I have been a busy little Canadian beaver this past week, making videos mostly. Here's one of them. If you've seen it already on Instagram, just move along. Or watch it again! Hahaha! The music is The New Order by Aaron Kenny.
Yes, we need more secret agents over 55, or even over 40. I'm happy to oblige, especially armed with a vintage handbag! There are no shots of me actually thwarting the "bad guys," but that's how Agent Bagsy rolls. I want to team up with Mr. Bean so we could be Bagsy Bean or Bean Bagsy.
It was a challenge filming this solo, acting all weirdly downtown and in the alley with my tripod, and filming at the coffee shop. Luckily, I found a spot to myself.
If there was whispering - stay away from her, she's a bit odd, isn't she - at least I didn't hear it. I had to order that expensive juice to lay claim to the location. It was a good investment. I got the footage.
And this is a photo shoot I did this past week as well. It's the outfit I wore to the Nordstrom campaign launch party just shy of a year ago. I had such fun that night, made especially memorable with my friends Suzanne, Patti, and Shelley who came to help celebrate. I wrote about it HERE.
I swapped out the fashion glasses I got from Nordstrom, which had pale pink lenses, with these sunglasses.
I was getting a Marilyn Monroe vibe, shots of her with her hair blowing at the beach. Never mind that MM's hair was platinum blonde and my hair is getting white on its own, or that she was voluptuous and could sing, act, dance, and pose to make us weak at the knees. My knees are just getting weak. Heh. But I can still dream - that never gets old. That's what Hollywood is all about, dreaming. Agent Bagsy agrees.
Shelley gave me that cotton robe. It fluttered wonderfully in the breeze. And it was cool-ish outside.
That next shot actually feels '60s. It's the sunglasses.
Next, putting myself into real perspective. I'm just a dot in relation to this humongous bridge support. I guess that statement would be more profound if that were a galaxy behind me and not just a bunch of concrete. Of course I am small compared to a bridge support.
That's better. Although I had to boost my size for you to see me at all.
Galaxy photo by Raphael Nogueira on Unsplash
That's all from me this week. I'm going to link up to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style and Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike at Not Dressed as Lamb. Maybe see you there!!
Thanks for visiting! Dang, I'm out of cheese nippies. I knew I should have got more. But I still have some gherkins and Cheez Whiz light cheese spread and a couple of cartons of fine wine.
My hair may soon need scaffolding; it's starting to collapse under its own weight. But I like the big curl off the forehead, which reminds me of Brit actors as brooding uniformed school boys or gentlemen in period dramas, or poets, framed always by huge windows or great gnarled trees in emerald forests of romance and intrigue.
I'm wearing my fave velvet blazer by Triple Five Soul, featuring raw edges, satin tuxedo striping down the arms, and surgeon's cuffs, which means the cuffs have functioning buttons so you can turn them up for, uh, surgery, so you don't gore up your sleeves. Excellent!
This means I can fearlessly deep-dive into barbeque chips and bar snackies, and not worry about reckless dragging through ketchup and coffee.
I tied my vintage tie in a Full Windsor knot (instructions here if needed), which is fatter than a regular knot, and made the front stubby and the tail long enough to hang below my buttoned blazer. And that's a men's wrinkled white shirt.
The men's belt is thrifted, the kind of soft leather hard to find in retail stores these days. The brand is Josef, made in Canada, mint condition. The silver medallion buckle is what caught my eye (closer view here).
TIP: Always check out the men's belt section in thrift shops. Not usually as elaborate as women's belts, men's belts can easily be resized with a leather punch.
And my button-fly, low-rider jeans by Bardot of Australia, purchased a few years ago at a sample sale. The legs are super skinny.
Below, detail of the subtle asymmetrical embroidery on the back of the jacket.
I know I said that my hair reminded me of a Brit actor/poet, but I also got a strong rockstar vibe with this outfit. The heeled ankle boots added a sense of being in control, literally "on top of it." And I layered my Poe almost-black lipstick over my standard red.
On my Instagram I also said that this outfit makes me feel like a low-rider car with flames painted on it. At each red traffic light I would start hopping, loudly and awkwardly, startling all the pedestrians.
So there you have it: school boy/gentleman/poet, rock star, low rider. Which vibe do you see here? Or something completely different perhaps? I like that there is no one feeling but a whole playhouse of characters.
And just so you know I haven't gone all dark in my clothing, I wore this outfit below, with slicked back hair, which I have previously referred to as "tidy Kim Novak hair" but not for this outfit. And I piled on the jewels.
I like wearing many necklaces at a time, but dislike: 1) the bother of fiddly clasps, and 2) the jangling sound they make.
To fix the first problem I got two pieces of blue ribbon and tied on the smaller necklaces, threading one ribbon through the jump rings and the other ribbon through the clasps, transforming the whole mess into a single longer necklace easily thrown over my head. I tie it at the back so I can adjust the overall length.
To address the second jangling problem, clearly I have to become a Russian folk dancer, like HERE.
Finally, all five my interview episodes with Margaret Manning of Sixty and Me are open. I wrote about it in the previous post but when I published only one was up. Today, because my main outfit features black and white, I thought I'd highlight this one.
Fashion Over 50: Exploring the Power of Simple Black, White and Grey
Mel Kobayashi
Plus, I want to get the most mileage from the clothing explosion that happened while setting up my demo pieces. O was very stoic about the whole thing. In the end, I only had time to use about 20% of what I had out. And I forgot to say my most important points - I got carried away. What a surprise! Hahaha.
And I can't end this post without saying I'm linking up with Patti at Visible Monday, Not Dead Yet Style - I have been worrying about her family in Florida all week. And I'm linking up with Catherine at #iwillwearwhatilike at Not Dressed as Lamb.
That's it for now. I hope you are all safe!! - my thought for the week. The autumn chill is coming here and I like it.
You know how I go downtown almost every morning to check out my turf, right? Well the other day, I cut through Nordstrom on my way home and was overcome by a crowd of highly-excited women who appeared at a glance to be dressed in black blazers, black skirts, white blouses, and heels. They were scurrying around like bumper cars in a velvet-roped corral in the shoe section.
I didn't have a photo of bumper cars so this will have to do
Holy cow! Clearly I didn't get the memo and looked down at my bathmat white maxi coat, three-sizes-too-big white chinos, white DIY boob-cooler T-shirt and turtleneck, black Italian ankle boots, tower hair, and Joan Crawford red lips. I thought, hm, this might end badly for me.
What?! No memo?!
Had I missed the "filming in progress" signs and stumbled onto the set of a new David Lynch movie? Was this Purgatory!? To their credit, everyone looked great but in a mass-fabulous way that makes it hard to see the trees for the forest without a little neon pink tulle for focus. Blazered eye correction can do that to a person.
Blazered eye correction
Regaining my composure, I then noticed lines of anxious women in a phalanx along the perimeter of the store, all clutching shopping bags. And wait! They were being fed champagne. Whaaat? Where's my champagne? Quickly I spotted the head security guard looking like a god from central casting. I approached him with my best VIP face and asked, How do I get in?, What's happening?
Seeing red in the Louboutin shoe department
He explained that Christian Louboutin was expected on the premises in about 30 minutes to sign purchases of his footwear, then indicated the table and throne behind him where the maestro would sit. So the price of admission was new red-soled shoes, which clearly the lined-up women had paid, and apparently this was non-negotiable as no amount of seductive Norma Desmond eye bulging on my part would change his mind. I'm losing my touch.
Guess which one is me.
I wanted to tell these women, hey, I'll scribble on your old shoes for free! Maybe it's a good thing I left my folding card table, Sharpie, and lawn chair at home. Well, maybe not for free. I'd be like Lucy from Charlie Brown comics and charge 5 cents.
But really, all this fuss for a signature on a shoe? Isn't that weird? You're just going to put your stinky feet in there and literally drag his name through the mud. But maybe these disciples have shoe shrines in their homes and never wear them or are carried by servants when they go out. Maybe they will try to sell their shoes on eBay. Or maybe they've had the sweat glands in their feet surgically removed. Do they even do that? Could I make my millions with this idea? Would Louboutin invest?
My farked boots - post on them here. Note my signature. Free.
I wondered what would happen if Valentino had an in-store signing of thong underwear. Would women wear them? Can you sell pre-owned undies on eBay? Is there even a Mr. Valentino and does he make thongs?
As for me? I only wear diamonds on the soles of my shoes, baby. I find them in the thrift store. Priceless. Okay, maybe not diamonds, but they are still rocks of a sort. They get stuck in the cracks.
Goners. Days ago both shoes in the right pair cracked. I should have bought some Looboos.
Oh, I made a video of most of my posted outfits from October '15 to October '16, photos from here, Instagram, and a couple new ones. I put this on IG too but this version is the original size. Much better.
The light. A yucky, packed-earth parking lot tucked off a busy sidewalk becomes an ethereal respite when a few clouds of light and shadows play on the walls.
I shot hard on burst mode with a high shutter speed. A burst does multiple shots all in a row. A setup like this pushes my photographic skills the most - what about this setting? what about that setting?
Always, always, when I put on this velvet coat, I leave myself. Those are my wool vintage Gianni Versace pants and a chartreuse silky blouse from bcbgmaxazria. There's a better view of the blouse on my Instagram, here. I had on double scarves but tore off the second one, the blue one; I couldn't breathe in all that matchiness.
I'm sure residents of the glass-walled highrises around me learn a lot about the life of a +50 style blogger when they see me playing in lanes below them. I can almost hear their greedy eyes as they spy me strolling in there, "Honey, she's baa-a-a-ck," and imagine their grab for the chips and wine. More likely, if they're into that kind of thing, there is far more dramatic action going on in this parking lot at other times of the day and night than a middle-aged woman twirling.
I'm thinking in feelings lately, colour, light, movement, which can be calming but also occasionally frazzling. Words are sleeping. Last night I made this video below, short and quiet.
That's all from here. I have to haul up my winter coats from my space bags in storage. Dreading going down there...
I'm linking something from here up to Patti at Visible Monday, Not Dead Yet Style, and Catherine, #iwillwearwhatilike, Not Dressed as Lamb.
Edit: I also can't forget a huge thank you to Sally of Already Pretty for including me in her Lovely Links last Friday! Such an honour.
Money, models, class, decorum, and who decides what's what, all of this in the midst of fashion week mania and surreal politics - I had to make a video or let my angst and creative juices rot me away from the inside. So I grabbed my Carolina Herrera gown, unworn since I bought it for an obscenely low price at My Sister's Closet close to a year ago, and let whimsy take its course.
Black beehive hair, blue lips, blackened eyes, drawn-on lashes, mitten clips, and a faux-fur collar which I upcycled with long red ties - the "costume" came together in minutes, which happens when I'm at an expressive threshold.
The outfit was an instrument, not something I would normally wear, especially the wig and makeup. And while a gritty alley would have worked for the location, it felt too predictable. The newly-painted alley (Alley Oop), on the other hand, was terribly cheerful; in fact, so cheerful with this outfit, it was bad - oooh, lovely.
As props for this fancy dress I chose chips and my camp stool, and my role would be to bridge or merely play in the rough gulf between them all, emphasis on play - transforming grossness into a morning of fun and free expression. The following are all stills from the video.
Feeling slightly vulnerable in a costume, on my way downtown it was important to maintain my creative spark and strength. A focused, confident and smooth stride took care of that; I was a woman on a mission after all. And my Chanel sunglasses hid my steely gaze. Heh.
Shockingly, I received quite a few compliments, probably because I owned my image despite walking outside my comfort zone - strength is a draw. Plus, those who didn't like it at least had the good graces to stay out of my way. Heh.
Now that I've mastered the wearing of this outfit, I could wear it again without that sense of theatricality, even with the extreme makeup. Probably I won't, but attitude is everything. It's magic!!
And I gave away some business cards, the very first one to a woman I met in Alley Oop, Eyoälha Baker. She was there taking photos for her Jump for Joy Photo Project. You'll have to see it to appreciate it, here. So much positive energy!! I'm glad my first card went to her.
That's all. My second post in less than a week. !!! I loved editing this video. I learn something new every time - it's such a challenge. This photo is from my concrete box when I got home.
I hope you are all having a good week and doing what needs getting done to get through your day - whether it's making a video or a pot of stew.
If you find me doing DIY lipo, licking a champagne bottle, and eating buttons off my pyjamas thinking they're pills, I've been worshipping again at the altar of lifestyle gurus Patsy and Edina of Ab Fab. (read about them here)
I went to see their new movie, "Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie," two nights ago, which was very timely considering how lately I've been contemplating measures to glam up my life.
This is what I wore to the movie. I also had on my vintage gigantor red and mustard paisley palazzo pants.
Still from the movie review video. Barbara shot this part. Thanks, Barbara!
But more about the movie later...
Project Glamourization. Last week I read a magazine article about a woman who had a very long, impressive name and an expensive villa in Florence, disguised to look rustic. Hey, I thought, that could be me if I changed my name to (drum roll, please):
Melanie von Harumph de Schnackenloafer del Petunia
In the article, they wrote the full family name every single time. Well, I think that's a bit much - I'd definitely let them shorten my name to, say, HRH Mel after the first ten mentions at full length. Oooh, I feel more successful already.
Below, the seersuckiest seersucker you ever did see. Vintage. Home-sewn. With pockets. I wore this last week. Glam? Yes, I think so!
And my sky-high Steve Madden sandals go perfectly.
But I suspect it's not just the name. One needs to glamourize one's life in general. For example, why inhale air, which is so utterly boring, when you can sniff it? Also, now I drink my water from a cute little shot glass. I down several shots in the morning like a big-time bad-ass.
Shot glasses make hydration glamourous.
Write that down!
But I'm afraid nothing I do can live up to the standards set by Patsy and Edina.
However, before I tell you more about Ab Fab, I have some breaking news!! Well, not so breaking now because I've been slacking on the blogger front, but -
Nearly breaking news!!!
The Freakish Yellow Skirt is back in ACTION, high-impact action, with Trina of Tea Time with Trina!
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Stompin' Dancin' Flower Pickin'
QUEENandBohemian
andCow-woman - okay that sounds bad - Cowgirl to boot
I'm thrilled that Trina has joined the Yellow Skirt show. I was fortunate to meet her last summer and know that she must have packed a humongous helping of positive energy in FYS. Thank you, Trina, for joining and adding your magic to this curious garment.
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Now I'll tell you about Ab Fab...
Vancouver Barbara and I attended the Absolutely Fabulous movie together. We ended up in the bar at the Sylvia Hotel afterwards - how surprising!
I made a little movie review video with Barbara. I hope you like it.
MOVIE REVIEW
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: THE MOVIE
Special Guest: Vancouver Barbara (who also helped with filming)
I ran into lots of cool women at the theatre. In particular I was happy to see Frances of Materfamilias Writes seated near me. Her take on the movie is HERE. It turns out we are neighbours! Hurrah!
Frances was wearing a spectacular outfit featuring the silkiest oyster grey skirt with two daring slits right up the front which showed off her fantastic gams. Definitely NOT a wardrobe malfunction! She proved that you don't have to dress outrageously to be fabulous. She wore her new blue specs too. They look fantastic. (I also put this photo on my street style blog, here.)
Also there was Denice, whom I met at that swanky event when Shelley was in town, accompanied by two of her very stylish friends, Roxana and April (I hope I got their names right). And Colleen of the blog Clothes Line Finds, and Lynn and Diana, both of whom I know from My Sister's Closet. Colleen and Lynn are in the final scene in the video.
Below: Lynn, Colleen, and Barbara before the show. They look incredible! It's hard to see here but Lynn's sandals are paved with rhinestones. Barbara made that outfit - spectacular! And Colleen scored the glittery shawl from My Sister's Closet.
Finally, a BIG THANK YOU to Lynne Spreen, Any Shiny Thing - Life After 50 for mentioning Bag and a Beret in her post "Grief about Turning 50," here, as a source of style ideas over 50.
And, someone else has linked to this blog but I don't know who you are or where you come from but Thank you!!(unless you are sending people to ridicule me - you never know, right?)
And to finish off this rambling post, one more shot of my seersucker. Mmm. I used to detest seersucker; now it is precious to me. Heh. That's a good view of my shoes.
Did you make it to the end? This is what happens when I miss posting for a week. Everything piles up. I hope you are all well. I have been on a blogger break and getting lots of farking done. Feels so good.
Stay cool, whether it's summer or winter. But I don't have to tell you that, do I?
Are you Ab Fab fans? I thought I would hate that movie because there were so many celebrity cameos in it, which I've found usually means the script sucks. How happy I was to be WRONG!!! Jennifer Saunders is a brilliant comedic writer. Lots of laughs. It turns out there was a character with a huuuge long name, which just proves my theory!
Oh, and because of Suzanne's comment I'm wondering what your long glamour names would be.
I'll link this up with stuff but, really, I can't think about that now. I'll add it later.
Yours Sincerely,
Ms. von Harumph de Schnackenloafer del Petunia
Edit: Okay, I'm back, ready to do some linking.
1) Patti at Visible Monday: Not Dead Yet Style
2) Catherine at #iwillwearwhatilike: Not Dressed as Lamb
Anne has a great linkup at SpyGirl - The Fashion Rosebud Linkup: "Write about a powerful memory from your youth, one that shaped your core, one in which fashion was involved." I love this prompt - maybe I can think of something later...
Oh dear, oh dear, I'm levitating again. There's something about orange and pink that defies gravity.
That's a new top from the $5 rack at My Sister's Closet eco thrift boutique - wispy orange chiffon, probably home-made, with open cape-style sleeves that shield my arms from the sun. I adore the people who sewed this and then donated it instead of chucking it. It looks so great with these pants. I'm also wearing my lace-up sandal-shoes with the block heel.
And my neon orange vintage sunglasses; I don't often wear them. My hair also defied gravity today. Speaking of hair...
This week I made a video about how I do my tower hairstyle. Simple. Here it is. I put it in the context of a series called Secrets of the Schtars in case I want to do more. Heh.
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****Secrets of the Schtars!****
Styling Grey Hair: Tower Hair ============
I wore lots and lots of makeup because I can - actually I had planned on doing a comedy video but decided at the last minute to do a hair tutorial for my sticking-straight up hair.
I don't go to salons anymore. I don't colour my hair anymore either. For now at least. Luckily, O has a talent with scissors and he cuts my hair at home.
His cuts give me two go-to styles, which I LOVE, worn down like a pixie cut, as seen above in a still from the video. And straight up with tower hair, like below.
I know that a lot of you already do standing-up hair, in a variety of colours too! It's really so much fun. But I enjoy the down look as well, demure, sophisticated, and/or androgynous. I think I have all bases of my personality covered with these two looks.
Let me know in the comments if you have questions. It's pretty straightforward.
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And a blogger meetup!
Last Friday I had the exquisite pleasure of meeting up with Vancouver Barbara, who attended the blogger meet-up in Vancouver last summer, Louisa of Damselfly's Delights and Sue of A Colourful Canvas.
We started out with lunch at the landmark Sylvia Hotel next to English Bay, as seen above, then made our way to Dressew fabric store and Atex Fabrics where we all happily added to our fabric stashes. We topped off the day with a stop at Purebread bakery.
Hats off to the one blogger, who, in her absence, still managed to be the life of the party - Suzanne Carillo. Off and on all afternoon we swore like sailors in her honour, especially in Barbara's car as we careered through Vancouver streets. Feckin' eh.
Everyone looked fantastic and was wearing something they had made or thrifted. In my case, my robe was from Shelley, Forest City Fashionista. But even more impressive was the warmth, humour, intelligence, and talent of these amazing women.
I didn't get many photos of the bunch, which speaks to how much fun we were having, but I did manage to get a few sidewalk shots for my street style blog, here.
Meeting people I've met through blogging in real life, that's the best, like meeting celebrities! I hope you get a chance to have meet-ups too.
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One more photo of my orange outfit for the road.
Also, if you tried to listen to my CBC Radio interview and couldn't, I uploaded a YouTube version of the clip to make it more accessible. It's on this post.
PS: Whew. Last night I was suddenly having quirky layout issues with Blogger! But a dear woman named Meutia posted a coding fix. Wow, I am soooo thankful for these people who share their expertise.
"Dang, woman, those saggy-butt, hangy-diaper pants are making me hot!" I swear, can't they come up with something more original than that? Sooo predictable. One thing is for sure: these hot-lovin' hip huggers are certifiably waddle-icious.
I went with the grey wall backdrop for these photos because someone had set up camp over at the blue wall.
The pants were a size too small but such a steal at the consignment shop. Buy? Walk away? Buy? Walk away? I could zip them up, barely, and achieve locomotion like the Tin Man before the lube job, but that ruined the whole saggy I-don't-give-a-feck effect. There was also no way I'd be able to de-grow into them. In the end, I decided they were worth a session of pro-wrestling with my sewing machine.
And ta-dah! Only a few hours and profanities later (have you ever tried to push in a straight pin from the wrong end?) I ended up with these. I added roominess by sewing wide racing stripes down the sides because that's how I roll, roll, not racing, being the operative word - unless I'm grabbing for the last chocolate croissant. I like the orange bits and am pleased with the results. Waddle on! I didn't exp.....Uh oh....
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STOP EVERYTHING. BREAKING NEWS!!!
Video Alert, 24 sec. Watch now.
Oof: Shelley & Mel Meet
Shelley, aka Forest City Fashionista, came to Vancouver recently. We had a blast. Choreography by Shelley.
Hahaha!!
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See? My blog is almost like real TV with little commercial breaks. If this were a real emergency you would have been instructed to go eat chips - it's all over anyway. Now back to the outfit. Take it away, Mel!
The pants are "Marni for H&M," although with gold lurex and shiny purple I don't care what brand they are. What more could you want of any pant, besides a drop crotch and hipslung hug? Oh, they're lined too.
Of course I'm grabbing my crotch like all the best people do. Okay, like Madonna does, except in Toronto they threatened to arrest her for it. So this is the safe and friendly two-handed, off-side Canadian Crotch Grab, not quite committing to the full grab because 1) I am a polite Canadian, and; 2) as a mere mortal non-superstar I might get arrested. So much drama/one pair of weird pants - just the way I like it.
The top with the huge drapy sleeves is vintage, the neon orange ruffled blouse was thrifted, and the geta-style shoes were retail at big discount. Now enough of my outfit.
In my previous post you saw that she came to Vancouver at the end of May and we played hard! The photo above is Shelley at Bacchus Lounge at the Wedgewood Hotel where we had cocktails (well, I had coffee working up to the hard stuff) and fries during our night of cocktail hopping at luxury hotels - but only because it was raining. (Yeeeah, right.) I've seen Goldie Hawn here in the past. The piano man, directly to the left of Shelley's elbow, was playing all our faves.
There were dogs sitting at the next table, seriously, men wearing dog headgear, and one had a tail. They were good dogs; they didn't howl or bark or self-groom or try to hump our legs, thank goodness. Clearly these men took my previous posts to heart - to live life like a dog. [Edit: Shelley corrected me - they are actually puppies.]
Louisa above. She spun, dyed, wove, knitted, and sewed every single piece of clothing she was wearing. I can't believe the talent! She grows plants for dye in her garden. The plants in my garden usually just die. Oh wait, I don't have a garden. Her dress was a beautiful shade of soft mint green.
The back of Shelley's robe, which I gave her, and Sue's coat, which she sewed. Sue also designed that amazing applique. WOW!
And I did a post about the fancy party that Shelley and I attended on Friday, May 27, "Emma Dunlavey CURVE Fine Art Photography Exhibit and VIP Shopping Event" where we did some serious hobnobbing among Dior, Prada, and Moschino at Leone, thanks to an invitation by event impresario Vernard Goud. The writeup is HERE, on my street style blog.
I have so many photos from Shelley's visit, and I'm sure you'll see more of them over at Shelley's blog and Instagram. Louisa has also put up a post on our brunch, HERE.
I know I haven't covered everything, but that's all I can manage at the moment. I miss farking with Shelley!!
Shelley at the big do. Everyone at the party loved Shelley! Of course.
Tired now. Must go eat chips even though it isn't an emergency, well, yeah, it kind of is.
I wish I had a hat for Judith's Hat Attack! Dang! I'm just trying to stay on top of everything. Easier said than done.
Hope you have a great week, you guys!!
[Edit: Shelley's post on our get-together is HERE.]
