Week 19!

Welcome back for this week’s edition of the Fashion Files, hosted by Amy and me! If you don’t know Amy, her blog is Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa. I hope your week has been a good one. Here in Central Indiana, I’m beginning to see the start of False Fall. Y’all know about False Fall, right? It’s when you think it’s Fall, but it’s just Mother Nature pulling a prank. The evenings have been in the 50s (10C) with highs in the low to mid 80s (27C). The humidity hasn’t even been too bad. The air is definitely damp, though, as the grass is just soaked in the morning. Jack loves to play in the snow, but he does not like walking on wet grass! He’s such an odd dog.

Let’s get this party started…

If you’re a fashion blogger, this is the place to be. It’s the day of the week where I talk about the things I wore last week and what I did as well as anything I might have bought. It’s also the place where you can tell us about what you wore, what you bought, what you wished you’d bought! Please tell your friends about our link party because we’d love to see it grow and grow! Please know I read your blogs even if I don’t always comment. Many times, my computer won’t let me, or maybe google won’t let me comment. I’m not 100% sure. But, I do read all linked posts.

Last week’s looks…

Tuesday – Nigel had physical therapy in the afternoon. I spent lots of time in the morning reading and commenting on blogs. I admit I didn’t get to responding to comments on my own blog until this past weekend. I swear there are not enough hours in the day. I also practiced my Colleague Feedback tour with Nigel. I give him my iPad which has the paintings on it. Then, I run through the beginning over and over until I get all the points on the rubric covered. Just because of the way I’m wired, if I goof, I start all over again. Nigel recognizes the perfectionist in me and waits until I feel comfortable enough to cover the art. The information about the art and artist is not a problem. I know all those things quite well. It’s the beginning, transitions, and end that worry me the most. I’ve always found endings to be difficult, haven’t you? I know, if I ever wrote the Great American Novel, my ending would suck! Everyone would give me a three star review because of the horrible ending. Anyway, this is the day I wore the cinnamon and rust (or something like that) Ink + Alloy skirt with the Loft tee (see the post here). I love this combination so much! I didn’t wear the necklace you saw in the post, though. As I mentioned in that post, a couple of ladies complimented me on the way I’d mixed prints. I find it so sad we feel we have to be just one way, or someone will do what…write us a Fashion Violation Ticket? I know it’s the way they were raised. I was raised that way, too. My mom would never ever in a million years wear something like this outfit. For one thing, it’s not Polly and her cousin, Esther, pants. And, she’d rather eat tapioca pudding (she hated that) than wear two prints even if they look like they were made for each other!

Wednesday – I had an event at the museum that night. I left with a very strange feeling in my stomach. The event was for members whose memberships are at a certain level. Now, I considered upgrading my membership, but I didn’t know that it was worth it. Now that I know, I’ll definitely renew at a higher level. But, what bothered me was how some docents looked the other way when they saw me. I don’t know if it’s a big no-no to participate in this event as a “helper” when you’re a docent or not. I mean, some of them just looked right through me when, on any other occasion, they’d stop and talk. It took me aback and made me realize I’m going to be even more kind and personable to all the personnel at the museum. There are a couple of guards I know by name. I’m going to make it my job (when I’m “off the clock”) to know more by name. I wore this Gudrun Sjödén dress which is kinda shapeless and maybe even a bit big in some places. There is a weird seam that’s not at my waist. It’s lower and in a strange place. I decided to belt it and pull it up a bit (always adjust the gathers, my friends) so that seam wouldn’t show. I don’t know…I think maybe this dress is just crying out to be a duster. I’ll give that a try before I decide whether or not to sell it on Facebook.

Thursday – This was a stay at home and catch up on laundry day. I also started working on clearing out my closet and drawers. I saw an Instagram reel about decluttering your house. This woman (who knows…she may have been AI) said she only had one set of sheets for each bed in her home. She washed that set and put it back on the bed. I try to have two sets in case the sheets don’t get dry. I don’t feel like I have too many sheets. Bath towels? That’s a different matter. I have way too many and may end up donating some if my youngest son doesn’t want them. I carried that same idea (not having too many of such and such an item) to the drawers in my tall chest. I decided to get rid of several pairs of exercise leggings. I don’t need eleventy million pairs when five or six will do. I did the same thing with tops. I got rid of sports bras that were past their prime. The next drawer was a harder one. It was my pajama drawer. I love flannel pajamas and have several pairs. I admit I didn’t get rid of very many of those, but I did get rid of several nightgowns. I just don’t wear them much anymore so why have them? I have a narrow IKEA Billy cabinet that holds many different kinds of clothes. I emptied it shelf by shelf and discovered I could put a lot of things from there into the drawer that held my exercise clothing. My goal is to use that Billy as a shoe cabinet. I still have a huge mess on the bed in the primary bedroom as I kinda ran out of steam! But, I decided I needed to dress up as I made these decisions. I wore this culotte/skirt last week on Wednesday. I decided to go a different direction with the top. Last week’s top was dark; this week, it’s lighter. I think I like the lighter version better. I also wore my Wigshe human hair wig because I needed to armor up for all this decluttering!

Friday – Oh, my goodness! You should have seen me later in the day on Friday! I had a facial in the late afternoon. My aesthetician…what can I say! She not only gives me a facial, she massages my shoulders, neck, and scalp. My hair was an oily mess when I left. One thing I’ve noticed about my hair since beginning Minoxidil is that my facial hair is growing as well as my eyelashes! I surely hope the same is happening on my scalp! After my facial (which includes dermaplaning), that peach fuzz is gone! Now, here’s the thing. This med spa is located in one of the shi-shi (is that the way to spell that) “little” towns. So, a lot of the women who come in there are dressed to the nines and carrying designer bags. There I sat in an old chambray shirt and shorts. Before going for my facial, I’d worn the second Ink + Alloy skirt with one of those shrunken tees from Old Navy. I thought about taking my makeup off before going, but I also enjoy those nice warm towels she uses to wash off the cleanser! I was so relaxed and felt really good when I got home. But, I wasn’t going anywhere after!

Saturday – Early in the day, my daughter and I went to the place where my new countertops will be created. I was able to see the quartz slab in its entirety. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted. When I saw the actual slab (or one like what I’d get), I noticed little things about it that would drive me nuts! In case you didn’t know (I didn’t), quartz is a manmade material, consisting of crushed quartz and resins. The design is basically copied onto it. So, any slab I’d get would have those same little spots that bothered me. Luckily, I had a backup which was quite nice when seen in the larger slab. I wore my “uniform” of chambray shirt and shorts there. I was beginning to feel not so great on this day. I watered plants, did some cleaning, emptied the dishwasher, and just puttered around for most of the day. I just felt off. Nigel’s always having stomach problems so when he complained about his stomach, I kinda ignored him. As the day went on, I felt worse and worse. I didn’t do any blogging of any kind when I knew I really needed to do it. I also knew I needed to do a photo shoot for Monday’s Style Imitating Art as well as writing the post. I did do the research, but I just didn’t have it in me to write the post. After showering, I wore this older Gudrun Sjödén dress to make myself feel better. I usually wear an ivory slip under it, but I didn’t feel up to doing that. It’s a little big, too, but I love it too much to get rid of it.

Sunday – This was the day the stomach bug hit and hit hard! Luckily, there was no vomiting involved…oh, how I hate to do that. But, I felt horrible all day long. I was cold but had to make those constant visits to the bathroom. Luckily, Nigel wasn’t feeling too well, either, so I didn’t have to cook. I just had to take Jack out occasionally. I did manage to do the photo shoot and write the blog post for Style Imitating Art. I stayed in my nightgown (one that made the cut), but I did wear this for the photo shoot. Surprise, it’s another Gudrun Sjödén dress! You can read that post here. I wore my Wigshe wig once again, but I’d brushed most of the curls out. I have to figure out how to style it now. I had long hair once upon a time, but I never had hair this thick!

Monday – I had two meetings at the art museum. The first was a walk through of a new exhibition by the curatorial assistant who was responsible for it, I think. I am so impressed by the many young women who work at the museum. They had so many more choices than I did (or thought I did), and by gosh, they’re grabbing them! Anna, the curatorial assistant (I think that was her name) was able to tell us so much about several pieces of art. I don’t think she referred to her notes once. She has spoken at other exhibition openings and meetings before, and I’m always so impressed by her imperturbable demeanor. The second was a PowerPoint presentation on the upcoming exhibition: Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys. When I tell you I’m excited about this, I’m drastically understating it! We only saw a handful of the works that will be on our fourth floor, and they are breathtaking. I really do hope Ms. Keys comes to an event I can attend. I love that they didn’t amass this collection and stop. It began in Brooklyn about 2.5 years ago, and they’ve continued to collect art. So, we will have pieces that haven’t been in the collection before. I hope some of you will be in Indianapolis between September 19 and February 28, 2027 so you can see it! I wore these white Tulip Clothing pants with a pink crocheted shell (does anyone call them that anymore) from Loft, with a completer piece that dates from late 2020! It’s a long linen cardi from J Jill. The stores had just re-opened and had limited stock. I called the store and got this in three different colors as well as a flowered one! I know these long cardigans aren’t really trending anymore, but I really don’t care! As I look at the photo, though, I’m not sure I care for this combination. I think the cardi calls for a sleeker pair of pants, don’t you?

In between…

I’m still knitting away on my Christmas afghan. I finished another elves block, and, once again, I messed up somewhere, or those elves have been hitting the eggnog! Oh, well, I’ll hide them somewhere obscure when I put the blanket together. I just love knitting colorwork, but I think I need to pay better attention. I only knit while we’re watching TV at the end of the day. It’s part of my evening relaxation routine. I need to download a couple other squares to give me something else to knit. I wonder if there will be other iterations of drunken somethings!

In other news…

Nigel and I have been going back and forth about the kitchen remodel. I really want to be the person to tear up that awful LVT, but that also involves removing the shoemold. It’s been stained to match our cabinets exactly so it can’t break. If you’ve ever used shoemold, you know how delicate it is. I also think at least one of my kids has the knowledge and necessary brawn to disconnect and move the appliances as well as to hook them back up. Nigel is of the opinion we should just pay the entire kit and caboodle so it’s on their dime should something go wrong. But, the DIY-er in me doesn’t want to do that. I really want to destroy the subway tile backsplash and replace the (probably) damaged drywall behind it. I’m perfectly OK with the people who know how to do the other things doing them. I just want to do the destructive parts…hmmm…what does that say about me?

Purchases…

I think I may have mentioned this in another post. I bought two more wigs. Now, just wait a minute and listen. I use a third party program when I buy something online unless it’s from a store (like Nordstrom, Macy’s, etc). Usually, a window pops up saying I’m good to review the purchase. So, I pressed that button, and lo and behold, I had bought the wigs rather than being directed to the “finish purchase” page! Luckily, I really like both wigs! Now, I just want to get a straight lob in silver, and then I’ll be done! I also bought my grandson his birthday present…Legos, of course! I keep getting emails from Miz Mooz about an extra 20% off sale items. I can’t tell you how much I want those Freya flats in red! The problem is the amount for shipping just about negates the extra 20% off. That makes me think, “Oh, just add something in so you get free shipping.” Well, adding something in is soooo much more than the cost of shipping, but it’s free! See how my mind works! I blame it on being a Libra. But, wouldn’t those Freya flats look cute in red? I mean I have a lot of red or red adjacent clothing! Except for the wigs, I didn’t buy anything this week! Oh, and the Legos, but those don’t count!

What to link up…

Please link up your favorite fashion posts, old and new. Please take the time to visit some of the other bloggers. I’m sure they would appreciate it, and please let them know you are visiting from our link up! I really do thank Amy for being my co-host! Feel free to show us what you’ve been wearing, what you’ve bought, returned, or just thought about. Maybe you could share something you’d love to have but never will for whatever reason. You can tell us…we’ll understand. Tell us about your shopping habits. Do you enjoy thrifting, reselling, or online shopping? Just write a post about fashion of any kind. You could even do a review of an awards show. There are always awards shows, it seems! And, remember, even if you’re a movie reviewer, a baking blog, a book lovers blog, a blog that’s anything but fashion, I’m betting you get dressed. Snap a photo, write a little about it, and link it up! You really don’t have to dress up, either…take a look at my Sunday outfit! Thanks, my friends, for linking up and spreading the news!

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