back from the Hermitage (post where I introduce being a bridesmaid)
I don't know what it is about summer, but I am not one with journaling. Maybe I prefer watching baby animals grow up in lieu of personal introspection. The temporarily cool weather recently is making me want to be one with my typing self and I got a couple nudges to return to lj. Voici! I am present.
The past couple of weeks have been a tornado of activity. I really wanted to be a part of my friend Erin's wedding in Maine. For those outside the US, Maine is about a nine hour drive from Philadelphia. With the Atelier where Charlie works changing its non-profit status and benefits being reformatted, we didn't know until two weeks before the date if he would qualify for vacation time that week. He had to make special arrangements since he was on the cusp of vacation status becoming available. I was struggling finding a dress. We needed a cat sitter to come into our home and watch our four cats. We also had an excess of tidying and rearranging to do before the house would be welcoming. The only thing I had two weeks before the wedding was a lovely present: a blue hand embroidered Indian wedding shawl that could be worn or elegantly draped over a piece of furniture. It's a modern heirloom piece and a fantastic find. If I didn't love the bride so much, I would have been tempted to keep it. I am thankful for chelsearoad coming along on that excursion and convincing me for certain it was as perfect as I knew it was.
Two Sundays ago, we managed to get everything together. We found a cat sitter through the yoga studio where I work on second saturdays. Charlie's vacation time was approved the week before our departure. I tracked down a dress in a wine shade at Macy's the day before we left. It was absurd. I found it the maternity department (I am decidedly not pregnant) on clearance for $14.99. It's a slinky fabric that would have been very clingy on a woman with child but had a flattering empire cut and an elegant swish on me. I found a square cloissonne framed pin with a plum colored glass center to replace the bow under the bustline. I let the fabric from what would have been the bow stream from the pin. The pin looked like it came with the dress. I found glass earrings with lovebirds on them and from the glass circle there are three faceted garnet drops. I have a really lovely piece of treated amethyst that looks metallic purple, set in silver, which I wore as a necklace. The bride wanted us to wear beaded flip flops since she was having a beach wedding, and I managed to pick up a pair of silver sandals with a flower made of silver leather set in the center of the foot. They have a Grecian look about them with a piece of leather winding around the toe and back to the flower and another piece that straps across the foot. I love them even though I was a little thrown off by walking in flats. I am accustomed to platforms high enough to facilitate cloudgazing.
The day of the wedding we drove by a group of bridesmaids heading into an old stone church. They were wearing sleeveless navy blue taffeta gowns that wound around their bodies from the bustline to just below the hip. The fabric tied in a gigantic bow at the center of the back. The fabric plastered horizontally across the stomach area and vertically along the thighs. The navy blue taffeta also shimmered. The unfortunate bridesmaids looked like a cross between electric eels and comforter covers. It was a tragic sight and it only reinforced the mercy of Erin, the low key bride, in letting everyone in her party choose their own dresses.
Charlie and I travelled up the New England coast from Monday through Thursday stopping off in Mystic, Connecticut and Salem, Massachusettes before heading to Portland, Maine. I am going to drop in this week with posts with tales from our vacation and the wedding. I promise some funny and poignant moments. I promise not to turn out the lights, fire up the projector, and make anyone watch vacation slides. I may actually do a Tarot post too now that I am home and feeling refreshed.
The past couple of weeks have been a tornado of activity. I really wanted to be a part of my friend Erin's wedding in Maine. For those outside the US, Maine is about a nine hour drive from Philadelphia. With the Atelier where Charlie works changing its non-profit status and benefits being reformatted, we didn't know until two weeks before the date if he would qualify for vacation time that week. He had to make special arrangements since he was on the cusp of vacation status becoming available. I was struggling finding a dress. We needed a cat sitter to come into our home and watch our four cats. We also had an excess of tidying and rearranging to do before the house would be welcoming. The only thing I had two weeks before the wedding was a lovely present: a blue hand embroidered Indian wedding shawl that could be worn or elegantly draped over a piece of furniture. It's a modern heirloom piece and a fantastic find. If I didn't love the bride so much, I would have been tempted to keep it. I am thankful for chelsearoad coming along on that excursion and convincing me for certain it was as perfect as I knew it was.
Two Sundays ago, we managed to get everything together. We found a cat sitter through the yoga studio where I work on second saturdays. Charlie's vacation time was approved the week before our departure. I tracked down a dress in a wine shade at Macy's the day before we left. It was absurd. I found it the maternity department (I am decidedly not pregnant) on clearance for $14.99. It's a slinky fabric that would have been very clingy on a woman with child but had a flattering empire cut and an elegant swish on me. I found a square cloissonne framed pin with a plum colored glass center to replace the bow under the bustline. I let the fabric from what would have been the bow stream from the pin. The pin looked like it came with the dress. I found glass earrings with lovebirds on them and from the glass circle there are three faceted garnet drops. I have a really lovely piece of treated amethyst that looks metallic purple, set in silver, which I wore as a necklace. The bride wanted us to wear beaded flip flops since she was having a beach wedding, and I managed to pick up a pair of silver sandals with a flower made of silver leather set in the center of the foot. They have a Grecian look about them with a piece of leather winding around the toe and back to the flower and another piece that straps across the foot. I love them even though I was a little thrown off by walking in flats. I am accustomed to platforms high enough to facilitate cloudgazing.
The day of the wedding we drove by a group of bridesmaids heading into an old stone church. They were wearing sleeveless navy blue taffeta gowns that wound around their bodies from the bustline to just below the hip. The fabric tied in a gigantic bow at the center of the back. The fabric plastered horizontally across the stomach area and vertically along the thighs. The navy blue taffeta also shimmered. The unfortunate bridesmaids looked like a cross between electric eels and comforter covers. It was a tragic sight and it only reinforced the mercy of Erin, the low key bride, in letting everyone in her party choose their own dresses.
Charlie and I travelled up the New England coast from Monday through Thursday stopping off in Mystic, Connecticut and Salem, Massachusettes before heading to Portland, Maine. I am going to drop in this week with posts with tales from our vacation and the wedding. I promise some funny and poignant moments. I promise not to turn out the lights, fire up the projector, and make anyone watch vacation slides. I may actually do a Tarot post too now that I am home and feeling refreshed.