12.12.09
Posted in Life in General, New, beauty at 12:35 pm by lookingood
So a short time ago, I decided I was sick of my hair again. For those who know me well, they know this happens quite often. My hair has been almost every color imaginable. I have had extensions, braids, and even had it all shaved off but in a “I looked way better than Britney Spears” kind of way. My family has never been able to understand it. I have naturally blonde hair, but it is fine, straight, takes a lot of hair product and time to make it look presentable to the public.
So I decided to go back to the clip extensions. You can find these at most beauty supply stores or online. I got the long blonde tresses, put them in and watched the fun begin. You see, for some reason, every time I have extensions put it in my hair or I put the clipable oneson my head, the strangest thing happens, I am seemingly transferred into Super HOT Blonde. Yes, Super HOT Blonde, able to stop traffic with a single look, making heads turn wherever I go, and able to get away with most anything.
I don’t get it. I am not a super model by any means. I am short. I still have 40 lbs I am trying to lose to get to my goal. I do have a pretty face, and I am ample in the bust area. However, that does not get me the attention I get when I have the hair, and it always happens. Part of me likes the attention because let’s face it, who doesn’t want to feel beautiful. On the other hand, I feel a little frustrated because it is all superficial. Why do we all put so much emphasis on the superficial anyways? What are we trying to hide?
I feel that we have turned into a society that puts way too much emphasis on superficial beauty. I have been reading about how young women participating in beauty contests are having breast implants and other plastic surgery to make them more competitive. What kind of message does that send to our girls growing up today?
I feel torn about my hair now. To keep it or to go back to my normal hair. For now, I think I am going to keep it. However, it is making me more conscious about other superficialness and what kind of message it will inevitably send to my children. I don’t want my children growing up with a warped view of beauty, and I want them to know that beauty really does come from within. We all have our flaws, but we have to figure out how to embrace them without succumbing to the pressures of society.
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12.04.09
Posted in All Products, Featured, Life in General, New tagged bereavement, death, depression, family, holiday sadness, loss of loved one, Queen at 12:31 am by lookingood
So the theme of the year for me has been The Show Must Go On. Yes you may have noticed, I included a link to the awesome song by Queen which is still one of my favorite groups of all time, but that is a topic for another day. No my topic today seemed appropriate considering that while this is supposed to be the happiest time of the year, it is also a very sad time of the year for many who have recently lost a loved one, having financial difficulties, or other problems in general.
This summer, I lost one of the people I loved most in this world, my grandmother. She was this amazing woman who had so much love in her heart and was a blessing to all who knew her. She and her husband became my cherished grandparents even before my mother married my stepfather. From the first day, she said, “Call me Grandma.” And I did. Without reservation, I took to her and my grandfather. I was thankful for the unconditional love that they showed and for accepting both me and my mother into their family. My grandparents were my heroes.
I had lost another grandmother I was close to several years ago to cancer. It was hard to move forward afterwards, but I did. I thought I had grieved, and that was done. The I lost my grandfather a few years back, and it hurt again. Now with my grandmother’s passing this summer, it seemed that all the emotions that I kept putting back into my mental closet, came rushing out in mass. I thought it would be easier as the months went on, but it hasn’t. The show must go on meaning life goes on, yet sometimes I feel stuck.
When my grandmother died this summer, it seemed that so much went with her such as the farm she and my grandfather had lived. I had so many happy memories of that place. A rift formed between family members, and while I make it a habit to not get involved in family politics, it broke my heart. It still does. Now as we enter the holiday season, it is hard to move forward knowing that there are no more holidays at Grandma’s, no more of Grandma’s special noodles, no more pie, no more cookies, no more farm, no more family get togethers, no more Grandma.
Since I live the furthest away from family, I know that sometimes they probably think that this does not bother me, but it does and deeply. My family and I do not see eye to eye on most things, have had some estrangements and of course, many arguments, but in the end, they are still my family, and I love them.
Now, we all have to find new traditions this holiday season. With this being my first year as a brick and mortar shopkeeper, it is a little more difficult to try to fit everything in with my busy schedule. However, it is important. While my plans are not pleasing to everyone, I am making an effort to try to spend this month seeing all the friends and family I possibly can so that I can fill the empty spot in my heart with love, joy, and new memories.
So if you are one of those people having a hard time this holiday season, know you are not alone. Find something to do like a hobby to help cope, and surround yourself with those who love you most. The hurt and struggle may still be there, but the show must go on.
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11.18.09
Posted in Featured, Life in General, New tagged being a woman, business owner, business planning, femininity, life at 12:55 am by lookingood
Ok, so one would think that having an English major background that I would be blogging like a mad woman. Yet, I am not. For some reason, the whole blog thing terrifies and mystifies me.
I started this because of my business, and everyone always tells me, “You need to have a blog.” Ok, I started one. That’s good, right? No? What? You mean I have to constantly write in this thing? Oh bugger!
I do actually have a legitimate reason, however, for not writing last month that does not include me staring blankly at my monitor trying to figure out what to say or contemplating my computer’s demise. (Oh like you have never thought about dropping your computer from a tall building just to see it splinter into tiny pieces and possibly damage an emo’s car. Oops, I said too much.) My reason for not writing has everything to do with the other half of my business as a party planner. I finally outgrew my space and had to get a shop downtown. Woo hoo!
I really thought it was going to be a simple process of moving everything from point A to point B and then having a sign created. I was WRONG. I needed new business cards, fliers, and promotional materials with the right address. I needed to constantly call the phone company almost every day for a month because nothing had gone right with the phone and internet set up. I had merchandise to order and fliers to hand out and emails to send because by that point I got the crazy idea to have a real Grand Opening. Basically I exhausted myself and ended up at the doctor’s office for antibiotics. Not my idea of a fun time. BUT, it is all over and done. Life goes on.
So, how did the grand opening go? Actually, it was pretty uneventful. You see, my biggest mistake in this was that I did not realize that for the two rival schools in the area, the big football game was NOT on Friday night like all thew others were. It was in fact on the same Saturday as my event. I found out about two days before my big day. By that point, I couldn’t reschedule, so I just went on as planned. Then I called my husband and cried. Of course, he pointed out how I really made a monster out of this whole thing when it was supposed to be fun as well as a way to take my business to the next level and see if it is something our area really needs. So I dusted myself off so to speak and went back to work the next week, and it wasn’t so bad. I am getting customers as well as feedback. Plus, I am getting phone calls, the good kind of course. It makes me excited and hopeful that this will all work out for me.
So there you have it. I will try to write more now that life is going back to normal, well as normal as it can be for me. I mean really, if I don’t write, then you have nothing to read and therefore no reason to visit my blog. So please enjoy my future ramblings and have an awesome day!
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09.23.09
Posted in Featured, New, Reviews tagged bras, corsets, handbags, lingerie, maternity bras., panties, plus size bras, plus size shapewear, shapewear at 2:16 pm by lookingood
Lookin’ Good Apparel was designed for all women to have a place online where they could find their bra size and shop for shapewear and not worry about not being able to find their size. Please check us out on the web at: www.lookingoodlingerie.com
Lookin\’ Good Lingerie Preview
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Posted in Health and fitness, New tagged breast cancer, breast cancer awareness, mammogram, self-examination at 1:59 pm by lookingood
As many of you know, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I know some of you ladies might be thinking, “Who Cares? The merchandise and everything is always in our faces.” While there is a lot of information out there as well as awareness groups, merchandise, and more, the fact is that many women still are not going for their mammograms or doing self-examinations.
While I was in college, we had tags on some of our showers that showed how to conduct a self-examination. At the time, many of us brushed it off and joked about it. However, it is not something to take lightly. While many cases are found in women over 50, according to the American Cancer Society, about 1 out of 8 invasive breast cancers are found in women younger than 45. By having your mammograms and doing self -examinations, you are doing yourself a service by getting treatment in the early stages versus finding out you have it after having symptoms and risking the possibility of it spreading.
Other things to take in consideration that also increase your risk of getting breast cancer are being overweight, drinking alcohol and smoking. Yes, you probably know this already, but sometimes we need to overstate the obvious.
So I know for some, you may feel overloaded by the amount of information and everything promoting Breast Cancer Awareness, but please, do not forget to check yourself.
For more information please visit:
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_6x_Breast_Cancer_Early_Detection.asp
http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/
http:://www.komen.org
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08.20.09
Posted in Featured, Health and fitness, New tagged beauty, diet, exercise, fashion, fitness, inner beauty, turning 30, woman's health at 4:36 pm by lookingood
This year I turned 30, and while most of my friends said it was not so bad, I found it terrifying. Ten years ago I was healthy, active, and a fashion force of nature. On my thirtieth birthday, I found myself to be overweight, out of shape and wearing things that had even my husband asking, “What the heck happened.?
Now I could and did play the blame game for how this all happened. I had two children, a lot of stress, a business to develop, etc…, but it all boiled down to the simple fact that somewhere in the past few years, I gave up on myself. I stopped believing in myself, and no matter how many times I would diet, it would always come back full circle. Why?
I knew why I stopped believing in myself. To me, I was no longer a person. I was a role. I was a mother. I was a wife. I was a business owner. I was a caregiver. I was anything but ME. I knew that no matter what I did to lose weight, it would not matter as long as I did not see myself as a person and therefore did not believe in myself. I had lost all confidence in my ability to be the beautiful person that I knew I could be. And I do not mean a beautiful person as in “If I lost weight, I would be beautiful.” I meant “beautiful” as in being able to light up a room by the way I carried myself, dressed, put myself together, and the confidence in the way I addressed others. I no longer possessed any of that. The most beautiful women to me are those women who are comfortable with themselves and present that in whatever they do.
I know so many of us want to lose weight for so many reasons: health, society pressures, to fit in that little dress. However, if you are not confident in yourself in your present state, you will never be able to accomplish that goal. Not everyone will be supportive of your decision, and without confidence, it is so easy to say, “Yeah, your right. This is stupid.”
Diet and exercise are important components in losing weight, but if you don’t believe in you, you will always find yourself going in circles. So believe in yourselves and take small steps. You will be pleasantly surprised in what you can accomplish.
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08.19.09
Posted in New tagged bras, bust line shaper, firm control shaper, full figure, lifting bras, shaperwear at 4:12 pm by lookingood
Every so often, I will spotlight a product from Lookin’ Good Apparel that I absolutely love. If you have a favorite product, please feel free to send me your comments and be entered into a monthly drawing for a $25 gift certificate.
This week: The Bust Line Shaper
This amazing and unique undergarment lifts and supports for an instant posture correcting change to your silhoutte. It can be worn with any bra and cup size. Comfortable for all day wear and offers invisible lift for use with any garment. At the office or a night on the town, only you will know its on, everyone will notice the difference. Order by chest size Small for 32 -34, Medium for 36-38, .Large for 40-42 and XL for 44-46.
I love this because after having two children, I sometimes feel that need to have a little extra “oomph” in that department to keep the “girls” lifted and perky. It is a lot more comfortable than some other things I have tried. Incidently, if you are bigger chested, you may want to steer clear of the “Strap Perfect” as I have found it digs into my skin.
~L
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Posted in All Products, Featured, New, Reviews tagged being a woman, femininity, inner beauty at 3:40 pm by lookingood
New to my blog? Well let me tell you what this is all about? This blog is about just being a woman and to honestly be able to talk about what all that entails to each woman. Personally, I want each woman to feel good about herself regardless of what she may think, what society says, blah blah blah. You get the picture. Whether you are a teenager, a 28 year old grad student, a forty year old mother, or an 87 year old grandmother, I want you to feel like you can relate to me and what I am saying. Ok, so now you are probably saying, it can’t be done. The age range is too wide. What does this chic know anyways? I admit, I don’t know everything, but I am constantly learning. I feel women of various ages, professions and ideals can all learn from each other. So sit back, have a nice coffee or tea or whatever it is you drink, and enjoy the experience. Feel free to comment, but please be respectful of others. And welcome to my blog!
~L
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