Sometimes life just sucks the wind right out of the very bottom of your lungs and forces you on your ass, as if to say – sit the heck down you crazy person, and take a damned breather! If the last couple weeks haven’t done that for/to me, then……well, I shall fashion myself a makeshift white flag from my undergarments and wave it wearily before my anxiety-ridden face.

I am currently splitting my time between two very different but equally demanding jobs – as Executive Director for the McCall-Donnelly Education Foundation, and as the Relator (which essentially means communicator/coordinator/motivator extraordinaire) for Story Story Night.

This past Monday at Story Story Night, we had our largest show to date – 450 people! I think we might be popular….it was one hell of a fine show, and we were even graced by the presence of the lovely Chanel Da Silva from Trey McIntyre Project and our talented trophy maker from Bricolage, Juliana McLenna (both pictured above).

This is how we rock the spotlight at Story Story  – sequins and rhinestones, my friend.
And I just had to go and act the gooftard while Jess enchants the camera with those big, sultry eyes…that’ll teach me.

Today I’m in McCall preparing for MDEF’s annual Chocolate & Spirit Tasting fundraising event, which is tomorrow. It’s my first time putting together this event, so I’m terrified and excited, which is an exhausting combination. Thankfully, I have a wonderful board of directors who have been working diligently to make sure we have a successful turnout. And perhaps, dear reader, if you find yourself in McCall you might stop in for a taste or three…after all, it is for the children.

Then right after Chocolate & Spirits, it’s back to Boise with me to sign closing papers on the new property my manfriend and I are purchasing (which was featured in last week’s blog – Dressing for Purgatory). It’s been a grueling, teeth-gnashing battle, but we done won, dammit! There are garden hoes, honey bees and clucking hens aplenty in our near future, oh yes……

 About the outfit: When prepping for the last Story Story Night, I knew I needed to wear something that would give me strength – an armor of sorts. I wanted to put on a garment that would coat me in confidence and give me the fortitude to move through the throngs with elegance and ease. For such a formidable task, there really was only one thing for me to wear – my great-grandmother’s opera vest, circa early 1900’s.

 This delicate silk wonder is studded in heavy, leaded rhinestones and silver-lined glass seed beads, and carefully tiered with scalloped edges so that as you move, the bottom of the vest swings gracefully about your sides. It feels incredible. I’ve truly never worn anything quite so thoughtfully and artfully crafted. I kept thinking about my great-granny Edith, and how she might have looked in this vest as she strolled through the streets of New York City on her way to an opera. How incredible, that more than a century later her great-granddaughter can revive her spirit through an indelible piece of timeless fashion.

I just had to take a photo of the tag my grandmother wrote when she gave me this vest for my 16th birthday – it’s too funny (and endearing).
Of course I would never give this treasure away! Golly, gramms….. 

I wouldn’t normally do this, but aside from the vest, every stitch of clothing – boots, skirt, camisole, bracelet – has already been featured in a past blog. That’s the undeniable power of one very special item of clothing – I dub thee, “wonder vest”!

I loved the color palate for this outfit so much, I had to take a close-up shot. The coat I’m wearing here is from an earlier post, Violet Turning Violet. 

Here’s to Kelly Lynae – always handy with a camera and typically dressed in something semi-sheer!