I have a dress I love but never wear. It’s a blue print dress with an elusive and sometimes indefinable “flattering fit”. I wore if for the first time when my second baby was a few months old – to go out for dinner with friends. I remember feeling so good about being dressed up and having food and wine and conversations with grown-ups. I wore it for the same baby’s Christening a few months later, and many times after that too. It’s seven years old now, and I don’t wear it anymore, but I can’t bring myself to put it in the charity bag. Maybe it’s because of the happy memories, or maybe it’s that elusive flattering fit, but for now I’m holding onto my favourite dress I never wear.
I have other favourites that don’t get many outings – a blue cross-body satchel that doesn’t go with anything but looks pretty hanging on a chair in my room; a blue and white striped scarf that’s too wintery in summer and too summery in winter but looks pretty hanging beside the blue bag, and a whole heap of Mac eye shadows that remind me of a time when I went out a little more often than I do today.
I have blog posts that fit that category too – favourites that don’t get many outings. The ones I loved writing, but not necessarily the ones that most people read. So when the fabulous Kate Takes 5 said she was running a linky for favourite blog posts, I decided to join in. She is celebrating one million views and six years of blogging – I have no such milestones, but like most bloggers, I love a good list. So here are my five favourite posts:
This is a look back at how Saturday night has changed over the last few decades – from sitting down to watch The Fall Guy as a kid, to nights out in Doyles and the Long Stone as a twenty-something with no responsibilities, right through to more tame but still special Saturday nights of today – on the couch with the kids. I got very nostalgic writing this but also realised that I can enjoy looking back without wishing to go back.
2. First Child
Since she became a big sister at the grand old age of twenty-one months, I’ve been expecting a lot of my eldest child – too much usually. Writing this post didn’t make me completely change my ways but it did make me stop and think, and at least sometimes, it still does.
3. The Goodbye
This is a post about my grandmother who died last year – about her life as a young married woman with five children, widowed at just 30 years of age. It’s about feeling sad for a loss even when it’s a “good” death. Because it’s personal I hesitated about writing it, but afterwards I was really glad I did.
4. The Girls (and Boys) on the Train
When it comes to favourites that don’t necessarily have broad appeal, this post ticks the box more than any of the others – it’s about the real and imagined lives of people whose conversations I overheard on the Dart, and it’s a post I got true joy from writing.
5. How to get your child to sleep in just two-and-half years
White noise, blackout blinds, Wonder Weeks apps, and cutting feet out of babygros – just some of the many steps to take in order to get your child to sleep as well as mine did, after a mere two-and-a-half years. This is another post I really enjoyed writing, because it’s completely ridiculous but it’s also entirely true. Cathartic. Which is what it’s all about really.
Great selection of posts that show what a varied and brilliant writer you are. Those awards are well deserved! Thanks so much for joining in Listography. xx
kate gunn recently posted…Listography – 5 favourite posts (and 2 big milestones)
What a lovely thing to say, thank you, and now I’m worrying that you’ll have to take a week off work just to get around to commenting on posts in your linky!