Extremely broken, much dropped Our Lady of Mount Carmel, propped in standing position by window latch. It's bright out, as you can see, but still fairly chilly. The high today is supposed to be 64F, which should be quite pleasant if the wind ever dies down. I'm also supposed to be going to an outdoor baby shower in a park shelter by the Catawba River, which is sounding chillier than I had hoped, but that's why I have a coat, I guess.
Saturday agenda:
*proofread
*lift some weights
*hit the store for some groceries and gift cards --- this baby shower is for three sisters, all of whom are due in May and June, and only one of whose baby is a first. I've left gift-buying late, so I think I'm just going to do a nice card for each, with a gift card to get something she actually wants or needs, for the baby or for herself.
*attend this baby shower
*meet the husband at the Abbey, where he'll be all day, to go out for fish tacos after the shower
Wearing:
*Wool& Fiona dress (M) in Teal, bought November 2022
*Secondhand Allbirds slate-blue tencel-merino leggings, bought January 2024 (they look navy in this photo, but these are the slate-blue ones instead)
*Secondhand Pure teal cashmere cardigan, bought February 2024
*Secondhand Birkenstock Mayari sandals, bought April 2024 --- just arrived today, and my feet are cold, but I love them
I don't just adore this outfit, but it'll do, and I'll probably keep it on all day. I can always unbutton my cardigan, or take it off, if I get hot, but going out with the dog a little while ago, especially with wet hair, I was decidedly not hot. I also do love the colors.
Continuing to wear my way around my closet --- it's been a couple of weeks, at least, since I last wore this dress, even though it's very much a staple. As I've been adding things to the closet (these Birkenstocks, the Flax tunic I wore yesterday, etc), I'm also judiciously looking for things to weed out, especially among my shirts. There are a few things I love, at least in principle, but have. not. worn:
* a J.Jill flowy top my mother bought me a few years ago (lovely, but it's a heavy cotton knit, so either too warm or not warm enough, depending on the weather
* a chambray band-collar shirt I've worn a lot as a "shacket" --- but haven't worn in a good while.
* a cotton band-collared tucked-front tuxedo-style shirt in a beautiful duck-egg blue --- this has been in and out of my Poshmark closet, and I keep thinking I'm going to wear it, because it is beautiful, but in fact I have not been wearing it
These are my top question-mark pieces at the moment. One was bought for me, and the other two came from Goodwill to begin with, so I'm less attached to the idea of reselling them than I might otherwise be. I do have a donation bag going, and I might just put them in. As much as I like having tops to wear with skirts, there are tops that I like more and do actually wear:
* yesterday's Flax tunic
* my periwinkle-blue Flax tunic bought sometime around the new year
* my very old thrifted blue Indian gauze tunic --- I've had that for at least ten years and will probably never get rid of it
* the three regular button shirts I have: redyed evening-blue linen, purple linen, green lyocell
* pink merino Eileen Fisher tank
* teal merino-cashmere-silk tank
For the number of skirts and pinafores I have, this seems like an adequate number of shirts/tops, especially given how often I wear dresses instead of skirts or pinafores. I like having the variety, but it starts to feel like too much, and I'm going to give some energy and attention to a careful cull and refocus, even as I add new pieces. I am liking having a little more --- I never set out to be a minimalist and am not going to start now --- but there is a line between enough and too much, in terms of my own overwhelm. And there's no point in owning things I really don't wear, aside from a few special pieces that I don't have occasion to wear often, but am glad to have when I need something out of the ordinary.
Anyway, I'm not donation-bagging the aforementioned question-mark items today, but I do have them on my mental list to try to wear --- and if it feels too hard to try to wear them, to pay attention to that and donation-bag them.
But in the meantime, I have proofreading to do.