Then Came Irene ...

I have a lot of black clothes. A lot. I don't know why that is — I don't think of myself as a dark and gloomy person, which is what I associate black clothes with (ever since I watched the "Fades to Black" episode of Roseanne, where Darlene stopped playing basketball and started wearing all black).

tank — (Cost Co)

skirt — Express (Express)

boots — Haley by Faded Glory (thrifted)

And I can't even claim that this affection for brown and black clothes is because bright colors don't look good on me. I found that out when I wore pink and blue here. It was probably because I just wanted to blend into the background and not stand out. These days, however, I am finding that it's not all that bad to be noticed, and it's actually kind of fun to get the hairy eyeballs.

So, here's a way to wear black and STAND OUT at the same time! The trick is to wear boots with a tank top — together, the two are completely and totally incongruous.

One caveat about this outfit ... I liked it, but I have to say that I'm worried that I'm too much of an old lady to wear it ... how depressing is that? Just when you're old enough to have some fun, you're too old to enjoy it.

This outfit is actually my entry for Megan and Keely's "Old Favorite" Remix Challenge, in which we were challenged to take a favorite piece of clothing and wear it somewhat differently than we had before.

My skirt is my "old favorite." It's a simple cotton blend, with a drawstring waist (which lets me slide it up and down on my hips to adjust the length). I've had this skirt for ages. In fact, I liked it so much when I got it that I went out and bought another one — just like it. Yeah. I actually have two of these skirts. It seems kind of silly when I think about it now.

I haven't been blogging that long, but I've still worn this skirt a number of times, in a number of ways, and in different seasons (winter, spring, and summer).


I had the best of intentions to finish Kayla's 21-Day Challenge, and then move on to Megan and Keely's Remix Challenge for this week. But what is it they say? "The best laid schemes of mice and men"? or is it "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" (and by the way, I had no idea that this quote is attributed to John Lennon)? maybe it's even "Life's a b*tch, and then you die." 

Or wait -- I've got it!

When it rains it pours! And I mean that literally.*

  
Regardless of the quote, first Irene and now Lee have wreaked havoc, to say the least, on my life and put a damper on my plans to do much of anything but go into crisis management mode. I had (and yes, HAD is now the operative word) this beautifully finished and carpeted basement. I have been getting ready to move, so I have been packing up things that I don't need and storing the boxes in my basement, because I thought they would be safe and out of the way. In the 15 or so years that I have lived in this house, I have never had a drop of water in the basement.

Well that was before Irene decided to make her ugly way up the coast and dumped over 10 inches of rain overnight (and this was on top of the 6 inches of rain we got in one day the week before).

Now, I have moldy walls ...

wet carpeting, and soaked and disintegrated boxes ...  (I'm sparing you the picture of my mountain of boxes that are now on my porch, getting even wetter ... )

And of course nothing is covered by insurance, because it's an act of God. or whatever. Honestly, I just wanted to cry, which I did a lot of. But I have also been hauling a helluva lot of boxes back up the d*mn steps, trying to salvage what I can, and get everything dried out. And that is a lost cause since Lee has decided to add insult to injury as he makes his s-l-o-o-o-w and ponderous way, dumping rain and more rain, on the waterlogged Northeast.

Between the rain, the extra work, the damage to my basement, and the expense that it will entail to repair said damage, my heart has just not been into dressing for the occasion, taking pictures, and blogging ... Hopefully, with this post, I'll be able to get back on track a bit.

*Everything in my house right now is damp. My clothes are damp. My bed is damp. My floors are damp. My papers are damp. My doors are so swollen from the rain that I can barely shut them.Yeah. I'm pretty miserable.

Head on over to Megan Mae Daily to check out how ladies are remixing their clothes.