Monday Musings – Shoe Proportion and Bad Decisions

I wore this oversized, long, fairly shapeless Artist Smock out to dinner on Friday night. I LOVE this shirt, but it’s not easy to style in a flattering way. As I was getting dressed, I realized I didn’t have the right footwear. We’ve talked about shoes a lot over the last few weeks, so why stop now?

This outfit needed a visually heavier shoe to balance the shirt, and I wanted it to be a casual sneaker. My lifestyle is so relaxed now that sneakers are acceptable everywhere. I’ve taken to looking at women’s feet wherever I am to check out what they’re wearing. More times than not, it’s some sort of athletic shoe. In hindsight, I could have worn my retro sneakers, but they got moved while reorganizing my closet, and since I didn’t see the box, I forgot I had them.

Dazzle Dry

I decided it might be a good idea to try a salon gel manicure right before the holidays. Regular nail polish chips in 1-2 days, so I thought a professional option might be a time saver. It was a very bad decision. Most people get 2-3 weeks from their gel manicures. I only got eight days before it started chipping and looking tacky. I had it redone three times, 10 days apart, and each time they used the sanding drill to “smooth” my nails which totally destroyed them.

Then I read about Dazzle Dry, which is totally non-toxic, requires no light for curing, and comes off with regular polish remover. A local salon offered a Dazzle Dry manicure, but they wanted $60 for it. This isn’t my first goat rodeo, so I knew it would never be worth that price on my nails. Then I spotted this mini kit on Amazon and decided I could risk that amount to try and do it myself at home. I watched their “how to” video here, which looked fairly simple.

There are several steps, but they dry very quickly, so the entire process is fast…much quicker than driving to a salon, and it feels more sanitary too. My first week, the polish lasted four days which is a record! The second go-around lasted 8 days which is huge for me! I’ve been so happy with these results I decided to spring for the full-sized options for each one. They offer tons of colors and lots of “mini flights,” which are a great way to experiment with colors. I packed the mini kit to bring to Miami because it’s so tiny and portable.

JUST A FEW OF THE MINI FLIGHTS YOU CAN TRY

Food

A reader once commented they were grateful I didn’t write about my grandson or food because they only read my blog for fashion. That’s lovely for her, but I’m beginning to feel this blog is getting a bit one-dimensional. At the risk of alienating that reader, I may begin sharing a few favorite recipes going forward. Part of a life well lived and healthy aging includes food choices, exercise, mindful practices, travel, and what we wear.

After having the Brussels Sprouts at Dr. Andrew Weil’s restaurant, I ordered his cookbook which looks amazing. It has so many great recipes that we’re excited to try. The problem is, the above recipe isn’t included. I did find a recipe that sounds just like what we ate, here. They were amazingly good. I never knew the best brussels sprouts were the small ones…did you? Proof positive that this will never become a food blog 🤣.

What else would you like me to cover here?

Thanks for reading; being the best part of this community, and remember to wear what makes you feel confident.