A huge part of the last few months of our lives has been in redefinition. Redefining Normal. Redefining a successful day at work. Redefining a Friday Night. And, most recently: redefining a reason for having a dance party. Reason being: I simply needed it. And I have Trunk of Dresses and this spectacular hand painted vintage skirt to thank for a moment of pure, indescribable joy as I twirled and jived and forgot the world for a moment or two in my garden…
I‘ve heard from family and friends and readers the ways you are all bringing joy into your lives during such difficult times. Tales of trying new recipes, escaping into sewing adventures, Zoom cocktail hours. Finding those little bursts of happiness to remind us that, no matter how much this sucks and how upside down everything else feels, we are still allowed to find moments of discovery. Moments where things come together. Moments where we pause. So that when we come out of this, perhaps we can have more we to ascribe to this time than just loss.
And hand in hand,
on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon.
Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat
In addition to this most perfect vintage sock hop skirt, my little burst of joy this week came in the form of helping the world’s cutest 8 year old write a book on sharks. 5 chapters, 25 sentences, 100% awesome. We smashed out the Table of Contents on the weekend and have been working on one chapter per day all week, plus illustrations. Now, I’ve written many a book chapter in my day, but I think this one is headed for a Pulitzer.
I also hit a pretty major milestone this week – grades were submitted and I got to call this semester a very important four letter word: blessedly, wonderfully OVER. There were so many ups and downs and hurdles to overcome, and through it all I was beyond impressed with my student’s ability to power through, despite such difficult circumstances. And even though I have no idea what the future will bring and have stacks of things to deal with in terms of how to move research forward in the absence of a lab and how to keep my grad students progressing, for today, I redefined success.
Success is dancing like a fool in your garden and writing a book chapter with an 8 year old. And for today, that’s all I need.
xoxo
Outfit Details:
Top: Unique Vintage
Skirt: Trunk of Dresses (similar modern or vintage here, here & here)
Necklace: gift (similar)
Handbag: Mary Frances
Shoes: All Black
Lip Color: Dior Rouge 634
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Any items marked with a “c/o” (courtesy of) a retailer mean I was provided with an item for free in exchange for a review and/or feature on my blog. I always provide my honest opinion of any item I’m reviewing, regardless of whether it was sent to me as a courtesy item or if I purchased it myself. In addition, this post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click and/or make a purchase through certain links or ads on this site, I may make a commission from that click and/or purchase at no cost to you, which helps with the day-to-day running costs of my blog.