outfits worn when enthusiasm was running low
low enthusiasm, high output
Life has been booked and busy lately. Not necessarily in a bad way, but in that way where you have incredibly limited resources to devote to anything other than staying hydrated, fed, clothed, and sheltered.
When life starts to feel this way, I enter ultimate Aquarius mode. This is a unique trait of the rarest of horoscopes: we simply disappear for a bit.
For me, it's often when I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, need to recharge my social battery, or am avoiding some sort of emotion.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about enthusiasm. Not in the toxically positive sense, but in the way it feels to be genuinely enthusiastic about something completely outside of yourself, getting dressed, or your own vanity.
And it’s been showing up for me through sports.
The Four-Shirted-Husband™ and I have been lifelong Knicks fans and this run has been so fun to watch.
Lately, my algorithm has been full of Jalen Brunson's wisdom, KAT's deep love for his late mother and the Dominican Republic, New Yorkers watching games in the streets because the bars are packed, and someone projecting Game 2 onto the side of a building so people who couldn’t get inside could still watch.
We popped into Brooklyn over the weekend, and as we walked through Park Slope and made our way to Barclays for a WNBA game, I could feel that same enthusiasm everywhere.
The game was really for me. I was excited like a three-year-old on Christmas. But the energy in Barclays was contagious. Even my husband, who isn’t exactly a die-hard WNBA fan, enjoyed it.
And yes, I brought my son to a women’s basketball game so your daughter won’t ever have to explain why she belongs there.
My daughter went to the game semi-interested—she plays basketball and sees me watching it all the time. She came back from the merch shop with the Four-Shirted-Husband™ wearing a vintage Rebecca Lobo jersey and a snapback New York Liberty hat.
She rolled up to our seats, and I genuinely had no idea who this child staring at me was. Then I realized that underneath that flat brim was my little angel.
She spent the rest of the game watching female athletes do incredible things on the court—dancing, waving the flashlight on my iPhone, high-fiving everyone in the family, and turning into an absolute nervous wreck every time the score got tight.
The moral of this rambling story is that when your check-engine light comes on and you retreat into your tiny, quiet space, sometimes the solution is enthusiasm.1
Maybe it's sports. Maybe it's gardening. Maybe it's a hobby, a project, a book series, a reality show, or a random hyperfixation that makes zero sense to anyone else.
Whatever it is, when you find the thing that makes the spark come alive again, lean all the way in.
Before I start sounding like a C+ motivational speaker, OOTW it is.
Affiliate links included below.
LOOK 1
I wore the outfit I styled last week to work and to the hair salon. I had a dual appointment—myself and my mop-headed son. We both needed help, just in different categories.
LOOK 2
A friday teacher fit coming right atcha! Topic of the day: teaching the multitudes of Bill Clinton’s presidency while actively maintaining a fresh hair moment.
LOOK 3
Worn to chaperone the 5th grade dance. This dress was a Mother’s Day gift to myself (among many other things I allowed others to give me). The dress felt great, my son loved getting dressed up, and my husband did a variation of the worm. All is well.
These shoes were gifted, and I cannot say enough good things. I walked 0.6 miles to the dance and 0.6 miles back in them with ZERO break-in period. That’s Olympic-level caliber success.
🏅Unsung Hero: Great Lip Combo
LOOK 4
I think I am in love with linen vests. Paired beautifully with my goat-ed jammie-adjacent pants and all is good in this world.
LOOK 5
A friend texted me, “How are you?” and my reply on Wednesday was, “wearing really floaty, bright colorful pants - going to do my best to take on the day.”
The day was truly taken.
LOOK 6
I wasn’t sure what to wear for a meeting at my kiddos’ school. When I saw the Four-Shirted-Husband™ roll up in a t-shirt and shorts, I changed course.
If “I could be in Positano but I’m actually in an elementary school” was an outfit.
Last Week on Rambling In Style
And just like that, another week down. Go find something to be ridiculously enthusiastic about. Love ya, mean it!
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Might I add that I am not enthusiastic to the point where a sporting event outcome could make or break my day. I think that's a very important place to be with this kind of stuff, lol. Sometimes I’m a bit like Elmo, and I know that did not end well for him.
Va Va Voom in that red dress. Looks gorg on you!
the red dress !!! incredible. I also really love your white skirt.