wardrobe musings

i admit it. this brace is keepin' me down a bit.  my activities are somewhat limited because it just takes so much darn EFFORT to be mobile.  even getting in and out of the car is a challenge,  so, while there have been scattered dinners and movie nights, i've mostly been keeping a low profile.

it's a bit frustrating since i actually get to be home for a good chunk of time, and it would be really awesome to act like i was a member of my ward again and, oh, i don't know, GO to things. but when i do go, i'm exhausted by the time i get there.  then i have to try and be social and stuff when i just want to go home and go to bed!

as a result, i've turned to my cure-all for frustration: shopping.

i make a poor excuse for a shopaholic, but i gave it a shot:)  it started when i went looking for tight pants.  funny, but true.  because when you're wearing loose fitting pants with a brace on...you just can't get that brace tight enough to stay put.  you can completely cut off your circulation, and still somehow, that brace will be sliding down your leg. maybe it's something about surface area, or how much that pant can move (i mean, isn't that why we buy loose fitting pants in the first place?!), but it's a bad deal.

so i went looking for tight pants, of a non-spandex variety.  and what did i find myself in? skinny jeans.  now, prior to last week, just the idea of a skinny jean would have given me hives.  i mean, good for the size 2s and their skinny jeans, but this was not a trend i'd be adopting.

and then it became a necessity of sorts.  so, imagine my shock when i stood in the gap dressing room, wearing my size (not 2) skinny jeans. and
they.
looked.
good.

what started as a search for 'functional' clothing, turned into a feel good dressing room moment.

but, while one part of me has been set on finding clothing suitable for the new appendage, an equal and possibly larger part of my psyche, is playing dumb.  "brace? what brace?  ooooh, these boots are cute!"

i kid you not, the girl in the crotch-to-calf brace cannot stop buying boots!  i mean, the fact that i can't actually wear them right now, well, i can't let that stop me from buying a cute pair of shoes that i WILL be able to wear ONE DAY. especially since we all know that when ONE DAY comes, all those size 11 boots i bought at target (thank you target for carrying size 11 shoes!) will be long gone.  so really,  all i'm doing is preparing for the future.  isn't that something we are taught to do our whole lives?

right now, i'm preparing to wear these:

the irony is that my one 'splurge' purchase has been a pair of uggs.  and i LOVE them.  i can't explain it, since i came firmly from the 'uggs are ugly' camp, but, what can i say, they are so comfortable and easy when an 80 degree day becomes a 50 degree night.

it's possible that these are sleep deprived decisions i'll regret in three weeks when i'm lucid again, but i guess maybe this brace isn't the worst thing in the world. it's definitely getting me out of my comfort zone.