As usual I'm staying true to green!
Saturday, August 4, 2012
BACK TO GREEN
I've been off topic lately and thought it high time to get back to what Emerald Obsessive is all about! The Green Slipper Society was spawned from my obsession with green. We are a group of women who find ways to help those less fortunate, have a good time while helping and wearing green shoes! Some of our members have had trouble finding green shoes so I try to keep my eyes open for possibilities. Even though I've purchased a few pairs (ebay.com is my new best friend) I've also taken a couple old pairs of comfortable shoes and turned them into green shoes. This was a pair of those clear Cinderella slides I've had since back in the 90's. I decoupaged them with green images I tore out from a magazine. The pictures don't do them justice because they turned out so cute!
As usual I'm staying true to green!
As usual I'm staying true to green!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
GIVING MYSELF THE GREEN LIGHT
Years ago and I do mean years ago, I was what they would have called the "dancing queen." I absolutely loved to dance and found a way to get to the night clubs where I could get my groove on every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. If it got real good to me, I would find an after hours type joint to get my dancing in. Then I married a man who had no sense of rhythm. I mean he can't even "snap" or "pop" his fingers (much to the dismay of his grandson Jaxon). So I stopped dancing.
Years ago and I do mean years ago, I loved to drink. I didn't drink in excess but enjoyed having mixed drinks while I was out dancing. Then I married a man who never took a drink in his life. So I stopped drinking.
Years ago and I do mean years ago, I loved smoking cigarettes. Not in excess, in fact, those I worked with didn't even know I smoked and that was when we could smoke in the work place. With all of the dancing, drinking and smoking I stayed skinny. Then I married a man who never smoked a day in his life. So I stopped smoking.
Years ago I did marry a man who loved to drive and I absolutely loved riding. I could ride from here to nowhere just to be in the car with the radio blasting. My husband didn't require much in the way of conversation so it was just me and my music. It was a time where all of the thoughts in my head had the opportunity to come forth and be heard without interference from everyday life. That was the time I was the most creative.
Just recently, my husband (my driver) became incapacitated and the riding ceased. As with the dancing, the drinking and the smoking which I quit cold turkey... it just stopped. No warning. Now
it's been a long time since I thought about dancing, drinking and smoking but recently those memories have cropped back up making me wonder if I've missed anything. I probably did my body good by not having the alcohol and cigarette smoke in my system. But the dancing kept me fit and along with the smoking I was able to keep the weight off.
Okay so what's a girl to do? Granted I won't go back to smoking...that's a definite. But an occasional glass of wine won't hurt me surely..might even make me heart healthy! Highway driving I've started doing again..don't necessarily like it but it is an means to an end. Recently while driving and listening to the music...a song came on that I haven't heard in years; Love Song (We Never Danced To A Love Song) by The Manhattans. Oh boy, to be held closely and sway and move simultaneously as one.. wow!!!! Almost orgasmic! Okay..back to reality. Maybe I'll find a line dancing class or a friend to go dancing with. Or perhaps I'll pull out some dance dvd's for the Wii and get my groove on again. Thanks to that song I realized I hadn't "done me" in a long long time.
I know you're wondering where this is going...quite bluntly...I'm giving myself the green light to do some things I want to do. If I want to dance, I will. If I want to drink, I will. If I want to go long distance, I'll drive. Give yourself the green light to do something for you today.
As always, staying true to green!
Years ago and I do mean years ago, I loved to drink. I didn't drink in excess but enjoyed having mixed drinks while I was out dancing. Then I married a man who never took a drink in his life. So I stopped drinking.
Years ago and I do mean years ago, I loved smoking cigarettes. Not in excess, in fact, those I worked with didn't even know I smoked and that was when we could smoke in the work place. With all of the dancing, drinking and smoking I stayed skinny. Then I married a man who never smoked a day in his life. So I stopped smoking.
Years ago I did marry a man who loved to drive and I absolutely loved riding. I could ride from here to nowhere just to be in the car with the radio blasting. My husband didn't require much in the way of conversation so it was just me and my music. It was a time where all of the thoughts in my head had the opportunity to come forth and be heard without interference from everyday life. That was the time I was the most creative.
Just recently, my husband (my driver) became incapacitated and the riding ceased. As with the dancing, the drinking and the smoking which I quit cold turkey... it just stopped. No warning. Now
it's been a long time since I thought about dancing, drinking and smoking but recently those memories have cropped back up making me wonder if I've missed anything. I probably did my body good by not having the alcohol and cigarette smoke in my system. But the dancing kept me fit and along with the smoking I was able to keep the weight off.
Okay so what's a girl to do? Granted I won't go back to smoking...that's a definite. But an occasional glass of wine won't hurt me surely..might even make me heart healthy! Highway driving I've started doing again..don't necessarily like it but it is an means to an end. Recently while driving and listening to the music...a song came on that I haven't heard in years; Love Song (We Never Danced To A Love Song) by The Manhattans. Oh boy, to be held closely and sway and move simultaneously as one.. wow!!!! Almost orgasmic! Okay..back to reality. Maybe I'll find a line dancing class or a friend to go dancing with. Or perhaps I'll pull out some dance dvd's for the Wii and get my groove on again. Thanks to that song I realized I hadn't "done me" in a long long time.
I know you're wondering where this is going...quite bluntly...I'm giving myself the green light to do some things I want to do. If I want to dance, I will. If I want to drink, I will. If I want to go long distance, I'll drive. Give yourself the green light to do something for you today.
As always, staying true to green!
Monday, July 9, 2012
GREEN DRESSES
Over the last few months I've made several purchases on etsy.com. Thus far, the items have been relatively low in price..but all that is about to change! I recently discovered Solome Katongole and her fabulous clothing. Below are a couple I wanted to share with you.
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| photos provided by Solome Katongole/etsy.com |
Thursday, June 28, 2012
THE GRASS ISN'T ALWAYS GREENER
I remember when I was a little girl planning my fairy tale wedding and finding names for the children I would have. In my dream, my Prince Charming would take care of everything: the bills, house repairs, pay a cook, pay a housekeeper and any and everything else he could do to make my life as a princess easy. Along the way, I married a few good husbands, each of whom did their part to keep me as spoiled as my daddy did when I was growing up. As I look back over my life, I realize I've had it very easy. But in between husbands I had to operate as the head of household: paying bills, paying for house repairs, pay to have the grass cut and anything and everything else that had to be done. On top of that I worked full time, went to college full time and raised two sets of twins. (Yeah, I was Superwoman!)
(Fade to the present) As a member of the Baby Boomers I have become a part of the new "married single" That is a new term I just this minute made up! Pay me if you use it!!! However, the married single is this: a wife or husband who is suddenly forced to take over the operation of the household because of the illness or the death of their spouse. So while I gladly allowed myself to be taken out of the game and relegated to a seat on the sidelines, I let myself forget more than I had in my lifetime learned. And let me tell you, the grass wasn't greener on the sidelines. It was brown and dusty from the footprints of others who had chosen to sit on the bench with me. I should've stayed in the game even if it was just on a part time or limited basis.
If I could teach women anything before I die it would be not to remove yourself or allow yourself to be relieved of your duties. If you haven't already, learn how to change a tire, change the furnace filters yourself so you know how it's done. Clean your dryer vent. Find and know how to operate the fuse box. Become familiar with your lawn care people and the exterminators. The one thing I've had to get used to doing is driving on the highway. I had no idea it had been about twenty-one years since I had actually driven any distance longer than going to work, school or shopping. Women don't limit the things you can do for yourself. Yes, it is great to have someone take care of you. But it's so much better to take care of yourself!
Staying true to green!
Rosa
(Fade to the present) As a member of the Baby Boomers I have become a part of the new "married single" That is a new term I just this minute made up! Pay me if you use it!!! However, the married single is this: a wife or husband who is suddenly forced to take over the operation of the household because of the illness or the death of their spouse. So while I gladly allowed myself to be taken out of the game and relegated to a seat on the sidelines, I let myself forget more than I had in my lifetime learned. And let me tell you, the grass wasn't greener on the sidelines. It was brown and dusty from the footprints of others who had chosen to sit on the bench with me. I should've stayed in the game even if it was just on a part time or limited basis.
If I could teach women anything before I die it would be not to remove yourself or allow yourself to be relieved of your duties. If you haven't already, learn how to change a tire, change the furnace filters yourself so you know how it's done. Clean your dryer vent. Find and know how to operate the fuse box. Become familiar with your lawn care people and the exterminators. The one thing I've had to get used to doing is driving on the highway. I had no idea it had been about twenty-one years since I had actually driven any distance longer than going to work, school or shopping. Women don't limit the things you can do for yourself. Yes, it is great to have someone take care of you. But it's so much better to take care of yourself!
Staying true to green!
Rosa
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
GREEN WITH ENVY
I usually talk about most things green and while this particular post will be about green, it will take a different direction.
ENVY or green with envy is what's on my mind tonight. I celebrated my birthday recently and years before I got to this age I thought about all of the things I would've liked to have accomplish before now; a bucket list so to speak. I've always wanted to be on Broadway. I loved to sing growing up and was called on quite regularly to lead a church song or to sing a solo. It wasn't that I was the greatest singer, I think the church used me because I wasn't scared to stand up in front of the congregation. I was cast by a few local civic and community theaters but never as a lead, always in the background. I wanted to stand center stage on Broadway and sing to the heavens. I wanted a casting agent to sit front and center and ask someone after the performance "who was that and why haven't I heard of her before?" I wanted that agent to hand me his card and tell me to call his secretary to set up an appointment to meet with him so he could discuss a leading movie role he had for me.
Which brings me to the second thing on that "wish I had done" list; become an actress. I wanted to take Hollywood by storm. I got married young and had my children early and by the time I could clearly think about making my way to either Broadway or Hollywood, I had too many ties to the small city I had grown up in. There was always something else in the way of my seeking my dream. How dare I think about taking 4 small children away from their grandparents, their school, their friends and their lives? And by the time I was ready to spread my wings, Hollywood had their Debbie Morgans, Loretta Devines, Lynn Whitfields, Lonette McKees and so on and so forth. So those dreams died and the only stage I sing on now is riding in the car and singing to the old songs I grew up listening to...thank God for Sirrius radio!
The third thing I should've wanted to do was to maintain a decent weight and reasonable health. But once I quit smoking in 1988, I immediately gained more weight than I care to announce publicly and sadly never looked back. Just when I tried to do something about losing weight, poor health got in the way. Then when the health was under control, my husband got ill and whatever progress had been made took a back seat to getting him back to healthy.
There were things I wanted him and I to do together, take a dancing class, a cooking class, drive from Mississippi to California, of course taking some of the ride on Route 66 in a Corvette! There were other things along the way that I've wanted to do and now that my husband and I have all the time in the world to do them, I'm almost too tired to even try.
So I live my life vicariously through my children. One of my daughters and her boyfriend recently rode in a helicopter (also on my list). They went to a gun range (on my list too). Both of my daughters know people from Hollywood well enough to call them by their first names (yep, that was on the list as well).
Perhaps my life will take a dramatic shift and suddenly I will be skinny, healthy, have enough money, plenty of time and energy to do at least some of the things I want to do. But until then I will remain emerald obsessed.
ENVY or green with envy is what's on my mind tonight. I celebrated my birthday recently and years before I got to this age I thought about all of the things I would've liked to have accomplish before now; a bucket list so to speak. I've always wanted to be on Broadway. I loved to sing growing up and was called on quite regularly to lead a church song or to sing a solo. It wasn't that I was the greatest singer, I think the church used me because I wasn't scared to stand up in front of the congregation. I was cast by a few local civic and community theaters but never as a lead, always in the background. I wanted to stand center stage on Broadway and sing to the heavens. I wanted a casting agent to sit front and center and ask someone after the performance "who was that and why haven't I heard of her before?" I wanted that agent to hand me his card and tell me to call his secretary to set up an appointment to meet with him so he could discuss a leading movie role he had for me.
Which brings me to the second thing on that "wish I had done" list; become an actress. I wanted to take Hollywood by storm. I got married young and had my children early and by the time I could clearly think about making my way to either Broadway or Hollywood, I had too many ties to the small city I had grown up in. There was always something else in the way of my seeking my dream. How dare I think about taking 4 small children away from their grandparents, their school, their friends and their lives? And by the time I was ready to spread my wings, Hollywood had their Debbie Morgans, Loretta Devines, Lynn Whitfields, Lonette McKees and so on and so forth. So those dreams died and the only stage I sing on now is riding in the car and singing to the old songs I grew up listening to...thank God for Sirrius radio!
The third thing I should've wanted to do was to maintain a decent weight and reasonable health. But once I quit smoking in 1988, I immediately gained more weight than I care to announce publicly and sadly never looked back. Just when I tried to do something about losing weight, poor health got in the way. Then when the health was under control, my husband got ill and whatever progress had been made took a back seat to getting him back to healthy.
There were things I wanted him and I to do together, take a dancing class, a cooking class, drive from Mississippi to California, of course taking some of the ride on Route 66 in a Corvette! There were other things along the way that I've wanted to do and now that my husband and I have all the time in the world to do them, I'm almost too tired to even try.
So I live my life vicariously through my children. One of my daughters and her boyfriend recently rode in a helicopter (also on my list). They went to a gun range (on my list too). Both of my daughters know people from Hollywood well enough to call them by their first names (yep, that was on the list as well).
Perhaps my life will take a dramatic shift and suddenly I will be skinny, healthy, have enough money, plenty of time and energy to do at least some of the things I want to do. But until then I will remain emerald obsessed.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
NO MORE HOBO BAGS
Let me start out by saying I'm sad. Why? I'm sad because hobo bags are out this season. Why does that make me sad? I have a closet full of them. I love the comfort of throwing one over my shoulder and being unhindered in my shopping or whatever errand I happen to run. Structured bags -- ughh! You either have to hold them in your hand or put it in the crook of your arm. It's hard to shop without it sliding around and just simply being in the way. You can put it in the baby seat of the grocery cart, but if you turn your back on it, someone could run off with it...bet you never thought about that had you? Now with the hobo bag even you're out eating, you can place the it in your lap. You can squish it up without fear of ruining whatever fabric it's made of. I guess my point is that a hobo bag gives you a lot of flexibility and freedom. You just don't have to be as careful with it. Structured bags require a little more work. However, since I'm going to be forced to carry the unforgiving purses I'm going to have to add a few to the limited number I have. One has caught my eye. I found this Kate Spade New York Satchel - Grand Street Melinda at Bloomingdale's and it's on sale!
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| pic provided by bloomingdales.com |
Friday, May 18, 2012
VINTAGE GREEN
Recently The Studio Museum of Harlem held its sixth annual Spring Luncheon at New York
City's swanky Mandarin Oriental hotel -- Museum Educator Katrina DeWees wears a vintage dress, necklace and clutch, with Vince Camuto shoes. That's my kind of luncheon attire!
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| pic provided by essence.com |
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