Onward Ho! Embracing the new year with a tingling sense of adventure and enthusiasm. Onward Ho! Looking toward uncharted territories with anticipation and hope.
Be assured that there is no derogatory intent behind the second word in the title of this post. Ho, in this context, is used to draw attention to its companion object as it was in days of yore with shouts of Land Ho or Wagons Ho. Similarly, this word can also be used as an interjection bringing joyful emphasis to the word before it. So Onward Ho, there are thrills yet to come.
Briefly, let’s cover today’s most pressing question … where have I been for the past two months? Nowhere in particular. Everything is all good on the homefront, it’s just that my sails lost wind yet again as far as blogging goes. There was a quick moment a few weeks ago when I nearly decided to pull the proverbial plug on it. Just close up shop and go on my way. I went as far as imagining what that might feel like. Want to know the thought that shook me out of my stupor? Me, you, and us.
Those are three key motivations behind the efforts I put into blogging. It may be surprising to say that the first one is me. Or perhaps not because selfishly, I write this blog for myself. To create a record of who I am/was separate from what others might know of me as wife, mother, sister, colleague, friend, etc. It helps to allay the fears I have about losing my own memory of myself as well so these posts serve as a way to preserve them.
My second motivation is where you come into the equation. If you’ve found your way to my blog, I’m so happy to have made that connection. While I have no specific expertise on fashion or wellness or cooking or any of the other topics I may write about, I do have several decades of experience in living and learning. Being open to new ideas and concepts helps to keep us vibrant and relevant which is why I enjoy sharing them with you.
And lastly, I’m motivated as a member of the community of women. I almost added the qualifier of “midlife” but then it’s not my intention to limit my audience to a specific age group. There is no limit to one’s sphere of influence and how what you do or say or wear might resonate with another. As women, we want our voices heard, our needs understood, and our dreams achieved. By supporting and advancing others in this community, I support and advance myself as well. Onward Ho!
No day, other than your birthday, marks the passage of time quite like January 1. Whatever goals, intentions, or even resolutions made at the start of the past year were likely discarded long ago in anticipation of the upcoming opportunity to start anew on this day. How will we reframe what we hope to achieve in this new year? Shall we partake in Veganuary or pledge to go dry for the month? Or finally, give that new exercise/fitness plan a go?
For me, I’m trying to get away from the trap that a fresh start needs to coincide with a specific day. Any day is a good day to begin a new nutrition plan or fitness routine. Any day is a good day to spend a little less time being idle and spending a little more time on a productive task. Any day is a good day to rethink a financial strategy or reconsider if an impulse purchase is a smart choice.
While we’re on the subject of impulse purchases, I’ll admit that I’ve made a few (ok, some might say a dozen or two) in the last couple of months. Naturally, some I’ve been wearing on repeat, ad nauseam. Not to me, of course, I adore them. Nor does this bother The Husband who’d be just as happy if I wore the same thing day in and day out. Anyway, cue song 🎵 … these are a few of my favorite things. 🎵
This dress has been my obsession since I bought it while out doing some holiday shopping a month or so back (one for you, one for me is kind of my MO while buying gifts 🤷🏻♀️). I adore the mulberry color and the soft flow of the fabric. It was priced for clearance so there were only a few on the rack. In the S·M·L·LX scale, I tend to run between sizes. With only the larger of those two available, vanity almost got the better of me (IYKYK). Knowing that I could return it if it was too big, I bought it without trying it on and waited until I was at home to assess the fit.
While the dress is a smidge roomy, I figured that I could do a minor nip/tuck alteration here and there if I really wanted to. Since I’ve been mostly wearing it with a sweater or jacket, I haven’t felt the need to make any modifications. The one thing that I do do to “make it my own”, as they say, is the wonky buttoning that I’ve been doing with most of my button-down shirts for about a year now. I meant to get before/after photos but that slipped my mind during the shoot. You can the effect of this buttoning method in side-by-side photos in Size Denial And A New ‘Fit’ness Plan.
Last I checked, this dress is still available (mostly online). It’s by a popular retailer’s house brand that’s generally fairly size inclusive with many items available in petite and plus sizes. While I’ve been trying to curtail my tendency to buy the same item in more than one color, I couldn’t resist with this dress. I now have it in black as well as the gray print.
Back in October, I discovered that the outer layer of my faux leather jackets had begun to crumble as will happen. So I began my hunt for a new one and after finding a few, settled on the one in these photos. Although I was pleased with the price when I bought it on sale, it was further marked down within a couple of weeks and I successfully got a price adjustment which made it an even better buy. The final key piece in this look, and another favorite that I’ve been wearing on repeat, are my moto-style boots. I picked up these beauties a couple of months ago using the in-store credit I got for items I’d brought into a local buy/sell/trade store. They looked like they’d never been worn.
Let’s Wrap This Up
Now, onto the Fine-Whatever link-up. It’s been a couple of months since my last post so I’ll skip on selecting a featured contributor from the past week’s link-up. I’ve decided to no longer limit my choices to posts that include photos of the blogger so all contributors can now experience the surprise of being featured.
I hope that you had a wonderful holiday season, spent joyously with family and friends. Wishing you health, wealth, and endless blessings in the New Year ahead and of course, new adventures. Onward Ho!
Stay well and let’s keep in touch! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, pin … all options are available. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
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Note: This is an unsponsored post; however, some or all of the links to clothing items are associated with an affiliate program where I earned a few cents for each click.
Photo credit: MMPerez
28 Comments
I love this post, Rena! First of all, because you’re back and I missed you, but also because it resonated with me in several other ways. You used “hope”, my word for 2024, in your first paragraph and again later in the post. I’m sure that word is going to jump out at me whenever I see it for at least a little while. If you’re interested in why I chose this particular word for the coming year, you can read about it in the blog post that I published today. Speaking of blogging, I totally agree with writing for yourself first and then for your audience. I do the same thing. Writing often helps me process things that are happening in my life or organize my thoughts about a certain topic and, as you said, it often preserves special memories. Lastly, I love your “Any day is a good day to…” attitude. That’s how I want to live!
Thank you, Elaine. I missed you all and it’s nice to know that I was missed in return.
Happy New Year Rena and thank you for the generous link up. I think this may be my first time linking up with you but I’ve subscribed now. I do set a guiding WOTY but I totally agree that we can start making healthy changes to our lifestyle any day of the year. x
You’re quite welcome, Sue. I’m admirer/subscriber of your blog and newsletters so I happy to know that you’re joining in on the link-up.
I am so glad you made the decision to continue blogging. I can’t believe how naive I once was when it came to blogging. I thought it was a simple thing…write a little bit, stick in some photos, and you’re done. I wish! I always enjoy reading what you write, Rena. I hadn’t thought about blogging being a record of myself. I just might steal that thought.
Your dress is beautiful and looks so good with that jacket. I’ve got a couple of dresses I need to alter but just haven’t gotten around to it. I also like the way you shop for gifts for the holidays! Thanks for the link up!
Have a wonderful week, and come visit on Thursday for the Weekend Traffic Jam!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
Marsha, some of the BTS stuff of blogging can get a bit overwhelming and sometimes, you just need to push through it. Thanks for your continued support.
Welcome back and I can understand how you feel about blogging for yourself. I do the same as it is my creative outlet. Thanks for hosting this great party and Happy New Year to you and your family.
Thank you for the welcome back and support of my blogging efforts.
Happy new year! And glad to see you back! We need real women like you in this blogging world!
Nancy, it does feel good to be back so thank you for the hardy welcome.
Happy New Year, Rena! This is a fabulous dress. The color is gorgeous on you and you know I am a fan of long flowy dresses! I can understand why you bought 3 of these dresses! I bought 3 of the same ugly dress in different floral prints and then turned them all into fabulous dusters that I love. I am glad you decided not to pull the ole plug on your blog! I would miss you seeing you around the blogosphere, that’s for sure! But I go through those stages with my blog, too. We have been at this for quite a long time now and it is hard to imagine life without it. Keep on keeping on, my beautiful friend!
Shelbee
Michelle, it is hard to imagine life without my blog. It’s the encouragement from bloggers like yourself that help to keep me going. Thank you my friend ♥
Happy New Year Rena!!
Jennifer
Curated by Jennifer
Thank you, Jennifer.
Glad to see you back! I think the sense of community and the hope I am sharing inspiration keeps me blog. I have missed your posts the last couple of months. I am loving your new purchases!
http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.cm
It’s good to be back, Mireille. Thank you for your continued support.
Happy New Year Rena! There’s a small town in England called Westward Ho! which is the only place here to have an exclamation mark. The dress looks great, nice colors. Good to see you back.
Have you ever visited that town, Gail? It would be interesting to know how it got its name.
I have been there Rena, it’s a seaside town. The name has a commercial origin. It was chosen as an unusual name to attract tourists, after Charles Kingsley’s best-selling novel Westward Ho! (1855), which was set in nearby Bideford.
Welcome back. I understand entirely about the break, I need one myself occasionally. Recently another blogger who had a link-up entirely disappeared. She didn’t just quit posting, her blog is gone after consistently posting quality articles for a couple of years. I just hope she didn’t quit due to some tragic life event. So it is good to know you are still around.
Don’t you find it odd when a blog/blogger just disappears, seemingly into thin air? I would at least post a final message unless of course, I couldn’t. A while back, I wrote a post on that topic. Anyway, thanks for understanding of my need for a break and for welcoming back into action.
I shop for the holidays with much the same mentality of one for you one for me! I too struggle not to buy multiples of the same top/pants/dress etc. in multiple colors and so often fail spectacularly with it. Your new dress is lovely and I can see why you have been wearing it on repeat so often.
Most of the time when I shop, it’s just for me so during the holidays I’m really being quite altruistic, don’t you think? Haha
What a great find! Glad you gave it a try because the color is gorgeous on you!
I do so adore this mulberry color and wish it was available more often.
Rena, I haven’t posted in a few weeks and it feels like forever! I honestly understand how you feel. I have contemplated quitting as well, but I realized I like writing. I’d miss it. There’s just SO MUCH behind the scenes. I’m finding I need to do quite a bit of soul searching to come up with a way forward.
xo,
Kellyann
What a great post. I love the message. Thanks for this. Thanks for hosting and I hope that you have a wonderful week.
Happy New Year and welcome back! I’m so glad you’ve decided to carrying on blogging. I love your dress, it looks fab with the faux leather jacket. Some of my faux leather bags and jackets have crumbled too – it’s so annoying when you really love them but but the coating just disintegrates!
Emma xxx
http://www.style-splash.com