As the recent months have been, September was relatively uneventful.

I did turn 62, which is a significant birthday for me. It means that I COULD start collecting social security and retirement money. I’m NOT yet, but I COULD. It’s nice feeling there’s a Plan B.

The birthday itself was quiet. A friend and I went to the park by the harbor in the next town and just talked and enjoyed the shade and the fresh air. She brought a cake.

A few weeks later another friend took me to lunch at a Japanese tea house and bakery I’ve been wanting to go to and it was lovely.

One of my “little spots” cleaning up projects. The ebay photo and packing area. It will be such a relief to have all the ebayable stuff gone and the table back in the kitchen and out of the bedroom. That’s a little ways off still but…at least things are moving in that direction.

There has been an uptick in work events after two years of relative quiet. Me and my new officemate hosted a refreshment stop at the Bike to the Beach event where cyclists ride 100 miles from Manhattan to West Hampton Beach. It’s a nice event. They thank us for offering water and goodies, we thank them for rising to raise money for autism.

Also, our twice-yearly Adventureland event, where a local amusement park is closed to the general public and open only to individuals with autism and their families. With the park at only a small percentage of its full capacity, there are few lines to get on rides, and everyone at the park is understanding and accepting of everyone there. Another nice event.

I’d had plans to go to Florida to dog-sit for Katie so she could go to NY to a friend’s wedding. Hurricane Ian almost put a stop to those plans…but the worst of it by-passed Katie and after a day’s delay, I got there and she got to NY. There was devastating destruction in Fort Myers, which is about 70 miles south of Katie. I’m grateful her area was spared…and my heart goes out to the people in the areas that got hit Really Hard.

When I first caught sight of this in the Tampa airport I was like “why is there a giant intestine hanging from the ceiling?” Then I saw the head and beak. Ah. That made much more sense.

And that was September. Summer is over. Fall is here. It’s cooling down in NY nicely. I can sleep with the windows open and snuggle cozily under the blankets and not sweat all night.

Not Sweating is one of life’s great experiences.

The End.

ANNNNNND I’m back. AGAIN. Last week I was on vacation and I literally wore two things: 1) my nightgown and 2) a nightgown dress with a unbuttoned button-down.

It was a delightful week of lovely, lovely nothingness. One evening early on (I love when vacations are long enough that you can say things like “early on” and it doesn’t sound ridiculous) I did cocktails and fireworks (minus the cocktails) on the beach at sunset with a friend…and the final weekend I had brunch in Queens with another friend. But the in-between was unstructured, quiet, peaceful. I read a lot, napped almost every day, watched a TON of movies…did a couple tiny tiny apartment projects…and made myself a schedule for the summer so I can keep up with my couple little things I’m doing.

Because of course I DID add on a few other Korean classes for the summer (I’m so weak)…but these are more like FUN, than CLASSES. But they still have meeting times and assignments so…a schedule will help. One is a kdrama culture class where we watch episodes “together but apart” and discuss cultural aspects of the show…we get vocabulary lists and grammar points used in the episodes we watched. So that’s interesting. Another one is a journaling group, where we’re journaling in Korean. Which is right up my alley…except for the part where it takes me like an hour to create one sentence. One SIMPLE sentence. AND THEN….and this was a bit of a surprise…we’re asked to READ our entries to the class. In Korean (duh). I had an out yesterday cuz I was on the server from my pc, which has no camera or microphone. But now I have to think for the week ahead – simple sentences THAT WILL BE EASY TO READ. Out Loud. In front of people. And there’s another class on using a learning app to help with vocab, etc, but it is so over my head that I think I’ll drop that one for now.

Did I tell y’all this already? I forget. Sorry if I’m repeating myself.

Big News: I’m wearing a new (old/thrifted) shirt. I bought this on ebay last summer and just never wore it. It’s not buttonable but it works as an over-shirt. It’s linen but what I call “autumn linen,” cuz it’s a little thicker/heavier than “summer linen.” But it’s not too hot today so I’m going for it because I am SO TIRED OF EVERYTHING I OWN and it’s only the beginning of summer 🙁

I’m envisioning it over white jeans/white tee…but it may be too ice-cream-man-y. We’ll see. I feel like I see OTHER people wearing white+white with something over top and THEY don’t look like ice cream men. Why is it just me??

And I’m aware I should be calling them ice cream PERSONS…or vendors or something…but I have literally NEVER seen a female ice cream truck person.

I switched into slides when I Ieft work early for a dr’s appt. I knew I’d have to take my shoes off and it’s too hard to get them back on when I’m out in the world. They’re not pretty but they’re so comfortable. I got them before one of my FL or CA trips in the past year just so I’d have something easy for hot weather and didn’t have to take my heavier Birkenstocks. I like them, too, cuz they’re velcro adjustable.

Stop talking, Bettye.

Lilac Shirt: Kate Hill, 3x. 2021
Black Dress: Asos, 22. 5500BC
Slides: New Balance, 2021.

Feeling better today. And it’s back to being cold.

I feel naked without a shirt under my shirt 🙂 But it’s another laundry day so…I must sacrifice.

This brown plaid shirt is a thrift store find. I like the fit. It’s loose in the tummy/hips, but well-fitting in the shoulders/sleeves. SEE, CLOTHING MANUFACTURERS, IT CAN BE DONE! And it goes well with my chocolate-brown cardigan. From a distance, ha ha. Close-up the colors are just…a little off. And not in a good interesting/clashy way. Just a little off. But I’m probably the one that sees that. No one else gets that close to me.

Thursday. One more day. I have no PLANS for the weekend but at least I get two days left to my own devices. I don’t even have to pump out ebay listings cuz I won’t be here next weekend to ship anything out. Woohoo, it’s like a mini-vacation!

Plaid Button-down: thrifted, 3x. 2021
Brown Cardigan: Old Navy, 2x. 2020
Jeans: Gloria Vanderbilt, 20 short. 2021
Sneakers: Navy Converse Shoreline slip-ons, 2021

What I Wore One Year Ago Today

This is funny, because I JUST found this sweater and got it washed today. It’s currently hanging up air-drying. I don’t think I’ve worn it at all this winter cuz it’s been missing! Last year I wore it a TON cuz I loved it so much. Maybe I’ll wear it tomorrow 🙂

I miss my long hair. I miss Michael who cut my long hair perfectly so it always looked nice.

Sweater: Treasure & Bond, 3x. 2020. Available in cream/oatmeal here.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may receive a small commission if you buy something as a result of clicking that link, at no extra cost to you. I appreciate you shopping through my links.

AKA: Quite Possibly The Most Boring Post Ever. I was just trying to recover from the previous week and get my feet solidly on the ground. Why do I feel like I’ve been saying that for like 6 weeks?

MONDAY 11.28

I got picked up by Uber at 4:30am and whisked off to the airport. Sadly, I was not in first class for this flight so I was back in long lines with the common folk 🙂

There were lots of Army (BTS fans) at the airport and on my flight. My alter-ego continued being outgoing and initiating conversations with people…”did you go to BTS this weekend?? ME TOO!!! Squeal! Who’s your bias (favorite)? Squeal!” etc. I don’t know where this person (me) came from. But it was kinda fun while it lasted.

The flight seemed to take about two hours and then I was home. Very uneventful flight and drive back home.

And I walked into an empty house.

TUESDAY 11.29

Back to work. And all the “HOW WAS IT? WAS IT EVERYTHING YOU’D HOPED AND DREAMED OF?!?” questions. Ha. I’m really still processing all my thoughts and emotions. So I just pretty much said, “it was great,” and tried to move on. It’s such a complex thing to me, there’s no easy answer and the general public doesn’t want to hear me talk for 15 minutes about something they have no interest in. So, “it was great.” Ha.

WEDNESDAY 12.1

I’m really struggling with re-entry back into normal life. More so than usual. Between the loss of Jane, the extended lack of sleep, the physical exhaustion of ALL THE WALKING…going from house to house…no down-time…then THE BTS CONCERT and all that THAT entailed….I don’t really feel like I have both feet solidly on the ground just yet.

I think I’ll refrain from making any plans this weekend. I could probably use a couple days of nothingness and catch-up.

Plus, Long Island’s covid positivity rate is creeping up and is back over 6% so laying low is probably not a bad idea. I’m actually taking a covid test on Friday. Not because I have any symptoms, but just because of the traveling, three different planes, concert, etc. It can’t hurt and hopefully will just give me peace of mind that I didn’t bring back any souvenirs from my trip.

THURSDAY 12.2

Spotify just did their annual “2021 Wrapped” thing, where they give you the stats on your listening for the past year.

You’ll never guess who my most listened to artist was. Ha ha.

My Top 5 Artists were (all Korean):
1. BTS (SURPRISE!)
2. Stray Kids
3. The Rose
4. Epik High
5. Park Won

Interestingly, BTS was not in my Top Five Songs, but the ones that were made sense. #1 was “Lovesong” by TXT, that song that I think sounds like falling in love feels like. And I only added that in August, and it still beat out every other song. That should give you an idea of just how often I play it (88 times). It’s sort of a “feel good, feel positive, feel empowered” anthem for me and there are many days I put it on as the first song when I leave work just to…make a clean break.

In my top 100 songs were 8 English songs, 1 Thai, 1 Arabic, 1 Italian, 1 Russian, 1 Latin…and 87 Korean songs (shocker).

The 8 English songs were:
Fire on Fire by Sam Smith
Faded by Alan Walker
About Today by The National
All Time Low by Kurt Hugo Schneider
A Little Braver by New Empire
Lights Are On by Tom Rosenthal
Already Gone by Sleeping at Last
You’re Somebody Else by flora cash

My top podcast was Talk to Me In Korean…which, yeah. Daily. I listen to their podcasts, do lessons on their website, and have their books (well, the Level 1 books). So Helpful.

FRIDAY 12.3

Went for a covid test after work – no symptoms, just seemed like after being with ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD last week, it couldn’t hurt.

Went out to dinner locally with my friend. Woohoo, nightlife.

SATURDAY 12.4

Stayed home cuz a) exhausted and b) had cable guy coming for the THIRD TIME to set up the new whozeewhatsis. And for the third time, it didn’t happen. This time they sent a “fix it, technician.” I don’t need anything FIXED, I need something INSTALLED and he was not able to do it.

I foresee Saturdays for the rest of my days being spent waiting for The Cable Guy.

SUNDAY 12.5

Quiet day. Grocery store. Studied. Washed the ^%*%^@! dishes.

I’m so off-schedule with posting, I’m trying to get back…but I’m also behind in writing, GAHHHHH.

I feel like I will never be back in synch with life!

Oh, ps, covid test came back negative.

WAKE UP!!!

 

 

I think brown gets a bad rap.

People love the various shades of brown: khaki, camel, rust and chestnut, cognac, mahogany…but as soon as you say BROWN you get EW.

But chocolate?? The warm lustre of old wood? A sleek seal brown horse? The perfect cup of dark coffee? Cascading brunette waves? A lovely brown-eyed boy?

None of those things are ew.

As always, it’s how you combine it with other colors. Remember, warm tones are happy with other warm tones. Cool tones play nicely with other cool colors. Not that you can’t combine warm and cool…but it’s a little harder to do well.

And repeat after me: Brown Goes with Black. Brown Goes with Black. Brown Goes with Black.

And blue. And green. And pink. And grey! I love brown for the fact that so many color combinations are a little unexpected.

Brown + Green

Any color combination found in nature is pretty much a sure win.

Brown + Pink

Maybe not as commonly found out in the world as brown and green, but still. A lot of browns have rosy undertones to them…look at Photos 1 and 4. And fuchsia is a nice contrast to the subdued vibes of brown.

Brown + Blue

This is another one of those silly “no-no’s” we’ve been living with for too many years. Brown looks great with denim…aqua/turquoise, clear sky blue…the list goes on.

Brown + Grey

I find brown and grey very chic.

Brown + Black

And of course, brown goes so well with the other autumn tones: golden yellow, orange, cream, red…but I wanted to share some of the more uncommon combinations.

Here are some ways I’ve worn brown…

I hope you’ll take another look at this undervalued color!

See you next time!

 

 

 

MONDAY

It’s disgusting out. Like living in the rain forest without the pretty birds.

I’m at work this week, but the school program is closed so there’s only a handful of staff in this building, and no students. So there’s less going on than usual. My office-mate is on vacation this week so it’s pretty quiet in here.

I stumbled upon these cleaning TikToks this morning (as I was lying in bed, procrastinating about getting ready for work til the last possible moment) and now I feel such shame, ha ha. I am – well, after watching these videos I will no longer say I’m the WORST housekeeper, but…I’m certainly not a GOOD one. Call it depression, call it laziness, I don’t know, but I just don’t CARE enough to spend my valuable Me Time CLEANING. And I’m not a thorough/careful person with really ANYTHING I do, so even when I DO break down and clean something, it’s not done well. I admit that.

That said, I DO love being in a freshly-cleaned space. I just wish *I* didn’t have to do it. I know some people actually enjoy the act of cleaning. Not this girl. My sister got that gene, not me.

Anyway, after watching half-a-dozen of these (somewhat horrifying) videos (one woman described the stuff on the walls of the apartments she pre-cleans before contractors come in, as “3-dimensional dirt” and I about gagged), I vowed to tackle ONE SMALL cleaning project each day. Small. Manageable. Like: the bedroom window sill. The join between the bathroom floor and bathroom wall. The lampshade with cat hair on it from Janey rubbing against it. If I tell myself to “clean the bathroom,” that is Just Too Much. It’s overwhelming and I do NOTHING. Maybe if I REALLY break things down into small manageable tasks, I might actually get something done.

I’ll keep you posted,

TUESDAY

So, thinking about doing a small cleaning project every day led me to thinking about ALL the things I’m trying (well, “trying” might be a bit strong. “Wanting” is probably more accurate) to do every day (well, several times a week): cleaning, studying Korean (my class starts up again next week), jumping rope (after a too-long recess I’m trying to start that again), dance/exercise, reading. And anytime I think THIS is the weekend I’m getting a (damn) piano into my apartment one way or another, Something Happens.

I’m so good about Every Day getting my TikTok video and blog OOTD pictures done…that’s probably close to an hour each day between both – taking, editing, getting up where they need to go, links added, etc. That leaves me approximately 2.5 hours til 8pm, which is when I would LIKE to be Done for the Day. Doesn’t that seem like enough time to get all those things done? And yet…

So I’m trying to come up with a schedule so everything gets done at least every other day.

4:30-5:30 TikTok/blog video/OOTD EVERY DAY
5:30-6 jump rope/exercise video/dance (alternating thru 3 days)
6-6:30 cleaning
6:30-7 korean
7-7:30 read
7:30-8 dinner
DONE

HA HA. Yeah, okay. Let’s see how long that lasts.

Well, at best it’ll last til I start blogging like normal again. And then I need to fit that in. OH NO I MIGHT HAVE TO TAKE CLEANING OUT OF THE ROTATION DAMN.

WEDNESDAY

Ups & Downs du Jour

* Laying (lying?) in bed when I first woke up and the first TikTok I see is a BTS account and he’s just…So Enthusiastic about his love for BTS’ Kim Taehyung in the 2020 BTS series, “In The Soop.” Because “In the Soop Taehyung” is just Beyond Delightful and I start the day kekekeing and laugh crying and that’s not a bad way to start the day.

* My car REEKS from getting rained in last weekend with the not-really-a-hurricane, the fabric seats were soaked and now after baking in the 90+ temps the past few days…OOFAH. It ain’t pretty.

* Sloan-Kettering finally posted the results of last week’s scan…and there might still be A Thing, ugh. I’m not worried, I’m just tired of dealing with the inconveniences of doctory things. And I bet there’s gonna be another doctory thing in my future.

* I’m trying to restart my jump-rope habit (it’s hard to come back), but today I got to 38. Which, considering I’d been hitting 49 pretty regularly back when I was jumping regularly, is a little underwhelming, but…I’ll take it. It’s better than FOUR, like when I FIRST first started.

* THE MARKET HAD CHOCOLATE NECCO WAFERS!!! If you didn’t know, Necco Wafers have been a favorite candy All My Life and a few years ago they stopped production. It was a sad day, indeed. And the “all brown” rolls were ALWAYS hard to come by. So BOY WAS I EXCITED to see the box of all brown Neccos at the register…I grabbed two rolls and was all “WHOA! THESE ARE REALLY HARD TO COME BY” and the 12-year-old cashier looked at me like I had two heads. Youth, amiright??

So, out of five “events,” two were good, two were not so good…and one is sort of 50/50. I guess that’s not bad.

THURSDAY

Oh. So. The Doctory Thing that may or may not be a thing…one kidney has only 16% function, which I guess sounds bad but…I feel fine. I drink, I pee. I drink, I pee. I can live with that (literally, ha ha). Anyway, the Dr got the thumbs up from me today when he said we have two options: 1) he’ll go in (in?) and “blow up” (blow up?) the ureter and put in another stent (oh god no) to unblock (from scar tissue from the last stone being stuck for there so long) the passageway…OR 2) Do Nothing.

Guess which one got my vote?

So we’re doing nothing and just keeping an eye on things. Any change: pain, fever, infection, etc, I call him right away. Or…you know…soon. Ish. Ha.

FRIDAY

Counting down…hana…dul…SET! I’m on vacation!!!

SATURDAY

FIRST DAY OF VACATION MEANS YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO *ANYTHING.* So I slept a little late, got an egg sandwich from the deli, piddled did very important work on the computer for hours, then moved to the sofa to read until dark, and then continued watching the series I’m on….which is a good one, “Uncontrollably Fond,” one of those where every episode is like OH YAY they’re finally going to be together OH NO WHY DID HE/SHE/THEY DO THAT NOW THEY CAN NEVER BE TOGETHER. Flip-flops like that. Back and forth. Back and forth. Every. Episode. It’s exhausting. And wonderful 🙂

Oh, and I ran out to get sushi for dinner, which was Uncontrollably Disappointing 🙁

SUNDAY

SUNDAY FUNDAY. Finally, I have been released from the bonds of work/home life to venture into the city with friends.

Meatpacking for brunch, walked around Chelsea, then went to Soho to visit a couple galleries and eat. Again. And get ice cream. And people watch.

Let’s see if I can squeeze a little more “life” into my life. I was talking to my friend yesterday about how I THINK I want more relaxing, easy time, but then I constantly pack myself with new things, classes, activities, etc. While I *am* always getting interested in new/different things, I think some part of packing my schedule so full all the time is…if I’m super busy and “content-entertained,” I don’t notice that…maybe my life is not all that I’d hoped for and that….ugh, I’m a “me” and not a “we.”

Yucch. Sad but true.

I can look back at the past 30-ish years and think, “good thing I was doing the gardening newsletter then cuz it distracted me from….” and “so glad I have ebay to obsess over so I don’t notice that ___ is not around so much,” and then it was the blog…and now it’s All These New Things.

So while, yes, I GENUINELY am interested in these things I do, and it’s not like I LOOK for things “to fill my time,” I think part of the obsessiveness with which I become attached to these things is in part, THAT.

Said Dr. Sigmund Rainwater.

Sometimes a jump rope is just a jump rope.

MONDAY

This day was a little annoying, ha ha. Normally when the school is closed and we’re there in the main office, things are pretty quiet and we can get stuff done that is hard to do when there are people in and out all day. But that’s not how it went today and we were busy straight through and didn’t get to any of our “rainy day” projects.

Then I had the follow-up call with the oncologist from the scan last week and while the cancer situation is good (yay), the kidney situation is not (boo). Well, COULD be not. He started out like it was not a big deal and I should have it checked out “soon.” An hour later it was “obstructed kidney/loss of kidney functions/maybe reversible maybe not” but you must see someone IMMEDIATELY. Ugh. So he had a urologist at Slone Kettering in the city (Double Ugh) that could see me tomorrow (Super Ugh)…his office would call me in the evening to make the appointment.

Two hours later, no call and no appointment. So I’m like AM I going into the city tomorrow? And WHY exactly? He HAS my scan already (my onco sent it to him), can’t we just do a phone consultation? The city during the week is a pain in the butt 🙁

Anyway, time for class.

TUESDAY

Just call me The Insect Whisperer.

Ugh.

All of a sudden my apartment…no, my BED…is a HAVEN for beetles and other flying THINGS. I get into bed at night and want the bedside light out while I watch whatever I’m watching on my phone for the next…hour, 4 hours, whatever…and every flying thing in the land comes swooping over to me.

They crash into the phone, they crash into my hand (AACCKK), they crawl on my hair… they get under the covers with me…it’s HORRIBLE. This is horrible. I end up turning the bedside lamp back on, which diverts SOME of them but…the big hard-shelled guys seem to prefer the bed (don’t we all??).

I don’t know what to do. I’m hoping it will sort itself out when the air conditioner goes in and the windows stay closed (there are holes and gaps in the screens). But til then it’s HORRIBLE. I almost got up last night and went to sleep on the sofa, thinking they wouldn’t ALL follow me.

Ha, remember in My Big Fat Greek Wedding when the Dad’s solution to EVERYTHING was Windex? My Life Solution for most everything is “hoping it will sort itself out.” And honestly, most things do.

So, I came home after work to discover that my sweet little bedroom-window/back-of-patio forest had been chopped down! It WAS all little baby trees that are pretty most of the year, and some little undergrowthy things. Now it’s just a bare dirt hill with cut-off tree stumps.

WHY ARE PEOPLE ALWAYS CUTTING DOWN MY TREES??

Now my bedroom window feels so exposed…and the patio doesn’t have that nice green backdrop. The birds and squirrels would hop around right outside my bedroom window cuz they were hidden by foresty things. Not now!

WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY

Spent the usual two hours on homework. Monday is the last class already! The next in the series (Korean Beginner 2, ha) doesn’t start til September 13 (aka Just When I Have Forgotten EVERYTHING), so I’m DEBATING taking another beginner course at a different place that goes from now til then…so I can repeat what I just did (cuz most of it ain’t sticking yet) AND keep from backsliding over the two months.

OR. I can cut myself some slack and enjoy a little more “free” (kekekekekekeke) time this summer. Maybe read a book. Or sit at the beach. That wouldn’t suck.

But I’ll probably do the extra course. Sigh.

OH, so, the whole doctor thing from yesterday, the urologist was supposed to call me last night to schedule an appt for today. No call. This morning at 11am I got a call from my oncologist’s office, “can you be at a 1pm appointment in the city…TODAY?” At 11am they ask me this?!? NO. NO I CANNOT. So the next appointment is next Tuesday. I’ll find a fun city thing to do afterwards and just pretend I’m enjoying a 4-day weekend. Hopefully, it won’t be a million degrees like this week.

WEDNESDAY

I had a lovely, cool night’s sleep with the newly-installed ac…relatively bug-less (not entirely, but SO much better).

Class was hard…as always. Ha. I’m just not that FAST. Like, he’ll say “okayheresanewthingGO” and half the class just seems to get it immediately…and me and 2-3 others just stammer along, sounding out each word character by character, forgetting the rules of sentence structure, and just generally looking like boobs. Which is like my LEAST favorite thing…but I’m still going. There’s like 10 pages of homework again which will take me FOR. EVER.

On a brighter note, I’ve decided to NOT do the mid-summer class and to just pick up again in mid-September. One: cutting myself some slack (one of my favorite things); although Two: finally renting a digital piano in July and taking lessons for the month to see if it’s something I will ACTUALLY spend time with. If not, it goes back and I’ll try again at a less busy time of my life…but if yes, then I’ll find a way to buy one and continue with lessons, which is the OPPOSITE of cutting myself some slack, but hey. I yam what I yam.

THURSDAY

Yay Thursday! AND IT WAS GLORIOUS. It was the first “not as stressful as the beginning of the week” night of the week. Ha. Meaning, no class, and no class again til Monday, so I have a little time. So I came home from work, did my TikTok video and OOTD picture, edited and uploaded…then put on the nightgown dress, turned the ac on, and lay on the sofa and read. Til I dozed off. Then had a snack while I watched a couple episodes of a BTS documentary. Got in bed and watched a couple short films on YouTube and went to sleep at a decent hour.

I love having a night like that once in a while.

I guess that was me squeezing a little more life into my life 🙂

FRIDAY

I haven’t been this excited about a Friday…since last Friday 🙂

I’m alone in the office, just a few admin staff in the back of the building. I’ve already been given the okay to leave an hour early YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY.

And it’s a 4-day weekend! Ish. It’s really a 3-day weekend but I have the city urologist appointment for Tuesday at noon so had to take a sick day for that. But will pretend it’s part of the weekend and do something fun after the appointment. And then next week is only a 3-day week, woohoo!

SATURDAY

This was my day:

BEFORE

AFTER

OTHER AFTER

Nothing ever truly leaves. It just moves from one place to another. That’s science.

SUNDAY

Went to a friend’s 4th of July party, she has the perfect party house on the water and is a great cook and gracious host, so it’s always a nice time.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO

This song, on obsessive repeat. It’s a song from the soundtrack of a k-drama called Reply 1988 which is supposed to be very good, though I haven’t watched it yet (So Many K-Dramas So Little Time). Anyway, I came across this sweet clip (from last summer’s In The Soop documentary) of Jin and Yoongi (BTS) chatting and singing in the car. ANYWAY. They’re so cute together, they have this easy, gentle banter between them (I’ll share a clip another time of another example of this). ANYWAY (having a hard time getting to the punch here, I just felt it needed some context).

The song is another one of those “Mom & Dad dancing in the wood-paneled den in 1971 while you and your little brother roll your eyes and pretend to vomit but secretly like it” songs. It has kind of Eidelweiss (Sound of Music reference: Another song I’m obsessed with and that still makes tears run down my face after 55 years) vibes to me.

ANYWAY (ha), here is the original clip…

And then here I found the song itself and THIS is what’s on repeat at home, in the car, at work, wherever I can get away with playing it 17 times in a row without someone throwing something at me. It’s called Don’t Worry, Dear and I just find it so comforting and soothing.

The End.

Thanks for playing.

Why does it seem that every post starts “I can’t believe it’s already ___!!!” Ha. Well, I can’t. Believe it’s July. Fortunately, it hasn’t gotten super hot yet, cuz…clothes. As usual, there was a lot of buying and returning.

HERE’S WHAT I KEPT

J Crew Classic Fit Cotton Voile Shirt in Rose Vines, size 24

This was another ShopTagr success. where I waited til it was on super sale then I grabbed it.

It’s lovely. If I can find a seamstress (R&%$GF$@#!) I would have them cut the slits up the sides a little bit more to release the slight snugness at my tummy/hips. I need that done to a white linen shirt from last year, too, but I never found a seamstress! I just saw someone new mentioned in Nextdoor Neighborhood, so I’m going to reach out to here…and maybe this time it won’t fall through.

I have thoughts on styling this shirt so I’m going to save more detail for that post.

EveryWear Striped Plus-Size V-Neck Tee, size 3x

I had bought and returned the 4x of this shirt last month and I was prepared to do without it. But then…someone at work was wearing it under a blue chambray button-down and then I had to have it. Fortunately, it was still available and I was able to get the 3x, which is a better fit. It will probably be part of my 4th of July outfit…not that I need a particular outfit to stay home alone, ha ha.

CAMPIA MODA Men Hawaiian Vintage Shirt 100 Rayon Size XXL EU 68-72 Tall Big

In my defense (you’ll understand when you finish reading this post), I bought this before I bought the H&M men’s tee shirts.

I bought it secondhand off ebay so I’m not going to return it because it’s not perfect. The fit is CLOSE, but it needs some alterations to make it just right. I think if it’s shortened I’ll lose a lot of the “too snug” section, and if the sleeves are shortened they won’t look so overwhelmingly MAN-SIZED.

I can hear Jodie saying, “why can’t you just cuff them?” I’ll tell you why ha ha. The inside of the fabric is that annoying lighter shade of the outward-facing color and I don’t like when that is showing (if avoidable). I’ve tried cuffing and first, they need a lot of cuffing so it’s bulky, and second, the cuff would be lighter than the rest of the shirt. But if they’re cut and hemmed I think they’ll look fine.

I’M STILL ON THE FENCE ABOUT…

I feel like I’ve been buying and returning linen slacks for the past umpteen years. It was such a loss when my ancient khaki pair finally bit the dust a couple years back and I’ve never managed to replace them. Not for lack of trying!

So right now I have six pairs of linen pants over THERE, waiting to be tried on AGAIN, all at the same time, so I can do a comparison. Most require alterations, so again, I’m dependent on finding someone to do alterations. And pant length can be tricky…and no I can’t do it myself, bending over to fold up flimsy linen? In THIS economy? Nope. I guess this is why people have boyfriends? Maybe? I dunno.

I think I might do a Linen Pant Try-On Video and then I’ll have pictures as well.

Ugh, ha ha, I feel ill-prepared for this post!

Anyway, these are what I currently have and why they’re not WINNERS right out of the box.

Jessica London Drawstring Linen Pants, size 22

I think I shared these in the May What I Bought and they’re still hanging around waiting for a decision. I so love the colors I really want them to work. I started buying the Old Navy pants (below) to see if they’d be a better fit and not require alteration HA HA HA HA. WITH THESE LEGS??

High-Waisted Linen-Blend Straight Cropped Plus-Size Pants size 3x

I got these in flax and black but the black is so sold out it’s not even on the site anymore for a picture. The length on these was…do-able…without alteration OH THE JOY…but (sigh)…they’re big in the tummy-hips…and linen stretches out like crazy so they’d get EVEN larger. So I went back to order them in the next size down but they were all sold out so I had to go with another style…see below…

High-Waisted Wide-Leg Linen-Blend Plus-Size Pants size 2x

I got these when the previous purchases seemed a little large (I can’t get used to that and still always want to buy the largest size available). The exact ones in the smaller size were sold out so I went for these that looked to be cropped length…but because I’m such a shorty-short-shorty they’re STILL too long and need shortening. They DO fit better in the hips-tummy. I ALMOST wonder if I could go down one MORE size, which might make the length okay. But they don’t have either color in a 1x anymore, so.

I got them in both the flax (beige) and the celandine (mustardy gold) colors.

THIS IS WHAT I RETURNED

J Crew Relaxed Fit Short Sleeve Baird McNutt Irish Linen Shirt, 3x

I’ve been looking for some loose-fitting linen tops to go over the linen pants that I can’t decide on. Ha. But this was an odd fit. Sort of mannish, with broad shoulders and slim hips. Even worn unbuttoned over a tee (which I don’t necessarily have to be stuck with in the heat of summer) it was just not a good fit for me.

I think I was drinking (kidding) the day I placed this H&M order (below). Cuz it’s a weird one. And everything went back due to sizing issues or “what the hell was I thinking” issues. But after this order, I HOPE I can control my urge to continue buying men’s shirts cuz They. Just. Do. Not. Work. For. Me. Which is unfortunate because they have superior colors and graphics to women’s shirts (to me) (at least in my size range).

H&M Slacks, size 22

Two things were behind these seemingly uncharacteristic purchases.

One: Kim Taehyung, ha ha. He’s always there in my mind: “WWKTHD”? And I want to have more pattern for the fall/winter and I’m trying to move away from “just jeans.”

Second: after the Old Navy linen pant sizing fiasco, I thought maybe I could size down in a trouser. And they were not TERRIBLE. The best part was they were consistently “just a little small” over the entire garment. Not like, well, if I get them bigger in the butt then the waist will be too big, etc. It seemed like if they were 2″ larger overall, they’d have been perfect. But the next size up was sold out in both pairs.

I video’d the whole H&M try-on so you’ll be able to see fit in an upcoming post.

H&M Pull-On Slacks, size 3xl

Bleh. The fit was less consistent than the patterned trousers so a different size didn’t seem like it was going to help. Also, in a lighter-colored “non-jean” pant, they need to be looser on my legs. Also (ha), pull-on rarely a win for me.

H&M Relaxed (Men’s) Tee Shirt, XXL

Yes, I bought three of the same shirt. But the colors! But it was the usual: way too big in shoulders/chest/sleeve and way too small in hips/tummy. I thought the “relaxed fit” might help, but no.

STOP IT, BETTYE!!!

Men’s shirts do not fit me Men’s shirts do not fit me Men’s shirts do not fit me

The lilac stripe one in particular I WAS DYING FOR. I’ve been obsessed with lilac this year and Just Picture It Under the J Crew Classic Fit Cotton Voile Shirt in Rose Vines, gah. Perfect.

H&M Bambi Graphic Tee, size 3xl

Okay, true confession. While, yes, I have been wanting more graphic tees, I’m not really a “Disney character” person. But. Hee hee. Min Yoongi (you’ll never guess what band he’s in) once said that he thought the word “Bambi” meant “deer” in English. KEKEKEKE Is that not the CUTEST?!? I just can’t with them. Anyway. Had to have the shirt.

Sadly, while the fit was not TERRIBLE (as oversized tees go), it really wasn’t doing anything for me and Bambi was returned.

H&M Mickey Sweater, size 3xl

I am not a Disney person I am not a Disney person I am not a Disney person

And yet…I thought this just kooky enough that I had to try it. And really, it wasn’t bad. The fit was loose, lightweight, and stretchy. It was the collar. The crew “band” was very wide and like sat up against the side of my neck in a weird way. It was weird. If the neck had been less weird I think I would have kept it cuz it was super comfy and I thought it was funny.

H&M V-Neck Sweater Vest, size 3xl

I have been hunting for oversized knit vests since last winter, so imagine my delight when I found this in my size.

Imagine my disappointment when, instead of sending my much-awaited vest, they sent me a pair of black sweat-shorts. Sigh. Life. Amiright??

Obvi the shorts went back and I ordered the vest AGAIN. It hasn’t arrived yet, so it will probably be in next month’s What I Bought.

WRAPPING IT UP

PHEW! That was a lot of purchasing for only keeping three things (so far; I still need to make a decision on the linen pants). This was a bit of an “out there” month, with the patterned slacks and Disney items. But sometimes it’s good to TRY something different. I would have kept the patterned slacks if I could have gotten my size.

I feel like all I’m really still looking for for summer is:

• white(ish) crochet(ish) cropped cardigan to go over a couple dresses. I HAD one but where is it now? It’s anybody’s guess.
• A couple loose-fitting linen tops for when it gets REALLY hot. That’s all I’ll want to wear.
• If I keep any of the wide-legged linen pants they need some sort of “up off the ground” shoe, like a chunky sneaker or platform slide or sandal.

It never ends.

Does it ever end?

It never ends.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may receive a small commission if you buy something as a result of clicking that link, at no extra cost to you. I appreciate you shopping through my links.

Ahn yong ha se yo! (hello)

I’ve skipped a couple weeks cuz there WAS nothing to review! Pretty much life has been work, class, study/homework, blog/tiktok, repeat. On a positive note, I’ve been pretty disciplined about getting all my stuff done every day. Which is not my usual MO.

Just a couple things went on outside the above schedule:

Had my annual CT scan, with much poking as usual to get my blood which my body does NOT like giving up. I have a virtual appt with the oncologist Monday for results. I’m sure everything’s fine. This is the four-year mark. I believe at five years they will declare me cancer-free

I saw a heart on my window.

I won $25 on a lottery ticket, woohoo!

Up until the mosquitoes found me this week, I’ve been enjoying doing homework and studying on the patio

I actually got out of the area on Sunday with my friend, we went out to Longhouse Reserve (aka Reservoir Garden) in East Hampton. It was a hot day but the garden has many shady areas and there was a delightful breeze all day. We found a bench with our names on it under two weeping cherry trees, at the foot of a pond…and we spent a long time there. It was lovely.

A cute little froggie came up out of the pond to greet us.

I saw a heart petal.

My camera battery charger has run away from home so I only had my cell phone with me today.

There was an exhibit of the deceased owner’s textile collections. I loved these clashing, 70s-esque colors.

When I was almost home at the end of the day I discovered I’d brought a friend home with me…so I pulled into the parking lot at a little local nature preserve and re-homed her.

I took a brave pill this week and asked a couple people from Korean class if they wanted to exchange phone numbers so we could ask one another homework questions…and some of us actually met via zoom over the weekend for study groups. Look at me, spreading my friendship wings, ha ha!

And now it is 9:33pm Sunday and I have miles to go before I sleep.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO

I just heard this pretty pretty song this weekend. I came across her TikTok and followed her to Spotify. I love that so many artists are getting the exposure they need from TikTok to get their start in the music industry.

MONDAY

ALREADY???

TUESDAY

Jump Rope News: no news. Still can’t get past 49.

Hunted for shoes. Failed. I DESPISE in-person retail. The feeling is mutual, I’m sure.

WEDNESDAY

I need to get productive – I’m leaving in two days for the overnight wedding adventure and I have stuff I need to get done before then BUT I’m still “stress hungover” from last week and I’ve been in my nightgown and on the sofa in front of the tv before dark for the past few days!

Haircut has dropped off my list cuz now not only is Haircut Michael MIA, but the salon isn’t even answering calls. I was THIS CLOSE to whacking a hunk of hair off myself this past weekend. And while that usually goes So Well, I stopped myself (well, I did a bang trim, but). But I MUST get shoes for the new/substitute dress and I need to make the apartment landlord-ready in case she needs to come down for anything while I’m gone. I always feel like I have to let her know if I’m going to be away overnight and then she offers to check on Jane. Who will be fine for 30 hours alone and would probably be happier just left alone than to have a stranger come into the apartment while I’m gone, but…Landlady always insists. I don’t mean INSISTS insists, but she’s like, “no, poor Jane all alone, I’ll check on her” and it’s hard to say SHE JUST WANTS TO BE LEFT ALONE. Anyway. So, dish-washing and vacuuming Must Happen in the next two nights. I know to the average person that probably seems like nothing but they feel like such daunting tasks to me.

THURSDAY

Car charger/adaptor thingie so I can charge and listen at the same time, broken. WHY TODAY, UNIVERSE??

I’ll go anywhere by myself as long as I have: available balance on a credit card, full tank of gas, cell phone with a full charge for GPS. Car snacks are nice but not mandatory.

FRIDAY/SATURDAY

Favorite bits of trip:

• Driving under landing planes, especially when the big shadow passes over the car
• Rest-stop concession had grapefruit juice
• Laughing hysterically in car alone while listening to Grown Ass Fandom podcast
• When the Toll Police didn’t get me for driving with an unfilled EZ-Pass
• Listening to Katie “take a meeting” at lunch – she sounded so competent. Way more competent than *I* EVER was 🙂
• My niece looking so radiantly beautiful and happy as a bride
• Wedding cake
• Long soak in the tub at the end of long long day
• Visiting friend from work who moved to Philly a couple years ago and seeing that she and her husband have built a really nice life for themselves
• The grapey-sweet scent of wisteria in bloom everywhere
• Driving home with windows down and sunroof open

SUNDAY

Literally, the day of rest. I am puffy, stiff, and weary. SO much time spent in the car. There was traffic and construction everywhere. I’m not a person who minds traffic really…but it cut into my Katie time. And now my feet are puffy and my jeans are tight. Ha. Don’t know how that happened in two days, but. Whatevs. Slept late, watched videos, worked on blog posts, responded to 12k comments on my Friday “wedding guest dress” TikTok post that has gone a little viral. It’s up to 7,200 views and I normally get 150-250. Go figure. I really want to vacuum cuz my dirty carpet is depressing me…but I don’t think I have the energy.

Basically, I’m glad that the past two weeks are behind me, between work stuff and then trip stuff…I’m exhausted and haven’t had enough “Bettye Time.” I’m gonna cut myself some slack this week.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. Yeah, right.

WHAT I’M READING

This really good Rolling Stone article about BTS that is delightfully NOT fluffy and portrays them in a realistic light.

WHAT I’M WATCHING

Thirty But 17. This is a “he’s so cute she’s so cute everyone’s so cute it’s all so cute I can’t!” and then I cry. It’s one of those. So touching and endearing. I’m gobbling it up as fast as I can but I don’t want to finish it cuz then it will be over 🙁

#FirstWorldProblems

I wanted to share a trailer but I have to say as wonderful as their SHOWS are, their (Asian dramas) trailers are HORRIBLE. As are most of their descriptions. If I went by either of those things, I would never watch ANYTHING. Fortunately, I follow talented and creative TikTokkers who make WONDERFUL “trailers” and make every show seem appealing. I’ve been known to watch an entire 16-episode show because of ONE 10-second scene I saw shared on TikTok. I hope those people are making money somehow off their creations, cuz they’re Really Good.

Ahh, so I finished this tonight just before scheduling this post. So sweet. It’s sad when the really good ones end, like I’m losing these lovely people from my life (it’s a sad existence, I know). So if I especially like one of the actors – as I did the darling male lead in this one – I look them up to see what else they’ve done, so I can add those to my “to watch” list…that’s how I find new shows to watch. It’s not like people at work are recommending shows! Anyway, I was disappointed to see he hadn’t been in anything in a while, which seemed odd cuz he was SO good…and I saw he’d won some best new actor awards a couple years ago. Then I found that he entered the Korean military last year…so it’ll be awhile before I see him in anything again 🙁

I find the Korean military so interesting. Here, most people enlist right out of high school, and either make a career of it, or spend their two years (or whatever it is), then come home and get on with their lives at age 21ish. In Korea you have up until age 28 to enlist…and it seems like a lot of actors and other celebrities DON’T go right away, but then end up having to leave like right when their careers are taking off, which seems so…like…why wouldn’t you do it early and get it over with??

BTS is facing this in the near future, with the two oldest members having turned 28 in the past few months. But the Korean government passed what some are calling “The BTS Law,” which says that if someone (a celebrity or athlete) is “contributing significantly” to the nation, then they can have til the age of 30 to enlist. There’s a lot of discussion online about whether they’ll just go 1 and 2 at a time, and the remaining members will continue performing…or whether in two years they’ll just all go at the same time, get it all over within the 20-months, then all return to music at the same time. Neither option is ideal, but they all speak firmly about honoring their country by doing their duty in the military.

Oh well. I ALMOST made it through an entire post without mentioning BTS.

** Sorry for lack of photos. The past couple weeks have whooped my butt.