Blogger Meetup at Poshmark Live LA

On Thursday, March 22, I met up with Rena of Fine-Whatever.
We attended the Poshmark Live party at the SLS Hotel. It was a low admission fee ($10) and we went hoping to learn some new tips for selling out of our Poshmark Closets.

Small bites were offered on trays, we made a toast with these guacamole-filled trumpets:

There was going to be a pep talk with Poshmark's founder, Manish Chandra, in one of the ballrooms.
I planted myself in a chair (still freshly gimpy from my vacation fall) and passed the time sketching.

Most of my muses are in the blurry background!

[photo by Rena]

The talk was very, um, peppy. (Yes, I'm a jaded ex-corporate worker bee).
Was it worth it? Well, I guess it was worth $10.

Spending time chatting with Rena was, of course, priceless.
We both admitted guilt of impulse buying off the site -- there are flash sales that encourage this sort of thing.
Here are some of my failures (mostly fit issues) that I'm now reselling:

Don't ask about the Brown Shoe Obsession. I have no explanation for you!

It's not all bad buys, I HAVE found some great items on Poshmark --
shoes (Fluevogs even), scarves, Lularoe items.

Links to our Closets (sorry, US purchasers only) (you may have to sign up to see items):
I sell lots of weird vintage garments and accessories, many that I got from friend Larry's stash.
I also have a boatload of earrings and necklaces yet to list that I made in the '80s, from vintage glass beads.
Rena's Closet (Finewhatev) is more practical (like Rena herself!).

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday.

Are you on Poshmark? Leave your Closet Name in the comments!

Meeting and Mending, Seattle and Portland

The sad news?
No Meet and Mend happened in Seattle.

The happy news?
I met up with Sherry of Petite Over 40 in Seattle and mended in Portland!

Slowly, during my drive up to and my stay in Seattle it transpired that first the venue for the Meet and Mend had to change and then everyone (except Sherry) bailed. That didn't stop us! We went on a boat! And ate a whole package of macarons!

Sherry displays our sea-worthy snack.

Strawberry, the last macaron. We spent way more time gabbing and eating than looking at the scenery.

One of the many ferries in the harbor. You can [not] see how hazy it was from the fires in British Columbia.

I didn't take many photos until we got near the container ships.
Boatloads of #dailytruck components!

Sherry is organizing a Blogger Meetup in early October, and I'm going!
Contact her directly if you'd like to join in, especially if you live in the Seattle area.
I might try to get another Meet and Mend happening, not sure yet.

On to mending...
I was hoping to start sewing during my train ride down to Portland.
Nope.
I checked in at Seattle's King St. Station so late, I ended up riding backwards with no tray table.

The next day, I worked on my first mending project:

All I had to do was sew up the side seams of my ruana to turn it into a tunic.

Ta da!
This was taken at Fred Meyer's. I designed the prints in those men's lounge pants.

What size are these? XXL?

Mending project #2 went on some adventures.

I started with silk buttonhole twist, which now I'm thinking wasn't the best choice -- the knots aren't holding.

The end of the yellow silk buttonhole twist, a little over 4 rows of stitching.

The mending visits Powells.

The mending takes flight.

I have a long way to go on this piece. I'll keep taking pictures of places it goes!

Linking up with Shelbee's On the Edge
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

Fierce 50 Fun In the June Gloom

It was fun despite the lack of sun. 

Day after simulation of my attire, including the hat and goodie bag c/o Chico's.
The "Matadors" muumuu has a good back story that I told in this old post.

About 30 women from the Fierce 50 Facebook group convened under the Hermosa Pier on Saturday.

There was a drone, and lots of InstaHusbands taking photos.

We didn't let the gloomy marine layer get us down.

Can you tell we all got into the 4th of July spirit with our red, white, and blue attire?

Rena's and my red toes in the cold, cold sand

What came in the goodie bag?

"Hello Beautiful" pouch with Madison Reed hair care samples

Arctic Cool cooling towel -- so awesome!

Mom Energy, by Ashley Koff and Kathy Kaehler

Dermalogica lip treatment -- LOVE!

Belt from Manna Dabholkar [hidden]

Lylo [Love Yourself Love Others] rubber bracelet

Tote (similar) and hat from Chico's

Big shoutout to Catherine Grace O'Conner and Jodie Filogomo for organizing this weekend series of events.
It was a super fun time, meeting all these fellow over-fifty Fiercies.

Ladies, are you 50+ and interested in joining the revolution? 
Find us on Facebook and Instagram @the fierce50revolution

Linking up with
Patti's Visible Monday
Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike
Shelbee's Spread the Kindness
Judith's Hat Attack (finally wearing a hat in a post!)
Cherie's Shoe and Tell
Rena's Fine-Whatever

December Over-40 Blogger Meetup and Artwork

18 of you kindly signed up for the LA December 2-4 Meetup newsletter. I'm finally writing sending the first one out today! Hotel info is in it (thank you Pao!) plus more or less the same "schedule" as this post I wrote last month (which I didn't locate until after I'd written the newsletter. Sigh.)
If anyone is concerned about getting bombarded with email newsletters -- you can put those fears to rest now. You are also welcome to sign up even if you know that you can't make it. If you're on the newsletter list, you get benefits!
(Do I know what they are? Ha. Not saying).

Sign up here:

Subscribe to the 40+ Blogger Meet-Up mailing list

fill in boxes, email required

Email Address *

First Name

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Meanwhile, back in the "studio"...

Next to my keyboard is this disheveled mess:

In the digital realm, it is much more organized:

I am having the above portraits (and more) printed at 6 x 4" with an acrylic coating.
I plan to have at least 54.
My first test run:

SJ gave me a great hanging suggestion to use Command Hanging Strips, which deploy a strong velcro-like grip system with an adhesive backing. (If you click on the link, you will see MC Hammer. I kid you not! I'm not trying to get affiliate click$$$, promise!)

I found a jumbo pack of them at Costco on Friday:

I'm testing them out on my dirty untreated wall and so far, so good.

More Joy!

I had the worst laughing hangover after this weekend. I don't regret one minute of it.

The top secret spy captures can be found here. "On the hush hush, and very QT"

Over and out!

52 Pick-me-up: Raspberry / Perfection / Friendship

•••  

This very vibrant dress has been getting social.

It met Maricel in Claremont, as mentioned last week.

photo by Susie Eaton Thorp at her gallery Bunny Gunner
artwork by Karen Karlsson

It crossed international borders and went to the 40+ blogger meetup in Vancouver, BC

With Sheila of  Ephemera and Pao of Project Minima
photo by Suzanne Carillo (source)

Dare I say that it's a perfect friend?

Raspberry / Perfection / Friendship -- link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Rose / Soulmate / Treasure

•••  

These are roses from my garden. Super fragrant, I like to turn them into rose petal jam. 

Roses, the flower of romance.
So why does my rose circle skirt hate me?
Is my love affair with skirts over? Are we no longer soulmates?

This just felt all kinds of wrong. I tried tucking in the shirt and it was even worse. 

Relationships change. It's important to adapt.
Or repurpose, in the case of garments.

So much better, right? 

I hoisted the skirt up to chest level and I like the look. Into the "fix it" pile it goes.

I had a wonderful meetup with Maricel of My Closet Catalogue on Friday in Claremont.
We had become Blogging BFFs over the past year and a half and the stars finally aligned correctly.
We talked of many things, one being the culling of closets (we both are using Poshmark and are finding it a devil's bargain because we are both experiencing greater influx than intended outflow of items. Those Mary Janes up there came from Poshmark).
Anyway, I described this decluttering book I'd read about: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo (I haven't read it yet). The basic premise is to approach an item and ask yourself if you love it and it brings you joy (I'm also taking a Wear Your Joy self-guided e-course that is tackling this concept). Maricel made the astute observation, "What do you do about perceived loved garments vs the reality of them not really looking that great?" [Not a direct quote -- Maricel, do you remember exactly what you said?] It's a quandary. Minimalists would say BANISH. Maricel and I are maximalist Geminis, we let our "precious" treasure linger and build up.

[source]

For me, it's an ongoing process and involves repurposing.

PURCHASED/ GIFTED (band shirt)/ LINKS/ 

Rose red, soulmates, and/or treasure? Link and tell!