Shared: Choker? But I hardly even know 'er

Now that October is FINALLY here, I feel more comfortable wearing some of my larger spooky pieces of jewelry to work.  I'm sure I'll eventually get over that like I did with the prints.  I really love this time of year but it's nowhere near the same feeling as it was when I lived in Minnesota.  It's still not cold here and I even have a new coat to wear when the air does get chilly so I'm trying to be patient.  But at least I can wear my more Halloweeny stuff with fewer weird looks.  Not that I mind the weird looks, of course.

Necklace: Wish

Since I don't like to wear actual chokers, I call this necklace "one of my chokers."  I'm sure you can guess why. :)

I have a white plastic one, too, but it's a lot more costume-y so I usually wait until closer to Halloween to sport that one.  The problem with both of them, though, is the hands move as I do so I am constantly having to fix them to get them to lay right.  Oh, the pain of beauty!  ;)

Speaking of "beauty," see how tired my eyes look?  I took this before I was able to see the orthopedist and was so sleep deprived because of the pain.  (My knee is MUCH better now, btw.  Yay!)  Mutant Stomp Friends posted a great tutorial for how to cover that with makeup but time is just not my friend in the morning.  Plus, I think the dark bags go well with my outfits.  LOL

In other news, I bought some skeleton cameos and settings for them off Wish recently and was able to make 10 necklaces for $1.50 a piece including the black cord.  I still have 2 settings left over as well. :)

Cameos and settings both from Wish

I've decided that I am going to keep 4-5 of them and give the rest away.  I know the skeleton cameo is kind of overdone but I still like it. :)  I like the different colors that these came in which kind of makes them a little fresh again.  For me, at least. So you'll probably start seeing these in upcoming outfit posts.

Does your everyday wardrobe change much in October?

Shared: Sarrahs That Say "Knee!"

I have finally seen the orthopedist and it didn't go quite as I had thought it would.  He confirmed the torn meniscus and the torn ACL but said there's not much he can do about either.  The arthritis is so bad in my knee that it is tearing the mensicus away which, in his words, is not bad because it will eventually wear a groove.  If he fixed it, then it would just tear more.

The outfit I wore for my ortho appointment
Top: Torrid
Skirt: Jessica London
Necklace: Cameo I put together
Fancy lady purse: Unique Vintage

He also said that I will almost certainly need knee replacement surgery in about 10-20 years.

I asked what I can do in the mean time for the pain which has been leaving me in tears way more than I'd like.  He said to take Tylenol Arthritis and Aleve (which I've been doing since this started in July with no relief).  He also gave me a steroid shot in my knee which, unbeknownst to me, made my knee hurt WAAAAAAY worse.  I bawled the entire way home from the pain.  A couple days, later, fortunately, there was marked improvement to the pain and mobility and it's been slowly feeling better.  He also gave me an anti-inflammatory medication which seems to be helping as well.

Random outfit from a few days later
Dress: Torrid
Leggings: New Look
Shoes: Hot Chocolate Design

He gave me sheets with knee exercises that I can start doing now that my knee feels a little better but it was a very frustrating experience.  I'm not sure how long the steroid shot is supposed to last but if/when I start to have issues again, I am going to ask to see a different doctor, I think.

I'm just glad that it's at least improved even if it hasn't improved 100%.

And just because I feel weird only having two pics (I prefer odd numbers), here is a picture of my rings. :)

Wore: Fancy Dancing Lady

Some days, in my head, I am a fancy lady.  I'm really not and the pics prove it but I like it when I feel fancy.  This dress does that for me.

Dress: SWAK Designs
Bracelet: Wish
Necklace: made by me

It's floor length, hugs the boobages nicely, and flows nicely over the rest of me.  It doesn't cling, either.  The downside is that the fabric doesn't breathe well which kinda sucks in this Atlanta heat.  I'm an indoor kitty that just moves from A/C to A/C anyway, though, so I make do.

I kinda needed the pick-me-up this week.  My right knee started hurting and has been getting worse so I went to urgent care after it kept me up all night; the doctor there just told me it's an arthritis flare up.  I was told in my mid-20's that I had arthritis in my knees and ankles (due to so many injuries from being clumsy) but it's never been this bad.  So I am icing it and taking over the counter pain killers and avoiding foods that cause inflammation.  It's a little better but I still can't walk well without a noticeable limp.

The worst part of the whole thing, though, was the doctor's attitude.  She seemed SO BORED while talking with me, like I was wasting her time.  Her "exam" consisted of poking my knee twice with her index finger then sending me for x-rays.

After her diagnosis she said,  "You are also so..." then puffs out her cheeks and puts her arms & hands out from her sides about a foot "...you have a lot of excess weight which will make your knees worse."

Yep, the doctor mimed to me how fat I am.

I laughed.  Hard.  I have no idea what she said after that.

It's no secret to anyone that I am a big girl.  I don't attempt to hide it and I don't apologize for it.  I love me no matter what size I am and don't let the scale dictate how happy I am.  Sure, I could stand to lose a bunch of weight for health reasons but I am who I am.  I just thought that was extremely unprofessional, though, and the old me from 10+ years ago would have been devastated.

So, topic change: my necklace.  :)  This is one of my fancy lady necklaces that I only wear on special occasions.

I made it myself to wear when I was the matron of honor at my sister's wedding in 2011.  I made it to coordinate with the one I made for HER:

I don't have a picture of it but I also made our mom one that she wore that was a straight strand of beads with just the skully cameo.  I wish I had a picture of my sister's dress on my phone that I could share.  It was a strapless white dress with a black sash tied around the waist and she wore a long sleeve black shrug over it.  It was a good combo of the traditional white that she wanted to wear with her gothy/punky aesthetic.

I am 7 years older than her and when I was 18, I went off to college so she was more-or-less an only child from age 11 and on.  I didn't start embracing my darker side until later in life and it's funny how she and I have turned out to have A LOT of the same tastes.  Unfortunately for me, she is still in Minnesota where we grew up so I don't get to see her (or the rest of family) nearly often enough.

We also ended up going through our separations and subsequent divorces at around the same time which we both thought was interesting.

Do you wear anything specific if you need a mood booster?