Did you guys feel like February was the weirdest month? On one hand, it ended as soon as it started so I feel like I barely remember it already; on the other hand, it was crammed so full I felt a bit like I was holding my breath until March finally arrived. But, now, we can all take a deep collective breath – Spring is around the corner and we have officially entered my birthday month.

Wait, you guys don’t do a birthday month? Okay, listen. That needs to be rectified right now. YOU NEED A FULL MONTH TO CELEBRATE YOUR BIRTHDAY. Sorry for yelling, but this is serious stuff! How else can the world properly acknowledge the gift that is your life? I mean I’m only turning 40 one time in my life, which means the people in my life only have one opportunity to fully celebrate my first 39 years and I know they would never stop beating themselves up if they didn’t fully commit to the celebration so I very kindly take it upon myself to constantly remind everyone I know that my birthday is in 28 days. You guys, my birthday is in 28 days. God, I’m a giver.

Anyway, enough about my birthday for today – we have another 28 days to reminiscence and celebrate. Onto my outfit!

So, I’m totally obsessed with this caftan, for several reasons. One, because I love how flowy it is – it makes me feel like I’m a glamorous art curator or an opera singer on vacation – and I find myself swinging my arms about more than usual, which creates a feeling of danger every time I talk. Two, it covers my butt. Three, it’s what I like to call a “transitional piece” in that I will be able to still wear it when I’m 88 and there’s nothing I love more than octogenarian chic.

Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ends, folks, and the problems with this shoot begin. For the life of me, before this shoot, I couldn’t figure out what shoes to wear with it so I went with my white boots, because I always default to my white boots (who doesn’t?). But, once I got the photos back, I think they’re too heavy. What do you think?

When I was at Alt Summit I paired it with my gold disco numbers and it gave it just the right amount of sauciness, and I thought about redoing the shoot with them, but that seemed silly when I have presents to open and cake to eat so pretend I’m wearing my gold shoes, will ya?

Then I thought it’d be cool to pretend I was hailing a cab, which, you know, is a totally normal thing to do on a residential corner of San Francisco that has seen maybe three cabs in the past month.

Weird, nothing showed up.

And then we come to this photo. I know I’m turning 40 in 28 days, you guys, but I was a little stunned by the wrinkles I have going on here. It’s…real. And there was a part of me that thought there’s no way I should post this because this is the sort of thing that needs to be discussed quietly in a corner with my dermatologist.

But then a bigger part of me laughed. Smiling has been getting a bad rap lately and that’s insane. I’ve worked hard for those wrinkles – I’ve spent a lot of time building a life where smiling and laughing is the norm, and there have been many times I’ve chosen to smile even when it wasn’t the easiest road. I have earned those smile marks, dammit! And, yes, while I may have ordered some new face cream this morning because there’s no need to hurry the process, I’m not going to hide what is there, whether or not I’m turning 40 in, wait for it, 28 days.

Linkage:

–CAFTAN! (not the same, but it has the same feel): Top Shop // way cuter version of cream floral tank: Loft //  stretchy jeans (ahem, aka jeggings): Uniqlo // gold necklace: gift // gold shoes I think you should wear with it: on sale at Amazon for $29!!!!

Photos by, the always amazing, Erica Bean.