Clothes Make the (Wo)Man

Almost a year and a half ago, Jimmy and I bagged up most of our clothes and took them to a local dry cleaner to clean and store while we battled the nefarious carpet beetles that infested our home.  We kept Daniel’s clothes since they were easily washable, a few towels, t-shirts and lounging clothes and a few items for work that would see us through what we thought would be a short time.

It wasn’t.

Fucking carpet beetles.

Come summer 2012, I was buying new shirts and a few new skirts and dresses to see me through.  Fall 2012 found me buying a few more items.  I tried to purchase carefully, knowing that at some point, hopefully, I would be getting back my wardrobe.

By Winter 2012 I was frustrated.  I had kept skirts but in some cases, inexplicably, not sweaters or warm shirts that would go with them.  I had kept only a couple of sweaters in general.  My stress-induced weight gain made some of the my meager wardrobe look like shit on me.  I was sick and tired of what clothes I had and had to talk myself down from deciding a (small) shopping spree was in order.

A couple of months ago, Jimmy told me he thought we could bring home our clothes.  We had waged war against the damn carpet beetles for over a year and (knock on wood!!), the situation seemed to be under control.  We set a date; I dared not get my hopes up.

Last weekend, our clothes came home.  That may be the stupidest sentence ever written on this blog for its sentiment, but I was thrilled.  THRILLED.  I had a wedding to go to last Saturday and reveled in the luxury of 4 outfit changes.  As I flipped through the clothes encased in plastic, I practically cooed.  I had forgotten about this shirt and that shirt and oh, look at the cute summer clothes I had forgotten (or tried to forget) I had!!

OUR CLOTHES!!! Yeah, we might have too much

I’m proud of myself for managing to survive on a few pairs of pants and skirts for over a year.  My wardrobe was thin, and I hope I didn’t look ridiculous for a year.  I’m a bit embarrassed by the sheer amount of clothes we have, and I suspect I have a lot of weeding and donations to Goodwill in my future.  I have a bad tendency to hoard and hang on to items much longer than I should, but I’ll be happy to go through and ruthlessly weed items that I easily got along without for a year.

But for now?  I’m enjoying the over-full closet. All of my socks are back! I wore a sweater yesterday from the returned items and paired a blouse and dress for today.  I’m far from a clothes-horse or fashion guru, believe me.  Many of the items in my wardrobe have been collected over many years, and I like to think they are classic and timeless.  This week I have enjoyed having variety from which to choose and just having a little fun with my wardrobe. I feel more confident and secure wearing my clothes. They are old friends.

Black dress w/ blouse back from storage

After the last couple of weeks, it’s nice to find a few rays of sunshine.

Terrific Tuesday

Dinner over and post-dinner clean
up completed (a must for little hands that touch everything). The thunder that had been booming for the last hour finally gave way to rain.

Daddy noticed it felt cooler on the porch and suggested we all enjoy it before it was time to focus on prep for bedtime.

While we sat in chairs and watched, you, Sweet Boy, ran in and out of the house and ran from one side of the porch to another. You enjoyed every moment while the rain poured.

We watched you, marvelling as always of your energy and focus. You noticed the rain and ran to one side of the porch, watching intently as it poured.

Finally, you settled a bit as bedtime approached. We read you your current favorite stories and fed you copious amount of mandarin oranges while a cool breeze wafted through.

You were tired & it was slightly past your bedtime when we brought you inside, but that’s ok. It is what summer is for.

Your daddy and I had a wonderful evening with you. Yet another memory to file away in permanent storage.

Happy Summer, Sweet Boy