If you have ever watched one of my YouTube videos you know that I can't go more than a few minutes without having to put on a pair of reading glasses.  Now I luckily have pretty good insurance and have been able to buy a few pairs of really nice glasses at reasonable prices, but I was definitely suffering because where do I need to wear my glasses most often?  In front of the computer or when I'm reading in bed.  But what about when I'm cooking in the kitchen, and I need to read directions?  Or when I'm in the bathroom trying to read how much cold medicine I'm supposed to take?  Or when I go out to get the mail and drop it off in the living room and try to sort it between everyone who lives here?  And I could go on and on.



Leave it to my wonderful husband to supply me with the obvious solution: put a pair of readers in every room not to mention the car and my purse.  And his car.   The one problem: readers at the drugstore are kind of...ugly.

I was thrilled when ICU Eyewear reached out to me recently offering to sponsor this post about their products.  They make styles for men and women that suit every fashion, and they have some really cute things at reasonable prices.



Right now they are asking for your help in picking your favorite style.  Just pick one from either line to vote for and be entered to win one (1) free pair of the reading glasses you voted for.  There are so many great styles to choose from including these:












ICU Eyewear is giving away 1,000 pairs of Dr. Dean and Wink glasses or 40% off one order of readers.

To enter:

1. Go to the Read In Style Giveaway page to enter your email address and gender.
- Your gender determines if you vote for the Dr. Dean or Wink readers.

2. Based on which gender you selected, vote for your favorite pair.

3. You will then either be selected instantly as a winner and asked to fill out your shipping and Diopter details OR receive a 40% off coupon for all readers on the ICU Eyewear site.

The giveaway is active from August 14th 2013 at 12am PST and ends on August 27th, 2013 at 11:59pm PST.

The 40% coupon code is valid until October 1st, 2013 on reading glasses only.

One entry per email address. Winners will receive their free pair of reading glasses via First Class Mail and will be delivered 4-6 weeks after the giveaway ends.

This post is sponsored by ICU Eyewear.

This started as a work day to evening outfit, but then I got carried away with embellishment.  I've recently been obsessed thinking about how to style something cropped for a woman over 40.  I think we are all probably at the age where we remember wearing the cropped trend the first time around.  Since we really don't want to baring our midriffs now, how about layering with cropped pieces?  I would like it if this blazer was a little shorter, more along the lines of a bolero or shrug, but this length is great for someone who has an apple body type.  The embellishment of the neckline and the belt mean no additional jewelry, and the nude of the shoe makes the legs look long.  The pencil fit of the dress is perfect for anyone with an hourglass figure, and the cutout on the back of the dress is great for the inverted triangle who wants to take the jacket off to dance.  This Urban Decay lipstick is more of a lip butter.  It's moisturizing but has great color and wearability.  I find it so much more flattering than a matte lipstick.

I've spent the summer watching everyone walk around in these cute, shrunken minidresses, and it's actually made me quite grumpy.  I would really like to wear one but know that I can't.  I'm not one of those people with hard and fast rules, "You are over 40, so you shouldn't wear a minidress."  I'm much more realistic.  I, personally, should not wear a minidress.  Not because I'm over 40, but because my knees are.  You see, the skin around my knees is droopy and wrinkly.  Some people might say who cares?  They are your knees; if you want to expose them, go ahead.  But I won't, and here is why.  I won't feel confident about how they look.  I will be worried about how they look to other people even if other people don't notice them.  It will distract me.

So many times we don't realize that it's the little things like this that are shutting us down.  I wouldn't enjoy a precious day out with my husband if I was worried about something like this.  An even bigger problem though are those of us who don't worry about things like this.  I know a lot of people who say that they don't care what other people think.  "I'm going to wear what I want to wear."  I hear this most vehemently from people who aren't dressing for their best features.  When we sit down to talk about why, it usually has an emotional component.  Nine out of ten people don't have an actual attachment to these particular clothes.  They know they aren't following "the rules" or dressing for success.  But they want to believe that appearance doesn't matter, that it shouldn't matter.  I'm sorry, but in the world we live in, it does matter.

In response to my grumpiness about minidresses, I put together this outfit as a compromise that I could live with.  What are you thinking about compromising on?