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Be Ye Transformed by the Renewing of My Closet aka Makeover Me Pleaz!

Hello World,

My Michelle O. Dress...

A week from this Saturday, on May 29, I will be the featured speaker at the 31st Annual Christian Women’s Retreat banquet at the Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel…Yep, that’s right little ole me is the keynote speaker…This is the first time that I will be speaking at this type of event and I’m excited and scared…

I will be speaking on this verse…

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 12:1-2

Since the key word is transformed, I’ve been thinking about that word…and suddenly it occurred to me that maybe I need to transform my closet too…I mean I will be speaking to a whole room of women, and I want to be on point…it’s true, most women do dress for each other…At 36, I think I have an idea of what looks good on me – basically since I have wide hips and a small waist, I have to wear clothing that comes in at the waist and flares at the hips…other than that, I don’t know much…Recently, I’ve become a baller on a budget but I do think I need to splurge within reason on a few timeless pieces that will upgrade or transform my closet if you will…I do have the sense to know that what you can get away with at 26 will not work at 36…I’m also wondering if I should have my makeup done for my speech…what do you think?..also, I’ve  posted my outfit for the evening…and if you are wondering, yes, I wore this dress (my Michelle O. – inspired dress)  to church on Easter Sunday and to the ABC News’ “Nightline” debate, “Why Can’t A Successful Black Woman Find a Man?”  Do you think I should wear this dress? Do you like it? What about the shoes? What are the “must haves” for the closet of a professional woman in her ’30s?

On a side note, I dated this guy about two years ago that whipped out a clothing catalogue on of our dates…He told me that I worked out way too much to not dress well…I could have been insulted, but I wasn’t…He ended up buying me what is still my favorite winter outfit for Christmas…(I may have to call him for some help…)ah, the adventures of dating…

Anywho, any thoughts?

P.S. Something about this post makes me remember this song… 🙂 Love Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam…

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Searching for Thelma…

Hello World!!!

Me and Thelma!!!

Her signature!!!

I admit it…I’m a total Stan when it comes to “Thelma” from the hit ’70s show “Good Times.” When I was around 7 or 8 years old, I desperately searched for images on television that affirmed and celebrated black beauty…In the early ’80s, those were hard to come by…While the white girls in my classes looked up to Jill (Farrah Fawcett) on “Charlie’s Angels” and “Daisy Duke” from “The Dukes of Hazzard,” I looked up to “Thelma.”  Next to my mother, she represented everything I wanted for myself in the future: beauty, brains, strong family ties, a loving relationship with a fine husband and a determination to make it in this world despite all of its challenges.

I do think this pic looks like me...

When I got older, I was delighted that I got curvy like my beauty icon. And one Halloween in my ’20s, I even decided to dress as her for a Halloween party. (If you go to my ‘How’ page on this blog, you can see that pic…) I smiled for days when two guys nearly back -to-back told me that I favored “Thelma” just a few years ago. One of those guys is an artist who draws wonderful portraits so I took that as a huge compliment!!!

So you can imagine how excited I was when I found out Bern Nadette Stanis aka “Thelma” would be at the Sweet Auburn festival last weekend. I did not know how I was going to find her among the throngs of people at Sweet Auburn on Saturday, but I desperately hoped it would happen. As R and I walked through the crowd, I overheard a woman say, “That’s ‘Thelma’ back there.” My neck turned nearly 360 degrees. “Where,” I said, forgetting my manners. “Back in that booth just back there,” the woman said as she pointed behind us. Forgetting that R was with me, I bulldozed my way through the people until there she was…the dream of my little girlhood…

Me being a total Stan!

I went up right to her and stammered something about her being beautiful, and she smiled and simply said, “Thank you.” Then I paid $15 to have my picture taken with her and an autograph…As we got close to each other, she said, “You are so cute.” I felt like was levitating…THELMA SAID I WAS CUTE…It came from her own lips…Since she opened the door, I walked right in…”Ms. Stanis, some people have told me that I look like you. I don’t know if that’s true, but I took it as a compliment,” I said quickly. She looked at me closely and then said, “I can see that.” I don’t know if she meant it, but it made me feel good anyway. R said I don’t look like her…Maybe not…but a girl can dream, can’t she?

I’m such a Stan, I even took a picture with her daughter Brittany…

Bern Nadette's daughter Brittany...She's so pretty...and really nice too..

Any thoughts?