Fall Fashion Report

Once I had a chest of drawers, it seemed like the time had come to unpack the boxes and boxes and boxes of clothes. It was startling to see all my clothes again. There's both the comfort of seeing your old favorites again and the renewed sense of novelty for clothes you had forgotten about. I had really gotten used to wearing the same four outfits (and variations) over the last three months, and now I have a plethora of fashion options.

Somehow the contradictions in my wardrobe seem all the more apparent: half is hippie-earthmama-ethnic clothes, and half is urban-trendoid-office clothes. Neither of which seem all that appropriate for life here in Small College Town, USA. When or where will I wear all these clothes anyway? I'm working at home, so I spend most days in my comfy loungey clothes. Occasionally, I venture out to the Walmart - not exactly the catwalk.

Funny, because just a month ago, I spent every single day in my revivalizing clothes. I have to thank Houseblogs for alerting me to the need for a separate wardrobe of house restoration work clothes.

It's been tough to balance housework and workwork. I'm proud of how much D. and I accomplished in our mad rush, and I'm pleased with how the small changes I'm making now (curtains, tables, organizing, unpacking) are improving the house. But we're generally lazy folk, and it's hard for us to motivate ourselves at night and on weekends. Of course, there's a kind of vicious circle happening: our intense schedule of packing, moving, and revivalizing precluded our spending time with friends, academic research, getting settled in a new town, etc., so now we have to catch up on what we missed, leaving little time for work on the weekends. And there is always the almost-completely-full DVR calling for our attention.

That's not even including the new seasons of Project Runway and America's Next Top Model, the continuation of Project (Run)Jay, and Apprentice: Martha Stewart. Also, a new fave is Handmade Modern with Todd Oldham. I perused the book when we were in Seattle in July, and I was really impressed.

One thing I have not been lazy about is laundry. I'm so excited by our nifty laundry center and it's proximity to our hamper (down the hall in the cedar closet) that I do a load of laundry as soon as the bag fills up. D. is continually teasing me about what he considers to be an "obsession." But I'm home all day, it's easy to get up from my desk every once in a while, and it's really nice to get outside into the sun and hang the clothes on line. Yes, you heard me right. I'm not even using the fancy new dryer, because I've adapted the very lovely custom of yesteryear: sun-drying our clothes.

It's quick, easy, and energy-efficient. And once, when the neighbor was mowing her lawn, the curtains ended up smelling like grass. Now that's country living!