A Jane Austen moment

{Marianne Dashwood & Willoughby -- obviously}

Today as I walked home from work a light mist was falling. Unlike my walk to work, where I hid under a rain jacket and a broken umbrella, on my way home I let the light mist hit my face. It felt good. I spent all day cooped up inside with my back to the window; it was so nice to feel the cool water on my cheeks.

As I walked home I pictured Marianne Dashwood (of Sense and Sensibility fame) walking in the hills of Southern England, her hair curly from the rain, her cheeks flushed from exertion. I'm no fool, I know I don't look like Kate Winslet (or the beautiful Charity Wakefield pictured above), but the thought did cross my mind that I must look so healthy and possibly even Victorian as I walked home through the mist. The thought gave me an extra spring in my step, I smiled at everyone I passed. Walking home is the best, I thought to myself. I always say I wish I lived a more European lifestyle and now look at me, walking home, despite the crummy weather. I could live in Southern England or Denmark. The rain had nothing on Ms. Dashwood and it has nothing on me I thought.

But then, as I approached my house, I saw my reflection in the screen door. I stopped dead in my tracks. Instead of the Marianne Dashwood-esque figure I expected to see I saw frizzy hair, smudged mascara and sweaty cheeks. It is a bizarre feeling to be shocked by your own reflection. Emily, you have officially lost touch with reality I thought, then I laughed to myself. What was I thinking!

I wiped under my eyes, smoothed my hair down with my hands and blotted my cheeks with my sleeve -- a minor improvement, but I was still no Winslet.

No more period dramas for me for a while!

xo

Em