Independently Me

a camel coat

I remember from my childhood my mom having a camel colored wool coat. It was long, to her knees, but not a trench coat. A swing coat maybe with a lapel collar and maybe four big buttons down the front.

At least, that's how I remember it.

I remember it because she only wore it on special occasions. It was her fancy coat. I only recall seeing it a few times, on Christmas Sundays I think. but I do remember thinking it was fancy and lovely when I did see it. I always though she looked so classy when she wore it and I wished she wore it more often.

She doesn't have that coat anymore, hasn't for a long time. I don't quite remember when she got rid of it, but it was years ago. For the longest time I've thought about that coat and wanted something just like it.

A few years ago I found a bloack wool swing coast with big brown buttons and a super cute collar. I had to have it then and there and it became mine. It continues to be one of my better purchases over the years.

And tru to my life philosophy, I don't save it for special occasions. I war it frequesntly, with jeans, skirts, heels and sneakers. I love it. Though it is about half a size too small and the sleeves are a smidge short, it's nothing a pair of gloves can't fix.

The coat I have is black, and while it's wonderfully versatile, I still won't have a complete wardrobe until I get my hands of a camel colored coat.

J.Crew

Artizia

unknown

favorite quote

"Travel pushes my boundaries. When you travel, you become invisible, if you want. I do want. I like to be the observer. What makes people who they are? Could I feel at home here? No one expects you to have the stack of papers back by Tuesday, or to check messages, or to fertilize the geraniums. When traveling, you have the delectable possibility of not understanding a word of what is said to you. Language becomes simply a musical background for watching bicycles zoom alongside a canal, calling for nothing from you. Tavel releases spontaneity. You become a godlike crature full of choice, free to visit the stately pleasure domes, make love in the morning, sketch a bell tower. You open, as in childhood, and - for a time - recieve this world. There's the viceral aspect, too - the huntress who is free. Free to go, free to return home bringing memories to lay on the hearth."

Excerpted from A Year in the World, by Frances Mayes.

I found this quote in a Real Simple magazine, March 2006 to be exact. I pulled the page from the magazine and kept it, always remembering how trapped I felt at that time in my life and how much I longed to travel and experience something new.

I've kept it in plain sight ever since, though not really taking the time to look at it or reread it periodically. In cleaning off my magnet board to have a clean slate for the new year, I have refound this page pulled from the magazine. I didn't have the same reaction when I read it, and that's ok. I can't say I'm the same person that tore it from the book almost 7 years ago. But it still meant something to me. 

Maybe someday I'll visit a place like that. And even read the book.