Diaries of a Pastoral Fashionista: Memory Clothes

This week's tip: Wear the clothes you're holding onto for sentimental reasons. Wear them!

I hope I'm not the only person who saves clothes because they hold special memories for me. Anyone else do this? The shirt I wore when I was in college and played in the Battle of the Unsigned Artists. The pants I got at Goodwill in 12th grade. The t-shirt I got after my first half marathon. The problem is, I save some things that I never wear again. Bad idea (in my opinion). If you're going to save a garment of any kind - have a specific purpose for it. Turn it into a quilt. Put it in your daughter's "play clothes" box. Or, give it away.

Tuesday I looked into my closet and spotted a shirt I haven't worn for years. Immediately, I was sent back to 2004. I bought the shirt in London with my pal Kristin. I was on a college month-long literary tour of England. It was the first time I'd been out of the country...the first time I'd been away from home for that long....in many ways, that trip was a defining life experience. And whenever I look at my polka dot shirt, I think of that month. However, I realized today, I might as well WEAR the shirt. What's the sense in hanging it up in a closet?



Plus, guess what? When you wear the clothes that bring back your favorite memories, your bound to make new wonderful memories. That's absolutely what happened to me!



Remember, this week's word is: Create! Email me your pictures soon.

Nature Tuesday

Some weeks I don't cook any recipes.
And then, I have no new recipes to share for "Cookin' It Old School" Tuesday.

This is one such week. I didn't cook a single recipe!

So instead, how about some nature photos taken over the last few days?
I hope you had a delightful weekend.
Did you do some remembering for Memorial Day?
Did you hike or bike?

Did you happy to start a BNL (Brand New Life)
with a more happy, positive attitude (I started one this morning!)?

Music Monday

Soundtrack of the Week
5 songs I recommend as background music for the next 7 days of your life.

Morning Jam: Fall Into Love by Rabbit

Theological Persuasion: Til My Days are Through by Sanders Bohlke

Love Me, Love Me Not: You and Me by Penny and the Quarters
(Theme song from my new favorite movie: Blue Valentine.
It's a brilliant movie, but very real and raw.
I would only recommend watching it if you do some research on it
and it still sounds appealing to you.
I thought it was amazing.)

Ridiculously Terrible but Awesome Pop: Teenage Dream by Katy Perry
(Eeeek....This may or may not be one of the most-listened to songs on my Ipod.)

Bedtime: Let It Be Me by Ray LaMontagne

Personal Goal this Week (new addition): Meditate daily. I started this new plan on Saturday and already forgot on Sunday! Ooops!

Diaries of a Pastoral Fashionista: Sarah Edition

Today's fashionista is my wonderful, creative pal, Sarah. In addition to being a great friend, she is also a great pen-pal and a very stylish lady. Follow her on Twitter!
She is oh-so-clever and oh-so-cute.

Take it away, Sarah....



Ever since I was little, I've been a "girly-girl". I love wearing skirts, dressing up, doing my hair, putting on makeup, choosing jewelry, and painting my nails. But as a "grown-up", I've developed a style that's less girly and a little more indie and chic (and colorful!).

I live in an awesome city for fashion (Chicago) so I have lots of inspiration as well as lots of places to find great clothing. I still grab bargains from places like Target, Old Navy, and H&M, but boutiques and resale shops are great places to find interesting pieces. (The amber and silver lightning bug pin is a find from a vintage show at a county fairground!) I'm a big fan of basics--skirts, tops, dresses--layered with funky jewelry. (And I'm a big proponent of this adage: "Before you leave the house, put on one more piece of jewelry.")

I'm an avid knitter and I love making things for myself to wear. The best thing about knitting your own pieces is that you have a one-of-a-kind article! I love knitting cardigans--the green and purple striped cardigan is really bright and eye-catching and I can wear it with a skirt or jeans. The green shawlette is lovely, bright, soft, and just girly enough for me (the pattern is called "Citrus" because it looks like a slice of lime).

My favorite trend right now is to paint all my nails one color (usually something neutral) and paint one nail on each hand a completely different color (usually something bold or bright). You can see in the photo I've used very light pink and navy blue, but you can use any colors. Experiment! Be bold!

Weekly Vlog

Helpful Meditation Links:

Article about 8 week meditation results

Basic Meditation Tips

Christian Meditation (if that's more your flavor)

Mantra Ideas:
-God is peace.
-Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
-Believe. Believe. Believe.
-Present. Present. Present.

I'm officially starting today, Saturday - May 28th. Join me!
Email or comment and let me know if you're going to try, too - we can check-in throughout the coming days.

Word of the Week: Surprise

Problems Commenting?

Hello friends.
Guess what? Lots of folks with Blogger blogs (like mine) have had troubles with the "comment" feature for the last two weeks. Blogger is aware of this. Their main advice is: erase the history and cookies on your browser and try again.

Do you need to know how to erase your history and cookies? Try:
http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser
Basically you choose "Tools" at the top of your screen. And then at the bottom is the choice "Internet Options" and then you can delete history from there.

Another suggestion is to read Blogger blogs in a browser other than Internet Explorer: firefox, safari, chrome, or whatever other brower you like.

Here's a quick summary of the easiest way to post a comment:

#1 - Click on the word 'comments' at the end of a post
#2 - Type your comment in the box
#3 - Scroll down beside the 'Comment as' line and choose the 'Name/URL' option
#4 - Type in your name (no need to add a URL)
#5 - Click 'Post Comment'

If you are still having struggles after trying these steps, please let me know through email. Thanks!

Thankful Thursday

Please share at least one thing (large or small or medium-sized)
you are thankful for this week!

Ready, set, share.

Leaving a comment is sometimes challenging when using Internet Explorer. I recommend reading this blog with another browser if it is possible (Safari or Firefox).

You can leave a comment by #1 - Clicking on the word 'comments' at the end of a post, #2 - typing your comment in the box, #3 - Scrolling down to the 'Comment as Name/URL' option, #4 - type in your name, #5 - Click 'Post Comment.'

Diaries of a Pastoral Fashionista: 1 Skirt, 3 Ways

Today's tip: Mix it up!

There is a treasure of outfits RIGHT in your closet just waiting to be discovered. Try to throw away every fashion rule you think you know (because there really aren't any rules), and just experiment. Play. Have fun.

It's likely you don't have time to goof around every day looking for the perfect outfit. No problem! But maybe once a month you get together with girlfriends for coffee? Or maybe you have a date night now and then with your significant other? Those are great opportunities to try something new.

Or, if you feel your closet is lacking....there is probably a treasure of outfits in your friend's closet....as is the case in my life! A pal from church was down-sizing her wardrobe last week, and she gave me a giant bag of treasures to look through before she donated the rest. Rejoice! It was awesome!

One of my favorite treasures is the skirt you'll see in just a moment. I loved my friend's kind gesture, I am a "pass it on" girl myself. Swapping clothes and sharing clothes is awesome for a number of reasons. It's environmentally-friendly, it's budget-friendly, and it's a perfect opportunity to be creative. Here are three looks with one skirt. You can do the same! Mix and match! Play dress-up with your own closet.

Also, don't forget! It's almost time for "Word of the Week." I have only received one photo so far! Send me your "surprise" photos by tomorrow night, okay? I need your help! Remember, it can be an old photo or a new photo.

Cookin' It New School

Today's recipe is not old school. It's new school.A pal at church clipped the following recipe out of an advertisement! It's so tasty. My friend and I made it for a luncheon on Sunday.

It's a fruit salad. And it is YUM. YUM. YUM. I've been eating it for 2 days now, and I still love it. Today for lunch I had it over yogurt. Dive right in. It's delicious!



The feedback after the church lunch event was very positive! People loved this recipe and gobbled it up very happily. One 8-year-old grabbed me by the shoulder in the middle of the event, "Pastor Emily, I like your fruit salad." Does it get any better than that?





And now some neat-ure pictures!

Music Monday with a New Addition

Soundtrack of the Week
5 songs I recommend as background music for the next 7 days of your life.

Morning Jam: L.O.V. by Fitz and the Tantrums
(I really dig this band's sound. Do you?)

Theological Persuasion: Lovers without Love by Joshua James

Love Me, Love Me Not: Heartbeat by Nneka
(Beautiful stuff)

Ridiculously Terrible but Awesome Pop: Every song I've heard so far by Ellie Goulding
(I think she's British; one more reason I love her! Check her out if you like pop music.)

Bedtime: Anchor by Mindy Gledhill
(A lovely voice. This song is great, too.
I'm growing my out hair until it looks exactly like hers in that video!)

Personal Goal this Week (new addition): Let it go! Oh my goodness...I'm back to being a worry-wart, over-analyzer lately. Sundays and Mondays are the trickiest for me, because they are the days that I interact with the most people (several hundred). Then I worry-up-a-storm for the following few days, hoping I didn't say or do something annoying, offensive, or hurtful. I have to learn to let go of this. I'm not sure how to actually "let go" and stop worrying. But I'm at least going to make more of an effort. What is YOUR goal this week?

Word of the Week: Reminder

A joyful Sunday to you!
Time for a quick reminder.
On Friday, we will celebrate another "Word of the Week" by sharing photos.

Your assignment: Take photos that relate in some way, shape, or form to the word:
Surprise!
These can be photos you've taken recently or photos from long ago.
Surprise has a variety of meanings....as a verb and a noun.

–verb
1. to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment
2. to come upon or discover suddenly and unexpectedly

–noun
1. an act or instance of surprising or being surprised.
2. something that surprises someone; a completely unexpected occurrence, appearance, or statement

-synonymns
astonish, amaze, astound

There are almost NO rules with this project.
It's just fun to share our photos and connect them to a word.
If you have a special way you'd like your photo formatted, please let me know.
Otherwise, I try to edit them so they are all the same width.

I'm looking forward to seeing your awesome "surprise!" photos soon!
Please email me your pictures by Thursday evening.

Here are a few samples to get your wheels turning...

Diaries of a Pastoral Fashionista: Hannah

Today we are in for a real treat.

My pal Hannah is today's fashionista, and friends, let me tell you:

this girl has great style. S-T-Y-L-E!

After you see today's post, I know you'll want to chick on over to Hannah's excellent blog. Not only is she adorable, clever, kind, and creative....she is also an amazing photographer. http://zhparris.blogspot.com/

Thanks for joining us, Hannah!

Hello Life Breathing readers! I was so excited that Emily asked me to be part of her Fashionista feature that I could hardly decide what to share with you: my shoes, my vintage jewelry, my (too many) skirts? Then I thought more about what Emily always shares on her blog: just be yourself.

So I decided I will just share a little piece of myself with you all. I'm a PK (pastor's kid), and then I ended up marrying a Lutheran pastor, too. There have been many times in my life where I've felt extra pressure to conform to what society thinks a pastor's family or pastor's spouse should be. Here's the thing, though: I've never been much for conformity, and fashion is one way that I've always expressed myself. Even as a little girl I chose my own outfits, and family photos definitely prove my penchant for bright colors, mixed prints, and wild accessories!

The same holds true today. I choose clothes that I love to wear, that make me feel good about myself, and that I think tell other folks a little bit about me.

In the spirit of being myself, I am disclosing my undying love of scarves. When living in Chicago during seminary, scarves were essential, but now that we live in Southern California, I've been struggling to find ways to use them. After all, what's the point of having a pretty piece of clothing or accessory if you never wear it? My best solution has been to use my lighter-weight scarves in my hair or around my waist. I love how versatile scarves can be, especially when used as a belt. You can change the entire look of an outfit simply by cinching a scarf at your waist. You can tie it in the front, side or back, in a knot or a bow, or even pin it in place with your favorite brooch. Just have fun with it!

And...one of the best things about scarves is that they are generally really affordable, which is a must for a bargain shopper like me. Most of mine have come from clearance racks, street vendors (when traveling abroad), vintage/consignment shops, and my favorite...my mother's dresser (don't worry, I made sure she didn't want them anymore).

So go ahead and try using a scarf or any other accessory in an unexpected way. Or add a pop of color to your outfits. Most importantly, find clothes that are "you" and wear them proudly!

Weekly Vlog

Hey folks! Thanks for joining me for another week of vlogging fun.

Word of the Week: Curious