Weekly recap + What We Ate: What I wore, the cold spring edition

I’ve been thinking about fashion and appearances lately. First of all last week, I listened to an Edit Your Life episode featuring an interview with personal stylist Dacy Gillespie. Gillespie and Christine Koh had a really deep conversation about body image. “At what point,” Gillespie says, “did we get the idea that our bodies were wrong?” And I think that’s such a powerful thing to contemplate, this idea that “flattering” is a construct and we don’t need to subscribe to that construct. There is nothing “wrong” not “not ideal” about our bodies. Dressing in something flattering, she says, is just “prioritizing someone else’s opinion.”

Another thing she says: “Generally, we don’t have much control over the shape of our body. However, based on our shape, we’re being told to wear certain clothing items.”

Take the idea that “This shirt is flattering because the colours make your skin glow.” I mean that’s all well and good, but what if I like a colour that doesn’t make my skin glow? Am I going to just not wear my favorite colour? It’s all a personal choice, for sure, but the way fashion/style is so tied to societal ideals of what a person should look like, just feels like we might be denying ourselves of a bit of fun and enjoyment in clothes. Or if an item of clothing makes you feel good and confident, what does it matter if it isn’t slimming? It’s a bit chicken and egg, right? A dress makes you feel confident because it is slimming, but where does this idea that slim is better come from? Also, subscribing to what mainstream media is saying what a person should look like seems impossible when bodies are constantly changing. Maybe I had an ideal body in my 20s, but expecting 46 year old me to look like 20 year old me is just unrealistic. I think the Gillespie and Koh have a really empowering discussion and it’s worth a listen.

Soon after I listened to that episode, Nicole had a post, inspired by Cup Of Jo, called Tell Me Something Beautiful About You, where she muses about self-love and confidence and why it is so difficult to say what we love about the way we look. As always, her post is inspiring and beautiful and lifts us all up. And the comments were so wonderfully honest. I suspect if you read my blog, you already read Nicole’s, but if you don’t you need to go read it now, and all the comments, and ponder the question she asks – “What do you like about the way you look?”

I wrote a comment about how two of the things I liked the most about myself were things I got teased about when I was little. I’ve always really liked my mouth because my lips are naturally plump and red. But when I was growing up, kids at school would refer to my lips with a racial slur. And this was okay back then. I mean it’s not okay. It’s never okay. But no one ever called the kids out on it. All it made me do was suck in my lower lip so that it wasn’t so noticeable. The other thing I’ve always liked about myself are my eyes, but again, I feel weird saying that because there’s a lot of baggage that comes with Asian eyes and standards of beauty. This is the stupid part – even though I have big round eyes, the kids at school would still tease me and pull their eyes into little slants when talking about me. What the what??? My mother always said she liked my eyes because they were so big and round. And there is kind of an implication that eyes that aren’t big and round are less appealing. That’s the tricky thing about finding something appealing – I feel like society is set up in some kind of dichotomy where if X is considered attractive, the opposite of X is considered not attractive. When really a) it’s all subjective, and b) shouldn’t what we like about people be “and” not “or”? I love that Nicole gave us space to shout out the things about ourselves that make up feel good about ourselves while acknowledging that everyone is different and beautiful.

And this is what I want to say – I like your face. You can break it down into what features I like about your face, but really I like your face because it belongs to you. It isn’t that you have big eyes or button nose or plump lips. I like your face because through it shines everything you are.

Anyhow, Nicole asked for selfies, and I’m providing selfies. I was percolating this post for a while – I like to do a week of outfits once in a while – but the confluence of Nicole’s post and the Edit Your Life episode kind of made it feel like a fitting time to do another in this series.

This is the outfits from the my first week of rehearsals. When I’m in rehearsal and tech, I plan my outfits out on Sunday for the week, so I don’t have to think about it in the morning. This week, I thought the weather would be warm and sunny, and well, even though March went out like a lamb, April came back in like a lion so not everything I wore was something I picked out on Sunday.

Monday, First Day of Rehearsal:

I forgot to take a picture at work because the first day was very busy, so here it is on the hanger in the bathroom. (I take my pictures at work because we don’t have a full length mirror at our house. I would like to change this, but there’s no good place to put/hang a full length mirror.) Wool& tank dress and a Eileen Fisher jacket. I also wore black leggings and tan ankle boots, my checked cap, and a scarf. I know no one wears scarves as accessories anymore, but I still love wearing them. Plus is was really cold that day. I wear this outfit every first day of rehearsal, kind of like a ritual uniform. I think the jacket makes it looks a little more business like – or at least what passes as business like in my world. I love that jacket – it goes with anything. I’ve worn it with sweatpants and managed not to look like I was wearing sweatpants.

Tuesday:

Blue Wool& dress (Sierra), Sweater from Uniqlo, puffer vest from Uniqlo, knit cap (present from a chorister twenty years ago – I didn’t like this hat when it was first given to me, but now I wear it all the time.), black leggings, blue boots. I love those boots.

Wednesday:

This was an outfit that I had picked out when I though it would be warmer, but it ended up being super cold, so I added the sweater and the hat. Cotton gauze Old Navy wide pants (bought last summer and love them so much – would wear them all the time if I could), striped long sleeve t-shirt from Duluth Trading Company, Zip up hoodie sweater from DKNY (I’ve had this sweater for twenty years, bought it at an outlet mall outside of Denver. For many years I didn’t wear it because it is quite short and would always hit me funny. But then I started wearing high waisted pants and suddenly this sweater is perfect!), hat from Duluth (last minute hat addition when I realized it was almost the same colour as the pants). Shoes are wool runners from Giesswein. I had a pair of Allbirds that I wore all the time, but the Allbirds no longer come in fun colours, so in my search for wool shoes, I found these. I find them more supportive than Allbirds, especially for the balls of my feet.

Thursday:

I’m wearing pants! It must be very cold if I’m wearing pants. I think my original outfit was a dress. Same green hat as on Tuesday. Striped shirt from H&M, bought years ago when I was pregnant and trying not to show. It’s not technically a maternity shirt, but it does have a very boxy cut. Uniqlo puffer vest. Pants are from Duluth Trading Company, the cotton version of the NoGa pants. They are very soft and stretchy and, yes, could probably pass for yoga pants. Shoes – red Giesswein runners. I liked the Giesswein shoes so much I ordered them in two colours.

Friday:

This was a rainy rainy day. This was again not the outfit I had planned to wear, but given the rainy weather, I did not want to wear a dress to work.
Black gap maternity long sleeve t-shirt (another maternity item that I still wear), Duluth overalls in a fox print. (These are the grown up version of the overalls that the 5 year old has.) Purple DKNY sweater (same as Wednesday.) Rain boots (I think they’re Bogs?). I’m so glad I work somewhere where I can wear overalls and rain boots to work.

Saturday:

Black and white cap (Also worn on Monday), Mushroom and gnome print shirt from Duluth Trading Company, Uniqlo vest (this is definitely in my “20% of my wardrobe worn 80% of the time” pile.), Red Wool& tank dress (Same as worn on Monday – I love the Wool& dresses because I can wear them several times a week and they can be styled so differently. Also I don’t need to wash them after every wear, so they are very easy.), black leggings, blue boots. I think I wore this same outfit in one of my outfits of the week post last fall.

Sunday: Day off. I don’t have a picture of Sunday – again, no full length mirror at home. I wore my blue tie dye sweat pants, a red tank top and a red plaid flannel. Clearly it was a day at home.

That’s it – What Diane wore in one week, the unexpectedly chilly Spring Edition. One thing I’ll say, as I look back on these photos, is that I genuinely like and feel comfortable in everything that I wore that week, and indeed most of my wardrobe. If I don’t feel comfortable in it, or feel “meh” about it, then it doesn’t belong in my closet. I think last year I wrote about my three style words, and they were Colourful, effortless, and playful. I still feel like that’s how I dress, “flattering” be damned.

Cool Bloggers Walking Club: unofficially The kids were on spring break last week, so I took the metro or rode my bike to work for most of the week. (When they are in school, I tend to drive since I have to drive to the bus stop anyway). So I had lots of walks to and from the Metro Station. I also went down to the Mall again with my Uncle and Mother- this time we walked to the MLK and FDR Memorials.

Kite stuck in tree. Made me laugh.
Tulip garden by the Tidal Basin.

Snapshots from my commute – 7 walk to metro, 10 minute metro ride, 7 walk to work on the other side. I think this falls into the “every little bit counts” column of CBWC. Here are some very boring images from my commute.

Walk to park with kids on Easter Sunday while they biked/scootered. Cherry blossom season has passed into sakura-fubuki stage. Literally means “Cherry blossom snow storm” – it’s when the wind blows the blossoms off the trees and it makes a delightful snow of petals. The Japanese have many phrases for the various phases of cherry blossom season.

Walks around the block with my co-workers. There are these random swings. I always want to stop and swing, but never do. Some day.

Grateful For:

-A borrowed umbrella and the rain letting up just in time for me to walk home from the Metro.

-My mother’s visit.

-Shorts and t-shirt weather. Warm air in the evening.

-A car free day and the bike and Metro that made it possible.

-Lilac bushes in our backyard. They smell so lovely. Makes me take a pause to inhale. (I realize this is the third week in a row that I’ve written about a lovely smell… there’s something to that, maybe.)

-That I don’t have to wipe my kids’ butts anymore. Usually. We were at a restaurant and one kid had to go #2 and I was really grateful that I could just send her into the stall by herself. I will admit though, the universe laughed at me and that very night I was roused at midnight later that day because a child had a poop explosion in bed. But even still – I can’t remember the last time I had to clean up a poop mess, so I’m still sticking to being grateful for this.

-The Husband taking the kids away. Last week was spring break. The Husband worked from home most of the week and then took the kids away on an overnight with my mother. Our schools are also closed the Monday after Easter, so the Husband had TEN DAYS with the kids while I worked evenings and Saturdays. So grateful that he was holding it down on the home front. I think he deserves a month of hermit time after this.

Looking Forward To:

-Freakonomics Radio is doing a series where it looks at live theatre. The first episode is called “How is Live Theatre still Alive?“. Of course, as someone who works in live theatre/ opera, I am very much interested in this question. Opera is expensive, and sometimes I question my life choices and wonder if I’ll be able to do this until I retire. (Though honestly with everything going on in DC these days I’m wondering if I’ll be doing this next year…) I’m really excited to hear Freakonomics get into the nitty gritty of where the money in theatre comes from and where it goes.

-Tech! It’s tech this week! I’m a little nervous about this show – there are some very difficult sections of light cues to call. But I’m excited to be in the theatre, so see the work we’ve been doing in a rehearsal room on a taped floor with music stands and rehearsal cubes comes to life with sets and costumes and lighting. I’ve planned my clothes for the week. I have lots of leftovers/ meals in the fridge. I’m looking forward to running along the Potomac on my dinner break. I’m telling myself that I’m looking forward to going to bed without revenge bedtime procrastination – because if I tell myself then, maybe I’ll do it.

-I finally got a hold of someone who placed the 8 year old on a soccer team. I’m a little nervous because he’s not going to know anyone because he’ll be playing in a different part of town than his last team, but I’m excited that he’ll get to be out on the pitch again.

-Speaking of tech it also means a longer commute, so I’m looking forward to diving into a new audiobook. I’m almost done my audiobook so I need a new one since my commute to the theatre is longer than my commute to the rehearsal space. I generally like fast moving, gripping fiction for my tech week, something to keep me engaged when my brain is fried. Suggestions welcome!

What We Ate:

Monday: Eggplant and Pork stir fry with Udon noodles – The Husband cooked. I ate some leftovers when I got home and it was really delicious. I made myself a sweet potato and quinoa salad to eat at work and all week. Loosely based on this recipe from Pinch of Yum, but I didn’t have chickpeas so I threw in a can of cannelini beans with the quinoa.

Tuesday: Shrimp tacos. I wasn’t home that night, but I prepped the shrimp so the Husband cooked them and some chicken when he got home.

Wednesday: Spaghetti and meatballs. The 13 year old made dinner, including making the meatballs from scratch. I’m really proud of her- I pulled out the basic recipe from Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, she and the Husband made a shopping list, and then he sent to the store with his credit card. She walked to the store and bought all the ingredients herself (she was really proud that she resisted the temptation to buy chips or candy – I’m proud of her too and I split a bag of Vicky’s Spicy Dill pickle chips with her later that evening as a celebration.). Then she came home and made dinner. I ate some when I got home from work and it wasn’t bad.

Thursday: The Husband took the kids out of town. I had leftover spaghetti and meat sauce when I got home from work.

Friday: Cabbage Soup. I made a big batch of kitchen sink cabbage soup on Thursday night after I got home from work – hopefully enough for a few meals during tech for me and for the family to reheat and eat one night while I’m working. Anyhow, I took a container to work to eat on Friday. Vegan.

Saturday: The rest of the family were camping to celebrate a friends’ birthday party. They had had some Thai food for lunch so I ate that for dinner when I got home from work at 9pm.

Sunday: Easter Dinner! We had a low key Easter. We went to 8:30 Mass, which to my surprise, was half in Bangla. Our church has masses in French, English, and Spanish because there is a large immigrant community in our congregation. On Easter Sunday, the 8:30am Mass was also in Bangla, which I wasn’t expecting, but which was actually a nice surprise. Half the homily and readings were in Bangla. There was also Bangla music a few times throughout the service, which made for a really fun change of pace. I loved seeing all the women coming to church dressed up in their saris on Easter Sunday – all jewel tones with gold trim, silken fabric wafting as they walked.

After Mass, we went out to brunch at Denny’s. We have a family tradition of going to IHOP of Denny’s or some diner for Easter brunch after church. Then we came home, looked for Easter Eggs and cleaned the house a little bit. After that, we went to the park with the two little kids – the 13 year old was in hermit mood and stayed home – the kids biked and scootered. We ended up running into some friends at the park. Then we came home and I cooked Easter dinner. After dinner, everyone cleaned up the kitchen and had showers and we finished out the evening by watching Bluey and eating chocolate pudding. Not too busy, but a good combination of activities, I think.
The Easter Menu: Ham (baked in Guinness with a brown sugar coating), marinated zucchini (this recipe, but I grilled the zucchini rather than fry it), broccoli quinoa salad, pull apart Challah rolls (I chose these over the Hawaiian roles because I like the texture better, even though they taste similar). For dessert, I made Smitten Kitchen’s Best Chocolate Pudding – I love this recipe because it is easy and fast and I almost always have the ingredients on hand so I can make it when I need a last minute family dessert that also feels special.

Hope you all have a great week!
Has Spring arrive yet for you? What is your “20%/ 80%” item in your closet? Do you have anything that you recently rediscovered in your closet? What’s the first meal you remember making and how old were you? What else should the 13 year old make?

Bi- Weekly recap + what we ate: a week of outfits

Last week and this past week was one of those “so many random thoughts came into my head this week”-kind of week. So here’s a random dump of various goings ons since the last week of recaps…

-We went duckpin bowling last weekend. The bowling alley was like stepping back in time. At one point, the guy who brought us our food asked if we could keep the kids from leaning on the ball returns because, “those are original, from the 1950s.” The bowling alley had a deal for six bowlers plus shoes, a large pizza and a pitcher of soda for $105, which seemed like a steal for an afternoon of fun for our family of five.

step back in time! We have to score by hand and math!

-We’ve started rehearsal. I’m working on an opera set in World War I, so my google searches lately have been things like, “1900s German Telegram” and “gas masks” and “1900s pencils”. And my photo roll is full of snapshots from rehearsal as I communicate with the prop master about our rehearsal needs. Here’s a glimpse:

In case you couldn’t tell, that white blob is a set of rehearsal bagpipes that I fashioned out of a cotton sack and paper and tape because the one we ordered for the show have’t arrived yet. It’s some of my best work. I have to admit I am mad good at making fake props. (I even wrote a post on it…)

-Swim season is finished! Even though I’m so glad that we no longer have to get to the pool every day, I’m a little sad to move on from that part of the summer because for all the complicated logistics, it was fun watching the 12 year old swim and I actually liked having an excuse to get into the pool four nights a week. The 12 year old received one of the Coach’s Choice awards – I’m so proud of her! Every kid also recieves a paper plate award – the 4 year old got “Best Bobber”, the 7 year old got “Best Flutter Kick” and the 12 year old got “Butterflyer at Heart”. How awesome is it that the coaches get together and think of an award for everyone?!

-The schlep every morning to get people places. This is what our foyer looks like in the morning as we get ready to leave:

I have lunchbox, purse, laptop bag, totebag with running clothes in it (in case I have a long dinner break). The kids each have a backpack and lunch. The 7 year old was at skating camp last week, so he also has helmet, winter coat, and his skates. It’s like every day is an expedition. I thought this was funny – him trekking up the hill to the ice arena. For the record, there is a set of stairs just to the right of this picture – he just chose not to use them.

-The 12 year old’s musical theatre showcase was so much fun! I have to admit I might have mouthed the words to her solo in the Shrek scene along with her as she sang it. In addition to musical numbers, they performed some book (spoken) scenes as well. I had kind of dismissed SpongeBob Square Pants the Musical without knowing anything about it, but the kids performed some scenes from it and they were pretty funny. I would be intrigued to see the show. I’m glad we signed the 12 year old up for this camp – I think she’s at an age that she does better at camps where she’s receiving training in something specific rather than general “have fun” camps. Though I still have hopes that she will want to go to a sleepaway camp at some point too.
Also, last week, the theatre camp program took all the kids to New York to see Hamilton. How cool is that? They left on the 8am Vamoose bus and came home at 11pm. Everything – the bus, the show, and dinner – was covered by the camp fees. We sent her with a bagged lunch and some money. It seems like such a milestone for us – we’ve never sent our kid on a trip like this without us. (Well, when she was a baby, my parents would take her to California during the summers, but this feels different because she’s expected to behave and make good choices on her own….) She had an amazing time. But also – it made me think that maybe a day trip to NYC to see a show is a pretty easy thing and I should do that with her at some point this fall.

-My aunt passed away last week. She was my father’s oldest sister. We weren’t exactly close – she lived in Houlong, a small town in Taiwan, and I’ve seen her maybe ten times in my life. But whenever we went to visit she was always so welcoming and generous with her time, making sure that I was enjoying myself, constantly feeding me, taking us around the town on her little scooter. I suppose I am getting to an age where aunts and uncles will soon start to pass – all of my father’s siblings live in Taiwan, and it seems a little unreal to me to hear news of their passings. Since I so rarely go to Taiwan, it is easy to forget, and to think that my aunt will always be there, and that I will see her when I go back this winter.

-On a lighter note – this tweet made me laugh. It is so so so true for us too:

The tweet was linked through this New York Times article on people’s grocery shopping habits. The article was super interesting and indulged a certain voyeur in me. My main takeaway was that Americans buy a lot of cheese. I feel like we buy a lot of cucumbers, apples, berries, and bread. And yes, cheese.
What can’t you wait to stop spending money on?

– Taiwanese Sausage! There are many boba places near work, and one of them also sells food, including Taiwanese sausage. It brings back such memories of being at the Night Markets in Taiwan. I’m trying to limit my boba consumption this summer, but Taiwanese sausage might be a dangerous gateway.

-another food related thing – My favorite salad these days – With the summer glut of zucchini, I’ve been making shaved zucchini salad for lunches. No real recipe, but this is what I do- with a peeler, shave the zucchini into ribbons. Add, salt, pepper, olive oils and red wine vinegar (or whatever acid. I would also use lemons if we had lemons). Mix it up to make sure the ribbons are all dressed. Sprinkle with fresh mint, walnuts, parmesan cheese. Top with an egg for protein. I also threw in some lettuce because we had some to use up. It’s been my go to lunch for the past two weeks. This is my entry in Tobia’s summer salad challenge :).

A Week of Outfits:
The Sunday before the first day of rehearsal, I put together 6 outfits to get me through the week because I knew the mornings would be really busy with three drop offs . It made my part of the morning so much easier not to have to think of what to wear. I’ve been hearing a lot about “Three Words” styling method, where you choose three words to describe your sense of style. There are a variety of the theme floating around, but one version is – one word that is your baseline style, one word that is describes your style aspirations, and one word that describes how you want to feel in your clothes. (I’ve read somewhere that “comfortable” isn’t a style word because we all want to be comfortable.. Because otherwise that would be my word for all three categories.) My words always change, but I think at the moment, I’m going to choose – Colourful, effortless, and playful. I will say, I have a few requirements of my clothes – I have to be able to move easily in it since I move and lift things a lot in rehearsals. Things have to be long enough that I don’t flash the world when I bend down or sit on the ground. Though I do sometime wear bike shorts underneath if it seems dicy. No button or things that I have to zip up the back. I have to get dressed by myself and have never mastered the art of zipping up the back of my own dress. Natural fibers if possible. Elastic waist bands. Pockets. Not black. I wear black a lot when I’m backstage so I try to avoid it when I’m not backstage. Machine washable.

I thought I’d post here the week of outfits. Excuse the bad photos – I’m by no means a fashion blogger. Think of this as “What does a middle aged stage manager mother of three wear?”

Monday: I didn’t take a picture on Monday but it was my blue Wool& Sierra tank dress with a flower patterned Uniqlo shirt over it. Because I’m too lazy top put it back on, here is it on the hanger:

Tuesday – Linen shirt dress. I love this dress because it is so easy breezy. Also – the sleeves are long. I’m trying to cover my arms, or at least my left arm because it gets a lot of sun during my daily commute, so I want a little bit of protection. This is the upper limit of short for me.

Masking because of a COVID precaution. It really took me back…

Wednesday: Poplin stiped skirt, Uniqlo shirt. The skirt is a new purchase – it was on the sale rack at JCPenney’s for $15. I love a nice skirt with pockets and an elastic waistband – there was a whole rack of these skirts, and I thought, “Why aren’t people buying this perfect for summer skirt?!?!?” The label says dirndl skirt, which I thought was funny.

Thursday: Hand me down cardigan from my cousin, yellow and white striped t-shirt from Pact, orange crinkle pants from Old Navy.

Friday: Red Wool& dress with J.Crew poplin men’s button up. The shirt is thrifted and I love everything about it. When I first saw it on the Men’s rack, I thought it had been mishung, but it really is a men’s shirt. Also – I really love my new hair with sunglasses.

Saturday – Was the day off, so no picture. I spent it in running shorts, a sports bra, and a running tank, on the off chance I got out for a run. Which didn’t happen.

Sunday: Olive green shirt dress (Uniqlo) with hat. I love this dress – so easy to wear. It does come with a belt, but I never belt it. I actually bought it when i was pregnant even though it’s not maternity wear. I thought the outfit needed a little something, so I threw on a hat. I used to have many summer hats, but I can only find this one blue one right now. I’ll have to look for the others. At least this hat matches my shoes. (On the note of shoes – I alternate between two pair of shoes in the summer – a pair of aqua Allbirds and a blue slip on Oofos. These are both getting a little worn in the soles, so I’ll need to replace them soon. I’m annoyed that Allbirds now only come in boring grey/black/neutral colours.)

Grateful For (It’s a long list this time because I realized I have two weeks worth here.):
-The Husband. He’s been the primary parent while I’ve been in rehearsals – he’s picked up kids, stayed home with sick ones, arranged play dates, made dinner, made needed purchases, scheduled work on the house, paid contractors… a lot. I feel downright lazy for only having to get the kids to school/camp then go to work every day.

-A box of veggies. Our neighbor was going out of town – you know, just an impulsive trip to the Bahamas like you do when your kids are all older and at camp – so he asked if we would feed his fish and also take this box of veggies from the Farmer’s market. Yes please!

-That I’ve lived to have seen – twice each – a woman run for President and a person of colour run for President. (This might be pre-mature thinking, but probably not.) Look, I don’t care about any one person’s politics. I mean I have my opinions (left leaning, in case it wasn’t clear), but I’m always curious and interested in what people think across the spectrum. I do care, though, that we live in a world where people should see aspects of themselves represented on a national and international stage. Growing up, I wanted to be blond because success was often embodied by beautiful blond people. I’m glad that, hopefully, that is not what achievement has to look like to my kids.

-Google Translate. The current opera is in three different languages since it tells the story of the Scottish, French, and German soldiers. My French is passable enough that I can understand the text, but my German is not (I only took two semesters of German in college.) Enter the miracle of Google Translate – I can just point it at the text, and it translates it for me! Now I know exactly why we need a telegram for that scene and what it should say.

-The Lost and Found. I swear, every day the 7 year old comes home from camp with one less item than when I sent him in the morning. Thank goodness, the camp puts the lost and found out front by the sign in table.

-Other people driving. The past two weeks have been a lot of driving for everyone. Because I work so far away, the Husband had taken over driving to swim practice – so grateful for him for doing that because it is really busy. Then this week, my friend has been driving the 12 year old to her camp because her theatre camp starts at the exact same time as the 7 year old’s ice skating camp. Since my friend’s kids go to a camp not too far from theatre camp, she’s been dropping the 12 year old in the morning. A million thanks to her for doing that.

– The singer M who let me into the building when I had left my swipe card inside after hours. As I was leaving work one day, I went to reach for my car keys, and realized that they were in my purse, which were in the rehearsal hall in the building, the doors of which were swinging shut behind me. Cue PANIC. It was 9pm in the evening and everything was locked and everyone was gone. But then, I saw a singer coming back from dinner to pick up his car, and I have never been so grateful to see a singer in my life. Relief washed over me. He was able to swipe me in and I retrieved my stuff.

-Hand me down bras! I need to re-evaluate my bra game – I’m still wearing nursing bras and my youngest kid will soon be five. But to be fair, those nursing bras are the most comfortable bras I’ve ever worn. When my cousin was visiting, she gave me a whole bag of bras that she had outgrown. Last week, I pulled them out to try on, and they are actually the same Uniqlo bras that I used to buy before I got pregnant with my third kid. Only she bought them in Taiwan so all the labels are in Chinese so it took me a while to realize they were the same bras. What a nice and useful coincidence.

Looking forward to:
-A weekend alone/ hanging out with a friend. The Husband is taking the kids out on an overnight, but I have to work, so I’ll stay behind. I’ll have a glorious day to myself, though. Things on my “want to do” list:
– hang out with my friend, probably hiking
– set the thermostat at 76.
– clean one thing. Either my desk or my craft table or the toy room?
– paint some cards.
– make a batch of hard boiled eggs for next week.
-maybe bake something else.
-read
-write recaps ffor our Maine trip
– run, or maybe even swim?
That’s a lot – I probably won’t get to all that, though.

– We have a friend coming in to town to come see my show in a few weeks. I always love having company. Especially company that is forgiving of the mess and chaos that is life with three kids.

-The Olympics!!! Always fun to watch and hear the stories.

-Started this Audiobook. I’ve never read Emilie Henry, and when I was looking for a new audiobook for my commute I saw this was read by Julia Whelan, so thought, “If nothing else, the narration will be good!” The 12 year old borrowed Book Lovers on audio and has been listening to it, so I figured it wouldn’t be bad to see what all the buzz is about. So far I’ve laughed out loud many times.

What We Ate (two weeks worth – it’s been a very … functional few weeks of eating.)
Monday- Sandwiches at the pool for the Husband and kids. I had veggies and fruit when I got home from work

Tuesday: Chicken salad wraps at the pool. I had tomato furikake sandwiches at home when I got off work. Basically mayo, sliced tomato, furikake seasoning on toasted bread. It was tasty and summer.

Wednesday: Meet the Husband and two little kids for dinner at a hot dog/burger restaurant. I arrived on the late side and ate chili cheese fries and leftover hot dog buns and sausage. I often realize that when we go to restaurants, I don’t really need to order myself food, I can just eat what the kids don’t eat…

Thursday: I ate leftover chicken salad wraps from Tuesday. Not sure what the rest of the family ate.

Friday: Swim Team Pasta Dinner Potluck. I made sesame noodles w/ chicken, cucumber, and peppers. I always feel self conscious about bringing sesame noodles to the Pasta Potluck, but it’s really easy to make and I think it makes a nice break for people who don’t eat tomatoes… (There were leftovers which I was happy to eat all week>)

Saturday: Pizza take out and The Frog Prince. (Which I might have slept through because I was really tired by this point of the week.)

Sunday: Leftover pizza for me. The rest of the family had pizza at the swim team awards banquet.

Monday: Eggplant stir fry with fish. The Husband cooked. This was really tasty as leftovers.

Tuesday: Grilled Chicken drumsticks, steamed broccoli, and leftover eggplant stir fry. I was working this night, so I marinated the chicken ahead of time and the Husband grilled it when he got home. I did a whole Costco size pack of drumsticks so the kids could take them for lunch.

Wednesday: The family went out to eat and I met them at ice cream when I got off work. I had a sandwich for dinner… that is an ice cream sandwich.

Thursday: Green beans and box Mac N Cheese for the Husband and kids. I had leftover sesame noodles at work.

Friday: Chinese Take-out for the Husband and kids and some friends they had over. I had, again, sesame noodles at work.

Okay – I’m off to continue my child-free day!

What’s your favorite summer outfit? Ten points if you can tell me what that stick like prop is.