mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

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Fashion Flexibility

November 16, 2016 — 2 Comments

Arizona Inn Dining Room

tourist look

mermaid look

local look

Tumacacori tourist look

80’s party look

There is much to be said for having a signature style by which one is recognized. One leaves a lasting impression with costuming, intentional or not. I have spent more money and time in my life shopping for clothing and fashion accessories than I care to calculate. I think I am above average as a shopper in skill and bargain hunting. This is how I rationalize the obsession with owning too much clothing. Since discovering the tidy muse my struggle to release and repurpose much of my stuff has become obvious. I have gradually been thinning out the wardrobe, but have reached a basic truth about what I value. I like to be able to shape shift. It is not really disguise, per se, but it is costuming.

I always had at least two careers at the same time. I taught swimming and fitness and was also an outside sales travel agent. Outside sales means find your own business and split commission with the house. I did not dress up and spend the day at the agency answering calls. I came and went when I made sales. I often went during the night to run tickets at the travel agency just so I could have the whole place to myself. This strictly financial agreement came with no dress code, but I did feel the need to change into street clothing rather than show up at the office in a leotard and tights with a warm up suit if I went during office hours. Sometimes I came in the back door in my swim suit and did a quick change in the bathroom like superman. I also had two briefcases designated one for fitness and one for travel because we did all kinds of things on paper in those days. I used a black Swissair briefcase for travel and something southwestern with no travel company logos for the spa. I often provided travel services to my work colleagues at the spa, but I kept the whole filing system separate in those briefcases. They were looks, they were also personas. You are what you wear at least as much as you are what you eat. Costuming is everything.

Now that I never have to work at any office but my own at home I am trying to narrow down the broad range of costuming I have acquired. The Japanese tidy system demands that I decide why I want to keep my things, and why they make me happy. This whole process has brought me to an examination of my delight in shape shifting. I have always loved it. I had a giant dress up box as a child, and must have been influenced heavily to believe in the value of limitless wardrobe choices. A look into my closets confirms that I am still under that spell. I am going to eliminate more and scale down to ONLY the items that give me great joy. I am in the process of figuring out how to keep my options from up to down, mature to infantile, straight to hippie, athletic to hipster, and work to party. I do think I still need all that. I just don’t need so many items in each category. I don’t enjoy having just one signature look. I like to keep them guessing and myself amused. How do you dress, gentle reader? Do you dress to impress, for comfort, or for effect? I think I do all three.

Weekend Coffee Share, Sorting The Nuts

October 8, 2016 — 17 Comments

nuts to crack

If we were having coffee this week I would invite you to the nut bar to find the right mix to pair with your tea or coffee. The nut bar is a nod to both #OctoberUnprocessed, which I find easy to do, and to the tidy guru, whose advise I am finding very difficult to follow. I purchased more fall festive flavors of white tea and chai partly because my tea company offered a free tiny bottle of honey with an order over a certain amount. I was a sucker for the honey, and have yet to impose any kind of tidy rules on my tea cupboard. It makes me very happy, and when a swing the lazy susan cabinet that houses it closed it adds no visual clutter to my kitchen.

In my journey to minimalism and clean eating I have created an alternative to processed crackers this week that is far superior to the store bought version. I made pesto shortbread to die for. I still have some in the fridge ready to slice and bake. It has the flavor of homemade pesto I already had on hand and utilizes some of the pine nuts I also have in stock. My tidy muse reminded me that all of the nuts in my fridge are from last year. The few pecans I still have in the shell have been waiting for way to long to be cracked open and eaten. She (tidy muse) is absolutely right about consuming the old food to make room for the new crop which is soon to arrive on the market. In the spirit of tidy AND unprocessed I have started eating a daily deconstructed dessert. It started with apples and honey for Jewish new year. It is so pleasant and satisfying that I have followed with sliced apples or pears with cheeses and with nuts. I have been enjoying this sweet indulgence by purchasing different honey and apple varieties to combine. The honey from the tea company is cinnamon flavored, which is delightful with both the nuts and the apples. I have pecans, pine nuts, walnuts, hazel nuts, and pistachios all on special for my tasting pleasure. During your weekend beverage visit please help yourself to these seasonal delights. The tidy muse will be so pleased when all the nuts are gone.

I am inspired by the many ambitious writers who frequent this coffee share. Some of you are very prolific while you continue full lives in other realms. I have been thinking about writing more poetry, since I do really love it. Like tidying, I have to struggle against some lazy lady lurking in the shadows who does not want to make the effort to write poetry. I was set up to attend a poetry reading on Thursday, meant to get my poetry mojo working. I slept through it, as I did the vice presidential debate the previous night. I am extremely early to bed and early to rise, as well as a very sound sleeper. I count myself as lucky to be able to easily sleep and dream, so I am not too harsh on myself when I snooze through anything. I can always catch up on world events on twitter when I awaken.

Politics in the United States are heating up in all the most bizarre ways. The tidy lady needs to school the politicians about hoarding old nuts. There are now scary clowns in the woods as well as in government. We are on a strange collision course with destiny. There is absolutely no telling what will happen.

Catch up with writers who share coffee on the weekend here. Sit down, enjoy, share whatever is on your mind. Have a Nut! They are on special this week.