The Great and Glorious Fourth, come round again, as all the days do in the great wheel of the year. We don't have big plans --- I think we're going to cook ribs on the grill, and then later tonight we'll be able to see the city fireworks from the parking lot across the street. Of course, people have been shooting off fireworks all weekend, giving poor Dora a nervous breakdown. Fortunately we have some trazodone on hand, so I started dosing her up last night and will continue through tonight.
I've been neglecting the front garden this year, focusing all my energies on the new garden area out back. But things are coming along out front, largely taking care of themselves.
The bee balm and other mint varieties are back in force, of course, as are the four-o'-clocks and the late lilies. I've been grateful for the earlier flourishing of my peonies, whose fronds continue to add structure to the border throughout the season, even after the flowers are finished. The poor rosemary planted at the back, as a foundation planting, gets inundated by other things during the summer, but I love the waves of color and foliage that the mature four-o'-clocks provide.
And then there are coneflowers, both purple and white:
Bee balm approaching the end of its bloom cycle:
Dora and I have been for our morning walk, spending about ten minutes at the dog park in the middle of it so that she could run off-leash and climb the ramps and jump the hurdles (with enticement, but she seems to find it fun). Now I'm home and pondering the next move.
Wearing today, as part of my July 4/3 Challenge:
This burgundy bamboo swing dress, the "4" in "4/3." So far, since the start of July on Friday, I've worn one swing dress, two non-swing-dress outfits, and now, today, another swing dress. This is my patriotic look, since I don't own anything actually bright red.
As I've noted before, even in the summer heat, I stay pretty cool in these long-sleeved bamboo dresses. I wore this dress to walk with Dora for nearly an hour, just as on Saturday I wore a long-sleeved cotton shirt. Note the difference, post-walk. Here's Saturday:
Vs. today:
Charming as these armpit shots are, they illustrate the performance of the different fabrics in sweaty conditions. I assure you that I did not sweat any less this morning than I did on Saturday. But bamboo wicks moisture and dries fast. The long sleeves didn't feel nearly as hot on my arms, either, as the cotton sleeves did. For whatever I paid for this dress --- anywhere from $10-$20, secondhand; I bought four at roughly the same time and don't remember the individual prices --- I am getting excellent performance and wear from it. It hand-washes easily and dries quickly on the rack. Its buttery softness is delightful on my skin. Anyway, another paean to the cheap thrifted bamboo swing dresses, which are a default in my wardrobe for a reason.
Wishing a happy holiday to all who are observing it today, and a good week to everyone, period.
LATER:
While we're all just kind of lying around, I've been pondering things --- mostly the state of my
no-buy year so far. Five days ago I passed the point of "as long as the standard school year," which was interesting. Now, my no-buy year hasn't been 100% no-buy, any more than a school year of 180 instructional days is 100% instructional. I have bought underwear, which was excluded from the no-buy rule, anyway: six pairs of modal bike-short-style underwear, which I really like to wear under swing dresses, plus four bamboo bras. I've also made two "considered purchases" which were technically outside the boundaries: my blue Wool& Maggie dress, plus red Xero Cassie Mary Janes. Both of these purchases were made in light of a conference I'm attending in the fall as a presenter, where I don't need or want to look like The Devil Wears Prada or anything, but do want to look nice, polished, and arty-professional on my own terms. In my wearing patterns, I've been really conscious of saving those clothing items for that upcoming event so that they still look fresh, new, and nice when the time comes.
Otherwise: I haven't bought any clothes. Instead, I've been focusing on wearing the clothes I have, which is what this
July 4/3 Challenge is all about. And to a huge extent, I'm really happy with that. I let myself look at Wool& dresses. I let myself occasionally skim Poshmark for more Piko bamboo dresses like the one I'm wearing today. But I can stop myself buying, mostly because I can't talk myself into a rationale for breaking the no-buy. I don't
really want anything. I certainly don't need anything. And as I am learning, I don't have to use clothes shopping as a default activity when I'm bored or blue.
I have been whittling down my closet still, in little increments. I outboxed the last of my plain cotton tees the other day --- a thrifted Army Green Gap tee that I've wanted to like. I do like the color. But between the drawbacks of cotton and the limited utility of the plain tee in the scheme of my wardrobe, I haven't been wearing it and find I don't really want to wear it. I'd like eventually to add some more colors and styles in wool, because wool tees do have more utility, year round, than their cotton counterparts. Anyway, at this point, my closet purging is one item at a time, carefully. I did also outbox a sleeveless patterned top that I've liked a good bit in the past, but it's not a natural fiber and is starting to look pilled and worn, which made it easy to let go.
Outboxing items, oddly enough, makes it easier to contemplate wearing the non-swing-dress things I have left --- which is still a considerable amount, mind you, even when you exclude the cold-weather-only pieces. The more I pare back, carefully, the more the things I like come to light and remind me of their presence. I was happy to wear my
tops and shorts on Saturday, my
top and skirt yesterday. At the same time, what I keep thinking is how pleasant it is just to put on a dress and have done with it. Nothing to coordinate: just cute dress + shoes, and I'm done. I've made no effort, but I look as nice as if I had. That's the lesson, over and over. Yeah, it's good to have a
little variety, at least. I'm enjoying making a rule for myself that demands some variety. But I'm glad I didn't make it onerous: glad I decided to make it so that I still wear my favorite things most of the time. It's a good, humane rule that way, not punishing myself for liking a particular default mode, just nudging me out of it regularly enough that I make use of more of what I have.
And it does remind me that I don't need to shop. Ultimately, yes, I might just buy more dresses, because that's what I most like to wear. When the window opens again, that would be a good move (though I can think of other items I'd like to fill in with, like some wool leggings and more wool tops). What I might learn from all this in the long run is that while I don't want to wear as many of some of my current clothes as I thought, I do want to wear more of other current clothes. Over time, I can steer my shopping carefully in whatever direction my habits and preferences indicate --- but taking this year to clarify what those habits and preferences are has been, so far, a really important step.
