What I Wore Sunday

by Shannon

"He must increase, but I must decrease."

– John 3:30

Happy Baptism of the Lord! So ... if the tree is still up after today, I'm officially lazy, right? Today's fashion photography will take place in a room without a tree, so I may continue to ignore the room with a tree.

As is often the case with my devotions, today's reading from Divine Intimacy (a lovely gift from my lovely mother) had something I needed to hear:

"Every sin, fault or voluntary negligence dishonors Christ, our Head, and grieves the Holy Spirit who dwells in us (p. 141). ... Your love alone, O Lord, can conquer the great inconstancy of my mind and heart, and establish them in You, so that my life may become interior, rather than exterior, centered on You and Your grace instead of on myself and things of earth (p. 143)."

I have felt very unaccomplished lately. Too much of my time is spent on things of this world, and getting back into Ordinary Time will, I pray, help me recenter myself on Christ and my family. 

Onto something lighter. It was unseasonably warm this weekend, so I went with a nude leg and short sleeves.

Unlike the oft-butchered quote from Ms. Coco Chanel, I tend to add an accessory before I run out the door. 

I like to pretend those earrings are feathers, but they're probably leaves.

So, what do you think, ladies — belt or no belt? As I commented on one of the other WIWS posts last week: When it doubt, belt it. In this case, a belt makes the getup more complete (not to mention has a corset-effect). Let's pretend, for a moment, that I've not over accessorized.

Deets:

Earrings: Target

Butterfly Necklace: This week's touch of Granny Chic, originally owned by Ryan's grandmother.

Beaded necklace: Forever 21 (Great for accessories. Not so much for textiles. I bought my infamous shrinking dress there, which is now a tunic. This dress was a replacement for it, as it very similar in coloring and silhouette.)

Dress: Vintage, consignment shop in town

Belt: Target

Red T-shirt: Merona, Target

Watch: Fossil

Shoes: Vintage Crown, DSW

I'll end with an actual quote from Coco. 

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening."

Look for fashion everywhere this week. And visit the other ladies at Fine Linen and Purple! As for me, I'm off to tackle a tree.

What I Wore Sunday

by Shannon

Shameful plug: I actually blogged for real this week! I finally got the gumption (word of the day) to do a non-link-up post, and I think it went pretty well. Also, we updated the blog layout to one of those fancy-schmancy Dynamic View Templates. I need to throw in some customizing, but it already looks better. Lastly, stay tuned later in the week: Ryan is reading a book on fatherhood and has been inspired to blog on virtues. He's a much stronger writer than I am, so swing back in!

"Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to adore him."

– Matthew 2:2

"Work it, Boo!" "For serious?"

You can see the Magi made it to the Nativity there over my shoulder. Happy Epiphany to you! Snippet from Father's homily this morning: Recognize gifts from God, and never cease being grateful. Inspired by the Magi, place all that you have at the Savior's feet, giving him thanks.

Have you ever owned a piece of clothing that is so perfectly you that you never seem to wear it? Every time you see it in your closet, you think, "Oh, I'll save that for better day." That would be my chambray shirtdress. I have wanted a chambray shirtdress since I started picking out my own clothes (Hellooooo,  11-year-old Shannon in a floral crepe skirt with work boots!), and I finally bought one this fall. I think I've worn it five times in as many months. This is the first I've worn it since winter hit, and I'm going to wear it to work tomorrow. (I tend to wear Sunday's Mass outfit to work on Monday. Does anyone else do that?) I really should wear it more often. It's a perfect fit, modest and comfortable, yet lovely and sweet. Plus, it has pockets! I have three trends I've consistenly ridden for the last 15 years: menswear, granny chic and boho. Today's look features both menswear and granny chic:

Deets:
Headband: Afterthoughts?
Earrings: From my MIL. They were Ryan's grandmother's. When Ryan says, "My grandma woulda worn that," I take it as a compliment.
Necklace: Consignment shop in town
Fantastic chambray shirtdress: Old Navy
Cardi: Eddie Bauer
Belt: Same consignment shop
Tights: Target
Boots: Same beat pair I always wear. Time to start scouting the boot sales!

Did you see our new friend up there? Here he is without all of his Christmas garb on:

Meet Hubert!  Check out John Zmirak's telling of St. Hubert in the Jägermeister chapter from The Bad Catholic's Guide to Wine, Wiskey & Song, pp. 114-116. John. Is. Hil. Arious. Hubert here came into our lives via my father, a hunter. Isn't he a beaut? My mother wasn't having it, so Ryan and I yelled out, "Ooo-oo-ooo! Us, us, us!" And he will be decorated for each season (liturgical and nature). I'm dying to put flowers on his antlers.

I'll end with the one in which I have awesome ribbon antler pigtails:

Check out the other fashionable females (and sometimes males) at Fine Linen and Purple, Watch Out for the Woestmans and Lily Among Thorns!

What I Wore Sunday

by Shannon

"So may the peace of Christ, the very condition of your calling as members of a single body, reign in your hearts. Learn, too, to be grateful."

– Colossians 3:15

Merry Christmas and happy Feast of the Holy Family! Unfortunately, I attended Mass alone this morning. Since Boxing Day, the three of us have been rotating a 24-hour stomach bug, and yesterday was Cruncher's turn. We decided Ryan would stay home with the little guy while I went to Mass this morning. I love going to Mass alone but would have preferred it be under different circumstances. Father had a lovely message today, and here's a snippet: The family is so important that God saw fit to entrust one with His only Son. Pray to recognize the important role parents have in their children's lives, and don't sell yourself short. 

Today, I dressed comfortably. I was rushed this morning, following an exhausting night holding a bucket under a sick boy's chin. BTW, his appetite is back today, so maybe we'll all be healthy again for a few weeks.

Deets:
Earrings: Target
Sweater: Old Navy
Jacket: Meijer
Watch: Fossil
Skirt: LOFT
Tights: TJ Maxx?
Boots: Sears

I rolled up the sweater's sleeves under the jacket. It looked sloppy with them sticking out. The jacket was a great clearance find on Christmas Eve. It's actually part of a two-piece set, which I will never wear at the same time. I would feel too much like my mother (no offense, Mama!). The skirt is ankle-length, of the same pattern, and I wore it to Midnight Mass with a belted purple sweater and the same boots. P.S. Time to get my ears lowered. Looking poofy.

Mmm ... sweater tights. And super-old boots I bought to wear with my interview suit eons ago.

Two unusual things about this outfit for me: No necklace, and no vintage items. If it weren't for this pleather-lined, gold zipper, I wouldn't have bought this jacket. I liked the contrast between the soft, watercolor fabric and the edgy zipper. Brooches and necklaces would compete too much with the fabric and zipper, so I just stuck with earrings and my usual watch.

Bee or beetle? I think the stripes throw off people, but there's no stinger. They more remind me of the gold scarab beetle that opens the Cave of Wonders in Aladdin (yeah, I had to Google that). Which then makes me think of the scarabs in The Mummy. *Shivers.* Glad I don't have to look at them when they're on my ears. Nightmares. Anyway, I thought bug earrings would look cute with the flowered jacket. 

No lecture this week. Class is adjourned. Oh, and your homework: Visit the other ladies over at Fine Linen and Purple for more femininity and fashion. And a few dudes too. 

A Sorrowful Christmas

by Ryan


One of the litany of stereotypes against Catholics is that we are joyless and even that we make a funeral out of our religion. Ironically, I just deleted a post trying to defend against these ideas, but it never felt like it came together. Maybe there's a reason for that ... perhaps a topic for another time.

What may strike the (practicing) Catholic as interesting is that tomorrow, the beginning of the Christmas season for us, also coincides with the Sorrowful Mysteries as prayed in the Rosary. These include: The Agony in The Garden, The Scourging at The Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of The Cross, and The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus Christ. These are probably among the last things the average person observing Christmas wants to think about on what has came to be known as a joyous day. Even the likes of Penn Jillette recently chimed in on why Christmas is for everyone, even the non-religious:

"And I don't care if you're talking about Walgreens, if you're talking about sending out Christmas cards or your setting up something on a town square. Why do you want to leave people out? ... Why do that? What's your motive? And trying to turn around a 'we want to leave you out' into 'why are you forcing us to not have our joy' is insanity. It's backwards"

Personally, I agree quite a bit with Jillette, though there are plenty of other non-believers that are not friendly to the season in any capacity. And, sure, there are some believers that would like to draw a line in the snow (what snow?) between their observance and the observance of the non-religious. This observer often thinks that how the average Christian and the average Atheist celebrate Christmas are just about one and the same, in terms of their real reason for celebrating at all — to get some really cool gifts and to spend time with loved ones, with just the slightest reference to religion.

In getting back to the matter at hand: Why would one want to make a season like Christmas the least bit sorrowful? I have no answer for the non-believer in this regard — they have liberty to celebrate the season as they will. But for the Christian, we cannot forget the very serious reason why Jesus "was made flesh, and came to dwell among us" (Jn. 1:14) — to save us from our sins.

The text of the Exsultet, found in the Church's readings for the Easter Vigil, contains a text that sums up the joyful and sorrowful aspects of Christmas perfectly:

"O felix culpa, quae talem ac tantum meruit habere Redemptorem!" or "O happy fault, that merited such and so great a redeemer!"

This "happy fault," resulted in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ at conception, continued at His Nativity, or birth, and was fulfilled with His death and resurrection. The Nativity is just one in a chain of events that led to the redemption of mankind. And, indeed it is a happy fault — a paradox, as is true with many things in the Christian religion. The Venerable Fulton Sheen illustrates this beautifully in his Life of Christ, which is worth obtaining a copy to read this passage in it's entirety:

"In the filthiest place in the world, a stable, purity was born ... He, who would call Himself 'the living bread descended from Heaven,' was laid in a manger, literally, a place to eat ... the stable would be the last place in the world where one would have looked for him. ... No worldly mind would ever have suspected that He Who could make the sun warm the earth would one day have need of an ox and an ass to warm him with their breath ... that He, from Whose hands came planets and worlds, would one day have tiny arms that were not long enough to touch the huge heads of the cattle ... for God to be homeless at home- that could only mean one thing to the worldly mind: the Babe could not have been God at all. And that is just why it (the world) missed Him. Divinity is always where one least expects to find it." (pp. 13-14)

My Christian friends, take time to meditate on the paradox of the Christmas season. Find the quietest place, and the quietest time, at the least important hour for your meditation. Take a moment to be cold, hungry and forgotten, even if only in your mind. In short — reflect on the first Christmas, reflect on your Christmas, and discover the meaning of meekness from your God at his most helpless moment in life.

Albrecht Altdorfer- Nativity (1513)

What I Wore Sunday

by Shannon


Actually, it's what we wore on Sunday. Ryan and Cruncher wanted in on the action, as today was the first Sunday of Advent, and they both wore purple (yes, on purpose). Here are the gentlemen:

We didn't take the picture fast enough for Cruncher, who put on his slippers as soon as we walked in the door.

Cruncher:
Suit: Macys (Actually two different ones. The vest and pants are from last year's Christmas suit, and the shirt and tie are from this Easter's suit. Cruncher put it together this morning. I didn't know a 5-year-old boy could care so much about how he looks.)
Slippers: Target

Ryan:
Shirt: Macys
Tie: Macys
Pants: Gap
Shoes: Target

I usually only allow myself to wear pants to Mass if I have a "good" reason (i.e. feeling icky, status of the laundry, etc.). Today's excuse: I shopped for Advent and Christmas supplies and gifts from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. yesterday, and boy are my dogs tired! Any of the shoes I thought I could wear without pain this morning were the ugly kind that needed pants to cover them up. So, I wore this:

Deets:
Earrings: Victoria Townsend, Macys
Gold sweater: Old Navy
Wool houndstooth sweater: vintage
Bow brooch: vintage
Watch: Fossil
Pants: Old Navy
Boots: Target

It's my first week, so I forgot to take detail shots. I'll get closer crops on accessories next time.

Funny thing is, I found myself less comfortable in these pants than I am in a skirt and tights. I shoulda just worn the clunky boots with a skirt and called it a day. Wouldn't be the first time.

Oh, and here's a picture Cruncher took of us together. Looks like we need to let him practice before the family get-togethers this month.

Please join the lovely ladies at Fine Linen and Purple to check out what other people wore today!