One of the little school chairs my mother bought somewhere and gave us, something on the order of twenty years ago, so that we'd have something to sit on at the table. A few of these have fallen apart, but by and large they've been the sturdiest, best chairs we've owned --- as a family whose portfolio of accomplishments includes the inadvertent destruction of many, many chairs. I don't know what it is about us. We're not that heavy. Yet our kitchen chairs fall to pieces, all except these champions, which of course schools were discarding in favor of those plastic chairs with the desk affixed to the side.
I didn't take any photos of our walk along the river yesterday afternoon, but it was lovely --- a little warm still under the trees, but not at all unpleasant. I still wore the Brooklyn dress I'd worn to church, just changing my shoes for a pair of Xero Oswegos to walk in. I did snap this photo quickly during a break in my dinner prep:
Today the agenda is to get myself ready to hit the road tomorrow. I think I'll go ahead and wash all the dresses I'm going to take --- I washed Brooklyn when she came off my body last night, but I need to decide which other dresses are going with me, then make sure they get their refresher wash before I pack them in the morning. I might just do them all in the washing machine this time, to save time, then dry them on the rack.
Otherwise, of course I have writing to do --- knock out a Sun essay, try to generate another paragraph about Sonnez Les Matines. And the dog to walk. I also need to message our dog-sitter/walker, to see if she can come and let Dora out and walk her during some of my husband's long work days while I'm gone. All these things I leave till the last minute . . .
But I'm looking forward to being on the road tomorrow. The weather's beautiful here, and Marly says it's been lovely in the mountains. I'll take whatever scenic route my GPS decides to give me and let myself meander on the way.
Wearing today, while literally everything else I own is laundering:
Dressed down in Maggie T-for-Aegean-Teal, out for a fourth September wear, with the Xero Oswegos I wore to hike yesterday. These are such a nice transitional-weather shoe --- a change from sandals, lightweight and good to walk in. I plan to pack them for my trip, if not actually to wear them tomorrow.
For this trip I think I'm going to take basically all my dresses, because there's no good reason not to. I can pack my shoes in a separate bag to throw in the car. I'm not going to need much in the way of layers, except in the mountains, for which I will take a pair of leggings and my green pullover from the Norway trip, since it goes with literally every dress I own. I'll probably also take the aqua alpaca cardigan, which Marly talked me into buying almost exactly a year ago, and which provides a nice lightweight layer in all but the very warmest weather. And I'll throw in the cobalt merino cardigan, because it looks nice with many of these dresses, and I could wear it to the wedding with a pretty brooch to look dressed up.
I'm thinking I'll likely wear Brooklyn for the wedding next Sunday. It's not a church wedding, so I probably won't bother with a crop top under --- just wear it with a bralette and be festive, with either the long navy cardigan I wore over it for Mass yesterday, or else my dyed blue wool scarf for a shawl. Probably I'll wear Audrey to the symphony with my mother on Saturday night, and maybe again to church in the morning --- but I'll have at least one Maggie to choose from as well. And Fiona. I'll just cycle through them the way I do at home, and all shall be well.
For shoes (again, I'm driving, so I don't have to pack light): my Papillio wedges, Birk Balis, Xero Oswegos, and hiking boots for the mountains. I think that's really all I'll need. The Papillios are my dressy shoes, and everything else is just a variety of something to stand up and walk in.
I'll take my long silver necklace and some blingy brooches for dressiness. And I think I'll be good to go. It's a bigger travel capsule than I normally take, but I just don't feel like making decisions right now. Taking my whole core wardrobe is still packing light, and all I'll have to do on the road is decide which dress to put on --- the same decision I'd have been making in any case.
Meanwhile, for today, I'll enjoy my easy teal dress. Time to go switch over the first of many loads of laundry before I leave.
BEDTIME UPDATE:
Dresses all washed and hanging on the rack, to pack tomorrow. I might just put on my teal Maggie again --- this outfit today has felt really nice. OR I might not. Stay tuned!
Got another essay written today, and some research, but not that much else. Well, a good stretch of the new (fingers crossed) novel. I did do that. Hoping I can keep the momentum going . . . the scenes I'd written before aren't all necessarily making it into this new run at things, but I'm glad I wrote them as notes/backstory for myself.
Walked the dog in the dark with my husband, prayed the rosary, and am just winding down before bed. I'll leave mid-morning tomorrow and take my time going, to enjoy the beauty along the way.