Le Tote - thumbs up or down?

So I thought I was pretty much in the know, but guess not. Just heard about Le Tote, a fashion rental company.

If you aren't familiar with Le Tote, they have been described as the Netflix of clothes. 

When you sign up, you are given the opportunity to "like" any and all of the clothes and accessories that they offer. These items will make up your "closet," and give the stylists an idea of what you like. You get to fill out a short questionnaire about what you like and don't like. 

Now after saying all of this, I found 2 negative reviews on line from Back to Carolina. and Spice and Sass. Both were pretty disappointed.  In fact Back to Carolina gave the experience a D and would have given them an F had they not refunded her money. In contrast the friend that told me about the service said that many of her colleagues have used Le Tote and were very satisfied.

It certainly sounds like a great idea although I think the styles cater to a younger crowd. So, if I were still working and quite a bit younger, I might give it a try. The only reviews online seem to be positive so I guess you have to check it out for yourself and make your own decision.

Let me know your experience if you try it.

The Rules Are, There Are No Rules!

I've been mulling over in my head over the last few months about what to pack for our year long trip to Costa Rica. I say year long because the plan is to go over for a year and then reassess whether we want to continue living there or possibly move to another country. Either way we'll be coming back home next year to take care of business, tend to any medical needs and restock our supplies. 

My dilemma has been about how much to take and what to take. I've read a lot of information about how to pack for Costa Rica and every single thing I've read has emphasized taking very few things and suggests that the clothes you take include short sleeve tops, flip, flops and casual skorts. Most of the expats have found little use for any type of dressier clothing.

At first the tips really bothered me because although I like to be as casual as the next guy, I also like to dress nice. I'm not in my 20's so the way I dress tends to be a little more dressy. I plan to attend cultural events like the ballet and the symphony. I just can't see myself in yoga pants and flip flops everyday. 

If you pack too light you run the risk of running out of clothes. I would not be happy if I only had 5 or 10 clothing choices. I think you should wake up in the morning and be inspired by what is in your wardrobe. Even in Costa Rica.

Style is personal. It comes from within, from knowing who you are and who you want to be; not from wanting to be somebody else or following someone else's rules. So I decided to be myself and take as many things as I want. To me its better to be safe than sorry. 

photo source

You can never please everyone so dress in what makes you feel amazing. Living abroad you most likely will have a different style than that of the locals. Adopt what you like and mix it with your own sense of style. 

Your wardrobe should contain only amazing choices. If you don’t like the way you look in something before you leave, you probably won’t ever wear it on your trip.

Here are some tips I agree with.

Tips for Travel in Costa Rica 

1. Take the lightest cotton "sun veil" fabrics to wear on or near the beaches. Sarongs over matching bathing suits can double as evening dinner wear. Denim is much too hot near beach areas. A light cashmere shawl is great to wear evenings in San Jose.

2. Consider packing a pair of quick dry pants with zip-off pant legs. They will keep you warmer, protect you from the mud in cloud forests and avoid mosquitoes. 

3. When you are traveling in Costa Rica avoid revealing clothes. Try to dress tastefully and elegantly. Pack light clothing made of cotton which is perfect. You can wear jeans or shots too, but not too short. But the best way is to dress simply and elegantly. If traveling in the mountains, bring a warm jacket, the higher the altitude the colder it is.

4. Take very casual summer separates--shorts, tops. If you intend on being in Cloud Forests or volcano areas, take rubber shoes--cheap ones that you can throw away at the end of the trip. It is very wet and these work great. Take a slicker or rain gear even during dry months. They have very soft gentle rains. Go with neat, simple items--a few skirts and long sleeve tops for night. People do clean up in the evening but not fancy.

5. In San Jose during the rainy season (May-November), people usually carry umbrellas--brightly colored "sombrillas" for women and black "paraguas" for men. In the mountains, a lightweight rain poncho is usually more convenient.

6. Oh and do bring all of your bras as they are very expensive if you have to buy them locally. 

Now, the only thing left is for me to choose which items to take. I have an assortment of clothing already picked out. I am going to following the 10 rule meaning I will take 10 of each type of clothing (dresses, pants, etc). Hopefully I can fit everything in 3 suitcases.

I'll report back. 

The day after

Meant to post this one on Tuesday

I had an enjoyable holiday, with an extra day off on Tuesday. Took the girls over to the boyfriend's house for the weekend and the Labor Day holiday. Since I don't have any room in my tiny apartment to take any fashion photos I like to take advantage of one of the long bare walls he has at his place. I was sort of in a goofy mood today but Mr "retired but always working anyway" was not having any of it, so I barged into his office and took this picture (which he told me not to post) but don't worry, he doesn't read this blog, so he will never know!

Wearing:

1969 Tencel Jogger Pants | The Gap |
Boyfriend Shirt | Banana Republic |

Post Labor Day Casual by urbandoggs featuring petite pants

My girls, Lola and Lily the "urbandoggs"

Bring on the birthday fashions!

"What time is it?"

It's my birthday (fashion) week. 

In a few short days, on May 8th I will officially become a "senior citizen"

Somehow 50 and 60 can slip by unnoticed, but the 65th is a birthday you will not be able to ignore. The government will make sure of that.
Don't forget to sign up for Medicare (3 months prior to your 65th birthday) 

Do I have any regrets? 

I guess maybe I have a few, but honestly I've pretty much made decisions throughout my life that have led me to this point and there isn't a time in my past that I would want to live over. 

There have been plenty of good times and bad times but I'm happy where I landed. 

"What has been my biggest lesson so far?"

Not to take things so seriously.

I laugh when I think back on my high school days and how I put so much weight on

whether I had a date, or if someone didn't like me or heaven forbid I got a C in class. 

It all seems so silly now, but you have to live each chapter in order to grow. 

Looks like I have good company on this birthday -  the Volkswagen bus aka Volkswagen Transporter entered into production on March 8, 1950 and remains in production today. 

As a matter of fact,  it started it's sixth generation on it's 65th birthday!

Happy Bday to the V-dub bus!

Ok, so now on with the fashions for today

I mentioned that I didn't buy that hot little number from Molly b that I modeled for you the other day

Instead I got several other outfits.  Three of which are from Molly b.

This one is the Shanti shirtdress by Mata Traders (fair trade fashions)

Shop Fair Trade Fashion at Mata Traders and help transform communities 

by giving women economic power and viable working skills.

I usually don't buy anything on my birthday that I can wear to work and although I may wear this one (with a sweater or jacket) when I purchased it I was thinking more about the ability to wear it in Costa Rica. I have begun concentrating more on sleeveless, casual clothing, something I have not paid any attention to while living here in the Bay Area.

FACT: There will be about 72 million people age 65 and older by 2030.  

Older adults will account for roughly 20% of the U.S. population

Stop back by for more of my birthday fashions and help me celebrate my 65th birthday!

Let's call this one Marsala! My hats a wrap

It's a wrap!

It's finally Friday and I've exhausted all the decent hat photos we took last week. I'm pretty proud of myself though because in the beginning the plan was just to take a couple of pictures of myself wearing a few of my hats and it turned into something completely different.  

I changed direction!

I'm back

Today I end the "my hats" segment with pictures of the regular me, hair up and pulled back but remembering that there is still a young, and sexy side of me right underneath that hat!!

You can leave your hat on

Joe Cocker 1986

My classic oldie jam pick this week is

in memory of Joe Cocker who passed away on Dec 22

A great singer and musician with a voice like no other

He will be missed

This song was used frequently in one of our class routines when I was an instructor

for Art of Exotic Dancing for Everyday Women (short video)

(dancing in a man's oversized shirt - lots of fun!) 

But I digress..

Here's Miss Lily

I've mentioned before that my girls are always around when I do my photo shoots. 

They are also getting much more used to the camera and you will find them peeking around the corner or hanging out on the fringes just out of camera range

but 

sometimes....

 I'm able to catch one of them for a quick photo.

As for the color of my hat
Let's call this one "Marsala" 

(even if it isn't)

I have this hat in 5 colors. It's been my go to hat

The jacket is one I've had for a number of years - I bought it at Bryn Walker

Sporting a pair of my moto jogging pants from the Gap
I also bought another pair of Tom's. Black ones this time.
They aren't the longest lasting shoe, but I do like their "one for one" philosophy
And it was nice that they were on sale at Whole Foods over the holiday for $48
instead of the usual $60+

Well, as you can see, things don't always go as planned on my photo shoots!

Gottcha
Well almost!

Whatever you have planned (or don't).  Hope you enjoy your weekend!!

************
if you missed any of my other 4 posts this week featuring 
"my hats"
no problem -- to see them
 start here

If not now, when?

Is it time for a change?

I see a hat I like. 

Try it on.

9 times out of 10 - it doesn't fit. 

Looks like a toy sitting atop my head.

Story of my life.

I'm forever complaining about the size of my head and how I can never find hats to fit.
It has been suggested to me on more than one ocassion that the culprit might likely be the tons of hair on my head and not so much my head  per se (although my head is definitely larger than average) but at any rate, wearing hats has been a chore.

After 14 years of growing my natural hair (for those not familiar with black hair Sisterlocks are natural locs (think Whoopi Golberg) not braids), I have NEVER worn my locs completely down. Nope, NEVER! My hair has consisitently been pulled back in one or a series of ponytails or twist overs.

For photos I throw it over one shoulder but most of the time you can only see it from the back. There are many reasons for this and most of them stem from the fact that when I wear it down -- it is a whole lot of hair for a black girl in corporate America. And let's face it, 14 years ago it would not have been acceptable. So I got used to pulling it back and up.

But it's NOW --  it's 2015 -- and in a few short months I will turn 65 and sign up for medicare. And soon after that... I will be enjoying retirement!

So, if not now....when?

Over the holidays I spent some time at the boyfriend's house where none of the electronics were working properly (he doesn't watch TV)  He was in his office working and me and the girls (my Yorkies Lily & lola) were left to entertain ourselves.

I had brought my camera with me to take some photos featuring some of my hats.

I had also washed my hair the previous day and had braided it to dry. (I braid after washing for a crinkle look) My plan was to photograph the hats as I wear them most often (as a cover for my hair while it dries).

So I shot all the photos of me in my hats - hair hidden underneath.

The next day, with hair dry, I unbraided it and before I put it back in a ponytail, it was just hanging loose. It was then that I got the idea of seeing what the hats would like - seriously that idea never occurred to me in the past.

I popped on a hat and snapped some pics.

and...What a difference flat hair makes! And Suddenly OMG -  the hats fit like a glove and many were even too big!!

I was having such a good time taking photos and posing for photos the boyfriend took, that we ended up with a loads of photos (and if you know anything about photo shoots you know you have to take a ton of pictures to hopefully end up with a few good enough to use)

Well, I think we have more than enough pictures to highlight a different hat every day this week.

So that's the plan!

Hope you'll stop by and check me out. And feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think about my new hairstyle possibility!

Oh and as usual the dogs just love the photo shoots

hair up
hair down
this is the same hat

big difference huh?

Do you see TWO different hats in this photo. 

If your answer is yes, you are correct

My boyfriend thought there was only one and suggested I should point it out

(thanks babe) 

Life! 

It's all about change

please stop back tomorrow for "my  hats" day 2

Suround yourself ONLY with the things you LOVE!

About a month ago my brother told me about a book "The life changing magic of Tidying up" by Marie Kondo.

Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organising, is an international bestseller. She has been the subject of a movie in Japan and the waiting list for her services, once three months long, is now so extensive she has temporarily stopped accepting more clients.

Anything that doesn’t make you happy or isn’t absolutely necessary should be touched, thanked and sent on its way, the bestselling Japanese author says

Decluttering helps to clear the mind

The results can be life changing, she says. Clients suddenly find themselves surrounded entirely by things that provide clarity, unencumbered by belongings that carry baggage (unwanted gifts, clothes that no longer fit) or anxieties about the future. Even her book, she says, should be quickly discarded when it’s no longer needed.

To make the transition easier, focus on what you want to keep!

What a great feeling it would be if we were surrounded only by the things we love!

I'm not there yet

This is only the beginning for me, but I plan to continue in this same spirit until I have rid myself of the tons of clothing, shoes, papers, documents, and household goods that are currently weighing me down.

(BTW for me this also includes people!)

What's weighing you down?

In my Shooz

Forgotten shoes from my closet in the garage.  Home again!

It's been about 2 years since I've seen these shoes.  I have never worn them.  They still had the Nordstrom price tag on them.  On sale $109.