It's good to be reunited with my beloved office-window view. Rolled in around 7:15 last night, was fed copiously by the husband, who had been to pick up takeout from the wine bar and beer from the pub. Was jumped on by Dora, with whom I had a nice walk in the dark last night before bed. Have slept (happily in my own bed) and arisen refreshed, though still a bit drained from the long drive yesterday.
The Artgirl and her friend, driving from San Diego to Dallas, broke down somewhere in eastern New Mexico, as I learned when she messaged from Amarillo, where they had had the car towed. The friend's car needs a whole new engine, apparently. Somehow they managed to rent a car --- I don't know who rents cars to 21-year-olds, but maybe their guardian angels run a rental-car service --- and made it to Dallas around midnight, thank heaven.
Today: Mass, unpacking, some washing, dog-walking, and lying around. I had a good night's sleep but feel depleted from this quick jaunt. Going to drink this coffee I've just poured, take a bath to try to rejuvenate myself, and then get dressed.
According to the weather forecast, this week will be much hotter than last week. We won't have triple digits, as Memphis is set to have, but a high of 95F on Thursday is pretty . . . dismal, frankly.
Today's projected high is 88F. Not so bad, and the morning feels fresh and cool right now, but already I'm missing last week's false autumn. And I'm just generally tired and drained, not wanting to go anywhere.
But we soldier on.
Wearing today:
*Secondhand Not Perfect Linen Leila dress (M/L) in Chocolate Brown, bought December 2023, last worn August 9
*Very old Jones New York rayon cardigan, bought in 2005-06. Last worn August 11
*Secondhand Kalso Earth Shoes Mary Janes, bought August 2024, last worn August 21
It's too warm for the cashmere cardigan I had intended to wear, and I wasn't feeling the whimsy of the floral Mary Janes, but the basic dress is what I had planned for today. This outfit, light as it is (though the rayon cardigan doesn't breathe much!), seems to signal summer-into-fall: a lot of soft browns, with the sky-blue of the cardigan. Closed-toe shoes instead of sandals. Of course, we still have a couple of weeks until Labor Day, when the clothing rules used to change (no white after Labor Day!), but school is back in session, and even with the warming trend, I'm not quite feeling full-on summer anymore.
As for the coming week . . .
I have a lot on, including two choir practices for next Saturday's Eucharistic Congress.
Tentative outfit plan:
*Eucharistic Congress (which will also cover my Sunday obligation for next week): black Eileen Fisher linen dress and black Loft cardigan ---
basically Friday's funeral outfit --- for concert wear. During the day, I might wear my silk-cotton Trades of Hope kimono and keep my black cardigan in my purse to slip on for choir.
Otherwise:
*NPL Smock dress with Birks, cardigan if I go to Mass or wear it to meet the friend whose coffee date I had to cancel last week because of the funeral
*Pink Eileen Fisher merino tank with Garnet Hill maxi dress and Birks, again with a cardigan if I'm going anywhere air conditioned or where I'd need to cover my shoulders
*J.Jill pink ramie pullover with purple Flax linen skirt and Birks (if the shapes fit --- I keep kind of striking out with that A-line skirt and things I propose to wear with it)
*Pink linen trousers with button shirt and Birks (or maybe floral Mary Janes, if I feel adventurous)
*Wool& Wisteria Willow and Birks
*Wool& Beetroot Brooklyn and Birks
I reserve the right, as always, to amend this plan. Feeling so blah at the moment that nothing really appeals to me all that much --- but then that's when it's nice to know that I have a closet full of clothes that I don't actually have to think about that much. I can put something on, and it will be okay.
Time to walk the dog now.
BEDTIME UPDATE:
Well, we realized this evening that we have double-booked ourselves for the coming weekend, which IS Labor Day weekend after all. So I have signed out of choir, and we're honoring our friends' generous invitation to spend the weekend with them at their beach house. This feels like the right thing to do, but I'm bummed to miss the Eucharistic Congress.
At any rate . . . I'm kind of over my initial surge of feeling about that, and it will be fun to see our friends, who have been looking for a good time to have us at their house on the coast. AND it means I get to put together another travel capsule, AND wear a bathing suit, which I haven't done in two years. So I think I'll get over not singing, though I was very much looking forward to it.
Waiting for my bedtime tea (Tulsi Rose --- I'm not sure what tulsi is, but this tea tastes like roses and is very nice). Then to sleep.
