Genny's Journal

Ask Genny: polka dot dress

A reader asked:

I am in love with this dress but do not know where a person would wear it. Can you help?

My first thought was - wow! What a fantastic dress! With the vintage feel, there are several events/places you could wear this beauty to.

see Polyvore set here

This dress has enough structure to make it work appropriate, but also enough sex appeal to make it a great choice for an evening event.

For the Office: Since this dress does have a good amount of Joan Holloway to it, I kept the accessories for the dress somewhat subdued. To work, I would choose a structured satchel, a pair of flats (the gold studs on the bow pick up the polka-dot pattern on the dress!), a basic gold stud earring, and a statement bracelet (to draw some of the attention away from the chest area) to pair with the dress. Twist your hair up into a chignon, add some subtle make-up (please, no bright lipstick with this dress at the office), and you're good to go!

For an Evening Event: First off, when I say evening event I do not just mean a date. While I think this outfit would be an amazing date outfit, I also feel it's unrealistic to buy a piece of clothing just for a date. If I did that, I'd have 100 "date" dresses hanging in my closet and maybe 1/4 of them would be worn.

Evening events can be charity dinners, work events, drinks with your girlfriends after a long day at the office, yes - date nights, and on and on ... For an evening out wearing this dress, I'd add a sparkly pair of earrings and a statement necklace (now's the time to draw some attention to that area!), a pair of modern heels (so the outfit doesn't look too costume-y), and a gold clutch. I would wear my hair down in soft waves (adding a jeweled hair clip, perhaps?), and either a bold red lip or a dark smokey eye. Choose one or the other, please ... not both.

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how my dad told us "happy mother's day"

This past Sunday, Mother's Day, at church, the last song of the worship service was
"It Is Well With My Soul".

***

My dad always had very high expectations when he was planning something. If we were going out to dinner to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or family gathering, he would pre-order flowers, pre-order a delicious bottle of wine, and usually arrange to have the check pre-paid so there was no chance anyone else would pay for the meal. We always had a fantastic time celebrating whatever the occasion was.

It also became a family tradition that something would go differently than how Dad had planned the evening out in his mind. The flowers wouldn't be on the table when we arrived. Or the wine wouldn't be chilled and ready to drink as soon as we sat down ... He would never get outwardly angry, but you just knew some detail had veered from the plan.

***

At my dad's funeral two weeks ago, one of the hymns we sang in his memory was "It Is Well With My Soul". This was one of his favorite hymns and he loved telling his family, his friends, and his congregations about the history of how the song came about.

***

So, Mother's Day. My mom joined us for the worship service and at the end of the hour the words to "It Is Well With My Soul" came up on the screen for us to sing. And I'm pretty sure I said something along the lines of "Jesus Christ, are you kidding me?!?!" And then tears. And then ... well, in all honesty ... then a little bit of laughter. Because my dad would have HATED the way the worship team lead the congregation in the song. It was sooooo slow, and the harmonies were awful, and thank goodness the drummer was on his game (although my dad would have hated a drum in church) because it was the only thing that kept the song going.

***

Thank you, Dad, for wishing Mom and me a Happy Mother's Day through your favorite hymn. We could feel your presence and your love and I could hear your voice saying to me what you've said so many times over the past eight years - "I am so proud of you that you're such a wonderful mom!" And it was perfect that the song just didn't quite go the way you probably had planned it to be in your mind.

And so, here's how I imagine you wished it had gone ... history and all. :)

happy friday!

May your weekend be as carefree as a six year old, living life with abandon!

(while trying on all her grammy's lia sophia jewelry!)