My friend S, who's coming with her husband to spend the weekend with us, is the person who got me involved with this little conference last spring. So in her honor, I'm drinking out of my Arts Moot mug today (and maybe when I've washed it it'll be her mug while she's here).
So far today I've cleaned the downstairs bathroom, and am waiting for the husband to perform his ablutions so that I can clean the upstairs one. My plan is to do that, then bathe and dress and dry my hair and get on with it, "it" meaning: walk the dog, vacuum the house, find some books to put by the guest bedside, etc. I think I'll also go ahead and put out Advent candles.
I've also just ordered chocolate coins for the college kids for St. Nicholas day, since that's almost upon us. AND I've bought two Christmas gifts for my husband, plus one more gift for another person, so . . . that's something. I could spend some more time today on gifts, as for once, after the craziest autumn in years, I don't have any work hanging over my head needing to be done at the weekend.
It's foggy and cool out today, but not really cold. I think I shall wear a wool dress that I didn't wear much in November, and with which I need to rekindle my love affair (which is real):
*Wool& Audrey dress (small) in black heather
*Thrifted Icebreaker merino base-layer tee in dusty rose (cropped by me to reduce bulk over and under clothes)
*Very old silk scarf given to me by my mother (I don't wear this scarf often, and I really should, because it's beautiful. Another score in the "make yourself wear something different" department)
*Snag merino tights in Silver Lining, cut off by me to be footless after the feet wore out
*Darn Tough socks
*Xero Tari boots
What with the 30-day dress challenge I did in October and November, and then one thing and another, Audrey didn't get worn much last month. It was high time to pull her out of the closet, thought I. I think I must have washed her after the last wear, because she feels a little snug today, but she will relax soon enough.
With the Aran cardigan, which I think adds a pleasant play of texture in basically the same color as my dress:
Meanwhile, I continue to be glad that I bought these Tari boots last year. I got them on sale for a substantial discount, like at least half-price, and I have worn them so much. I haven't been tracking wears since I bought them, but given how many days I wore them last winter and early spring, and then how many days I've worn them already this autumn, I figure that my cost-per-wear is miniscule by now. I need to clean and condition them, but they have held up so well and been so versatile --- one of my best purchases of the last couple of years for sure.
One thing that's nice, actually --- as I've just been reflecting --- is having enough clothes in my closet that something can go unworn a little and then be rediscovered. I don't have so much that anything's in danger of getting lost in there, but enough that I can go through trends (see "Linen Pinafores, Last Week of November 2023," for example), then cycle back to something I like but have let rest.
Here is the current state of the closet:
This, for me, is unbelievable neatness, as in I would never have believed that I could keep my closet this tidy. Clothes are hung in an organized fashion. Shoes are lined up, not all jumbled together. Backpack and other bags are to the right. The only things I own that I can't readily see at a glance are the two evening dresses that I keep because you never know when you're going to need something like that. But then, I know they're there, and I don't need to see them every day, because I'm not wearing them on anything like an everyday basis. It's enough for me to know they're there (and they're not hard to see, so I'm not likely to forget about them altogether).
Even with the introduction of some new colors, the palette still pleases me. A couple of hits of brightness --- red skirt, magenta dress folded on the hanging shelf --- but overall the collection coheres well enough. Plenty of outfit ideas, just waiting for me to pick one.
And sweaters:
These stacks could be tidier, but I can't reach that shelf all that well. At least everything is folded, and again, I can see every single item I own. I'm wearing the Aran hoodie cardigan, but otherwise this is my entire collection. Pullovers to the left, cardigans in stacks to the right. Again, PLENTY of outfit ideas. At some point I really, really, REALLY do want a rose-pink cardigan, but I haven't found it yet, and right now I'm just not looking.
Now that I'm all clean and dressed, I should take the dog out, then finish my housework.
LUNCHTIME UPDATE:
Dora and I have walked, in time for the rain to come down. I've done my vacuuming, put in a load of laundry, and folded another --- now I'm eating my (endless) turkey soup and feeling warm and cozy. It's not that cold out, but very dreary and misty.
Actually I like this kind of weather, and it was pleasant to walk in earlier, but it's also nice to be inside looking out at it. All I have left to do in the way of chores is clean the stovetop, put in the pot roast for the evening, and change the sheets on our bed. Then I will have NOTHING hanging over me: no deadlines, no urgent tasks. God willing, I will let my hair down and put my feet up and give thanks.
EVENING UPDATE:
Waiting for our guests to arrive, but everything is pretty much done. I hope and pray that the pot roast is fork tender . . . I tend to make great meals until we have company, and then everything goes off the rails, so I'm anxious.
Contemplating the closet shots above --- thinking about how virtually everything you can see in those photos of my closet, with the exception of my Wool& dresses and my tights, plus maybe three pairs of shoes, is secondhand. Other things were gifts to me (scarves, chiefly). That's one thing that makes me happy --- not that there aren't impulse buys represented here, because there are, but they weren't fast fashion. It's been about three years since I last bought something off the rack in a store. And while . . . I don't know, this seems like virtue signaling, which I guess it is, but on the other hand, it's so readily within my power to make decisions about my clothes that are informed by Catholic social teaching, teaching on the environment, etc.
There's so much in this world that I'm powerless to change, and I honestly don't know how much I'm changing by these decisions. The thing to which I most have to reconcile myself, after all, is my own smallness and impotence in the world --- and to the fact that Christ is holding it all together in Himself. But these are things that I can do, little as they are. I can't insist that someone else do them, because I am not walking in someone else's shoes. But I can walk in my own shoes this way. It's kind of interesting to look at my closet and see that I've been doing that for a while, and be happy about it (and also contemplate that I've managed to acquire the nicest clothes I've ever owned, so there goes whatever sense of virtuous sacrifice I might have nursed for a minute and a half . . .). Anyway. The kitchen smells good, and my life is a gift, and that's what I'm thinking about.