bet.

This idea of being middle.  Not of  bounce-on-back youthedness and yet not wickedly overflowing with wisdom and old school clairvoyance.  It's happening.

Hairs are being plucked at an alarming every-other-day rate.  Huge prickly ones are holding some kinda holy roller revival on my chin. The acne of my teens has decided to claim this revival as some kinda homecoming.  And there ain't a homemade banana pudding or chicken casserole in sight lest I eat it and retain 100 pounds a good 7 pounds of fluid.

I am almost at the halfway mark of 2014's female's life expectancy. Smack dabbin' at this moment, that might as well be me. And the thing of it is, I still feel like a little girl.  Not so much in how I act {SHUSH. You know who you are.}, but in the way I think about life and things.

There are days I wake up and think, "I have kids.  Big ones.  I pay quarterly taxes.  All by myself.  I know how to host parties and I make stuff and sell it." 

Blows.me.away.  Because secretly, I feel like I'm still playing with my Fashion Plates in my back bedroom.  Is there anyone else out there that feels like this?

While we're on this middle-agedness topic, we might as well talk about fashion being it's Thursday and all.  In a word: RUFFLES. I still wear them.  And want to any chance I can get.  I completely understand that there are no trunk shows and home parties for ruffled everyday boutique clothing for 40 year olds. Promise, I get it.

But I just wanna do it anyway. So I do.  And wear leg warmers.  Together?  Sure, why not. Perhaps these accessories will take away from Curly & Moe who keep setting up fire & brimstone camp on my face.

That's the thing about the middle.  You can do whatever you want to when it comes to fashion. Why?  Because you don't care.  Long gone are your twenties of, "Oheeemmmgeee, if I don't have Kate Middlteon riding boots in antique whiskey leather I am going to duhhyyye."

Psssh. You don't care what's cool.  You just know you a little more all while dealing with raging fits of complete unwarranted anger so nicely followed up with pick your choice:

  1. Bursts of sweat quite possibly enough to heat a small town.
  2. Deep swells of crying all caused by the fact that you can't get the toothpaste top on the tube correctly.

Middle is a swell place to be, y'all.  It's handy in that it gives you every opportunity to be you. Kinda like the middle school years only with a lot less time to spread locker gossip and flirt with boys.

Outfit Details:

  • floral blouse:  Goodwill $1.00  Also worn at The Busy Mom's place here.
  • striped navy pants:  Goodwill $4.99 Worn here with a little Johnny Cash rendition.  My homegirl, Sarah Jane, nabbed them for me.
  • ruffled cardigan:  Marshall's clearance $4.99
  • star brooch:  My Mom's.
  • boots:  Ross {Clark brand} $14.99
  • necklaces:  Goodwill and the jeweled clasp one was my great grandmother's.

Total Outfit Investment:  $25.97

So have you been keeping up with how many outfits I now have logged to further support my love for the leg warmer? Never underestimate the power of warm shins, people.  #shinshow. Check it out.

To read more Cheap Thrills Thursday posts, visit here.

Oh & hey.  I can send these 3 printables to you as a gift for subscribing to my blog.  Print these bad boys out on card stock and consider your Valentine's cards complete.  Or, these would like nice hung in a family frame wall grouping for a little extra festive.  Thanks for reading!