This month I partook in more than my fair share of quarantine stress shopping, aided and encouraged by every retailers' efforts to sustain themselves during this shutdown by offering sale after sale. My inbox feels like Black Friday, only worse.
Of course this is only the half of it, as in, the half which has already arrived. If my mailman hated me before, he really hates me now.
I still have a handful of outfit photos taken pre-quarantine, when I wasn't agonizing over putting on jeans and a sweater for a low-key day of visiting with family.
I surprised myself last month when I decided to buy this same v-neck cashmere sweater in both the cream color and black; truly I was going to return the cream and just keep the black, but it's so terribly soft and was on sale for $50 and I convinced myself this time would be different.
I have a terrible track record when it comes to buying duplicates of pieces in different colors. I always end up loving one far more than the other - how could such a perfect and versatile piece in one color feel like an impossible style challenge in another? (The first thing which comes to mind would be linen joggers I loved so much in olive green that grabbing the blush pink seemed like a necessity. I never wear the pink.)
However perhaps the issue isn't with the piece, but simply the color, and it feels like both cream and black are safe bets. Fingers crossed.
This weekend I took outfit photos for the first time in two weeks. It seemed silly, getting dressed for the sole purpose of snapping some photos then immediately heading back home, being sure not to interact with anyone. It was a brief bit of sun, a break from the deluge of rain, the only time I spent outside the house in four days.
It took me three hours to decide to put on jeans and a sweater. Everything else I tried just felt too contrived, I don't normally hang around the house in a dress and heels; though as much as I'd love to photograph my new dress, I don't want to just play dress-up, I want to wear it for real.
After half my closet was deposited on my bed in a desperate attempt to put together an outfit I would hang around the house in that didn't include jeans, I acquiesced to the denim, and less than an hour later I was back in my pajamas, letting the hours blur together once again.
Creating content in this quarantine is going to be a challenge, and I'm still working on figuring out what feels right to post.
The Rundown White Pointelle SweaterJ.Crew Button Fly Jeans Gap similar Snake Print MulesBanana Republic Round Crossbody BagFrench Connection Pearl Hoop Earrings c/o Mejuri Midi Stackable Diamond Ring c/o AUrate New York Thin Gold RingEtsyvia Ellyn Blue Jewelry Sunglasses "Meteor"Ray-Ban c/o TJMaxx Nail Color"Party Mix & Match"Essie
These photos were taken last month after visiting Continuum Distilling in Waterbury - a very unique distillery that takes the leftover yeast from beer making to create spirits. I sampled cocktails and indulged in a gorgeous cheese board.
Having never visited Waterbury before, I did a location search on Instagram to find this gorgeous marble building. I believe it's the town hall, or maybe the library - the map didn't seem too clear - Instagram got me in the vicinity, and that is all that matters.
I'm not sure why it took me over a month to post these photos, but I suddenly felt like I had to get them up, because I can't be posting fur coats in April (regardless of whether or not we still have a few days which require them!)
The Rundown Cashmere SweaterNordstrom Distressed Jeans Gap similar Leopard Fur Coat J.McLaughlin similar Cream BootiesAerosoles Vintage Bag Anna Pearl's Curiosities similar Cream Wide Brim Fedora Goorin Brothers similar NecklaceFrench Kande Gold Rectangle Chain NecklaceEtsy Thin Gold RingEtsyvia Ellyn Blue Jewelry
I can't believe I haven't posted in three weeks, though in my defense, the last two have been a blur with the world turned to panic over the corona virus pandemic. Remember back at the beginning of the month when life was normal and the virus seemed like a problem far, far, away? Apparently just a few miles from me a party was taking place actively spreading the virus in my state.
My month of fun blogger gatherings has been canceled, though rare, I actually had something for every weekend, and each passing Saturday has felt just a little more sad, thinking about the life being missed out on as we remain tucked away at home.
As my only income at the moment is dog walking with Wag!, naturally the more people are staying home with their pups, they less they need me. I was grateful to have a couple clients this week, I assume their moms have essential jobs they can't stay home from, thus making my job essential. That's how I look at it anyway - I don't think there is much risk in going into a house empty of people as long as I regularly use hand sanitizer. I soaked in every moment of my walks this week, trying to cling to the sense of purposefulness I had at that moment, and the joy of spending time with a dog.
The days at home lead to boredom, which lead to shopping, and now I feel like I can't even scroll through two posts on Instagram without being sucked into a vortex of shopping temptation. Despite my sudden drop in income, there seems to be a disconnect with the logical part of my brain that should be telling me not to click 'add to cart'. In my weakest defense, realtors desperate to keep operations going are serving up some good sales.
I want to try and get back to normal blog posts, try to FaceTime more with my friends who I now haven't seen in weeks, and try to find some creativity in myself. I've been missing it for a long time now, and this housebound situation is making me acutely aware of it.
Of all the disasters that keep us stuck at home, at least we get power and internet access for this one. Silver lining, right?
I can be very fickle when it comes to what I want to fill my closet with. You might not think that, because I've been shopping with such reckless abandon as of late, but I'm not good with on the spot decision making. I tend to ruminate about my purchases, probably too much, which is why after shooting these photos I went and returned this coat. Loft might have listed this coat at $200, but I know it's not a $200 coat. It was, and is on sale for $80 - reasonable, I thought, but actually, not really. It wasn't particularly warm, it was comprised more of polyester than any other fiber (I'm picky about my fibers) and was it the very exact right shade of camel that I wanted?
Nope.
Back it went. Then I decided I'd rather have a vintage coat, bid on this one at shopgoodwill.com and wasn't thrilled with it when it arrived. The problem with buying vintage however, is that I can't just return it. The answer that I dream of giving is that I will carefully tailor it myself until the fit is perfect, the reality is, beyond ripping out the shoulder pads I will be too afraid to take my scissors to the coat, it will sit unworn, and then likely get donated once more.
