My Fascination With Pinup Attire

Today’s Fashion Attire: Today I’m wearing a cotton, red, tiered sleeveless top (White House Black Market $37) under a blue denim jacket (Old Navy $26), a dark wash skinny jeans (Gap Outlet $29) and tomato red patent leather flats (Bettie Page Store Santa Barbara $32). I’ve accessorized with red silk scarf in my hair (gift from a friend) and white sapphire stud earrings (Tippr.com $2)

Outfit Justification: Last night in a fit of boredom I spent way too much time on Pinterest.com. I was pining stuff like crazy. I spent a significant amount of time on my New Style For Me board, which is all the pinup stuff I like. Today’s outfit and look was inspired by one of the pins on my board. Red top underneath denim jacket with a red scarf in the hair with jeans and I added a red flat shoe to keep that pop of color at the bottom. I’ll post a picture of my inspiration picture and a picture of the top part of my outfit.

the inspiration:

My Fascination With Pinup Attire:

I’ve previously mentioned that I struggle with being overweight. As I actively do something about my weight gain, I do my best to try and dress the body I have to the best of my ability. After a long discussion with my husband about my body issues, he kept dwelling on how much he loved my curves. He pointed out that even at my smallest I was still very curvy and I really should embrace that. Which somehow led to a discussion about Marilyn Monroe being considered plus size in today’s society. Many men consider Marilyn to be a gorgeous sexy woman, even now.  I did a Google search to find out what Ms. Monroe’s actual dress size was, and it’s rumored to be anywhere from a size 12 to a size 16. I started to think about the fact that I fall into that range of size.  I did more research and looked a lot of screen sirens from that time period and noticed that they weren’t all rail thin. The more I looked at pictures, the more I started to admire the clothing

After talking to a few people, I asked around about the whole pinup style. I know that I see people today walking around in these styles, but did they make these adorable and sexy clothes in my size?  I eventually posed the same question out there on Facebook. My friends came to the rescue. They encouraged me to pursue this style as it was made for someone like me. They posted links to various websites that had the very clothes I admired. I was thrilled to see that they did make stuff like that for my size and I was seriously interested in buying some of it.  

As my husband’s birthday approached, I wracking my brain trying to find a gift he would really like. A girl can only buy so much Star Wars crap for overgrown child of a husband.  Like angel from heaven, my friend Carolina, forwarded an e-mail that had some great offers and she saw the pinup shoot offer and thought of me. At first I was like that’s so sweet. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks, that’s what I could give my dear sweet husband. He’s always wanted me to do a boudoir style photo shoot, now here’s the opportunity to do it. I bought the package, called the company and scheduled the shoot.  I was nervous because I’m super self conscious, and I don’t consider myself sexy. But when I saw the beautiful pictures on this site and read all the good feedback about the team of women who run the shoot, I had to do this.  Of course I’d go to great lengths to make my husband happy. But I needed to do this for me.

The day of the shoot came. I was freaking out on the inside. As I approached the house where the shoot was taking place, my insides completely relaxed as I saw this old fashion house full of women. Everyone was super pleasant and encouraging. It was awesome.  The woman who owned the house was the hairstylist and makeup artist. She marveled at the blue streaks in my hair. She put beautiful spiral curls in my hair and pinned most of them. The makeup was stunning especially when she added the lashes.  Her business partner was the photographer. She helped me pick out a few items to wear during the shoot, some of my own that I brought and others they had there for me. It was a super warm day, but it was a fun shoot.  I posed in the vintage style bedroom in lingerie and crinolines. At the very end of the shoot, I posed naked underneath gold satin sheets.  I felt really attractive.  I got to see the images on their laptop just after the shoot. I chose the perfect shot for my 8 x 10 glossy for my husband, and then decided to purchase an additional cd with all of the images.  They said they would do my best to have it ready for my husband’s birthday, which was the next week.

The weekend of my husband’s birthday I went to shop for the perfect outfits for his surprise birthday celebration.  Jeff wanted a pinup girl in his life and I was determined to give him one. So I found some vintage inspired outfits for all the festivities of the weekend.  The night before I found a royal blue lace baby doll dress and wore my hair in pin curls. The day of his surprise brunch, I took the pins out and wore my hair down in beautiful spiral curls. I found a gorgeous calf length black with white polka dress for the day of his birthday. When I presented him with the 8 x 10 and the disc of my pinup photo shoot pictures he was thrilled.  He said that was the best gift I could have ever given him. I was thrilled to have achieved my goal of giving him his pinup girl. Even though I was pretty ill that entire weekend, I was able to mask it and make him happy.

After that weekend, I was still inspired to keep the pinup style going. I kept looking for vintage inspired pieces to complete the look. And for my own birthday I wore a gorgeous leopard print halter wiggle dress with leopard print heels. 2 weeks after surgery and 2 months after that pinup shoot, I was still embracing my inner pinup screen siren. And I felt stunning and pretty.  Sometimes feeling pretty is what you really need sometimes to keep you moving forward in life. It might sound vain, but it’s the truth: a woman needs to feel that she’s beautiful.

So today, I’m embracing that vintage pinup look in a more subdued way. Going more Rosie the Riveter for the office as opposed to sexy screen siren. But even these subtle touches of the red, and the accessories and the red lipstick has grabbed a lot of attention here in the office.  I keep receiving compliments on my hair, my outfit and my makeup. It’s enough to make this girl smile. 

The Journey Back To The Stage

Today’s Fashion Attire: Today I’m wearing a black scoop neck t-shirt (Gap Outlet $4) dark wash skinny jeans (Gap Outlet $29) black and white mesh and leather loafers (Rockport Outlet $19) a soft cotton military style black cap with a rhinestone bow adorned on the side (Some random accessory store out in Victoria Gardens $12)

Outfit Justification: This outfit is basic and it revolves around the hat.  I bought this hat when I was on the great search for shoes for my audition dress for the Voice audition a few weeks ago. That was totally cute almost military looking with the exception of the shiny bow. I’m not normally a bow person but the hat was darling. My husband loved it, so I had to snatch it up. It made sense to pair with a black t-shirt.

The Journey Back To The Stage:

I’m kind of at a loss as to what to talk about today.  I didn’t write my blog on Friday because I was too hungover from my work happy hour the previous day to be witty and informative…I was basically useless. It happens.

On Friday, my friends Patrick and Starr, have kindly asked if I would be willing to sing two songs with their band Lounge-O-Rama. I was thrilled by the offer of course I said yes.  I really like this band. The musicians are all talented. They play all kinds of great covers.  They touch all the genres that I love and touch all of the different decades.  In a city like Los Angeles, it’s hard to find a local band that I really like. There’s a lot of crap out there.  I’m always a bit skeptical when someone says “Come see my band”. I smile and try to worm my way out of it.  I don’t want to really hurt someone’s feelings if the band sucks, and they generally do. Every now and then I’m pleasantly surprised. So when the members of this lovely band who I’ve gotten to know on a friendly basis invite a struggling singer like me to sing with them, you know I was all over that opportunity.

After saying yes, I went into a small baby panic. This is the first time I’ve had a gig since April. The length of time between gigs is normal since I’m not a part of a band exclusively. But the reason why this is so significant is because I had an illness that was very lengthy that did a lot of damage to me physically and emotionally.  I had taken a taken a social hiatus to recover before I knew exactly what was wrong. And then I was put on medical leave with major restrictions. The illness was wreaking havoc on my sleep, my brain and my voice.  I had never gone that long without singing. As a result my spirit was very broken. 

Since I’ve been diagnosed, had surgery and recovered from that, I’m still fighting the residual effects of the illness. Working with my vocal coach, practicing at home, singing karaoke, I can still hear the damage pieces of my voice. My heart sinks when I sing songs and my voice breaks.  It’s disheartening and frustrating to not be able perform the way I want to.  I struggle to maintain the power in my voice when I hit certain notes. My singing means the world to me. I’m very proud of my ability to sing.  I love that my range is large. I love that the genres I attempt are so different than what’s expected of me. It makes me happy when I sing a song and nail it.

Last night I went by to see Starr at Sonny’s because she was running her karaoke show there. It was super quiet.  When I have a gig I don’t do karaoke leading up to it.  So last night was the last time this week I’ll do karaoke until I sing Friday night. So I made the best of it. I sang songs that not a lot of people know. I tried stuff that’s been out of my range for a while. I sang stuff I’ve never tried before.  Last night I attempted a song that was completely out of my range. This specific song was one that when I first started working with my vocal coach, it was one of the songs that I said was completely out of my reach.  I worked with her on this song for a few years.  I chipped away at it. I never really mastered it.  I gave up on it because the song isn’t really that main stream. Frankly even if I did master it, no one would really care but me and I felt that was a bit self indulgent.

The other reason why I abandoned this song is because of the lyrics. They remind me of my darkest time in my life when I was diagnosed with depression. It echoed a lot of the thoughts I had during that time. The song is called Lithium and it’s by Evanescence (It’s not a cover of the Nirvana one). Last night I attempted to sing it expecting it to be a huge disaster. Something happened to me while singing it. I felt like I had left my body and something else had taken over. It wasn’t a disaster. In fact it was pretty good. There was so much power and passion in that song that I didn’t even recognized myself singing it. I felt like I was on the other side of this tragedy and looking back. I had somehow overcome some inner battle that was going on inside me.  The song wasn’t easy.  But I got through it. And I felt good doing it.  There was a little triumph inside me after I did it.  A small part of me was screaming “Yes, you can do this.” That little bit of confidence that I’ve been lacking was peeking its head out.

Today I’m feeling good. I’m looking forward to performing on Friday.  Over the weekend Jeff played me a video that he took of me singing at live band karaoke at the Hard Rock in Hollywood on Friday. As I watched and listened to it, I can hear the improvement in my voice. I can see all the little things I was missing a few weeks ago are starting to come back.  Somewhere inside of me is the girl who was ready to take on the rock world 4 years ago. She’s not quite out and about, but she makes an appearance every so often to remind the world she’s still here. I can only imagine what will happen when she’s full blown unleashed on the world. I’m looking forward to that day. 

My Love Affair With InStyle Magazine

Today’s Attire: Today I’m wearing a cotton leopard print tank top (Torrid $18) under an asymmetrical hemmed black ribbed short sleeve cardigan (White House Black Market $35) with black walking shorts (Ashley Stewart $19) and leopard print Mary Jane wedges (Betty Paige $55).

Outfit Justification: My outfit is adorable. I wasn’t able to take a picture of it, which is a shame because it’s so cute. Our department is going to have a happy hour gathering after work and I wanted to look reasonably cute for that. The outfit formulated by accident. I totally had something else in mind to wear. Next thing I knew I was reaching for the animal print tank top and everything fell together.

My Love Affair With InStyle Magazine:

One of my favorite fashion magazines is InStyle Magazine. I would spend hours perusing this magazine for items I loved. I got so many awesome ideas from looking at this magazine. Even though almost seventy percent of the magazines are ads I still find hours of amusement looking through and reading.  I like that it gives me enough info on trends in fashion, accessories and cosmetics and also includes info on some of my favorite celebrities. 

When I first started going to my current hairstylist, I used have a copy of InStyle with me every time. Even though she had plenty of interesting magazines to read, I always brought my own copy of my fashion road map. As she was doing my hair, my stylist would look over my shoulder at something I was looking at and say “I like that” or “That’s cute”. After seeing all the great stuff in the magazine she finally got a subscription for the shop, she liked the magazine so much. I loved that I had that kind of influence.

The hard part about looking at these magazines is that models in the magazine didn’t represent me very well, at least in the beginning they didn’t. Most of the models were tall, too skinny, white women. That is so not me.  The clothes that they had in there were so violently expensive I couldn’t even think of going to a store and purchasing a pair a socks. Again, I’m poor and I can’t justify spending $3,000 on a silk blouse.  Yes designer clothes are expensive, and I’m not naïve enough to think I could just buy everything in the magazine.  Often times I would get frustrated with this. But over the years those things have changed. The models were becoming more diverse in race and in size.  A few times I’ve seen them address fashion dilemmas for all sizes, petite, curvy, pear shape, and tall.  That made me fall in love with the magazine all over again. They also started displaying things that were reasonable price points as well as the high end stuff.  That gave me hope for things I could look for and buy.

When I was diagnosed with depression a few years back, I had lost my love for a lot of things that brought a lot of enjoyment to my life including singing and fashion.  My go to things that always cheered me up held no joy for me whatsoever.  I was in the process of putting together a look book. A look book is a collection of clippings from magazines and articles that provide inspiration for outfits. Emotionally I had hit rock bottom. In a fit of anger and frustration I trashed my look book and eventually threw all my magazines and clippings in the garbage. I even stopped shopping, which was devastating and sad because now I was the smallest I’d been in my adult life and could wear the cuter clothes and they fit. It was a very dark period in my history. I look back at the pictures of me that were taken at that time and my heart sinks and I feel for the girl in those pictures who was so full of such sadness and couldn’t enjoy how attractive she truly was. I’m 60 pounds heavier now and I miss the look of that girl, but wouldn’t give up the happiness I have now to switch places with her.

Last night after my third Zumba workout, I felt compelled to peruse an issue of InStyle. After a minor accident with an overflowing bathtub my issue of InStyle became a flood victim.  I was looking forward to staying in, letting my poor muscles try to relax from the brutal beating I gave them while working out and flipping through the magazine.  Then I remembered that I have the magic of technology.  I have a digital subscription to the magazine and could read it on my iPad.  Oh how I love technology.  The current issue was taking forever to download because the Fall issue of the magazine is enormous. To kill time I looked around on my newsstand app on the iPad, I realized I was behind on a few issues. So I read the previous issue while the current one was downloading. My love affair was rekindled. I was looking at current trends and making mental notes as to how the apply to my current life.  I was making connections of things I’ve seen in recent shopping sprees and what role I would play in certain trends. My current loves are studded boots and coated jeans.  I’ve got my eye on a pair of black coated jeans I tried on Monday that made me look 10 pounds thinner and made my ass look amazing. When I get back into a rock band, I can already see my next outfit.  Looking forward to rocking those items once I’ve acquired them.  

Jeff just dropped off my lunch and decided to take a picture so here it is:

The Joy of Shopping With Friends

Today’s Attire:  Today I’m wearing black cotton maxi dress with green leaves (Ross $17) and orange suede sandals with gold stud detail (Macy’s $26), Elsa Peretti silver star pendant.

Outfit Justification:  I changed clothes 2 times this morning. I was too hot. I was overtired. And by the time I got to this outfit, I didn’t give a damn how I looked I just needed to get to work.

The Joy of Shopping With Friends:

I’m exhausted. I’m not sleeping very well as I ponder my decision to move. So I feel compelled to keep today’s blog light and fluffy. So I’ll talk about something I love…shopping.

Twice this week, I’ve received a text from two good friends with a picture of something they were trying on.  These are my favorite kinds of texts. These texts are my friends asking my opinion on items they’ve picked out as they are shopping on their own. My friends who know me so well know that I love to shop. I love to put together outfits for myself and for my friends. So I adore the fact that that they come to me for my take on their items.  This makes me smile. It means they trust my taste.  And thank God for modern technology and the invention of camera phones. So when I can’t be there with my friends picking out stuff or offering opinions, I can do this remotely via text.

Clothes shopping is a mission for me.  Picking out the ultimate outfit is a challenge for me. I love the thrill of the hunt.  Whether the outfit is for me, or for someone else. I’ve been given a mission to find something that will compliment the body, feel comfortable and look really good. Because this isn’t my job, I love it. I think if someone paid me to do this, I would love it for a little while and then hate it.  But I digress.  Putting together the right outfit is a high.  Finding the perfect clothes, shoes and accessories is fun.

Sunday as I wallowing in family drama, I got a text from my friend Starr saying she was heading out to go shop for an outfit for her upcoming gig and a friend’s wedding. I already had plans for the day that didn’t include shopping (and she didn’t really invite me to go with her) I wished her well and told to text me if she needed me. A few hours later she sent me a picture of an outfit she was trying on with the words “unflattering?” That text made me smile with absolute glee. The outfit was gorgeous and not unflattering at all. Beautiful skirt in my favorite color and it made her look slim and sultry. I immediately texted back that it was a winner. And even though she did the actual picking of the items, I suggested the place to shop.  A few days before she sent pictures of shoes she had purchased. She started building the outfit from the shoes up.  The items she picked on Sunday worked so well with the shoes.  She made an additional trip to finish out the outfit by adding accessories and a complimentary top to the gorgeous skirt she found. The funny thing is that I felt like I was there experiencing it with her. 

On Monday my friend Becky sent me a text saying she needed my help and that she was sending an email with pictures.  And again with absolute delight I started to smile in anticipation of what she was going to send me.  After the email doesn’t come through, Becky sends a text with two pictures of her in a dress. Becky never wears dresses so this was even more exciting.  I immediately called her with my feedback.  One dress I loved the color, and it’s difficult to get Becky out of comfortable norm of navy blue and black. But the fit wasn’t as flattering on her small frame. Where was the other dress was her typical colors, but it was an actual print…which Becky never wears. I voted for the print dress. She agreed with my assessment and proceeded to make her purchase. Again it felt like I was there.  And frankly I was happy to see Becky step out of the comfort zone, and still trust me for fashion advice.

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to go shopping with my friends Cheryl and Joanne. After a lovely lunch they wanted to explore Del Amo Fashion Center, which is one of the biggest malls in the area.  As we stopped in Macy’s they kept exclaiming how much fun they were having shopping with me as opposed to shopping in general. I took that as a pretty big compliment.  Shopping can be a daunting task when you’re not sure what to look for, where to go, or have a clue as to what looks good on you.  Having a second or third opinion there to help can be a really nice thing.  They’ve now decided if they’re going clothes shopping, I must be along for the adventure.  Gotta love that.

I did shop for me.  But I think the most fun experience was when we were in shopping in “I’m Way Too Old For This Store But They Have A Plus Size Section” also known as Forever 21.  (Cheryl referred to it as Forever Double Zero).  The reason why this part of the shopping trip was fun was because it was mostly comical. There are so many ridiculous things in this store. And frankly my self-deprecating humor side took over I opted to try them on. In my head, I knew this was going to be hilarious.  I tried everything from something super slutty, to something ridiculously young, to probably the most redneck thing I could find…and ultimately bought: a red Hello Kitty shirt that says “hello” on the front and “bye” on the back, a pair of denim cut off shorts with leather fringe hanging off the sides.  I paired it with short brown boots and a red cowboy hat, because frankly it was ridiculous enough to do that.  And I even found an occasion to wear it…the world’s saddest birthday party ever. That’s another story that I won’t go into. The outfit was a big hit and it was fun to be fun to wear. I’ll bring it out again for…Halloween.

Even my husband enjoys shopping with me. Which proves I married the right man.  But I think he enjoys it for the fashion show aspect of it. (He gets to sit in the man chair and watch me try on things that have the potential to be sexy on me) Or maybe he just enjoys how happy I get when I find something fantastic that looks good on me.  And every now and then we go shopping for him.  I get to pick out things for him to try on. Sometimes I surprise him with things he thought he’d never wear in a million years but often enough they look so good on him that he has to buy it. And with him being as much of a ham as I am, he loves looking good too.  So it’s nice to be out and about in our fashionable clothes like a non-celebrity It-couple. (Someone just called us that last night). As I think back to our wedding day and during my very tearful thank you speech, I ended with the most powerful statement of all “my husband is great for many reasons…and he goes shopping with me”.  In my eyes that’s true love right there.

Today's Outfit:

Ridiculous outfit:

50 Shades of Vivian

Today’s Attire: Today I’m wearing a blue and black striped maxi dress (Ross $16) and my orange leather sandals with gold stud detail (Macy’s $26).

Outfit Justification: I wore this dress because it matches my hair, blue and black. I didn’t put any thought into my outfit because I haven’t been sleeping very well and it was a miracle that I was able to get up and function this morning and still get to work on time. I feel like I look cute, even if I don’t.

50 Shades of Vivian:

Since last Thursday, I’ve been completely a mess in terms of my emotions and feelings. Ever since my director asked if I’d be willing to take a job opportunity in another facility, I’ve been freaking out.  For those of you who I haven’t talked to, I’m finally revealing the location.  They’ve asked me if I’m willing to move to Vancouver British Colombia. (Also known as Canada) I know many of you don’t consider Canada another country and this shouldn’t be a big deal. Well it’s a big deal to me because I’ve have never left the United States. In fact, I don’t even have a passport. (Yes I know I should get one, especially now). It’s not that I haven’t wanted to leave the US, I just haven’t had the opportunity to do so, until now.  And uprooting my life and my husband’s life for a job is extremely scary for me.  Because I need a lot of guidance regarding this, I had to talk to people. I know the decision is ours to make, but I need to talk to people who’ve been there, who made big moves in their lives, who I trust, and who have known me for a long time. I need feedback.

As a result of my talking to parties that would be affected, I managed to stir up a whole bunch of drama in my family. The people most affected are our parents. My mother is really angry with me for even considering this move.  I mean really angry. My husband’s parents have mixed feeling about this too. My father in law is said that I have to take of my mom into consideration because she’s alone and that means I’ve got her move her up there with me. My mother in law was super supportive but said she would really miss us if we left. I could see the emotion in her eyes and that really affected me.  I spoke to my aunt who lives in Tacoma, Washington to get her feedback and she’s against me moving there. My aunt and cousin in Vegas are for me moving up there because they feel like I’ve sacrificed my whole life to be close to home because of whatever reason. They see it as a chance for me to be really happy. At lunch yesterday when I was asked how I felt about the whole thing, I just collapsed into a fit of tears. And as a result I feel horrible about the whole thing.

There are so many things to consider:

• Being so far away from my family
• Being so far away from my friends
• How much of an impact will this have on my career? (My career that actually pays me)
• Moving away from established relationships with doctors, dentists, hairdresser, vocal coach
• Weather and climate affecting my mood and my health
• Citizenship and Visa issues
• The financial aspects
• Changes to our lifestyle
• Implications for my singing career (the career that doesn’t pay me)
• Can I take a risk like this being so close to 40 and recover from this if this turns out to be an epic failure
• Can I even do the job their asking me to do

So many more things I can’t list because my head is buzzing from all this. I can honestly say I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since this came about. And I know nothing good can come from not trying and getting myself out there. But this is a big leap. This isn’t going out for an audition or going for an interview and if I don’t’ do well nothing really changes. This is changing my entire life and changing my husband’s life. I’ve never been put in the position to make such a jump like this.  Deciding to get married or to not have children was an easier choice than this for me.

My heart and head are all over the place. In many ways I want something new like this to get me out of my rut.  I want the opportunity to shine and soar in a new place. I’d love to the opportunity to say “I’m big in Canada”. This appeals to me on so many levels. This opportunity could open a lot more doors for me than I even know existed. But again it’s about making that really big leap. And I don’t know if can make that big of a leap.

Sorry to beat a topic to death. I most likely won’t bring this up via the blog again, but I needed to get this out there and really let you know what’s going on with me emotionally. If my blog is a bit more scattered than usual it’s because I’m still preoccupied with this big decision.  Please bear with me as I’m dealing with this.   

Decisions and Changes

Today’s Attire:  I’m wearing a sleeveless cotton black and white polka dot dress with a deep V in the front (Macy’s $42) I’ve paired it with a black and white mesh and leather loafers (Rockport Outlet $19). I’ve accessorized with my Elsa Peretti silver star and my Swarovski stud earrings (Tippr.com $2)

Outfit Justification: This dress is vintage-inspired. I love this dress for so many reasons.  It reminds me of the pinup shoot I did for Jeff’s birthday.  I specifically bought this dress for his surprise birthday party that I threw for him. I wanted him to have his pinup girl and this was my way of giving it to him. I guess today I wanted to have the happy feeling again of being that pinup girl, in an office appropriate way.

Decisions and Changes:

So yesterday I was thrown for a loop when an opportunity was offered to me. This opportunity would change my life pretty drastically. It would require me to move from the only city I’ve ever lived in. I would be away from all my family and friends. Since this was offered up to me I’ve been in a constant flux of emotions about this. When it was originally suggested, I immediately thought I can’t do this. But after thinking about it some more and posing it Jeff, it really did seem like an amazing opportunity that’s almost too good to turn down. More money, better opportunity to do what I do best and a new adventure would be on the horizon for us. Now it really is something to think about. And I’ve been able to think of nothing else.

I was born and raised here in Los Angeles.  I’ve only lived in two cities, Santa Monica and Culver City. Jeff has only lived in Westchester and Culver City.  We’ve both have our whole lives here. My last blog was about me and my relationship with my friends. My friends mean the world to me. This opportunity would take me away from all of them. Of course they could visit, but it isn’t the same. I’d leave some of my favorite people in my life that keep me up and running: my vocal coach who has been helping get back to my rock star status, my hairdresser who maintains and encourage the blue in my hair, my financial planners who help me behave like an adult and keep me in line financially, my favorite KJ’s who encourage me and make me laugh whenever I do karaoke.

This opportunity would take me away from my routine of hanging out, dining out, going to karaoke, taking impromptu trips to Vegas, Palm Springs, San Diego, and Santa Barbara. This would change my pursuit of a singing career because I wouldn’t be in LA, the hub of the music industry which is saturated with a bunch of hopefuls.

There are so many good compelling reasons to make this move, good career move, cheaper cost of living, more money, a good fit for my skills, an opportunity to live someplace else and start new, the be able to start singing someplace else and the possibility of being more successful there than I am here. 

And then there are our parents, who we’ve never lived more than away 7 miles away from. Our parents who love us dearly and we love dearly who are older.  If something should happen to either one of them we can be there immediately. If we make this move, that’s won’t be as easy.

I’m completely at a loss as to what to do. We’re still exploring all our options and what this opportunity would really mean for us.  We’re looking at all the logistics of whether this can happen or not.

For now this is all I can write. I guess this is the beginnings of my pro con list as to whether to make this move or not.  I’d love to hear your thoughts and feelings on this. Ultimately this is our decision, but the feedback really helps us think about things we haven’t considered yet