It’s been months since my writing voice has been heard. My writing inspiration fell right out the window (as well as my clean house) when I went back to work full time in October. But, inspiration or not, Little Miss dressing me for a week must happen EVERY YEAR and I must write about it.
Now Little Miss turned 9 in February and has talked about dressing me on and off since then but wouldn’t commit. I was willing to wear whatever she came up with whenever the time may be. I don’t get judged at work as my clientele is a room of 5-year-olds who, by the way, thought the vintage 1989 poufy sleeve magenta extravaganza I wore on 80’s day made me look like a princess. So the months passed and she’d mention “the week” and I’d say OK but it wouldn’t happen. Until it did. Here we go.
Sunday
Sunday can be a 2 outfit day as we often go to church. This Sunday started out with a burgundy animal print dress topped with a cropped white sweater. Accessories included white dangly stone earrings (my hair is tucked behind my ears so you can see them), a sterling heart necklace and grey platform sandals. I was not dressed with my watch but asked if I could wear it as I kept looking at my empty wrist for the time. I taught the littles in Sunday school this morning and the dress was casual enough that I could get on the floor to sing songs and read books if I tucked my legs to the side.
After church I changed into my casual outfit of a white tank covered with a pink and red tunic-y top. On the bottom I’m wearing capri denim and my feet are in Little Miss’ favorite pair of shiney silver flats with patent leather toes. I’ll be hanging around the house this afternoon and meeting friends for a casual dinner.
Both outfits were fine, and while the shoe choices are not quite to my liking, I can deal.
Monday
Little Miss is on a swim team so there is no sleeping in for her this July. We have to be at the pool by 7:30 am. Some of this is my fault. As part of the swim team, parents need to volunteer so many hours at the pool. As a girl with a retailing and marketing degree (pre-teaching) I earn my hours by running the snack shack in the mornings during practice. This is the outfit that I wore to the pool. So far pink is the color of the week. I’m in a pink t-shirt that has flowers on the bottom, paired with black cargo capris and white sandals with orange and turquoise stones. I have small circle medallion earrings and am holding my brown shoulder bag as that’s the purse Little Miss picked out.
This is the shirt she picked out for me to change into after working in the snack shack. I had a little mishap with chocolate syrup. I was seen in this outfit at a pizza place Little Miss and I went to for lunch and at the grocery store.
I’m going to call this pink Monday as both tops were in that family.
Tuesday
Little Miss picked out my outfit for today on Monday evening. She layed the outfit down on the floor like a Flat Stanley and put many combination of shoes next to it until she got just the right ones. She then went through my earrings holding each pair up to the outfit assessing whether the pair was appropriate or not. It was very meticulous.
To the pool this morning (without a snack shack shift) I wore a knee length black flowy skirt paired with a pinkish t-shirt covered in seqins. I glittered and glided onto the pool deck. The shoes were pink flats with a snake toe accent and my earrings were large silver hoops. I wore a necklace of a small silver circle that “matched” the hoops. I felt overly glamerous next to all the other parents in shorts and t-shirts.
In the afternoon we had a sudden change in plans (as is no plans to actually having plans) to meet up with some friends to hike at a local park. Little Miss deemed the sequened concoction too fancy for a little hike so I got to change into a purple t-shirt and some khaki shorts. She had me wear my “very bright” sneakers to give me some added color.
Wednesday
On Tuesday evening Little Miss picked out my outfit. It may look familiar – she also picked it out for me to wear when she was six. After picking it out she had a big discussion with Buddy about how my entire outfit was only black and silver. Buddy asked lots of questions about exactly which parts were black (dress, leggings and shoes) and which were silver (earrings, bracelet and necklace) and Little Miss explained the entire thing to him. Little Miss picked out a pair of kitten heel black shoes. I normally don’t wear heels just for errands and stuff but it looked fine.
Little Miss has been my photographer this week. For Wednesday’s photo shoot she wanted me to stand in front of the window. I think it’s hard to see my outfit but she liked how the light shone behind me.
Thursday
Our day consisted of our morning at the pool for swim practice followed by a trip into Washington, DC to visit the National Building Museum. The kids LOVE riding the metro so that’s how we made our way into the city. Our ride took us right past where My Man works so we hopped off the train, met him for lunch, and hopped back on to head to the museum. Usually when I’m meeting my man for lunch I like to dress nice. Everyone around is in suits and their working clothes. I like to blend. But, Little Miss was looking out for my comfort.
LM – Mom, we’ll be doing a lot of walking today so you are going to wear your grey sneakers.
Me – OK
LM – And you need to be comfortable.
Me – OK
So comfortable I was. Today marks the beginning of the 3 day denim capri run. Today’s denim is a pair of cargo capris. This was paired with a purple t-shirt with birds on it. On my feet are my trusty grey Converse sneakers.
And, I’m very glad I was comfortable. The reason we were headed to the National Building Museum was for a temporary exhibit called The Big Maze. This life size maze will be at the museum until September 1, 2014. It was very fun to navigate – we ran around like to get back in line to go through the maze just like we were running to ride a big roller coaster at an amusement park again and again. We ended up going through 8 times! I had never been to this museum before. If you like architecture, the museum itself is gorgeous. There is also an exhibit on natural disasters and how architects are designing buildings to withstand earthquakes and high winds. If you are in DC, the museum is worth a visit.
Friday
On Friday we had a lazy summer day. Little Miss dressed me in a blue and white striped top, denim capris with a big cuff, and black flats. I wore this outfit to swim practice and back home again. Sometime in the afternoon we headed to the pool to swim and lounge around in the sun. I didn’t ask Little Miss to pick me out a bathing suit for our trip to the pool. It’s not that I didn’t think she’d pick out a cute one… and for a 40-something year old woman I’m pretty OK with my body in a bathing suit… I just don’t know if I can handle putting a picture of myself in a bathing suit on the internet! Maybe next year…
LM – Mom, lift your foot up I can’t see your shoes.
Me – This feels weird. Does it look weird?
LM – A little, but not bad. It looks like you’re walking.
Saturday
This morning I had yoga. Little Miss said I could pick out my own outfit. When I got home I mowed the lawn, weeded the garden and washed the dog. Again, Little Miss had no interest in dressing me for those activities. But, for date night, she dressed me. My Man and I are lucky enough to have some good friends nearby who trade baby sitting with us. We get to actually watch their baby (and get our fill of sweet baby times) and they get to see what it’s like hanging out with a couple of big kids.
Our date night was pretty casual. My Man and I were headed to dinner (Okras– Cajun food in Manassas, VA. You can sit outside to eat), a trip to Lowes (seriously – shopping without kids is a gift), and ending with a trip to an ice cream shop (Peterson’s Ice Cream Depot in Clifton, VA – seriously delicious). For our date Little Miss had me wear a white top covered in tiny black polka dots, dark denim capris, white dangly earrings and black flats. It was a well chosen outfit for our evening.
Today is Sunday. The week is over and it actually felt a little weird to pick out my own outfit.
What I learned:
- Little Miss is a careful planner. She’d think about my accessories and clothes combinations very deliberately.
- Little Miss likes the colors pink and purple.
- Little Miss likes to dress me in denim capris (and I own many variations)
- Little Miss likes the familiar. Most of the clothes I wore this week I’ve owned and worn for years.
As always I enjoyed spending time doing an activity with my girl. I trust her style and her taste and I’m looking forward to doing this again next year… if she wants to.