There's no place like home

 

The Red Dress 

Myra Schneider 

My first reaction is: I want it,

can’t wait to squeeze into
a scarlet sheath that promises
breasts round as russet apples,
a waist pinched to a pencil,
hips that know the whole dictionary
of swaying, can’t wait
to saunter down an August street
with every eye upon me.
 
But the moment I’m zipped in
I can’t breathe and the fabric
hugging my stomach without mercy
pronounces me a frump.
Besides, in the internet café,
where you can phone Tangiers
or Thailand for almost nothing
fourteen pairs of eyes
are absorbed by screens.
No one whistles when I smile
at boxes of tired mangoes
and seedy broccoli heads
outside the Greek superstore.
 
By now I’m in a fever to undo
the garment and pull it off.
And for all its flaws, for all
that it only boasts one breast,
I’m overjoyed to re-possess
my body. I remember I hate
holding in and shutting away.
What I want is a dress easy
as a plump plum oozing
juice, as a warm afternoon
in late October creeping
its ambers and cinnamons into
leaves, a dress that reassures
there’s no need to pretend,
a dress that’s as capacious
as generosity, a dress that willingly
unbuttons and whispers in the ear:
be alive every minute of your life.

Hey y'all! 

Thought I'd kick things off with my current poetry fav, having stumbled across it in Deborah Alma's The Emergency poet: An Anti stress Poetry Anthology. As I'm still breast feeding my baby, I have quiet moments where I'm effectively pinned down with nowhere to go, so I'm using the time to be fortified with uplifting poetry. I'm starting to think a positive poem a day could keep the doctor away! If it's okay with you, I think I'll include a poem with every blog post going forward, they're proving a nice moment of mindfulness.  

So how the devil are you? If you're UK bound, have you been enduring the sudden downpours? With Oxfordshire behind us, me and my girls tootled up the M40 to the West Midlands to reconnect with family for the weekend. I don't think we were ever really supposed to raise children without grandparents being no more than 20 minutes away, so it's always a lovely surprise to suddenly have lots of help and meals made for me, it honestly feels like going to a hotel! We have this rule in our family that whoever does the travelling gets to be a guest, so no heavy lifting, cooking or washing up. Its fabulous when you're the guest, not so much when you're hosting! 

The thrifting Gods have been kind to me recently and I've stumbled upon some absolute finds this week, the dress and the halter neck top I'm seriously dithering over. I'm trying to remind myself I'd like to go on trips this year so everything sold will go to that! 

The Greek fisherman's hat is actually authentic and was bought YEARS ago off eBay. The halter neck top is currently for sale on my Vinted page and is originally Zara,  The Monki patchwork jeans are my current favourites which I bought for £8 off Vinted. I can't wait for it to get warmer so I can wear them with my orange clogs or chunky sandals. 

I seriously want to keep the halter top as it goes so well with the Monki jeans. I'm making myself sell it on the pretence it'll go towards family trips. 

The vintage 90s St Michael's dress speaks to that part of my soul that longs to be a grungy, whismygoth I can just imagine the original owner of this piece, wearing it to poetry evenings or dancing at a Thai full moon beach party.  

The third little belter I've found is this vintage 70's suede skirt, the waist is waaaaay too diddy for my mom hips but that just means some other hippie chick gets to love it. I'm selling this on my Vinted page too. 

I also managed to sell this top quite by accident last week, I styled it with a skirt I was selling and a very kind customer asked if she could have it so I said why not!

There's not a lot to report really, we've just been having family get togethers - food, conversation, quality time. The good stuff basically! Today me and the littles ran errands and then visited our favourite café in town. I've 4 weeks left until I'm back to work so I'm enjoying these little outings with my girls. 

On the dog walk this morning me and my big girl saw some gorgeous cottages. I originally took so closer pictures which showcased the spring flowers and chocolate box windows, but realised it probably wasn't wise advertising the house numbers! 

This is my outfit of the day, I'm wearing my favourite thrifted 70s style jumper from Zara, £3 French connection flared jeans from Cancer Research and the coat and hat are both old revivals from my wardrobe. 

Well that's enough rambling from me, have a great week lovebugs! 

Soph x