FRIDAY, EASTER 5

 
The magic hour: our screen-porch door yesterday evening as the sun was going down, with forsythia shadows. 

We had a lovely night out last night in the pub. It was early --- we arrived and left before the Thursday-night trivia crowd turned up --- and quiet, and the food truck hadn't gotten busy yet. The food-truck guy and his crew were eating dinner at the bar, in fact, when we got there, but he took our order, went out and produced it, and brought it in to us . . . and eventually wandered back in to be paid, because I guess things were slow out there. He's a very nice guy, and I'm glad he's the permanent food truck. Their menu is fairly varied, with a lot of burger options (including vegetarian), plus nachos and things like yucca fries and grilled pineapple, and they have good specials --- the grilled chicken salad I had last night was delicious and substantial. After many food-truck no-shows, I'm glad the pub people have somebody settled in to be more or less a permanent kitchen. Anyway, it was a nice pub outing. 

I did end up wearing my Fiona dress and was glad I did. The evening cooled off a good bit, and when I went out to walk Dora one last time before bed, I actually had to button up my jean jacket: 

Felt cute, etc. I've had this jacket, bought in the thrift shop down the street, for a number of years --- I forget when I bought it. I don't think I've had it quite ten years, but then time does move faster than I think it's moving, so maybe? I didn't wear it that much for a long time, thinking it was stiff and uncomfortable. Then . . . I actually made a point of wearing it and realized I'd been wrong. I love it. It does mostly get worn for pub nights, but that's all right. Before the weather gets too warm, I should make an effort to pair it with more dresses, and then remember that when the fall comes around again. 

Here I love the structure of the jacket with my fluid (but not shapeless) Fiona dress. 

Today's agenda: 

*walk the dog in the sunshine

*take it a little easy, but also get essays done for next week

*order some groceries

*sit outside

*read the book I'm reviewing

*read Mapp and Lucia for fun

*make dinner

The weather is cooler today by about five degrees, and chillier at night. Highs for the next week will be largely in the mid-70s, rather than the mid-80s, a pleasant respite before the heat turns itself up and stays that way. 

Wearing: 

*Secondhand Wool& Sierra dress (S) in Washed Navy, bought November 2024, last worn April 26. Wears in 2025: 10 (including as an under-layer with linen dresses in the winter)

*Secondhand Pure cashmere cardigan, year 2 of wear

*Xero Jessie sandals, year 3 of wear

I've been wearing my XS Iris Blue Sierra so much that I thought this version of the same dress needed some love. Washed Navy is a pleasant neutral, really a blue-gray, and it goes with just about anything. I don't know that this bright teal is absolutely the most felicitous pairing with it, but it's a soft cushy cardigan that I love and won't wear much for months to come, so I'm enjoying it this morning. 

This dress, a size larger than my radically-sized-down Iris Blue Sierra, does feel like a lot of fabric by comparison. It took that XS Sierra some months to relax into a fit I feel great about, but now I do strongly prefer it. Still, sometimes a looser swing dress just does feel good, and now is one of those times. 

I bought this dress at a steep discount because the previous owner had worn it to walk the Camino. It has some faint areas of discoloration, which I defy you to detect in these photos, and a little hole where a campfire spark touched it, which I have embroidered over. It was a good buy, and I haven't regretted it. Eventually it may stretch out as much as my original Sierra has done, but I hope not for a while. It was a cozy dress through the late fall and winter with tights, leggings, cardigans, base-layer tees, and boots --- it was also a good base layer itself in cold weather. Now, breathable as it is, it can carry on into the summer. 

Day 3 hair, refreshed with my wet hands. I did use a good bit of gel when I washed on Wednesday, so  the waves do spring back up again when water reactivates the  gel. My Humby Organics shampoo bar is about gone, so I have ordered another --- otherwise I'm still trying not to buy a lot of products, just replacements for things that run out. I love this time of year for hair. Big wavy/curly hair feels a lot more like me than my straight winter hair. I suppose I should be grateful for the versatility and try to make more of the straight hair when I have it, but I prefer feeling glorious and less boring. 

AND now that I feel glorious and less boring, I think I shall take that feeling on promenade, in company with the dog, in the glorious spring sunshine. Then I'll come home and think about Christina Rossetti.  

PS

I am continuing to lean into the cultivation of contentment with things. My resale of so many secondhand items purchased this year has been illuminating --- I'm not going to feel bad about experiments, but going forward, it's good to have the reminder to slow down, think, look in the closet first, and consider whether I really want or need an item before I buy it. My resales have opened up five new slots in my secondhand-buying quota for the year (yeah, it's kind of cheating, but kind of not), BUT as I remind myself continually, I do not have to be in a hurry to fill those slots. 

The one thing I really have in mind right now is a cross-body bag, big enough to carry a lot of stuff but slim enough to sit close to my body. I know the kind of thing I have in mind: a particular kind of anti-theft travel bag with room for a tablet, as well as phone, passport, etc. I keep leaving my purse places --- most recently, last Saturday, in the kitchen of the Artgirl's new apartment, so that I had to leave her panic-stricken texts to bring it across town to me when she came, because in all the traffic there was no time for us to turn around and go back. I was afraid she had already left, too, to come back to get ready for baccalaureate, and then I didn't know how I'd get it . . . God is good, and she hadn't left, and I got my purse back, but I'm really sick of doing that. I think I need to carry a bag that just stays on my body. 

So while there is one I have my eye on on Poshmark, I'm not sure I'd even count that as one of my purchases. It's more an ADHD hack/accommodation than a fashion accessory (it's also not even that fashionable, just functional in a way that I think I need). Also, my credit from recent sales would handily cover the (very low) cost. I think I'm going to go ahead and do that because again, I'm sick of leaving my purse places. One day I'm going to forget it somewhere and not get it back --- unless I grant myself some kind of accommodation. 

BUT in general, going into the summer, my goal is to cultivate contentment with what I have: certainly with what I have in my closet. There are things hanging there now that I must remember to wear, because when I do wear them I enjoy them. I do not need to add to their number. My brown Leila dress, for example: I always kind of overlook it, going, Eh, brown . . . but then when I wear it I feel inexplicably gorgeous. That shade of brown shouldn't light me up like that, yet it does. I think I should plan to wear it to church on Sunday, in fact --- though once the summer is really settled it, it's a fabulous dress just to knock around in every day. I must remember not to sleep on it! 

AND NOW, truly, I am going to promenade in the sunshine with the dog. Really. Going. This minute. Sunshine. Now.