Days Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five: Frump, etc.

It seems that whenever I take on a new project, I find that at least one other thing in my life atrophies . When I'm writing a lot, I don't make time to exercise. If I'm working out a lot, I forget to clean the house. If I'm decorating, remodeling, gardening, cooking, etc., I tend to slack off on my professional relationships. And I almost never get enough sleep. New projects should come in a package with at least two extra hours in a day.

My life used to be much less full. When we lived in West Virginia and our now seventeen year-old daughter was small, I seemed to have time for all the things I loved.

Now I realize why I had so much time. Around the age of thirty, I began to disguise myself as a sixty-something year-old woman. Well, not even that. My mom is almost seventy and she is far more fashionable now than I was back then. Can you say, "someone gave up?"

Exhibit A:

 

I was heavily into the Country Matron look: Boiled wool sweater jacket, Orvis hat, LLBean turtleneck, mom jeans. What was I thinking?! I was probably also wearing the pearl stud earrings I've worn 6 out of every ten days since 1977.

The only excuse I can think of for such careless dressing is motherhood. You can see Nora, our daughter, toddling by my side. (That was the day she was almost lifted into the air by the seriously large kite we were flying.)  I did give myself an occasional break. My Laura Ashley period had begun two years earlier and ran concurrent with the Country Matron period for a almost a decade. I was in definite recovery by the time our son came along in 1999.

But I will always have a fondness for beautiful prints. Haven't seen many of those on my most recent shopping expeditions. There seems to be some kind of unwritten Walmart rule that says that prints should look as cheap as possible. I'll stick to my classic solids--mostly--thank you!

Day 24:

This is a Lee brand shirt. There were tags all over it declaring that its Princess Seams would make me look slimmer. Uh, okay. Mostly I just bought it because it was on sale for $7, it was cotton, and the weight of it made it feel more substantial than other shirts I've bought recently.

Lee shirt: $7; Faded Glory jeans: $15; Earth Spirit shoes: $30; Earrings: $7

Total: $59

Day 25:

I kind of cheated on Friday. I already posted what I was planning to wear while traveling.

 

But my good friend, the writer J.T. Ellison, saw my outfit, she said she thought it would be perfect for our panel at the Southern Festival of books. And she was right--particularly about the red rain boots. I had tons of compliments on them. Here we are, left to right: Meredith Cole, J.T. Ellison, and me.

I've noticed lately that I'm actually kind of short. Probably my first big revelation since I started this project. Weird.

Have a great week!