a perfect storm

as i get older i've been trying to dress a little better. i wish i could say i had found my elusive "personal style", but at this point i'm mostly trying to wear things that fit and flatter me. i try not to buy things that are too trendy or too, shall we say, cutesy, mostly because i am one of the youngest people at my work and don't want to emphasize my babyness, and also as someone who works with teenagers i don't want to look exactly like a kid in my non-work hours either.

but this morning i had an incident. a perfect storm, if you will. i was wearing a pale green puffy coat (a child's coat with fake fur trim....oh my), fake costco uggs (with my pants tucked into them! but that really is the best way to go in the snow) AND a white snow hat with a ball on top. it was 6:45 am and i was going out to walk the dog, and it was still dark, and i broke one of my cardinal rules, which is that i simply am not allowed to ever wear the hat and coat in combination, because i really don't know what could be cutesier or trendier. i was sure i would see no one. but of course my neighbor was outside leaving for work and wanted to have a conversation. he was like, "is my baby keeping you up at night when he cries?" and i was like, "no - are you secretly cringing because of my outfit? do i make you want to die inside?"

even worse was a couple of weeks ago when i wore the puffy-coat-and-faux-uggs-tucked-into-pants ensemble on a very brief trip to albersons when i ran into about 10 former high school students who were oh so cool and buying cigarettes. i was so embarrassed. also, i had been crying, for undisclosed reasons, right until the point of entering the store. it was a perfect night.

so the rule is: hat and coat=not okay. hat and boots=okay. coat and boots=okay outside, not okay at albertsons.