Shipwrecked & Comatose

Comparison is the enemy of self love and the enemy of moving forward. I fell into a few brief moments of deep despair during this past phase and much of it came because I fell down the comparison rabbit hole. My addiction to food and fashion blogs can be a bit disheartening at times.  Why are fashion bloggers almost always thin?  Why are so many of the food bloggers I follow so thin?  Is there anyone out there in the blogosphere who isn't thin? I found myself feeling this weird sense of resentment after reading this pos t on the food and fashion blog Cupcakes and Cashmere (a wonderful blog I otherwise love to peruse).   Here you have this gorgeous, thin woman who has had a baby recently*, and she says she struggles to stay active.  She struggles to stay active and can wear a loose-fitting, spaghetti strap dress with no visible means of support and no saggy or jiggly bits waving in the wind.  Her body is enviable in its ability to wear almost anything...

What do I remember most about my last days on Facebook? I remember looking at a photo of an old friend from college at her wedding shower.  She looked adorably radiant in her hat made of bows.  Although she and I had never been particularly close, we had been in many classes together in college and I was certainly fond of her.  I was thrilled to see her so happy. I realized that if I left Facebook, I would never see her wedding pictures.  I would not be able to wish her well on her wedding day.  I would not see her honeymoon pictures.  She was going to Hawaii - to the same islands Kevin and I visited this winter - and we had corresponded briefly about things to see and do while she was there.  I would never know if she took any of my advice. I still kept the Facebook Messenger app on my iPad in case anyone needed to reach out to me and didn't have my email address.  A week after deactivating my account, I had a message from an old, dear frie...

Out with the old, in with the new. Wait.  That's not quite right.  Old does not have to go out if it's still useful and still looks good.  New doesn't have to take over the old.  Do I have too much old?  Did I buy too much new? I am following several fashion bloggers who talk about creating a "capsule wardrobe".  This is a wardrobe of fairly timeless pieces that best capture your style. At first I thought these sites were going to help me dress perfectly with every piece mixable and into a signature style that screams "Rachel."  No item would be superfluous and everything would work together harmoniously. I have learned in the past few weeks as I transition my wardrobe from the fall/winter closet to the spring/summer closet that trying to get yourself into this mindset can drive you crazy. It is definitely helpful to evaluate your wardrobe periodically.  Sometimes there is a reason why something has been sitting in the back of the closet...