My New Threads

Hi everyone! Greetings from hot and humid Malaysia. No snow, no ice, no shovels or days off for weather here! Instead, it’s about 92 degrees and muggy and buggy. (I’m finally recovering from the ridiculous bug bites from Thailand- I don’t get it- why do they love to gnaw on my precious skin?)

Before we continue, let’s talk about snow in the mid-Atlantic region. I feel like I can speak relatively freely and intelligently on the matter, given that I was born and raised there. It was only 3 short years ago that I fled my MD/VA roots and ran south then west where I haven’t seen temperatures below 50 in at least 3 years.

I heard most of my loyal readers experienced a lot of snow. 24+ inches a lot of snow. I heard even 95 was shut down- and you know you can hardly go anywhere in the b’more region without using 95. My favorite elementary school teachers, jumping with glee at the thought of a snow day; UVA and various other grad students equally celebrating a day off. Folks have even gotten days off of work for snow! It sounds AWESOME!

But let’s talk about the way people go PSYCHO over going to the grocery store for snow. I’ve heard the horror stories of lines all the way down the aisles to the back of the store. And it’s hard to argue that the most popular and sought out supplies are: bread, milk, cereal, etc (or for my younger generation- copious amount of booze or for my girl friends- baking supplies to keep you occupied). So even in a REALLY bad snowstorm, you might be stuck in the house for what, 2? 3? Maybe 4 days? That is, unless you’re a doctor, nurse, EMT, etc (thinking about you Meg, spending yet another weekend sleeping on a hospital cot between your night shifts!) who have to make it out to work regardless. But let’s say you’re the average Baltimorian who has 2-4 days stuck inside. How much milk could you REALLY need in four days? Or cereal? One bowl at day, maybe 4 people per family for 4 days. So what if you ran out of cereal? Or milk? You would make pancakes, or eggs, or even eat a frozen dinner for breakfast if times got really bad and you had no milk or cereal. Can most people honestly look at their refrigerator or freezer or pantry and think “good thing I am going to make it to the store, otherwise I’d STARVE the next 4 days”. Probably not. In fact, I haven’t had milk in almost 5 months, and I’m still alive to talk about it. Is it ideal? No, not really. I really miss milk. But it is possible to survive without it (or cereal or bread?)- yeah, I think so. But let’s be honest folks- running out for a whole new package of toilet paper? How many times could one use the bathroom in 3-4 days to need THAT much T.P?

Ok, now that tirade is over, I will continue. That rant was not directed at anyone specifically, just the way that people FREAK out over not getting to the store before a snowstorm. [I will now pause and give anyone a chance to rebuttal the rant of this sunshine/mid-70’s lovin’ girl- how bad was your snow experience? Power outages? Or- tell me how GREAT it was- an unexpected day off? A chance to bake cookies? A beautiful view from your window? ß send your stories my way- I secretly miss snow and snowdays for sure! Dan says “this is why we have to move to Boston, so we can be snowed in together,” but I think my sister will argue that somehow Bostonians can handle 24” of snow.]

So back to my final chapter on Thailand. I went straight to the tailor my first day in Thailand with a few ideas in my head. I wanted a cute party dress- v-neck or sweetheart neckline, thin straps, flattering around my waist, and an A-line pleated skirt in a cute print. I also wanted a button up dress that tied around the waist- my inspiration was a picture in Vogue in a “gardening inspired layout”- except in the magazine picture, the dress was green, appeared to be of a cargo-pant type of material, with “cargo-style” pockets on the front. I wanted this dress, but with an Ann Taylor twist to it. I also wanted a pair of linen cropped pants.

The pants were easy- at first I wanted white, no- that was too white. Then I wanted off-white- no, that one wasn’t good with my skin. So I settled on a creamy khaki (so still summery looking) colored. I liked them so much that the 2nd day when I went back for the fitting (they were a little shorter than I wanted at the first fitting, so they took them out an inch in the hem), I ordered a brown pair! Nicole kept encouraging me to pick out a brighter color but I went with Jean-Ann’s advice to get something that could look casual, or dressy if pairs with dressy flats or heels. Here are the brown pants on me and I was holding up the cream colored ones. (pardon the fact that I look terrible and am wearing a camo uniform t-shirt which clearly does not match and have huge bags under my eyes and huge looking forearms. I swear I’m not a total wreck).

So then the button-up dress. I explained to the guy exactly what I wanted, same dress, above the knee, no pockets, and linen. I settled on a vibrant watermelon shade of pink. I was “tickled pink” if you will, by my 2nd fitting. Despite the fact that there were no buttons (so I had to hold it close) and one of the sleeves hadn’t been sewn on and there was no lining in there yet, I was SOOOO happy. I loved it! Until I went to pick it up and there were YELLOW buttons on it. Yes, you read that right- YELLOW buttons on a PINK dress. (ICK!) I had requested a “shell” or “Khaki” color like the buttons in the picture! The guy tried to explain to me that “well, it is a different dress, that dress is green” and I said “I KNOW! But I said I wanted shell colored buttons!”. This was about 4pm the night before we were leaving the next morning but they had made my black & white dress RIDICULOUSLY too big so they had to fix it in the next 6 hours anyways, so I was like “you MUST change the buttons!!!” (I’m paying for it, after all!). This is Jean-Ann, helping me with some advice, and if this picture had a caption it would be “seriously? Yellow buttons?” so they did, and at first we didn’t like the buttons b/c they were obviously bigger than I wanted, until I put the dress on and we all liked the dress with the big buttons. We decided it kind of has a “raincoat look”. Here is the finished dress, in my stateroom. I am in LOVE with this dress. It might be one of my most favorite dresses I’ve ever had. It’s light, linen, springy/summery (so we need to stay in southern California for awhile!), SO well made to fit me perfectly. It will be good with flats/sandals or heels. I am SO happy with it!! When I picked it up dress and it was all done, I loved it soooo much, I ordered one in black (with black small buttons, I made that SOOO clear :))- it’s being made right now and will be sent to my apartment- yay!

Then on to the black and white dress. After my first fitting (no lining, really baggy), I was pretty skeptical. So I went back 2 days later to pick it up and it was STILL huge. I mean, I guess I’m flattered the guy thought I had such a long torso but no no no it was too long! And very big around my middle. The whole point was that it was supposed to “cinch” my waist to show off a smaller middle, but the pattern (oblong sized and shaped polka dots) and the fact that it was too big make me look even bigger and “frumpy.” However, this time, the straps and neckline were done and the lining has been sewn in, so I really got a much better idea of the shape of the dress. The cutest part is the little pleats around the waist of the dress that helps it “go out” from my hips.

Unfortunately, when I went back the 4th time, late at night (around 10pm) on our last night there, the straps were STILL a bit too long (maybe ½ an inch?)- however it was hemmed to just above my knee (Jean-Ann said to make it longer, like tee-length, Nicole said to chop it off and make it more sassy around mid-thigh, so I stuck with in the middle, I am going to wait and see how looks with bright red sassy high shoes and then take up more if necessary). Speaking of red sassy shoes, I have these GORGEOUS satin ivory shoes that I wore for our wedding. I LOVVVEDD the little rounded toes, they were comfortable, elegant and matched the dress perfectly. However, right now I don’t (and probably never again will) have very little demand for ivory satin shoes. I planned to dye them, but have not been able to decide on a color. Here are my sassy wedding shoes- what are your thoughts on dying them bright red for this dress?

However, overall I am pleased with the B&W dress. I love the little waist and the pattern (do you think it makes me look frumpy?) and the little pleats around the waists that go out from there, which is very “forgiving” of my hips :) It was a good purchase, and I just need to have the strap taken up a teeny bit when I get home. But the dress is very well made and I love the fit.

Well, that’s all for now, folks! I’m on duty today so should probably take advantage of the time to get a run in and have watch tonight so I’m finishing up some work here while on watch from 9pm-1:30am. Tomorrow morning, we (myself, Nicole & J-A) are heading out into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! We are staying right in the city center by the Petronas Towers at the Sheraton for 2 nights. I can’t wait for more DELICIOUS food, seeing a big city, and some great shopping!

p.s. In summary: I want to hear your best snow story and thoughts on dying the shoes red!