Warm Weather

Sun dresses.  I love them. Spaghetti straps, flowy fabric, knee-length beauties.  I was starting to think they no longer had a place in my closet.  Then this weekend came.  Beautiful, sunny weather, warm but with a nice breeze.  Like June in Wisconsin.  I’m so happy, I could burst.

I put on one of my newest lovelies, an orange and brown paisley ankle length sundress, empire waist, smocked top, ruffled straps and a ruffle at the bottom, of course with some 5” heels, silver and brown wedges.  And I marched down the street, past the shopping plaza, past the burger place that smells distinctly like a side-of-the-road suya stand from Nigeria, and down to the estate shop. 

Estate shops are very interesting to me.  One crowded store seems to sum up so much of my life to me.  There’s an old fold-out end table like my grandpa had, along with some chairs that remind me of his living room.  A box of sewing patterns that look exactly like the ones my mommy has in her sewing room.  A magazine here, a figurine there, nearly everything in the shop reminds me of growing up, of my grandparents’ house, of my parents’ house, a bit even of my own apartment.  I guess you know you’re old when your childhood is in an estate shop.

 A once-yellow chair that looks like it might be circa I-have-no-idea enticed me into the shop.  It’s marked ‘$35 as is.’  The fabric is torn on the back and there’s a few small paint marks on one of  the arms. I’m still debating about it, but  I don’t think the color will go with my living room.  I’m mostly concerned I won’t be able to get the dust out from around those little bronze rivet thingies on the arms.

I did leave with some goodies though.  One of those patterns just like my mommy has, except that this one is in my size.  (My mommy was so skinny!)  And a lampshade.  No, not just a lampshade, the lampshade for which I have spent the past two months searching.  It’s for a particular lamp I made.  I will show you, soon…