Mothers Day

Today was Mothers Day: a holiday I feel is highly publicized for the main purpose of encouraging the spending of money on presents, cards or restaurant meals to honor mothers. A hug is more meaningful to me. But this day always prompts me to think about how thankful I am for the medical technology that made it possible for me to be a mother. My husband and I were very fortunate that 16 years ago, we lived in a large urban area with state of the art infertility centers, and had enough of our own money to pay for invitro-fertilization, deemed "experimental" by our health insurance companies. I wish everyone had as much success with it as we did.

My MIL came over for a visit today and I made a nice dinner of something I knew she doesn't get in the assisted living facility where she resides; crab cakes, shrimp, roasted potatoes, sauteed spinach and a decadent chocolate pie that had a crust made of crushed pretzels. The pie was a new recipe. I liked the crust, the filling was entirely too rich.

I have been in a bit of a sewing doldrum. But I am so proud of myself. During this time, I did a massive closet clean out. I can’t believe I still had suits and clothes from 16+ years ago. I know why I kept them; they were some of the most expensive RTW clothes I had ever purchased. I just couldn't bring myself to part with them until now. The fabrics and workmanship were excellent, but I haven’t worn them in years and the styles are really dated. It took this long to break the emotional ties.

For spring and summer, the trends I want to incorporate in my wardrobe are

1. A bright blue jacket worn with taupe tops and bottoms, like this.

2. A dress or jacket with safari style details like epaulets and patch pockets, maybe in taupe or khaki, but rust or black are other color options.

3. I also like the look of khaki and chartreuse green as a new, different color scheme. Like this.



4. A red sleeveless double breasted shirt dress with trench coat details like this Lauren by Ralph Lauren dress . BWOF 4/06 # 109 is almost an exact duplicate.






5. Sleeveless tops that work under jackets for the temperature fluctuations of the workplace. It is my first summer in a new office. It faces dead east, and the east facing wall is all glass. It is stunningly bright and hot in the mornings, dark and cold in the afternoon and it is only spring.

The arrival of the May Burda WOF last weekend jump started my sewing again. I am nearing completion on jacket number 101 in a bright blue silk suiting. I am trying to decide on the closure, The magazine shows a separating zipper attached with the zipper tapes on the outside of the garment. While I find this an interesting design detail, it won't be understood in the office environment where I work. And I can't find a matching blue separating zipper. Dress number 116 is next. I have a stretch twill that is denim blue on one side and a lighter blue on the other. I think I will do some color blocking using both sides of the fabric, and I probably won't make the belt.