t.g.i.f. // thank goodness I'm fabulous

Meet Tess.

Tess is the gem who hired me a couple of months ago and opened up the door for me to embark on what is now the best gig I could ask for.  Tess opened Fayetteville's unique boutique, Savoir Faire a handful of years ago, and other than maybe her new down parka, it's her baby.  I'm featuring Tess on this weeks' tgif not only because she's my boss, but because she truly is fabulous - inside and out.

"Oh Windom, I'm a total dork in pictures."
"Tess, no you're not!  Just act casual."

W- What's your favorite fashion memory?  It could be something you wore, something a celebrity wore, or something you just dreamed of wearing.

T- Hmm...something I wore... My rehearsal dinner dress.  It's For Love & Lemons.  I wore a flower crown and...OH!  NO!  This dress in Paris!  This was on my honeymoon.

free people 

W- What was your favorite thing about Paris?

T- The lawn, the husband, and the champagne... Nothing else mattered. 

xoxo

t.g.i.f // thank goodness I'm fabulous

Well, it's Friday and you know what that means?  I survived my first week back at the good ole U of A.  This spring, I thought it'd be fun to add a little something to the blog.  Each Friday I will bring you the fabulous looks of those around me- some I may know, some I may not!  I see so many cool cats strolling through campus and I decided it's time to share their creativity with the world.  (Well, the itty bitty percent of the world that reads my blog.)  I'm so excited about this, and I look forward to meeting some very neat people and hearing their stories.  Dress fab, because you never know when you'll be my next victim. ;)

happy weekend!  

xoxoxo

W 

Meet my first of many new friends, Hunter and Clarissa.  I stumbled upon these two while walking home from yoga.  

"How long were you a Girl Scout?  And more importably, what's your favorite cookie?"

"Oh, I wasn't a Girl Scout.  I just liked the shirt."

curtain call

I wore many hats in high school.  I was volleyball captain.  Sang in the choir.  Served on Student Council.  Sported my Elle Woods hat for the year I was on the mock trial team.  And even won a dinky pageant that landed me a very pretty tiara and a free meal at Arby's. However, my favorite extra curricular during my years as a Golden Hurricane was my involvement in the theater department.  That's right.  I was the tall, blonde theater kid who would practice her monologue in the middle of math class and everyone would just assume I was as weird as I dressed...

My acting class was my favorite hour of the school day.  I'd head out to the trailer, (literally...class was in a trailer...)  toss my bag into the heap of doodled on Jansports, and begin to create with some of my dearest friends.  Believe it or not my specialty in the class was improv.  My best friend Drew and I could turn the most obscure of scenarios into a four to six minute masterpiece.

Being the theater kid turned hopeful Carrie that I am, my utmost, most adored, most wonderful, number one, favorite aspect of the theater...the costumes.

The acting, blocking, and facial expressions could only take you so far.  It wasn't until you slipped into your costume that you truly believed you were someone else.  And I'd bet that more than 99 percent of actors have been taught that you can't convince the audience that you're someone else, until you believe it for yourself.

Yes, whether it was my pinstripe butch suit I had to wear as a Shakespearian futuristic police officer, or my fabulous vintage ensemble I wore in our Christmas musical, the costume always made the character...

I've graduated...Finished my first year and a half at this thing called college...And sadly, it's been that long since I've been in any sort of production.  However, from time to time, I still slip on a costume.  No, nothing for the stage, but a costume for Windom, for my day to day routine.

Don't get me wrong, I am very confident in my own skin.  But sometimes, it's fun to throw on a "costume" just for kicks and giggles.  It might be fooling the local barista by using "Georgia" as my Starbucks alias, or speaking in an Aussie accent as I checkout in Walgreens.  (Both of which I am guilty of doing on more than one occasion.)

We all have various costumes that we may strip from our closet now and then.  The shy girl.  The quirky girl.  The sporty girl.  (WARNING: if you're going to try this one, you better study up)  The flirty girl.  The I don't give a care who sees me dancing like a rabies ridden flamingo girl.  The damsel in distress girl.  The oh yeah, The National is my favorite band too, even though I can't name a single song girl.

Sometimes costumes are fun.  Sometimes they get us into trouble.  Sometimes we become so consumed with the costume, that we forget who's underneath.

That's the beautiful thing about a costume, it isn't permeant.  You put it on.  You take it off.  You appreciate the true you underneath the facade.

So every once in a while, put on a costume!  It might be for the night.  It might be for the hour.  It might be for the five minutes you're standing in line at Target.  Find out which costumes amp up your self esteem, and be sure to rid yourself of those that make you feel not so wonderful.

You don't NEED a costume.  The coolest costume one can wear is that of themselves.

But don't be afraid to experiment from time to time.  Find your favorite character.  Let her have her fifteen minutes of fame.  Call for the curtain to close, ditch the costume, and appreciate you!

xoxoxoox

W

aforementioned best friend / improv partner Drew featuring vintage glam Christmas musical costume 

oh baby baby

Ya know those families that you see on TLC specials?  The families that are too big, too loud, and  too female heavy?  Well that's my family.  Except I wouldn't change a thing.  I come from a family full of girls.  This summer we were nominated for a reality show.  Not a joke, people.  However, that's a different post entirely...

Anyway, my family is currently in the process of producing a new generation of tall blondes.  By that I mean that two of my cousins and one cousin-in-law are all with child.  Mary Catherine and Elizabeth are sisters who are sharing their time to glow.  Only three weeks between their due dates, the two sisters will be changing diapers at the same rate.  This is Elizabeth's third baby, and for MC, it's her first rodeo.  Elizabeth is having a baby boy, while MC is carrying around a sweet little girl.  

the name game:

Like fashion, names go in and out of style.  Although some names are classic, timeless.  I'm taking a poll.  My cousins are busy doodling monograms and researching Greek roots of names... It's your turn to add to the fun!  What names are your favorites?  

My Picks:

Classic:

Ellen

June

Claire

Family:

Bankston (Banks)

Cynthia 

Minor

just for fun:

Violet

Jett

Georgia

my sweet Aunt Tricia and I celebrating the gender reveal for Elizabeth's baby boy


xoxo

W

mark your spot

If you live anywhere near the tri-state area, you've probably seen, heard of, or viewed an image of my cat, Miss Kitty.  Coming in at 20 inches and nearly 40 pounds, she's quite the visual distraction.  Miss Kitty is many things, but one thing she is NOT is stupid.  On occasion, she's probably the most intelligent in the house. Ya know, cats really are bright beings who love to leave their "mark" on places.  No silly, I'm not talking about urinating or anything of that sort.  There's a spot on the entry way to our living room... a dark spark on the white washed wood that Miss Kitty has "marked" as hers.  For the past fifteen years she has rubbed her face against this certain spot, and overtime she has worn the wood down and created a series of black stripes on the wood.  While mom sometimes gets angry about the spot, calling it "dirty" and "tacky," she looks past the vanity of it, and sees it as Miss Kitty's spot.  It's her special place.  A place she's made for herself.

I don't suggest looking up to the sleeping or eating habits of my furry friend, but with her dirty spot she teaches us a valuable lesson.  This world is so big and there are so many people running around in it.  We've all got to go out there and mark our spot.  It might take some time.  We might dirty things up a little bit in the process.  But, at the end of the day, it's going to be a sweet and beautiful thing.  Use 2014 to figure out what kind of mark you want to make on this world, on the people around you, on yourself. 

the queen 

one of my favorite shots of all time with Marc the Kitty


xoxooxox
-W 

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I used to be the girl who thought up a gazillion resolutions with the coming of a new year.  However this year, I'm going to keep it simple.  I already strive to live by my mantra- Be smart.  Be hot.  Be happy.  Be holy.  For twenty fourteen, I'll be adding just a few guidelines to the list:

I'm going to stop overanalyzing.

I'm going to follow my heart.

I'm going to be a blessing for a stranger each day- even if it's something small.

Cheers to a new year!