It's been almost 2 years since I last posted here . And not a lot has changed, hahaha. I still don't dress the way I'd like to most of the time, but have made more peace with that . I still battle my weight : up and down and up and down , to the point where I want to give up. As my husband says, " Lisa you're 64, give it a rest - what do you expect anyways? " These days I get a LOT of exercise and movement but do it for longevity and mobility. I don't drink alcohol and eat really cleanly, but without counting macros and calories (which is a massive trigger to my sanity to have to do) , my weight won't move . It remains the biggest obstacle/challenge to truly feeling comfortable in my clothes .

That said, the only part of my wardrobe I have much room to experiment with or refine is with my weekend/non-work pieces. Lately the issue of trends has been on my mind, because who declares something a trend, or not? Retail stores, that's who, for most of us. We buy what we have access to with the amount of searching and digging we are willing to do . Summer casual style is tricky in that I really wear the same things year after year. Boho type tops (fabric and styling as opposed to prints, which I don't do) over jeans, denim or chino shorts, or cargo pants/joggers. The odd dress, maybe. Or crisp poplin interesting short sleeved tops (some with gathered sleeves or interesting folds , or basic linen tops over cotton or linen pants.

I took pictures of these two outfits because I was in the trends mindset from recent blog posts here. The bright blue cotton muslin top is new and I love it, except I wish the sleeve cuffs were either buttoned or elasticized so that I could push them up, but you get what you pay for, right ? Instead of wearing them with my predictable khaki green cotton cargo joggers, I paired them with a subtle barrel pant in cotton/linen. I have a few of these from Zara and love the ease and fit. So I liked this look - and patted myself on the back for having tweaked it to nod to the current trends . The second look (today, ugh I hate it and will take if off soon) is the same pant with a new (thank god I didn't spend much on it either) open knit polo collared (2 trends in one , lol) sweater. I wore it out to run a few errands and hated every second of it. I fell victim to some substacker recommendation a couple of months ago and had yet to wear it) . Stripes+traditional fit+ polo collar all add up to a look that's not me, and not very flattering at that. Lesson learned: maybe nothing ventured nothing gained? Or don't buy stuff that's too different from your norm just because it's trending.

Pics are in reverse order - I apologize.

Comments welcome! And thanks for indulging me after a long absence.