too few beacons: I love Monday!

My Monday smile.

Today wasn't bad for a Monday but, Monday isn't ever my best day. It's always the day I spend wondering how I manged, in spite of my best intentions, to get so little accomplished on the weekend, and how I will ever meet the challenges of the coming week if I am as behind as I seem to be. The Monday I'm loving right now is actually a lipcolor. I've historically had a troubled relationship with lipstick. I'm attracted to the glamor of a rich red lip, the luxe packaging of a slim, sexy tube, the iconic femininity of lipstick, but frequently the reality is not nearly as pretty as the promise. Lipstick requires an all day commitment and I tend to be more of a a set it and forget it makeup wearer- reapplication rarely ever happens. Lipstick gets on my teeth, runs into the lines around my mouth, retreats from my lips leaving it's dark residue at my lipline, or leaves my lips cracked, patchy and peeling. There is little glamor in these scenarios, but being a glutton for punishment I've kept trying to locate the perfect lipcolor for the better part of thirty years. There was the brief infatuation with a very wearable color form Origins called Sugared Toffee. It was a bit too glossy, and was so slippery that I was compelled to constantly rub my lips together, giving the appearance of having developed a nervous twitch. Lately I'd fallen in a comfortable but not very satisfying liaison with Covergirl's Outlast Lipstains. There were some things that just were not working between us: peeling, fading, blotchy color- but I figured anything was better than having nothing and being left alone with bare, pale lips. But I never stopped searching for something better. And I've finally been rewarded for my almost life long commitment to the search for lipcolor perfection, for my unfaltering belief in a lipstick love match. Monday is my reward for my tenacity. I love Monday. I also adore Saturday. I'm tempted to give Friday a whirl. I'm terribly fickle, I know, but my new love forgives me my weaknesses.

Option one- with jacket unfastened.

This was a first outing for two pieces from last weeks thrift haul: the sky blue T-shirt and the denim jacket. I normally avoid the denim and denim combination like the plague. When I was younger we used to refer to a jeans and jean jacket ensemble derisively as a Texas Tuxedo. (My appologies to all the stylish Texans I've met since then.) I think this pairing is acceptable because:

A. The jacket is not a traditionally styled jean jacket.
and B. The jacket isn't truly denim. It's not a twill weave but more of an indigo colored broadcloth, something one might find made into a nice pair of jean-styled trousers.
Does this make it okay? I'm not completely convinced that it does, but I tried it out today. I think I might have been more pleased with white, or red, or even black pants paired with this jacket, but I don't own the type of pants I'm imagining- lean and narrow in the leg with a sharp, perhaps stitched, crease down the center of the leg- so I wore jeans.

Option two-with jacket fastened.

The jacket poses a dilemma. Unbuttoned, (or unsnapped in this case) I like how it looks from the front. However, in the side view I appear completely devoid of shape. When the jacket is completely fastened the side view is much more flattering but the effect from the front is a bit boring and the top snap looks as though it is pulling. I ultimately wore the jacket open but I'm thinking now that this was probably the wrong choice. The world does not see me as I see myself in the mirror, head on, best face forward. The world gets a 360 degree view. A complex mixture of good sides and bad, flattering angles and unfortunate glimpses. I think I chose what was more flattering in the mirror and ignored the reality of what the world was seeing. I imagine this might be a hard habit to break.