fashion – Peaceful Reader

Writing, trying to stay normal

(Our teacher celebration b4 it got crazy)

I haven’t been inspired lately. It’s been a long winter and I’ve spent most of it sick or just slightly under the weather, as they say. And now the world is sick and we’ve only just begun. We are shielding ourselves and others by staying home; social distancing. Others are just plain greedy sick, grabbing more than their share of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, water, produce, soaps, etc.

Today I stopped into to see two friends working at a small shop downtown and while we chatted, staying a few feet from each other, another woman burst into the store grabbed one solitary candle and told us she had just returned from Florida. The rest of us took a few steps back and the shop owner even said “well please don’t breathe on me”. Now granted I didn’t have to stop in the shop to visit yet my thought was why on earth upon return of travel would you feel the need to stop in a local shop to buy one candle? This is equal to buying extra toilet paper because it shows a lack of empathy about others.

This is where we are at. I worry every time I cough or sneeze. We are trying to hold together some form of normalcy in the midst of a pandemic with no leadership from the top in our country. The two school districts in our county will not go back to school until April 13th. The trickle down for this will be far-reaching as well; graduation, dance recitals, dance competition all will come to an end. The world as we know it has changed ~ R.E.M. (on replay in my brain constantly).

So what have I been up to to occupy time over Spring Break when I normally would be about town, hanging out with friends. We’ve met several times with friends over FaceTime which felt so good to reach out and connect with friends in town and out of town. We had a virtual meeting with cocktails with our theatre group~ so much fun to arrange about 7-8 people on FT messenger video chat. We’ve had happy hour with my husband’s family via FaceTime. And tonight we are eating dinner with friends over Zoom. Next week I have a few school meetings over Zoom to figure how best to take care of our students and families. I’m trying to keep on a schedule of activities otherwise you can just spend the day flying the sofa…

My list:

I’m reading Ta’Nehisi Coates’ The Water Dancer.
I’m watching Unbelievable, Contagion, Next in Fashion, and Virgin River on Netflix, all great but I highly recommend Unbelievable based on a true story and frustrating as hell until the end.
I’ve played around with video taping myself reading stories for students.
I’m deep cleaning parts of my house.
Today I made bread for friends and they are picking it up from my front door.
Connecting with friends.
Praying.
Waiting for my daughter to make it home.

What are you doing with your extra time?

Cleo Wade

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This week I was privileged to sit in the same room with Cleo Wade, poet extraordinaire and self-care guru. The room in the Graduate Hotel, downtown Iowa City, had a coffee shop vibe with lamps lit for soft lighting and lovely decor. The walls were “wallpapered” with real pencils so you felt like you were in a room meant for writing or writers. Our chairs faced a small stage with two easy chairs and a lamp and this is where Cleo eventually came out to chat with us. While we were waiting we could (and did) have a glass of wine and some homemade Iowa popcorn prepared and shared by Iowa native Kate Greer, one of Cleo’s friends-the upcoming Cheerie Lane Popcorn. It was mixed with real rosemary buds and tasted delicious.

At about 6:30 Cleo arrived on the platform and talked about life to us. She was soft-spoken, natural, and calm which caused the audience to lean in just a little. She is all about peace, love, and joy and how we can all bring that into our daily lives. In order to share these feelings out to your community, you need to feel them about yourself. She preaches an unusual idea of self-care; it’s about what feels right for you. It’s not about what you should be doing but what is right for you. Netflix, a warm bath, and red wine might be what you need on a Saturday night instead of a night out with friends or another spinning class. Learn to pick well at any given moment for yourself.

Here is her BIG Three:

Therapeutic Ritual-This is a little gift to yourself. Always should feel authentic. We need to learn to console ourselves to be our best selves.
Dedicated Safe Spaces-Places you go to replenish your soul. It might be outside, it might be the movies, it might be your own home. Make sure to visit often.
Relationship Boundaries-Choose your people wisely. Steer clear of toxic relationships. The people you surround yourself should build you up and inspire you.
While these aren’t exactly brand new ideas Cleo has a way of saying them to us and her 446k insta followers that make us feel ready to love ourselves a little bit more forever.

She is also an activist and encouraged everyone to vote and get involved right now. Through her Rock the Vote/Gucci’s Chime for Change website, she’s made it very easy for people to connect and get voting information.

Her stop in Iowa City is one of many on her Courageous Love tour which is more than just a book for Heart Talk; Poetic Wisdom for a better life. She was purposeful in making it a free event with stops in all college towns. While her focus does seem to be on younger souls this audience was a very mixed age range and many of us waited in line to speak with her-she chatted, hugged, laughed, took photos, and signed our books with a constant smile. The night was inspiring and I would love to be in her presence again. And thank you to my friend Rita for your willingness to take off on this adventure with me. Thank you to my sister-in-law Stephanie for sending me the info about Cleo’s tour.

Other places to find more Cleo:

Instagram: @cleowade
Cleo Wade
On Oprah
New York Times
Mind Body Green article and another

29 days of book love…

Past my bedtime. I hosted book club tonight (Behind the beautiful forevers by Katherine Boo-we highly recommend). I made yellow potato curry and a red quinoa salad with roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower. We had a great time discussing the book. Everyone left by a little after nine and I kicked it into high gear. My night was far from over. I cleaned up book club dishes while I started a pan of brownies. I would have liked to have gone to bed and read the book I started last night but I have a competition in the library for students to guess the connection of books in a hallway case. A class of 4th graders won and in return I host them in the library for a free hour of maker space fun. Of course tomorrow is their hour! I have Legos, crafts, UNO cards, book marks to create, and magna tiles to play with. I’ve hosted a few of these kid-friendly parties in the library and they seem to have a grand time.

The first time I did this I made the class a treat. Not really thinking it through of course because now every class needs to have a treat. It just wouldn’t be fair. So after book club I made these lunch lady brownies. They look delicious and the kiddos tomorrow at the end of the day will LOVE them.

My book love for today is the LAST thing on my list before I head to bed. It might be worth it for me to start posting in the morning instead at the end of the day. I’d get to bed quicker…

Red Shoes by Eleri Glass and Ashley Spires (2008) arrived on my doorstep one afternoon in the mail a few years back. This is something that happens to you as a book blogger-books just arrive. It is a welcome treat. I get to enjoy them over and over. I’m sure it came from the publisher or I won it on another blog; either way Groovy Girl and I sat down immediately and read it.

This one is just about shoe shopping from a young girl’s point of view. Her mother picks the sensible lace-ups but she wants the red ones. She scuffs around in the brown lace-ups but still has her heart set on the red ones.

Every mom or dad has seen that look; despair of not getting what you so desire. It’s a push me pull me situation. Eventually she gets to try on the beautiful red shoes…and her delight wins her mother over…

Simple text paired with beautiful illustrations make this a wonderful book for anyone who loves shoes, fashion, or children! It’s just one small battle in the great scheme of parenting.

Playing Dress-up

My friends V and A and I have been on a quest to hone down our wardrobes and clear away the clutter. They already live in pretty clutter free houses so that one may be mostly for me. Part of the quest has us looking at posts about the 10 item wardrobe and one that A sent us about the art of dressing up.

I work at a school where our teachers dress nicely and our principal wears a dress or a skirt every day! But after watching this video it made me take it to a new level. Of course it is summer so it’s easy when I can stay in my pj’s for the first part of the morning and then linger over what exactly to wear.

Shoes have been a big discussion in this quest as it can be easy to throw on a skirt and a blouse or a flowered sundress but having the RIGHT shoes to match and make it still look dressy is harder. Flip Flops do not count as dressy attire.

The first day I did this I was going to a musical gathering and I tossed on a pair of skinny jeans, a black & white striped 3-quarter length T, and a black cropped blazer. It was chilly out and I quickly added my gray suede boots but it was the perfect fit. In this debate with A and V, I’ve thrown out shoe ideas of sandals cute clogs, Chuck Taylor’s, and even little white sneakers like my mom wore in the 50’s.

Of course there are a plethora of fancy sandal choices as well. And Birks have hit it big as the new “it” shoe wear. It’s time the world paid more attention to just what the hippies were (are) saying, wearing, and doing…

Dress it up a bit more just for yourself. The compliments are just the icing on the cake.

Here’s the video that started us on this journey: