Do clothes make the person or does the person make the clothes?

One of my previous blogs was about style and personality. To recap, I was saying how I think style can speak loudly and give a good insight of what someone is like. Some of us may say we don't have a certain style and that we are not attracted to just one style but for the most part we are to a degree. As an example of what I mean - you may not be attracted to the rapper-Gfunk style because you are not that style yourself. Or you may not be attracted to the pretty -preppy boy style either.

Now after thinking about this for a while I realized this all has to do with stereotypes. I personally do not find myself attracted to the pretty-preppy boy style for more than one reason. For one, I feel they are not the manly man I’m looking for. Two, I do not want a guy more into style and fashion than I am myself. Three, I have stereotyped this style to be arrogant and immature. Hate to say it, but all that is true of how I feel. Don’t get me wrong though, I can appreciate the beauty of said man and a good example is Justin Timerlake. I’m getting a little side tracked now as I dream, er think about hot JT. Back to my point - some of the old school dating games had a good concept when they put a screen between the eligible bachelors and the woman looking for love. This way she could hear what each guy had to say about themselves and certain situations, which gives you an idea of who they are and whether you'd be attracted to them or not.

In the end, after 50 years of marriage can you see your 80 year old husband wearing the collar up on his golf shirt, with ripped jeans and pumas? Don’t get me wrong, I personally think looks initiate the interest in the opposite sex – often we see someone we find attractive and we get to know them better to see if our personalities click.

Now to clarify, I do NOT think that the clothes you wear define you, but they can express a part of you. A close friend of mine shared an interesting quote with me not too long ago - "We do not attract what we want, but what we are". Now obviously, if you really read this, it applies to so much more than just style, but since that is the topic I thought about my own style in relation to this quote. I realized, I may not want a pretty preppy guy but I may attract one. Think of it this way, we all wake up in the morning and dress ourselves - well I hope so anyway at age 26 (there are a few exceptions to this rule, actually I can only think of one and that's if you are famous and have a personal shopper and stylist). You choose what you want to wear which in turn portrays a part of your own personality. And full circle we come back to the quote which says we attract what we are.

On a deeper level than just style think about this. If you portray a negative attitude when in a group setting do you really think a random hot stranger is going to want to approach you? Everyone should have confidence in who they are. Although clothes can show a little part of your personality they do not define someone. Be comfortable in your own skin - and others will be comfortable around you.

My first 2 miler

I ran my first race this past weekend, the Natal Day road race on August 7th. It was a 2 mile or 6 mile race and I wisely chose the 2 mile. I've been running for about a month now and I love it. Mind you, I used to run back in high school and first year university but I never really got into it - to be honest I somewhat hated it. I really think this was because I was running with other girls on my basketball team who could run really well. Now anyone that knows me knows I'm a competitive person so when I run with someone else I want to beat them! This made me push myself TOO hard which in turn made running not enjoyable. For the past month I've been running alone either in the morning or right after work. I guess I'm teaching myself to challenge myself instead of others all the time.

So, back to the race. A friend of mine did the race with me and both of us were a tad nervous the night before and the morning of. I swear seeing 1200 people piled into the street behind the start/finish line anxious to get the race started is rather intimidating. In fact, there was so many people there we had to walk for a little ways before starting any sort of running stride. I didn't realize how nervous I would be, but I can honestly say I felt vomitous with anxiety. Once the gunshot went (which I have to say made me feel like a professional) the anxiety went. I ended up running the 2 miles without stopping for a walk break (this is a step up for me as I've been running about 3K for a couple of weeks now and this was the first time I did 3K at a continuous pace).

It was very motivational and inspiring to see 1200 people willingly running. It was even more amazing to see a man with one leg on crutches cross the finish line or a 73 year old man cross the finish line after running the 6 miler.

My time was 20.53 and I placed 292 out of 548. Even though I didn't run this race to see where I placed I had hoped I wouldn't come last (I can't get rid of all my competition). Next I'll challenge myself to a 5K and of course to better my own time.