What to Read this Summer

What to Read this Summer

by | Jul 1, 2020 | What I'm Reading

Hello! Welcome to July. I’m finally getting around to going through the books I’ve read since, March? Here they are, newest to oldest. It seems I’ve read about 2 books per month. That’s a lot for me. I’m not saying you should read all of these. If I was going to pick my favorites, ones I think you’d enjoy reading on the beach or whatever, I’d say: The City of Girls and The Dutch House. But, here are all the impressive tomes I’ve managed to cram into my already overcrowded brain:

Less
by Andrew Sean Greer

Review: I grabbed this in paperback at Barnes and Noble recently, desperate to dig into something light and summery, and in actual physical form. A struggling writer goes on a round-the-world lark. I’m still reading it but it’s turning out to be pretty perfect for lounging around by the pool this season.

Moonglow
by Michael Chabon

Review: This was the book back in 2017. Recommended by my Aunt Joan. I didn’t love it. I think this is the first book my Aunt liked and I didn’t. It was artfully written and interesting—a sort of memoir about the author’s grandfather—who, admittedly, did interesting things. But, it just didn’t really take off for me. (Rocket joke, which is only sort of funny if you read the book.)

The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett

Review: This is my kind of book. I got it in hardback, a Mother’s Day gift, and it was a real treat. It was much like Commonwealth, with flashbacks to youth and family disfunction that feels so familiar. The Dutch House refers to a house in a suburb of Philly (my backyard practically) built by a Dutch couple, and is the setting of much sadness, obsession and ultimately redemption? I loved it.

Wild
by Cheryl Strayed

Review: This book was very popular back in 2013 but I never got around to reading it, or watching the movie starring Reese Witherspoon. I really enjoyed this non-fiction book about a woman’s solo hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. (I read it on my iPad with the Libby app, then switched it to my daughter’s Kindle.) Such a page turner! Not only did I feel compelled to keep marching through it, cringing at every mishap, but was also inspired by it to re-explore some of my own foolhardy youthful treks. It even made me want to maybe write a memoir of my own. I have to mention though, I accidentally read some of the reviews online and the bad ones are so scathing! So unnecessarily cruel and judgmental. Like, they missed the whole point. I found myself thinking about this story so much after I finished it and wanting to talk to everyone about it. Seems no one I know has read it. Good summer book.

The Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank

Review: Well, what can I say about this? Obviously a powerful piece of history. I couldn’t remember if I had read it before. I must have. My high school did it as a play. I know the story. I learned that the book has been re-published with some previously deleted parts. It was interesting to read it now that I have a soon-to-be adolescent daughter.

The City of Girls
by Elizabeth Gilbert

Review: This is the only book I’ve read by Elizabeth Gilbert since Eat, Pray, Love. Unlike that big breakout book, City of Girls is fiction. It’s about a teenage girl who moves to NYC to live with her Aunt who runs a playhouse. The time is the 1940s. It’s pretty racy and also tragic and very, very good. I love a good novel you can get immersed in.

Queenbees and Wannabes
by Rosalind Wiseman

Review: This was like a textbook for me. Research. If you have teenagers (or tweenagers), read this book. (Also you must read How to Raise a Screensmart Kid.) Wiseman’s book is from the early 2000s. It is what the movie Mean Girls is based on. But it’s not funny. It’s harrowing. Good god. Can we talk about re-traumatization? And flashbacks to a misspent youth? But it’s full of useful information and very illuminating.

 

So much reading over here. I want to give a plug for your local library. They let you borrow books. Like, for free. Do it. Being able to download books, to your iPad or Kindle or whatever, from your library is the best thing during times like these.

The Sustainability of Clogs

The Sustainability of Clogs

by | Jun 23, 2020 | Slow Fashion | 2 comments

A follower once told me, “As long as you repair the soles before it wears through to the wood, and take good care of the leather, they will last forever.” The fact that this person was Swedish just further convinced me. After wearing my Troentorp DaVinci clogs for about a year, I knew they would need to be resoled soon. Not wanting to be clog-less, I waited until I had a back-up pair. I purchased my Lotta from Stockholm High Heel Classic Clog pair in February, right before COVID-19 hit. At that point I didn’t go to the cobbler because I thought they were closed. I had actual real fear of dropping them off and the business closing down for months, or forever, with my beloved clogs trapped inside. When I finally did take them in to the oft-recommended Camody Shoe Service, I learned they had been open the entire time. Shoe repair, considered by many to be  archaic or obsolete, was deemed “essential.”

Here’s the fun part. My $99 clogs cost $61 to resole. I didn’t have a choice. The repair man tried to dissuade me. I don’t think he had any idea how much a person could love a pair of clunky old shoes. Clearly he was unaware of the wildfire that was the hipster phenomenon of #cloglife. I left them with him, not at all confident he would return them to me the way I imagined. We agreed he would sand down the wood to remove the scuffs and marks but would not varnish them with shiny shellack. But what if he used some weird colored rubber? I did not feel sympatico with the gentleman but decided to trust him anyway. Two days later I retrieved them and was thrilled! They looked perfect. It still seems crazy to have paid so much but isn’t it better to repair and reuse? To commit yourself to the stewardship of a good pair of shoes?

Around the same time I bought my second pair of clogs, I made a purchase from Nordstrom: a pair of white Classic Dr. Scholl’s. My mom wore these when I was a kid and I had at least one pair back then and I’d been thinking about getting a pair for a long time. The only question was, “What color?” I decided on white. A few days later, a Nordstrom box arrived in the mail, (my new Dr. Scholl’s!) as well as a box from my mom. “What is this box from my mom?”, I wondered. An identical used pair of Dr. Scholl’s. I am not kidding. I had mentioned that I wanted them and she said she might have some and I forgot all about the conversation. The new ones are the photo on the left. The used ones (only a few years old, not form the 70s or anything) are on the right. Same color. Same size. Came on the same day. Like the universe was telling me, “You don’t need to buy new stuff. There’s plenty of perfectly good stuff already out there.” It was freaky. But so cool. Such an affirmation of my commitment to #lowbuy. I sent the Nordstrom ones back.

This year has been a complete 180 on shopping for me. The less I buy new clothes, the less I want them. I have been so completely content with what I have. And more and more I am really clear on what I like. Having less and maintaining a minimal, curated closet is so satisfying.

RESOURCES:

How I got started with clogs

By the way, if you need to adjust your Dr. Scholl’s buckles, this video is a life saver!

To learn more about the Low Buy Challenge, check out Signe’s site.

Remember April?

Remember April?

by | May 21, 2020 | What's New

It’s been awhile. I haven’t been blogging. I haven’t been socializing. I haven’t been a part of the world. So I thought I’d check in with you all. After much thought and reflection, I’ve come up with a vision for this platform, this blog. And that is this: just post stuff. Sometimes a crappy effort is better than no effort at all. Creativity is a tricky thing. And I can talk myself out of creating because I think too much about my audience’s reaction. But, really, who cares? Sometimes the cure for feeling stuck is to just do the next thing, no matter what anyone thinks about it.

Let’s pretend that I posted something new every week. That would take us back to April 3rd. That was my friend Annie’s birthday. Some of her friends and I decided to go over to her house and sing happy birthday to her in her driveway. That turned into dressing up and singing and dancing to ABBA. And then that morning it was rainy and I thought we decided to wait until the afternoon when it let up. I stepped out of the shower and Peggy called and said where are you?! I said I’m not dressed and aren’t we doing it later? to which she said, and I quote, “Just put on your wig and get over here!” And I did. We danced in the rain to Waterloo and Mamma Mia and Annie videoed it and even though we said do NOT post that, she put it on YouTube.

A few days later we went through the kids not wanting loft beds any more. My daughter convinced us to dismantle hers so it was just a regular full sized bed on the floor with no room for a desk and a massive clean out of her closet and all her old toys. I photographed all the Barbies, the My Little Ponies, and other oddities (Do we really need a rubber unicorn finger puppet?) and asked my friends if they wanted any of it. My son’s loft bed could not be converted so it was either use a chainsaw or flip the whole thing upside down. We chose the later and ended up having to take it apart and put it back together incorrectly, which was quite the IQ test.

Then it was Easter.

Then my daughter grew out of all her clothes. You know what that means. She wanted new clothes. It seemed like the perfect time to finally get her to watch The True Cost. If you’ve never seen it, you should. And your kids should. It’s about the devastating effect of fast fashion. In actuality bribed her. I said I’d buy her the crap she found on Pinterest if she still wanted them after watching it. She didn’t. We got a few things she needed. I passed her old clothes to friends and got some new-to-us things from other friends.

Quarantine continued and we struggled though online or “distance” learning. Middle School is a MF. I decided it was time to read Queenbees and Wannabees. It is full of great information about the challenges of teenagers. It also re-traumatized me! Ah, adolescence.

And there you have it. That was April.

My Newest Clogs

My Newest Clogs

by | Mar 27, 2020 | Slow Fashion | 0 comments

#cloglife

I finally ordered this pair of clogs, the Lotta from Stockholm “High Heel Classic Clog Tan” on March 11th and they arrived, all the way from Sweden, on March 21, so 10 days. (I might have checked the tracking number multiple times…) I have been pondering this purchase for a very long time, being very intentional about what I add to my wardrobe.

#lowbuychallenge #2020wehaveplenty #useless_lowbuy2020

I almost didn’t buy them. Before I did, because I would be paying for shipping both ways, and didn’t want to buy the wrong size, I emailed the company. They emailed me right back!

Hello,

I’m wondering how narrow these are. I usually wear a US 8.5 because my foot is sort of wide, but fit well in a 38 in Troentorp and Birkenstock.

Thank you,

Leigh

Hi Leigh!

Thank you for getting in touch!

The general width of the widest part of the highwood shoe is 8cm (the ball of the foot) and the narrowest part (just by the heel) is 6.5 cm. Depending on the size of the shoe, this will vary by a couple of millimetres but is generally similar.

The general width of the widest part of the Lowwood shoe is 9cm (the ball of the foot) and the narrowest part (just by the heel) is 7.5 cm.

This is not the best style for a wide foot. If you would like a high heel, the Highwood clogs will fit better than High Heel Classic even if the base is exactly the same.

Do let me know if I can do anything else for you!

With kind regards,

Sol

I sort of decided then I wouldn’t get them. But then they kept calling to me. My desire for them never went away. If I was going to buy one new thing this season, it was a second pair of clogs. So, about a month later, I measured the width of some of my narrower shoes and decided that the “highwood” clog would fit me. Oh, my gosh. When they arrived and fit me perfectly, I was so thrilled! I really like to live on the edge. Haha. I love them and they are everything I have been wanting: classic style, brown leather, mid heel. (They are only $76.38 + S&H and run true to size.)

Before this pair, I bought the Troentorp Da Vinci in Dark Blue. I’ve had them for a year and a half and have worn them so much that I need to get them resoled. I was advised by a fellow clog-lover, “if you get them resoled before you get down to the wood, they’ll last a lifetime.” I had planned to take them to the cobbler right after I received the new pair but then we went into lock-down due to COVID-19. The Da Vinci are amazing. I love that they make me taller without being a high heel. I knew that my next pair would be a higher heel and the “High Heel Classic” are more like a mid-high heel and they are equally comfortable. My favorite thing about clogs are wearing them while I’m cooking. It’s no surprise so many chefs wear them. There’s something about them that give me confidence in the kitchen. But I do get nervous about spilling food on the new ones.

I’ve been wearing them for about a week now—mostly indoors. Yesterday I wore them to go to the grocery store. They are so comfortable, needing no break in period. They are so perfect.

Here are the ones I got plus three others I considered. I hope you have a chance to get yourself a pair if you’re looking.

 

Lotta from Stockholm  |  Sandgrens

No. 6  |  Swedish Hasbeens

White Jeans Make Me Happy

White Jeans Make Me Happy

by | Mar 22, 2020 | Slow Fashion | 0 comments

Well, I’m ticking through my to do list. “Write blog posts” is one item. It’s something I never seem to get around to. I have a lot of time on my hands these days and you would think I would do it. But here’s the thing, I don’t get paid to do it. Also, there are usually more (seemingly) important things for me to do. Plus, who cares? Well maybe a few people. I mean, I care about clothing and outfits and such. It’s a beautiful diversion and I especially feel good when I see other people making conscious choices and sharing their personal lives.

So jeans. I have a lot of jeans. But no white jeans. And since the beginning of the year I have been on a low-buy challenge which has been really good for me. To date I’ve bought only one sweater (which I didn’t end up keeping) and one pair of jeans: the above pictured jeans from Gap. They were the second pair I tried on. (The first pair were from Madewell and they did not flatter me!) I ordered these white jeans on a whim when I was buying some things for my daughter on Gap.com. They looked promising—high waisted, off white, straight leg… When they arrived, I was instantly in love. They fit so well in the butt and the waist. So comfy! And, I love the button fly. They were exactly what I was looking for. I couldn’t believe it could be that easy. Plus, with discounts and all, they were only $41. The only thing that would have been better is if they were from a sustainable brand.

INSPIRATION

White jeans are something I have been wanting for a while. I thought they’d be perfect in my fall/winter capsule wardrobe. I looked and looked. I found a few options and saved them on Pinterest. When I think of adding something to my wardrobe, I have to really want it, really need it and if possible, buy it used or responsibly made. Ideally it is something that I don’t have and will mix well with my other items. I decided that, from now on, if I was going to add something, I would only get it if it was really special. I saved my clothing allowance and planned a trip to Manhattan (a 2 hour drive away). I wanted to go to a handful of stores I really like, stores I don’t have near me, to see the clothes in person. I focused in on Greenwich Village/Soho and chose Sézane, Everlane, & Other Stories, and Maison Scotch. I was prepared to spend more than usual, make an investment. At this point, I’m not going to NY. Well, not any time soon. But I’m okay with it.

OPTIONS

Gap | Madewell | ReDone

Everlane | J Crew | J Crew

Sézane | & Other Stories | & Other Stories

If you’re looking for versatile addition to your wardrobe, I think a pair of high-waist, straight-ish pair of white denim could be just the thing. I really don’t know if shopping for clothes is where anyone’s head is at right now. I bought these at the very beginning of March and haven’t really worn them much. Yesterday I pulled out all my Spring/Summer clothes and packed away all the Fall/Winter clothes. It was a first-day-of-spring activity I had been looking forward to. It was very satisfying. And my new jeans look very pretty hanging in my closet. I hope you are holding up under these scary times. I hope you’re keeping it really simple and finding things that make you happy. And reaching out to others however you can.