This is the best I can manage today — a recent outfit post, taken before I got hit by a serious cold. Much better than I was earlier in the week, I’m planning to get out for a walk in the sunshine today (I managed short walks in sunny periods on Tuesday and Wednesday, but otherwise I’ve been stuck inside). Luckily, I have good books to read and my French and Italian homework to occupy myself with. Managed some baking and soup-making, even did a spot of cleaning yesterday.
But I got an hour into putting together a final blogpost on that Italian Style exhibit and my sketching expedition with a friend, and I know I’ll do a better job if I wait to finish it when I have more energy. I’ll post that first thing next week. I did realize, however, focusing on Italian Style, that some of you might be wondering about my family in Italy. Our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter –who live near Rome — are fine although the next few weeks with travel restrictions, with all the schools and universities closed, with businesses suffering from the drop in tourism, will be challenging for many Italians. We’re going ahead with our plans to visit Sicily in May/June (and please, please don’t comment if you’re going to tell me that’s a mistake; we’ve thought this through carefully according to our own tolerance for risk and the best information we’ve found), fingers crossed all through the family that our reunion will work out and four cousins will be getting reacquainted in a citrus grove later this spring. . .
So I’m going to coddle myself a bit — as I did with this outfit, from the merino wide-legged, ribbing-waisted pants (so comfortable) to the yak/wool cuddle of a two-year-old loose-but-not-quite-sloppy sweater, to the caramel cashmere caressing my neck. And a well-worn pair of slip-on Oxfords. . . Pretty close to a sweet-spot outfit for me, actually.
Coddling and comfort are what I need today, but next week here’s what I will have for you:
That last survey of the Italian style exhibition . . . . AND. . . . an interview (email style) with a reader and regular commenter here who has recently retired and is Moving to Portugal!
Meanwhile, a Happy Weekend to You,
May there be Sunshine!
xo,
f
oh, and p.s. Wash Your Hands!
That sweater looks perfect for cozy stylish comfort. I have been thinking of your Italian family and am so glad to hear all is well. And your family gathering in a citrus grove late spring sounds delightful. The food (all those family chefs working with fresh local
produce), the children playing and picnicking among the trees, and the adults able to move from child to child or adult to adult as the mood determines. A circle of love.
I love that caramel scarf with the cream sweater. Looks good enough to eat. 😊 Hope your bug soon goes away. Snowing sideways with high winds here at the moment. So I am coddling myself as well. Books and YouTube. And tea with oatmeal cookies.
Sorry about your cold! Just got over a weird week of either a cold or a California premature-spring allergy. I had headaches and sneezing and chills and felt so very tired. I grew up near the area where I'm staying, and I remember my childhood allergies were sometimes acute. It's behind me now. Today was my first energetic day, and that felt good. This morning I took a friend to the hospital for a scheduled neurological test and didn't remember about the virus until I saw a intake nurse in a mask. I'm washing my hands, not touching anything outside, washing my hands yet again, and trying to keep my immune system strong. I support you in whatever plans you have thought through and made. I know what you mean about going through that personal process and then having people opine. No opining from me. Trust your instincts. Do want to say I love your neutral and cozy outfit, which also looks elegant. You're wearing my favorite kind of clothing. Neutrals make me happy, I'm a Winter and supposedly will remain one when I grow out my gray (white?) hair, and neutrals are my happy place in clothing. Everything goes with everything and I don't have to think about it. Your French and Italian classes inspire me to get back into French lessons. It has been years since I studied French, but I'd love to be fluent. I need to live in France for a year.
I love your cozy outfit! Exactly the sort of thing to make you feel better while you're recovering.
No lectures from me on your Italian travel. My infectious disease doctor friend is still traveling, and so am I.
You write about the comfort of your outfit, and that shines through in the ease with which you wear it and the happy sense of style that conveys. Made me wonder if we can ever truly look stylish if we're not physically comfortable in what we're wearing.
Quite right too to go ahead with your plans. Our daughter flies to Boston today for a week's holiday with a university friend, and then later in the spring is off to Morocco trekking in the mountains. As for us, we're off to London before long to see her – first visit since she moved down for work in the autumn. So that is definitely going ahead, even if I have to walk there! Sicily in the Spring sounds perfect. A friend was there last year and said the historic sights, landscape and food were amazing.
Re your reply to my comment on the Scots' panic buying preferences, I expect a lot of internet searches originating here in 2021 for "recipes with baked beans" "how to use up oat flakes", "baked bean + tinnned tuna + oat flake recipes".
Glad you did get out into the sunshine, as seen on your IG!
I like the outfit, just perfect when you are not yet back to full health. I am traveling to the London early next week from Sydney. I admit to a
certain amount of trepidation mainly as I travel alone but it won’t stop me going. I think the biggest problem, in Australia at least, is the panic that has been whipped up by social media and, to some extent, the conventional media. Maryann
I like this combinations of colours- it is so classic and camel scarf is lovely. My favorite things are neutrals with scarves for adding colours and than I usually need colours,lots of colours at once,for a while. A summer dress or two are pronto for the colour joy and abundance…and than,after a while,I go back to black :-),or navy,white,camel…….
Luckily,I'm not like that,I'm faithful, in other spheres of life….
Dottoressa
Like Katherine C. James, neutrals are my happy place too. Actually you have made quite an effort, when I feel like that, my WIW would be pjs and sheepskin slippers! I'd wear that in full health as well as when in to comfort zone.
Belle: You describe perfectly what I hope will come together early June. Now just for us all to stay healthy. . .
Sue: A snowstorm demands some indoor coddling and accommodates it quite nicely, provided one is sufficiently supplied, and it sounds as if you are. Stay cozy! (mmmm, oatmeal cookies, I might have to make some 😉
KCJ: Allergies can be miserable as Spring heats up — all those blooms we love declaring war on our sinuses. Your approach to the virus (even to the point of forgetting about it) sounds sensible to me, primarily because it's similar to mine. And oooh, yes, this is a dream of mine, the year in France (although now I would settle for Italy 😉 Not likely to happen this lifetime, but one can dream. . .
CarolP: A kindred spirit!
Linda B: I won't say there wasn't some concern about losing money should we get quarantined along the way or whatever, but our plane fare was nonrefundable anyway. We've long decided that to travel the way we do, constantly insuring against all possibilities would break the budget. (we do have medical and that's already $$ for >65. . . Your daughter's travel plans sound great, especially the Moroccan hiking. And I must say, I've really been craving a visit to London lately. Won't happy for a while, but I haven't even seen the renovated Tate Modern yet. If you go, IG the heck out of it for me, would you? 😉
Maryann: I understand the trepidation (I'm travelling on my own the first ten days of our Sicily trip), but also the excitement of a trip to London (see my comment to Linda B, above). I completely agree with you about the panic which, tbh, I find a bit unseemly on the part of the "developed world" with the health-care and other resources we enjoy.
Dottoressa: I'm very similar to you in that and absolutely crave colour sometimes, can't resist it in the shop. More and more, though, I'm enjoying the calm, the ease, of wearing neutrals. . . And as long as we're faithful where it counts, we can be fickle with our wardrobes, right? 😉
Duchesse: For me also, I've mostly been in pjs and my Glerups (which you are responsible for, did you know?)
A friend is currently in Venice for the month. Says it is lovely and quiet. Stores are fully stocked, local (not tourist) cafes still busy and not a face mask in sight. Life goes on.
I can't remember if you mentioned this as one of your sources on Sicily, but I recently read about older books/TV series by Andrea Camilleri set in Sicily…Inspector Montalbano. TV series is supposed to be in Italian with subtitles and a lot of great scenery. Not entirely sure where/if you can find it in Canada–if you haven't already.
Hope you are feeling better soon and everyone stays healthy.
I do not know what yak wool feels like, but your sweater looks wonderfolly comfortable.
I think Linda B. is very right: feeling ar ease in your clothes is a prereqisite of looking stylish, in my experience.
I had planned to go to Puglia again in May, and I haven't made up my mind wether to go ahead or to cancel the trip. I am lucky, because in any case I will go by train and stay with friends and/or family, nothing has to be booked very much in advance. So I can still put off my final decision.
Coddling and comfort sound wonderful. I spent an hour outside watching a 5 year old play in a soccer tournament, and came home thoroughly chilled. A rice bag and a cup of tea are helping me warm up as I read blogs. Your outfit looks stylish and comfortable – the best combination!
You do look so comfortable, and also slender in your slouchy outfits. Very European, to me.
I wholly endorse your decision to fly to Italy. Intelligence risk assessment is all, and I also know that you will make sure you travel carefully.
Your outfit looks perfect for a cozy day. I just flew to Mexico City, witnessed a riot on International Women's
Day and today is El Dia sin Nosotros. About 3,000 women were murdered in Mexico in 2019 and many more have disappeared. Today, women are asked to stay out of the streets, to skip work and school as a demonstration of what Mexico would be like without any women. It's early yet but I think that I will honour the day. I watched Montalbano on Hoopla, I think. I loved those books.
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