Forty-One Percent Complete

Sometimes I look at my peers and stress out a little when I compare my life to theirs. I’m no one’s boss. I earned a total of $40 in the month of October. I have no children. I’m so behind!


Jacket, BCBG Max Azria. Sweater, thrifted. Skirt, Chaus Sport (thrifted). Boots, Steve Madden. Bag, El Paso Saddleblanket Co. Rings, heirloom, gifted and/or thrifted.



But then I listened to an interview with one of the authors of The 100-Year Life and realized that I’m not a failure, I’m just living according to the new rules of our longer lives. Many of us can expect to live to 100 but we can no longer expect to work for one company our entire lives and then retire at 65. The health and career changes in recent years dictate a new life trajectory. As I listened to the interview, these were the points that really resonated with me:

Nonlinear Paths
No longer do we take an ordered path of school to job to marriage to kids to retirement. Instead, this sequence can happen in any order. We may even abandon paths to start again, like remarrying or going back to school in mid-life. Within our careers, there may not be an orderly progression from stockroom to boardroom. Instead, we may take cuts in pay, make lateral moves, change functions within a company or even begin new careers. This made me think of how I left my Captain’s pay in the US Marine Corps to take a secretarial job for a woman no one else in the company would work for. I later switched from finance to human resources to sales. Now I work for myself in the creative industry, taking a pay cut, but a passion gain. I don’t ever expect to retire.

Fractured Peer Groups
Because our paths are no longer linear, we can’t expect everyone at the high school reunion to be in roughly the same life situation. We no longer travel one path with our age group peers. My friend, Erin, from Cincinnati, is roughly my age, but has had two kids, moved to Denver, and is now the comptroller of a city. We were once so close, caring for nothing but our workouts and office gossip, but now lead disparate lives.

Diverse Networks
We not only tend to have a more diverse group of friends and acquaintances than ever before (due to the nonlinear lives and fractured peer groups), but we need these diverse networks in order to progress to our next move. It’s important to have a network composed of individuals of different ages, professions, education, outlooks, and backgrounds to inspire and mentor our futures. This diversity is something I’ve always valued, but have recently worked to actively cultivate through my activities. For instance, all of the members of my Toastmasters club are interested in improving their public speaking, but are otherwise incredibly diverse. It's obvious when looking around the room, but even more so when the members speak. My favorite thing about the club is learning from others’ perspectives and being inspired to do something different with my own life.

Gap Years
It’s increasingly common to take a long period away from a career, even as along as a year, to pursue something else. It might be caring for a newborn, but, increasingly, it’s something less predictable like writing a book, caring for an aged parent, taking that long-delayed backpacking trip across Europe, volunteering with the Peace Corps or taking a spiritual retreat. After the gap, the individual may or may not return to the original career. Obviously, after leaving my 12-year corporate job to camp in the Sierra for thirteen weeks and then experiment with self-employment, I identify strongly with this 100-Year Life attribute.

Portfolio Careers
There is no longer such a thing as job security. We are living in a VUCA world: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. You may be downsized tomorrow. Your company may suddenly fold. Your entire industry may become obsolete. This lack of security forces us to diversify. Maybe you work in an office during the day, but hold Pampered Chef parties in the evening. Or drive a gravel truck Monday through Friday and mow yards on the weekends. At its most extreme, maybe you are simultaneously pursuing blogging, photography, speaking, writing, acting, and styling. (Oh, wait, that’s me.) We can no longer define ourselves by one career. We have backups and a plan B in case our main source of income disappears.

I’m only 41% of the way through my 100-Year Life. Who knows what may be next?


I’m celebrating the new chapter of my life by making it official with WhatIWore2Day.com!
Birthday blog pics from 2006 - 2016:

The Big Four Oh

It’s my birthday! I’ve joined the 40+ club. Most of my favorite fashion bloggers are 40 or older.


Leggings and clutch, Express. Poncho, Aziza. Boots, Style & Co (thrifted). Earrings, Stardust Remembered.


Birthday blog pics from 2006 - 2015:

Birthday Dress

My birthday dress is just like my wedding dress! I’ve gotten a lot of mileage from my black and white, snake-print Parker dress. When I found the same dress in leopard print, for $45 on consignment, I did a little victory dance.


Dress, Parker. Boots, Joe’s. Earrings, Stardust Remembered. Bag, thrifted vintage.

I wore this to my birthday dinner at Ella with Beefy. My birthday is actually not on Halloween, but Ella is closed on Sunday and Monday (my birthday).



I didn’t take today’s 365 shot. Beefy took all these pics. But I’m claiming it for my set:

40 B4 40

I’ve always craved adventure. One of my earliest memories is of a bedtime prayer to God, asking Him to burn down my house, so that our family would move. I prayed that my family would escape unscathed and that I’d have time to grab my precious china cats, but that our house would be ruined and we’d have to find a new place to live. Since my wish was never granted, I settled for travels of the mind. I sought adventures in time, place, and dimension through books. I devoured both the Little House and the Narnia series. A Wrinkle in Time and The Plug at the Bottom of the Sea were favorites. When I wasn’t able to read, I’d daydream. Stuck in church, I’d imagine I could step through the wallpaper and into the redwood forest it depicted. Maybe I’d find Ewoks just around that bend. Or I’d make a home in a hollowed stump like in My Side of the Mountain. My fantasies continued when sent outside to play or walking to and from school. We lived in a valley, surrounded by hills, and I always wondered, “What’s on the other side of that hill? And past the next? And the next?” I couldn’t wait to be grown up and free to explore.

Once I was grown up, I didn’t waste a moment in experiencing as much of life as possible. I cooked Indian cuisine, sailed a dinghy, climbed Andean peaks, fished for piranhas in the Amazon, swam laps, danced ballet, indulged in Amsterdam, backpacked through the wilderness solo, kayaked in Belize, completed a triathalon, joined the Marines, and lived in Japan. As I’ve aged, has the adventuring slowed down? Perhaps. I have responsibilities now. I haven’t left the country in ten years and haven’t backpacked in longer. But adventures can be found close to home. In the last ten years I started three blogs (and continued one), performed on stage, ran a few marathons, learned to sing, raced up Pike’s Peak, became a saleswoman, moved across the country, married a second time, and trained a dog. I’ve sought adventures of the mind and spirit, continuing to challenge myself. Still, there is more excitement to be had! If I’m not too old for it.

I’ve been warily watching my 40th birthday approach for a few years. All you post-40 somethings will laugh at this, but that seems to be the year marker at which I become “old.” My body will be broken down. I’ll be too tired to pursue my interests. My face will transform from youthful to haggard. I’ll be expected to focus on serious pursuits like my career, community, and charities. Instead of exploring new horizons, I’ll be mentoring younger women through their own adventures. If that’s the case, then I plan to have a really great 39th year.

What follows is a list of 40 activities I’d like to complete before I’m 40. They range from simple to daring, but all appeal to my sense of adventure:

1. Get old timey photos of our family
2. Skydive or hanglide
3. Take a Napa wine tour
4. Hike Half Dome
5. Stand-up paddleboard
6. Snowshoe
7. Camp with the dogs
8. Skateboard at a skate park
9. Compete in an agility competition
10. Renew my passport
11. Pose for a photo with Mickey Mouse
12. Attend a Comicon
13. Dye my hair pink
14. Teach Jasper to walk nicely on a leash
15. Do a 365 Photo project
16. Sew a garment
17. Take a sewing class
18. Meditate
19. See a live concert
20. Go to a hot air balloon festival
21. Learn to 2-finger whistle
22. Do the splits
23. Show Dan my old Bridgeport haunts
24. Finish making all the burgers in Veggie Burgers Every Which Way
25. Write one special content blog post per month
26. Sail
27. Wallpaper a wall
28. Participate in Toastmasters
29. Ride a horse
30. Have a birthday party
31. See local theater
32. Practice ambidexterity
33. Learn a new piano song
34. Raft down a river
35. See a drive-in movie
36. Take a historical home tour
37. Practice lucid dreaming
38. Gaze at the stars
39. Send out holiday cards
40. Guest appear on a podcast

I’m a little worried that having all this fun will make it more difficult to settle down on my 40th birthday, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Meanwhile: “Adventure time! Excellent!”

Birthday Beauty Sleep

Do you think we could arrange for the daylight savings “fall back” to happen on my birthday every year? That extra hour of sleep was the best birthday gift ever. You know what they say . . . 39 is the new 29 and 7 a.m. is the new 6 a.m.


Jacket, Allen B. Scarf, Charming Charlie. Shirt, Jones New York (thrifted). Overall dress, Hydraulic (thrifted). Boots, Style & Co (thrifted). Bag, Nine West. Brooch, Sarah Coventry (thrifted)


I’ve started a 365 photo project as a part of my 40 Before 40 (more on that soon). My first photo is, predictably, of Jasper, but I promise they won’t all be dog pictures!


You can follow along with my picture-a-day project here or on instagram: @kasmirakit.

Dog Birthday

Jasper is a year old, today! We spent the entire day together. We started with a walk in Old Town. Next, we went to the airport to return his favorite aunt to Denver (sad face). Then, we visited a new dog park, Carmichael’s Canine Corral, where Jasper made friends with a pup named Honey. Finally, we rambled along the river sniffing dead salmon, splashing in the water, and catching the frisbee. (I was tossing the frisbee in between shots.)


Shirt, Mossimo (thrifted). Skirt, American Eagle (thrifted). Tights, We Love Colors. Socks, Sock Dreams. Boots, Vince Camuto. Earrings, California State Fair. Scarf and backpack, consignment.



Jasper had such a great day. Here he is playing with his new friend, Honey:


Now that Jasper is “all grown up,” he has his own instagram. You can follow him at jasper_the_bordercollie.