Scarlett Letters

Despite my extremely well-ordered to-do list, I feel a little overwhelmed by everything that's happening in the next few days--which actually all started this morning.

1) Job interview: This morning's interview materialized a day or two ago. Interesting company. Went well. I have . . . thoughts about it, but will not share for the moment. We'll see what happens.

2) Clothing consignment: My first attempt at clothing consignment worked out pretty well. Several months back, I dropped some stuff off at Two Big Blondes plus-size consignment and recently received a modest but acceptable check; all the clothes I'd given them had sold. Today, after the aforementioned interview, I went and dropped off some spring clothes for consignment--12 hangers, which included some favorite, hard-to-let-go tops, the dress I wore to my brother's wedding, and a couple of pairs of slacks. The hole in my closet is considerable, though not so large as I might have expected. Still, some of this is me divesting myself of stuff; some of it is making space for new clothes that will fit a smaller me. It's a net good.

3) Skills assessment: I'm currently in the running for a job, the company for which has asked me to do what they refer to as homework and what I refer to as a skills assessment. It might also be construed as freelance work, and I'll bill them if my work shows up on their web site. It's not an inconsiderable amount of work, but I understand why companies do this and what they're looking for, so I'll do it because I want the job. But my time is compromised because of my prior commitment for this weekend, which is . . .

(ETA: First draft of skills assessment completed. Stepping away to let it gel. Will review tomorrow and then get it off to the employer in question.)

4) Potlatch 21: I'm on three panels and will be going, also, to attend the banquet, donate to the auction and, in general, enjoy myself. Schedule:

Saturday
2 PM: Deconstructing A Canticle for Leibowitz
7 PM: Blocking Writer's Block

Sunday
3 PM: Short Story, Novella, or Novel

It's going to be a whirlwind; I'm going to fret about parking until I figure it out (the hotel is in a challenging spot for parking); and my Sunday is going to be difficult because . . .

5) The Oscars: The awards show starts at 4 PM, when my last panel at Potlatch ends, and I had invited a few people over to my place to watch. I've already arranged for some friends to open the house so that guests can come and watch the show from the beginning. But somewhere in here, I'd hoped to give the house some kind of once-over with a dust cloth or vacuum, and to maybe make some food. I'm feeling . . . challenged as a result of this.

6) Another job interview: On the heels of Potlatch, I have a job interview on Monday morning. Two hours, no waiting, on the Eastside.

7) Rainforest Writers Village: After all of this madness, I disappear for five days for a writing retreat. Cat sitting has been arranged and I should have some time for house cleaning before I depart, but if one more job interview is scheduled before my departure (and one may very well be), it'll make things that much more challenging. Don't get me wrong: interviews are good--we want interviews. But my time is short and I'm trying not to lose my hair in all this.

OK, OK, not really a summary. I think I needed to vent. Madness. Madness! But I'll manage. I think maybe, though, first, a cup of tea is in order. . . .

Yesterday, after a delightful brunch with matt_ruff and lisagold (and the ever assertive Sophie Sestina) and an afternoon of work, I went downtown for movies with bedii and ladyjestocost.

My bus brought me downtown about a half hour earlier than I had to be at the movie theater, so in the wake of this weekend's experiments with clothing, I decided to stop into a store I've never been able to shop in to see just how far this smaller body thing would take me. I stopped in to All Saints Spitalfields, a British clothier that's taken up pretty prominent residence here with a window full of antique sewing machines. Their sizes stop at size 14 so I grabbed something I thought might be attractive and tried it on. And it fit, and it actually looked kind of adorable. (And was sized in the British manner, which meant I was wearing an American size 10, not an American size 14, which was actually little too much for me to handle. I still don't believe that's really what was happening.) Two things stopped me from buying it. The first was the price--on sale it was $85, simply too much for a blouse that would probably be in style for only six months or so.

The second was a question that I sometimes hear in my head, something my mom used to ask: Can I get away with this?

It's a damning question, and it has put the stops on me more than once. What does this question mean, exactly? A number of things:
--Is this too young a look for me?
--Am I kidding myself about how this looks on me?
--Am I really small enough to wear this or am I missing something important?
--Am I betraying someone by choosing this? (I'll get back to this question in a minute.)
--Am I allowed to wear this? (I'll get back to this one, too.)

( Examining the questions )

Spent the weekend in Portland visiting davidlevine and kateyule (with bonus camillealexa thrown in).

Arrived Friday after a long-than-usual drive (traffic accidents and downpours conspired against me, but I was victorious). My hosts offered up a delicious stew for dinner, and we then spent the evening playing Scrabble.

Saturday, we had brunch with their friends D and B at Bread and Ink Cafe. I had possibly the prettiest omelet I've ever been presented with (though I admit that the next day's was tastier). There was much discussion of Weight Watchers since kateyule and I are doing the program, and B and D are lifetime members. I liked the cafe a great deal. D and B were charming. It was a lovely way to start the day. We followed up breakfast by poking in and out of a couple of shops on Hawthorne. I picked up some beads at the bead shop; we stopped into a used DVD and CD place where I picked up a copy of The Ghost and the Darkness for cheap. The afternoon was quiet, with napping, writing, and chatting.

For dinner Saturday evening we went to Andina, where we had delicious Peruvian tapas. We rounded out the evening by attending "Jack Goes Boating" at Artists Repertory Theater. It was a fine production and a really sweet play. I knew nothing about it before we went. It's the story of Jack, a sweet if socially awkward limo driver, his friends Clyde and Lucy (and their troubled marriage), and what happens when they introduce him to Connie, herself a little socially backward. When Connie expresses a desire to go boating with Jack in the summer, Jack panics because he doesn't know how to swim. When Connie misinterprets his invitation to dinner as a promise to cook a meal, he panics because he can't cook. Clyde promises to teach him to swim, and introduces him to a cooking teacher--and the play takes off from there. It was a feel-good evening, and I couldn't have been more delighted.

On Sunday, we took a half-hour walk and met camillealexa for an early lunch at Circa 33, where the food was inexpensive and outrageously good. I shared a mushroom omelet with Camille. The mushrooms were prepared with garlic in truffle oil and herbs, and made the omelet a transcendent experience. I wish I could have eaten more, but half plus some potatoes was really just enough. We walked a bit more, had more quiet time at home, and then I hit the road.

I stopped at the Centralia Outlet Mall (specifically Dress Barn Woman) looking for something to wear for tomorrow evening's gala excursion with e_bourne and markbourne. I did find a dress that I liked well enough to purchase, though it's not especially gala-ish. It may be more appropriate for my brother's wedding (in which case, I need to try on some stuff in the back of my closet for tomorrow evening). It's a sweet black-and-white dress with a flared skirt, thick black waist band, and a little black bolero jacket--very Mad Men. For the wedding, I'd actually prefer something with colors rather than black and white, so I may not stick with this, but it could do nicely.

Got home around 6ish last night, well pleased with the weekend. Was I ready for the week? Well, am I ever ready for Monday?

There's something . . . not sad, but telling about the fact that I can say, "Every time I get a new job . . . ", the implication being that I do this often which, over the last few years, has in fact been true.

Okay, what I intended to write was: Every time I get a new job, my habit has been to buy myself a new piece of jewelery in celebration. I only started the search for such on Wednesday, but haven't found just the right thing. There is danger inherent in this process, however. It means one is within reaching distance of other things one enjoys, like clothes. Yesterday we were allowed out of the office early because relocation to the Bothell office began. I took advantage of the Redmond Town Center location to stop into Lane Bryant. I tried on this, but didn't have enough bust for it. Tried on this, which didn't do anything for me. But then, I found myself with this top, which I loved, took home and am wearing today. (I shouldn't be spending money yet, as I am not yet rolling in the cash due to come from the new job yet, but what the hell.) It's pretty, and I can wearit with the purple shrug I picked up a couple of weeks ago if I need to cover my shoulders.

I'm really digging the ultra-femmy tops we've seen for summer the last couple of years. They're flattering to the figure and just really attractive to the eye. And they mean I can expose a little skin (wih care and sunscreen aforethought, of course), which I like to do, as my skin is really pretty good.

Still haven't found the right piece of jewelry to celebrate the job, but I will. I will.

(As for the icon, it's the closest thing I have to anything fashion-like in my collection. I also freely admit that I hijacked it from spazzychic who has the best collection of icons evar!)