Being a Nose

A post from Lily W., our CMF Style Coach:

I am excited and honored to be a CMF Coach! Style is something that I have grown into. Like an old pair of shoes, or a favorite pair of jeans, I’ve found what brings me comfort isn’t always looking like everyone else – but instead becoming uniquely me.

I grew up in a small town in southern Quebec, Canada. You’d think that growing up with cows on one side of us (try riding one bareback!) and horses on the other, that I wouldn’t know a lot about style. After all, I was a thrifty country girl who made her own clothes, knit her own sweaters, and whose closest shopping mall was 30 miles away. Despite my surroundings, I was known to sew Izod alligators (found on old clothes at the thrift stores) on my own clothes, and Levi red tabs on my jeans. I’d look through magazines in our school library, and gaze at Claudia Schiffer’s Guess ads wishing I could look like that.

I realize now, there was a part of me that just wanted to fit in. I thought if I could look like the “cool” people, then I would be cool. Boy was I wrong. Blending in to the crowd of preppy kids at the lunch table was the goal. But blending in got old.

I think we all have gone through the insecurities of teenage years and becoming a young adult. But somewhere in the middle of becoming an adult, getting married, and having children – we forget ourselves. We forget that we have our own personal thumbprint that is lovely and beautiful – no matter what we wear or how we look.

I lived in Connecticut before moving to North Carolina. I was in my early 30s, and defining my life as a mother and homemaker. I learned how to sew beautiful window treatments, developed a love for gorgeous fabrics, and wanted nothing more than to make my boxy, white vinyl home well…look like me. Our house looked exactly like every other one on the street.

While there, I met a wonderful woman, a kindred spirit I call her. When we moved from CT to NC, she gave me a book called “The Adventures of a Nose.” I highly recommend it, if you haven’t read it. The gist of the book was that a nose fits in by sticking out. It took the nose the entire book to discover this, as he traveled across the world looking for a place to fit in. What he found out was, that only a nose can fit in by sticking out. How cool is that? Everything that made me unique was to be celebrated. I could fit in perfectly by sticking out. By being a nose!

Fast forward to North Carolina, here I am, a woman who sticks out in true, nose-like fashion. I’ll be 40 this year, and I don’t do much in a conventional way. I home school 3 children, run & operate a successful business from my home, hired my husband to run it with me, and gravitate toward the more eccentric when it comes to clothing and accessories. “More is more” I always say!

Style isn’t about looking like everyone else. It’s about being uniquely you. There is no other you, and that is surely something to celebrate. I have gained a combined 200 lbs with my 3 children, and managed to lose most of it – but will never be that coveted size 2. Nor do I want to be. I love good food too much!But, what I have learned is that accessories can make a tired momma feel fresh, and an old wardrobe revived. And beautifully, one size fits all when it comes to accessories! This winter, I went home to Canada for Christmas like I do every year and made out with some wonderful finds. I always find unique and interesting accessories in the Great White North!

This year it was peacock feather earrings, furry legwarmers, and socks that couple as boot toppers. What fun I have had with these funky accessories that have made my plain boots look glammed up, my legs look like I’m half mountain goat, and my ears look like I’m trying to attract a mate for life! They’re all a little over the top, but by themselves combined with my own style – I think they work.

But even if they don’t, and people think I’m a little “out there” – you know what? It doesn’t matter, I’m choosing to fit in by sticking out. After all, I’m a nose! How about you?

****Have any comments, feedback, or topics that you’d like to see Lily give advice on? Leave a comment below! She’ll be answering any questions you have and would love to hear what you’d like to see her blog about!****