Figurine it all out

When I was younger I used to have shelves full of ceramic figurines (angels, 'Precious Moments', little animals, etc.) displayed in my bedroom. As I got older, the figurines came down, got wrapped in tissue and stored safely away...but I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them. I told myself they were special, and that someday I could save them for my future children.
The older I get, the more I wonder about why I keep hanging on to these figurines. They are incredibly dated, and it's entirely possible that my hypothetical future children won't even want them. If they aren't something I would display now, why am I still keeping them? I probably should have gotten rid of them years ago. Perhaps, I just had the mindset that my figurines were 'precious' for so long, but I am realizing now that they may or may not be. I don't know of anyone my age that is still hanging on to such things, and I don't want to keep them forever if they are not going to be put to use, however...I have that constant voice in the back of my mind telling me that I don't want to just give them away and regret not having them either. Will I miss them when they're gone? Will my future children wish I had held on them or is it just ridiculous that I am almost 32 years old I can't find myself to get rid of the ceramic figurines of my childhood? I guess the longer you have something, the more difficult it is to just let go of it...
Maybe I'm just a hoarder...

Just Take It!!

I am not a fashionista, but I consider myself a person with general good-taste and style.

I assembled myself an outfit yesterday that I was actually very proud of and felt very confident in. It was a very 'Lauren' outfit. If I were a selfie person, I may have even posted a hashtag OOTD. It was  just a multi-colored striped shift-dress, a denim jacket, some cognac-brown riding boots and flesh-toned fishnet tights. It doesn't sound spectacular, and I didn't exactly spend hours coming up with this ensemble. I try to dress a little nicer (okay, a lot nicer) for church because a) I actually have a job there (that I really like and enjoy, I might add) and b) I don't get to wear nice clothes working in a preschool.

After church, I went to lunch with a friend, and the waitress complimented my outfit, and my first impulse was to tell her that the dress only cost $15 and that the jacket was 10 years old. Of course, I just said "thank you!" But I realized I always do that. When someone pays me a compliment, I usually find some way to down play whatever it is they're complimenting, as if my things are not worth their nice comments "I like your top" "Oh, it's from Target". "Cute shoes" "Thanks, I've had these forever". I'm not the only one who does this, though. I've noticed that many of my other female friends do this as well. It goes beyond just being humble, it is like a weird, learned behavior that we have all picked up from each other where we can't just take a compliment and run with it. We either have to down play whatever is being complimented, tell the complimenter where said item was purchased or give a compliment in return. 

I was so eager to de-value my outfit that I had felt so good in because...why? I'm not supposed to take compliments? I don't deserve them? Because that's a load of crap! So what if that dress was only $15, it was cute AND a bargain! So what if I've had that jacket since college, a good denim jacket never goes out of style! And no one needs to know those details, and since no one really reads my blog...no one is going to!