Better with time...

When I was younger, I heard grown folks say that they weren't getting older, they were getting better. And it wasn't just Furious Styles in Boyz in the Hood neither! Older people in my life used that phrase all the time. I never really knew what they meant until now. 

When I was a teenager, I thought that time would NEVER move. It took what seemed like an eternity to get from 9th to 12th grade! Not literally folks. Actually, it only took the normal four years, but I wanted to be grown so bad that I could taste it!

1995 Snow Daze Dance. I thought I was killin it in this dress! 

1996 in my high-school halls with the jailhouse pose 

Once I turned 18, I moved out. At the time, getting "old" (in my eyes old was 30) seemed light years away. 

Me with my best friend at our high-school graduation

In my 20's I didn't really think much about my age. I just cruised along. Hanging out with friends, raising my children, being a young wife, etc. Nothing could touch me! 

Then there was 30. The big 3-0 hit me kind of hard. I wasn't prepared! Where had the time gone?! I mean shoot, I still felt 20 something!

My 'Golden Birthday'. See what I did there? #solidgold

Time passed. I got older. My children got older. Life started moving a hell of a lot faster then it did before. All of a sudden, I look up, and I'm on the later side of 30, damn near pushing 40!! I decided to start taking better care of myself. To focus more on me. To look in the mirror and be proud of the woman who stared back at me. Thus began my weight loss/health journey. With diabetes, cancer & high-blood pressure running in my family I couldn't afford to ignore my weight anymore.

I knew that I wanted to lose some weight, but I never really saw myself as THAT overweight. Below is the first 'before/during' picture where I took a good look and realized that I didn't know where my weight had taken me. Well, I knew, but I didn't. I knew because as you can tell in the picture on the right, I tried to use that poor little clutch as a shield for my tummy. Sad, but true. I say that I didn't know because I actually thought it worked! lol! When I look at these pics, I see a different me from my hair, down to my knees :)

This 'before/during' pic was from a week or two ago. I posted it on Instagram as motivation for me to get to the gym. I was having a hard day, and I needed to let myself know that I don't plan on going back to the old me.

 This pic is from Dec, Jan & Feb. It was my goal dress. I went into Target, saw this dress for super cheap. I tried it on, and it was pretty tight around the mid section. Being that it was a medium, I gave myself until March to fit comfortably into the dress. I DID IT by February! YAY ME!!

I said all of that to say this. I'm not done. Not even close. Being active, and consistently making small changes to live a healthier life is ongoing for me. I slip. Hell, I fall! But I will never stop. And in the process I'm beginning to realize that, like fine wine, I'm getting better with time.

Do you feel like you become a better you as time passes? What are some of the things that keep you motivated to do better?

Until next time...

This was Friday of last week :)

Sweater - Old Navy

Scarf - H&M

Jeans - Old Navy

Boots - Target

Weekend/Winter Flow...

The weekend is coming to a close, and we're also coming up on the last week in February. While I'm sad to see the weekend go per usual, I'm happy that the Winter months are going by. From what I gather, this Winter has been a pain in the you know what for quite a few states that don't normally have too may issues. I'm sure we all saw the icy happenings in Georgia, Mississippi, and a few other southern states. Well this Winter hasn't taken it easy on us here in Minnesota either. Our schools have closed for a record number of days this year due to the snowfall, and/or sub-zero temps. And more importantly, it's hard to get your "cute on", and head outside to take pictures in these conditions! lol!

OAN: Please excuse the salt on the ground. It's imperative that we use salt to melt the ice on our stairs in hopes of preventing folks from falling down and suing the pants off of us. Can't have that now can we?

Alas, my daughter and I braved the wind, and stepped outside my front door to snap a few, then literally run back inside. I look a little crazy because it's hard to genuinely smile when it feels like the wind has a vendetta against you.

I decided to take my plain old black (strapless) body-con dress, and make it casual by wearing a denim jacket, and my cute little boots that I picked up from on sale for $10 at Sears. There was a BOGO half off clearance sale, and I was happy that I came across these.

Until next time...

Denim Jacket - Rue 21
Dress - H&M
Belt - Target
Boots - Sears

Uniquely You...

Hey peeps!! I hope everyone's week is going well! The weekend is upon us, and even though it seems to fly by, I'm always excited to see it roll around :)

I was surprised when I opened my email to see that I was contacted by a ModStylist at ModCloth to participate in their Uniquely You Campaign! The challenge was to build an outfit around this super cute Palette On Parade Dress. Yes Please! I really like the dress because reminds me of Spring, which I can't wait for.

I decided to allow the dress to be the focal point, and keep the accessories to a minimum. I've always loved the Mary Jane style heel, so when I saw these cute Member of the Board shoes in turquoise, I thought they would be perfect for this classy retro look. Add a cream cardigan (totally optional), and you got yourself a simple/cute Spring weekend outfit!

I've never shopped ModCloth, but doing this challenge has certainly allowed me to explore the site, and I now have a few items bookmarked for myself. Check out their selection of dresses which come in a variety of sizes.

Until next time...

Polyvore Outfit Challenge by shanticka featuring a black bracelet

                                 

Leather, Peplum & Marilyn

Happy Friday Eve!!! You may or may not know that I'm a huge fan of the weekend. HUGE!! I wear what I want, do what I want, and chill like I want. Of course they go by too fast, but I aim to enjoy them while they last. Do you make plans, for your weekends, or do you just go with the flow?

On to the OOTN.

You know how you have an outfit in your head, then you put it on and it looks nothing like you pictured it? Well this outfit was the opposite of that. It turned out exactly how I wanted it to. The jacket, the Marilyn Monroe crop, and the peplum skirt (another Target clearance steal) all just worked. My initial idea was to wear all black heels, but my lace Steve Maddens jumped out at me. I threw them on, and loved it. This type of thing only happens ever so often, so I relished in the moment.

Until next time…

Leather Jacket - Borrowed from SIL
Crop Top - Target
Peplum Skirt - Target
Steve Madden Heels - DSW

Steal of a Deal

I could get used to this regularly posting thing! HA! I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but I'm freaking happy to be blogging again! 

You know the feeling that you get when you're browsing the clearance racks at your favorite store (in this case Target), and you come across an item that you just can't pass up? Well my friends, this dress was that for me. I had been hesitant to try the "Skater" style dress/skirt because I'm Poison… you know… BBD? Poison? Big butt, smile, etc. Yup, that's me! I felt like I was too Poison to have my business all in the streets from the back in a skater skirt/dress, so I never even tried them on. Then I spotted this color-blocked bad boy!

Picture is from my Instagram

When I looked at the price tag, I ran to that dressing room! lol! Once I saw that it fit, I knew that it was coming home with me. Now you may be wondering why the receipt says $6.80. I got to the register, and the clerk noticed that the belt had a rip, and gave me an additional 10% off. SCORE!! I think I may have even done the running man. I just love a great steal deal!

Have you scored any great deals lately? Do tell!!

Until next time...

The dress is a pretty nice length. Not too short for my taste.

I put on my Target leopard pumps, because the colors are perfect with the dress.

Even though the back of the dress does rise, the opaque tights add a level of comfort for me :)

Blog Thuggin'

Greetings and salutations!! I hope you all have had a fantastic holiday season, and an even better start to the new year!

I won't get into the fact that I've been gone a while. It's the same old song. What I will get into is the fact that I made a promise to myself (a resolution of sorts), that I will blog at least once a week. It doesn't matter if I have one picture or five, I need to get it together. I made the usual excuses. I don't have a camera, it's cold outside, there's no light, yadda-yadda-yadda. While, all of those things are true… Who cares?! 

I have found that not blogging has stunted my personal style growth. That may not make sense to you, but the very reason that I started blogging was to help with finding my style, and build upon it.

So, I stole borrowed the phrase "blog thuggin" from my blogger buddy Lynn. It basically means that we don't have a camera, so we're about that camera phone life right now. LOL! I'm not shamed. It is what it is. A new camera will come in due time. But for now, I will take my shots and blog until my hearts' content.

This outfit is basically courtesy of Old Navy clearance racks. The polo, the sweater, and the pants! And the best part is, the entire outfit was less than $20 (with the exception of the boots). The boots are from Target. They're a few years old, and I probably need to get rid of them, but I can't. They are my favorite boots, and it pains me to let them go.

Do you have that one item (or two) that you just can't part with? What is it?

Until next time...

The Skin I'm In...

I hope you guys enjoyed your weekend. For those of us who work a 9 to 5 from Mon-Fri, tomorrow it's back to the rat race for another fun week of work. Yay *insert sarcasm*!!

Winter has come for us in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". And even though it didn't stick, we've actually gotten some snow! That may be a surprise to you (depending on where you're from), but it doesn't surprise me at all. Pretty much, any time after September, we expect it. lol!

It was such a nice Fall afternoon, that I decided to step out and take a few pics! I'm giving myself and my daughter a huge pat on the back for this, because it's been a struggle. My bathroom "selfies" have been off the chain on IG because of how my schedule has been. Are you following me on Instagram (@TickaNascha)?? If not, you're really missing out. Well, you're not really missing anything, but you should follow me anyway. Capeesh? Now on to the OOTD.

The dress that I'm wearing was given to me by Sis-Inlaw. She's a rockstar with her weight-loss and gave me a bag of items that she could no longer fit. One of the items I chose was this dress, knowing full well that I could not fit it. It was just too cute to pass up! I tried it on later on that evening, which confirmed what I knew to be true. There's a little bit of stretch in the material, but I couldn't get it past my hips/butt!! At that time, I hadn't really started my health journey, but I knew it was coming. This dress became somewhat of a goal for me.

Fast forward to now… I forgot all about it. I was looking for something to wear to work, complaining as usual about having nothing to wear, and this dress jumped out at me. Literally. It fell off of the hanger. I stared at it, and went back and forth on if I should try it on or not. Even though I know I'd been consistent in the gym (still got some work to do on my eating habits), I didn't see myself as being able to fit into the dress. I didn't want to be disappointed. Long story short, I tried it on, and... WAH-LAH!! It fit!! I haven't stepped on a scale in months, but once I was able to pull this dress down over my hips and it didn't cut off my circulation, I knew a few changes had taken place.

This served as a reminder for me. A reminder to continue to work towards my goals. Just because I don't see change everyday, doesn't mean that it isn't present. I'm going to keep going, and keep loving me along the way. This is why I rock =)

Blazer - Target

Dress - The Limited

Shoes - Urbanog.com