Details, Details

I was walking back from running my errands and crossed paths with 2 women walking and talking on their way back to their office. They came from a side hall and crossed in front of me when they turned left to go through the double doors. The one woman in the dress decided to walk directly in front of me and I could tell by the way she was strutting that she was sure that she looked good.

Since she was doing the walk (and was directly in front of me), I decided to actually pay attention and see if she was all that she thought she was. She was dressed pretty nicely. She had on an cute orange-yellow sheath dress. I did not really care for the dark tights, boots, and the exposed zipper (why those became popular I will never know), but the only real point of contention with her outfit was the fit. It was either one size too small or she was still full for lunch. If she is anything like the women I know, it was probably the latter. The thing is all my friends and I know not to eat "for real, for real" in the "get 'em" dress. That is like trying to come to work all day in those "cute" shoes that you know are only good for walking from the car and sitting with your legs crossed so that other people will compliment you on how nice your shoes are.

I will not say that she looked terrible. She actually looked kind of nice if you are into a look that says, "I am old enough to know how to be work appropriate, but I have not lost all of my 'rocker' girl edge." That is until I made my way to her arms. She had ashy elbows! I don't mean that I was looking too close and hating because I like to find fault. I mean, ASHY, like grey. The kind of grey that you can see from a non-creepy walking distance. I almost laughed out loud. It was just crazy to me that she would spend the time to flat iron her hair, put on a dress, and accessories, but forget to lotion. It totally killed the look, but it did give me a little giggle and a blog topic. So, I guess I owe her.

It just reminded me of all the little things that I don't notice until to late. Like, when I went to shake hands with the dermatologist only to notice that my hands were ashy in that skin pocket next to my thumb or the time I made it all the way to work with 2 different shoes. I have also almost left the house in my slippers only to notice when I felt the winter breeze on my foot and have left the house forgetting to take my hair out of last nights braids. You have probably heard stories from your friends about a crazy woman they drove by on the highway with both hands in her hair and her elbows on the wheel. That was me!

It just goes to prove my point that small things matter. A simple necklace can make an outfit, but ashy knees can kill the mood. The devil is always in the details.