Evening primrose growing from seeds I must have dropped in the garden last year. It's just so lovely --- and it will spread and self-seed more, so I hope I have it until the end of time.
Today's agenda:
*dog walk
*supermarket run
*finish packing for our departure tomorrow --- it's the FINAL WEEKEND of this May graduation marathon
*piddle about with some writing
I have already bathed, washed my hair, and dressed. The hair routine has been pretty simple this week: just shampoo (latherx2), conditioner, and then LUS 3-in-1 with a lot of wather, squished through, then more water added, then combed, then more water added in my hands (when I say water added, I mean I'm adding water in my cupped hands, squishing it through my hair, trying not to rinse out the product, but just to distribute it more). Then I diffuse enough to get my scalp dry and go. I just haven't felt like gel this week, though I continue to like that Not Your Mother's Curl Talk spray gel.
Also still using my Humby Organics bars. The shampoo bar is wearing a bit thin, but it still has a number of washes left in it. And because it's in a plastic travel box, I can use whatever has melted into the box as well, so as not to waste a bit. They do ship rather slowly, though, so when I want a replacement I'll have to time it so that I don't run completely out of this bar and its residue before I order another. The conditioner, on the other hand, looks hardly used, so I won't have to replace it for a long time to come.
Right now the sun is shining, and the projected high is 85F, quite nice. I suppose by now I could start labeling these posts with spring into summer, because we're turning that corner for sure. The nights and mornings are still fresh and cool, and the spring flowers are still blooming, but soon enough the Big Heat will clamp down on us.
I have been perusing the "Style Mood Board" file I keep on Instagram, in my "Saved" tab, and what it's been giving, as a vibe, is florals --- floaty little floral summer dresses. Well, said I to myself, I don't know about floaty, but I do have a floral dress.
Wearing today:
*Secondhand vintage Erika&Co. linen-cotton pinafore, bought autumn 2023, last worn May 6. Wears in 2025: 8
*Secondhand Not Perfect Linen tank in Oatmeal, bought January 2025, year 1
*Thrifted Crocs sandals, year 2
Although it's clearly a pinafore, with armholes too deep for it to be worn on its own, this piece magically transforms into a stand-alone sleeveless dress with the addition of a tank or camisole underneath. It's cool and swishy and comfortable. While I find solid colors largely easier to wear, and I am pretty picky about pattern (low-to-medium contrast, small, not flamboyant, natural rather than geometric shapes), it is nice to have some pattern in my closet. I like the loose but set-in waist of this dress, with its gathers that give the skirt some extra movement. And I adore the colors, which work so well with so much of my closet, whether I'm wearing the pinafore as a dress or as a more obvious pinafore, over a top or dress with sleeves. I acquired this dress around Thanksgiving in 2023 and have worn it through two winters so far --- it works great as a winter dress with warm layers and boots, but it also shines in the summertime.
And there's plenty of blue in this floral pattern, so I'm living my Marian dream.
Hair clearly still drying.
My new-to-me Alegria shoes should arrive Saturday, while I'm away. I'm tentatively excited about them --- I like the shape a lot, and I'm thinking of what I'll wear them with. They'll go with this dress, for some subtle pattern-clashing. They'll be fun with my long red skirt and with my blue floral maxi. They'll look nice with my Teal Fiona, and possibly (though they might be too matchy) with my Marine Blue Fiona. They'll make a good medium-contrast look with Pacific and Beetroot Brooklyn. They'll look good with my Cinnamon Rose and Chocolate Brown Leila dresses, and with at least two of my Smock dresses (maybe not Grape Wine, but we'll see --- I could be surprised). Unlike black, this subtly patterned blue should work really well with just about everything in the closet. I don't really want to wear anything but sandals right now, but it might be nice to have a closed-toe alternative to wear with bare legs, that isn't a hiking or obvious walking shoe. These have also been quite comfortable from the first wear, in a way that my Earth Shoes have not been, even though they were fairly broken in when I got them. Anyway, I will really anticipate wearing these shoes in the fall, but I can get some wear out of them even in the hotter weather as well.
OK, enough clothing thoughts for one morning. On with it.
LATER
As usual, having second thoughts about my travel capsule. WHAT IF I did pack some linen for a very hot weekend in Dallas? WHAT IF???
For example, I really love this combination of pinks:
WHAT IF I actually wore this dress and cardigan (RIP, Birk Mayaris) this weekend, either to Mass/reception OR to graduation?
I also really like this, featuring the same blush-pink silk-rayon cardigan:
WHAT IF I removed both my Pacific Brooklyn and my Audrey (which have both been to Dallas already this month), and packed those dresses instead? Yes, yes, I would need to hang and steam them in the bathroom, but that's okay. I can also spritz them down with rosewater, or simply run my damp hands over them.
THEN MAYBE what if I wore my Beetroot Brooklyn on the plane --- a bold move, perhaps, but she is comfortable and, now, non-gapey. And then took Sierra, who goes everywhere and has already outstripped every other item in my closet in terms of wear, because I don't know what Saturday will entail, but it might be kind of active and grubby. That cardigan also goes pretty nicely with Iris Blue, so it could potentially be my one top layer for every situation in which I might need a top layer. OR I could wear my beige/champagne silk-cotton cardigan with Beetroot Brooklyn on the plane, as an alternative that also goes with everything (including Brooklyn).
Crocs and Xero Jessies for my feet --- I'd probably wear the Crocs on the plane this time, because they're easier to get on and off, and the Jessies pack flatter.
This could work. Indubitably Wool& dresses are travel champions --- but sometimes I do want to wear something else. Indubitably it's a good idea to organize a capsule around a color theme --- but actually you don't have to do that if you don't want to. Four dresses + 2 cardigans that basically go with all 4 dresses + shoes that go with all 4 dresses: That is a capsule.
It's going to be like 95 degrees all weekend, so although these light wool knits work perfectly in heat, linen sounds pretty appealing.
SLIGHTLY LATER
So, here's how the pack is looking.
Bottom layer: dresses + hair diffuser (the bulkiest thing I ever pack in warm weather).
Next, a travel compression bag with underwear fits neatly over these items:
My very flat Jessie sandals are already in the shoe compartment, which will fit right on top of those layers when I zip up the pack, creating no discernable extra bulk.
And there's room at the top for me to stuff my purse in:
That way I have only one bag to deal with in the security line and on the plane. In transit, I just keep my phone and passport either in my hand or in a front zip pocket in my pack. I will also need to pack toiletries in the front zip pockets, but those are in travel-sized bottles and, again, add minimal bulk to the pack, so that it fits tidily under the seat in front of me.
Longer trips, or trips where I need more layers and/or an actual coat are trickier to pack this way, but a hot-weather trip for four days? So very easy.
I'll just need to shake out and hang the linen dresses on arrival. As you can see, they are not pristinely unwrinkled, and that's just how I wear them. It's linen.
I have out my Beetroot Brooklyn dress and my beige/champagne silk-cotton cardigan, plus these Crocs that I'm currently wearing. That'll be tomorrow's uniform. My Pacific Brooklyn is more or less a comfort zone, whereas Beetroot is not, but I think I just need to wear her until she too is a comfort zone.
AFTERNOON
I have:
*drunk water in large quantities
*done a lot of laundry (currently washing dog bed & daybed pet covers, to reduce dog smell in house)
*changed the sheets on our bed
*picked up some meds for Dora from the vet
*listed my Earth Shoe Mary Janes for sale
*taken a gamble on yet another pair of secondhand shoes --- again, I had some credit to apply which brought the already-modest price down significantly.
These I really might consider a replacement for my Mayaris. If they fit as I hope, then they will be very much wear-everywhere shoes, not quite as step-in as a pair of Birks, but easy to put on. They look pretty Birkenstock-like, and they fill that brown-shoe gap: not as orange as my Birk Mary wedges, and also . . . not wedges or sandals. They're open enough to be good to wear in the summer, but closed enough that I think they'd work with tights in cooler weather.
Mostly, they seem to have a cork footbed, which is good. Birks I can wear, because they mold to your feet, but most other "support" shoes have been a miss. Alegrias work pretty well; Earth Shoes not so much. Hopefully the latter will work well for somebody else. I did price them to sell.
So now I'm still laundering and thinking about dinner, but my bag is packed. Dora and I are lounging currently on the breezy porch, where she has cornered a biggish skink at the top of the porch screen. She's lost interest in him, since he's out of reach, and I guess eventually when we go in he'll climb down again and make his way out through whatever crack he came in by.
I still need to go buy some dog treats and a few other odds and ends before we leave. In fact, there is some specific odd or end that I had said to myself that I had to buy, but I have forgotten what it is, which is the main reason I didn't go to the store while I was out at the vet. I thought, Maybe if I go home, I will remember what it was, and then I can write it down.
We'll see.