FORMAL ATTIRE

Dress: Forever 21 | Shoes: Ninewest | Bag: French Connection | Jacket: H&M

'Dressing up' for me typically means switching up my modus vivendi of sweats & sneakers to sweats, sneakers, & a statement necklace.  I've always been an advocate of comfort style which is really just a decorative way of saying I'm an advocate of dressing like a coach potato. This translates to me always wearing long dresses or skirts to formal occasions so no one can actually see the air force one's I'm wearing underneath.

Last night I attended the 2015 SOY (Shades of Yellow) Hmong New Year Event in Saint Paul with some family members, which celebrated the GBLT community here in the Twin Cities.  It was a beautiful night filled with beautiful people so I made the exception of pulling out the short dress & high heels (okay they were really only a 1/2 inch heel, but that's still progress!).  You'll see we got a little carried away with our selfie stick, but hey! We was feelin' ourselves!  Until security escorted us out...

BOYFRIEND

I know I’ve been gone for a long time.  But let’s pretend that I haven’t been so I can skip the part where I write my excuses.  Here are the key highlights to the last year of my life: I traveled.  I stood up in my first wedding.  I celebrated my golden birthday. I chopped off my hair.  I got my own health insurance. I went on a DIY craze. And last, but not least, I found my dream booties (showcased above) at Target for only $13!  There, now you know everything about my life again!
  

Boyfriend Blazer & Bag: H&M | Jeans: Banana Republic | Tee: Adidas | Shoes: Target 

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK

Don’t call it a comeback. I been here for years!

Something, something, something about fear!  Okay those are really all of the lyrics I {don’t} know from that song.  I’ve been on an extended leave just so I could someday return and use that ingenious line.  That, or I couldn’t remember my password to Blogger for the last 8 months.  I cannot confirm or deny either assertion. 

On a more serious note - I want to say that blogging is something I love to do.  I have always been an expressive and creative person by nature so blogging was always a cathartic endeavor.  Sometimes I go back and read my old blogs (which I will never share!) and laugh at my changeover in writing styles over the years.  My favorite is from my "angry phase" at 16  where I condemned everyone and everything in my entries.  I was 16!  What did I really have to be angry about?! I was so melodramatic.  To be fair, it started when Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake broke up.  My world has never been the same (still seeing a therapist once a month).  I've since moved on from being angry and transitioned into a more fitting "asinine-and-excessive-amount-of-run-on-sentences" type writing style.

A special thanks to my dear friend Davee for constantly bugging me and encouraging me to come back from hiatus.   And to anyone reading this: may you always find the time and heart to do the things you love, and the courage and kindness to pay the message forward.