Telling Your Inner Mean-Girl To Take A Hike

I know.  I've been MIA.  Bad me!  Life's been a little busier than usual, but that's a lame excuse, right?  Well, then I'll blame it on our prolonged winter.  After enjoying a few glorious days of temperatures in the, gasp, 60's...  we're headed right back to the mid-30's tonight.  Even better?  Snow is forecast for Saturday.  Guess I'll delay shoving the winter coats and boots into the hall closet.  Hmm, also means I can delay the quitting of comfort foods:  creamy mac-n-cheese, pillowy gnocchi, big ol' burgers, and the to-die-for lobster and eggs concoction at Bar La Grassa.  Oh, and cheese, cheese, cheese!

However, I did want to rouse myself from a self-induced weather pity-party (with cheese) to pop in here briefly and give another shout-out to a fabulous blogger and friend of mine.

Whether we want to admit it or not, all things fashion inevitably link to something a little less fun and sparkly:  body image.  Arguably, all those trendy magazines, e-tail sites, and billboards, down to the pretty pictures of clothes that I post on here, saunter hand-in-hand with an evil twin.  Even if said wares are not being modeled on a Photoshopped, size 00 nineteen year-old, it's hard not to automatically ask yourself, "I wonder if I could pull that off?" when you're facing that image.  And unfortunately, that question often spirals towards giving yourself a less than flattering once-over.

To add insult to injury, the arrival of warmer weather (ahem, for some of you anyway) means warm weather fashion.  Retailers parade swimsuits, shorts, and other skin-baring ensembles before our summer-starved eyes.  It's hard not to laugh/cringe/smirk when imaging some of those outfits on our own bodies.  Someone save us from ourselves already!  Sheesh!

That someone might just be Sally McGraw.

Armed with a background in creative writing and a heartfelt mission to quash all the negativity, Sally writes an impressive and thoughtful blog dealing with the many questions, perspectives and yes, positive takeaways, that come from such a loaded issue.  I invite you to check out her blog this week:  Already Pretty.

Ms. McGraw has become quite established in the blogosphere.  She's been invited to attend blogging conferences, she's appeared on local TV and print to share her advice, and her blog/full-fledged website garners many admirers who are excited to add to the conversation.

And it's not just serious stuff - Sally takes the hefty subject matter and then applies it right back to fun things.  One of her blog's highlights is her outfit of the day.  It's great to see how she styles the many items in her closet, and it's hard not to envy her collection of shoes and boots.  In fact, here's an image direct from her blog, showing off some of those great boots, on her great legs, I might add:

As I scan recent headlines from fashion news sites that yap on about the curviness of Victoria's Secret models and calling Kate Moss "fat," Sally's blog is a timely read and I daresay a bit of a life buoy in a sea of relentless body critique.

And while I've been guilty of the self-criticism, it's sure as hell not going to stop me from eating all the cheese I can unearth in this house while I wait for Spring to really, really arrive.

Happy reading!
Maggie


Image:  courtesy of Already Pretty