The Fashion Show In My Back Yard

Is this the future trend among the young people?! It's highly favored among my youngest boys, as modeled here by Zac.

The Summer Reese Wears Dresses

There was a time in the not-so-distant past that the thought of wearing something that the majority of the population deemed ugly would have sent me into a panic. Not any more. With my 30's came a new-found confidence. Very little actually intimidates me as far as clothing is concerned. (Unless it's seriously immodest- I don't like to go there.)

I've wanted to find some dresses for the summer time; something flowing and airy, not too short (it gets awfully windy here), and low cost. I've dubbed this summer "The Summer That Reese Wears Dresses" but only had two that looked like they belonged outside a church. Today at the BX I decided to have a quick browse to try to expand my selection.

Since I've started a weird patchwork burn/suntan pattern on my shoulders and back, I decided to look for something strapless. Viola!


Sean's comment? "You're not going out in that are you?!"

Kristine's comments? "No comment." (Then she commented.) "You look like you're going to a luau." And: "I'm sitting here in the van. There's no way I'm going to be seen with you in that!."

Actually, as soon as I slipped it over my head in the fitting room I heard my friend Linda say (in her distinctive African-British accent), "I don't like it." She's very honest that way. She doesn't like the color of my hair either. But she loves me.

As for me:

• Red hair? Bring it on!
• Pigtails? Bring it on!
• Wildly unpopular dress that drags the ground and is in a crazy design? Bring it on!
  

Purses, Purses Everywhere

"Balls are to men what purses are to women."
~Sarah Jessica Parker

As we were leaving London, we kept passing bag shops, so eventually we had to stop to check them out! The guy Tim and I had traveled with wanted to buy a couple for his wife, so I thought I'd hitch my hopes on his whim. It turned out that all the shops were wholesale, but the kindly foreign salesman agreed to sell us a few anyway. I got these two at 11 pounds a piece. I'm currently using the one on the right, but I can't wait to travel somewhere that I'll need a bigger bag for so I can use the one on the left. I think I'm a purse addict, but luckily for Tim my tastes run cheap. I have yet to see a designer bag I'd be willing to pay the big bucks for, and besides I like change too much to stick to one purse simply because it cost me a month's wages. Eleven pounds is about $22, which is just about the right price for a Reese purse.

Any other purse addicts reading this? I've been wondering if Heather still uses her purse, and if it's solved her lost keys issue...

Lost Keys

I have listened, and I have bought.

Hoping that I do not have any more "lost keys" episodes.

- Heather

Cologne

We're becoming somewhat familiar with the German city of Cologne (Koln in German) as we have stopped there for dinner both times we've had to go to Düsseldorf to take care of our visas so we can live in the UK. We're used to ordering in restaurants after the five years we've lived here, but we're still prone to stifling laughter when we come across funny English translations, such as "rump steak" translated as "rumpuses"!


While walking back from the restaurant to the parking garage where our van was parked we stumbled across a place I had once thought of searching out but had long forgotten about: the perfume museum where eau de cologne was born. Pretty cool, eh?


While walking through the walkplatz (the pedestrian-only shopping area), I came across an H & M store brimming to overflowing with cute bras and panties. I rarely spend much on these essential items, but I couldn't resist the bras designed for wearing under t-shirts (one of my current favorite outfits is jeans and t-shirts, second only to sweats and t-shirts!), and the silky, thin boy-shorts (called hot pants at H & M) that I love. The downside: if I'm going to spend euro on undies, I'm going to have to take care of them. I have a longstanding philosophy that if the item can't be washed in the washer (or dishwasher for kitchen utensils and dishes), it has no place in my house. I caved for these items and washed them in the hotel sink and hung them to dry! I am still in shock at myself!

FYI, here is a great universal care chart I came across awhile back. It explains what I have never understood about those funny little symbols in the lining of my clothes.



(posted by Reese)