Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Not a girlie girl!

Hi all!

Happy Wednesday to you! I have a day off tomorrow to celebrate the amazing country I live in, Canada! I love my country and forget how blessed I really am to walk the streets and be FREE! Here's a small list of my other favorite things about Canada..in case I need to convince you to come for a visit:)


1. We are friendly and love hearing about your country!

2. We have every kind of outdoor and indoor activity you could imagine. You can dig for dinosaur bones, climb up the side of a mountain, zipline through the forest, get up close and personal to a waterfall, see a polar bear, drink fabulous wine, ski/snowboard, eat mini doughnuts, and on and on!
3. We accept you, no matter your race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, faith, hair color, bad breath, or fashion faux pas.

4. We love any excuse to have a BBQ and sit out on the patio until the sun goes down (then you move on to the man-made fire pit in your back yard..lol!)

5. We will show you every piece of history and show you every landmark in the city if you come for a visit..HAHA! If I just scared you off..sorry:) It's only the truth.

6. We LOVE..no..are OBSESSED with hockey! If you love the sport..come on over, you are in good company! Grab a beer and squeeze in on the sofa where you can.

7. In the summer we love to golf..haha! (did you see that coming?)

8. We would be out in the tent/trailer/5-wheeler/camper every weekend in the summer if we could and always love to have a huge fire with the neighbors!

9. We love to have dreams and work towards them. We also love to help people achieve those dreams because it makes are hearts swell and we like that feeling:)

10. We treasure the forest and honor it for what it gives to us in spirit, monetary value, and wildlife habitat. We cannot avoid the forest as it surrounds us and we love to be there!

I could go on and on but I think you get the point that it's a pretty cool place to be and we would love to host you one day:) Seriously, I love showing people around my city (and my backyard..lol)! So, if you are in the hood..contact me:)

So, with the patriotism out of the way, I wanted to talk to you about something I'm really not too familiar with...being a girlie girl! I never was one and don't think I ever will be. I'm not saying girlie girls are "bad" or anything of the sort, I'm just not in that groupie. I grew up with a mother who wouldn't get out of the car without re-applying her lipstick. So, you would think I would follow suit but I never took on this characteristic. I am an only child, so I didn't really have anyone influencing me besides my mother, and apparently that didn't go anywhere. My aunt lived down the street from us growing up so I would always be over there playing with my cousins...guy cousins. So, ya I didn't care really about barbies and dolls, I was all about building palaces for aunt's cat or playing cops and robbers. My little girl friends I had growing up were not really into the dress-up or painting our nails thing either. If they were, I didn't really play along and would go hang out with my little guy friends. Before I make a novel here, you get the point that I didn't paint my nails every Sunday or put on lipstick before we went for a visit somewhere.

I went through elementary school and then high school the same way. I rarely wore make-up, painted my nails, or spent an hour on my hair. I didn't have money for nice clothes so I had what I had and that was it. I never really cared much for fashion then and still don't really. I mean I love clothes but I don't obsess over the most current trends. To be honest I was lost on all that stuff. I didn't know how to do any of it well. I mean my mom was there but who wants to learn beauty and fashion stuff from their mom in high school? Not me. I never felt that I needed to do any of that stuff to "fit in" so I just didn't do it. I guess that's a good thing..I was myself..but I'm sure I could have learned a trick or two.



University continued this trend and for once I felt completely "in." Nobody had time to do their hair or put the perfect amount of mascara on. Sweats and hoodies were in, designer clothes were rare (at least in my school).

I tried during university summers to catch up and be "stylish." I did alright but never really knew how to dress myself for my body shape kind of thing. Then came love...and I really had to catch up and try to "pretty" myself for my new love ( you know how it is!). Ryan's sisters are beyond stylish and gorgeous and so it was very intimidating to walk in with my old clothing, boring earrings, non-matching heel-less shoes, and wearing the wrong shade of lipstick. Seriously, I watched so many What Not To Wear hoping to gather as many tips as I could.


She's got it going on! I know she's done up but still she looks polished with not too much make-up!

Zipping forward to today, I still feel behind the times. I still rarely wear make-up and don't know the best shades for me, don't know the best fits for my body, and spend 1 minute on my hair in the morning. Anyone else with me on this or am I the only one?? HAHA! It's come to the point now where I think I'm going to take me SIL or hire a styling consultant person to come out with me because I really want to know how to dress for success. I'm not saying I'm going to be a total girlie girl now...I just want to know how to get there if I want to:)



I want to feel amazing like this picture...and send out that glow to the world!



I've always loved Jennifer's simple, classic style. She always look great and it's never too much!

I know that a lot of it has to do with my job. I don't need to be in a suit everyday, I wear whatever I want. I don't need to impress clients so I don't wear make up or earrings. Yet, I also don't "feel" powerful and ready to take on the world either. Another part of it is, that I don't cherish myself or see my myself as beautiful or successful so why dress for that? I'm seeing this now and I need to change it because I know when I do have to dress for an occasion or even sometimes, on a rare occasion, for work..I feel like a different person!

Does anyone else feel alone in the big world of fashion, style, make up etc ? For those of you who are pros in this area please share your resources or tips for the newbies out there!

Have a wonderful night and Happy Canada day to my fellow Canadians!!!





7 comments:

Kris | iheartwellness.com said...

Happy Canada Day Doll!!

I LOVE Jennifer Aniston's style as well. So classy, instyle, and minimal! LOVE IT!

It is great that you get to wear whatever you want to the job front. When I wasn't working from home and was in the job world I still rocked the jeans, so that was great!

You just feel better when you are comfortable!

xxoo

ac said...

First off, I like your Canada list. It's awesome and I concur with pretty much all of them -- even though they AAAREEE generalizations, and not EVERYONE is obsessed with hockey :p ! Hehehe- just sayin'. ;)

Secondly, the second part of your post resonates SO MUCH with me. I was NEVER girly girl and never will be. A lot of this has to do with growing up with only one sibling--who happened to be an older brother. I was coerced into playing sports, even if I hated it, and still hate sports, and am not good at them, and was never good at them. But regardless, I just never KNEW HOW to be a girl--even if I'd wanted to. Admittedly, as you might imagine, it was really really awkward for me, growing up, but time really does settle the kinks in everyone. Time and maturity. You learn to accept who you are, and even more, appreciate your journey along the way. It sounds really cheesy, and I saw this once on some corny commercial once when I was like 12, but it stuck with me: "If you don't like who you are right now, then change."

Obviously, "to change" is a lot simpler said than done--but once you realize that life isn't static, and that change is possible, it really does open your mind. A lot!

I guess what I'm tryyyying to say is that I think it's really cool that you recognize there's this other part of you that wants to "glow"! In the end, it's not so much trying to be someone else, but really about channeling that inner desire within you--and still be true to yourself.

xo Aletheia

Anonymous said...

I love your tribute to Canada! So awesome! I'm not a stereotypical Canadian by any means, but I try to be patriotic where possible. I try to live up to the Canadian legacy of being friendly and extremely accepting of anyone and everyone. Well, that's not JUST to be Canadian, but for other moral reasons as well, but you catch my drift.

As for being a girlie girl, I think there is nothing wrong with NOT being into those kinds of things. I understand wanting to venture into the land of the girliness every now and then, but if it simply isn't who you are, then you should never feel pressure to be something you are not. However, I don't think that's what you're trying to do (just thought I would say it anyway for good measure). I have always been kinda girly...I'm not obsessed with pink or anything (in fact, I wear mostly black) but I did ballet as a little girl, I liked wearing my mom's makeup and trying on her high heels, and until I became very overcome by my depression, I was still very interested in makeup and fashion...my mom was a lot like how you describe your mom and I definitely took after her in some ways. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me (I'm no expert by any means, but just wanted to throw that out there). There are some pretty good You Tube videos about how to do hair and make up if you really want some step by step tutorials. And if you go into a store like Sephora, the make up artists are usually more than willing to help you out in that area. But for the record, you are absolutely beautiful just the way you are. Honestly, you're stunning. <3
Happy Canada Day lovely!

evergreen said...

Happy Canada Day, sweetie! Thanks for sharing all your favorite things about your beautiful country!

You said you feel a need to change, but know that you are beautiful, and loved, just the way you are:)

kelli said...

hope you enjoyed your day! i'm visiting toronto next weekend - this will be my first time in canada and i am soooo happy!=) wish you were closer to toronto!

you don't need makeup - you are beautiful as you are!

xoxo

Melissa said...

Hey Kris - yay for classic style:)Ya, its nice not having to worry about what to wear but I have always wanted to wear a suit to work lol! Call me crazy:)

Hey Aletheia - I'm glad you like my generalizations lol! Your comment about not being a girlie girl...WOW lady! I'm so glad that I wasn't alone in that area!! It was awkward for me because I never really went crazy for the clothes, purses etc and I felt anti-girl...but I know that I don't need to pretend and buy purses and designer jeans just to "get" girlie! Thanks so much for your comment, it meant a lot to me:)

Hi Angela!! - Thank you darlin for your kindness and generous words. Love you lady!!

Hey Kelli - Oh don't get me started!! I was debating getting on a flight to join you ladies because what an amazing time its going to be. Can I skype in?? LOL!
Thank you for your sweet words lovely..you are too kind:)

Nelly said...

love your tribute to our very beautiful country...

and i agree with kelli...you don't need make-up, you already are so naturally beautiful!!