In round 1,783 on this blog, I shall now once again complain about the shoddy state of retail, specifically as it relates to clothing. Every few months I hit the wall with my current crop of clothes and go into a decision crisis trying to pick out what I’m going to wear the next day. I hate everything I own and feel like I’ve worn everything over and over again. Normally when this happens, I would simply trundle off to my local Big Box Everything store and buy some new stuff from the women’s business section, but since COVID there has been no business sections anywhere because no one goes into an office anymore. So I’ve been forced to try my luck with Amazon, and just hope that I’m hitting it right with the sizing and color. Up until recently, it’s worked out sort of okay, but this last round of ordering was an utter disaster. Nothing looked at all like what I actually ordered. What seemed like a lovely green satin blouse showed up with bizarre, out-sized sleeves that definitely weren’t in the pictures I looked at. What was supposed to be a short-length blue blouse that was gathered at the waist came long enough to be worn as a dress. And sadly, I took a chance on a printed blouse (I normally prefer solids) that looked lovely and feminine, with long sleeves and a soft front. What I got was literally a printed short-sleeved t-shirt. It was not anywhere close to what I ordered. It’s as though Amazon has just completely given up and now just sends out whatever vague approximation of the actual item they can scrounge up. It’s incredibly discouraging, especially since I don’t have anywhere else to go for clothes. I don’t have the energy to return anything, so I’m just going to make do.
After a marathon of diamond painting, I am this close to completing a mountain-and-lake scene for Mr. Typist. Finally after a ton of practice, I’ve gotten semi-competent at multi-placing, which has sped things along quite a bit. As soon as I’m done with this painting, I am going to get fancy with it and order two firsts—my first square drill painting, and my first kit from the uber-fancy Diamond Art Club. DAC has a lot of stuff I am totally uninterested in—Marvel and Disney princesses and cartoon dragons and such. But they also have some really beautiful and completely unique pieces that I love. I’m thinking of this one in particular by Olga/ArtBeat Studio, “Bathroom in Paris” which is currently out of stock:
I think it’s utterly charming, and very different from the animal and nature scenes I’ve done up until now. I love all of the little details, like the painting-within-the-painting next to the sink.
I’m also thinking ahead to when I will be skilled enough to do custom work. I’ve been watching lots of videos of crafters who do cross-stitch conversions, which seems crazy to me now, but I can see a time when I will be able to do something like that. I also want to do something with all of the extra drills I have leftover. I’m thinking of getting some of those plain wood boxes from Joanne’s and staining them and creating original designs. That would be a really fun challenge. If you have any special requests for a custom box, please let me know.
Time marches on. It’s hard to believe it’s almost May, especially since our cold, grim Seattle weather doesn’t reflect that. I’m going to take a mini-vacation in May to go and visit a dear friend who I haven’t seen in a million years—yes, emotionally, a million—and I am looking forward to that with all of my heart.
--Kristen McHenry
A most enjoyable, eclectic post!
I've had some good luck ordering clothes through Thred Up. I like that I can shop by store so I have a pretty good idea of what I'm getting. Of course, it is consignment so you have to check back often to see what's available. Joining you in the lamentation of finding decent clothes =P