I Think I'm Having a Midlife Crisis

I'm a pretty unassuming person. As a child I was painfully shy. I had friends, but the other person had to make the first move. I don't like making phone calls if I don't know the person on the other end. I've never been one to wear anything too colorful or flashy, because the last thing I want to do is attract attention to myself.

But guess what. This month I will turn 40. Forty! Now I know that for a bunch of you, your mental image of me just got a lot older. To that I say, just you wait. When you hit 40 (and it will happen faster than you can imagine), you will wonder how it was that you ever thought 40 was old. I don't "feel" 40, and neither will you.

So, where am I going with all this? As I get older (notice I didn't say "old"...even a baby is "getting older") I'm getting tired of being drab. Do I suddenly want everyone to look at me? No. But if they happen to see me, I want to look good.

Currently, I carry a plain brown purse. No more!  I'm going to be on the lookout for a red one, or maybe something even further out of my comfort zone, like yellow (both of these are from Target).

I put on makeup nearly every single day, but I use a very light hand.  This is me in full daytime makeup, and you can hardly even tell, except for the fact that I would look like I had no eyelashes without mascara.

Other than mascara, the only other eye makeup I use is a little liner.  I haven't used eye shadow in years.  But why not?  I think I'll experiment with a bit of a daytime smoky eye, like Leighton Meester is wearing here.  She still looks fresh and natural, just with a little extra oomph.

The jewelry I wear on a daily basis are my wedding rings and a pair of my small selection of pretty tame earrings.  Occasionally I will wear a thin chain necklace with a small pendant.  Perhaps I'll start making more of a statement with my jewelry.  Maybe not quite so many pieces at once as this Silpada model, but even twice as much and twice as big as I wear now would be branching out for me.

Shoes.  Again, it's mostly brown or black.  Last year, I did get some cute pairs from Kmart, but the only ones I wear regularly, in warmer weather,  are the animal print (the orange and green ones turned out to be not that comfy).  I love the cheetah print ones, but they're not going to last forever.

For me to be able to wear heels would take some major balance training and perhaps some physical therapy.  Maybe I should make that a goal this year.  Meanwhile, I could find something cute, like these purple linen or red ballet flats (though I certainly would not wear the red ones and carry the red bag at the same time--I do watch What Not to Wear!).

Maybe I need to try different accessories, like scarves.

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Any tips for me on how to up my style quotient without getting too wild?  Keep in mind where I'm starting from.

FYI:  Monday's Tips party will be for any kind of tips or tricks, not just money-saving.  Pretty much anything goes.  Please join us!