Polka Dot, Stripes & Oprah

Before I get to Oprah I wanted to congratulate Karen C. and Michelle York for winning my wardrobe remix giveaway. Please send me an e-mail at vodkainfusedlemonade@gmail.com and we can discuss the details. Congrats ladies.

Yesterday I wore Lululemons all day, therefore no outfit pictures. Today I’m wearing my green cardigan over a white tunic style top and my favorite black skinny pants.

Outfit #22

Cardigan & Top (H&M). Pants (Gap). Necklace (Stella & Dot). Bracelets (Poshlocket). Watch (Michael Kors). Boots (Browns).

Oprah

This past Thursday I had the chance to see Oprah again!!! What an amazing experience and opportunity.

It took me a few weeks to decide what to wear and then it came to me: my polka dot sequin top over a white button shirt and my striped skirt. I’ve been wanting to mix patterns for a while now so I thought Oprah would be the perfect opportunity. Here is my outfit.

Top (J Crew). Skirt (Gap). White Button Shirt (Jacob). Boots (Nine West). Bracelets (Jacob). Watch (Michael Kors).

Waiting for Oprah to start

I was so excited to be there and to hear Oprah speak again. What an honor. The show started at 7:30 with Oprah’s boyfriend, Stedman Graham introducing Oprah. The minute he came on the stage the crowd was all eyes and ears. Except for the claps, cheers and occasional holler from the crowd, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. We were all waiting with baited breath to hear and absorb Oprah and her wisdom. As you can see from my pictures we didn’t have the best seats in the house. In fact we couldn’t have sat any higher, but it didn’t matter, because just being there in the same building as Oprah was enough.

She started her almost 2 hour long talk asking us “Why are we here?“, “Who are we?” and “What is our purpose?” I am an Oprah baby who grew up watching Oprah and who now has her own child. Those three questions that she asked us were profound. She spoke about her purpose and how she realized at the age of 4 that she was not going to follow in her grandmother’s foot steps; that she was destined for something greater.

She talked about how we are all the same, how we all feel pain, sadness, happiness the same. How we all just want to feel validated and listened to, like we matter. I totally get that. I have had to distance myself from a few family members for this very reason. I never felt like I was listened to, validated. I always felt like it was about the other person. It never seemed to be about me. I was always told that I had to do a certain thing, or dress a certain way because that person had asked me to and to make that person happy. Oprah discussed intention and doing things to please others. She said it was one of the hardest things to learn to do but that she stopped doing things just to make other people happy. If the intention wasn’t to do it for herself then she doesn’t do it. I feel the same way. Why should I have to do things to make the other person happy if I’m not? What about my happiness?

Listening to Oprah speak was very cathartic and empowering. Like I wrote above I’ve been dealing with some family issues for many years now and she reinforced for me that letting go of toxic “things” is ok. That I need to start living my life for me, not for anyone else. This is my journey!!!

Last year Oprah did a Masterclass featuring Toni Morrison. I will never forget the story Toni told about validating her children. She spoke of when her kids were little and whenever she would see them, like most mothers, would ask them to pull up their socks, pants, etc and that her eyes didn’t light up when her kids would come into the room. She said how she learned from a comment her child made that what her children saw wasn’t a welcoming mother but someone who was disappointed in them. She said from that moment on that her eyes always lite up when her kids walked into a room. I took that story to heart because as any new mother, getting up countless times in the night, my face wouldn’t always show what my heart did. After hearing this story I always greet my son with a smile and my eyes twinkle. I want him to see the love that I have for him. I want to validate him, for him to know that I see him, that I hear him and that I love him  unconditionally.

Oprah ended her talk by telling us that we need to live our life to the fullest potential. She spoke of this when we saw her in Chicago in April 2011. Click here for that post. An audience member had asked her “what advice would Oprah give to her regarding raising daughters?”. Oprah spoke that our job as parents is to ensure that our children grow up to be the best they can be; to achieve their fullest potential, not ours, but theirs. During her visit on Thursday she discussed that as parents we initially are our children’s managers but that slowly we need to become their consultants and how hard that is to do. I also took what she said in Chicago and on Thursday to heart in that I want for my son the best life he can have. To live out his dreams, not mine. This is his life and I want to help guide him and give him the tools he needs to help him get there.

I could write pages and pages with all of Oprah’s wisdom, but this post is already long enough. Here are some other pictures I took.

She ended “An Evening With Oprah” by answering some questions from George Stroumboulopoulos.

Thank you Oprah for your candid, honest, funny, insightful views about our journey here on Earth; how we each have our own purpose, our own lives to live and that we need to discover why we are here.

May this blog inspire you to discover your purpose, to live your life for yourself and to validate the people in your life.

Happy Monday Everyone!!!!