Sunday, January 13, 2013

A phoenix rises

This blog has been dead for two years. The two years where I let life pull me in primarily one direction and one direction only. Parenting. I haven't really been knitting, but that's mostly because I grew slightly weary of dropping $50 on beautiful yarn, following a pattern, and then not getting the size adjustments right so that the damn thing looked wretched on my awkwardly shaped body. So I took a break and just haven't really picked it back up. That's okay. I have other things.

One year ago, I pulled my son out of school to homeschool him. So that's pretty much been my entire life for the last year. I kept my own self on a backburner to focus on him, and while that filled me with purpose, it has diminished my creative, artistic side to the point where I started ignoring the screaming for creation simply because there was no energy to be spent on it. I will not talk about any of that here. There's another place for all of that. This space is mine. Where I will let that other side of me shine a little brighter. Where I can play.

One huge thing that I have done for myself for the last couple of months is return to writing. I am about halfway through with a rough first draft of a memoir of my year in the Army. I'm using actual diary entries and letters that I had written to my mom, and it's been quite a journey going back there. It was a very difficult time for me, both physically and emotionally, and dredging it up has been painful at times, but I have wanted to put this out there into the world for 15 years, and now I'm finally doing it. I have no idea if anything will ever come of it, if it will get published or sit on my shelf and collect dust, but getting it all down has been incredibly rewarding. If nothing else, I will have something I can read when I'm 80 and have begun forgetting what my youth was like.

I set one primary New Year's resolution for myself, and so far, I am doing quite well. I love dressing up and going out, but I haven't done much of that for a really long time. I let being tired and overwhelmed keep my ass on a couch. I may be 35, but I still have many years left to enjoy myself. Until I actually hear the words, "This music is too loud," come out of my mouth, I will still drag my old ass to rock concerts and dance like a jackass. And until my flesh is tissue paper, I will still get tattooed.

Now, on to fashion. I have always loved clothes. My style has evolved a lot over the years, and I never fully immerse myself into one particular style because my face and body aren't exactly suited to the trends. I tried the emo/goth look in my twenties, and when we moved to the suburbs I think I was shocked into a more mainstream/homemaker look which I didn't dig. It made me feel dowdy and invisible. The fun thing about that was that people seemed a bit surprised when I pushed up a sleeve and showed off my tattoos. My latest obsession is with the rockabilly style. I've always been a little bit rockabilly, and I grew up on the music of Elvis, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash. I have always rocked red lipstick when I felt like it, and I live in cardigans. I bought this adorable polka dot dress for my brother in law's wedding, and it finally dawned on me that I was, indeed, a rockabilly gal.

So, in combining my two new resolutions to be leave my house more and look fabulous doing it, I present to you a shiny new ensemble.

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This is what I wore to this rad bar called Cigars and Stripes with two of my best gallie pallies, Kate and Jane. We plopped our beautiful selves down at the bar and rocked out to two local bands, The Bomb Sawyers and The Demerits. Jane and I realized we needed to start our own band, so just as soon as she learns to play the drums, we’re in business.

Look at these badass chicks being badass

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I’ve been experimenting more with makeup as well and am psychotically in love with the flicked cat-eye eyeliner. I love that I look like a rocker housewife in this and totally comfortable. Who says you gotta wear sweatpants to be comfy? On a side note, a bandana totally hides a shitty hair day.

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There will be more fun and fashion and artsy fartsy posts to come. Stay tuned!

2 comments:

Em said...

I would love to read your book.. and I love your fashion sense.

Anonymous said...

Now ,this is fun! I love the new look!This is my Beautiful Daughter:)