Most people would be surprised by how many colors of nail polish I own. Rudi would be surprised that neither do the bottles multiply when we close the bathroom cabinet door nor do they lie in wait for when he next opens it.

Shekerbura from Sharbat, the Azerbaijani bakery that opened the next neighborhood over from ours last month. We also sampled two types of savory pastries and two types of cake.

I mean, it’s as good a reason as any. Also, we were impressed with the percentage of people we saw wearing masks while we were out.

I won’t get out to the sunflower fields in Maryland this year, so this was a nice yard to come upon.

Be a beautiful cupcake.

How was your weekend?

Back in May, when it seemed like going back to the office might be the kind of thing we’d all do in the fall, I bought a suit.

I’d been stalking Betabrand* for months, because I’d heard great things about how they had managed to make dress pants that were actually comfortable to wear. But I hadn’t splurged, because it was buying clothes on the internet. I prefer not to do that, because I’m terrible at returning things that have to be shipped.

However, this time, not only did I buy it, but I bought it knowing that it hadn’t actually been made yet. Yes, I preordered a suit, knowing it wouldn’t arrive until July.

The blazer arrived earlier this week, and Rudi and I were impressed with the length of the sleeves. Since I have long arms, that’s often a problem area for me. I thought I might have been able to get away with a slightly smaller size, but since I might like to wear this in the winter, I’ll want the ability to wear it over a bulkier top without looking like a stuffed turkey.

I was worried about the pants. They were only offering the print in straight leg, rather than bootcut, which is what I prefer to wear. They had a long option, which I worried would be a smidge too long and tight, particularly if I weren’t wearing heels. But too short would be worse, since I’m tall. I mean, I like people to admire my hand-knit socks, but not because they can see several inches of my leg above my shoe.

Given I’ve put on some pandemic weight (no volleyball, no bike commuting, LOTS of couch sitting), I don’t think the whole thing looks too bad. (Please note, I was so excited that the pants arrived today that I just pulled off my shorts as soon as I walked in the door with the package and tried on the whole ensemble. This relaxed tshirt and weekend bra are not the most flattering, although they are comfortable. The color is good with it, so I’ll keep that in mind whenever we all go back to work. In the meantime I have a magenta-hued fitted tee I’ll pair with it if I’m going to Zoom while wearing it.)

The pants have two hand pockets in the back (my favorites — I often resort to sticking my hands behind my back) and three in the front — one with a zipper — all of which are deep enough to completely hide my cell phone. The blazer also has pockets, although I’ve left them stitched closed for the time being.

The real reason I really wanted this suit to fit? Check out a close-up of the pattern:

It’s Catstooth!

*That link gets me a referral credit. But feel free to ditch it if you find a better discount.

August 1st has pretty much arrived, and now I will finally get to find out if I really forgot to do something!

Other things I’m going to work on this weekend are:

• Going to the farmers market. Did you know it’s National Farmers Market week? Please support your local agriculture. As we’ve seen earlier this year, local food sources are crucial to keeping people fed.
• Video chatting with friends. A bunch of us who live or used to live in D.C. have a monthly video chat on Saturday evening.
• Making ice cream. The leading contenders are peach, root beer, and peppermint stick.
• Baking bread. Also, I need to be brave and see if the old fridge killed my sourdough. Rudi kept it in a cooler with ice, but not everything we put in there made it through. I know I can make a new starter if I’ve killed it, but still…
• Finishing my sock. You saw how close I am to being done. If I’d just put my phone down while watching tv, I’d be done already.
• Watch The Goldfinch, which is due back to the library.
• Plant the last group of seed potatoes I found when we reorganized the kitchen. I keep forgetting to take them to the garden.
• Check out a new Azerbaijani bakery that opened recently.
• Listen to some baseball, because who knows how much longer they’re going to let that experiment go on.
• Reorganize our dvd collection. We pulled most of them out earlier in the pandemic, and it’s time to get them back where they belong.

How about you? What’s on your weekend to-do list?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I told you back in the spring about a project that Rudi and a friend of his started where they match bikes that people weren’t using anymore with essential workers who needed them. This week they were honored with a microgrant from The Awesome Foundation.

2. Several abstracts my department submitted to an upcoming conference were accepted, so my younger colleagues and I will all be giving short, pre-recorded talks this fall. (The fact that they will be pre-recorded, rather than live and in person, is what makes this beautiful, rather than nauseating.

3. A friend’s birthday was today. Usually we sing to his voicemail, but tonight he picked up the line, so we got to catch up.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

As you can see, I’ve been knitting! I have at least one and a half more repeats of the pattern, I think, before I decrease for the toe. But I’m definitely nearly there!

I recently finished both print and audiobooks, so technically I’m less in the midst of reading Stacey Lee’s The Downstairs Girl and more that I’m about to start it. Set in Atlanta in the late 1800s, the novel focuses on an Asian American teen who works as a lady’s maid by day and an anonymous advice columnist by night.

Head to As Kat Knits to see what else folks are working their way through.

Walking back from the garden, we were greeted by this sight. It was nearly 8 p.m., so the sun was just too low to get the full half-circle. But it was still a most lovely way to end the day.