Hey everyone, I hope that your weekend has been relaxing so far! Drop a comment below and let me know how your summer is going. This summer has resembled nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster for me. My needs and desires for my life, particularly involving my career development, family, and overall mental/emotional wellbeing, have been continuously present areas that demand more of my attention.

Both of my parents battled severe health issues throughout this summer. My mom has been in renal failure for a few years now. We were hopeful that with lifestyle changes, she would be able to maintain her current kidney function which would result in her not having to take dialysis treatments. Mental health and poverty have been underlying contributors to the decline of her health. Last week, labs showed that her function had dramatically decreased and that dialysis was the next step in the process in order to keep my mom alive. On Monday, she had a piece placed in her chest and by Tuesday, she started her first dialysis treatment. Having both parents on dialysis is overwhelming for me. Beacause this is such a heavy topic to unpack, I will dedicate a future post to discussing kidney failure within the black community.

Style and Beauty have always been a common space for my mother and I. Honestly, style and beauty are connected my granny, my mother and I. Back in the day, my granny was a successful lady Taylor. She created beautiful designs, made lovely patterns and was the epitome of class and beauty. Passing the torch to my mom, My mom went to hair school and had a lengthy career working with high end makeup companies. Both of them took significant pride in how they looked and dressed. Similarly, I carry the same love for beauty, style and elegance.

My mom was absolutely terrified of dialysis and how it would impact her quality of life, just due to her experiences with my dad who has been on dialysis for 20+ years. I still am terrified, to be completely honest. On Tuesday, after her first treatment session, I picked her up from the clinic and assumed that I would be taking her home. The plans quickly changed as she asked that we go to Catherine’s to look for jeans for her. Mom, because of her mental illness, and impart due to life, has been afraid to leave the house. She spent all of July in their apartment. I could not encourage or persuade her to leave for ANYTHING! Dialysis is forcing her to leave her fear and take control of her life. She used to love to buy nice clothes, wigs, and rock pretty makeup. After her last mental breakdown, she struggled with depression and ultimately stopped putting in the effort to do makeup or keep her hair together. Most of that was fueled by lack of finances as well.

Although I was drowning in a “tactical tsunami” at work, as my business professor, Rick Mann would call it, I know that her desire to go in public and find clothing to wear to dialysis was a huge shift from where we were a few months ago. Therefore, I happily obliged her request, to Catherine’s we went. The dressing room allows me to transform. Oddly enough, trying on clothes in the dressing room allows me to disconnect from issues that are overwhelming me. In the past, I have had mixed feelings about Catherine’s because I felt as though they appealed more to the mature or matronly woman. I was pleasantly surprised by styles that I saw and decided to try their new fall pieces.

All of the items would work well in my wardrobe. The material of each piece was durable and will last for a long time. It is highly important to invest in your wardrobe, so that you are able to build instead of constantly buying to replace poor quality items. There was a 25% off sale for many of the tops shown above which offsets the cost of each item. The leggings fit me like a glove. I will definitely purchase them when I have the money to spare. The most attractive quality about Catherine’s is that they carry up to size 6x in store. Plus sizes stores that do not cater to all sizes of plus really aggravate me because exclusion defeats the purpose of being a specialty store.

My mom was able to find a pair of jeans to add to her closet. She purchased a shirt as well. I am happy that she is excited about wearing her outfit. I will take a picture of her rocking her new items and share it with you all.

What is your favorite item that I tried on? How do you feel about Catherine’s before seeing my dressing room chronicles? Are you more interested in visiting Catherine’s now after seeing this try on? Leave a comment below!

Until next time,

Nora