Pretty Things: House Art and Summer Clothes

Inspired by Regina Doman's House Art Journal, I thought I might post a little "house art" of my own. This is my dining table, set for a nice dinner with my parents a couple of months ago:



That's my dad in the background, helping with the cooking. Dad is a very good cook, and his cooking style is a good counterpoint to Mom's; Mom tends to just throw a bunch of things in a pot or a pan, and it comes out tasting good. Dad follows recipes, and because he follows recipes he sometimes does more daring things than Mom does. I'm somewhere in between--I like to try new recipes, but I have a tendency to modify them, usually with decent results, although I've had my fair share of disasters. I modified a recipe for chilled cherry soup yesterday, but didn't reduce the cornstarch enough and used cherries that were sweeter than they should have been, resulting in something of un-soup-like consistency, more like jelly that failed to set. But I'll find something to do with it. My parents used up a whole batch of unset apricot jam as glaze/sauce for pork tenderloin, and I bet my cherry concoction would work well for that, too.

As the weather has heated up properly here in Los Angeles (contrary to popular belief, it is not always 80 degrees here--it tends to be cloudy and in the high 60's in late May and early June), my thoughts have turned to summer clothes. I'm trying harder to be more modest in my clothing choices this year. I used to be very modest when I was in high school, but I've slipped in the last four or so years. My new home in a city famous for immodesty, my position as a teacher's assistant, my impending marriage, and the realization of just how soon I might be be called upon to set an example for children of my own (a thought both exciting and terrifying) has bred new resolve in me.

With that in mind, here is a snapshot of some core items from my summer wardrobe for this year, all of which will also work well into the fall:



The blouses may not fit everyone's idea of modesty--some people object to short sleeves, and some of the shirts are more than two fingers' breadth below my collarbone, but they fit my own standards for the moment, and I confess I do still wear sleeveless shirts sometimes. Consider my wardrobe a work in progress. I don't imagine anyone would object to the skirts, though, which all fall below the knee even when I'm sitting down. I do wear trousers and capris/pedal pushers, but I've worn a hole in my jeans and have decided I'm not going to replace them; I can't find any jeans that are looser-fitting like my dress slacks. I only wear shorts for working out (Irish stepdancing class).

I think I'll be doing well if I can stick to clothes like those shown above. I hope that I am setting an example of dressing in a manner both flattering and modest, for my students and for those around me in this town where there's often far too much flesh on display.