Out of the house for most of the day, but here's a neighborhood shot: gymnasium and summer sky.
Up and drinking coffee while the rest of the house sleeps. Today's high is 94F, with 92% humidity, so yes, again, I am thinking of Houston, though I guess this is their May weather. Looking forward to the mountains tomorrow --- we're going down around Saluda, along the Green River, which I don't really know at all. We haven't been to Saluda in a couple of years, at least --- maybe even three or four years. It's lovely out that way, near South Carolina, but deep in the mountains.
But today . . . I'm taking another person to an appointment, which will suck up a huge portion of the day. It's not a health appointment --- everyone is fine --- only a bureaucratic thing, and doesn't actually involve anyone in my family. I'm just the person's ride. I offered, but I'm not especially looking forward to having my day go down that black hole. Praying for patience and forbearance with this particular situation.
So as soon as I finish my coffee, I'll be getting dressed, taking the dog out, and then hitting the road to do all this business.
Oh, also, I have reposhed --- i.e., re-added to my sale closet on Poshmark --- my Ibex 100% merino grape tee. I have worn it a good bit, and the fabric is gorgeous, but the neckline just doesn't suit me that well, and I find that I don't reach for it much at all. I think one of my goals is going to be to cull out tops from my closet, because I just don't wear them. I wear dresses + skirts periodically, and there are a few shirts I wear with dresses, but I don't wear tees unless I make myself wear them. And with the exception of my rose-pink long-sleeve base-layer tee, which I do love, I really haven't liked cold-weather base-layer outfits much --- a dress over a tee. I think I'd rather wear sweaters over than tees under. So I'm going to do a bit of a clear-out, and maybe make back a little budget for when I'm ready to buy again (although honestly, I have just about enough sweaters . . .).
Wearing today:
For a fourth outing, here at the end of July: Miss Maggie B! Seen here worn loose --- because it's hot, people --- with my thrifted pale-blue linen big shirt as a top layer for air conditioned spaces. Thrifted Birk Balis.
I like this dress belted, and I had thought that maybe I'd tie the shirt over. In fact, I had bought this shirt with the idea that that's what I'd do with it. But what I've discovered is that that consistently feels sloppy to me --- too bunchy at the waist, too weird overall. Other people carry it off just fine, and in theory it's a look I love, but I have come to realize that it's not a look I love to wear.
That's something I could revise, of course, but for today, the loose shirt over the loose dress just works. The line of the shirt is fairly long. Its tail is really long --- I think it was meant to be a tunic, which maybe is one reason why it doesn't tie up so well. But it does create a nice cohesive line over something else. I could accentuate my waist with a belt, and that might look better, but I'm choosing air flow today over the accentuated waist.
I love the blue-on-blue tonal effect here. As I think I was saying yesterday, this is the kind of thing I want to go for in my fall and winter and spring outfits: tone on tone outfits, for the sake of cohesion. Everything doesn't have to match, and I do still like the whole contrasting-shoe business, but I think I will benefit by erring on the side of cohesion. I don't mind being eccentric, but I'm not sure I want to look eccentric.
This isn't eccentric? Right? I am continuing to enjoy my shorter hair, by the way. I washed it last night at bedtime and was able to diffuse it about halfway dry on a cool setting before I went to sleep. It was nice and wavy when I woke up this morning, though I did refresh with a bit of gel to keep it from totally collapsing in the heat.
So, gonna walk the dog, then gird myself for this task of the day. If you are a praying person, please pray for me. I'm sure it won't be as bad or hard as I think. It's just an emotional thing for the other person involved, and my own patience with others' emotional needs is feeling a little thin. I am really looking forward to the rejuvenation of a day in the mountains tomorrow --- it's way overdue!
In the meantime, onward.
MUCH LATER:
Appointment successfully concluded. Person involved very happy with outcome. Here's me after a long day of standing in a line outside in the heat, then waiting outside because the office was too crowded for anyone but the people directly involved with that office:
Same as this morning, but thoughtfully accessorized with belt bag, plus phone charger cord, because I didn't want to leave the charger in the car.
Maggies do look nice with belt packs, I have to say. So far, too, no signs of wear from wearing this one. I'd kind of like to acquire more of these in different colors, and maybe in softer fabrics --- they sure are handy. I love not carrying a whole purse if I don't have to.
Anyway, not an easy day, but a successful one. It's nice to be back home in the air conditioning with the husband and the dog and some peace and quiet.
Also, I have added my Poshmark closet to my sidebar. I am not a really determined or active seller, but I am trying to move some things along. There are items that won't appeal to my natural-fiber/wool-wearing friends, but then there are some items that might --- some cotton shirts, one wool tee (and maybe more to come), and cardigans that can fill gaps in a natural-fiber wardrobe while you wait for the budget for something a little better. Anyway, I'm in a phase of closet-culling --- maybe you'll see something you like! The Doc Martens are going up soon, for a pretty reduced price, because they do show signs of wear. Stay tuned!
(I don't really use this blog as an income stream and don't normally sell stuff via this blog, but you know . . . now you know that my Poshmark Closet is there. If you see something you like, great. If not, also great. No skin off my nose. That's not really what this blog is for.)
Also, at the close of the day, let me just sing the praises of the Maggie dress yet again. This is such a sweet, simple little dress, but such a workhorse. I had to stand outside, under the breezeway of a strip-mall kind of shopping center outside a bureaucratic office, for two hours in 94-degree heat with 93% humidity, and . . . I lived. It was hot, but my dress wicked sweat, breathed, and kept me about as comfortable as anything could have kept me. And I just felt cute, as they say: scoop neckline, swingy hem above the knee. I was appropriate for Mass first, then for this bureaucratic hanging-out that I had to do. This is a GREAT summer dress, and I'm happy to have two of them in my core wardrobe.