Monday, July 6, 2009

Independance Day Weekend Wear

I don't celebrate holidays. I don't know, it's not for religious or political reasons. I just have always found them to be false. They always seem to culminate in rampant greed, anxiety, and forced conversations with relative I hardly know, yet have deemed it necessary to pretend that we do. Summer holidays have always seemed rather pointless to me. Growing up, it didn't even mean a day off from school because it was already summer vacation. They all seem confusingly patriotic, as though really only one was necessary, if people actually cared and understood what they meant. You know, beyond "bombs bursting in air".

But you know what? I do love beautiful weather, wonderful food, and spending time with friends, the only family other than spouses that you can choose. there's something just so nice about eating outside and listening to music and maybe having a beer before sundown with no hint of alcoholism. My husband and I had our best couple over and of course the husband cooked because the grill is so stereotypically a male domain but also because he's an amazing cook in general and I'm so terrible.



Our cook-out was nearly meatless because we're a combination of vegetarians and liars, what husband calls "flexitarian" but really just means I tell people I'm a vegetarian and then secretly eat juicy turkey burgers because it's too difficult to explain my lifelong distaste of beef and pork. It's a texture thing. Even poultry freaks me out sometimes.



So we had the above mentioned turkey burgers, soy hotdogs, veggie kabobs, and ears of corn on the cob cooked in their husks. For dessert we made s'mores on the grill! We had watermelon but it never made it to the grill, and yes, you can grill watermelon.



I didn't want to post any pictures of my husband or friends, just in case they want to be anonymous. But this is me, taken indoors for some reason...



I can't seem to get away from wearing fall colors for some reason. I always go through the briefest of phases. In the span of about two months I was 70s/nautical, neon (which you never saw) and now all these fall colors and librarian style. Except I always wear contacts in my pictures.

On Sunday, we went to the movies to see Public Enemies, the Johnny Depp one about John Dillinger. Don't worry, no spoilers! I found it difficult to focus on the plot because of how amazing the cars, clothes, and interiors were. Especially the interiors. I'm still pseudo renovating an old house and I loved seeing things like claw foot tubs and kitchen fixtures from the 20s (film takes place during depression) and earlier that reminded me so much of my own home. And even though my house is retro, it's certainly modern compared to the time it was built. Hooray for electrical lighting!

And here I am, in a more finished corner of the house...





Again, pretty fall looking. I look more collegiate than librarian here but it feels pretty much the same. But I swear I bought a bunch of sundresses so I will wear them soon. And surely by fall I'll be back to the pastels of winter. The most significant thing about these outfits is the utter lack of tights, which I wear year round. I have always felt self conscious about my legs/knees and it's gotten worse with my growing collection of spider veins, which don't fade the way bruises and scrapes do. But you can't see any of those in pictures! And I loved feeling so free and with a little breeze blowing across me. And I just tried not to wonder if the people I came across could see my own personal fireworks, the yucky pattern of veins exploding across my poor legs. I also slathered them with sunscreen and tried not to think about skin cancer. hello, neurosis.

3 comments:

  1. luv ur outfit. i'm feeling the mod look! so chic!

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  2. ah! I understand you completely! Spider veins are the bane of my existence! I never thought I could get them so young, but I have noticed more and more throughout the years! Living in Australia it gets really hot, and after being self conscious for awhile and boiling wearing pants and tights I decided to just wear shorts and if anyone cared, well, that's their problem!

    It's nice that you feel confident enough to take photos of yourself without the tights. You really do have lovely legs and you should show them off.

    Lovely outfits too, I especially like the little white blouse in the first pic :)

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  3. You look lovely--I especially like the second outfit. I'm the opposite about most holidays--any reason to eat tons of food and do fun/random things is good to me. :) Your aversion to chicken reminds me of my aversion to hot drinks. No one really gets it, but if a drink is served hot I just can't stand to drink it...

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