All Things EARTH... part 2

[MJC]

Laurie, I like the second dress well enough, but the first one is stunning. That style is also right up my alley.

 

I have plenty of clothes that are a size down that I bought when I was losing weight regularly. Now that I've stalled, they sit in the closet and reproach me. :( I am trying to get back on track though my hormones are really working against me. It is a struggle.

 

I just learned we will have a black tie wedding to go to just before Thanksgiving. So, that is motivation to get some weight off so I don't have to go shopping yet again for a dress that fits. My cousin is pushing me to wear that turquoise lace sheath I wore last summer. If I get down to that size, I am wondering if it will be too summery to wear in November. What do you all think? The wedding party is going to be black and white, so perhaps it is too colorful. Sad thought, right? Not another black dress!

 

I made the first step in taking my dad's car away last week by contacting the Sec. of State to force a driver evaluation. He lost his license and he's been driving without one for a month, he refuses to get a new one, and he's been leaving my mother alone and going who knows where. He lost $600 last month, no idea what he did with it, and spent $800 on his car without telling us, so their rent check bounced. And he stopped taking his meds. After talking with all my siblings, I'll be filing for full guardianship of my parents this fall. I just have to get through the VA process and get my dad's cancer taken care of first.

 

It has been ungodly hot here with real feel temps over 100 on some days. It rains a bit each afternoon and then is even more humid than before. We scheduled all our city time for Wed and Thurs this week so we can mostly stay at the lake, where it is a bit cooler, and enjoy the water. Sometimes unemployment is a blessing. :) My garden is looking a little woolly but it is just too hot for yard work.

 

I actually have some work to do today because I was just accepted as a speaker at an adult literacy conference in October. So I'm going to stop procrastinating now. :)

[Sailor_Sally]

Laurie , If you do not need the dress now I would wait . WHBM puts their dresses on sale regularly . They usually drop to $59.99 or $69.99 and then you can always find a coupon . I lost 40 pounds and dropped 4 sizes even in the legs & hips which are my bigger area . I have pants and dresses from last year that I just swim in now . I probably should have sold them on ebay .

 

Margaret , I think lace dresses no matter what the color work in any season. I am sorry you are having a rough time with your parents .I was so glad my Mother moved into an independent living facility with the option of assisted living . It made our lives so much easier not having the day to day worry .

 

Cruz , I also measure my clothes by how much wear I get out of them . That is why I buy JJill . Most of those clothes last a long time and since I live in Florida we wear the same things almost year round .

[Sailor_Sally]

I am spending my summer buying & returning bathing suits . I do swim at least two or three times every week but for that I wear chlorine resistant suits or cheap one pieces from lands end . I am on a mission to find a nice age appropriate suit without looking matronly . I tried lands end and sent those two suits back . I hate the tankinis on me .Thy bring out bulges I did not know I had . I tried Belk which is a store near me and returned those suits . I looked at every site including Lord & taylor Macy's, Norstrom's , Bon ton and Beall's . I am at the point of paying more for a suit than my first born child . Do they think that women stop wearing suits at 55 and just sit on the side lines . This suit will just be used for sunning on a cruise ship .

[laurspag]

Sally, I know what you mean. Ihave struggled finding bathing suits too, and for the same reason as you. I have had a few I really like and I wish I could still get them but in a different size. I have one I like quite a bit. There is another one i need to try on again noe that I have lost more weight. Maybe it will fit better now. It's from.Athleta.

[MJC]

I had a fun day yesterday! I went to the Costume Institute show at the Met. Check out the video:

 

http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2016/manus-x-machina

 

Here are some of my favorites. I tried to pick EARTH dresses to share. The centerpiece was this Karl Lagerfeld bride gown made from oyster-colored neoprene:

 

 

 

I loved the colors on these Mary McFadden gowns:

 

 

The Fortuny gowns from the 1930s that were her inspiration were so gorgeous. The silk was so rich and tactile:

 

I've tried to rotate some of these and they show properly in PB but for some reason they may be sideways here. The mysteries of posting photos. :confused:

[MJC]

There was a second Miyake dress like this displayed flat, and it made a perfect circle:

 

On the left, a recent Prada and on the right, vintage 1950s:

 

1890's Irish wedding dress:

 

 

This vintage dress had a base of pewter-colored satin, but the overall effect was warm:

 

Here is a closeup – the pattern was made up of hundreds of small feathers glued on:

 

The Alexander McQueen dress on the left was my absolute favorite. It had small real coral beads in the lace. The one on the right had actual coral branches and pieces on it:

[laurspag]

Margaret,those dresses are stunning. And I love to see such magnificent earth colors.

 

There were some I loved for the style, some for the fabric, some for the color...I really wish we could find things like this more often in today's stores.

 

Those silk dresses really wowed me a lot!

 

I'm still thinking about the red lace dress from WHBM. I do find, as Sally has said, that they do go on sale. I procrastinated on a few things last time though and they sold out. I do think that if I try the dress and like it a lot, I may go a bit snug with it, so it will still fit after I lose more weight. The styling though looks to be easy to take in as well. We will have to see.

 

We are off to run some errands today. We're getting new carpet for our family room. We have a new sectional on order as well. It will be nice to have that room situated.

 

I wonder how Melody is doing with her impromptu vacation? Last we heard, it sounded like she was having a great time. I'd love to go visit the Boston area.

[Sailor_Sally]

Margaret , Gorgeous dresses especially the wedding gown !

 

Well I finally found a bathing suit that fit and was age appropriate . I wear tanks to swim at the gym but I needed a suit for deck wear . I bought it on ebay . A La Blanca suit for $21.00 brand new . It is perfect .

I also bought new living room furniture today . It has sunbrella fabric so hopefully it will not fade like most of the furniture in Florida . My living , dining and kitchen area are totally open so I need to coordinate the areas .The nice thing is the furniture store will remove my old furniture and donate it to habitat for humanity .

Edited August 21, 2016 by Sailor_Sally

[laurspag]

Sally, that is great. My husband and I are do-it-yourselfers, and we have a local reuse it store operated by Habitat for Humanity that we donate to all the time. They do not take furniture though. They love it when we bring things like light fixtures and ceramic tile and so forth.

 

I picked up my new glasses. I have to say, I never quite got comfortable with the previous ones. Since glasses tend to be a fashion item these days, I really thought I would like the plastic frames, but I did not. They were always sliding down my nose, and I really didn't think they were doing anything for me. I tried so many different styles. I ended up going back to a wire frame. I'll try to get a picture later on. These stay up where they belong, and I don't have that weird thing where I can "see" the frame and have to lift my chin. I am not sure why, but it is very hard for me to find glasses where I don't have to do that. I'm guessing it is just the placement of my eyes relative to the bridge of the nose or something.

 

I am going to ask about basic contacts, so that I have an option for when we go out at least. I won't be able to read without readers, but that shouldn't be an issue at a wedding or perhaps formal night on a cruise.

[awhfy]

We're baaack! 23 days, 5500 miles, 33.8mpg, 2 countries, 18 states. 15 lobsta rolls, too many marvelous fish dinners to count, 3 amazing hot fudge sundaes (with real dairy ice cream) & I actually lost a pound!

 

Les has 22 new tshirts [emoji849] & I have a new pair of Keen sandals that I've been looking for for 5 years!

 

Fantastic trip & it felt soo good to sleep in our own bed last night!

 

Next up is Sanibel Island the end of November for a family wedding

 

While we were gone our middle daughter put her condo on the market. She put it on last Weds at noon. Had 2 full price offers at 1205 & had a signed contract at 1215!!! Along with an offer to stage homes for sale (which she will start doing on a part time basis, she's a high school PE teacher). She's building a new condo closer to work but it won't be ready till Dec. so we'll have daughter & DGD with us from end of Sep till condo is ready. What fun!!

 

I'll take done time to read what's been posted, I really didn't look at much while we were on the road. Melody

[Sailor_Sally]

Welcome back ! Sounds like you had a great time ! November in Sanibel should be perfect weather .Warm but not hot with cooler evenings .

[MJC]

I haven't been in Talbots for years, but I got a catalog today, and there are some lovely things.

 

Laurie, I saw these work separates and thought of you:

 

https://www.talbots.com/online/browse/product_details.jsp?id=prdi40395&defaultColor=4072&N=10463&selectedConcept=

 

So happy to see that there is still a lot of teal in the collections for fall/winter.

 

I'm going to the ballet tonight! Mostly Mozart Festival! Yay!

[laurspag]

I will have to check those out! We have a Talbots but not super close. I love that there are options besides black and gray.

[laurspag]

How was the ballet?

[MJC]

It was divine!! :D Very joyful, just what I needed. My favorite choreographer + Mozart = sublime.

 

I got some good news yesterday about the VA money for my dad so it ended up being a perfect end to a very good day.

 

You know, there is another jacket in that color that doesn't have a peplum, so more conservative looking.

 

This dress was on an ad I just got from L&T. I'm not a fan of Ivanka Trump's line but I love this:

 

http://www.lordandtaylor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/lord-and-taylor/womens-apparel/knit-sheath-dress-0500046119038--1

Edited August 27, 2016 by MJC

[awhfy]

Margaret good news on your Dad's VA $$.

 

I miss L&T. I don't like online shopping if I can't return to a store.

[laurspag]

This dress was on sale, yesterday only, for $59.00 and some change. I also had a 25% off clearance coupon. I debated about it, because I don't need it, but I do like it. I'm not sure I would cal lit earth but it is warm at least?

 

Well, anywho....I didn't order it. And now it is close to three times as much. It's still a nice deal, but I should have ordered it! I have a Lord and Taylor up at the mall so it wouldn't have cost a thing to take it back.

 

http://www.lordandtaylor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/lord-and-taylor/brands/wa-dresses/rhinestone-accented-gown-0318-vc6m1178--1

 

I waited in part because there are two Ralph Lauren dresses I am watching. I found one of two on sale at Bloomingdales very cheap but we don't have one near here so if I buy it, I have to pay to send it back. The other dress was more there. L&T has them both on sale but because of the one being so discounted, it's more.

 

So I just did all this pondering and hemming and hawing because I don't need the dresses. But I do like them a lot, and I am trying to get good deals on things I really like, and that look like I can take in if I lose more weight.

 

Here are the other two, for reference.

 

http://www.lordandtaylor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/lord-and-taylor/beaded-trim-halter-dress

 

http://www.lordandtaylor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/lord-and-taylor/leather-trim-halter-dress

 

One of them is only around $65.00 at Bloomingdales, but the other is $210.00. With their sale, I can get them for a lot less.

 

I hate when I get so indecisive, lol. I guess it's because I know I need work clothes more, but I'm struggling. I am going to try and get to Talbots soon to check out those suiting separates and see what I think. I have not bought a thing from them in so many years!

[laurspag]

Actually, the one dress isn't as cheap at Bloomingdales, but it is still on sale and the other dress is also on sale now...

[laurspag]

Melody, that is good news about your daughter 's condo selling so fast. I liked the purple dress that was on the L&T ad myself. I have to ba,acne out shoulders a bit but I would definitely give it a try.

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[laurspag]

Stupid Nook. I meant to say I have to be Balance out the shoulders.

[Sailor_Sally]

Laurie , Both of the Ralph Lauren dresses are pretty . I find when I hem & haw it is not the right decision or something about it is bothering me . I have been furniture shopping and I found a couch and chair that I liked but I hemmed & hawed about it . I finally returned to the furniture store and when I saw that couch again I knew it was not right but I found the perfect couch & chair at the same store . It is perfect no heming or hawing needed.

[MJC]

Wise words as usual from Sally. :)

[awhfy]

Too funny. We just bought a new sofa & two chairs - just delivered today! Finally found what we liked after a long time of searching!

[Sailor_Sally]

Wise words as usual from Sally. :)

 

Thanks Margaret , Of course now I have to buy all the accent pieces .

[Sailor_Sally]

Too funny. We just bought a new sofa & two chairs - just delivered today! Finally found what we liked after a long time of searching!

 

Luckily mine were delivered last Wednesday since this Wednesday we were in a tropical storm .