Hello darling, what do you think of my new outfit? I cobbled it together the last couple of days - dress ($15), necklace ($5), shrug ($11) -- all on sale or clearance, and with coupons -- $32 for a $106 outfit. It's hanging from a shelf now by my desk, where I can admire it as I type. I wonder on what occasion I'll first wear it? I have a very casual coffee date (I think) on Sunday afternoon -- a bit dressy for that, or maybe not so much, not really -- it's just that if I bust out this outfit -- well, I don't have others of quite that caliber as well. So perhaps best save it for perhaps a dressier date (hopefully a second, or third, or whatever). There's a literary reading tomorrow late afternoon at the local international arts colony... perhaps I'll wear it there. Oh, the possibilities are endless. I'm glad to have this outfit. It makes me think about going back to work again. My prospective Sunday date quite naturally queried my employment status, and I messaged him back with my saga...

Dress for success -- this could be my first outfit, or one like it.

Anyway, in my future -- I actually would like to work in some capacity, though not full-time. There is no work, really, to be had for me where I am in the Hudson area. I think I would need to be closer to a bigger city, Troy or Albany, to find a viable, workable position. I think at first (esp. given this economy, and that I've been out of the workforce so long, and would have trouble coming up with references - at least from my last job) that I might have to volunteer someplace -- perhaps in some urban-planning-related NFP (I have a masters in urban planning, plus five years professional experience in it, however badly it went -- but I was in the wrong sort of organization for myself).

Where is everybody today? True it is a beautiful May Friday afternoon... so I hope you're out & about, enjoying the day...