Beret - Dotti
Trench - vintage, thrifted
Boots - thrifted
I promise there are more clothes underneath, but there's not much point in listing them! I'm not Christchurch's latest flasher.
Inspiration: being rained on.
I dropped LOML off at the airport this afternoon, and am feeling very sad. It's hard to say goodbye to him for five weeks - even though I am excited for him! It's going to be a difficult time, but I'm determined to make the most of it. And we'll talk a lot, anyway. Thank goodness we live in an age where we can hear the voices and see the faces of the people we love every day, no matter where they are. Imagine living in a time where letters from the New World would take months to reach you - or perhaps would never reach you at all! Anyway. I deal with this sort of melancholy in four ways:
1) By working like a demon.
I want to get this draft absolutely perfect before we leave, ready to send to my agent.
2) By eating chocolate and drinking white wine.
Check, and check! I also bought the second season of Mad Men on DVD today and have a pot of chicken soup - perfect therapy.
3) By joking about it and making light of the situation.
Covered. Always.
4) By snapping into full-blown Project Mode. Spring into action!
This is the absolute best way I have found to deal with anything and everything. I have all sorts of things I want to achieve while LOML's away, and before we leave.
Getting my full licence!
I'm going to book the test this week. Gah, so scary. But I'm looking forward to having it over and done with.
Cleaning out the house
Although we're taking most of our things, there is an awful lot of flotsam and jetsam we have accumulated over the years that we don't particularly want to transport to the other side of the world. I'm going to get rid of all of this, one way or another, and get things organised for the move.
Selling off my wardrobe
Not all of it, obviously, but I do want to continue editing it down. I usually sell on Trade Me, a New Zealand-only site, but I'm considering selling on Etsy. What do you think? Is it worth it?
Getting my own personal machine (my body, that is) up to scratch
I'm planning a healthy-eating-and-exercise regime for the next few weeks - I try to stay healthy anyway, but I'm afraid winter makes me a bit lazy and apt to eat large amounts of chocolate.
Preparing for the move
I want to learn as much as I can about Texas and the South in general before we move there. I bought some books today - including the words of Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor - in an attempt to get a sense of the history and atmosphere!
On a style-related note, I wanted to show you this trench I thrifted the other day - it has an attached tartan scarf that ties into a bow at the neck, which I love. All right, off to drown my sorrows in chicken soup. Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes, everyone - I'm glad I have you to keep me company while LOML's away!
Comment of the day
"Hi Andrea,
Not sure if I've commented before, but I'm a daily reader, thank you.
I'm down to my last two days of being away from my partner for five weeks, in fact our situation is very similar to yours. The time has flown by!
Much like you I prepared a list of things to do to keep me from missing him, but aside from the necessities I haven't done anything on the list! Between catching up with friends & family & general organising of my life I just haven't had time! I almost wish I had another week!
We posted each other little packages of goodies along with a very brief note. Nothing extravagant, just little bits & bobs that we already had with us, or reminded us of each other. It was by far the best thing to keep us from wailing how much we missed each other. Gosh I missed him like crazy though & almost stuffed my head in the post satchel to see if I could pick up his smell. I also stared at his handwriting on the parcel far longer than any normal person would.
Both receiving & sending a parcel put a grin on my face for days just knowing that despite all the fun he was having, he was thinking of me.
I thought of the wives & girlfriends of our deployed Defence Force members too (I'm in Australia), and actually felt quite selfish at times. I was sooking over five weeks of us both being safe & able to talk to each other, they go months of unpredictable contact in a warzone! Couldn't do it.
I wish you & LOML all the best, I hope the time goes fast & you get none of the non-essential items on your list done!!" - RuthieB
