SOUPTEMBER, amirite? Yes, it's still hot outside, but I'm sick of not eating soup. My kids are not great soup lovers, and anyway, it was hot all summer, so that other than a round or two of cold cucumber soup I didn't make any soup at all. Now that it's just us, however, and we are dedicated to the Simple Meal: SOUP. This was a recipe from the second Trim Healthy Mama cookbook, Trim Healthy Table (I don't do that diet plan, but I still dip into the cookbooks quite a bit): creamy lemon chicken quinoa. It was a pantry-staples affair, largely: packaged chicken bone broth, quinoa, dried tarragon and chives, lemon juice from a bottle, even canned chicken (I know . . . but I've built up kind of a store of things like that, buying a few extra canned goods every time I've grocery shopped all summer, to help us ride out current food prices). For what it is, it's surprisingly good. I made a big pot, which we won't eat today because Friday, but we'll have it for lunc and maybe dinner tomorrow, and I plan to freeze couple of small containers for my husband's school lunches next week.
Meanwhile, it's the end of the week and I'm finished with work, which is a good feeling. I do still need to tackle some jobs of cleaning: the upstairs bathroom (really both bathrooms), plus a good vacuuming all over the house, a task I despise, but we are drowning in dog hair. Our houseguest is set to arrive late tomorrow night, to stay until Tuesday morning --- one obviously good thing about houseguests is that their arrival gives you a hard deadline for getting things done that you would rather keep putting off.
Dress experiment of the day: Wool& Maggie as tulip dress.
The Birk Madeiras really aren't the perfect shoe here, but I needed to wear something good for dog-walking.
Obviously I was experimenting with my hair at the same time. I think I like this shape, mostly because it does add a shape to a relatively shapeless dress --- which I mean in a good way. I like the flow of this dress worn loose; I also like her belted at the waist. Nipping the shape in at the hemline is another way to add interest, to make a different dress from the same basic model.
We're going out with friends tonight to our neighborhood pub, so I'll switch out these clunky walking shoes (though I do think they're kind of cute) for my tan toe-thong fake Birk sandals, which will give this ensemble a sleeker, leggier look. I could elevate the look even more with heels, if we were going someplace fancy and I wasn't walking there. I could see this as a fun shape in the winter with tights, boots, and a heavier cardigan or jacket.
One of my goals in this challenge was to wear my Maggie more often. I have been increasing my wearings, though still trying to keep her fresh and new and nice for events this fall which were the reason I purchased her to begin with. BUT she's such a good, versatile dress, and I really should be getting my investment's worth in wear.
As always, I adore the rich, beautiful marine-blue color. I'd happily amass a whole wardrobe in this color.
LATER:
Date-night tweak.
Washed my hair, changed my shoes. Ready to saunter out on the town --- or if not the whole town, at least the neighborhood.
