Day 33 - Pre-Loved Love in These Foolish Things

Really beautiful day yesterday. I mean, like the most perfect weather imaginable.

I got dressed in my normal “Vintage Challenge” fashion by wearing at least one pre-loved piece. This time, I was dressing for a brunch, so I wore a thrifted mens denim shirt and paired it with a beautiful, heavily embroidered and detailed Tory Burch skirt I bought years ago. It was super expensive at the time (I’m sure I bought it on sale, but I remember catching my breath when I saw the price tag. I later looked up the skirt and saw that it was a runway piece circa Early Brunch Club 2016).

I wear it a lot. I have gotten my money’s worth. And I still do today.

I decided to run to the farmers market before the brunch (are you sensing a theme? Do you know that brunch is my favorite thing in the world?) so I could refill my three giant kombucha bottles with new flavors and see if anything else caught my eye. I figured I had 30 good minutes of walking around before I had to leave to figure out the downtown parking situation for the brunch location.

So, I had on my pretty, embroidered skirt, wore my fun, new cowgirl boots, the denim shirt, I’d wrapped a red bandana around my neck (Valentine’s themed brunch later), and topped it all off with the vintage suede blazer I’d gotten the weekend before. I was accessorized in sliver, gold and vintage turquoise. AND I carried my farmers market basket, which is this super pretty, African woven basket I’d purchased years ago at my previous farmers market. I was decked OUT for the market!

Y’all. I need to do this every Saturday morning, I guess. Talk about conversation starters (and an ego boost as well)! In that 30 minutes, I talked to no fewer than eight or nine people asking about my skirt or my jewelry or my whole look. I have to admit, it was certainly a VIBE. People in this town are SO MUCH more casual than my previous city. They don’t dress for anything here, and that makes me a little sad. It’s a very athletic city, so everyone is in great shape, but they are always wearing sweats and lululemon. Don’t come for me, but I DO NOT LIKE LULULEMON!

Anyway. That was fun. I got my booch and grabbed some more yaupon tea concentrate and sampled some chai tea that was amazing - so I got some of that too. Gah, I’ve turned into a tea freak. $65 in DRINKS later (OMG, I have to watch my non-alcoholic drink budget - I just realized that I’m spending as much in teas and kombuchas as I was on my bubbly before I stopped drinking!), and I was outta there and heading for brunch.

So this brunch was held in the rooftop social gathering area of my friend Diane’s apartment building. It was hosted by one of her neighbors, and neither one of us had much of an idea of what to expect. We knew it was going to be a potluck (everyone brought an appetizer), and we knew there were going to be vision board materials available, and a clothing exchange (right up my secondhand alley!), but other than that, we really didn’t know.

I got there early and hung out in Diane’s apartment for a bit with her.

Sidenote, while I would LOVE to live downtown in this city, I haaaate her apartment. It’s small - which makes sense for downtown living, though she has two bedrooms, and just nothing special for how expensive it is. The fixtures are cheap, and it’s just meh. She’s decorated it just fine, though not really my tastes, but the kicker is that she has a fucking throw pillow on her sofa that has fucking ELON MUSK as a KING printed on it! I was like, what the fuck is THAT?! And she laughed. She loves Elon Musk. Like, thinks he is the greatest thing ever. Of course, she’s on her second Tesla now, and she speaks his high praises, and I have to just shut my ears.

\sidetrack.

When it was time, we went up to the 30th floor, and it was completely decked out in Valentine’s themed decorations. It was soooo pretty and pink and just girly sweet, and I loved every sugary, sticky detail. The hostesses had thought of everything, and I honestly thought that they were career party planners.

Turns out, the main hostess is an anesthesiologist. Huh?! I would have never in a million years guessed that for whatever reason. The only anesthesiologists I know would never, ever have the creativity to put such a soiree together. Of course, the only ones I know are dudes who are kind of dogs anyway, heh.

Regardless, it was super fun. I got a lot of joy out of it (especially the vision boarding thing and giggling with girls who are half my age), and I’ve invited the hostess to MY Galentine’s Brunch that I’m hosting on the 15th. Clearly, brunching makes my world go round.

Oh, the clothing exchange. It was kind of weird. I thought it would be a swap meet kind of thing where you could choose to swap something that you thought was a good and fair trade. So I brought a bunch of things that I thought might be of good value, like a pair of Christian Louboutins, thinking I might be able to swap a nice handbag or something out of the deal. But instead, it was more of an organized free-for-all. Everyone got a number, and there were two people “shopping” at a time and they could grab three items - anything they wanted! I decided NOT to throw the Loubies out there. I’m going to take them to a consignment store instead. And there were other things that I didn’t put out, but I did throw out some items that I was happy to donate.

For my shopping part, I grabbed super cute sundress and that’s all that was interesting to me. I honestly don’t need more clothing and I need to donate much more. It’s becoming obsessive.

And the dress! I took it home and tried it on, and it has now become my obsession. Because the dress is a smidge too tight, and yet, I can tell that once I get into my goal shape with my workouts and such, it’s going to be the prettiest, sexiest dress I own! I’m calling it my “ideal goal body” dress. Notice I didn’t say, “ideal weight” because it’s not about weight. I’m at a weight that feels right for me. It’s transforming the weight and shape that’s important to me now. I needed another goal to shoot for, and here it is!

Anyway, there were a lot of leftover items there that will then be sent to charity organizations like my favorite volunteer thrift organization.

Speaking of which, I’m volunteering this morning! I need to go so I can get ready for that and on with my day!

Lots going on. Coffee dates are on hold right now. I’m taking myself out this weekend.

xox,
GS