They have arrived, and here they will sojourn until Candlemas. The star is shining in its place ---
--- in a wishful-thinking heaven of snow. Here it's just raining, really filthy cold weather with no particular beauty, except the beauty of sitting inside looking out at it. I was going to take the Christmas tree down today, but I might let it wait until tomorrow.
The husband rolled in around 11 p.m., and we sat up for a good while talking and drinking wine. For all that, I slept pretty well and have arisen in a spirit of resolution to Get Things Done.
On today:
*wet dog walk
*Substack editorial meeting
*work on an essay
*peck at this fiction project I'm trying to push forward
*read through music for tonight's practice
*conjure something for dinner
Wearing:
*Wool& Maggie (S/Long) in Aegean Teal, bought May 2023, last worn yesterday. Wears in 2025: 2
*Devold base-layer tee, bought summer 2024 in Norway. Last worn a long time ago --- I'm being purposeful about wearing these base layers, since I have them (and the weather calls for them anyway). This was a small men's tee whose neckline and sleeves I cut when I got home from Norway, to feminize it a bit. I do like it and should really wear it more often.
*Secondhand Connemara merino cardigan, bought fall 2024, last worn yesterday, first season of wear.
*Snag merino tights in Storm Cloud, bought spring 2022, third season of wear.
*Secondhand Keens Baby Bern boots, bought December 2024, first season of wear.
What was that they said? Outfit repeating in for 2025? Of course this isn't a full outfit repeat from yesterday, but I've definitely brought forward a couple of key elements: my dress, which I wore yesterday as a thermal layer under my linen dress, plus my cardigan, which is new to me this season (therefore I'm trying to wear it a lot, to drive down the cost-per-wear, even though I'm not tracking it closely). I often overlook this simple, versatile dress, even though in fact I love the color and fit. I resold my original Maggie dress, which as a Medium was too big for me --- as I gradually drop inches and pounds, this Small Maggie, which was a little small to begin with, fits me better. While it's still definitely a swing dress, and a forgiving silhouette after holiday excesses, it's not so much fabric that it swamps me or looks shapeless.
MUCH MUCH LATER:
Well, one 3-hour Substack meeting and one tree takedown later, I realize that I still haven't posted today's installment. I have also changed clothes --- taking the tree down, I got pine sap on my dress, so now I have to look up how to get it off.
NOW wearing:
It's pretty much the same outfit. I just swapped out my Maggie dress for my Ocean Teal Willow (M/Long), bought October 2023 for a 30-day challenge, worn 22 times in 2024. First wear in 2025.
Pretty wiped out after a long talky meeting --- mind you, we talk about a lot that has nothing to do with the Substack, but we did hammer out a schedule through the end of February.
Now I had better plan dinner, because I need to leave the house around 6:30 for choir practice.
Onward.
PS: The word on the street for removing pine sap from clothing is rubbing alcohol. I poured some on the sap spots and rubbed with a clean cloth until (seemingly) the sticky residue was gone. I then treated the spots with Grandma's Secret and washed in cold water with Dr. Bronner's, which is now my go-to for all washing and cleaning around the house (yes, even in the washing machine). Well, I do still use blue Dawn dish soap (or the Walmart knockoff thereof) for hand-washing dishes, but Dr. Bronner's for hand soap, body wash, bathtub-scrubbing and other cleaning where I need a surfactant, and all hand-washed clothes.
People also say that rubbing a pine-sap spot with an ice cube works to take up the gummy residue.