A 25-cent Mary rescued from the thrift store, who has been living on the front porch more or less by default for several years. I brought her home and set her down, and there she still is.
Got up this morning to read through my short-story MS. I'm a lot happier with it than I thought I was. I think. For the moment, anyway. I reshuffled the order (moving whole stories via cut-and-paste is rather more arduous than moving poems, let me tell you), and I added back in a couple of flash stories I initially didn't think I'd include, and I think it hangs together pretty well. Now to get somebody to take it.
Wearing today:
Sierra's up today in the rotation, having been worn only once so far this month. I added some Marian blue in the form of a belt which I have literally never worn. It came on some secondhand pants which didn't fit me, and which I subsequently re-thrifted, but I kept the belt because I thought someday I might like to use it. Turns out that today is that day, and that giving myself a wear-blue rule has pushed me to make today that day.
Generally I like to wear thinner belts. Too wide a belt, and it looks like the belt is wearing you, not vice versa. But I like this, and I especially like it with the shape of the Sierra dress.
Gray and slate-blue make for maybe a blah outfit in the springtime, but whatever. My dress is sleeveless, and the whole look is simple enough to be livable, regardless of the season. Our high today is supposed to be around 80F, which should be very pleasant. Any hotter, and I might not like belting this heavier jersey fabric against my skin. But today I ought to be all right. And I will note this dress/belt combination for the future, because it's the kind of thing I would happily wear in the fall with a cardigan and tights or leggings.
PS: This is really how I had hoped the Sofia would fit. It did not fit like this. A small long Sierra with a belt is the shape I was going for, and it's nice to know that I can make that shape happen.
Wearing my good old thrifted Birk Floridas today, to give the Balis a little rest. Easy, simple, comfortable.
Now to walk the dog, then get back to writing work. I need to knock out one more short essay this week, look in at the magazine slush pile, where I have not been pulling my weight very much, and keep proofreading and editing my newly re-compiled story collection. Also laundry. Maybe some groceries. What with one thing and another, it'll be a full day.
PPS: Still working on my hat habit.
I'm enjoying head-shot selfies because my camera has just acquired a "portrait" feature, and it's fun to experiment with blurred backgrounds . . . so maybe expect a lot of my face for a while!
Odds and ends from the morning:
Purple vetch along the greenway trail. Also, here's a not-great shot of a hawk that coasted in to perch in a tree right along the trail:
I couldn't get close enough for a clear shot, and my zoom lens is not very good, but there it is.
Scenes from the late-spring garden:
Just dumping these here so they'll be easy to find later. Much in bloom!
LATE AFTERNOON UPDATE:
I don't recall feeling hot in Sierra all last summer, but today, even though it's not that hot out, the fabric is definitely feeling not-cool against my skin. I can see that possibly, from here on out, especially given how many other options I now have, and given that gray really doesn't feel very springy-summery, Sierra might get less wear through the warmer months --- and that's okay. It is okay for me to reach for a dress less in seasons when that dress (even when technically an all-season dress) might not be the most comfortable option.
Of course, it might just be that wearing a belt presses the fabric against my skin more than I'm used to, and reduces air flow. I do like the look of the belt and am glad I wore it and glad I've noted it in my style diary. But I might not opt for this kind of thing so much as the days continue to heat up.
On the other hand, I'm reminded that I also like the silhouette of my Camellia with a belt, an option that I forget about most of the time. Maggie, too, for that matter. And I really want to remember this silhouette in Sierra for when the weather cools down again in the fall.