Shameless: How I Halloween with DressLily & Link Up On the Edge #66

October 26, 2017 / 66 Comments

*Warning: This post goes from light-hearted fun to some deep and serious stuff at the end! Just be prepared for the switch.

Halloween is here. And I am not really all that festive about it. I am much more of a Thanksgiving and Christmas kind of girl. But with two young boys who seem to have an affinity for all things dark and gruesome these days, I suppose I have no choice but to give in a little bit or be known as the buzzkill mom who doesn’t know how to have fun! So when it was time for me to choose an item from DressLily to add to my closet, I let my 4-year-old pick for me.

*This is a sponsored post. As always, all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

And this is what he chose…this velvet bat wing hoodie c/o DressLily.

Being as easy going as I usually am and really just trying to be a “cool mom”, I just went with it. Not sure exactly how to style such a piece, I went basic with a pair of distressed boyfriend jeans, a red vee neck tee shirt, and some lace up flats. I had to go a little edgy with my web-inspired fish net socks from Rosegal and a belt that was too small for my waist worn as a choker.

I have to let you know that I wore this outfit all day long on Tuesday. This sweatshirt is super supple and soft and cozy. I know I might possibly look a little ridiculous, but I was seriously so comfortable that I didn’t even care that I was walking around town in a bat sweatshirt! In the interest of styling pieces for my sponsored posts in the most creative way possible, I just embraced my inner child bat woman and went full force for bat effects!

Here’s the switch: In the spirit of Halloween and all things creepy, I am going to share this potentially embarrassing bit of information with you all. But only because this link up happens to be the 66th Link Up On the Edge and because I like to be real and transparent with regard to issues of mental health. I have serious creep-factor issues with the number 66 or 666 or 6,666. Really just with the number 6 itself and any other number that contains or ends in 6. This issue has been for most of my life to the point that it needed to be addressed quite seriously in counseling sessions. If I was reading a book, I could not end and put a bookmark in any page that ended in 6. As I read through any page that ended in 6, I had to bless myself 9 times. If I caught a glimpse of a clock while the time ended in 6, the same thing…9 blessings. Volume levels on televisions or radios could never, ever be set on numbers that ended in 6. If I was cashing out at a store or a restaurant and my total ended in 6, I would add or remove something from my order to change the total. The fear of something terrible happening to me was real and severe if I allowed these numbers into my life. It took years and years to break me from the compulsion to bless myself every time I encountered numbers with 6.

I have to admit that even today in a place of very good mental health, I actually considered NOT typing Link Up On the Edge #66 and skipping right to #67. Who would notice that anyway? Probably no one. Except I know that I have done too much work, really hard work, really productive work, over the years to let something that silly bother me that much. In all honesty, it does make me squirm a tiny bit to have typed all those 6’s in this post. And I am resisting the urge to start blessing myself.  But I wanted to prove how far I have come on this mental health journey. And I wanted to show you all that I will not be ashamed of even the strangest things that happened along the way. I need to be loud and clear on this issue: there is no shame in mental illness. In all of its strangeness, its misunderstood aspects, its darkness, and its creepiness, there is no shame.  And only once we can rid ourselves of that shame can true healing begin.

So for Halloween, put on whatever costume you need to wear, whatever armor may be required, in order to fight your demons, whatever they may be.  And if you currently have no demons to fight, then wear that silly outfit just to be the cool mom! And have a Happy Halloween!

Now your favorite posts from last week’s link up.

Mimi of A Tray of Bliss has been sharing a series of amazing tips for dressing body types similar to hers. Her post this week, A New You…Dressing the Petite Plus Sized Apple #7…The Four C’s… is super inspiring and definitely worth a read for all women looking to up their style game!

Mimi of A Tray of Bliss

And Susan of The Midlife Fashionista shared a super fun post featuring amazing luxury items from her local consignment shop. Just look at all the beautiful things in Four Ways to “Chic”.

Susan of The Midlife Fashionista

Enjoy the link up! And know that any comments are welcome here without judgment!  And shame will not be permitted!


Keeping it real on the edge,

Shelbee

Linking up with these Fabulous Link Ups.

I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.

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