Sometimes there is a balance to things. An order. Other times there is not.

We celebrated the “baby” of the family turning 22 with a “cook-out.”  I think the official term for that is “BBQ.” However, when living in the Ohio Valley, cooking out is a thing that weather controls. Anytime you can “cook out” it’s a celebration in and of itself!  We had it at my oldest daughter’s home. She did everything. Pasta Salad, dips, bread, meatballs, and yes!!!! Hotdogs, hamburgers, and chicken.

 

I can’t remember the last time I ate a hotdog from a grill, at a cook-out. We’ve been trying to be more healthy around here. We don’t get it right all the time, but those hotdogs looked tremendous. Hotdogs are the more easy simple things of this life. Slap some mustard, ketchup, and onion on that guy, and you have treat that calls to memory much about Summer and life and joy. So, I ate the hotdog last night. That easy simple thing. Balance. 😂😁💁

I went to Walmart, only to buy wrapping paper and a few other Walmart grabs. While walking by the clothes section, the clearance rack sang a song to me, called “Terra Sky”

This particular line of clothes they have is so easy and simple, and quite affordable! 

The great big yellow smile sign said $3.

These cute, off shoulder or on, “generous” fit blouses were $3!!

What?  Of course I bought a few! Three bucks here, and I have a few blouses that will easily transition into Fall with some boots and a jacket. So comfortable, and can be dressy, or casual with a change in shoes.🙌

 

Democracy brand boyfriend  jeans, some simple Jewerly accessories from Plunder, knock off Converse style shoes, from Roebuck & Co., and the easy simple look was completely affordable and comfortable.👍

There are gems hanging on a clearance rack. Always let it sing to you.👋

Makeup should be easy too. Some of the things I can’t do without are Cody Airspun loose face powder, of course Lipsense!  Almay Smart Shade face moisturizer, in “Straight up Medium” is a new drugstore find for me. I really like it, and around $8, it fits the budget nicely.

 

I think I’m going to opt for a salad today.  Offsetting the hotdog.✌

Balance.

Easy.

Simple.💞💋✌

Stuff to click:

Pinterest

Facebook

Almay Smart Shade on Amazon

Cody Airspun Loose Powder on Amazon

Plunder Jewelry

Democracy Brand Clothing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I remember sitting on the couch with my Mom about a year ago, almost to the day.  We were talking about the upcoming wedding of my oldest daughter, Rachael.  The conversation turned to what I was going to wear, and then what she was going to wear. She had a blouse she wanted to wear. We walked back into her bedroom. She took the blouse out of the closet and held it up across her chest to show me how it looked, as she looked in the mirror.  She was approaching 89. I remember thinking, as she looked at herself in the mirror, about a time growing up I watched her spraying her hair and putting earrings on.  My Mom had all kinds of jewelry. She had nice clothes. Hair day was Friday, mall shopping was Wednesday. When I was really young, we shopped in Wheeling WV. She would look at clothes. Buy things, I still see her in my mind holding things up to herself, and looking in a mirror, to see how it looked.

I still can smell the hairspray swirling all around the room. I still see her getting ready. That day after I left her apartment, I sat in the car a while. I thought about her, her blouse, how she held it up to see how it looked. How she smiled thinking about the wedding. I thought about how we are as women. How at almost 89, she was holding up a blouse to see how it looked, and asking how it looked.

Several months before she died, she gave me a box of odds and ends jewelry.  I barely looked at it at the time. I put the box in the closet. Couple days after the funeral, I was looking for something, and there was that box.

I remembered. The hairspray swirling all around the room. Her powder compact. Her earrings. Her life. Loss is something so difficult to place into words. Sometimes it’s a deep hole. Sometimes it’s a silent tear. Sometimes it’s a smile. It’s lonely. It’s longing for a better day somewhere in your memory.

 

 

I know that I wouldn’t mind sitting on the floor in her bedroom again, even as the hairspray swirls all around.

💞