good-ass summer clothes for when you're on fire

my mid-life summer wardrobe is cool even when i myself am hot

Programming note! Watch this space on Monday morning for a big announcement, a new addition to Extended Scenes! I will literally be on a plane as this arrives, so forgive any technical glitches and please do let me know what you think!

me in Venice except without falling in the canal and having a lifetime of vision problems afterwards like poor Katharine Hepburn did.

Later this summer, I’ll be in Italy for two weeks on my own. I’ll start in Rome, head to Venice and Florence, then spend a week in Tuscany, then back to Rome and then home. It is not an understatement to say I feel like I am stealing this trip — from the universe, from my husband and child (who are both, apparently, completely fine and even excited that I’m going?) and from my day job where I’ve amassed so much vacation time they’re forcing me to take days off (or stop accruing vacation hours until I do).

I am beyond thrilled about this trip. Mentally, as the youngs say, I’m already there. I’ve sorted all my planes and hotels. Made reservations for trains and dinners. Ordered the perfect carry-on to attach to my suitcase for moving through multiple cities with ease. I always regret overpacking so I plan on bringing as little as possible. I’m also traveling in August when it will be hot as Dante’s third circle, so I need lightweight, versatile clothes.

I’m fully menopausal and at least partially mentally ill and so the following style compilation took more hours/weeks/months of obsessive thinking/intrusive thoughts than anyone should admit to on a public platform such as this.

I wanted a summer travel wardrobe that made me feel breezy and (temperature) cool with the buoyancy of youth without actually wearing the clothing and accessories of a child (you, jellie shoes, I am talking about YOU).

After many moons of internet searching and only a few full-on “why am I shopping at the end of the world?”shame crash outs, here’s my unstoppable, affordable, mid-life, don’t-want-to-spend-my-401k-but-I-like-cute-clothes summer style edit.