Search This Blog

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Business Casual in the Eye of the Beholder

I am off to the lovely Barnsley Gardens Resort in North Georgia for a media event as the representative for Lake Oconee Living Magazine. With a storied past, it is the perfect place for a writer to sojourn. The 3-day itinerary includes a trail ride, sporting clays, a wine tasting, a spa visit, a lesson in casting a fly rod, dining, entertainment and serenity.

(Serenity might only be on my itinerary. It's May and the school year is drawing to a close and chaos has crept into every corner of my house. I'm glad for this fine excuse to escape the May-hem.)

But I digress from the real reason I MUST post today. Tomorrow, I make the three hour drive from here to there. Today, I pack. The coordinator kindly sent a few suggestions about what to bring. For dinner, it is advised to dress "business casual."

Being a freelance writer, I work in a home office sans coworkers and water cooler. No one meets me at the kitchen faucet to chat about how a project is going. As I write, three squirrels are running up and down the dogwood tree outside my window. This is the view from my desk:

I enjoy it in relative solitude.

My social networking for the day will include scrolling FaceBook, typing this blog and fielding whines from my progeny.

On "casual" day at my "office" when I'm doing my "business" I wear pajamas and don't answer the front door. My general wardrobe includes denim and duck boots, because I often clear my mind by retreating out to the garden to pull a few weeds. I may live a sheltered life, but I doubt this is the business casual attire to which my gracious hostess refers.

Lo, I am a professional writer without a professional wardrobe. I hide behind my computer monitor and only video skype on days that I have brushed my hair and put some color on my face. Even then, I might be lounging about in my PJs.

Panic that I own the proverbial "nothing to wear" (but pajamas and jeans) is setting in. I'm headed upstairs to remove everything from my closet, toss it about on my husband's side of the bed, and examine every piece of clothing, carefully analyzing whether the words "business" and "casual" could both be used - by someone other than myself - to describe it.

Perhaps the Barnsley Gardens Fairy Godmother might help!

Or maybe you could give me some insight into what counts for business casual?

2 comments:

Jo said...

Oh, what a dilemma Lucy. I am out of touch these days, so don't know business casual either I'm afraid.

JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

William Kendall said...

Quite a dilemma, Lucy... I had something similar recently attending a funeral. It occurred to me that I don't have a suit to my name...