Outfit Inspiration: Pinterest - Winter Pastels

I turned to Pinterest again to search my boards for outfit inspiration. I finally chose this outfit. I typically use these pins as spring boards to build an outfit. While the outfit from Pinterest is lovely and I could totally see myself wearing something like it, I wanted to do something a little bit different. Unfortunately, I am not real thrilled with how this turned out. I decided to post it anyway, because we are ever changing human beings and we are not always spot on, no matter what social media influencers make you think.

I have always wanted to keep this blog real. I am a real person with health issues, mental struggles and emotional ups and downs. This affects my content. It affects how often I post and how put together my outfits look. This past weekend when I took these pictures I was really struggling with fatigue. Being still undiagnosed with what caused my health crisis back in 2021 my body seems to struggle with being at “full health” most of the time. It’s okay. This is life and I am thankful I can still do things and still bring you content even if it is not always perfect.

That being said, I am currently on a journey to do what I can to be healthier. At the suggestion of my digestive health doctor, due to a hiatal hernia, I am trying to lose a few pounds and eat healthier. I joined Weight Watchers and it is helping me to make better choices, as well as lose weight through tracking and portion control. I left in the picture of my pants, even though they look silly, but you can see they are a bit baggy and slouchy due to some of the weight loss.

I decided to use my pastel green, open front, Christopher and Banks sweater instead of a similar colored pullover that I could have used. I love this light colored, textured piece.

Style Tip: If you are getting tired of the darker colors we often reach for in the colder months try changing things up a bit by throwing in a few pastels or super bright colors to give your day a boost.

My thrifted Oxford gray, Sonoma pullover sweater is a light weight piece that works much like a long sleeve tee, but has the fun detailing of the ribbed bottom, boat neck, and wrists.

Style Tip: Look for light weight sweaters at thrift stores or end of season sales to add to your basics pile of layering pieces.

These Stitch Star jeans from Meijer are definitely showing their wear and will probably need to be passed along one day soon.

I wanted a similar scarf to the original pin with a touch of another pastel color. Theirs was more of a purply pink, so I pulled out a scarf that had the light green, but also some splashes of purple and pale pink,

I chose pale pink for my other accessories, except my necklace which is dark purple agate. My cross body bag and my metallic Circus by Sam Edelman combat boots are both thrifted.

I thought I would add pictures to show you a few other ways to wear the scarf with this outfit.

What do you think of this outfit? I think the overall concept is a good one: cardigan, light weight sweater, pants/jeans, scarf and accessories. However, if I did it again I think I would swap out the the faded jeans for a dark black pair. I am also still not sold on the metallic combat boots. I am not sure why. I think they are adorable when I look at them, but when I put them on I feel unsettled. Ha, ha. Yes I do have an emotional relationship with my clothes.

Let me know what your thoughts are. I always love your feedback.

No shopping links this week. Be sure to stop by the blog on Thursday for another Mulling it Over Post where I continue to dive deep into Romans 8.

What is Going on with the Blog?

Hello everyone! It has been a very long few months and I feel that I owe all of you an explanation. From the middle of spring I started experiencing cold like symptoms that at the time I attributed to allergies. I went along, taking my antihistamines every day and using the ones with decongestants when I needed as I began to have congestion and a cough. I muddled through May and June, but by mid July I began to think I had a sinus infection as I was not showing any signs of improvement.

Over the course of the next four and a half months I would have numerous conversations via my online medical app with my primary care doctor. I would also end up in the urgent care on two different occasions, and have two ER visits. I would end up sleeping (and I use that word lightly, because I hardly slept) on the couch since my cough was so incessant I could not lay down. I had three rounds of different antibiotics, two orally and one delivered via my neti pot. I had three rounds of oral steroids, the last which titrated down over the course of a month. I also ended up on two different inhalers and two psych meds to trick my brain into thinking I didn’t have to cough.

The turning point came when I woke up one morning mid October, and took my blood oxygen level (which I had been doing since my daughter gave me a pulse ox meter). A good reading will be in the mid to upper 90’s. Mine was 85. I had been losing my appetite over the last month or so, and that morning I started vomiting. I called my husband on the home phone from my spot on the couch and said, “I think it is time. I need to go to the hospital.” Over the course of those months, I had gotten tested for Covid two different times. I had no fever, ever, but the cough was so bad, I would have been negligent if I didn’t get checked. The test came back negative both times.

We got to the ER at about 7AM and the place was almost deserted; a God thing, since hospital ER’s have been full and overflowing with 7 to 10 hour waits to be seen. As soon as I told them I couldn’t breath, they got me right into a room and did an EKG to make sure I wasn’t having a heart attack. I was attached to oxygen and they started organizing testing and plans for care.

I ended up being admitted to a program with that hospital, called Acute Care at Home. Basically, you go home but the hospital provides all the equipment to monitor your care via on line applications and Blue Tooth connections. I also came home on oxygen, so I had to take an ambulance ride to get home. I never realized how bumpy they are. I stayed admitted to that program for five days. Over the course of that time I was in regular contact with nurses and two different doctors, one who was the hospitalist with the program, and another who was a general practitioner who helped with the in home acute care program. Both of them were completely attentive and proactive about restoring my health. In fact, the hospitalist pulled some strings to get me in with a pulmonologist right away.

The end result of this intensive care was that I started to improve. A week later I was able to sleep in my own bed. My cough was minor and I only needed oxygen for about four days. The combination of care and medication brought me back to a level of health where I could sleep, eat and interact with my family. It was a long four months. I am still struggling with sinus issues, including the loss of smell and taste. I have better days and worse days depending on the weather and the allergens around. I am using a neti pot, a sinus steroid nose spray and an inhaler for the asthma like symptoms. But, I am much improved and feel like life is back to being more normal.

I have been struggling to get back to the blog, but it seems my creative mind has suffered as well. I am sure there are connections to long term illness, depression and seasonal affective disorder that are coming into play. I have been regularly posting on Instagram, so for those of you who have an account you can follow me there. I do hope to get this blog up and running again and plan on working back to at least two posts a week about mid January.

For those of you who are new to my blog, I apologize for not showing up sooner. For those who have been regular subscribers, I want to thank you for continuing to support me. I hope to start giving all of you content on fashion and faith that will not only inspire you, but encourage you. Encouragement is my main goal. We all need to be encouraged!

Thanks again for following along and for all your support and prayers. Look for new content coming soon!

Hugs!

Stylin’ Granny Mama