Yesterday, I felt cute. It happens. It’s amazing that I felt cute ON Mother’s Day. It’s probably because Mr. Houseful treated me to things that I love the most. Jewelry – as long as it’s not earrings, and clothing. This dress is the PERFECT style for me. Bright. Airy. Unique. Fair trade stamped – which means handmade, AND it has pockets. It’s made by a company called Mata Trader that we visited while downtown Chicago. There was a Fair Trade fair at Daley Plaza, and of course I had to stop.
Something about being bright when I’m not always feeling it is so comforting. I FELT good in this, and I felt even better knowing that I got it from the bestest husband ever. For a bit over on Facebook, I would always refer to him as the bees knees. I’m not sure why I stopped, but the thought still remains. He also tacked two more necklaces on top of this, a wide brimmed gardening hat and a weekend bag. I’m excited to take the bag on a trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan next week for an asparagus farm tour next week.
I’ve been on the run this year, quite a bit more than I have been in the last few years, and I am always looking for comfortable dressy wear that fits my personality. This is that type of garment. I know from talking to the owners last week that Mata Traders specializes in designing the fabric and cut of the dress, and then working with women in Nepal, India for fair wages. If you don’t know about Fair Trade products, you can also see the work that I’ve done with Heart of Haiti in Macy’s. In an effort to be more conscious about my clothing purchases, I like to support small businesses AND Fair Trade products. If I can get both at the same time, I call it a win!
Related: Heart Of Haiti
The necklace worn here is the Stone’s Throw Necklace in yellow. They had natural, sand, white and green available too, but the yellow was calling my name. My sister (yes, I’m talking about her again) was a fan of bright colors. Through her persuasion, I would wear them when she was around, but after she passed away, I fell into a neutral zone. Every now and again, I’ll find something that catches my eye, but I am prone to not take photos in it. Church often has me in colors that everyone can find. Black and white, white, red for unity days, so unless you’re COGIC you don’t really care. Easter and Mother’s Day are days that I can debut these colors and not feel like I’m the ONLY person out there rocking brights. However, I could learn not to care.
Of course, I’m going to attempt to be this bright and cheery on Father’s Day as well. I think that the Father’s don’t get enough love or fanfare. I mean, are people clogging up the restaurant circuit on Father’s Day? Nope. Are we dressing as brightly? Nope. I mean collective ‘we’ by the way. So here’s to the hats, and the yellows, oranges, greens and blues that may bless all of our bodies this spring and summer. Because some of us just look awesome in them.
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