Florida…And Fashion

I don’t enjoy traveling. Mostly because I’m not a good transitioner. All you do is transition when you travel. Hi-speed transitioning for the non transitioner can be quite taxing. Sleeping in beds that are not your own…making babies and children sleep in beds that are not their own…NOT SLEEPING…finding food for 7 people while traveling…having a headache while nowhere near ALL the comforts that usually comfort one with a headache. We have also been notorious for being ill on the road. Not just under the weather…I’m talkin everyone wearing diarrhea-intercepting diapers and toting puke buckets.  Considering that Micah was puking less than 48 hours ago, I can’t say I’m feeling super encouraged this go round. I won’t even get into what traveling was like for me as a child…that’s for the therapists office, twice a month.  Let’s just say everyone just seemed angry to be involved. Overall, I guess it’s mostly the sleeping and the eating and the comfort thing. I just like what I like and I have it pretty well honed after 32 years and it just so happens to all be present at my current address. (I’m basically becoming my 92 year old grandfather…except it’s happening 60 years early…) Some would say my standards are low and that’s somewhat true. I’d say my standards are just my standards. Camping is somehow different for me than traveling. Camping is the grandest, most painful pulling together of every ounce of planning and organizing that I have in me so that I can sit in a camp chair around a fire and ALL my kids can be dirty while my husband warms up a sad pot of soup that I made days prior. That is worth all the packing and heart ache that goes into every camping trip for me. But let me tell you what traveling has that camping does not have. FASHION. I do so enjoy packing for a trip wherein I will not be sleeping on the earth or in a mouse gnawed camper and I won’t (hopefully) be handling any hot, wet marshmallows. 

Practicality is always in the forefront of every clothing choice I make (can I nurse a baby in this…? does this color hide snot well…? can I run after a child in this…? Is it warm while remaining breathable…?) I will take things traveling that I won’t take camping. 

Allow me to begin by  saying that I have been a fan of fashion since the very first garbage bag of hand me downs was dropped off at our front door as a child. I have four brothers and we had very little money…so hand me downs and thrift stores were all I knew of “fashion”.  I could get lost in the bags that came from the homes of other girls. “This is what GIRLS wear!” Girls that aren’t surrounded by boys. Girls that shop at real stores. Girls that use undergarments for things other than mucking out the creek bed.  

 
I am not always eager to share my love of fashion on the blog because some part of me feels a sense of shame attached to it. I feel that there are better, more honorable things to enjoy. Trouble is, when you are born…you don’t exactly get to decide what your likes and dislikes will be. I have been hesitant to really let on that as deep and complex and thoughtful and dynamic as I can be…there is also this side of me that just LOVES style! And accessories! And fabrics! And colors and prints! And a full skirt twirling and blowing in the wind!!  I want to be “above it”…but it simply is not so. So here it comes. The first delving into my fashionable blogging. 

I’ve read maybe 1/2 of 2 fashion blog posts in my life. They don’t really interest me because I know what I like…I don’t need someone else to tell me what to like or why to like it. It’s nice to have some help finding likable things, but otherwise I’m pretty sure of my taste and preferences. So I imagine I would show you what I’m wearing and then wax eloquently thereupon. And that I can do quite easily and I can enjoy it thoroughly.  While I am a thrift shopper to the core and maintained a vintage clothing boutique for a few years solely from scouring other thrifty establishments, there is something really nice about just purchasing a garment that doesn’t have a stain to try to tackle or an alteration to perform or just one detail that you kinda hate. It’s also nice to simply save all the time that might have been spent hunting through several thrift stores and just pay a few dollars more for an item. 

 
Let’s start at the top.  That’s a greasy bun that I used some dry shampoo on. When I’m all out of the dry shampoo my friend Mia makes for me, I like to use this coconut lime stuff from LUSH. It’s a greasy hair luxury. 

Earrings. These are the strangest pair of earrings I’ve ever purchased. I felt surprised when I found them and fell in love with them. There’s a little place in Manheim called the Gem Garden and it is my second favorite jewelry store. They always have this 3 tiered basket of clearance jewelry and that is where I fished these beauties from. I’m usually drawn to antiqued and filigreed jewelry…but these were something completely different. The best part…I put them on layaway with some Christmas stuff for Iris two years ago and completely forgot about them until recently.  Perfect for spring!  

 
That scarf. I picked that off of my friends Goodwill pile a few years ago when I was helping her move and it has been my favorite scarf to date. It’s all in the details.  

 
The Florida necklace. I found this necklace in a filthy church run thrift store in St. Cloud the first time I ever went to Florida.  It was $.50.  It’s just a fun, simple piece of jewelry that Max enjoys playing with.  

 
The Joshua Tree jean jacket. That little jacket has been a coveted MADEWELL item of mine for quite a long time. Like most MADEWELL products, it was far out of my price range…until this one popped up on eBay one day…for a fraction of the cost…Or Best Offer! I love “or best offer” because you get to test the waters to see just how desperate someone is to unload something. Let’s just say that I embarrassed myself with my lowball offer…and they just so happened to be as desperate as I’d hoped. My favorite detail, besides the softness of the denim and the large, accommodating pockets…is the throw back, rounded collar.  

 
This post would not be complete without a shout out to my girl Shelly Wolfe of Stella Blue jewels. She is my favorite jewelry store…if it’s possible for a favorite person to also be your favorite place…then Shelly has accomplished that. I have known Shelly for almost a decade and she is a master of her craft. She not only manufactures high quality jewelry, but she also has a gift for procuring the most unique and interesting treasures I’ve ever seen, most hailing directly from India and possessing all the mystery and magic of South Asia. She hunts tirelessly to bring the rarest and loveliest fabulousness to her clients. Fortunately, I am not only a client but I am also a friend. The benefits are ceaseless. Behold, the Love Bomb.  

   
The other necklace is the Brass Fluidity. I have learned to love mixing metals in the last few years. It’s like wearing navy blue with black. I used to think it wasn’t allowed, but it IS allowed. Do yourself a favor and check out www.stellabluestones.com. 

Speaking of navy blue and black…that cardigan is a Ralph Lauren and it is 100% linen. Do I even need to say more. Yeah, it had a 250 dollar price tag on it…but not by the time I found it on the TJ Maxx clearance rack for 15 bones. My favorite detail, the thicker elbow patches. Is there anything worse than a linen sweater with thinning elbows!?! 

 
The tee shirt. Let’s be real people. I don’t ride motor cycles or do anything with motors of any kind…but I do love a nice, well made, breathable cotton tee. Thank you Brooklyn Motors Repair Shop…for a superior product. 

 
The pants. Once again, MADEWELL for the win. Allow me to throw in this brief disclaimer…I have never purchased a single item of theirs that was not first on sale and then I sit around waiting for their few and far between 40% off sale. Most things I’m stalking are long gone by the time the sales and stars align…but these little cuties were some leftovers that I got lucky on. Unfortunately, the elastic in the ankles was horribly tight and I removed it for a much more relaxed and enjoyable trouser. 

I will briefly touch on my favorite socks that will only be in place until we reach the Carolinas. They are STANCE snowboarding socks that I got for Christmas and my favorite trait of theirs…plays off of a pet peeve of mine… 

 
The “L” and “R” on the toe of the sock ensure that my OCD can thrive and feel embraced…at least by the snowboarding community. And for the record…I do snowboard…occasionally…if I’m not pregnant or holding an infant. And conditions are important. I’m a picky snowboarder. 

Lastly, those shoes. They really aren’t anything to write blog posts about…OR ARE THEY!?  I bought my first pair of Birkenstocks when I was 15 and I have never looked back. I read in a magazine once that they are “birth control for the Germans”. Well, that has not been the case for Mr. Krouse and I.  Turns out, when your feet feel this good, lots of stuff seems like a great idea…like having more kids.  Five children later and we are still in metatarsal heaven. 

I will mention that if you know me at all or have ever seen me…then you probably also know and have seen my leather backpack full of diapers and snacks. As soon as I found out that our first child was going to be children (plural) I had a flash of premonition that both of my arms would me full of babies and a traditional diaper bag would fall off my shoulder and make me want to blow something up. So I bought the only backpack a girl could ever need. Custom Hide out of Arizona makes the finest leather products I’ve seen to date. While you could place an order today at www.customhide.com, that raunchy petina will require years and years of spilled cherry cokes and general abuse with a peppering of leather conditioners.  

 In closing, I would like to say that this was fun. More fun than listening to my kids fight over a gameboy from the early nineties.  Stay tuned for more Fashionable Florida Fun. 

P.S.  This baby is an angel to travel with. I’m not kidding.