Cocktails with a girlfriend, a catch-up with my sister, a lazy Sunday and a weekend spent inside beautiful houses — real and fictional.
March seems to have arrived while I wasn’t looking. Perhaps I have been too focused on holding onto winter.
I woke up on Sunday morning and the light through the bedroom windows seemed different, I am not sure how but just different. I lay there longer than I should have and was almost late for church. We decided to go to early mass so that we could have a whole day ahead to be lazy, something that we miss if we go to 11 am mass.
It had been a great weekend. The best kind — full of people I love and books and long evenings and absolutely nothing on the schedule except relaxing.
Friday night my girlfriend came for cocktails. We sat for three hours and solved nothing and talked about everything and laughed more than I have in weeks. There is something special about a friendship that seems to have no timeline — you pick up exactly where you left off, mid-sentence almost, as if no time has passed at all but in fact it had been two months since you last saw one another. When she went home, I left the dishes, turned off the lights, went to bed. After a nice evening I did not want to ruin it with a few chores.
Saturday was quiet. I read a pile of magazines that had been piling up until early evening when my sister came over and we did what we always do — talked too late, ate too much, covered every topic under the sun, from health, books, clothes, to the completely trivial and back again. I didn’t sleep as well normal after the late night with her but I never mind. Some things are worth dark circles under the eyes.
Sunday after mass I gave myself the entire day to do nothing, which consisted of my “watch later” YouTube videos and starting a new book.
I had been saving a House & Garden video about Chatsworth House — the Derbyshire estate that has belonged to the Cavendish family since the sixteenth century and which, if you have ever read Pride and Prejudice, you will recognize as the real-life inspiration for Pemberley and the home of Georgiana Cavendish. The tour is led by Laura Burlington, the current chatelaine, and paint specialist Edward Bulmer, and it is exactly the kind of thing I enjoy. Chatsworth has been renovated for modern living but it still holds four thousand years of art — Roman and Egyptian sculpture alongside Rembrandt and Veronese. It has also appeared in Peaky Blinders, if you are a fan. Time well spent on a lazy Sunday afternoon. By the way, if you have Chatsworth on your bucket list be sure to read Kim’s post on her trip last fall.
I also finished Life as Planned by Amanda Prowse — a novel about identical twins whose lives go in two different directions because of a childhood decision made out of love. One sister goes on to have the glittering career and the perfect house and the life that looks exactly right from the outside; the other stays close to home and spends decades feeling like the one who didn’t shine. It is about the difference between the life you planned and the life you actually lived, and about whether it is ever too late to find your way back to yourself — and to each other. I thought about it long after I put it down. The best books always make you do that, don’t they.
Although I spent the day in my cosy clothes I did sneak a peek at some of the spring clothing at a few of my favorite shops. Some of it is just my style — classic with a twist or a pop of color. I put together one of my favorite early spring combinations: straight pants, a simple white shirt, and flats. And over the top, a bright orange cardigan. Orange in early March feels like a little optimistic, after all it was 32 degrees just a few days ago. It’s like telling the world you believe in the warmth that is coming, even before it arrives.
March is here and I am ready for it.
How was your weekend? Are you feeling the first signs of spring where you are? Tell me in the comments — I always love hearing from you.
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Hello Elizabeth,
Sounds like you had the perfect weekend. Enjoy seeing the lovely outfits you put together.
We are in autumn and not looking forward to winter. Have a wonderful week.
Rita, thank you. Enjoy the rest of your autumn and then rest, relax and regroup in the winter.
Have a wonderful week.
I like hearing about your sister time…it sounds like what I enjoy with my own sister, who is also my best friend.P
Sisters are the best! I hope that you enjoy your time with yours. My mother has 7 sisters and 2 brothers and the sisters spend a lot of time together. Have a wonderful day!