BELLA MOUSE: who is this mouse you speak of?

whO? bella mouse? who is that? why i thought you would never ask! growing up my family called me "missy mouse", and then later just "the mouse". i'm not exactly sure why. i was small, very small and had a habit of getting my nose into things. especially people's closets, trinket drawers, and shoes. my mother tells this story about when i was three and they took the older (and luckier! they never took me to europe!) kids to europe and left me at home with my two great aunts, aunt Katherine and aunt Florence (who were both wonderful influences on me in their lifetimes). apparently, i had the house memorized, and anything they needed, i could find! need an iron? missy mouse to the rescue!

it is time to admit something. i wasn't always fashionable. i had an inner need to experiment with clothing and one day went too far for my mother's liking. if only i had a foto! i decided to wear a bright red SKIRT, with white western style fringe AROUND MY NECK and tucked it into my white, staple=boring, turtleneck. i got away with it once. i must have put on a coat and pranced out the door to the school bus. unnoticed. twas not to be the second go-round. "mother", as she is called when i am angry with her, marched me back into my room and told me in no uncertain terms that i was not allowed to wear skirts as ponchos. i thought i was so creative! i was so happy in my bright red creation! from that day forward, clothes would show up on my bed, every month, in wide array. clothes that were "appropriate" for children of such age from such families in such towns. you get the drift. i am sure my mummy was well meaning but the fashion bug was lost for some time in a sea of frilly girly conservative fashion, to be followed by ghastly uber-prepped-sperry topsider-polo-penny loafer-kilt skirt overwhelm. sigh. oh those lost years...

at some point i overcame my upbringing.

the mouse. then. became. bella mouse.

i hope to share with you thoughts on fashion, musings, finds, ideas and general think-out-of-the-box-edness.