The morning kitchen, which I'm feeling kind of loth to leave. Just getting up from the table and out the door is 3/4 of the battle, easily.
Here again is my travel capsule for the weekend, which feels quite extensive --- the capsule, not the weekend, though that might be extensive, too.
I might take out that velour scarf, because the weather's going to be pretty warm, and I bet I won't wear it. It adds a marvelously luxe touch to anything I wear it with (and has been doing since 2004), but unless it's cold, I know I won't put it on.
I have added my red Mary Janes, and resolved to toss in my Birkenstock Madeiras as well, because why not? I'm not flying. I have a whole car to fill up if I want to. The weather report for Pittsburgh, right across the state line from Steubenville, is for daytime highs in the mid-to-very-high 70s, which is a bit of a bummer. I was hoping for some real fall weather. But it's going to be raining on Sunday, apparently, so I'll probably get away with merino tights and boots without being too hot. My plan for Sunday is to wear Sierra with my red cardigan, charcoal tights, and those Tari boots, and I think I can do that without dying of heat stroke. On Saturday it's supposed to be 80, so I think I'll plan on Fiona with bare legs and red Mary Janes for that day.
So --- having not yet gotten dressed --- I think I'll wear my Maggie dress to drive up. She's had a good rest all week, and it's her turn again. I might wear the red cardi with her, because that would be fun, and maybe the Birk Madeiras, so I don't have to pack them. Both the Taris and the red Cassie Mary Janes pack down really small, another advantage to minimalist shoes for travel!
Again, this seems an extensive capsule for a single weekend, but since I'm going to be seeing the same people over and over, it feels more restful to have a few choices than to think about how to make the same dress look different every day. Maybe people don't notice, but given that this will be a weekend of a lot of first impressions . . . and I do actually have these dresses to choose from . . . so there we have it. Again, though, I could take this essential capsule on a much longer trip and get a lot of outfits out of it over the course of many days, which is cool to contemplate. One reason why I take these flat-lay shots is so that I'll have them and remember what I've done.
I like the range of colors here, and the way that I can create tonal looks --- gray on gray, teal on teal --- or shake things up with a hit of cranberry red, which works with all three dresses pictured here. All the tights can work with all the dresses (yes, I think even the taupe Sand Dollar merino tights would look good with the gray Sierra dress). All the cardigans mix and match. If it were really chilly, I could layer another dress, like my marine-blue Maggie, under my Sierra dress for warmth. I've also considered that my redyed royal-blue Camellia dress would make a great underdress for the Fiona in cold weather, like a colorful merino slip that would fill in the scoop neckline a little more, for warmth.
But not this weekend. I draw the line at three dresses in my daypack, especially as it looks like I'm going to be plenty warm.
Here's my Driving Costume for the day:
It's also about to be my morning dog-walk costume, preparatory to driving. Wool& Maggie in marine blue, redyed cranberry-red thrifted Talbots cotton cardigan, thrifted Birkenstock Madeiras. Not, maybe, an exciting outfit --- would be better with tights, I think, but it's just too warm. At any rate, I'll be comfortable to drive, and I get to give my fun red cardigan an early whirl.
Out the door to walk the dog, then on the road!