Gold Leaf

 

I wore this outfit  last week to kick off my negativity detox, I actually choose it very carefully. The dress seen above is hands down my favorite article of clothing I have ever owned in my whole life, excluding my prom dress, sadly I 'out grew it' in the last couple years. [read : since college] I've been working hard since the first of the year to address the epidemic of small clothes in my closet. I waged health war on my scale in order lose some unnecessary LBS in order to feel confident in my wardrobe again...and so far I have won! I finally shed enough to fit back into my sundress! Insert celebratory fist pump here. I paired the dress with a grey and blue striped shirt featuring a brown collar that perfectly matches the dress. A match made in heaven and my favorite pairing of my own clothes. I have favorites. Again, until recently, I could not fit this shirt over my head, comfortably. I share the previously shared info to lead up to the following statement: This was the first day I donned both pieces in over 2 years! If fitting into your favorite clothing again doesn't make you smile I don't know what will. Well, aside from this. Ooor this. And if all three of those things don't make you smile, then I regret to inform you that you are heartless. Just kidding. 

Moving along...

I chose to accessorize this outfit with jewelry that is very special to me. First things first, I wore a wooden ring I acquired at the end of July at the SLC farmers market. Why is this ring special? Welll, I bought it as a souvenir because that particular trip was the first time in over a year that my entire family was together in one state attending a Saturday market. Plus, it was only like 5 dollars. My necklace is the shining star of the outfit and a personal treasures. Background story: A couple years ago I saw a booth at a summer festival that sold gold jewelry made out of real leaves. My boyfriend talked me out of dropping the 45 dollars needed to purchase an oak leaf  necklace and my life went on but in the back of my mind I regretted the decision not to buy. Then a year later I forgot entirely about the regret of not buying a necklace because my Nana unexpectedly passed away. A few days after my Nana's death my mom told me that if I wanted I could look through Nana's jewelry while I was alone in my grandmothers house and could have any pieces I wanted.  I looked through the jewelry with tremendous care over the course of that day... I wondered about each piece and how it came to live with the rest of Nana's jewelry or what was it about a certain piece that Nana was drawn to enough to purchase it. During my final look of the her delicate collection of jewelry I was wrapping up a set of pearls in a yellowing piece of tissue paper like I had found it, when an oak leaf necklace nearly identical to the one I passed up a year earlier fell onto the shag carpeting. I have no idea where it fell from or how I missed it in earlier inspections of the collection but needless to say I was elated. It felt like one last gift from my Nana. When ever I slip this necklace  over my head I, always, smile.  

In it's entirety this is one of those feel good outfits, like my clothes are giving me a pat on the back.  

 Outfit details ::

Stripped Shirt // Wet Seal

Brown crochet sundress // Old Navy from Spring 06

Ring // SLC Farmers Market

 Oak Leaf necklace and earrings // Gifted from Nana