Black and White and Red All Over

Yes, I know, this riddle is lame. You may notice a few looks in this end-of-the-month collage that weren't featured during the month...simply because I ran out of days. I think I could keep going with this color combination indefinitely--year in and year out, season after season.

For the past several months, my process has been similar to what participants do in the 30 for 30 challenge. I lay out all the items in my closet and dresser that fit the color scheme for the month across the bed in our guest room. As I come and go in that room, I let the items "speak" to me and suggest combinations I might not have thought of before. For the past two months, there have been a few items that never made their way into an outfit. At the end of the month, I will cull these items as well as those that do not fit as well as they might and put them into a box that goes straight to a thrift store.

At the end of May, when I took my box, as well as a number of items that a tenant who moved out left behind, I mused that I treat thrift stores like libraries, simply "checking out" an item temporarily. Doing the color challenges month after month has greatly focused my thrift store shopping. In some cases, I have found myself shopping ahead several months, knowing I will be wearing say blue & white in May. Now, when I come across a blue & white item, I think twice...because it no longer fits into the schedule of events. I could probably go the remainder of the year without thrifting. I already have items lined up for the next six months.

Before I started Rags and 2011's color challenge, I simply shopped thrifts for items I liked. Increasingly, I come across items I like, but have learned to leave behind. For several months now, I've been keeping track of my monthly thrift store expenses. It's about what I had estimated (I hope to do an upcoming post on this), but I realized that I'm also getting more savvy about thrift shopping.

Wouldn't it be great if we could check clothes out like we do books from libraries?

And now, I want to know what YOU are reading this summer. I'm halfway through Patrick Suskind's Perfume and Darwin's The Voyage of the Beagle. Suskind's book has been fascinating to me because of the emphasis it places on smell, a sense that is not usually engaged by reading, even though scientists speculate that our brains originally developed from our sense of smell. Darwin's book is chock full of fascinating observations of the world around him. He is an adult with the wonder of a child and the mind of trained scientist.

Haori

I'm often amazed by the speed of mail from overseas.  I ordered my haori from Iman's Etsy shop in Japan on a Saturday evening and by the following Thursday I was unwrapping it and a package of wasabi crisps.  I love the pattern in the fabric and can think of multiple ways to style it, but in the interest of staying true to this month's color scheme, I am wearing it with my Ralph Lauren knit red skirt. 

The red skirt seemed so daring when I found it several months ago, but by now I'm realizing that it is an essential part of my wardrobe.

The look on the right is perfect for a day in the classroom.  The crisp white blouse from Anne Taylor still had the dry cleaners tag on it when I found it at a local thrift.  Crisp white blouses are almost impossible to find in thrifts and is the one thing I might prefer to purchase brand new.  The cut of this one is flattering to my "relaxed" bosom.  I could throw the jacket on if my day included a meeting.  The bling I've collected on the lapel might draw the attention of higher-ups, but it won't indicate that I could ever be a higher-up myself.

The rose was "found" in a parking lot.  The "I am Loved" button was given away free at a local Goodwill, leftover from an ad campaign sponsored by a KC jeweler when I was still in high school, hence "vintage."  The Hershey's Kiss and the red lips are both cheap plastic, but I like this collection of "red."

To the right, the red skirt is styled down with the gingham silk top, also by Ralph Lauren. 

In these months of experimenting with color, this black, white and red combo, also a favorite of Citizen Rosebud, may be the closest I've come to replacing my beloved grey.  It's classic and yet lends itself easily to a more funky vibe.

On Fringes

This jacket is wool and not the typical thing I would wear in the humid midwest during June.  However, I know where I could wear it~~for an evening rodeo somewhere in Montana or perhaps, Calgary.  I've paired it here with the crisp white off-the shoulder top I also wore with a skirt and jeans in May.  However, when I put on the jacket, I had trouble maintaining the off-the shoulder look.  The fringe is actual leather.  This jacket is made by New Connections, somewhere in the USA.  The jeans are my men's Wranglers.  I paired it with the same pair of red stilettos I wore in last Friday's post.  I am not in the habit of wearing heels with jeans.

And, I'm not very accomplished at walking in heels over 3".  My feet are very accustomed to spreading out naturally in bare feet.  When I tuck them into these shoes, I have to coax the little toes into place and have sometimes considered taping the little toe to the next toe!  But, I believe my little toes are trying to tell me something about the orthopedic dangers of wearing heels like this.When I snapped the photos for last Friday's post, I wobbled like I was on roller or ice skates.  And frankly, at this stage in my life, I am simply not willing to wear such shoes for the sake of appearance, even though they do excellent things for the shape of the leg.  Frankly, the tassels on the heels likely send out a vibe  I may not want to encourage...

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I have Paula to thank for this second look.  I have never before owned a silk skirt while she seems to have a collection of them.  I loved the way this pleated Gap skirt felt when I wore it to a meeting this past Tuesday...like I was naked.  I've paired it with a tee by Talbots.  I like the black piping around the neck, but I knew it would be too short to keep tucked in.  I solved that problem by stringing a bit of cord through the hem and then tying in a bow with a pair of tassels.  I used to do this with tee shirts in high school, except I added a soft elastic instead.

What's on your agenda for the weekend?  We're going to our first ever MakerFaire.

Of Red Eyes and Eyelet

Shortly before my unexpected May break from blogging, my girls and I spent an evening at a local hotel and did a photo shoot.  I had nearly forgotten that collection of photos...until the maxi post on Monday.  All of my stylings that day began with this bit of inspiration by P. who helped me see the possibilities of a black maxi.

K's red skirt is a funny story.  We were all shopping together when we found it.  All three of us wanted it...and as we stood there negotiating amongst ourselves, it was K. who walked away with it.  It's short on K so I can't imagine what P. or I were thinking...

Apparently I filed her styling of it away for a day I could try it with another red skirt.  This is what I was wearing on the day I put the finishing touches on my summer courses the first week in June.   




In teaching online, far more thought must be given to course design and technical glitches at the outset of a semester.  Little by little, I have learned how to build a sense of community within a class, even though students never have meet one another face to face.  Once that is done, I log on daily, give students brief feedback on their homework and update my gradebook.  Grading papers online takes me about the same amount of time that it does in a face to face class with hard copies of papers.  The great advantage is that teaching online saves me a daily commute of 100 miles, but too many hours on a computer sometimes leaves me with red eyes.

I found this red eyelet skirt by Anne Taylor in a thrift store early in May.  Several weeks later, in a different thrift store, I found a top in the same eyelet and what I thought would be the same shade of red. 

I wore the top with black slacks to a meeting about our upcoming Literary Festival.  (We have our fingers crossed that George R. R. Martin, writer of Game of Thrones and personal friend of my colleague, may do a Skype interview for us!).  It is plain to see that the top is a brighter red than the skirt.  Alas, the two pieces may never be worn together as I had insanely hoped.  Perhaps it is a simple difference in how each item had been cared for in its previous life.

Have you ever given any thought to the simple basic way that using a computer might affect your appearance?

Stalking the Fireflies

This basic black maxi by Talbots made its debut at Rags for the April EveryBodyEveryWear event.  I had belted and scarved the thing and stood in a forsythia shrub to disguise by feeling that it was too short.  By itself, the dress is shapeless and unremarkable.  But it is cool and lends itself to endless variations.  Such as this flame-like scarf.

The cropped Ralph Lauren top (at left) is interesting to me because it's cut on the bias, but it needs a big red flower of some sort.  Below, with the $.99 Roma scarf, which I should have put on backwards for the photo!

Of all the combinations I tried, I like the above jacket by Diva the best.  You should really enlarge either of the photos to read the headlines on the jacket.  I saw a similar jacket on Susie Bubble's blog a day or two after which prompted me to wonder what a similar jacket made up of old comic book pages might look like. 
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I do not know how far the phenomenon of 'lightning bugs' is spread about our planet, but it is a tradition in the midwest for children to capture them in a jar and later to let them go.  They are magical creatures to me. On a visit to the Lake of the Ozarks shortly after we were engaged, DH and I took a late night paddle boat ride towards the end of our cove.  The night sky was incredibly clear and there seemed to be a million stars and the woods along the shoreline were similarly full of these insects blinking their amorous code.  We literally could not tell where the earth ended and the heavens began.

One evening last week, I donned a sequined jacket and with DH's help, we attempted to take night photos, hoping to get the cooperation of a firefly or two.  We must have snapped over 20 photographs and likely saw just two flashes all evening.

In daylight:

If you are curious about fireflies, here's where to see the aurora borealis of fireflies.

DIY: La Dolce Vita

Months ago, I happened across a leather skirt marked 50% off in a thrift store.  I was so funny about buying it and even asked DH what he thought.  It's the type of thing I will never wear to campus, but at $3, it would allow me to try a tutorial I had seen on two separate blogs.  When I tried the skirt on, it was too little around the waist and the hem hit a couple of inches below the knee.  I folded it up and put it on my mending pile...to await the stray hour when I would finally attempt to scallop the hem as I had seen done at The Concrete Catwalk. 

I measured the hem around at the bottom (36" I think it was) and divided by 3", the diameter of an old salsa jar I would use to chalk the hemline on the inside of the skirt.  It took me longer to find the bit of chalk in the grandkids' color box than it took me to cut the hem.  The whole project was done in 15 minutes.

When I styled it with these heels and the red t-shirt, I had to resist the urge to roll up a pack of cigarettes in the sleeve!

Another take on the same skirt below:

The tag inside the skirt reads LNR.  The top above is by Anne Taylor.  And the shoes are by Rushhour Express, all thrifted.
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This second look comes from a tweet sent to Citizen Rosebud last week.  Read the hilarious story of a woman who woke up on the last day of a cruise and realized she had no "bottoms" to wear here.  I laughed until I cried and then asked DH if I could try the same with one of his t-shirts.  I know I have sworn off grey, but it was all he had to offer.

T-shirt skirt is a men's large "Fruit of the Loom"  (I've tucked the sleeves in for pockets and spun it around so the front pocket is on my left hip).  Red belt, red stillettos, and "Roma" scarf all thrifted.

Grocery Store Chic

Here I am among the trumpet vines, a vine that will bring down and strangle any other plant or fence it gets ahold of.  We do constant battle with it, lest it kill our mock orange hedge.  In this photo, DH and I are about to set off on our monthly trip to a local salvage grocery store.  We buy the weekly loss leaders from our one local grocery store and the rest of what we eat comes from our garden, DH's fishing or bird keeping, or a restaurant.

Salvage grocery shopping has been our habit for several years now, so much so that I no longer know the actual prices of groceries.  We keep bulk lentils, pinto beans, rice, and popcorn.  We buy case lots of things like diced tomatoes, and whole green chilies.  We never know when we go to "Dirty Don's" what we might find in any given month.  We went through a spell where I brought home cases of greek yogurt and specialty cheeses.  Lately, it has been Sabra brand hummus for .50.

There IS an art to shopping such places.  We read the labels carefully--trying to avoid unnecessary salt or corn syrups.  We pay attention to expiration dates.  Often, items find their way to this store simply because they have somehow been mis-labeled.

I bought the skirt I am wearing primarily to salvage an applique stitched to the front of it for a necklace I wanted to make, but I discovered in wearing it that day that I really liked the length and swishiness of the skirt.  It is a weird sort of crochet pressed onto a sort of netting material that makes it sparkle as well.  The skirt is by Free People and I don't remember what I paid for it at the thrift store.  The simple white tee is by halogen and the sandals are by Basic Editions.  I haven't been having very good luck with shoes in the thrifts lately.

What do you think, does crochet count as lace and could I belatedly enter this in Tuesday's EveryBody, EveryWhere?

And I am most interested in any of your tricks for keeping your grocery bill down.

Gemini Chic

Anyone know what Christo, the Bulgarian environmental artist, who wrapped the walkways in a Kansas City area park, might have in common with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen?  And what they might have in common with the Irish poet, William Butler Yeats?  And furthermore, what do Tim Allen ("Home Improvement") and Richard Thomas (Johnboy from "The Waltons") have in common with the rest of this unlikely crew?  They share my birthday!

I turn 57 today...which may help you understand why I sometimes feel I am racing the clock with this blog!  We don't have much unusual on the agenda.  I have taught my three online classes and DH is blanching snow peas and the last of our spinach.  Mondays are not the best day of the week to take oneself out for a gourmet meal.  I considered trying to cram that many candles on a cupcake.  Instead, I have celebrated by buying my own domain AND my first haori (short kimono) from Iman's brand new Etsy shop, Kimono Kinyobi!  Check it out!

Yesterday, we went and played.  The day began with our Sunday afternoon monitoring of the rising river levels in the Kansas City area  At Leavenworth, Kansas, we stumbled upon the C. W. Parker Carousel museum.  DH took this picture of me in a fun house mirror.

 

I'm wearing my roper boots, my western cut Cruel girl black jeans, a black and white striped tee, and a red suede vest.  May this satisfy all my readers who have the remotest jealousy for my tall, slender frame!

We finished our tour with a ride on one of their three working carousels.

The horse I was riding was going up and down as I filmed, just as DH's was.  But, if you've ever wondered what my voice sounds like it, you can hear it both in the beginning and at the end.

Birthdays at my age always put me in mind of my "Bucket List."  But I want all of my readers to know that reading your blogs often creates fodder for my own list of things left to do.  Travel goes without saying, but Veshoevius' flamenco lessons and a hot air balloon ride, as Une Femme took last fall have been added.  What kinds of things are showing up on YOUR bucket list?

Garden Chic: Dirty Knee Edition

Nothing remarkable about this knit shirt dress.  I know exactly why I bought it...because this was the type of thing I wore routinely when I graduated high school...um, more years ago now than I care to remember.  It is too short to be worn out into the world, but it was perfect for a day of gardening last week.

DH & I worked most of the morning.  I was worried that our voluminous and ruffly lettuce beds would grow bitter.  I picked every last bit of it--2 bushels.  And, then, I had the dilemma of finding enough people to share it with.

The same day, we picked a bushel and a half of spinach.  Then, we worked all afternoon to blanch and package this into just 7 12 oz. packages.

We picked the last of the radishes, which are growing woody by now and a batch of broccoli.  I think I also picked the first of the snow peas and sent them home for the grandsons to eat.  The last time I grew snow peas, in western Montana, my toddlers would eat them faster than I could get them to the kitchen.

Having access to so much fresh produce has also jump-started my kitchen projects.  I've made tabouleh with mint and parsley from our own gardens, not to mention a large rhubarb crunch that filled the house with the delicious aroma of Vietnamese cinnamon.

We've been snacking on radishes dipped in hummus, snow peas dipped in hummus, broccoli dipped in hummus.  And speaking of broccoli, I overheard a toddler yesterday, begging her mother to buy fresh broccoli!

Granted wearing a dress this short is not your usual gardening gear, but it kept DH very happy as I squatted and bent and reached and sweat.  He is a simple man with simple pleasures.  And in the interests of full disclosure, I was barefoot for most of this work.



I have quite a collection now of more blog-worthy photos, but I need to take some serious time to process those photos.  This coming week a few of those should begin to appear.

There is still time to vote at Feminine Bravery for Rags in bright red lipstick.  The last time I checked, I was just barely in the lead.

Grandma Chic

This is my maternal grandmother sometime in the 1920s and prior to her marriage.  I suspect she is being something of a daredevil, clinging to the stanchion of a bridge, likely over the Neosho River, and sporting these overalls.  Since her passing in the early 90s, I have begun to hear all sorts of legends about her, many of which have challenged my own picture of her.  My earliest memories of her involve her playing church hymns on Sunday and honky tonk piano on the other days of the week.  Her hands were gnarled with arthritis and yet she hand-stitched a quilt for each one of her grandchildren.  She maintained a huge garden and ate with gusto.

I've been reflecting on how being a grandmother changes in each generation.  I've lost track by now of how many grandchildren and great grandchildren my mother has.(12 grands; 9 greats, I think).  She is known for raucous weekends at the Lake of the Ozarks, endless craft projects, and smoked catfish.  She has an "earthy" sense of humor that often shocks her grandchildren.  And has been known to throw her breast prothesis across a room at anyone with particularly boob-like behavior.

I don't talk about my grandchildren much, although I have 8 of them.  Most  live at a distance and I am lucky if I get to see them once a year.  Two live here locally.  We've taken them to zombie walks and taught them how to shoot peas and fish and write in secret code and balance on a pogo stick--all life skills that have been left behind in their wired world.

But one thing I have emphasized for ALL of them is reading.  Sometimes this involves listening to faltering renditions of Frog and Toad read aloud over the phone.    Sometimes it involves explaining that you can't spell a Scrabble word backwards.

I dug the hat out of the kids' toy box and the jeans went into the thrift store pile immediately after this photo.  They are some of the stretchy denim I inherited from my daughters--and the elastic is shot. 

Those of my readers who are grandmothers, do you find this "second childhood" business is true for you? 

Oh, and if you haven't already seen Terri in BRIGHT red lipstick at Feminine Bravery, go see it.  Vote, too.  The last time I checked, I was in second place.

Natural Disasters

We had planned to take a brief vacation to Little Rock, Arkansas, over my break between semesters.  The trip would have included a visit to charming Eureka Springs, the Clinton Library, Hot Springs State Park, and then a visit to Siloam Springs to take in Andromeda's Vintage shop.  Then, the Joplin tornado hit.  I found myself very, very rattled by a tornado of the magnitude that hit there two weeks ago.  We live in tornado country and know the protocol, but the power of this particular storm was incredible to me.  I did not want to be traveling in such weather and not know where to take shelter.  This trip would have taken us through Joplin. Perhaps we'll try again in August.

I did find myself falling to sleep at night having thought through the best garb to throw on if I was required to weather a storm:  leather boots, sturdy jeans, lightweight tee, and all weather jacket with hood.  I would stuff the pockets with clean underwear. 

Other natural disasters are more slow motion.  My Montana daughter has been reporting 8 ft. of snow in her old stomping grounds...  Snow must melt and eventually it ends up in the muddy Missouri and then the Mississippi.  We have been monitoring the river levels for a couple of weeks now. The picture above is M. and one of my grandsons and DH at the headwaters of the Missouri last August. This is located in Three Forks, Mt. The picture below is taken this past Sunday at La Benite park in Sugar Creek, MO. Lewis and Clark camped here on June 25, 1804 and reported seeing two wolves.

By Thursday, this park will be flooded. Tonight, they are sandbagging in Parkville, MO (where Lewis & Clark camped on June 30, 1804). DH snapped this photo on Sunday.

The "pedal pushers" are by No Boundaries, the top by Express, the bag by Talbots--all thrifted.  By tomorrow, this park bench will be under water.

I shot this video while we were there--impressed by the speed and the sound of the river.  DH makes a rude comment in the last few seconds.   If this isn't exciting enough for you, check out Terri in bright red lipstick at Feminine Bravery and vote for me.  I hadn't realized this was a competition!

Have you ever thought through what you would wear for a natural disaster?

Lazy Bones

This video captures my state of mind for the past two weeks. The summer semester begins tomorrow and unlike my usual semesters, all of my teaching this summer will be online. I could pass the next two months in my jammies...except that I have all these black, white and red ensembles to share!

I snapped this photo in late May, while my bower of roses were at their first peek.  I bought the dalmatian tee back when I first began pondering why I dislike animal prints so.  It's by Erena.  The skirt was a brand new Old Navy thing found at a thrift store.  It's knit is so heavy I know it was intended for winter, but it is only lined to knee--a very, very odd item of clothing.  This photo, and the others in the series, made me wonder if I need to start coloring my hair.

The "flip-flops", a summertime favorite of mine, are in an Asian floral.

Paula at Fashion over Fifty challenged me to wear short shorts (If I remember the promise correctly, she would do a mini skirt). While I know that DH would love to see me in some raggedy Daisy Dukes and a tube top, it simply isn't going to happen. This is about as short as my shorts get these days. They are a linen blend by Bill Blass. The top by Casual Corner is lined and too warm for the level of humidity that has begun to hit our area. The nautical print isn't too evident from the photo.  We've been monitoring the Missouri River for the past two weekends...snapping panoramas of the gushing banks and the debris as it races along.  In spots you'll see whirlpools.  It is NOT a time to be considering a float trip.

I have four more looks I could post, but I'm too lazy.  Fingers crossed, I'll get another up tomorrow.  I find myself wondering at times if it would be enough to just READ blogs.

A Rose

P. and I went to see an exhibit of Princess Diana's wedding dress at our local gallery today.  I am really not an Anglophile, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see it, as well as tiaras and a gallery of her designer dresses.  As often happens in museums, we were not allowed to snap photos, though I did manage this one.

I don't think P. had even been born when the nuptials of Diana and Prince Charles took place, but she was awed by the tiara of 8700 carets and the length of the train and the hand-stitches shoes and the letters written in a child-like scrawl. She was impressed by the morning coats of the young princes, who would be close to her own age. 

The gallery is what is left of our huge Art Deco train station.  My reader Rose undoubtedly remembers this grand hall.  I have childhood memories of meeting trains here and of nuns in full habit traveling with guitar cases.

I wore this rose, fresh from our garden, pinned to the lapel of my Campagnie Internationale Express jacket.  It maintained it's freshness for several hours.  I was wilting in 85 degrees of humidity, so eventually unbelted and unbuttoned the jacket.

 

The ruffled red top was an impulse buy at a thrift store recently because the ruffles reminded me of the dress Valentino was working on in a film I saw last winter.  As a still, it is not that interesting, but I bought it ($3) for the movement I knew it would have.    This interest in the "movement" of clothing is new to me...

My plan is to make June a month of blacks and reds with some white.  We will see how the blogging goes.  In spite of a month of chewing on the problem, I have come up with no shortcuts for doing it right and preserving one's relationship.   I do like this quotation concerning the dilemma:   “Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other”  Rilke.   Jonathon Franzen had some insightful things to say on the subject in a commencement address he gave at Kenyon College.  So,  I am resuming CAUTIOUSLY and it feels great to be back.