Facade, Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians, Belmont Abbey.
Today:
The sky looks cloudy out there right now, but I think it's going to be a pleasant day, with a high of 62F. We might have some scattered rain, which is always welcome.
I don't have much on: household tasks, plus reading over my editor's notes on the short-story collection, which came back yesterday. I should really print out these Christmas cards, too, and do something about sending them. That would be a good work for the day. My husband is going hunting for a Christmas tree, then doing some end-of-term grading.
Wearing for a fairly lazy Saturday:
*Wool& Brooklyn dress (small long) in Pacific
*Old thrifted Eddie Bauer cotton cardigan
*Thrifted Icebreaker base-layer long-sleeved tee, cut off to crop length by me (so it fits more nicely under this dress, for one thing)
*Thrifted Allbirds merino-blend leggings
*Darn Tough Socks (not seen, but there)
*Xero Tari boots, bought last year
Wet-refreshed hair, which I'm letting air-dry for now.
The weather still looks gray outside, so it'll probably feel a good bit chillier than it actually is. My layers are all quite lightweight, but I feel nice and warm and comfortable here in the house, and with a jacket I'll be fine outdoors.
This is another good versatile dress --- wonderful just as she comes in the summertime with a pair of sandals, but plenty wearable in the winter, too. I did get the bodice a bit more sorted out after taking these photos --- pulled the waist down some to give it room to straighten out.
This deep, saturated color is one of my favorites in the Wool& range: a beautiful blue-green that I think would honestly work well for just about any coloring. Greens can be tricky for me, but this one makes me feel all lit up.
It pairs nicely with these pinky purples, or purply pinks, too. I love this cotton cardigan, which has held its shape through many wears over the years --- unusually for a cotton cardigan, in my experience. They so often go shapeless over time, but for some reason this one hasn't. I've mended it multiple times, too, stitching the little ruffled edge back onto the neck at the back and closing holes in the ribbon bias tape the buttons are set into. It's been worn hard, this cardigan that I bought off the 4-for-$1 rack at the Good Neighbor Shop so long ago, and I'm proud of myself for keeping it going. I do love the cable knit and the little ruffled trim around the edges, which make it feel feminine and special. Close up, it looks very similar in color to my "dusty rose" tee --- from a distance the colors don't look quite like such a match. Funny how that works.
Anyway, I'm ready to do whatever.
LUNCHTIME UPDATE:
Welp, so far . . .
*I've bought two more Christmas gifts (vintage Pendleton wool shirts for both sons)
*Written a few more sentences of my novel
*Walked the dog in the rain
*Taken down my Not Perfect Linen listing in my Poshmark closet. I've decided to keep the dress, since I have it, and get the bodice altered --- just have the shoulders raised, basically. I might actually redye it, too, having just watched a video about redyeing a NPL dress. I think I'd wait on that, but it does occur to me that I could have, hanging in my closet right now, the linen dress of my dreams --- with only a few tweaks necessary to make it that dress. I really do like the style, and will like it better once the bodice fits me correctly. For what I paid for it, even with alterations this dress will have cost me far, far less than another dress would cost, even secondhand. So this seemed like a good move. I've just found that the longer it hangs in my closet, the more I like it and want to keep it and put the effort into making it fit me well. I could opt to keep it the color it is, because it's not a bad color for me, but I'm going to hold in mind the idea of redyeing it, to make it more the spring/summer dress I really want to wear.
AFTERNOON:
It's raining, raining, raining. Dora is asleep beside me on the couch with her head in my lap. I did print out a number of Christmas cards, which I now need to fold and sign, but . . . they're in the kitchen, and I'm in the study being a dog pillow, so I guess that's not actually happening.
Vegetable beef soup in the crockpot --- our friends last weekend brought us some baguettes, which I stowed in the freezer, but I think I'll get one out to accompany this soup for tonight.