A grand day out. A Last Hurrah. It was golden.
We had such a good time. Dora behaved herself, mostly, barking at an off-leash golden retriever ("She's friendly!") and a couple of chiweenies that had made it to the summit, but otherwise just hauling me up and down the trail in her usual headlong fashion. Lots of mother-daughter conversation. The Artgirl proclaimed Table Rock summit her new favorite place in the world.
We were on the trail and at the summit for a couple of hours. After the hike, we drove back out of the wilderness and up the Parkway to Blowing Rock for an early dinner and a walk through some gardens and around the lake. Then home.
When I got home, I found that a closet organizer item I'd ordered had arrived.
Behold my new dress-storage method. This way they don't hang by the arms, and I don't have to clip them on clip hangers. I could actually store all my dresses in one compartment of this hanger, leaving the others free for tees and leggings, a thing I might contemplate doing. I hung my three skirts on the multi-clip hanger to the left of the organizer, which I like. But if the whole closet could be less crowded, with more clothes readily visible and knits stored in a way other than by hanging them, that would be good, I think. It's a small closet, and it does start to feel crowded, even with not much in it. And I don't want items pushed to the sides and out of sight, unless they're things I really don't need to think about on a regular basis (see Mother of the Bride Dress).
Yeah, why not? She's so easy. And I'm loving the Birk Rosemeads these days as an alternative to sandals. They too are easy. Purple: not just for Advent and Lent anymore! I enjoy the tonal layering here, where my dress and shoes don't match, but definitely speak to each other on cordial terms.
Wet hair, because of course. I did take a good bit of drip out by squeezing it in a bamboo dress (they're good for hair care; who knew?), then diffusing on cool for a few minutes to hasten its drying.
I also took a minute to fiddle with my closet arrangements, moving all my dresses to the top compartment of my new hanging shelves, putting tees and leggings on the second shelf, and tights on the bottom. Then I could move my socks to the old tights/leggings bin under my bed, leaving more room in the underwear/pajamas bin . . . I think it all works better.
The shelves look maybe a little less tidy with more things in them, but they're not actually untidy, and I can see more of what I have. It's actually nice to be able to run my eye from top to bottom, to see what colors stand out to me as wanting to be together. My shoes and boots could stand sorting out, but I'll get to that eventually.
Whole wardrobe, minus underwear and socks, concentrated in one location and relatively visible:
On the whole, I like this arrangement much better. The thing about a narrow closet is that the field of vision is even narrower than the closet itself, because the closet is wider than its doorway. In a walk-in closet you can, as the name suggests, walk in and see what you have. Of course, the one time in my life I had a walk-in closet, what I saw was all the accumlated mess that didn't fit anywhere else in our apartment, and that was a drag. I like having a smaller closet, though I wish things didn't get pushed into corners and hidden from my view. I have been considering, though, how much I'd really rather have an English wardrobe than a built-in closet, because then you have more room-arrangement flexibility, but in the U.S., it's not a bedroom unless it has a closet, so here we are.
Talked to my mother-in-law, who looks forward to seeing the college travelers when they pass through town this Saturday, and now it's time to take Dora for an abbreviated walk, after our exertions of yesterday.
AFTERNOON UPDATE:
Finished one (of six) power-point presentations for my poetry course.
Did 40 standing crunches (20 each side), plus a very short couple of planks, to add to the 2.27 (nice flat) miles I walked with Dora this morning. I hate planks, but every once in a while I think I should try them again. I will do some arm reps, either with weights or with the stretch band, in a little while.
Cleaned my closet some more, culling my shoes --- sent two older pairs of (non-leather, not-great-for-walking) boots to Goodwill with my two big bags of stuff from the outbox. Now, again, it's easier to see (and therefore wear) what I have.
I want, for example, to remember to wear these fun little Crocs that I bought on Ebay several years ago:
I go ages without wearing them, but honestly, I like them a lot.
They're great transitional-weather shoes, and good in the winter, too, with warm tights. The only negative is that your feet can get a little sweaty, and if it's cold, start to feel clammy. But they're fun, and I want to make more of a point of wearing them. Like if I start to ask myself (and I have), Don't I need some blue Mary Janes? --- I know what the answer is. NO. I have some, thank you.