(What is a derecho? Here is your answer.)
The Washington Post is asking people name the crazy, awful, let's take down an entire region storm, and I recommend all of you name it Derecho Dina because...
1. It happened two days before my birthday on Friday. My birthday, Sunday, also was the day we had planned for Angus to be baptized, which leads me to...
2. The whole house was full of relatives who really enjoy our company, but enjoy our company MOST when there is air conditioning (highs of 103 F recently, so you all know), real food in the fridge, lights on at night, and ways of staying cool when dressing in the morning. When the storm hit us on Friday night, our house and a good majority of the houses from Baltimore to Richmond were in the dark, and in the heat. Only some of those houses had "company." ;)
3. I, being the Pollyanna that I am, tried REALLY really hard to be as positive and optimistic about the loss of electricity, after all if I was able to live through the snowstorm that turned me into an actual PACKMULE, then I could handle 6000 degrees (at night, on top of the bed, with no cloth touching my skin outside of my camisole and shorts) and no lights, right?
4. I did stay positive, but I did get a bit "frayed" (like the countless wires underneath the countless trees in our 'hood). At one point, right before the baptism, when my dad and my hubby were both requesting something of me at the same. blessed. time, I actually said, out loud, "THREE, TWO, ONE, I AM GOING TO CALM DOWN RIGHT NOW." And then I heard the sweet priest say, "excuse me, I think I need to pass by, if that's okay." Sigh.
5. It is now Monday, and they have an estimated date of FRIDAY or SATURDAY before they will get the power restored to us in our neighborhood. I suppose when power line poles actually split in half, that is probably expected, eh? ;)
6. I clearly am not in said house, thank goodness, and rather at a hotel in Arlington (I get to be a tourist in my hometown, holla!). Soon I will shift to my dad's house (he had his power restored today). And maybe, one day, my house will be back to normal, with a fridge full of non-rancid food (oh, what a joy that will be to clean), cool breezes enveloping my head (love you, ceiling fan!), and full access to things like the coffeemaker and telephone (welcome to 1981, everyone).
So, that's my plan, let's get the derecho named after me. LOL. I am kidding, you all know that, right?
Instead of heading over there and naming the derecho that, I invite you in for a review. ;)
I will show you a photo of what I managed to get on and wear on the Baptism/birthday day, even though it was so bleeping hot and humid in the house that my skin literally stuck to every household surface, like the walls.
Sunglasses: Target.
Dress, Clutch, Shoes, and Belt: J. Crew.
This is the pleated blouson dress from J. Crew that was in the lookbook and was under a lot of scrutiny for being both at once really pretty and also really absurd for being constructed from polyester. I agreed with most sentiments, but I still believe it is a lovely frock, utterly perfect for such occasions like birthdays, baptisms, and weddings. (All three of which will see this dress in action this summer!) The polyester is resoundly ugh when putting it on in the 6000 degrees, but it does have something going for it...utter wrinkle resistance. You see those amazing pleats all over? Even through multiple hours of standing, sitting, kneeling, and praying, this dress came home and not a single pleat was out of place. I have owned pleated skirts for years (yay Catholic school uniforms) and those always wrinkled out of position, but not this dress. Plus it's pink. And that's all that CW cares about. Ha.
The dress is a size 6, which is fine for me, as it is loose through the hips and bodice. Because of that I could use my waist measurement, which hovers around 28 most days (the waist on this is a 30, so it is comfortable). I love the shape, I think the relaxed blouson and hips style really shows off the waist nicely, and a lot of women like to do that, which may be why this dress was hyped early on.
(Other reviews: check it out on AJC here and on Notes from a Dressing Room here.)
The shoes are the Lena wedges, and like the model at Net-a-Porter, I wanted to try yellow with the dress. When I wear the dress next time, I am going to wear a pair of strappy glittery gold sandals instead, which will likely look more chic, but since it was my birthday, I wanted to try something a little more out of my comfort zone (like the heat wave wasn't enough discomfort, chortle).
I took a whole lot more photos that day, but haven't had a chance to sift through and edit them all, but will likely publish them all in a birthday/baptism themed post. The photos from the baptism are really sweet, Angus looks adorable in a bonnet.
Obviously, I am not able to do as much as I can when I am at home in a normal situation. But I will still try my best to be around and available, so if you do write or comment, and don't hear back, know that I am slowly working myself back to being able to do so. Promise!
Night, night, all. Stay cool. If. you. can. (Evil laugh.)
P.S. Boden ladies, no sale yet. I can't believe it is taking this long. Hmmm. Maybe tomorrow? ;)
