Thailand

Ben spent Thanksgiving in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, traveling with his Dad's family. They were refreshing a decades-old family connection between Ben's grandfather, Brace Johnson, and the church he helped to establish. Ben had a great time, as you can imagine, and also found the church compound very peaceful and refreshing to the spirit.

He spent several happy hours with elephants.

Including watching them paint, which he found fascinating.

He learned to be cautious of the food (despite loving American Thai restaurants):

And when he got to my house he was very, very tired.

So Riley made sure Ben had a thorough rest.

Day After Outfits and Houndstooth

This is what I wore the day after Thanksgiving, when no one wants anything feeling tight anywhere: my Dana Buchman jersey dress, leggings, a cotton cardigan, and Born boots. Aaaaaaaah.

I got my new Ann Taylor houndstooth skirt in the mail and wore it the very next day. This is a sign of true affection. The only minor drawback to this lovely item is that it does not have a kick pleat, and makes it hard for me to take my usual long strides. If I had know that . . . I would have bought it anyway, as it is precisely the length and print and fabric that I wanted. I think the skirt has rotated slightly in the above picture, which is why the pattern looks wonky on one side.

My little tripod gave up the ghost after a year of faithful service. Not bad for seven dollars. I never plan to make any more effort than pointing my phone at myself in the kitchen, so I don't want to invest in real equipment. Right now I'm looking at a flexible coil or feet with little grippy hands at one end, something like this:

Cyanics i-3 Flexible Portable Stand

But until that arrives, I'll post pictures of Ben and anything else that comes to mind.
 
 

The Empty Closet

I dreamed I was hanging out with Tim Gunn last night, as one does, and may I say he is just as charming and kind in dream life as he is on TV.

Anyway, when I woke up, I confronted my double closets (which face my bed), and was struck with the vision of what they will look like when I retire.

The elegant photo was lifted from It Must Be F/8. 

95% of my wardrobe is for work. I don't wear my pencil skirts or silk blouses or heels on my days off. I wear jeans in various shades and simple tops, and cute comfortable shoes.  I wear almost no jewelry other than small earrings and a watch.

Not that I'm retiring any time soon, but we know how quickly time passes when you work 40 hours a week. I figure I'll work another 12 years, if I'm lucky and can retire at 66. I'd better stop buying clothes at least three years before I actually retire, in order to save some money and not wind up with a closet full of new things that I will just have to give away. I'll need a few dressy outfits for warm and cold weather (weddings and such) and a bunch of coats and jackets and scarves. I'll wear my watches regularly and my other jewelry once a month or so.

And then what to do with all of that empty space?

Meet Me in St. Louis

No cliche is safe from me.

I was in St. Louis for the Library Journal Design Institute a few weeks ago, a happy but tiring trip, as I drove down one afternoon and back the next night. We are embarking on some major space consideration which will lead to some big projects in the next three to five years. I hoped the institute would give me some forward-thinking ideas, and I also wanted to see the grand Central Library in its newly renovated state.

The director, Waller McGuire, is quietly charismatic (OK, dreamy), and you can see how the community - residents and city leaders - were compelled by his vision of a reinvented downtown and a magnificent library to serve the people. 

Honestly, my pictures are kind of crappy, so you should just go to the Central Library's site and enjoy the gorgeous pictures of the original Beaux Arts building and the amazing 2012 renovation.

The original ceiling in the Fine Arts Room re-creates the La Badia Church in Florence, Italy.

Exterior of the original building.

Ten foot high original alabaster floor lamps, valued at $250,000 apiece.

One of many ceiling medallions, this quote from Kurt Vonnegut.

Their new shelving is self-lit with LED bulbs . . .

 . . . and was designed just for St. Louis.

All of the quotes throughout the building were chosen by patrons of the library.

Original leaded glass book cases in their special architecture collection.

For all your wallpaper research needs.

I can't agree with all of their practices - for example, I never saw any desk staff (except for Circulation) actually helping anyone - but the building was packed with patrons. The security staff was friendly and knowledgeable and told me lots of fun things about the building. Their new auditorium was once a coal bin that served the massive boilers in the original building. 

 

The Design Institute was quite interesting. They had general panel discussions of construction, furnishings and space trends, and breakout sessions where they analyzed a particular project with the audience participating. Library Journal hosts these institutes twice a year, previously in Denver, Seattle and Cleveland: basically anywhere with an interesting library big enough to host 150 people. Librarians can attend at no charge, and the institute is underwritten by participating architects and vendors. 

Because there would be all of those architects and designers there, I fussed over my outfit. I also had to travel in the van for ten hours in whatever I wore. I chose neutrals and my most avant-garde jewelry and hoped for the best. 

No pictures, sorry, but it was basically this outfit, with camel pants:

Black and White Cookies

I felt like one yesterday. I bought an awesome new sweater while shopping with Deborah, and couldn't wait to wear it to work.

Ann Taylor tunic sweater, Talbots wool skirt, Boden boots. The sweater is wool and nylon, very light and warm. The sleeves are the right length and it has a split hem (shirttail hem?) so it doesn't pull over my hips. My ID badge was my jewelry, with big red earrings.

This is one of those outfits that isn't super flattering (not much of a visible waist), but oh so delightful to wear!

Finally Friday

Not exactly a hard week, but some challenging conversations. I try to be a good manager and often feel I miss the mark, but the thing I am getting better at is the "difficult conversation".

When you feel a little anxious, try to look good.

Almost exactly the outfit I wore on October 9! Different shoes and necklace.

I just returned a gorgeous pair of leopard pumps to Boden because they were just too long. Sad. They would be perfect with this outfit and many others. I will be trying a similar pair from Lord and Taylor and from Talbot's, though the Boden shoes were (obviously) my first choice.

Patsy, now on sale, but only in a 40.

Big Lady, Little Lady

Museum of Contemporary Art, November 2013

Darren and I went to hear Susan Orlean speak at Northwestern Law School (Chicago Humanities Festival strikes again) and then had lunch at Mity Nice in Water Tower. A fantastic day!