Hello from week 7 of sheltering in place here in San Francisco. Just thought I’d write a little update post to get my brain working. I continue to find it difficult to focus, read, or write. I relate to this opinion piece, “Trouble Focusing? Not Sleeping? You May Be Grieving,” by the novelist R.O. Kwon. (I am sleeping, though not well.)
I know I’m very fortunate to be able to stay at home. We have it easier than lots of other people because we don’t have kids and our parents have been taking social distancing seriously. I’ve heard from so many friends who have had to wrangle or threaten their senior parents who keep going out.
While I do miss going to places like the library and gym, I’m thankful to live in an area where the government is taking the pandemic seriously and not easing restrictions yet. The six counties in the Bay Area just announced that the stay-at-home order will extend through the end of May. We’re also required to wear masks when we’re out. I remember the weekend before the lockdown began, I went to the farmers market. At the time, I was the only person there wearing a mask. I’m glad mask-wearing is normalized now.
I try to help out in little ways — to be helpful, but also to feel connected.
I try to help out in little ways — to be helpful, but also to feel connected. We continue to make donations. Recently, we gave to World Central Kitchen and to Baggu’s fundraising campaign for masks, which are being distributed to healthcare workers in New York. I also belong to some Buy Nothing groups, so if I see someone asking for something that I have and don’t use anymore, I’m happy to pass it along (via a contactless pickup).
I go on walks in the neighborhood and admire the trees and flowers. Yesterday, we made our first grocery run in two weeks. We decided to drive our car to charge its battery, so we made the trek to Trader Joe’s. It wasn’t too bad of a wait to get into the store. I kind of stress shopped too many sugary items, though.
Really love the drawings on this Trader Joe’s sign
2020 Q1 Shopping Diary
Speaking of stress shopping, in my last diary post, I reported that I wasn’t doing that. But now I am. So here’s my clothes consumption report. While I didn’t spend a lot, it feels a bit reckless to buy clothes not knowing how our job situation and finances might look in six months.
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By the end of January, I had bought one thing. Things remained quiet until April when I acquired five items. Three of them were the mix-and-match sweats from Pact that I just reviewed. I’m already wearing them a lot.
It feels a bit reckless to buy clothes not knowing how our job situation and finances might look in six months.
I also bought two Vetta items. One was this textured shell that I’ve had my eye on since November. I talked myself out of buying it then because it seemed like a lot of money to spend on what was essentially a tank top. But I saw it secondhand, but barely worn, on Poshmark. With shipping, it came out to about 60% of retail price, so I saved about $30.
The other item was this wrap jumpsuit. And that, I admit, was a total impulse purchase. Vetta put a few items on sale. The price was so attractive that BOOM — I put it in my cart. One part of my brain rushed to finish the transaction before the rational part of my brain started asking questions.
The Vetta sale items were final sale, so this was a gutsy move. After all, the last Vetta piece I tried was a fail due to a significant fit issue. Thankfully the jumpsuit fit. However, I feel like a hypocrite because the shape of the jumpsuit — with wide legs — is very similar to this Everlane jumpsuit that I had reviewed and passed on. I’d decided that the wide leg didn’t suit me and vowed to look for a jumpsuit for a skinnier leg. Then I went and impulse bought this wide-legged Vetta jumpsuit.
If I’m being honest with myself, I still think that a skinner leg works better for me. But I do like this jumpsuit. Mostly, I’m a fan of how you can wear it two ways by flipping it around. I’ll write a proper review of both Vetta items once I’ve worn them for awhile. I also need to take the jumpsuit to a tailor for hemming when we’re out of lockdown. (Thanks to everyone who chimed in during my Instagram poll.)
How are things where you are, and have you bought anything lately?
Welcome Objects 20 in 2020 Wardrobe Count To Date
Additions: 6
Number of Additions That Are Secondhand: 1 (16.6%)
Subtractions: 4
Your Trader Joe’s location has a much cuter sign listing out the new guidelines than ours! Trader Joe’s has done a good job of facilitating social distancing. In addition to controlling the number of people in the stores, they’ve set up plexiglass screens at all the checkout stands to protect the cashiers. People in NYC generally have had very good compliance with mask-wearing for at least a few weeks now, so far as I can tell from our grocery outings.
The new jumpsuit looks very nice at the shorter length! I’ve still been doing a fair bit of online window-shopping, and I think it’s a good guess that May’s shopping diary will end up reflecting some new purchases as well…
I spoke too soon! Went out for a walk today and passed by a park and only half the people were wearing masks! There were also groups of 6, 7, 8 people. It’s conceivable these groups could be roommates, with the cost of living being so high here, but IDK. I think many of them probably were not, which is disheartening. Glad to hear there’s good mask compliance in NYC from what you’ve seen.
I went on a bit of a shopping spree earlier this year, but I’ve slowed my roll a bit due to the pandemic. I actually think it would be better for me to do a closet cleanout instead!
I’m glad you found the Vetta tank on sale. And only 6 items thus far this year is pretty great!
Yes, it’s a great time to do a closet clean out! Good idea. I’m always kind of cleaning my closet, but when I feel like doing retail therapy these days, I should “shop” my own closet and see what I use and don’t. I should really be saving money instead of spending it.
I bought 3 pieces from Everlane during their 25% sitewide sale (had I known about their Twitter dust-up with Bernie Sanders I probably would have postponed that purchase!) I also bought 3 heavily discounted pieces from McMullen as a birthday splurge and to support this local business. Although I have mixed feelings about shopping what may become a “going out of business sale” for retailers. For the most part though shopping and making any large purchase is on the back burner. Even blogging about fashion is challenging to reconcile. Based on feedback in my IG poll my subscribers were 58/42% on whether I should provide fashion v.s. COVID19 content. Retail therapy still seems to be an outlet for people during this time although I feel most will be window shopping.
Happy birthday, Kairee! Glad you treated yourself. It’s a wise move to not make any big purchases since we don’t know how things are going to look economically. I do feel a little weird blogging about fashion during this time. It’s something that I turn to for a bit of joy, and I think other people do too. But it also feels silly with everything going on.