All Things EARTH... part 2

[awhfy]

We ordered the emed Covid test kits for our 24 Oct cruise. Ordered on Wednesday received by FedEx on Thurs before noon. Now for negative tests. We’re hoping our 3rd Moderna vaccine will help. We’re also going to mask everywhere until we leave!!!  I really want to cruise!!!

[MJC]

Melody that's our plan too. Limited contact for the two weeks prior. We are not eligible for boosters before we go.

 

[laurspag]

I know I sound like a broken record, but I am so happy when I hear from everyone here.  I just want to be sure everyone is okay.

 

Your time with your son sounds wonderful, Anita.  I am trying to figure out how to make better use of my time.  I often feel like work is the main part of it, and it is.  Then there are household chores and meal cooking.  It doesn't feel like there is a a lot of time left over after that.

 

My daughter mentioned a good deal on the Friday night football game, and my first thought was that it was a pain, I work on Friday, I'll be rushing around, etc.  Then I stopped and thought about it.  First, I did have plenty of time to get to the game.  Granted, parking is quite a ways away, and the walking, getting in there, getting something to eat before you sit down...I'm one of those people who wants to be there early, and I never, ever leave before a game is over.  I love the experience.

 

I do have some flex hours availability, so I left at 5.  I got home, fed the dogs, took them out.  I changed my clothes, I took them out again and got the mail.  My daughter got home and changed, and off we went!  My husband met us there.  It was such a fun evening.  I'm a big sports junkie, but so much of my enjoyment is while I'm sneaking a peek at the TV while cooking, doing laundry, etc.  So it feels good to stop and relax and truly enjoy my time with others.

 

I know that was a long story about nothing, but it feels pertinent to the conversation.  I know you can't go back, but I have so many "Cat's In the Cradle" moments.  Most of you probably know that song, but if you don't, you can google the lyrics.  I'm trying to live in the moment and not put everything off.

 

And it genuinely makes my heart happy that you spent a lot of time with your son, Anita.

 

I will be taking a vacation to work on some house stuff, but we are focused these days on prioritizing, and realizing we will not do everything that we dream of doing.  That's okay - we have a home we love, and we will just plug away at it, as long as we have balance in our lives.    

 

When I did the Style Statement exercise, along with harmony and elegance, a word that came up a lot close behind those was balance.  I am making progress.

 

I like that sweater, Margaret.  I think the neckline is an issue for me too, but I do try things.  If it was darker, I could probably stand a better chance of having it look good.  I get catalogs from Soft Surroundings, Northern Style and a few others these days, and have enjoyed their earth colors for all seasons.  Our JJill closed too, but I did order two pairs of jeans (faded, and ivory) earlier this summer and they were really nice.  

[awhfy]

Laurie. Know what you mean. Yesterday we had brunch with our oldest & youngest (middle was teaching 😢). Laughed so hard at so many things. 4 different people told us how much they enjoyed seeing friends having such a good time. Our son laughed & said & they’re our parents. One guy looked surprised & said I don’t laugh like that with my kids. Our son (takes after me) said, why not.  Our middle & her hubby came over today & we sat under the gazebo. We really enjoy our kids. 
 

today is National Daughter Day & National Son Day is next week. Today is also National Lobster Day & we indulged! Melody

[Anita Latte]

Laurie! Yes I was so glad to get to spend time with DS. I’m with you…I like to arrive early and stay for the whole thing. I never understand when people leave early to beat the crowd or whatever. I understand that maybe some people really need to be home by a certain time (babysitters or whatever) but I always figure that I paid for the whole experience, why would I cut it short?

 

Melody…nice photos. My family has gotten the same reaction on cruises we’ve taken together. It’s surprising to some how much fun we have together…they don’t think we’re family…they think we’re friends. We always answer that we ARE friends AND family.

 

My Target shorts arrived and I was right about the color. Dark pink could be called Deep Salmon. It’s not a perfect Earth color but it’s very workable.

 

Here I’m wearing one of my fave shirts. I love patterns. This one is low contrast which works so well for my Soft Autumn self. I’m showing it with the purple shorts and the pink shorts. You can see how the purple picks up one of the colors in the pattern but is cooler in tone overall than my shirt. I think the pink blends pretty well.

 

 

 

[awhfy]

Anita I couldn’t open the pictures

 

Laurie, arriving early, especially  to baseball games is half the experience for us. I love watching batting practice & fielding practice. I really love it when the players play catch with the kids in the stands. Our last game at Fenway (2018 against the Astros in September) we were in right field (visitors side), we were waiting for gate to open. There was a boy, about 12 with his glove sitting in back of us (we had front row seats). We asked his Dad if he’d like to catch with the players, we’d switch seats for awhile. The boy nodded & we switched seats. He started playing catch with the players. Dad turned to us & said he’s nonverbal, this was his dream. The kid got to keep the ball & the Astro player signed it. We stayed in the second row for the game. Red Sox lost that game, still a great game. 
 

Out here for AF football games you have to be in stadium before game starts (fine by us!)

[laurspag]

Anita, I really like that shirt with the coral shorts.  Isn't it amazing how things can look different when paired with different colors?  I often wear navy pants with warmer colors since it can be pretty boring to just wear brown pants.  I have found that it is important to get the warmer, brighter navy.  Caramel, gold, rust all look great with it.

 

My goal is to buy earth tones whenever I can, but I have learned how to make other things works.  It should be interesting to see how my graying hair will work with my clothes in the future.  I remember Curt telling us that once and earth, always an earth.  However, we might go from true earth to say soft earth.  That makes sense.

 

I am definitely thinking a lot about my wardrobe for the cruise, but a short cruise means narrowing it down.  I literally have three dresses out for "dress your best" fka formal night.  I am pretty sure I have eliminated one, but the other two are in a close race.  

 

Tomorrow, my grandson turns 2.  Does that seem possible?  We all went to the zoo today: my grandson, his mom, my other daughter, my husband and even his father and current girlfriend.  When  you put the kids first, it is amazing what a difference it makes.  We had such a great time, and it was a beautiful, cool, fall day.  

[awhfy]

My leaf peepin outfit 

[Anita Latte]

Oh how I love the aspen! One thing I miss about living in CO. Lovely pics Melody…you look lovely too.

 

So you are going natural Laurie? No more  coloring? I’m getting random gray that seems to throughout my whole head and not too concentrated in any one spot…except at my temple on my right. There’s a little grouping there but I’m hoping the gray keeps coming in more evenly when it does. 

 

Weird that you couldn’t see the photos Melody, they are supposed to be in the post with no link. These are the dark pink shorts with one of my fave casual tops. The top is from Bass Pro…I think it’s a Columbia top. I love the scoop neck and the way the sleeves are…also it’s a women’s friendly top with a bit of shape to it and not so boxy. I think it totally works with the “dark pink” shorts.

 

 

im just seeing how the wrinkles in my shirt aren’t very flattering…oh well.

[awhfy]

Anita, perfect match with the logo & those shorts. Still can’t see the pictures. No clue. 

[awhfy]

12 hours ago, awhfy said:

Anita, perfect match with the logo & those shorts. Still can’t see the pictures. No clue. 

This morning I opened the board & pictures were there. Only difference was I did an update yesterday to my iPad 

[laurspag]

Anita, I like that outfit!  I was just thinking about how you are in Florida.  I'm putting away my shorts, except for the ones I know I am taking on my cruise since it lets me play with different outfit combos.  I am currently wearing my lucky Red Sox sweatshirt. It is 64, but a bit misty like.  I don't really need this heavy of a sweatshirt, but I do need the luck it brings.

 

Nope, I'm not superstitious....

 

Melody, you look great.  We are not quite ready for leaf peeping yet, but it will be here very soon.  I have heard that our weather this year will make it less than what we are accustomed to.  It's my favorite time of the year.

 

Anita, I believe you have some longer pants and long sleeved shirts still, right?  I recall that there is some cooler weather here and there in Florida, but it doesn't stay.  I know that when I visited last March just prior to the pandemic, it was literally mid 90s one day, and 70 and cool the next.

 

So I am actively planning my cruise outfits.  I have chosen my formal night dress, but if anything came up and I felt the need to switch, I have a second dress I'm itching to wear.  Ironically, I saw a full length dress I feel in love with, and it is very different from anything else I have.  I guess I should keep it in my cart and wait for it go on sale because it is too expensive.  In addition, I can start seeing how people indicate dress your best night is going.  I am set for my cruise and I likely wouldn't change my dress choice, but a seven night cruise would have me searching all over for a better price.

 

For reference, this is the dress that caught my eye:

 

Lauren Ralph Lauren Ocelot-Print One-Shoulder Gown & Reviews - Dresses - Women - Macy's (macys.com)

 

I have a soft spot for animal prints.  I don't know why, but this dress just looks like something that would do wonders for the way I feel.  I sometimes have that kind of relationship with clothes, which is why I choose the dress I did for dress your best night out of the two I narrowed it down to.  I felt like a million bucks in it, as they say.

 

I will post a picture in a bit of the dress I will be wearing.  Seeing that it is red, I know that has a lot to do with how I feel about it.  Plus, we are sailing just after Thanksgiving, and it seems appropriate as we all start thinking of Christmas.

 

The rest of the nights are a toss up.  I need to try things on and see what fits and what does not.  I have a few dresses that have gone on the last few cruises, so I kind of want to bring something different.  They have a tropical night, and I have a go to dress for that.  Otherwise, I don't really have something for the theme.  Since I have worn it the past 2-3 cruises, I kind of want something different.  I"m open to adding something to the closet, but I'm having trouble seeing anything.  I thought I would be able to find summer clearance but so far that hasn't happened.  It happens to be a White House Black Market dress that was on clearance, and I was in the store when they had an additional percentage off.  Interestingly enough, my red dress that I'm bringing was purchased the same way.  Both were amazing deals.

 

If I don't find anything, I think I will bring my golden/yellow jersey swing dress.  I have a bracelet that has aqua and gold flowers, so I think it will work.  It's usually the last night or second from last night, and with water retention, it will be comfy.

 

 

[laurspag]

Formal night options.  I chose the red.  Both are high low dresses.  The red is a bit asymetrical.  This isn't the best picture, but I was trying to get a better picture of the dress on the left from a color perspective.

 

For tropical night, the dress on the left has gone on the past 3 cruises, I think.  So I think I'm going to go with the dress on the right, unless something comes up while shopping on the next month and a half.

 

[Anita Latte]

Well the boards did something again and now I can’t sign in again on my MacBook. *sigh*
 

Laurie…the animal print dress! I could see you in that! I don’t think it looks exceedingly formal…it could straddle formal and go into less formal special occasions. Definitely watch the sales on that one. Both the red and the golden yellow dress will be very appropriate.

 

I really enjoyed the short cruise we took embarking the day after Thanksgiving. They started here and there with the Christmas decorations so definitely red will be appropriate and you could probably find some picture worthy places with Christmas decor on the ship.

 

I do still have some long pants because it does get cooler here if not cold necessarily. We did have to turn the heat on last year. But I find that I can stretch the shorts with long sleeves tops far into the cooler season. If my upper body is warm and if I’m wearing socks and shoes, then having exposed legs doesn’t bother me too much is cooler weather.

 

We we’re in Target again and DH suggested I see if there were any new colors in the shorts I like so much. There was a perfect Earth caramel color. It’s a great color for me in particular but it would be a great staple for any Earth ladies.

 

 

I tried on the size down from what I’ve been buying and so close! I could button the shorts and I know they stretch but the rise was just a little off because the waist wanted to creep up just a little higher…a bit of pull in the lower hip…we went ahead and bought that one and the current size…and grabbed the purple in the size down too just because.

[laurspag]

I can't sign in currently from my phone.  I get notifications and can go to the site to read the posts, but it doesn't let me sign in to respond.  I'm not sure what they are doing, but seeing that Melody couldn't see your pictures for a bit, it sounds like CC is having some issues.

 

I love the red dress.  That is a chiffon later over the top, so it has a really nice look to it.  I was thinking the same as you when it comes to the animal print dress - while it would work on formal night (DYB), it does not feel overly formal.  I love to break things down, and I have some things on my Pinterest page about the different levels of formal and so forth.  

 

This dress would work for DYB, and I know I would feel so good in it.  I am aiming to purchase the animal print dress once I can get it for a better price, and it will be on the next cruise for sure.  I am definitely focusing on a 7 or 8 night cruise for the next one.  I could wear that the first formal night, and then the purplish blue dress the second.  The purplish blue dress is from my daughter's wedding, and it takes to dressing up or down readily.  The back is full length, overall.  I also have some special jewelry made to go with that dress that take it up a notch.

 

It is fun how we can plan out what we wear, whether it be every day or a cruise.  I have felt the need to change my work attire as it has fallen into a rut, I also feel like I don't want to buy expensive suits or jackets that require adjusting.  I'm keeping it somewhat minimal, since the hope is to retire in 6 years.  I don't expect everything to last that long, but I will replace things as they are worn.  Once I am retired, I will keep key items and donate after that.  I am just not looking for a closet full of stuff, you know?

 

One thing about the dress from the wedding is that it so easy to wear.  The jersey stretch means it fits easily, and the front makes it comfy.  It even has these neat little things at the shoulder with a snap so that you can keep your bra straps in place.  It is a wonderful dress.

 

It's funny, because I'm kind of an introvert, but when I dress for outside of work and sports, I love red, animal prints, things with a little bit of uniqueness, etc.    I'm forgetting now that other quiz thing we did....Kibbe?  I was a dramatic classic, if I remember right.  I questioned the dramatic part, and Anita, you pointed out my love of red and certain other things.

 

I love this stuff.

 

Your shorts.  They have caramel in those at Target?  I need to go back to the link you posted.  That is one of my favorite colors, and I would love to have a pair of shorts that color.  I need to take a look.  They would go with so many things that I have.

[laurspag]

I forgot to mention that I like your shirt too.

 

I fell in love with this, but not with the price.  Then I saw 30% off, and thought...maybe.  Then I found out that the two pieces are sold separately.  🥵

 

But that fits in to my style, in a way.  It's a sweater set.  What is more classic than that?  But, it's different.  This is just so, so, so pretty.

 

Charming Cardigan - Paisley Squared | Talbots

[Anita Latte]

Laurie…I looked to see if that new color for the Target shorts was online but it isn’t. That happens sometimes where the store merchandise is different than the online. Idk how far Target is for you or if you would even still have shorts in your local stores? 
 

I hope everyone cruising, Laurie, Margaret and Melody, all have great cruises but I’m just not ready for cruising as nice as it sounds. We’re planning our 25th wedding anniversary trip for next fall. Actual anniversary is July 5 but how silly we’re we picking a holiday weekend to get married? Anyway, we want to go to Glacier National Park in Montana. We plan to fly in somewhere and rent a van and drive up there. We’ll use the van for hopefully a good sleep with a decent bed situation and then plan to backpack and camp for one and/or two nights along different trails to get into the wilderness. The plan is to do that at least twice with a break back at the van for at least one or two nights in between. 
 

To train up for that we have quite the plan involving lots of hiking/walking, strength training, breathing exercises, some intermediate trips to elevation in NC and wherever else nearby to see how we do and have more training because we’ll be going from elevation 24 to several thousand in MT! 
 

We haven’t been back west in so long. And it’ll have been 24 years since we visited Glacier National Park which is where we went for our first anniversary. Then we plan for Denali and then we plan for Kilimanjaro.

[Anita Latte]

I like that twin set and I don’t like many personally for me…but I like the pattern!

[awhfy]

Laurie, wear that sweatshirt tomorrow too!!  We need all the luck possible!  I had on Red Sox too

[awhfy]

Laurie, that ocelot print is fabulous!  I also really like that sweater twin set. You could wear that to work with dark slacks. 
 

if you like animal prints check out Chicos, I swear 80% of their offerings are animal prints. 
 

I do think CC has been having issues, I’m having issues signing in as well. 
 

two weeks & I’ll be sitting on a beach!!! Melody

[awhfy]

Well Laurie, the Sox did their job last night!!!  Let’s hope for a repeat of 2004!!!!!  Melody

[MJC]

I know you Sox fans are happy, but oh my poor Yankees. 🙁 I haven't watched baseball all summer. and all the players I knew are gone, and the team plays really green. No fall basement for us.

 

If you like the Northstyle catalog, they have some nice things on sale. Don't you hate it when something is sooo close but then they throw in some white? Grr. Like this dress:

 

https://www.northstyle.com/itemdy00.aspx?ID=162,4156&T1=NK106+BLM+8

 

https://www.northstyle.com/itemdy00.aspx?ID=162,4156&T1=NL235+BLH+S#pr-reviewdisplay1

 

https://www.northstyle.com/itemdy00.aspx?ID=162,4156&T1=NL443+IVML+S

 

https://www.northstyle.com/itemdy00.aspx?ID=162,4156&T1=NK754+OL+S

 

 

I ordered two pairs of leggings. This looks muted blue in the catalog, but if it's on the gray side I don't care because I will wear them with tan on top:

 

https://www.northstyle.com/itemdy00.aspx?T1=NL747+SLT+S&GASearchTerm=scrolling floral print&srchcat=SearchBox

 

And they have brown!

 

https://www.northstyle.com/itemdy00.aspx?T1=WD280+NV+S

 

Now that the cooler weather is here, I'm re-assessing my fall casual wear and shoes.

 

 

'

Edited October 6, 2021 by MJC

[Anita Latte]

Love that legging print Margaret but those look medium to low rise to me. Whenever I get not high rise I have to deal with waistband rolling down…my tummy doesn’t cooperate unless it’s completely under wraps. 😂 

 

I’m currently debating my shoes. I know that we do get cool enough, especially in the evenings after the sun goes down, that having non-sandal shoes is nice. I’ve been eyeing the clog style of Birkenstock. I think that suits me.

 

 I’m about to start breaking in my Doc Martens. We’re going to a rock festival next month and they would be perfect to wear there but I’ve only worn them a few times. Also debating what else I might wear to the festival…it’s a super fun atmosphere and with it being in November, could be great weather. 

[awhfy]

Anita, look at OOFOS clogs, most comfy thing I’ve ever had on my foot. I love FL in November still warm but not crazy hot. 

 

Margaret, I like those leggings, they’d look great with navy blue too. 
 

We got out everything to pack for our cruise. I’m used to traveling for 14-21 nights on a cruise & this is only 7. My suitcase looks empty!!!  Melody

[Anita Latte]

Those do look comfortable Melody but for something I’d wear almost daily, I buy zero drop and those aren’t zero drop. The colors also aren’t quite earthy.

 

I’m trying some new cosmetics. I realized everything I have is way old so I’m scrapping it all and starting with a fresh thought. I’m going to just focus on skin condition and making my skin look as good as I can. I used to be all about a dramatic eye for make up which is why I rarely wear make up but I’m looking for things to help my skin. I’ve found a small company making super clean products out of Wilmington NC. Apparently the man is French and worked in the south of France for Chanel for 8 years. He’s a chemist. The woman is an art history major with an eye for color. I’ve ordered the nude lip balm, peachy blush and the champagne toned highlighter. I’ve ordered two different concealer samples. If anyone’s interested:
 

https://riverorganics.org/pages/about-us