Faking it on the playground catwalk!
I have gotten a few comments lately from some of the mamas at the kids school that I always look so put together in the mornings. First off, I'd like to point out that most of these lovely ladies probably haven't had their first coffee yet and therefore they may be slightly groggy and not seeing things straight. And second.... HA! I've fooled them all. Now, I am not a fashion/style blogger by any stretch of the imagination, but man I do love all those pretty, pretty websites. One look at A Beautiful Mess or Adventures in Fashion and I am lost in post after post after post of beautiful photography and happy pictures and gorgeous outfits and I end up pinning and bookmarking for hours!
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Oh HI... SEE! I was a total goner for a bit there.
What was I saying again? Oh yeah...
If there is anything I have learned in all my years dressing myself (remember, I am really OLD), from the ladies of the style blogs and originally from my grandmother, is that one's style does not have to be complicated. And as most of us are moms and busy parents getting our little ones dressed and out the door in the mornings too, I thought I would share a few of my own simple style tips and share my "oh-so-put-together-look" secr.... hahahaha!! Oh, man, I can't even say it without laughing!
But if you really want to know, here's how I do it....
1. One word. Accessorize! I have always been an accessory gal and I have embraced my jewelry drawer (yes, I have a FULL drawer) once again with a zest that makes my husband VERY nervous whenever a new Stella & Dot catalogue comes out! Earrings, necklaces, bracelets, it's all coming out these days! Don't be afraid to jazz up the jeans and t-shirt practical mom uniform with a big chunky necklace or a long chain with charms or a funky cuff bracelet. And EARRINGS! I am obsessed with big dangly earrings (I highly suggest you check out the selection in the above S&D link).
And baby mamas, you are no longer being left out of the jewelry game for fear that your little one with wreck everything. Companies like Chewbeads, MommyNecklaces and KangarooCare on Etsy are providing moms with very fashionable and functional pieces to complement everyone's wardrobe and style!
2. Do not be afraid of colour! It's easy to get into a black/grey/neutral rut with your clothes. Yes, yes, I know, black is slimming and I am not saying get rid of all your black leggings (Ooooh! Remind me to tell you about THE BEST LEGGINGS EVER a bit later!!), but try to avoid the full head to toe black ninja look. Throw on a cardigan in a great colour or a bold scarf to break up the monochrome! Colour is your friend mamas. Trust me!
Even on a cold rainy day at a music festival!
3. Diaper bags have ruined me forever. I can't function without a big purse anymore. Even though I am no longer carrying an extra change of clothes for everyone, wipes, diapers, snacks, crayons, various lego pieces and something unrecognizably sticky at the bottom of it, I still need to have a big bag. And a nice big purse is a FABULOUS accessory! Again, try something in a different colour and move away from the practical black and browns that "go with everything". RED goes with everything. As does yellow, a great turquoise and a funky leopard print too! I am a sucker for the purse aisle at Winners and I do so love the stores that colour code all the bags too.
This is my current carry-all.
4. Make-up. I have a couple of must-put-on products in my make-up drawer and I seriously can't leave the house without them. One is my BB cream. I am currently using this one and it really is a little bit of magic in a tube. Then I add my bronzer and my favourite mascara and I am good to go. This simple routine takes me under 5 minutes to do. A little lip gloss in the car and then I am super fancy!
There you have it. My tips for looking like you're "all put together" on the playground. No one needs to know that you probably haven't had a shower yet or that under that scarf is a jam stain from a little person's sticky breakfast fingers. And here is another little tip from me to you.
Putting on those fancy earrings or that great necklace not only gives your look a boost, it gives you one too. It's something you are doing just for you. So YES, go get those earrings that you think are only for special occasions and wear them today and ROCK that playground!
“I admit it's tempting to wish for the perfect boss, the perfect parent, or the perfect outfit. But maybe the best any of us can do is not quit, play the hand we've been dealt, and accessorize what we've got."
~ Carrie {Sex & the City}
natasha~
P.S. I am smiling in this photo, but not 5 minutes later I was swearing a blue streak because I was 2 minutes late for my parking meter and got a martha-fockerring ticket!
But HOT DAMN, I look good in those earrings!!
P.P.S. Here are the leggings I was talking about! I bought a pair of the 3/4 length ones at Wilde & Sparrow (my favourite store in Parksville) when we were on holidays this summer and have just ordered another high-waist full length pair too!
P.P.S. DISCLAIMER: Not one of the products or stores mentioned in this post has compensated me for mentioning them. When I love something, I love it and I like to share with those who might love it too!
For your viewing pleasure...
Here's the deal. I had this really deep, insightful post that I was working on earlier today... and then something shiny must have grabbed my attention, because I totally lost my train of thought and couldn't get it back on track to save my life or the post, which is now sitting in my ever growing draft folder. BUT...
I really, really wanted to publish something today and I have been watching videos on Youtube for the last 40 minutes. So now you get a list of what makes me cry, laugh, laugh some more and then drool. I won't blame you if you never want to come back again... but I do hope you will. Please tell me some of you 'get me'.
1. This one might make you cry. I did.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/TUM4Mb9rUTU[/youtube]
2. I know you've probably all seen "The Fox" video from Ylvis, but this one is my new fave!!
[youtube]http://youtu.be/PaEnaoydUUo[/youtube]
3. Best poop commercial EVER! Also, B tells me that they have some of this at his office and it totally works!
[youtube]http://youtu.be/ZKLnhuzh9uY#aid=P-6YCzt26Ik[/youtube]
4. Miley Cyrus released her new video last week and then this happened! I can't stop laughing!
[youtube]http://youtu.be/2XQGcMrq4bQ[/youtube]
5. Not a video, but you have to check out these shots of my TV boyfriend, Kit Harington. Makes me wish Winter would just get here already (sadly it won't until Spring 2014)!! Mama needs some SNOW!
Good night all!
natasha~
Feminist Fare Fridays: Edition #5
This week kind of kicked my butt. I fell completely off the Summer Blog Challenge wagon and managed to only publish a couple of picture posts of my kids being super adorable. And yes, this post is now 2 days late, something I vowed not to do. {le grand sigh} Oh well. My husband keeps telling me I need to be more liquid and just to go with the flow (also, he may have been watching a bit of You, Me and Dupree earlier this week.). So while I may not have been writing a whole lot this week, I was still reading and here are my thoughts on a few compelling posts I found this week!
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1. A few weeks ago we were downtown enjoying our wonderful City Centre farmer's market. We had just picked up some watermelon iced tea (yes, it was as good as it sounds) and the kids and I were sitting on a bench enjoying our treat and taking in the sights and sounds of the market. A man in his late twenties walked up to us, went up to my 6 year old son and motioned for a fist bump (which C kind of shrugged off) and then pointed to my 4 year old daughter and said in a booming voice, "YOU, little girl are GORGEOUS!" and then he walked off. The kids both looked at me wondering how to react to this and I was a little taken aback at that moment and just shrugged it off too. But maybe I shouldn't have. Had I read this post about street harassment by Soraya Chemaly earlier I may have even used it as a teachable moment for my kids. A moment to teach them about respect for others and about respect for themselves. Because all too often I have been subjected to various forms of street harassment and...
2. And GOOD NEWS everyone!! In case you haven't heard.... the Patriarchy is dead!!!
No really, according to writer and "The End of Men" author Hanna Rosin, we killed it. For reals!
And if you can't read my dripping sarcasm in the above lines, then you are on the wrong page of the internet. I still am wrapping my head around Ms. Rosin's essay (an updated epilogue to her book) and in doing so I have come across some great commentary about her {ahem} take on our current feminist world. One very compelling post is from Nora Caplan-Bricker at The New Republic;
3. Speaking of people telling other people how to do things and trying to LEGISLATE their tyranny too...
The Parti Quebecois and its leader, Premier Pauline Marois, have devised a plan called the "Charter of Values" that calls to secularize (is that a word?) all public sector workers and make it a law that they can not wear any garment or jewelry that symbolizes their religious beliefs. No turbans, no hijab, no Star of David, no kippah and supposedly no crucifixes either (but the big one at Quebec's Legistlature building is still OK). Here is a quick FAQ post for you to get up to speed on this bigoted ridiculousness and then please read this beautifully written post by Fariha Naqvi-Mohamed, who has a lot to say to Premier Marois about HER Quebec.
4. My last book club book was 'The Red Tent', by Anita Diamant. I had never read it before and was completely enthralled with the world of Dinah and her mothers and the traditions and rituals of their lives. As I read the book and afterwards I longed for a red tent of my own, of a celebration of womanhood and of time to retreat and not worry about everything and everyone. And it seems I am not the only one...
That's all I've got for this week everyone. I kind of had too much sangria at our annual block party last night and I told a whole bunch of my neighbours that I am a feminist writer/blogger. I am all about making friends and influencing people.... Let's just hope I get an invitation to the party again next year.
Otherwise who is going to build one heck of a wicked fire for everyone to roast marshmallows over!!
'Til next week,
natasha~
I didn't cry.
Even when this happened right in front of me!
My babies are both going to school.
Their classrooms are in the same hallway,
they see each other at recess and they are out there navigating their world without me.
For a few hours at least.
I am left with feelings of pride, some fear, MUCH love,
and much to my surprise,
very little sadness.
And really, it's just too hard to be sad about something that she is so excited about!
Yay School!!
Natasha~
P.S. I went for a massage this morning. NOT sad about being able to do that!
Feminist Fare Fridays: Edition #4
Phew! Is anyone else exhausted after the first week of school? And I don't mean the kids! This was my first week of making lunches everyday, of walking to school and starting to figure out our new one in full-day and one in half-day routines. And so, with school in mind, I give you somewhat of an education-based round up of feminist fare this week!
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1. I have a couple of blogging heroes and one of them is the wonderful Annie Urban at Phd in Parenting. (She is one hell of a dance partner too!) And just in case you need to know why, just check out her post on all the back to school and back to gender-role stereotyping that we are inundated with at this time of year. I personally have made a strong effort to stay away from and not buy clothing that turns my kids into walking brand advertisements and reinforces the pink/blue world that we live in! And while I may have favourited a bunch of those "what to make for my kid's lunch" posts" for future reference, the assumption and reinforcement of parental gender roles by mass media is maddening! And PLEASE, make sure you also click on that last link in her post and read up on why mothers shouldn't have opinions.
2. And speaking of mothers and their opinions. There were PLENTY this week in the world of the "mommy bloggers". One particular blogger, we'll call her Mrs. Hall, had a lot to say to all the girls tempting her teenage sons with their racy pyjama'd and {ahem} bra-less Instagram pictures. And then the internet quite literally exploded with various other "open letters" to Mrs. Hall, to the teenage girls she is supposedly addressing and to anyone and everyone who read her post and had an "Uhh, what the...?" kind of reaction to it. I don't have much to add to the conversation that has not been said in the above posts, but suffice it to say I believe that it is this kind of perpetuating of our sexual stereotypes that leads to....
3. THIS! A university's frosh week with 80 student leaders, "leading" 300-400 students into their new lives on campus with a chant about rape. Seriously people, I wish I was kidding. I wish the St. Mary's student union president had not called this chant an "oversight". I wish that just because something has been done "for years" doesn't mean that is is OK and should be continued. I wish that sending a daughter to university didn't mean having to send her with a rape-whistle and a talk about NEVER walking back to her room at residence alone at night. And I hope that this is indeed a teachable moment for these students and for all of us about the pervasiveness of sexism and rape-culture in our {children's} worlds!
4. And then I read something like this and my faith is somewhat restored and I know that the daughters we are all raising will be stronger. That one day very soon, they will be the confident, wonderful, intelligent and fierce women that this world needs!
5. This one has nothing to do with feminism. I just think that this might be the most ridiculously awesome thing I have seen on the internet in ages. And I like foxes!
[youtube]http://youtu.be/jofNR_WkoCE[/youtube]
Happy Friday everyone!
natasha~
(Update: If you have a few hours, Jenna Hatfield at Blogher did a nice round-up of most of the responses to the original post in #2.)
and he's off...
To Grade One that is.
A full day,
a very full backpack,
a mama's heart full of pride and love for her little man,
and about 25 retakes just to get one decent "Back to school" photo!
Seriously folks, six year olds and cameras = opportunity for all the faces!
This one is the keeper!
And yes, he has decided to be an illustrator. The kid has some mad drawing skillz folks!
I hope the first day of school (or non-school) was awesome for you and yours too!
Natasha~
My addiction
This was an assignment I wrote for a writing workshop I took last year.
I reread it tonight and it made me laugh...
because nothing has changed!
I hope you like it!
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I can feel the pull.
It really is only about 22 steps from where I am right now.
And it will be warm.
And soft.
And I can just drift away from all of this.
This.
This never-ending LIST of things that I need to do.
The list I have been avoiding for so long.
The piles and baskets of bright coloured clothing that are scattered along my hall are looking more and more like permanent fixtures and they keep growing in height and depth.
I don’t know where all of these papers keep coming from. It is like a tree gets cut down once a day in here and all of it’s byproducts end up on my desk and scattered across the kitchen counters. I swear I just filed it all and emptied the pretty blue box yesterday.
If I could just close my eyes for a little bit, I can do it all later.
Everyone else in this house is sleeping right now. Why can’t I?
BECAUSE!
That is what you did yesterday and the list that was supposed to be finished then is now added to the list that is for today.
YOU JUST CAN’T.
PIck up this, put away that, wipe this, wash that, fold this, call so and so, book this appointment, get nephew a birthday present, plan this party, get a new windshield, schedule our next date night, etc...
Sleep is a powerful drug.
There are no problems when one is sleeping. The lists do not exist when I am curled up in my bed. I don’t have to deal with anything when I am sleeping. The kids will sleep with me and we are all happy and there is no yelling, no threatening to take away this or that toy, just peace and snuggles and...
Void.
But I can’t. If I go there now, then there will be three days of to-do lists TO ACTUALLY DO,
and I will soon be buried in those bright piles of clothes and papers.
It’s a game actually. One that my mind likes to play with me.
"How far can we push her? Let's make her eyes go buggy, droop those eyelids a bit more, convince her that it can all be done later.
Come on Natasha, only 15 minutes, then you will feel all refreshed and can get back to work."
But it never works like that. Once sleep catches me, she doesn’t let me go. She makes my limbs heavy, my head heaviest of all and won’t let me wake up after a mere 15 minutes. That does not appease her.
So I have to say no. I have to fight her off. If I keep moving, she won’t catch me. If I sit down, if I stop, she knows she has won.
This may sound silly, but no matter how much I want to be 22 steps from where I am right now, snuggled in my bed with the 4.5-year-old miniature version of myself, I can’t go there.
I have to GET THINGS DONE.
My name is Natasha Chiam.
I am addicted to sleep.
It has been 3 days since my last nap.
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Post #2 for today and the #summerblogchallenge.
Don't you feel lucky?
What I REALLY did on my summer holidays...
So... remember back in June when I was all, "I am making a Summer Bucket list and we are going to do ALL THE THINGS??" Yeah, well...
One week into summer holidays and I may have felt like this.
Ok, maybe not a huge mistake, but one that I needed to correct to ensure we all survived the summer (and each other!). Yes, that's right. We NEEDED a summer camp or two in between all our bucket listing to keep us from imploding and to give us all a slight break from each other.
I found two great programs that miraculously still had spots open and booked my kids in them as fast as I could type my credit card info onto the online registration page! Both programs were wonderful, the kids had a blast, they met new friends and learned a couple of new skills too. It was a win for us all.
Ah, but did we get to do all the things on our bucket list? That's the big question right? I am happy to say that for the most part, yes we did. Also, my kids like the simple things in life, so 'go to a movie' (Despicable Me 2), do a craft (lots of drawing happened this summer) and 'make friendship bracelets' (with their awesome babysitter) were easy ones to tick off the list.
C had a few on his list that we just didn't have the time or resources or know how to do, like learn to longboard, go fishing, and learn to play the ukelele, but we will definitely keep them on the list for the coming year. And L was all about spending time at our local spray park/playground, being a 'beach girl' on holidays and finally mastering the fine art of bike riding!
So, I don't know if I caved to the power and lure of the Summer Camp gods or what, but it's all kind of a moot point now. Summer is over, we all had fun, we made some great memories, I did not take enough pictures and school is back in session.
Now get to bed people!
Tomorrow is a big day.
natasha~
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I kind of wanted to take a break from my computer and social media for the weekend, but that is hard to do when one is supposed to be in a 30 day #SummerBlogChallenge.
So here is post one for tonight... there may be another...
In the meantime, please visit the other bloggers who are being much more vigilant than I with their daily posts.
Liam ~ Natasha ~ Zita ~ Peter ~ Christine ~ Cliff ~ Hethr ~ Tracy ~ Kim