After yesterday's blithe sunshine, today is November-gray. Still warmish, though, as is so typical of our weather here. Right now I think it's about 50F outside --- maybe 55 by this time --- and going up to 70F, though it'll be raining at intervals.
We had a nice time out at the pub last night, having first picked up pizzas from the wood-fired place in town. They've still got their Oktoberfest on tap, and I consider it my bounden duty to drink it until it's gone. Not all of it, mind you. Just my modest share every week, as long as it lasts.
We came home fairly early, around 8:20, and walked the dog in the soft, cool darkness. It was chilly enough for coats, but not really cold. The house felt dank, however, so I popped a sweater on over my dress and really liked the colors together ---
I'm going to have fun with that Brooklyn, I can tell. Today I've resisted the temptation to put her on again, since I have one more class to teach, and she's kind of an attention-getting dress. Also, I have choices, and I want to avail myself of them. So, after a wash and nearly a week's rest, here's my 30-day teal Willow again:
I'm not sure I'm completely in love with this outfit, but it's fun and cheerful on a dreary-looking day. The cardigan is a very old one, thrifted I have no idea how many years ago, and redyed last year from dark brown to this cranberry red, which I love. I thought it would harmonize nicely with my teal dress. And then there are these tights, which I bought in a little haul last summer, when I was planning for fall and wanted to up my tights supply. They're a little brighter than I had thought they'd be --- I think they looked like more of a soft aqua on my screen when I was ordering. BUT you know, they're also fun with teal, and I imagine I'll wear them enough. I hadn't worn them yet, though, so today I made myself reach for them.
And then these shoes are another Poshmark purchase. They're Birkenstock Footprints Mary Janes, and look less Birkenstocky than I was thinking they would. I bought them mainly because they were insanely cheap for what have turned out to be virtually new shoes --- like under $50 cheap, which for Birkenstocks, especially in good condition, is nothing. Also, I have been trying to pay attention to my winter footwear, because I think that in the past that's where many of my cold-weather outfits have gone off the rails. Summer is easy: just add sandals. But in the winter, depending on what you like to wear, but also on what the weather is doing, making an outfit becomes a little trickier, especially when you get to your feet.
Now, for winter, I have two pairs of boots (Tari Chelsea-style boots + mid-calf gray suede boots), plus my Birk Papillio wedges, which are really year-round shoes but work for fall and winter. I also have my red Xero Cassie shoes, which are okay for cooler weather but really kind of lightweight for winter. Your feet get cold and wet in those shoes, as I can report. And I have my purple suede Rosemead clogs, again a year-round kind of shoe, but open at the heel and not great in wet weather. So I was vaguely in the market for one more pair of shoes that would be something midway between a boot and a sandal, a little more closed than either my wedges or my suede clogs, and a little more impervious to weather. I also thought a darker brown would be nice, since I have tan shoes and dark gray boots.
With all that vaguely in mind, I was surfing around on Poshmark, as one does, and I found these. Again, they were startlingly cheap and have turned out to be more or less unworn. The leather needs some breaking in, but they are quite sturdy (they look sturdy, too). They sort of remind me of school shoes my daughter had in England in the early 2000s --- I actually had a similar pair of black Ecco Mary Janes which I bought for the first dinner in hall that I attended in my husband's college, wore constantly the entire four years we lived there, and still miss. They were truly fantastic shoes, and I regret passing them along when I did.
Anyway, these have the kind of little-schoolgirl/academic-nerd vibe that I like in a fall and winter shoe, and they're a little more protective than my Papillio wedges, for church or whatever in inclement weather when for some reason I don't want to wear boots. They're more polished than my Tari boots for sure, and they make for a nice darker contrast that isn't as stark as black.
So. Those are my shoes.
One more class to teach today! Then I'm done with that kind of thing until sometime in the spring. The whole course is ready to go live with homework packets and a final quiz, and I'm feeling great relief at finishing it off. My Sun essays for the next week are done, too. That leaves, for the day's tasks, some cleaning and laundry, plus groceries, as the college folk will be landing on us tomorrow night and will no doubt be hungry.
So, um, I think I'm going to go do all that stuff.
AFTERNOON UPDATE:
Last class: DONE.
Various other tasks: also DONE.
Celebratory selfies on the front porch --- same outfit as this morning, but I changed into my Birk Madeiras, because the Mary Janes are still in the process of being broken in.
Goofy poses, but I do love these colors.