SHINY COINS AND GOLDEN WISDOM

I love blogging! You could say I'm obsessed . First I want to thank all my wonderful new friends for their support, and say a big HI to my new followers! It means so much to feel appreciated and that others enjoy my point of view, even if you don't always agree with me. That's what's so beautiful about well rounded women. We encourage each other to be ourselves without apologies!!! O.K.... about my outfit !

It started with these shoes I thrifted. I believe their from the 80's. I loove the cameo faces on them! Just a year ago I would have not given them a second glance, but fashion blogging has made me appreciate all kinds of styles and not be stuck in one certain box. I now check all the little boxes! I still veer towards boho, but LOVE to mix it up and not be afraid of change. After all, fashion should be fun! An expression of our creativity and beauty. I will add a really neat editorial from Glamour at the end of this post. It really will be the most important 433 words you may ever read. It moved me to tears. But............... Back to the outfit!

I usually start with an accessory I want to wear, or shoes. Then I added my all time favorite pant by El Hurache. They have bleach stains and I originally bought them as p.j.'s, but they are the perfect baggy and gotta love a tie-waist and 100% cotton. I've had 'em for years. The more u wear 'em, the better they hang!
Then, a thrifted sequined top I bartered down to a dollar at Salvation Army. I love to mix styles, so I added a bohoish macrame' belt. A thrifted scarf and aviators and done. Eclectic City ! (Sorry about the cig. I'm trying to quit - send happy vibes to help me :)

Think about how many sequins it took to cover this top (a few are missing, but I don't mind). How much time it took to sew them on. I wouldn't sell it for a thousand dollars if I had to do all that beading!

THE MOST IMPORTANT 433 WORDS TO READ THIS MONTH

No matter how sophisticated and grown-up we become, everyone has her insecure days. In this excerpt from her new book, Eve Ensler celebrates the true power of a woman. Read it and send it on to a girlfriend you love.

Dear Emotional Creature: 

I believe in you. I believe in your authenticity, your uniqueness, your intensity, your wildness. I love the way you dye your hair purple, or hike up your short skirt, or blare your music while you lip-synch every single memorized lyric. I love your restlessness and your hunger. You possess the energy that, if unleashed, could transform, inspire and heal the world.

Everyone seems to have a certain way they want to be-your mother,father,teachers,religious leaders,politicians, boy-freinds,fashion gurus,celebrities,girlfriends. In reporting my new book, I learned a very disturbing statistic. 74 % of young women say they are under pressure to please everyone.

I have done a lot of thinking about what it means to please: to be the wish or will of somebody other than yourself. To please the fashion setters, we starve ourselves. To please men, we push ourselves when we aren't ready. To please our parents, we become insane over-achievers. If you are trying to please, how do you take responsibility for your own needs? How do you even know what your own needs are? The act of pleasing makes everything murky. We lose track of ourselves. We stop directing our lives. We forget what we know. We make everything O.K. rather than real.

I have had the good fortune to travel around the world. Everywhere I meet teenage girls and women giggling, laughing as they walk country roads or hang out on city streets. Eclectic girls. I see how their lives get hijacked, how their opinions and desires get denied and undone. So many of the women I have met are still struggling late into their lives to know their desires, to find their way.

Instead of trying to please, this is a challenge to provoke, to dare, to satisfy your own imagination and appetite. To take responsibility for who you are., to engage. Listen to the voice inside you that might want something different. It's a call to your original self, to move at your own speed, to walk with your step, to wear your color.

When I was your age, I didn't know how to live as an emotional creature. I felt like an alien. I still do a lot of the time. I am older now. I finally know the difference between pleasing and loving, obeying and respecting. It has taken me so many years to be O K with being different. With being this alive, this intense. I just don't want you to have to wait that long.      Love, Eve Ensler 

Eve Ensler's new book is I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World.

( from Glamour Magazine, March 2010 )

I pass this on to all of you!

Love, * Reva *