Wednesday Miscellany: Liminal Spaces

Outfit idea with linen sweater, off white jeans, printed bucket hat. Details at une femme d'un certain age.

Not Quite Spring, Not Quite Summer…

We’ve settled into that annual weather pattern sometimes referred to as “June gloom.” Overcast in the mornings and evenings, and sometimes we don’t see the sun all day. The ocean breezes pick up in the afternoon, shifting temperatures from “cool-ish” to cool.

More Shopping My Closet
Above: Hat | Sweater (similar) | Necklace | Bracelet (c/o) | Bracelet |
Jeans | Bag (similar) | Sandals

I tend to run cold, and have been living in my linen and linen-blend sweaters. They handle fluctuating temperatures so well. In this part of Southern California, we usually don’t get sustained summer heat until July. (And then it stays warm until November.)

One door closes, another one opens…

Friday is le Monsieur’s last day of work. He’d originally planned to retire in March, but then Covid hit. He decided to stay on for a few more weeks (working from home) to help his team transition. He’s been with the company for over 20 years, and although he’s been looking forward to retirement, I think he’s really going to miss his team.

We’d hoped to travel but that will have to wait. He’s been wanting to take some cooking classes, but will have to limit himself to online options at this point. And he says he’s going to use one of those language apps to learn Italian. Oh, and I’m also planning to put him on photographer duty. 📷 😉

On hold…

So just when we were starting to take baby steps to try to regain some normalcy, we’re back in a holding pattern. We’ve had nightly curfews (“nightly” in our case means 4pm to 5:30am) since the weekend to dissuade looters.

But I’m not worried for us personally; the looters seem to be mostly targeting commercial areas. I do feel terrible for the small business owners who are already struggling due to Covid, and hope they will be able to recover.

I just hope that some real awareness and positive change can come out of all this pain. And that we can step through this threshold to a better, more just world.

Thanks for reading.

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23 Comments

  1. Life will never be the same. All we can do is know that there is more good than bad, that this will pass and we will move and grow from these days, and hopefully the world will be a better place. We can find in ourselves the hope that each day will be incrementally easier to bear. Thanks for giving us a respite from all the depressing thoughts coming at us every day.

  2. Never realized June Gloom was a thing in Cali until visiting our son there last year….I still think it’s better than the Nov-Dec-Jan-Feb-Mar Gloom of the Midwest. But, hey, we choose to live where we live, right? And if you pop out in that outfit you posted you’ll be spouting your own sunshine! So, so pretty and cheerful.

    1. Cindy: The Pacific Northwest hears you, and says “Hold my beer.” But our summers are glorious 🙂
      And for Susan, I love love LOVE that color aquamarine on you!

  3. Love the adorable bucket hat! Just had to order a couple. Congratulations to le Monsieur on his retirement. Everything seems turned upside down right now but hopefully we will all land on our feet!

  4. I love the outfit, the colors are so refreshing. What a cute hat! Congratulations on your husband’s retirement! I was going to retire in March also but due to not being able to travel decided to just keep working (36 years tomorrow at the same company). I will now retire in September or next March. I am hoping to go to Europe for 2 months next spring (April-May).

  5. Good morning, Susan. Love your outfit choice! The aquamarine colour is fantastic.

    You might want to give your “sweater” link a check. When I clicked on it, I got an error message.

    Enjoy your day!

    Sandra J

      1. Thanks, Susan! Not sure why the original link wouldn’t work for me. I tried it three times! But, I do appreciate you sending the updated LINK which did work for me.

  6. Question about the bone Athletica Jeans linked in this post. How do they wash and dry? And any input on the fit? Have never purchased jeans from Athletica but these look tempting.

    1. Hi Diane, I’ve washed and dried them once with no issues. They seem to run TTS. They’re a little snug in the waist at the moment but I think that’s more due to my eating habits the last few weeks. 😉

      1. Wow do I hear that. Bone isn’t my color but found a light wash also on sale and took my measurements before ordering. Gulp. Need to lace up those walking shoes and get out of the kitchen. Congratulations on le Monsieur’s retirement. My goal when I retired almost two years ago ago was to develop a regular exercise routine and obviously need to refocus on that goal and stop using stress eating to handle distress. Thanks for yesterday’s post and lots of soul searching these past few days. Just trying to separate emotionally the looting from protesting as our right and obligation to protest inequities in our criminal justice system. Thank you as well for bringing some sunshine in to my June Gloom days here in the PNW. You have a lovely glow in your new colors!

  7. I love the wonderful deep aqua of that sweater. A ray of light through the gloom. The linked sweaters are similar in regard to fabric, but not styling or color. (I had to look up “liminal.” You are good for my vocabulary.)

    1. Hi Lyn, thanks! Yes, this sweater is from a prior season, and unfortunately I couldn’t find the combination of style and color available currently. But I’ll be on the lookout and will share if I do find something.

  8. Hi Susan, Just purchased those jeans from Athleta and they’re now on sale. Plus, I had a birthday discount too! I really like their clothes. I purchased a pair of city pants three years ago and they still look great! They roll up into a ball for packing. Unfortunately, they don’t carry them any longer. Thanks for all your tips!
    My husband is planning on retiring and selling his practice next year. Of course, retiring consists of working occasionally per diem for another practice. Hopefully it will gives us more time for travel and extended time in Italy with my daughters. He’s just not ready to stop altogether. His dad, who owned his own business, worked until he was 85!

  9. Love your outfit suggestions today! Beautiful colors and good suggestions for our variable midwestern weather right now – heated floors still running at a low temp and then temps in the 90’s with AC on 2 days later and then back to jeans and a light sweater. Lol!
    My husband retired last June after 39 years with the same company. This spring it finally feels as if we are falling into a comfortable routine. I had been a SAH mom, avid school volunteer which worked its way into an administrative sub position for our school district. But I had been mostly alone at home from 6 am to 7-ish pm for the past 22 years (the time the youngest started school and then 8 years since the youngest left for college). It took a little while for my husband to realize that his retirement was as big a change for me (getting used to someone else always being here with me) as it was for him. The memory of him approaching me in the first week and asking what was for lunch never fails to make me chuckle. My reply – “I don’t know. I don’t eat lunch.”

  10. Help! I tried to look at the bag you showed up above. I received a notice saying it might not be harper’s bazaar–rather a fake site to steal my information. Thought you should know about this!!!!!

  11. Love that aqua sweater! That colour always looked good on me. I’ve been blonde all my life but I’ve grown my grey out & for some reason it’s charcoal & silver, very dramatic, & turquoise looks spectacular with it! I swore no more clothes, but . . . . And good luck to Monsieur (and you!) on his retirement! How exciting to start a new chapter. Mr.D & I retired early 3 years ago & it took us a solid year to get OUT of work mode into retirement mode: he had his own engineering firm & I’d been working for another engineering goup, both of us doing what we loved, both go go go. Going from Mach 10 to 0 overnight left us both floundering for a while, trying to find new footing. Interestingly we’re both working full-time again, me going from part-time writing to full-time & him inadvertently turning his hobby of rebuilding vintage motorcycles into a business that’s doing so well his brother came out of HIS retirement to become partners. I figure in another 10 years we’ll have to retire all over again. I look forward to hearing what fun things you’re both up to in the coming days!

  12. My husband retired in December and hasn’t stopped! He played a major role in our DIL‘S unexpected hospitalization in January for preterm labour where he took on daycare duties for #1 grandson so our son could continue working. Later that month he did the emergency run from home to hospital when DIL went into very early labor and produced #2 grandson six weeks early…again he spent his time running #1 to daycare providing pick up and after care. All this allowed me to continue working. On top of his amazing midwifery skills he has been my emotional support/personal chef/housekeeper as I spend long days in the hospital during the pandemic. Covid has messed up so many plans we had this year but next year I will be retired(finally) and we can turn our attention to emptying and prepping this huge house to sell . I am glad both of you have plans for this new chapter of your lives. Enjoy!