I'm a simple person, I have simple tastes, I like simple, clean lines. I like Japanese and Scandanavian interior design. I don't like things to be cluttered or busy or too fancy and swirly. I don't like things that have too much going on.
Since I like to start with shoes, today's are black and gold stilletos. Instead of leather, these shoes are HAIR. Cool, no? (to each his own, I suppose). They are splattered with gold paint and have gold heels. Since the shoes have a lot going on, the rest of the outfit is pretty plain.
Take a look:
Black hose, black pencil skirt that doesn't fit and needs desperately to be altered but I don't have the time nor the desire to do so, White long-sleeved t-shirt (one of many, many white shirts I own) and black cardigan. In my hair I have a black and white Laura Ashley scarf that my Mother-in-law bought for me when I was first married.
I used a "photographer" today, my first born son. He didn't do such a hot job. My second born son insisted on being in the photo. He's adorable, so I let him. My first born warned him: "This is going on the internet, you know." Second born answered, "I don't care". There you have it; the difference between Jose and Hose B. Jose tells me he doesn't want me posting any more pictures of him on Facebook, Hose B. could care less. (more on why another time)
My jewelry is simple, pearl earrings, because the sweater is so fancy with the embellishments on the shoulders and the aforementioned shoes. I also went without hoops because my ears hurt from wearing cheap $5.00 earrings two days in a row.
About Hoop earrings and pierced ears: I got my ears pierced when I was 5. The rule was that I had to wait until I was 6, but my best friend had her 6th birthday in August and mine isn't until December, and she didn't want to have her ears pierced all by herself, so her mum convinced my mum to let me have my ears pierced at the same time. At the time we lived in a cul-de-sac. My best friend lived on one side, we lived at the top, and on the other side lived a family of boys - the Browns. Mrs. Brown was a beautician, so she pierced our ears at our houses with an ice cube. No gun for us! We were hard core! My best friend and her mum came over to our house and Mrs. Brown did hers first since she was the one who was technically six, and then did mine. I don't remember anything other than my best friend was so terrified and I held her hand and next thing we knew, she had these pretty gold balls sparkling in her ears. I was next. I remember the right earring going in fine, and then I remember waking up on the couch in my bathrobe. Apparently, when Mrs. Brown did my left ear, I promptly threw up all over her and passed out cold. So, so sorry Mrs. Brown! I had no idea that would happen. I felt so grown up and cool getting my ears pierced and it looked so easy when my friend had hers done, I had no idea that would happen! Afterwards, my friend said to me "and
I was the one that was scared!" When I was 13, I had a second hole put in my left ear. I went with my Nana and my little sister to the Bay to have it done. My little sister was 6 and getting her first set of holes. My little sister's birthday is in November, so my Nana was taking us both for our birthdays. Little sis went first. As I was getting in the chair to have my ear done, my little sister melted into the floor, fainting. One minute she was standing there like everything was peachy, and the next she was a blob on the floor. Little sis had a history of fainting, and since I had fainted when I was six, I assured everyone that this was normal and she would be fine, and I picked her up off the floor and helped her sit down. So they pierced my second hole, and all the blood flew out of my head. I said, "oh, I'm going to go too", and promptly put my head between my knees. We were both fine after that, but I feel terrible still for my poor Nana having to deal with her two fainting granddaughters in the jewelry department at the Bay!
Once I was able to wear regular earrings after my initial piercing, my Aunt Shelley gave me some tiny gold hoops. The kind that connect in to each other so that they can spin around in your ear. They were supposed to be good for newly pierced ears because you could move them through the holes and there was less chance of infection. They were very pretty and delicate, and I loved being able to sit in class and stare out the window and spin my hoops in my ears. I wore those hoops consantly
When I got to Junior high school (grade eight), I got my first pair of big hoops. They were white plastic and about 3 inches in diameter. I loved them and wore them with everything. White goes with everthing, right? About grade ten was when the obsession began. I got a pair of silver hoops, also about 3 inches in diameter. I loved them so much I got another pair, then another. I kept getting bigger and bigger hoops. The goal was to find a pair of hoops that would touch my shoulders. When I was in grade twelve, I achieved that goal - a big ol' pair of 4 inch silver hoops. I would wear the big hoops in my two main holes, and a tiny hoop or a cubic zirconia stud in the second hole on my left ear. I worked at a clothing store in the mall and wore my hoops every day. I had gold ones, silver ones, white, turquoise, houndstooth, you name it. If they were hoops, I wore them. Customers would come to my store when I wasn't working and would ask for me, but they could never remember my name. They would say, "I was here yesterday and this girl was helping me with some jeans. You know, the one with the hoops." After that I was known as "Hoops" amongst all the mall personell. Weirdly, I also played basketball, but I was no good, the "Hoops" nickname had nothing to do with my prowess at basketball.
One time, my boyfriend was nuzzling my neck and it tickled, so I pulled away. When I did so, he started screaming in pain and holding his face. Turns out that when I pulled away, my hoop got stuck in his nostril. The hoop was stretched out in to a U shape instead of a C shape. I felt terrible and never wore those earrings around him again.
I served an LDS mission when I was 21, and as a representative for the Church, one must dress conservatively, so I had to give up the huge hoops. As a going away gift, my Grama gave me a pair of beautiful 24 carat gold hoops that were only 1 inch in diameter, so I could wear them on my mission. Sadly, I lost one of them on the airplane from Vancouver to Salt Lake City, UT. I was devastated. When I got home, I realized that I had a lone gold hoop from another set of earrings that was also 1 inch in diameter. To this day I wear them as a set and no one can tell that I'm wearing two different earrings.
After my mission, I kind of got out of the habit of wearing hoops. They just sat in my jewelry box while I wore tiny delicate studs. This was the post-grunge era, so the wearing of accessories kind of flew out the window. As I got older, I still loved hoops, and have a pair that are 1/4 inch in diameter that I would wear, but I was too self-conscious to go back to my bigger hoops.
Over the last year or so, I have quit caring what other people think of how I look, and quit trying to fit in so much, and I've gone back to wearing hoops. It is glorious and wonderful. I only wear hoops that are 2 inches in diameter or smaller, and I don't wear them every day. I still have the 4 inchers in my jewelery box. I guess I'm saving them for Halloween.
