Fashion

[SportyShorty07]

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@Enufstuff wrote:

@SportyShorty07   You are very sweet and adorable! I saw your picture in Outfit of The Day.  You are also very funny, "hip waders" and "Hamburglar"!  I do avoid horizontal stripes.

   You are correct about some of the benefits, like fitting into small spaces and some of the physical benefits, like aerobics.

    I worked at a couple of women's health spas and taught aerobics, when I was your age. For years I practiced yoga, until arthritis became a painful problem.

 I read that you lift weights. My daughter got into body building and competing. She has always been athletic. She's also only 5' tall. I have weights, but nothing heavy, just for fitness. Too much pain in my shoulder to do that now.

  For many years, I danced and was in Middle Eastern shows.

I think that petite dancers look more graceful than tall lanky girls with those long arms. Many dancers that I know are more on the petite side.

   When it comes to pants, only petites will do. I don't need the crotch drooping halfway to my knees. What does not make sense to me is , in some catalogs they will list petite pants or jeans with a 29" or 30" length. That is not petite. Heck, my 6'1" husband wore a 32" length.

  I love finding ankle length pants; they are just right. Short petites are good too, if you can find them. Now, that I'm retired, I mostly wear caftans at home. I'll dress them up with

jewelry sometimes. My daughters call me Mrs. Roper. You are

very young and may not know who that is, unless you watched

"Three's Company" re-runs. Mrs. Roper was the landlady and she always wore caftans and big jewelry.

   I don't feel short unless I'm standing next to a six foot tall person or can't reach something on a high shelf. Thankfully, my husband or son can reach for me or I use one of those grabber things.

   I try not to climb anymore, if I can avoid it, now that I have two bad knees and arthritis in my feet.

   Speaking of knees, I have been trying to find tall knee high boots for a few years now. Most are too tall, heels too high or made for people with very skinny calves. I don't need large calf boots, but my legs are more athletic, not slender.

   Well, this fall I got lucky at DSW. I found Eurosoft boots that come just below my knees, zip up comfortably and are nice and cushiony inside and have 2" heels. I got two pairs, brown and light taupe. Of course, as soon as I bought them, the weather got unseasonably warm. I went back to my Birkenstock sandals, so I haven't worn the boots yet. I've been in the house for three weeks, taking care of my 85 year old husband who had hip replacement surgery.

  Next week, I'm going out to a nice restaurant with my cousin,

so I will wear a pair of the boots with a new dress in  fall colors.

   I'm so accustomed to living with arthritis pain for the past 15 years, I hadn't thought of trying epsom salts. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to try it.

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@Enufstuff   Thank you so much for your kind words !  That is so cool that you were an aerobics instructor- I love aerobics and I have a huge collection of 80's aerobics VHS exercise tapes.  I love to do aerobics and heavy weightlifting.  That's wonderful that your daughter did bodybuilding and competitions- I want to enter those types of contests some day.  That's great that you did Middle Eastern dancing- I never did dancing growing up, I was into combat sports and I wrestled and boxed in high school.  

    I totally agree about inseams pbeing too long even on petite pants- my inseam is 24.5 inches and so I have to usually get ankle short inseam skinny jeans.  I loved watching re-runs of "Three's Company" as a kid!! That's so cute and fun that your daughters nicknamed you "Mrs. Roper" she was the queen of caftans and fun jewelry.  That's great that you found tall boots that you like, and goof fecision to purchase them in multiple colors.  I have a beautiful pair of Coach over the knee black suede boots with a 1.5 inch heel and the weather isn't chilly enough for me to wear them yet.  

    You're a lovely wife to take care of your husband after his hip surgery- I'm sure he really appreciates your tenderness and care.  You'll look so stylish  in your boots and your dress for your dinner with your cousin.  I think epsom salts will help your back- just remember to stay hydrated before you take a hot bath since sometimes I forget and get really thirsty.    Epsom salts have helped me a lot with muscle recovery and pain from all of the sports and weightlifting that I do- my favorite brand is Dr. Teal's Epsom Salt which is available at Walmart, drugstores and Amazon and it is very reasonably priced.   

[Enufstuff]

@SportyShorty07   Wow! You are one tough little lady, combat sports, wrestling and boxing! And I thought that my acrobatic, body building, kick boxing daughter was tough.

   Just thinking about doing those things, scares me. I'm more of an arts and crafts and reading person, especially, now that I'm older. Dancing and skating were about as active as I ever was.

   Your Coach boots must be beautiful, I love suede. A 1.5" heel is a perfectly comfortable height.

    I'm looking forward to wearing my new boots.

    I will try Dr. Teal's Epsom Salt. Being prone to kidney stones, I do stay hydrated. I drink more than a half gallon of water each day.

[SportyShorty07]

@Enufstuff  Thank you for your compliments! Your daughter is a tough little lady and you're a tough little lady too !! I love arts and crafts- I majored in art in high school and college and I love to do watercolor painting and acrylic painting.  You're lucky with the gift for skating and dancing. I never was a good skater- I remember when I went skating on a date and I kept falling all over the place and had to drag myself along the rink by grabbing the walls and by the time I got to the end, the ice skating session for kids was starting and all of the kids were wizzing by me and doing tricks while I was desperately trying to stand against the wall .  

    Yes indeed, I love my Coach black suede over the knee boots- I got them on sale three years afo on the Coach website for I think 60 percent off.  I was so surprised when I put them on my 24.5" inseam legs and they actually were over the knee .  When the weather gets a little colder, I'll definitely wear them with cute Fall/Winter outfits. 

    That's great that you stay hydrated! I've got it down to a science in terms of the amounts I drink in the morning, with meals and pre/post exercise.  Also, whenever I use the Dr. Teal's Epsom salts, I pour maybe 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the salts into a hot bath- the package will suggest a lot more, but I don't think its necessary. 

[Enufstuff]

@SportyShorty07  It's great that you are also an artist. Do you have a preference in your subjects? I always liked doing landscapes and have only done a few portraits. In high school, I was in the Art club and the Biology Club. Those two interests have been my lifelong loves.

   As a teen, I learned how to paint in oils and I loved it. The last oil painting that I did, was in the 90's. I never painted in acrylics, but at the local college took classes in water colors, about 20 years ago. It is different and I think not as easy as oils, but it is not as messy either. I've done paintings for each of my children, so they will have some of my art, when I'm no longer here.

  When I was 34, I went back to college full time, to finish my Food Science and Technology degree and became a microbiologist and worked at a private lab for 7 years.

  Your unfortunate experience skating, sounded funny, the way that you described it. I could picture a scene like that on "I Love Lucy". You poor thing,you must have been mortified, and on a date too. I'm sure that you must not have felt like it was funny.

  Your Coach boots on sale was a "lucky find". They will be cute with your winter outfits. Can you believe tomorrow is Dec.1st?  After Halloween, the weeks just seem to fly by so fast.

   I remember as a child, it seems like it took forever for Christmas to come. Now it seems to come too fast.

   Thanks for the tips on the Epsom Salts. I'll try 1/4 cup. I just hope that my body doesn't absorb any. I have high blood pressure and avoid ingesting sodium.

[SportyShorty07]

@Enufstuff  My favorite subjects to paint are my houseplants and still lives made up of fruit and vegetables.  I used to paint in oils in high school and then moved to acrylics and really grew to love watercolor painting in college.  That's so sweet of you to make your family members artwork, I've done the same for my sisters and parents. That is so cool that you went to school for Food Science and Technology and worked as a microbiologist .  

    My ice skating date definitely felt like a scene from "I Love Lucy" and my date and I were laghing the whole time! Even though I felt helpless falling the whole date, I was a good sport and kept laughing at how difficult it was to skate and my date had a lot of fun trying to catch me since he was a terrible skater too!   The only downside was that I had huge bruises from falling that took weeks to heal, but it was a fun ice skating date and I don't think I'll ice skate again .

   My boots were indeed a lucky find and I might consider getting them in brown suede on ebay.  This year has gone by so fast and I completely agree about Christmas coming up so soon- it feels like I just celebrated Halloween and now we're in December.  Also, I completely forgot about blood pressure and sodium, so I'd suggest asking your promary care physician about epsom salt baths for pain relief before trying them since I wouldn't want you to potentially have an adverse reaction to them.  There's an item on QVC item # V56964 that might be good for your back- its a heated weighted vibrating massage pad that you can drape over it on your back and lie down or on any part of your body that needs gentle heat and massage.