Dressing My Best--and in Stripes, no Less!

Well, hello there!

I won't even go into the insanity of this day...let's just talk clothes, shall we?  I was super excited to participate in academichic's Dress Your Best week, so here's my first offering: LEGS!!

embellished dress--Target

yellow pencil-stripe cardigan--J.Crew

gray stockings--Victoria's Secret

patent wedges--Banana, remixed

At 5'2", I've often struggled with my legs as my least favorite part of my body.  I always saw them as too chunky for how short they were and thick rather than skinny or even shapely.  And let's not even approach the topic of cankles...it's been a love-hate relationship fizzling over into hate for many years.

But then, last August, I started running.  I signed up to participate in Team Challenge, a fundraiser and half-marathon training program for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America, as my husband is a long time UC patient.  Although I couldn't even run a mile when I started, by fall I was logging upwards of 20 miles a week and I ran my first half-marathon in Las Vegas on December 6, 2009 after raising over $4200 towards a cure for Crohn's & colitis!  It changed my life so much that I'm still working with the program, mentoring new participants and will run another half in June after raising more money for CCFA. 

All of this is a long way of saying that I suddenly realized what my legs could do.  They could carry me for double-digit miles, they could work to fatigue and move me from place to place and they certainly didn't fail me last season.  I began to love how strong they were and appreciate what my body was really capable of--starting with my most embattled features. 

Now I love my legs and never fail to appreciate their strength and agility.  I see them as an anchor for the rest of my body--keeping me strong and upright and grounded (literally)!

I also wore this striped cardigan today in honor of Jessica's blogger challenge of Breton Stripes, but I think I

1) missed the earlier deadline of posting

2) didn't really wear true Breton Stripes

Oops--I'll be doing plenty of stripes in the coming weeks, so I'll be back to this one for sure!

I really, really love this dress, though.  I found it at Target (full price: $24.99) but love this kind of tank dress with full skirt and the embellishments were so sweet and meant no need for jewelry!!  To play up my legs, I picked the shorter and fuller skirt with dark hose and wedges.  Go LEGS!!