Monday, February 14, 2011

Shopping for Type 1/3 eyeglasses

Here they are. I waited two whole weeks for them to be made! I found out in January that I needed glasses (I wore this outfit that day). In fact, I sat in the opthalmologist's chair and she pulled up the famous alphabet chart on the wall. She asked me to read them, and I was stumped. She said, "So, do you drive often?" Um, yes. Apparently, I'm not seeing life in clear focus.

I had glasses once upon a time in college, and they were actually Type 1 frames. I chose them long before I learned about living my truth. They were half frames, a very light pink, and very thin wire frames. I liked them a lot, but the prescription was totally wrong and gave me a headache.

When I headed out to buy my newest glasses, I went to Eyemasters. Mostly because they are close to my house. There was an employee there who was very helpful with picking out my frames, especially because I was overwhelmed with all the OPTIONS! Oh, the possibilities! She was a Type 2 herself, and really looked for what I wanted, rather than pushing me into a specific pair. Funny that she loved the pair I chose the most on me - they must be right!

Here's how we narrowed it down to the pair I chose. Hopefully these tips will help you:

1. How much frame do you want? For a Type 1, it's great to keep it light, so the half frames are a perfect way to create some "lightness." The square, black glasses are really trendy right now, but they are too heavy for a Type 1 face.

2. Color! Most frames, according to the girl at the store, come in two colors: black and "something else". Usually brown, or in some cases, red, purple, green, blue, etc. No black for me! Mine are a dark brown metal across the front of the frames. AND, they're lime green on the inside. Can you see the green?

3. The shape of the upper part of the frame: Choose something that has a little movement to it, not a line that goes straight across your face. That was actually the deciding factor in these frames, the fact that they curve a bit across the top, making them feel like there's a little upward movement in them.

4. Pattern: Mine, although you can't see in the picture, have a pattern on the outside of the ear bars (yeah, I don't know what those things are called.) It's a brown-on-brown pattern of different squares with some of the squares being a lighter brown, and some the darker brown. Totally perfect. A little movement on the side of my face!

5. Weight of the frames at the corners: I decided as we were going through frame after frame of non-black half framed glasses that one of my preferences was a little chunkiness at the corners. You can see on these frames that they are substantial corners, which is a nice shout-out to my Type 3 secondary movement. Find a way to honor your secondary, but make sure it keeps with the rules for secondary. That extra chunkiness is perfect for me!

6. These were cheaper than the other pair I liked: a red pair with cutouts of daisies going down the sides. They were cute, but these were the best. Like I said above, it was the shape of the upper frame (over the eye) that sold me on these.


Type 1 glasses sound hard to find, but I bet there's at least one great pair in every store! I looooove these glasses, and I can see so much better now too!


Eyeglasses: Chelsea Morgan by Eyemasters
Red Plastic Circles Necklace: Dressing Your Truth store
Redish orange T: Nordstrom's Rack
Brown corduroy jacket: Costco

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

You've Got to Roll with the Punches to Get to What's Real

It is bitterly cold outside, and windy. Welcome to February. Yesterday I froze, wearing my green pea coat all day at my desk. Today I decided to bundle up with a zip-up fleece jacket, and then my coat and scarf. It literally saved me, because the weatherman said the wind is making it feel like -5 degrees Fahrenheit out there. And me - I don't get to wear pants to work.

Yesterday I couldn't find my box of panty hose I had purchased, with 3 unworn pairs still inside. After many panty hose adventures, I was able to discover that buying a box of 4 "L'eggs Everyday" panty hose are relatively comfortable, cheap, and seem to last a while too. And the nude color is close enough that sometimes, I don't seem to even be wearing them! A big success in the panty hose department there. I think I bought my box of them at Walgreens, by the way.

There's actually not a lot of pop to this outfit like there should be. I supposed I could wear some gold jewelry to take it up a notch, but my current gold jewelry, except for my flower necklace and springy bracelet, has been worn too much and all that expensive "gold" has worn off. I need to find some different gold jewelry that I like and doesn't weigh too much. In the mean time, no pop for today, except for maybe my great hair. Or the hot pink fleece jacket I'm wearing around the office so that I don't turn into a popsicle.

Type 1ism of the day: Last night my best friend and I had a hilarious evening. She's also a Type 1, and lives a few doors down from me. We sat on her couch, both on our laptops, watching the Food Network, eating fun foods, and posting ridiculous messages on each others' Facebook pages. Then we would proceed to laugh and snort out loud, unrestrained and thoroughly entertained. It was a great night. :)



See my boots? I wanted to show them to you!

Shell star necklace: from Hawaii
Brown peasant top with peach flower embroidery: Ross
Wooden bracelet: Romania
Khaki skirt with the satin trim: H&M Chicago
L'eggs Everyday panty hose: Walgreens
Brown shearling boots: Costco

Title: Jump, by Van Halen