(My new-to-me jeans from ThredUp.)
I’m pretty new to the idea of thrift shopping, and I haven’t had much luck with local stores in my area. Since I told you about ThredUp, they received and processed my items. I earned around $25 and most of my pieces sold the first day they were listed, so I’m pretty pleased with the process. In the meantime, I returned a pair of jeans that didn’t fit me and found two pairs that did. I’ve been hoping to add black and grey jeans to my wardrobe, and at ThredUp’s prices, I was able to get two pairs.
Shopping for jeans online is always risky, and though I’m really familiar with how to measure and determine my size, I often fall between sizes with jeans. Since I’m definitely fuller in my hips and thighs, I find that jeans are too loose around my waist. Both of the pairs from ThredUp are mid-rise, which I really like. They were both a smidge on the snug side, so I searched for ways to stretch them just a little.
As it turns out, denim can stretch up to one inch, which was exactly the amount of room I needed! I found this interesting post about stretching your jeans with a really sweet movie clip featuring the tub method. In the end, I just washed both pairs in cold water and hung them up to air dry. As they were drying, I gave each pair a good stretch in the waist and hips, and once they were dry, I wore each pair around the house during the day (not at the same time, of course!). Now, they fit really well and are comfortable, too. Problem solved.
(My new-to-me purse from a friend.)
And my friend, Lindsay, who is launching a jewelry site soon, moved to a different apartment recently and was letting go of a lot of her wardrobe. I had admired this pretty pink purse in the past, so she gave it to me! I’m so excited to use it, and it will be a colorful addition to my casual wardrobe.
I also used some of my ThredUp credit to buy some summer things for the boys, and I’m preparing to send off another bag of donated items soon. I’m getting used to this thrifting thing, and I really enjoy how easy the process is.
Do you shop at thrift stores?
(A bouquet of fading roses. Still so pretty.)
A few weeks ago, Ryan came down with a bad cough and cold. I thought it might be bronchitis, which I had earlier this year, but the doctor said it was some sort of upper-respiratory infection going around, and it could last up to three weeks! Yuck. I did my very best not to catch it, so, of course, I did. I’ve spent the last few weeks coughing and coughing, but I haven’t felt sick, thankfully.
Then two weekends ago, my voice started to fail, disappearing completely that Saturday. Since then, it’s been fluctuating between a whisper, a screech, and a croak. My throat didn’t really hurt, but I would start coughing in the evenings, and I’m sure that contributed to it. It’s slowly getting better, though my ribs are really sore from coughing so much.
(These petals fell as I was taking pictures.)
I suppose, in some ways, spending a week without your voice could be introspective and even healing, but for the mom of two little boys, it’s been extremely frustrating. Every morning, I woke up hoping that my voice had returned, and every morning it hadn’t. I did my best to whisper (you’re not supposed to with laryngitis) and squeak to get my thoughts across. Ryan had to interpret what I was saying at times, and we both got pretty good at anticipating what the other person might say next. Except when we were wrong, which happened a lot.
I also had errands to run and appointments to attend, so I got pretty good at pointing to my throat, quickly apologizing, and then trying my best to say what needed to be said. I went through the drive-thru at Starbucks, and since it was empty, I drove straight up to the window to place my order. The attendant looked at me like I’d lost my mind, but she still got my order right.
I started to worry that maybe I’d lost my voice forever. It’s not such a bad thing in some ways, and I’m a quiet person by nature, but I rely on my voice to to be heard in a noisy house full of boys. I felt pretty powerless without the means to communicate easily, and I lost my cool on more than one occasion recently when I felt I wasn’t understood. It’s been incredibly frustrating, to say the least.
My voice is starting to come back now, slowly, though it fades at the end of the day. I’ve lost my voice before, but never for this long, and I really hope it doesn’t happen again for a long, long time. The good news is that I’ve felt really inspired lately, and I have a week’s worth of posts to share with you. I guess there’s always a bright side!
(Small treasures from outings with the boys.)
This week was uneventful, aside from the fact that I’ve been without my voice since last weekend. It’s taking a while to get over whatever I caught, and I’m really looking forward to feeling like myself again. Thankfully, the boys are well and we’ve been enjoying some lovely warmer weather, too. Here are a few things that caught my attention this week.
An interesting article on the women of Westeros. (We’re a season behind and I think there are a few spoilers here.)
A review of Heathers, the musical. How very.
Beautiful photos of women with wild animals.
A new exhibit of Anne Frank photos.
A gorgeous Rhode Island boutique.
Iris Apfel is selling her belongings on One Kings Lane.
This young man won acceptance to all eight Ivy League schools! What an honor!
The cast of The Lion King performs on a plane. This song always gives me chills.
The stories from Steve Inskeep’s “Borderland” series. If you don’t read anything else all weekend, please read these.
Have a wonderful weekend!
