One of Mr. Dressed’s and my favorite down time activities is to curl up on the couch, pour a glass of top shelf scotch, and kick some serious butt in Mario Kart (the degree of butt kicking often directly corresponding to amount of scotch). We recently acquired a Wii U thanks to our last tax returns, and despite the plethora of options when it comes to the superhero/street fighting/crime solving games out there, I admit I’m a bit of a traditionalist. Mario & Luigi all the way.
Heading back home after another whirlwind trip, staring blearily into the screen as I recover from the the 30+ hour flight path. As glamorous as travel sounds (and truthfully, can sometimes be), nothing sounds better to me right now than my own bed, a glass of single malt, and a husband to laugh with. Perhaps that is my personal version of a fairy tale – no White Knight needed for this gal (though I can get behind the bejeweled footwear aspect). And despite the allure of pumpkins and the ballgowns and the woodland creatures helping me get dressed, all I really need…
My latest sewing project started as so many often do: with an Idea. At a few points in my vintage hunting, I would come across vintage painted mexican skirts or vintage square dancing skirts that had images of dancing couples, with the figures wearing actual miniature skirts. I was so smitten with the 3D quality of them – the idea that there was a miniature world within the skirt, like when you hold up two mirrors opposite each other, creating smaller and smaller landscapes inside.
I’ve never been one who is big on animal prints. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my zebra striped purse and don’t mind a leopard print shoe now and again for a pop of something different. But, I don’t go weak in the knees over an animal print wiggle dress the way I know some people do. It’s never had that effect on me…
There’s a certain time of day referred to as “The Children’s Hour”, which is that moment just between the end of day and the start of night. It’s origin’s were in a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1860, where just before sunset was described as “A pause in the day’s occupations.” Though the poem is essentially about a father and his children, there was always something so melancholy to me about it. As if we can stop time before darkness falls. As if we can spot our long gone innocence in that moment, before we have to go and…
As we’ve burst forth into a new year, I can’t help but cast a glance back now and then on the year we just bid farewell too. It’s interesting what evokes memories – a smell, a song, a glance at a person’s profile that spins you into a déjà vu moment. I spent a lovely afternoon on Sunday at one of my Perth favorites – Oh Henry Vintage. When I got home, delighting in my spoils (coming soon to a blog post near you), I caught a glimpse of another dress from Oh Henry that I hadn’t worn in awhile. I…
The lovely, last sighing strains of my Christmas holiday have come to a close, and I’m gearing up for a very busy few months ahead. Sigh. The first day back at work after a blissfully long holiday is always the hardest. Particularly without the comfort of (what became my) daily afternoon nap to ease the blow. The stacks of emails in my inbox, the meeting requests, and publications that I planned to get to once I was back. Well, I’m officially back and they’re demanding attention. God, I miss my hammock already….
The ocean is and will forever be in my blood. Ever since I was a kid, you simply couldn’t get me out of the waves. And I grew up in New England, where the sea is not known for being a friend to those of us who like to avoid hypothermia. Even still, I would swim until my fingers became pruney and I was nearly cooked like a lobster in the sun, simultaneously shivering from the cold. But, I loved it. And through to adulthood, whenever I was having a terrible day, I would find solace in the ocean and throw my…
As the end of the year is drawing to a close, I can’t help but look back on the frenzy of this past year and try to make sense of it. To try to connect a jumble of seemingly random events and wonder why they brought me to this particular moment – and where they’ll bring me to next. It’s definitely been a year of ups and downs (as most years are). Whether you believe in fate or the randomness of the universe, there is still something stringing it all together. Something invisibly connecting the dots.
We’re entering into such a unique time of the year, where relaxation starts to rein triumphant. Since the start of December, I can feel everyone’s resistance slowly wearing, as work gives up her fight to the temptations of a relaxing Christmas holiday. There are more holiday parties, emptier hallways as the weeks wear on, and a general fading of the frenzied cloud of productivity that usually hangs over our building. I have to admit, I’m sitting right on the borderline – I have a few key things to check off my list before I officially start my holidays, but the tantalizing…