What Should I Wear . . . to a Small Town Theater Production?

If you are going to Theater in the big city, look elsewhere. But if you are attending a high school theater production in a small town, I'm your woman. Last night after work I coerced my boys into attending Darlington School's musical. No, they aren't Darlington students but I figured it would be a quality production.Their dad recently took them to a real Broadway production of Wicked in Birmingham, so I knew this wouldn't compete with that. I just thought it would be something different on a Friday night.  My parents met us there with plans to get coffee and dessert afterwards for a fun family outing. 

The twins wore their Alabama hoodies and jeans (which in small town GA is appropiate theater attire for teenage boys). I wore my red print dress, black cardigan, wide black belt and black boots with grey tights. 

Hmph! Apparently my boys aren't Gershwin fans. More drama went on in the parking lot than on stage with my boys exclaiming, "My ears, my ears!" Let me say quickly that nothing was wrong with the Darlington kids; my kids just have very high expectations! So we left my parents behind to watch the 2nd act without us and went to Starbucks.

I blame the Cedartown Community Theater which really are top notch, believe it or not. Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised to see Elizabeth Arencibia and some of the Lundy kids on Broadway some day. I don't know much about theater but I know what I like. I'm blown away whenever we go to their productions. Well, you can't blame a mom for trying. More attempts at culture will come later.

Me and Mater

I've been thinking that the farm would make the ultimate photo backdrop. This is where my hubby and friends run a paintball field on his grandparents' old farm.  His uncle has the odd habit of leaving vehicles wherever they stop running, so randomly scattered throughout the property there are tractors, boats, school buses just for starters. Once when I was helping him mark the field boundaries for a game, we stumbled upon a '55 Chevy truck buried in the underbrush, but that's another story.

 

"Tow Mater" looked like a friendly prop for a departure from my usual backdrops. My nephew is crazy about Cars. Would he be mystified and creeped out or thrilled by a real life Mater? We'll have to see.

Grey sweater vest, thrifted
Maroon cardigan, Cato
Dark Wash Jeans
and my trusty sneakers

Shoe Shots

As a result of the recent foot rebellion, I broke down and went shoe shopping even in the thick of Christmas shopping season. Ow, now my wallet hurts. We're having to keep it simple for Christmas this year but my workout shoes are, oh about 2 years old. They are running shoes but I don't run in them due to the arthritis. My feet would really kill me then! But I do walk, hike and play a mean game of Dance Central in them. Really, I should be shot for not totally pampering my difficult feet more often, but since I wear fit flops and Merrill sandals all summer and Merrill clogs in winter, the athletic shoes don't get worn out very fast. I decided I needed some dress shoes that don't kill my feet so I can look stylish without pain. Here they are!

I'm so excited about how comfy these are that the shoes got their own photo shoot. Yes, sad I know. They are brown Un Bridle from Un structured by Clarks. The athletic shoes I bought are New Balance Country Walker in brown. I didn't post a picture because they are just brown walking shoes. I love them partly because they fade into the background I'm hoping they won't be as noticeable as white sneakers on bad foot days.

Oh, and there was an outfit that went with the shoes. As an afterthought, here it is.  

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

I said for December I would experiment with unusual color combinations. So here goes. I decided to try my red sweater vest over a brown/black plaid shirt. I know it doesn't sound like much but it's a big stretch for me to put something together that isn't an obvious match. Who knew picking out clothing combos could be fun? Over the last several months I've suddenly taken to grabbing things out of my closet and sticking them together just to see what happens.

Thanks to my recent foot rebellion, the Merrill clogs are my footwear of choice for a while. Hubby and I have a running joke about how sexy they are. And the nutcracker? Why am I holding a nutcracker? Well, as much as I collect anything, I guess I sort of collect them. Also, I believe it's a law that once you've taken ballet, you HAVE to love the Nutcracker. So, there you go. 

What Should I wear to . . . a Meeting?

First you need to know that public speaking terrifies me, and then you  need to know that my job absolutely requires it.  Part of feeling confident is wearing something I feel professional and attractive in. This is maybe not the perfect outfit, but I'd give it about a 7 or 8 out of ten now that I'm second guessing myself after the fact. It's what I wore the other day while presenting to a group, so it's what I'm going with. Ideally I'd like a perfect 10 especially if I'm presenting, but somehow it just wasn't happening that day. I've been playing with fun color coordinations, but I was afraid to stray far from the ordinary and conventional. Maybe that's why I find it sort of, blah. And I had my black Merrill Clogs on in the picture because I wore them for the drive home. For the meeting I actually had some cute taupe flats that helped the outfit a lot.

 I also found it amusing that when I begged my son to take my photo these are the pictures he took below. It took a lot of convincing to get him to photograph dear old Mom and not his cat. After all, Whiskas is always styling no matter what.