Yesterday afternoon: sunroom window with bottles and Jerusalem artichokes.
I'm up at the first dark glimmer of daylight, to have time to drink coffee before I leave for Mass. Stepped outside the back door, into the cool, to snap this shot of a red sunrise through the backyard trees:
It's cool enough at the moment that I'm going to want a cardigan, and not just for the air conditioning in the church. High today is 79F; it's 57F right now, quite fresh and pleasant but not really warm yet. The day is supposed to be overcast, so it won't feel as hot as yesterday did --- I took off my cardigan and tied it around my waist on our first dog walk, and then I didn't put it on again until dinnertime. Today I might want a little more warmth all day.
Tomorrow we're supposed to have thunderstorms. Not sure why --- I don't think we're meant to be getting any of the hurricane system currently moving up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico, but maybe its edge is going to touch us. At any rate, there's rain in the forecast for the next few days, which would be good news. After a drenching in August, we're having a much dryer September. The grass is turning brown. It would be nice to experience a little mist to go with our mellow fruitfulness.
Wearing:
*Wool& Audrey dress (S) in Black Heather, bought November 2022, last worn September 4. Total wears this year: 22
*Secondhand Peruvian Connection alpaca cardigan, bought September 2022, last worn September 7.
*Secondhand Birkenstock Mayaris, bought in April, last worn yesterday, my summer default shoe
This isn't an especially sharp or interesting outfit, but it is simple and comfortable. I'd had this dress on my list with a button shirt, and I might well change to that later, but for now the cardigan is perfect.
Day 3 hair worn down. I was surprised by how nice it looked this morning, after two days worn up. My layers actually fell together decently --- they're at a weird point of growing out right now. This is my winter hair, much straighter and less voluminous than my summer waves, with just a little subtle wave at the ends. And it's okay. I'm glad the layers are grown out enough that I can tuck it behind my ears without a weird shape.
And now I had better brush my teeth and make ready to leave to Mass. I do love the early-morning Masses --- into the dim church, where nobody is awake enough to notice anybody else, and out again before the hour is over. It's perfect. And I'm off to do it.
LATER:
*Went to Mass
*Walked the dog
*Ate some scrambled eggs with goat cheese and spinach
And now it's time for another episode of . . .
Rules?
What rules?
So . . . you probably know what this is about.
I have no regrets. I purchased this secondhand NPL Smock dress with some interesting modifications: a v-neck instead of a high scoop-neck (though I love my other Smock dress with the standard neckline) and back ties, which I wasn't sure about . . . but I love them.
This purple is a little darker than my silk dress, though you'd have to see them side-by-side really to know that. I was wanting a more everyday dress in purple, because as much as I love that silk one, I'm not walking the dog in the rain while wearing it. That dress is for Mass, date nights, special occasions, and events.
But this one? I could wear it every day. I'd been eyeing it, and I'm glad I bought it. The price was right --- on the low end for an NPL dress in seemingly perfect condition. I knew it wouldn't be hanging out for long.
And really . . . I like my skirts, but dresses are so much easier. I was looking around for things that weren't dresses to plan to buy, and then I thought: This is stupid. You made the no-dresses rule. You can un-make it. So I did.
I am thinking that I'm going to add my off-white linen skirt to the pass-along bag for my next trip to Texas. I really like that skirt, but it was on my list for this week, and I've been actively avoiding wearing it. That tells me something. So for one thing in, that'll be another thing out.
Actually, that'll be a second thing out. My Marine Blue Wool& Maggie is off to her new home, where I hope both she and her new person will be happy.
BUT I have one more thing incoming (yeah yeah, I have given up even thinking the words no buy). This second thing breaks the nothing-new rule I've abided by so nicely all year --- but it's a thing that's being discontinued, so if I wanted it, and I've actually been talking about wanting this item for a long time, I had to act.
You probably know what it is, but on the off-chance that you don't, I'll just show it to you when it arrives.
All of this does make me mull my plans for next year. Ideally I'd just wear my clothes and not want anything else, but I think we all know how that goes. But I could set some number limits, maybe. One item a month? Two items a season? And maybe a limit of two new items, which seems easy to me, really.
Anyway, my first thought was to keep this dress under the radar --- not wear it until Advent, maybe. At the very least, not bring it out until October, since I'd said I wasn't buying anything this month.
But then that seemed kind of dishonest and also like a signal to myself that I should be ashamed of having bought something. And I'm really not. So here we are.
She also looks very nice with my green blazer, and is going on my literary travels with me:
I mean, not with Birkenstocks. But you get the idea.