Muted

Blouse: Anthropologie Lily of the Valley Blouse - Size 8

Sweater: Anthropologie Hiking Ruffles Cardigan - Size M

Jeans: AE Skinny Jean - Size 8

Shoes: Civico 10

Hair Pin: Anthropologie

"You set my soul alight." - Muse

I had a conversation with a co-worker yesterday. I complimented her on her pants, and she told me thanks but that she had no idea why she bought pants that color. The pants were blue but not a bright blue. They were more of a cornflower blue (wow, that's a crayon color I pulled out of my brain from my elementary school days). Anyway, I told her that I didn't usually care for colored pants but that hers were muted and that made all the difference. She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "What in the hell is muted?" I laughed and said, "You know, toned down, not bright." She said, "Wow, I've never heard that before. It sounds good, though. I think I'll start using it all the time now, and I'll probably use it in incorrect ways. You know, like this: 'That's a very muted outfit you have on today.' "

It's funny that I had this conversation because I just purchased my first pair of colored jeans this past weekend. Yes, I know, I'm late to the game. In my defense, I've been wanting a pair since they came on the scene but hadn't found the right ones yet. It's not for lack of trying. Every time I have visited a Anthropologie store over the past year, I've given a pair of colored jeans a go. If you recall, I posted a pair of Pilcro's in a fitting room reviews post that were disastrous on me. I have admired the bright blue and red one's donned by many a blogger, but those colors just didn't feel like "me." I needed a muted pair. Well, I finally found them online at American Eagle. They were just what I had been looking for, and, of course, they were sold out in every freaking size. Not one to be deterred, I did a store search (what a great feature! You go AE!) and found a pair 30 miles away. The rest is history.

Okay, so this might be too much information, but I'm just going to put it out there, because I'm a blogger and that's how we do. I've become disturbingly fascinated with my crotch lately. This is what happens when every time you wear pants you're told you have camel toe by annoymous crotch watchers. I find myself scutinizing my crotch in photos all the time now, zooming in and getting really close to the screen to detect any hint of definition. I also find myself looking at other women's crotches in photos, comparing them to mine. It's bizarre behavior to say the least. Well, when I saw these pics, I told Jerry, "I'm going to get slammed by the crotch watchers for these." He assured me that there was nothing wrong with my crotch, but I have to say I'm really paranoid about that 4th photo up there. I love the photo. It's my favorite one from this shoot, but my crotch seems to be saying, "Hi, here I am!" I swear, you guys, it's not because my pants are too small. I tried on a size 8 and 10, and the 8's were definitely the better fit. They are even a little loose in the waist. I've come to the conclusion it must be one of 2 things: 1. My pants are all up in my junk because I sit all day. or 2. My crotch is akin to a black hole that sucks everything in it's vicinity into it's gravitational pull. I really hope it's number 1. Otherwise, I'm scared. One thing's for sure, my crotch is not a muted crotch. ;-)