The brew pub last night before it really started to fill up. This weekend is the pub's third anniversary --- looking back, it still seems like the height of audacity, two guys opening a brew pub not only in the middle of a pandemic, but at the absolute apex of the restrictions and panics that accompanied it. Yet here they are. I continue to marvel at what a beautiful space it is, occupying a half-ruined cotton mill several blocks from our house. For years we used to drive by the site every day, because it was on our way everywhere, and try to imagine its rehabilitation. What would it be?
For a time there was talk of making it a pottery museum and center, which would have been nice, but probably short-lived. We do have a thriving local-pottery tradition and economy, but then . . . people who want pottery have pottery. Or, as in the case of my next-door neighbor, Jane, they make it themselves. And we're not a big place. A city could support a concern like that, but it was difficult to see how such a thing could last here. There's already a semi-annual pottery show and sale at the Cultural Center, in the old First Baptist Church on Main Street, and that's really enough, as that kind of thing goes.
A pub on the other hand . . . well, for years, by law, we couldn't have beer on tap, which was pretty limiting. Nor could we have liquor by the drink. A change in the city ordinances about five years ago changed the whole landscape of possibility. Now we have two taprooms, one which features craft beers from all over the state, and one --- ours --- which brews its own. Both operate as community centers, in the good old way of the English pub. The other pub has an extensive beer garden and a lot of live music. Ours has trivia night, which we frequent, but also hosts cornhole competitions, yoga classes, paint-and-pint nights, and all kinds of other things. Neither pub has a kitchen, but both have a full calendar of food trucks, besides which you can get delivery from one local restaurant, or pick up a pizza to bring in from the local wood-fired place.
And it's okay to come and not drink. Plenty of people just play trivia, or just socialize, bringing their giant sodas from the Cookout drive-through. At our pub, there are always children and dogs in tow. We always see somebody we know, including people we've met because they're always there at the same times we are.
So it was fun to celebrate them last night. We had Cuban sandwiches and hung out for a couple of hours before toddling home to walk the dog. I didn't check my steps last thing last night, but I seem to have walked a full 10K, at least, which tracks. Usually if I can walk at least two miles early in the day, I'll wind up walking at least four by the time I go to bed. Ah, after fiddling a bit with my app, I see that I walked 13,286 steps, to be precise.
And now it's Sunday. I slept kind of intermittently, but got up early anyway to wash my hair, which I can now do with some reasonable expectation that it will be dry, with or without a little diffusing help, before we leave for Mass. I did what's become my usual routine for the last couple of weeks: Head&Shoulders sulfate-free shampoo, Olaplex for ten minutes, cold rinse, then a nickel-sized amount of Treluxe Reflex Serum glazed onto my hair and wet-brushed in. Squeezed out excess water and scrunched, first with just my hands, then with a bamboo dress (those things have been handy in the most unexpected ways). Now I'm letting it air dry, but can finish it off with the diffuser before we leave.
I've been liking the waves and volume I get with this routine, especially with my new shorter haircut, but it's no more elaborate or troublesome than just washing and conditioning my hair. I don't go in for lengthy styling techniques or perfect outcomes, but I like how my hair has responded to the Olaplex, even though I didn't think it was damaged before. As the silver continues to grow in, which it is gradually but steadily doing, it'll be important to do what I can to keep it healthy and pliant. I have read reviews that said that Olaplex was particularly good for gray hair in this regard, and while mine still has a long way to go, that is the way it's going. I want it to be a good way.
This last time, I got three good days after washing on Thursday, following my haircut, just refreshing with water and sometimes a little more gel, which I'll probably glaze on today once my hair isn't quite so wet. That too seems to work well. So I hope that after today's wash, I'll be set up for a busy early week. It would be nice to make it to Thursday before I have to do this again. The routine is simple, but I like not having to repeat it too often.
A shot down Water Street from our walk home last night:
The other pub is actually just ahead on the left. If anything, it's even closer to our house than the one we frequent. We love their outdoor area, where they have bonfires in the winter, but we don't love their beer selection so much: it has leaned heavily on IPAs and things like sours, which we both dislike. Dark beers tend to be like "Peanutbutter Honey Sandwich Stout," to which again no thank you, say we. It's too bad, because they are really nice people, and while they were the only game in town, we patronized them fairly frequently. BUT plenty of people do patronize them, and they too seem to be going great guns, which is nice to see. That this little town has, like, stuff going on is remarkable.
But again, here it is Sunday, the morning after, soft and cloudy. The high today, according to my weather app, is only 84F, a real improvement. The nights have been lovely and cool, too, usually in the mid-60s with a nice breeze. All in all, although in many places people are experiencing the hottest summer on record, ours has been relatively mild. Looks like we might be due for some thunderstorms this afternoon and evening, which is all right. The garden needs watering.
In the meantime, I'll dress for a short dog-walk and Mass. And what'll the outfit be today? Staaaaaaaay tuned!
*
*
*
*
*
*
Ta-da!
Hair still a little damp, but on its way to being dry. I'm wearing Maggie T, i.e., my second Wool& Maggie dress in Aegean Teal. I wanted to get some wear out of one of my three skirts today, and although I'd thought about taking this floral linen-blend skirt out for a whirl, I settled instead on red. I love the vibrancy of this color combination as well as the graceful flared line of the skirt, bought secondhand on Poshmark early this year. I really do like longer midi/short maxi-length skirts, and having a few skirts on hand means that I can transform my above-the-knee dresses when I feel like it. The linen is light and airy, adding no particular weight, while the dress underneath functions as both top and slip.
As always, I set my waistline a little above what is, or used to be, my natural waist. It's just more comfortable and, I think, more flattering, creating a 2/3 proportion in the outfit, with more elongating length on the bottom than if I cut myself in half.
You can see that I don't have a flat stomach or anything like it, but I feel graceful in the line of this outfit. I also just love Maggie as a top, with her scoop neck.
Light minimal sandals to contrast with my hemline. Hair, again, on its way to being dry.
One thing I love about this outfit is that I could put it on with boots and a cardigan in the dead of winter --- it's a basic formula that takes me handily through all the seasons. Right now, it's light and cool, perfect for July.
And now to brush my teeth and walk the dog, and maybe diffuse my hair on cool a little more before we head out for church.
LATER:
It's turned into a lovely, cool, intermittently rainy afternoon. I'm going to write, read, and laze about, and maybe go walk in the rain with the dog, if and when I feel like it, because if it's raining we'll have the world to ourselves.
LATER STILL:
Post-dog-walk/Team Basic Sunday edition. The sun came out, it's steamy even in the shade, and I'm glad I shucked the skirt. Maggie T is just cool and classy on her own.
I don't have any plans for the evening, but if something should blow up by way of a party, it's nice to know that all I'd have to do is run my wet hands through my hair and maybe put the strappy minimalist sandals back on. This dress is so pretty and easy and go-anywhere-anytime. As far as I know, the plan is to enjoy going nowhere in my pretty, easy dress.
ALSO:
Because in the summer the middle-aged lady's thoughts turn to what clothing she can dye to transform it, I am totally fixing to overdye these merino leggings ---
--- with Dharma's Jacquard Sapphire Blue. They are 100% merino, so I will have to be careful not to felt them, but I think I can do it. I simply will do it. I want to tone down and blue the chocolate brown, which I don't love, and make the pattern more muted. So it'll be blue on blue, in a tone that should look good with my whole closet. And the Nordic pattern should still show up, albeit more subtly. And they won't be navy, like my other merino-blend leggings, but brighter and more royal-ish, I think.
Anyway, I've been thinking about it, and today I went ahead and ordered the dye (a lot cheaper than a whole new clothing item), and we'll see how it goes. These were not expensive, to be 100% merino, and I think I'll just wear them a lot more if they're blue than I will in this brown/vaguely lavender scheme they have going on.
Stay tuned. But now I'm going to cook dinner.