Nervous / Excited

This is my nervous excited face. 

Why a nervous excited face, you ask?

Well, let me tell you:

 After a few nudgings from friends and always wanting to share my personal style...

I am setting out to do just that.

I really want to inspire myself and you as readers to buy thrifted, upcycled, affordable, or second hand clothing on a more regular basis. How amazing would it be if Goodwill and consignment shops became our go-to's just as often as we default to other favorite stores, like J.Crew, Madewell and Anthropologie?

I am all about finding styling trends and inspiration from favorites and then setting out to find that look for less. It's actually how I fell in love with style at the very beginning of my eyes being opened to fashion. I was a highschool girl who until that Freshman year grew up wearing uniforms--school uniforms or a swim suit, as my life outside of school was mostly spent in the pool. My best friend and I would scour thrift stores and swap meets, finding the best things ever. And that is what I wore. All the time. Thrifted and second hand, this was my style. And I loved it. And I still love it but it has become only about 25% of my wardrobe. Slowly, as I've matured, my thrifted clothing has become less. Which now, I'm determined to change.

So why exactly a nervous face? All of the above is so exciting! It's exciting to share style and move towards changing the clothing perspective, for myself and hopefully for others. But it is nerve racking to be photographed. It is nerve racking to see a handful of photos of yourself. And it is even more real  in the nervous department to post those photos for all to see. But I need to change my perspective on that as well. I need to not be nervous about any of that--those photos are me! And I am beautiful just the way I was made, imperfections and all. This is what I wrote about the process the other evening, after Matt snapped a few photos of me last week:

"What started as continual fear of being photographed to reflect my personal style for the blog ended up being a truly freeing experience, especially so having my husband take the photographs. I'm excited to share style that is thrifted, second hand, and affordable in the coming months--with hopes to inspire you to shop for used items. And if not shopping second hand, why not make it a goal to donate a used clothing item or two to the homeless or Goodwill for every new item you do bring into your wardrobe? I'm completely up for the challenge, what about you?"

I write a lot about true beauty here, and I feel this fits perfectly. I want  to continue to change my own perspective on outer beauty and the worth that I put on clothing. (Which at times, is a lot of worth, let's be honest). So my hopes with this series, I'll call it WEAR, is that my heart would change in the process. That I'd be moved to shop second hand, donate unused clothing more often, and find myself content with the clothing that is already in my closet--ridding that desire to consume more and more, yet being frugal and thoughtful about it when I do shop. 

What do you think, are you with me?

Blog Housekeeping, Mr. & Mrs. update, and the heart behind it all.

There has been some major housekeeping going on at Pearls Poppies Pinkies Up. You may have noticed a few changes to the page. Like the very large poppy taking up the top of the screen, the wider space for posts and photographs, and a few new buttons to click on. One is the Facebook "Like" button! Officially, it has been a little over a week that the FB page was created. I was so hesitant for so long for multiple reasons. One may have been the awkwardness involved in only having 7 likes and the fear of, well, promoting a blog that is mainly just me. But thankfully, and what a huge blessing, so many of you have found this little blog to be a treasure, as it is to me, and have decided that officially "Liking" it on Facebook is manageable, and to some delightful. So thank you for your support! And thank you for sharing with others! That is so beyond anything I could ask for.

Another change, is in regards to my personal blog. Yes, I have one of those! Although I can get personal on Pearls Poppies Pinkies Up by the default of my writing style, I try to keep more of the everyday happenings over HERE. Some of you may not know this, but my personal blog was actually the beginning of this online writing (Well, actually, rewind ten years to the era of LiveJournal. Anyone else with me?). The Tiens (pronounced 'teen' like 'teenager) blog started after Matt and I had the biggest party of our lives, our wedding three years ago this past May. And now, just this past June, Pearls Poppies Pinkies Up emerged. And here we are {deisgn/DIY/style HERE, Mr. & Mrs. THERE). Of course there may be overlap, that's all part of it; but some of you may not want to see image after image of the spunkiest crazy eared dog around. And some of you might. If so, you can click the link in the right side bar for the everyday happenings (more like weekly happenings) of Matt and me. It looks like this:

But back to the reason I even bring up the personal blog. It has completely been revamped! I mean, completely. I wanted it to have a new look, new potential, a fresh feel. As a user of blogger, and as someone who is still learning how to design her own site, I went with the dynamic view. It is actually pretty neat because in the left hand corner under the title, there is a drop down menu where you can chose the layout you want to view it in. I guess that is why they call it dynamic, right? Just as you can follow Pearls Poppies Pinkies Up with Google Friend Connect, you can also follow with GFC at our personal blog. Instagram {@Pearlspoppiespinkiesup} and Pinterest {laurentien} is all in one place , if you'd like to connect there as well.

Whew. That was quite a bit of housekeeping! But I have one more thing for you. I've been thinking a lot and honestly, I've decided that having a handful of followers that really enjoy reading about my projects, design thoughts & inspiration, and cooky love for thrifting and setting up house by far outweighs stacking up the numbers. The intent and heart behind this blog is to inspire you {& me} to put to use what is innately deep down inside-- the desire to create, to find beauty in the simple and the rusty, and to take risks with design and do it yourself projects. I know I have learned so much about myself through the process of making and creating and I only hope this blog can be a step stool or a coach in a sense to get you to make, create, repurpose, upcycle, thrift, and all else that fits into that sweet little bundle. Have a wonderful weekend!

Love,

Lauren