I surprised myself this week, which was surprising in itself. I never surprise myself. I hate surprises. I hate being surprised and I hate surprising my friends. To tell you the truth, if I get you a birthday gift or Christmas present you can bet your bottom dollar I will just tell you what it is or hint to what I got you. I hate waiting to see the look on someone’s face when something is being withheld from them. I literally pick out my own Christmas gifts at the store and my mom then buys and wraps them, because I hate not knowing what I will get. In other words, I have no patience.

It was three in the morning this past Thursday when the sound of rain awoke me. Savoring the moment, I laid in bed —cozy and warm. Hearing each and every drop hit different surfaces calmed me. I opened my window wide so I could try and guess the sounds of the surfaces being rained on; I heard metal pings and plastic pongs and hard plunges on wood. Something about listening was so surprising. Surprising because I actually waited for each sound and tried to differentiate them. I waited, patiently, and that surprised me.

It was three in the morning that same Thursday that I learned what being surprised meant to me. Trying to teach myself patience in one night was pretty tough—I can assure you—, I wasn’t so patient with myself to tell you the truth. I always find myself wondering, “What am I really doing with my life?” or, “What do I really want to achieve?”; but that one hour in the early morning before dawn (and my favorite time, sunrise hour), I surprised myself by not thinking about my life plans and told myself… plan to be surprised.

So readers, that same day, I surprised myself once more. Taking a leap, I decided to do something spontaneous. It was beautiful being able to be so vulnerable, exposed, wonderful yet awful, and alive all at the same time. I allowed myself to be surprised by waiting, patiently for a response to something (I’ll keep that something secret). Hush, hush my Mavens, don’t get sour on me…

So in a way you can say I weathered out the storm. It’s probably going to be the only one in California for a while. Side note: Where did El Niño go?!?! Anyway, yes —I weathered out the storm by learning to be surprised and patient. But what about the fashion you may ask? What is a weathered article of clothing in fashion?

YES, this week U.M. is featuring fashion, of course. I’m excited because it’s on something we all love. DENIM. I mean who doesn’t love blue jeans? Brighter blues, a spectrum of blacks, very subtle weathering. Worn by the greats. It started with the Forty-Niners, then to the forever handsome James Dean, then to Marilyn Monroe. Levi Strauss was yes, the fore-father of denim. Then, James Dean popularized blue jeans (which made his blue eyes pop even more) in the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause and of course Marilyn Monroe in the 1960’s modeling the comfortable yet tough, rugged material. She made denim look somehow sexy and of course women wanted that. Before you knew it, the denim trend had started.

Generally, when people say that something they wear is “comfortable,” they mean it is psychologically comfortable, not physically comfortable. We wear blue jeans because everyone else wears blue jeans, and it’s our nature to want to be part of a group. Denim does just this. You can dress denim up with heals and a blouse (or for the dudes that read my blog… just wear a pair of dress shoes and a sport coat) or dress it down with your favorite pair of Chuck Taylor’s and a white shirt.

In a way, blue jeans has been the American pastime of clothing since the early years. It has a unique way of uniting friends, and family together; whether that be on casual Friday or working in the front yard on Saturday. Denim has everything that we want as a society; it has expression, modesty, sexiness, and simplicity —all in one article of clothing. In America, denim is a way of life.

So readers, this week I wore my denim… because well it’s totally in-style… not that its ever gone out of style.  My only tip? Style denim with white, whether that be a white shirt or white accessories. Have fun with it, enjoy the comfort of blue jeans, and surprise yourself.

Signing Off for This Week: Your Surprised, Weathered in Blue, Uptown Maven