Black splits summer top {PilotingPaperAirplanes}

Cue the messy hair, wrinkled fabric and too-cool top. But there’s no time like the present, even if the present isn’t perfect!

I made this breezy black top over the weekend and I’m pretty happy with it. I don’t use patterns when I sew like this, so sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The fit here is perfect, the length is right where I want it, and the side slits provide movement in the shirt while showing just a little bit of skin. I’m ready for you, summer.

Breezy black top {PilotingPaperAirplanes} style, fashion, outfit Breezy black top {PilotingPaperAirplanes} style, fashion, outfit Breezy black top {PilotingPaperAirplanes} style, fashion, outfitBreezy black top {PilotingPaperAirplanes} style, fashion, outfitBreezy black top {PilotingPaperAirplanes} style, fashion, outfit Breezy black top {PilotingPaperAirplanes} style, fashion, outfit Breezy black top {PilotingPaperAirplanes} style, fashion, outfit Breezy black top {PilotingPaperAirplanes} style, fashion, outfit

Thanks for reading!

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Embrace the present, even if it’s not perfect!

Fitful Focus
The courage to be honest with confidence | PilotingPaperAirplanes.com

Hi!

This will be a bit of a rambler post – apologies in advance. I’ve been musing on this for a while and haven’t quite found the flow to write about it… so I think I’m trying too hard. Here are my thoughts in all their un-finessed glory.

I was first challenged by this post titled “I’m not pregnant. It’s just my belly.”

I can relate in that I have a body type that fits some “beauty standards” (hourglass figure and a full bra size); for the most part I’ve always been happy with my shape. I’ve also always carried some extra pounds. The confidence in my curvy figure or honesty about my health have varied over the years. Still, I’m generally pretty comfortable in my skin.

But even on a good day, I don’t think I could manage her final thought:

“After some time and a few breaths, I smiled and unwrapped my jacket from my waist. I decided to let my little belly be. I wasn’t confident the whole time, but I was honest. And if you ask me, honesty is damn sexy.”

My response to the article had me confused. I wanted to be all “body confidence, yay! I dress for myself not anyone else. One person’s dumb comment doesn’t need to ruin my day. *quietly repeats calming mantra to refrain from poking out eyeballs*.” In the moment, I think that’s exactly how I would have responded.

But because I lived the story in private through another’s writing, the immediate impulse to put on a brave face didn’t happen. Instead I wanted to cry. I mentally tied that jacket around myself and hid.

My reaction confused me because it was honest. Raw. Vulnerable. Even weak. The list of people who see this part of me is short and I don’t open up easily. The post served as a mirror and what it showed me was uncomfortable.

Maybe it has hit me stronger because I’m particularly aware of my body lately. It is spring, after all. The tank tops and skirts are coming out while the magazines urge me to slim down for summer. It’s probably the hardest time of year (because once the summer heat and humidity hit, I don’t care so much how I look and just about staying cool).

This thought process is showing me that personal confidence and courage are not the same thing, and most importantly, that honestly trumps both.

If you made it through my rambling, high five!

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How are you feeling this spring?
Confident, courageous or honest?

This is me March review {PilotingPaperAirplanes.com}

This is me March review {PilotingPaperAirplanes.com}

This is me, friends. A woman who lives by a to-do list, but isn’t afraid to ignore it when needed. Even the blog calendar. I haven’t felt this happy to write a post in a long time as I do right now. It’s been a crazy few weeks and I’ve missed it! Getting up this morning, sitting down with my tea and signing in to PPA felt refreshing and oh-so-perfectly normal. Life is settling down again.

Fitness

Moving counts, right? There are 37 stairs round trip and a parking lot between old apartment and new apartment. I walked those 37 steps a lot. I counted the hours total we spent working, then averaged how much of that I was walking back and forth to be about 10 hours over moving weekend. Seeing as everything hurt for the next week, I’m counting those hours.

That equals about 37 hours of activity for the month of March. Only 15 days of actual workouts, as I took nearly a full week off post move. Best news is I am tracking my measurements and weight for monthly check-ins with my accountability partner – I’m consistently dropping inches and while the weight is slower, the number is moving.

What I learned this month: 

• Stairs are the enemy. I have never liked stair workouts and I hate them even more right now. So I need you to do me a favor:

Tell me that a good stair running workout works in less time. Tell me the heart rate and VO2 max training results are better than anything else. Tell me it’ll make my ass look amazing. Please and thanks for the motivation.

Fun

Um, we moved! But really. I found I was in the mood for something new and fresh. Call it spring cleaning or something. This move just felt really good. We purged some more stuff, reorganized and have a much prettier balcony view now.

Sure, I’m convinced my new building is built over a sinkhole given the dramatic waves in the floor. And btw, sinkholes are f*** terrifying, so I most definitely had a moment of freaking out and “hells NO Jon, I can’t live here!” It passed.

Now my brother Matthew is our new housemate. My kitchen is stocked with Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs and Pop Tarts. Jon and I are boring adults I think.

In other fun news, IT’S SPRING. I enjoyed morning tea on my balcony for the first time this weekend, I wore sandals last week, I painted my toe nails for the first time this season AND it’s Cherry Blossom season so we took Sky Squid out for the Blossom Kite Festival (even though it was actually not spring that day, but almost miserably cold). Now I have a few online shopping carts of spring and summer tops that I can’t buy right now but absolutely need. You understand.

Favorite Instagram photos:

This is me March review {PilotingPaperAirplanes.com} This is me March review {PilotingPaperAirplanes.com} This is me March review {PilotingPaperAirplanes.com}
This is me March review {PilotingPaperAirplanes.com} This is me March review {PilotingPaperAirplanes.com} This is me March review {PilotingPaperAirplanes.com}
This is me March review {PilotingPaperAirplanes.com} This is me March review {PilotingPaperAirplanes.com} This is me March review {PilotingPaperAirplanes.com}

Food

Confession time. The no sugar thing continuing through Lent didn’t really happen. I gave up pretty quickly. I’d already done it for a month! I’d paid my sugar dues. What did happen was much more mindfulness of said sugar intake. I’m quite proud of myself actually. *pat on the back* My February sugar detox was successful in that it caused me to be more aware how much sweets I was consuming and change accordingly.

My other success is my water intake. I’m averaging 7-11 glass per day. My goal is at least 100 ounces, preferably closer to 150. And yes, I track it daily in my work planner. I feel amazing you guys! Funny how you don’t realize you felt bad until you feel great. I’m less fatigued, snack less (hunger vs. dehydration) and my skin feels a lot better.

Reminders:

• >sugar + <water = great!

• I power up in the sun. Man I feel so much better when it’s bright in the morning. Remind me of this when it’s 90° and sunny.

Happy April!

How was your March?
How was your Easter weekend?