::Expose Series:: Personally Shopping -"Off Target"

I'm a girl.

Well, obviously.

And with being a girl comes a laundry list of stereotypes, flamboyant characteristics, and idiosyncrasies. Most of which are true to some degree or another - we have to just admit it, ladies.

One of the ones that I have been living in denial about is that girls go shopping "just to go" and don't actually have a need or a goal in mind. I always thought, "No...that can't be true...I'm the exception!" Well, slowly but surely, I've come to realize that I'm not that original.

Tonight I basically went shopping "just to go" and "just to try on." And you know what? I don't think that there is anything wrong with that! It's therapy...unless it's not and it actually causes you to attend therapy - which tonight may have been the latter.

And I actually DID go with a "goal" in mind. I wanted to get some new mascara. I intended to go to Target and as I pulled into the parking lot, I saw that there was an Old Navy next door...So of course I just had to stop in! Do they carry mascara? Heck no! But some of my BEST finds and staple elements in my closet AND the ones that I get the most compliments on are from my "just looking" shopping trips.

Well, this was not one of those trips. It is one of those trips where it actually would have been better to just keep my goal in mind and head straight for the cosmetic section of Target - Do not pass go, by-pass the bathing suits...make a left at the boyfriend tee's...and head straight for the check out.

Instead, I walked into Old Navy, tried on two bathing suits that inevitably lowered my self-esteem and somehow thought, "I can take some more self-esteem bashing!" and walked over to the bathing suit department of Target for more of the same. Glutton for punishment.

You see, I have body image insecurities. My hips could rival J-Lo's, but without the smooth curves, my thighs...well...let's just leave it at that, and I know that if I get a flat tire on the highway, I've got a spare around my waist to get me back home.

I guess the point is that I am human when I shop (and at all other times of existence). But I must avoid the temptation to hide away from the world, burrowed in my bed in my PJ's, watching "What Not to Wear," and coveting Stacy London's body...

Oh, and I did end up getting a new mascara...and two new eye shadows in "bronze glitz!"

Keep Shopping!

::Expose Series:: Personally Shopping - A Look at My Personal Shopping Experiences

I love shopping. I love shopping so much that I employ myself doing it for other people...and when I find the time, I do it for myself, too!

Just because I am able to pair that shirt with those pair of pants in this color, cut, and style - and tell you exactly what does work and doesn't work for your body type and lifestyle doesn't mean that when I hit the mall, that I don't struggle with the same fears and insecurities that paralyze you when you walk into a department store.

I wanted to start this Expose Series to show that in most ways, I am exactly like my clients. Some days I am so overwhelmed with life that I just throw on a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Other days I have no idea what to wear and stand wide eyed in front of my closet staring at rows of clothes and shoes and cry out, "I have nothing to wear!" Oh yeah, and the perfectly proportioned dress-able body? Sorry, that's somebody else's blog. Standing in front of my mirror squeezing my love handles is a daily occurrence.

But I'm determined to utilize the tools and skills that I have learned to make you be, look, and feel the best version of yourself.

So this is me. I'm exposing my fashion faux pas and the reality that I struggle too ...but I guarantee you...there is hope. If I can do it, you can do it - and I'm there to help you along the way.

So read on, blogger, read on. I'll be posting under the header "Expose Series." There I'll be blogging about what goes on in my life and mind when I am on a personal shopping trip for myself.

See ya there