Follower of Fashion

I'm not particularly known as a Fashion Plate, though I do appreciate nice clothes. I have just had a wardrobe consultation with the amazing Anne Devlin and she has inspired me to look closer at clothing.

This is also exercise for my newly liberated hand...Lefty has been a bit constrained lately. Typing was suggested by my doctor as a good "work out". Snowboarding, not so much. :-(

I've seen a lot of neat fashion ideas recently and thought I would share some of them.

Wear the Shift
This is a site that was crowd-sourced on Kickstarter. Cute, A-line shift dresses that are custom made for you in vintage fabric. They run your measurements in a fancy algorithm and out comes bespoke awesomeness! I can't wait to wear mine and I promise will model it here (yes really).

QR Code wear
Check it out - you can put a QR code on clothing. Maybe this is too Geekchic for some people but I thought it would be a fun idea for All the Single Ladies to put your Match.com profile page as a QR code on a t-shirt. And clearly great minds think alike because they had that idea at Zazzle.

L-R-G
This company has decided to follow me on Twitter (thanks ya'll) and because they did, I'm going to give them a shout out, www.L-R-G.com I am more M-E-D but it looks like fun clothes for guys who like surfing waves and snow. Right on.

Kika Paprika
I just bought some clothing from Kika Paprika to boost my fashion quotient. I wanted to achieve an updated look for "casual business" and break out of my "uniform" - those items that I repeatedly went to because they were comfortable, but somewhat outdated. This clothing is VERY comfortable! I couldn't get over how soft the fabric was, seriously, most of the pieces I tried on I could imagine sleeping in they were so soft. The fabrics are pre-shrunk, organic cotton and colored with organic dyes. The clothing is made locally in Los Angeles. How can you go wrong in clothes that look great, support a sustainable business model and that you can shop for without going to the mall?

Images from WeartheShift, Zazzle, LRG and Kika Paprika. Feel the love!

Give Lefty a Hand

A few weeks ago, I broke my left hand. The 4th metacarpal bone to be exact. I am (thankfully) right-handed, but my buddy Lefty does quite a lot to help move things along.

A few hours after. All my fingers are extended in this photo, except the broken one.

Metacarpal fractures are common injuries that account for 30-40% of all hand fractures. They most often involve the 5th (pinky finger) and/or the 4th metacarpal (ring finger) and are also known as boxer’s or bar-room fractures.

This is from the next morning. It does look like I got into quite the kerfuffle doesn't it?

Typing, Holding things, Many household chores, Bathing, Dressing, Cooking, these are all things that are slightly more challenging to do without Lefty.

How did it happen? Dog walking. The short of it is that I was not present in that moment. I had a gazillion little distractions. I was monkey-minding (something we all fall into from time to time). With a little help from Dingo the dog.

I’m fortunate in that the things I am presently committed to – work, meetings, etc. I have been able to either walk to, get a ride to or Skype myself in to. At work, my intern very kindly offers to take dictation. My clients are often surprised, “Oh no! What happened??” Sometimes I like to say, “Well, I was wrestling a wolverine…” or perhaps more believably, “I caught an edge snowboarding...”

Unfortunately they didn't offer a Carolina Blue cast...

Not surprisingly, I’ve really increased my speed and accuracy in one-handed typing. I’ve revamped my meal plans for items that are soups, casseroles and stews; recipes that can be made with pre-chopped vegetables, meat and a lot of stirring. We have feasted on paella and enjoyed a chocolate pavlova dessert. The Crock Pot is seeing more action. The stand mixer and food processor have never been busier.

Soon the cast will come off, but the lesson has been learned. Dingo reminds me, in her goofy, awkward, “ding a ling” way, that I must be present and patient in all of life’s moments. Even the seemingly mundane ones such as dog walking. I have said before, that dogs are our bodhisattvas in fur and this was revealed to me again in an eye opening (and bone breaking) moment.

Snowboarding

This is my second season snowboarding. I started last year on Super Bowl Sunday at Mountain High here in Southern California. It was hard. The wind blew me down every time I tried to stand up. I would take lessons, hang out on the Bunny Hill and keep trying to get over my fear of standing on something that moved while I stood still.

I never skied, surfed or skateboarded as a kid so many of my friends thought I was slightly insane for suddenly taking up such a "dangerous" sport. It looked like fun and I thought, why not?

Last year after 4 sessions on rental boards, I invested in an Arbor. It was on sale, I was working, I wanted my own board. Then C very sweetly gifted me Flow bindings, suddenly I had not only a kick-ass board, but top of the line bindings as well. I HAD to get better.

This season I was lucky enough to get 3 days over the Christmas/New Year holiday in Tahoe at Mt. Rose. On my last day, I finally started to get it. I am off the bunny hill. I'm no longer taking lessons and while I'm still "working on my dismount" from the chairlift (otherwise falling on my Po every time and crawling away) I'm having FUN! I can do falling leaf more or less all the way down the run. This may not sound like much, but for me it is a little victory. Yes, I'm covered in bruises, and it hurts, and I'm often cold, but knowing that I kept trying and stuck with it is incredibly rewarding. I'm miles away from being able to do boxes or rails - and I'm not sure that it's even something I would ever try - but who knows?

Some things I've learned are:
Point the board downhill and lean in.
Good boots are important.
Falling in powder hurts a lot less.
Sometimes a face plant is kind of fun.
Everyone falls if they catch an edge.

I'm hoping to get to go a few more times this season. Would like to try Mt. Waterman and Snow Summit again, visit Mammoth and possibly somewhere in Utah. And yes, I've begun lusting after more comfortable boots that are easier to deal with.

See you on the slopes!