Friday, June 20, 2014

Pretty Things: Dresses and Blossoms of Orange


I've been hearing a lot of good things about eShakti around the internet recently, so I was very pleased to get a chance to try out one of their dresses.

They have a huge inventory - mostly dresses and skirts.  One of the best features is that their clothes are completely customizable, if you're looking for something a little different.  You can change the neckline, hemline, sleeve length, etc. to suit your style.  AND the dresses have pockets!

The quality is good, and the prices are reasonable, though more than what I'd usually spend for clothes.  Ok, let's be honest, pretty much the only clothes I buy these days come from thrift stores.  But if in the future I have a special event to go to or some birthday gift-money burning a hole in my pocket, I would absolutely consider another eShakti dress.

Here's the dress I picked.  It's custom-fit since I did specify all my exact measurements, but I did not choose to change the shape at all from the original style.  I love the dress, though if I did it again, I'd probably have the sleeves cut to cover the shoulders a little more.

Why no, my skin has not seen sunlight for months...why do you ask?
I picked out a lovely orange summery dress.  I knew it would be smarter to look for a style that I could actually nurse a baby in...but the few dresses that seemed conducive to nursing were just not "calling my name."  People have told me that orange is a good color on me, but it's difficult to find nice-looking orange clothing (at least in the thrift stores).  I saw this pretty orange dress, and just had to get it.

I really don't have much of a waist, but this dress makes it look like I do - ha!

pockets!
The shape is simple, but the dress is very well-made of sturdy soft cotton.  I love the big tucks along the bottom of the skirt.


I have a few weddings to attend in the late summer/early fall, and this should be perfect!


Check out eShakti on:

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There is an ugly bush/tree thing in our backyard that's been on my mental "hit list" for the garden since we first moved in.  We decided that this summer, we're not doing anything with the outside of the house or the yard, since we already have so many projects to deal with inside.  We're going to give everything this one summer to grow and bloom and defend its right to stay.  But this particular plant was so unattractive that I had already decided it would have to come out next spring. 

And then it bloomed.  It turns out it's a mock orange, which makes very attractive little mock orange blossoms.
But you can still see the ugly shape underneath!
Last week, I went out each morning to cut off some flowers to put in containers around the house.  I gave several bunches of the blossoms away to friends as gifts.  I love having fresh flowers around.


So now I'm torn.  Does one week of beautiful flowers make up for fifty-one weeks of having a scrubby bush-tree thing taking up space in our yard?

One more thing to consider:  Our elderly next-door neighbor has lived in their house since she was a girl.  She told us that her father had planted a whole row of mock oranges along the property line, and this one is the only one left (though it seems it was actually on our side of the line, based on where the fence got put in).  She surely has a sentimental attachment to it, which I do respect....But she's not the one who has to deal with it!

18 comments:

  1. I say leave it, but ask around and find someone who knows how to prune bushes and trees. Ask them to help you reshape it so it doesn't look so scrubby.

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  2. I say, stay on the good side of your neighbor. Maybe plant something by it to take the attention off it if you keep it? If you decide to cut it down, I would try to propagate it first. You could try rooting some cuttings, or bend a branch down into the ground and let it root. That way she could have a remembrance of her father.
    Nice dress. You do look good in orange and I agree, it is hard to find a dress in that color.

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  3. Looks like the shoulders fit! How did you fix it?

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  4. I have the same dress in Jade! That color is stunning on you. I love eShakti!

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  5. Super cute dress! Looks great!

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  6. I have the same dress in purple! I love it except for the ironing.

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    1. I love that in comes in so many colors, so everyone can find one they like :-) Yes, I dread ironing as well, but since I already have to do it every so often for my husband's work shirts, it's not too bad to throw in a couple of my own things too. The worst is having to iron kids' clothing (and they do have a few items that require it)....I really wonder if it's worth it, even though they look cute.

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  7. I *love* that orange dress! Now you just need those mock orange blossoms in your hair.
    And excuse me while I swoon all over eShakti's skirts now...I'd never heard of them before!

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  8. The dress looks great on you. I would leave the bush alone because I'm sure it has sentimental value to your neighbor. But if you really don't want it on your property, perhaps you could see if there's a way to transplant it on to your neighbor's property so she'd still be able to look at it and remember her father. I understand the sentimental attachement to plants like that. When my parents sold my childhood home they dug up daffodil bulbs from the lawn and peonies which were then transplanted to their new home, my brother's house and mine. I was so upset this spring when none of my daffodils came up. It appears that something ate all of the bulbs.

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  9. The cut and color of that dress are lovely for you! It does seem the perfect dress for summer weddings.

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  10. I'm new to your blog, so I must have missed your move. As one who has moved a lot, I'd like to pass on some moving wisdom. (Okay, maybe it won't move you. Ha!) Give yourself one full year before you do anything permanent with your landscaping. That means no removing trees and bushes as well as no planting anything new. You just never know what your property will be like in each season, and you might do something you'll regret later. Also, does your mock orange really bloom just one week out of the year?

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Melissa. That was exactly our plan - give everything a year just to see what's planted in the ground, and how it all looks in bloom. The mock orange flowers already bloomed and died, so yes, it seems like we just got a week of them.

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    2. Bummer! We get about a week out of our lilac, though, so I know what you mean. For me, the lilac is definitely worth it.

      You look terrific in that dress, btw! I keep thinking about doing eShakti, but definitely in a knit so that I won't have to iron. :-)

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    3. Well, if it makes the decision any easier, they just offered me a coupon code for my readers, good from now until July 21st: "extraordinaries". Gets you 10% off regularly-priced items. Let me know if you end up trying something out!

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  11. Love the dress on you! I've always been terrified of orange, and it looks terrific on you :)

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  12. I love the dress! I've been thinking of doing eshakti for awhile, but I can't decide which dress to choose and they are pretty expensive too... I definitely think that is your color!!

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