Gotta Love The Sweet Spot, And Other News by Margo Hoornstra

Right now I'm at that sweet spot in my current work in progress. Coming into the home stretch to push through the soggy middle and have it completed. Ready to type THE END. In the next few weeks, anyway. Followed, of course, by edits and rewrites then even more edits and rewrites.

True, I do have a ways to go, but I am pumped.

Thanks to the universe et al, I'm cruising right along with On The Make, Brothers in Blue Book 3. I know who the bad guy(s) is/are, I know what happens to whom and why. For the most part, anyway. After all, I am a pantser. However, I do know exactly how my hero and heroine reach their Happy Ever After.

Not to brag or anything, **wink, wink** but the other day I wrote virtually from sunrise to sunset and beyond, and logged an impressive (I think anyway) three thousand plus words. I even wrote most of the final chapter. I'll admit, a little out of sequence, which drives some, I should say one, linearphobic critique partner I know bonkers...but I digress.

As nice as it is to be finishing this one, there are still those Brothers in Blue Books 1 and 2, On The Surface and On The Force respectively. It's promo time for those. Especially OTF, whose release date is fast approaching. (October 29, to be exact.)

On The Force

Since we've all come to the conclusion blogs don't necessarily sell books, I'm not heavily involved in a blog tour or anything. But. to promote On The Force,  I am going to make an appearance, as I noted here not too long ago, on the widely read blog Just Romantic Suspense. My dates are November 7 and 8. A reader's format choice copy of On The Surface is my Giveaway Prize.

On The Surface

Thank you, by the way, fellow Rose Buds and others for the wise counsel and always valuable suggestions for tweaking my post to make it more interesting, so I can make the most of my time there.

Another promo event I have going on is a local book signing on Thursday, November 15th from 1-7 PM. The Great Escape: A Deer Widows Expo at the Saranac Public Library in Saranc, Michigan. It's a townwide shopping event with vendors, artisans and authors. This will be my fourth, or maybe it's my fifth time participating, and I've always had good luck, as in many sales, at this event. It's an added plus to be able to get in some shopping myself. Fellow Rose Diane Burton will be there with me. (If nothing else, we can enjoy each other's company if things happen to slow down some.)

In and around that, there's On The Make to wrap up. So I guess I'd better get busy, huh?

My days to blog here are the 11th and 23rd. For more about me and the stories I write, please visit my website at www.margohoornstra.com

I Have a History With Hurricanes by Vonnie Davis

Remember how I freaked out in my last posting about pitching at the Cleveland Rocks Romance convention? I wondered if I could cancel my flight reservations.

Had I known Hurricane Florence would slam the Eastern Coast in a few days, I wouldn't have joked the way I did. On Friday I have flight reservations to fly from south-central Virginia to Charlotte, NC. From there I fly to Cleveland. Our small local airport only has flights to Charlotte or Atlanta. None go North.

Need I remind you Hurricane Florence is slated to strike the coast of North Carolina sometime on Friday?

So, I have no clue if I'm going, or not. Will flights be cancelled? Will I use my "Granny Chicken" card and stay safely at home? I dunno. See, I have a history with hurricanes. Oh, nothing drastic. Just memorable.

I was a week shy of entering first grade when my parents took me on a  vacation to Ocean City, New Jersey. Hurricane Hazel decided to meet us there. My parents had no clue what they were in for as we walked the deserted boardwalk. It was their first trip to the ocean, too. They'd rarely left the farm.

Waves kept coming closer and closer. The edge of the boardwalk grew more wet with every roll of the surf. Suddenly I got knocked over and rolled toward a closed business. My dad grabbed me around the waist like a bag of potatoes and ran for our hotel, dragging my mother in tow. I choked and coughed and cried.

My parents never did go back to the shore.

Nearly 14 years later, I was a Navy wife with a five-month old baby when Hurricane Doria set her sights for the Virginia coastline. We were living in a small apartment along the Chesapeake Bay in Norfolk. When the men were called to their ships to ready them to sail for deeper waters to ride out the hurricane, another Navy wife and I drove the guys to their ship and dropped them off. Marsha and I decided to spend the next few days at their apartment farther inland.

I parked our red beetle along the curb as torrential rains fell. We both rushed into the apartment complex with our babies. She put them both in the crib while I ran out to get my daughter's clothes, diapers, and formula. The car was gone! It was floating down the street. I ran after it as winds blew the little car from the street across the sidewalk and through a spindly hedge. It was finally embedded between two pine trees. I grabbed a rope from the tool box and tied Trigger Beetle to one of the trees. I was wading through water to my shins. Oh, the glory of an armed forces wife.

Fast forward six years and we are living in south-central Pennsylvania when Hurricane Agnes made her presence known. I was six months pregnant with my youngest and he wanted to make his presence known, too. I'd gone into labor.

My doctor had to drive through flooded roads to meet me at the hospital. With medication and bed rest, the contractions finally stopped. Mike didn't come for another three months. The doctor said the change in barometric pressure was throwing a lot of his pregnant patients into labor. Who knew?

Now, Hurricane Florence is looming!

Will I go or will I stay? Will flights be cancelled? Will I get to give the pitch I've drafted? Stay tuned..

Success: 19 Rendezvous in 33 Days by Rolynn Anderson

My husband and I are hanging out in Henderson, Nevada, because we wanted to see Death Valley to culminate our six-week trip.  That white triangle in the distance is Death Valley...it's really tough to 'show' the valley in a picture.  Go there.  It's magnificent.

For our last stop, we’re staying in a VRBO condo in Lake Las Vegas, a resort community built around an artificial lake.  The place is hopping eight months out of the year; presently, with temperatures in the 100’s, it’s quiet.  In fact, Luna Rossa, an Italian restaurant, our pick for last night’s meal, had very few patrons. The waiter explained the restaurant’s owner had just opened a $355 bottle of wine and was anxious to share it at $25 a glass…for the fun of it!  Oh my!  Delicious.  As was the meal.

So our intricate trip is over: Anacortes and Seattle, Washington; Portland and Bend, Oregon, Incline Village and Henderson, Nevada.  To connect with friends and family was one goal; to see some new sights (Crater Lake, Tahoe, Death Valley) was another.  Our new Acura MDX performed well; everyone we wanted to visit with showed up! (Below, my brothers and sister in front of our favorite Portland restaurant)

Get this.  We visited with 19 groups of people, a total of 69 friends or relatives in face-to-facers.  I can’t believe it! Amazing examples: I met up with one relative whom I hadn’t seen in 50 years; for the family reunion portion in Portland, 14 of us showed up from all across the country.

Yup! The crowning rendezvous was my time with our own, delightful, Jannine Gallant.  (Jannine tells me I’m the first R of P blogger she’s met in person!) When I posted a picture of Tahoe on FB, Jannine reminded me she lived there, and we arranged a meet-up.  Here we’re drinking wine together in a pizza place with a gorgeous view of Tahoe (King’s Beach) whose owner Jannine knows.  I got to meet one of Jannine’s daughters, who happens to work at the pizza place, and heard all about her older daughter’s experiences in college.  Of course we shared stories about writing and marketing.  I also learned about her gorgeous Tahoe, seeing for myself in a drive around the lake what a wonder of nature it is. (Here's a pic of the two of us, Tahoe in the background, as well as a pic of Tahoe's Hyatt, where my husband and I stayed)

Four more nights in Henderson and we’re home.  Can’t wait to get there; so glad we had a successful trip. 

What’s your most successful, surprising, or interesting trip, lately? And/or, who among our R of P bloggers have you met in person?

Speaking of an interesting trip.  Here’s my story about tourist whose plans go wrong, very wrong…in Aix-en-Provence France: CÉZANNE’S GHOST http://a.co/bQdl7jp

http://rolynnanderson.com

Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rolynn-Anderson/188767867821613  

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/rolynnanderson

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4990049.Rolynn_Anderson

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/author/rolynnanderson

Who Says Old Ladies Can't Travel Alone? by Vonnie Davis #EuropeanTravel #TravelingSafe #Paris #Edinburgh

Some fool man recently said a seventy-year-old widow had no business traveling overseas by herself

Then he had the nerve to say, "Mom, I want you in your hotel room by nightfall. And don't use the Metro. Terrorists like to bomb those things."

Since when, I ask you, should a woman listen to a man--even if he is her baby boy? Needless to say, I packed my bags and went. I showed him! Baby boy, or not! Why...the nerve I mean, really, would you listen to a thing this guy would tell you?

So, here's the view from my hotel room in Paris. My hotel was across the street from the Seine.

Sorry about the glare from my windows.

Notice the grey cast? That's how I saw Paris this time. I didn't have Calvin to hold my hand as I visited our old haunts. Instead I walked new streets and checked out new neighborhoods. I made my own memories. For example, I took a bus trip to Giverny where Monet painted his famous water lilies. The gardens there were fabulous. A sight I'll never forget.

Monet's house was gorgeous inside and out.

Kelly, Calvin's son, flew in from Berlin to join me for two days to be there when I spread some ashes in front of the building where Calvin and Kelly's Mom lived for a year. I couldn't do it. I broke down and Kelly ushered me up the street, telling me I didn't have to do it that day. "We can come back tomorrow," he said in a calming voice reminiscent of his father's. Instead, we went to Calvin's favorite writing café and had espressos.

Notice my swollen eyes. That night I had a long talk with myself and actually looked at the ashes, something I should have done earlier...but... 

The next morning we went out for breakfast and then walked to 21 rue Galande. This time I was able to fulfil my promise to my beloved. A part of him will remain in the City of Light he loved so much. When Kelly left to meet his flight, he hugged me and told me I'd be all right. I laughed through tears and said, "Kelly, I've never been right in my life. I wouldn't recognize myself if I were." He was laughing as he strode away.

A few days later and I was in Edinburgh where the ancient castle of Scotland sits atop an inactive volcano. Some hills and current streets are formed of hardened lava. I walked the Royal Mile from the castle to the parliament building.

The view from my hotel room. The castle and the Royal Mile are on the hill. I took a bus tour to a whisky distillery, which makes the whisky preferred by Prince Charles. The Scottish spell whisky without the "e" and get a little pissy about those who mis-spell it with that "e" in it. I sampled aged whisky from ten to twenty-eight years old and doona recall much after that. 

Another day I took a bus trip to see the Kelpies and the Highlands. Kelpies are mythical creatures that live in the lochs (lakes) and rivers as monsters and come ashore as beautiful horses with long, beguiling manes. When anyone tries to touch the manes, they are dragged into the water. Here I am, standing in front of two iron sculptures known simply as "The Kelpies."

Our tour guide, Calum, in his kilt. He told us the Scots spelled his name with one "l" and the British with two--Callum. There's your trivia for the day.

And the "hurry coos" that grow in the Highlands... or hairy cows in American-speak.

So this ole broad walked through  ancient streets and beautiful European cities alone. I didn't get lost. I wasn't mugged or hurt by terrorists. OK...ok, so I was in my hotel rooms by dark. But it didn't get dark until nine at night, so... And who needs to ride the metro when there are taxis and comfy sandals. I did come home with four handbags, but each one called my name...honest.

I admit to being happy I'm back home. Evie was over-joyed to see me and I missed my little Shih-Tzu. In many ways I had a lovely trip and in an important way a very lonely one. I wouldn't mind visiting Scotland again, going to the more northern part of the Highlands. The best part was garnering some story ideas. Travel tends to do that. New sights mean an increased curiosity and "what-if's..." for a writer's imagination.

Follow me on twitter @VonnieWrites. Or visit my website www.vonniedavis.com and sign up for my newsletter--soon to be a monthly mailing. I've been lax on my newsletter of late. I'll get better. Promise.

At the Lake With Two MIT Dudes by Vonnie Davis #vacation #inovermyhead #greattimes

I'm back home from a week at Lake Marion in Santee, SC. As I mentioned in my last post, Mike, my baby boy (tongue in cheek here), and his wife Tina decided Kelly, his wife Katrin, and I should travel with them for some relaxation after the Celebration of Life for Calvin.

They rented a large SUV that hauled seven--Mike, Tina, Kelly, Katrin, Ryan, me, and Ryan's five-foot telescope to set up on Ron and Debbie's dock.

Ryan positioning his telescope for best night-time viewing.

Oh, and let's not forget packing in everyone's luggage plus Ryan's three laptops, guitar, trumpet, and Kelly's two laptops. The ride down was like MIT on wheels. Kelly did his undergrad degree there. and Ryan is halfway to his undergrad degree in Computer Engineering with a minor in Music technology. As the ride progressed my mind swirled with conversations about bitcoins, string theory, writing computer code, and Kelly's expertise at Mozilla--artificial intelligence. In rapid-fire communication, the two moved onto deep-brain thinking. What the heck is that and where do I learn how to do it?

Calvin would have been right at home. Me? I was in over my head and I'd yet to reach the lake. When I did, some adult beverages would most definitely be in order to clear my mind.

At a local Mexican restaurant--Tina's Dad, Ron, Mike (aka Baby Boy), and Margarita Momma

(note dazed and confused look from ride to Lake Marion). 

The days were filled with zipping up and down three lakes connected by channels in Ron's new boat or walking through historic Charleston just an hour away. Nights brought star and planet gazing. I saw Venus and Mercury. Ryan would play on the trumpet as we sat on the dock. Neighbors in this gated community would cheer and applaud. 

AND I woke up  one morning with a series idea! One that involved a book I've slowly been working on. Getting away and seeing new things really does help the creative bent of the mind. Mine had been in a tight knot of grief. Evidently it's starting to loosen.

I'm hoping my next trip will waken the Muse. Two weeks from now I'll be in Paris. Calvin had told me several times before he got so sick that he wanted some of his ashes sprinkled in a green space in front of 21 rue Galande. He'd lived there for almost a year while on sabbatical in a fourth floor apartment. Kelly thought it was a perfect idea. He's flying in from Berlin so we can do it together. Here's a picture of Calvin in front of the building, reminiscing.

I'm staying in Paris for a week. Since this will probably be my last trip there, I have a few art galleries I want to meander through.  Once I leave there, I'm flying to  Edinburgh, Scotland. After writing six books set there, I figure it's about time I got a look at the country. All my research has been done online or in travel books. Finally, I'll get to see the real thing. I've got day trips booked for the Highlands, a whisky distillery with a wee bit o' tastin', and Loch Ness. If my energy holds up, I want to take a train ride to Glasgow and check it out. Aaaaad a day at the Highland Games where guys in kilts do "manly stuff." Mainly because a woman would have more sense.

Since Edinburgh is home of the deep-fried Mars Bars, I'll be forced--forced, mind you--to eat a couple. All the while, I'll be soaking up sights, customs, and local color for future bear shifter books. Och, aye.

To read more about my writing, go to www.vonniedavis.com or follow me on Facebook. Vonnie Davis is the name...writing is my game.

Back Seat Driver by Vonnie Davis #traveling #headingsouth #4thofJuly

For once I'm writing my post a week early. By the time you read this I'll be along a lake in Santee, SC with Mike, Tina, and Ryan at Tina's parents' house. Ron and Debbie are such great hosts, I know I'll have a wonderful time.

This Saturday, as I write this, will be a Celebration of Life for Calvin. Kelly and Katrin are flying in from Berlin and also riding along with Mike to the lake house, as Ron and Debbie call it. Calvin's niece is flying in from Rhode Island today. My children and their families will arrive Friday and Saturday morning.

All the grandchildren are taking part. Eleni and Josh are reading two of Calvin's favorite passages from the Bible, Lauren is singing "Amazing Grace," Gavin is reading the opening scene of  "Macbeth." In fact, he claims to have it memorized and will rock the three witches. I have no doubt. Ryan is playing "La Vie en Rose" on his trumpet. He'd learned Louis Armstrong's version for Calvin and played it for him a couple years ago on one of our trips to Mike's house. Calvin had been so touched Ryan had taken the initiative and time to memorize the song. His niece, Nancy, will share his favorite passages from "Romeo and Juliet" and "Julius Caesar." There will be an open mic time for sharing of memories. It'll be a relaxed service, one Calvin would have enjoyed.

One thing about cremation is that you can plan your service to fit everyone's schedule. Mozilla/Firefox had Kelly scheduled for three big trips of two weeks each to introduce and teach new products he's developed for them. So he's had two weeks in Portland and a week back home in Berlin. Two weeks in San Francisco with a return flight to Berlin, followed by two weeks in Boston and, of course back home to Berlin. He and I decided he needed a bit of time out of the airplane, so we scheduled Calvin's service for June 30th.

Knowing how hard the service will be for me, Mike decided he'd whisk me away to South Carolina for the week of the 4th--and Kelly and Katrin, too. He says he can have us there in five hours.

But at WHAT speed?

I have been known to freak out while he's flying on asphalt. When I screech "Michael!" from the back seat,  he calmly replies with "Close your eyes, Mom." I've always felt that was polite speak for "close your mouth." I'm no dummy. I listen...even as my palms bear the imprint of my fingernails.

The laptop and charger will be packed. I need to do some editing while I sit on the dock. Writing happens everywhere, doesn't it?

At the end of July, I'm flying to Paris to spread some of Calvin's ashes in front of the apartment building he lived in his year over there. Kelly is flying to meet me so we can do it together. That was one of Calvin's last requests. "Sprinkle some of me in front of 21 rue Galande."

I'm hoping all of this will bring some closure. Sleeping lately has been hard. I can't seem to turn off my mind. I'm a woman who deeply misses her other half. And I suppose that's as it should be. Life goes on; memories remain.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

*** Imagine the tears of shock and delight when I saw the gorgeous vase of red, yellow, and pink roses at Calvin's service from the Roses of Prose. I was so deeply touched. Thank you.

When You Least Expect It by Margo Hoornstra

You know how opportunity strikes when you least expect it? That happened to me recently. This is how it went.

It’s no secret I suck at promo. My website needs to be updated, but I just hadn't gotten to it yet. All I needed to do was send an email to my webmistress to get the ball rolling. Expense was one reason. Lack of motivation was the other. Who really, really goes to my website anyway?

Bad decision on my part. Some Free Read download short stories on my website through The Wild Rose Press now went nowhere when TWRP disconintued the program a few months ago. I hadn't bothered to have them taken down.
Unforgivable on my part, but there it is.

I also wanted to somehow up my general discoverability on the internet, but had no clue how to do that either, short of hiring a public relations agency which, for me, would be cost prohibitive.

What to do? What to do?

In order to supplement my author income (ahem) and because the job affords me lots and lots of down (in other words writing) time, I work as a substitute administrative assistant for a couple of local school districts. My boss in one is also second in command of the PR Department.

Imagine my surprise the other day when she told me she’d Googled (it’s now officially a verb) me and was very impressed with my website. Although she did mention she noticed a couple of glitches I needed to fix. One of which was some promised free downloads that went nowhere.
Wait! What?! Someone noticed?

When I cited the problems I had with promo, she and her assistant went on to explain the best and cheapest way to better promote myself on line. Turns out you can ‘claim’ yourself on Google and add relevant information that will pop up in a search. Who knew?
That conversation got me off the dime and I emailed my webmistress to get things rolling again. Voila, just like that the stories are fixed and we have a process going again.
But that's not all. Turns out my 'boss' also does the website for the district which is, I must say impressive. We talked a little about that, too. If things don't work out they way they are not...I have options.
Cool!

Then, I can’t leave this out, BONUS, she asked which of my books was my favorite and which she should buy. After smiling shyly, I suggested the three stories in one, Saturday In Serendipity, to give her more bang for her buck.

Needless to say, I’m thrilled. Could it be promo and I aren’t so hopeless after all?

How about you? Any fortuitous events in your recent history?

Be on the the lookout.

They’re there.

My days to blog here are the 11th and 23rd. For more about me and the stories I write, please visit my (soon to be revamped!) website.

I want my Internet! by Vonnie Davis

I hate confessing that I'm hooked on something, like sweet tea or chocolate or internet service. But, thanks to Comcast, I've been offline for 5 days and have another 7 to wait for a technician to show up to figure out what's gone wrong.  I might be breaking out in hives.

"My name is Vonnie Davis and I'm an Internet-holic."

Odd that it stopped working a day before I got a recorded message that their equipment showed a problem in my line or my house and to call the number they gave or I might lose service. I smelled something rotten in Denmark as I dialed the number. Dollar signs floated in my vision field--and they were floating away from me, not toward me.

The Indian service rep assured me in a heavy accent that this was not a hoax as I suggested. He promised me their service wouldn't cost me a penny. Maybe so, but how many dollars was I going to have to pay? I mean, when has Comcast done anything for free?

So I have no internet at the house, nor can I watch Netflix on the TV since it requires access to show movies and old TV shows. I'm writing this poor excuse of a blog at MickyD's, using their free wifi.

Internet is my pathway to the outside world. It's how I keep in touch with so many writer friends. I miss it terribly. Yes, I am hooked on social media. *Hangs head in shame!* How did this happen? I'm a sensible person. Really.

Meanwhile I've been updating, rewriting, fixing shallow point of view in a Kindle Worlds novella. I've changed out any references to the Kindle World it was part of and placed it as book number 3 of my "Black Eagle Ops" series. Random House published the first two books of the series and decided they didn't want book 3. I'll have 4, maybe 5 by the time I'm finished self-publishing the complete series. Random House has given me their blessing to use the logo they'd created. Rights to the series after book 2 are mine. So, I'm busy making this novella book length. The cover has been redesigned to omit any reference to Omega Squad and Kindle Worlds.

Wish me luck. I've been working on it from word one all week and only added 4000 or so words. Like Robert Frost "I have miles to go before I sleep."

I'm a writer with nothing to say by Vonnie Davis

Hello again! I'm supposed to be writing a blog. Instead I'm looking at George Clooney being interviewed by David Letterman. And I haven't a thing to say.

My last two posts were about losing Calvin and I hate getting into a "pity me" rut. So, I've been trying to come up with something profound to say. If any idea would pop into my head, I'd be most grateful.

But it ain't happening.

Heck, I can't even talk about writing, With a thousand or so words dripping out of my brain since before Easter, I don't have much to share on that front. Creativity has left me and I'm simply taking some time away from my craft.

I'd tell you about my sweet five-pound Shih Tzu, Evie. I bought her because the house was too empty and quiet. So, I communicate with her a lot. The only problem with that is whenever I talk on the phone, she thinks I'm speaking to her and she replies with growls and yips and shrill barking. My tan and white little girl has the breed prevalent overbite, which is the same as saying she has a grill like an old Buick.

Sometimes my eyes get to be a real issue. I've come to the conclusion that writing with my laptop on my thighs--as I've done since I wrote my first book--is putting a strain on my eyes. I can write elsewhere and my eyes are fine. So I decided to take Calvin's den and turn it into a writing space, sitting in the same area he had his desk. The room was painted yesterday. Three walls are now tan and there's an accent wall of Precious Ruby, or hellacious red. My new desk and bookshelves arrive on Tuesday. Then organization and decoration of the room begins. I still want to keep some things Calvin had on the walls, yet a large picture of cream and red flowers will dominate the room.

I'm trying to create a productive workspace for me and a napping spot for Evie.

But I'm afraid I have nothing to say. No words of writing wisdom to share. Well...hold on...

Visit me at www.vonniedavis.com

#Fashion Complaints by Christine DePetrillo

If you've visited the Roses of Prose blog before, you've no doubt heard me tell of my fashion incompentence. I have no style. I have no desire to put outfits together. I wear black and... some more black. I'm beginning to see, however, that perhaps the blame is not to be placed solely upon me.

The clothes available "out there" stink.

I recently visited a local shopping plaza with the mission of buying some new spring clothes in mind. I was in a good mood. I was determined. I was open minded.

And yet, it was still an EPIC FAIL. Mission incomplete. Headed home empty-handed.

I roamed the women's clothing section of one popular store, picking up anything that caught my eye and even some things I wouldn't have normally chosen. I was trying to be different. I was trying to not be so black and gray. I was trying to experience some level of fashion success.

How can one experience success though when the way clothes are made nowadays (oh, good heavens, I sound like an old lady here)... the way clothes are made nowadays is... well... pretty crappy.

First of all, this at-the-ankle trend for pants? Umm, how about a big ol' NO! Maybe it's supposed to be cute, but on me it just looks like my damn pants shrunk. I'm okay with capri pants and pants that meet my shoes, but that at-the-ankle fad look is downright awful. Someone once told me I had giraffe legs--and they weren't wrong--but picture a giraffe wearing at-the-ankle pants and that's what I look like.

I ain't wearing those pants!

Secondly, dresses with belts. Why? A belt's function is to hold something up at the waist. A dress is once piece. What is that belt holding? Nothing! It's holding nothing. It's purely an accessory. An accessory with no purpose. I hate things with no purpose. I also loathe those thin threads on the left and right of the waist to hold the belt in place on the dress. Those loops just further highlight the unnecessity of the belt! AND... AND... there's never enough holes on the belt to get it where it needs to be on my waist. Then there's that remaining part that just flaps around because it falls in a weird place and can't be secured by the aforementioned thread loops. Ugh.

What in the world is this belt accomplishing? 

Thirdly, ripped jeans. I'm sorry, but I work too hard for my money to spend it on ripped stuff. Besides, I rip stuff on my own just fine. I don't need the factory to do that for me. When I do it myself, each rip has a tale of its own and that's cool. Brand new jeans with rips are not cool. I get that it's sort of girl-next-doorish, but does it have to be girl-next-doorish-who-just-wrestled-a-grizzly-bear-and-her-pants-took-the-worst-of-it?

Does her knee get cold?

Lastly, high heeled sandals. To me, warm weather means bare feet in grass, sand, soil, water, whatever. A thin, cushioned layer when walking long distances over hot pavement is sensible, but some of the sandals I see with all these strappy parts and high heels and rhinstones and, to my great horror, that little part that separates the big toe from the other toes... shudder. I can't even think about it. My feet boycott such notions.

They don't show her face because she's grimacing in pain with every step.

So these are just some of my fashion complaints. I have more... such has sleeveless shirts with a high collar. If I don't want sleeves so I can keep cool, I definitely don't want anything closed up tight around my neck. That's going to suffocate me!

I did try on all of the above and promptly tore each one off in the fitting room. When I walked out and hung it all on that little rack they have, an employee asked me how I made out.

Lady, don't get me started...

What fashion trends burn you up? C'mon. You don't like everything out there either. Be honest.

Toodles,
Chris
www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com