Thursday, September 27, 2012

in which i see london i see pants

Photobucket

Let me be clear: I am not a pants person.  Moreover,  my body type + high-waisted pants = disaster, usually.  I remember getting super excited about a pair of soft, high-waisted bell bottom jeans back when I lived in Portland (actually, I tried them on with this "FRANCE" shirt because I thought they would look great together). Needless to say, yikes--only the shirt came home with me.  And while this perfectly plum-colored pair isn't the most flattering article of clothing I own, I feel like they sort of work.  Plus, boy do they nip in my waist!  

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Picture005two-1 Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket
(pants/scarf/belt: thrifted; shirt: urban outfitters; trench: h&m; shoes: charlotte russe; glasses: c/o glassesusa.com)

I have been so scatterbrained this week.  My grocery shopping was really ineffective this weekend so I have pretty much gone to the store every night this week.  I've also had some random errands to run that have eaten up all of my evenings, and I have still more to do.  Tonight I intend to drink wine, relax, and do some alterations on items for the shop.  I haven't been to the gym in like, two weeks.  Saving money isn't working.  Oh, bother.

On a happier note, I was able to create this bun with a twist and some bobby pins, which is something I never thought I would be able to do (since my hair weighs about 400 pounds).  Huzzah!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

in which une femme est une femme

Photobucket

I think this outfit was probably subconsciously inspired by the fact that I watched "Une Femme est Une Femme" last night (the red, the little jumper, the mary janes)...

Photobucket Photobucket Picture1605two Photobucket Photobucket

(dress/scarf: thrifted; shirt: tjmaxx; tights: hue; shoes: payless)

I've been having a rough couple of days, but I won't whine about it.  I'm not really sure why I'm in such a funk, but last night I decided to relax the best way I know how.  I took a bubble bath, read my book, ate leftover jalepeno pasta (which I made on Sunday--cooking and listening to music is also very calming for me, at least when it's a recipe I've made many times before and I'm not likely to fail), and watched movies.  It was a pretty good evening and I'm feeling a little bit better.  Anyway, the point of that story (sort of) is that K bought me this jumper and scarf combo on another day when I was feeling funky (and broke, but wandering around Goodwill anyway because thrifting sometimes makes me feel better--oh yeah, I went to the thrift store on my lunch break yesterday, too...).  And that was nice of him.  I kind of like him and wish he wasn't always studying so we could hang out.

Friday, September 21, 2012

in which i've got polka dots a-plenty

Photobucket

This is one of my favorite outfits in a long time (I call tell it's Friday when sentences start to sound nonsensical--too much editing all week will do that to a girl).  It combines all of the elements I have been loving and embracing for Fall--leopard print, polka dots, skinny jeans, a man's oxford shirt, a red lip.  I even managed to work in my "oui" ring and Jewelmint necklace!  This cardigan (along with this dress) was one of the only things I bought when K and I went shopping in Montreal before my friend Megan's wedding.  Talk about control!

Photobucket Photobucket Picture1544two_zps408aa1cc Photobucket Picture1539two_zps06fff4f5 Photobucket Photobucket
(cardigan: h&m; shirt/belt: thrifted; jeans: pacsun; heels: charlotte russe; necklace: jewelmint)

I feel like I've been in super-social mode this week and I am exhausted.  Wednesday night K and I met up with Sarah (from Portland) and her boyfriend (who I hadn't met yet) for pizza and chickens full of wine (no, really) at Three Tomatoes on Church Street.  After dinner we went to Three Needs (I just realized that both of those places start with "Three"--very interesting indeed) for beers and a really sad and pathetic game of pool.  I got one ball in by accident, once.  Anyway, once we were kicked off the pool tables for a tournament we meandered over to visit my brother and his activist friends for some heated conversation about women's empowerment and health care, finally heading home around midnight (which is late for us old people who have to work early in the morning!).

Last night was the first Art Club meeting in many months, and another late night with the girls.  We drank wine, tried to avoid talking about politics, looked at the 1700 photos from Megan's honeymoon in Ireland, listened to a dramatic reading by Megan's husband (!), who was preparing for a class, and updated each other on our recent creative endeavors (or lack thereof).  Good times, as always.  I feel so LUCKY to have such great friends :)

The two groups are coming together tonight for a wild romp through town and I'll be honest--I don't think I'm going to join the fun.  I really just want to go to the gym, have some dinner, watch a movie, take a bath, and relaxxxxx before I head into Woodbury on Saturday night for what will likely become an all-night bonfire bash before Sarah goes back to Oregon.  I can't party for four nights in a row, anymore!  When I was in college that was pretty standard--we went out pretty much every night of the week until the wee hours.  But that was many moons ago.  I'm old and introverted now, and fine & proud of it.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

in which i tone it brown

Photobucket

Beware, major rant below.

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Picture 1508two_zps82a8c780 Photobucket Photobucket
(dress/hat/scarf: thrifted; coat: h&m; boots: seychelles)

Last night I watched "Happy" a documentary about (you guessed it) happiness.  The movie basically confirmed everything that I already believed about what is necessary for a happy life: a close community of friends and family (connectedness with others), physical activity and meditation (control of body and mind, connectedness with self), and new experiences or adventures and moments alone in nature (connectedness with environment and the world).  Money plays almost no part in overall happiness--it can make you more comfortable, less stressed, but those stresses are self-imposed based on want (not need).  With the rash of terrorist attacks within our own country lately, I've been on a bit of a soapbox, preaching to my friends and anyone who will listen that our society is completely coming apart at the seams because we are drifting further and further from the close-knit person-to-person communities of the past and losing ourselves in social media, which can create an illusion of connectedness that is just that--an illusion.  I believe this is one of the most important issues in our country today.

I've never believed in organized religion and I think that so often today it is corrupted and turned into ugliness, but I do believe that the idea of a community gathering together every Sunday (or Saturday, or whatever holy day you choose) is so important.  I also really like the idea of the Sabbath or Shabbat--one day out of every week for people to rest and reflect without interference from the various technologies that dominate our daily lives (cell phones, televisions, cars), and to come together with friends and family at the end of the day to cook and drink wine and eat a delicious meal.  I have this dream that someday, when I move into a small town (hopefully as great as the one I grew up in, and close to family and friends), I will buy a town building and turn it into a community gathering place for weekly (or at least monthly) dinners, showing of important films, playing of music, displaying or making of art, dancing, maybe organized discussions or talks about issues important to the community and the world or general topics of interest... anything and everything you can imagine!  If every small town in America had one of these centers--a "church" of sorts that was welcoming to everyone--I think there would be a lot less loneliness and stress and depression in these parts.

As I get older, I become more and more introverted.  I work all day and really value my "alone time," where I can do what I want when I want without having to compromise.  I like to read, and take solitary walks, and shop by myself, and sit in coffeeshops just to observe and scribble in my journal and sort through the thoughts that build up in my mind over the course of weeks and months and years.  But the lively discussions I have with friends and family are invaluable.  There have been times in my life when I can tell that I am getting too far inside my own head, becoming more and more self-absorbed, believing evermore fervently in the rightness of my own radical ideas, and I need my friends for balance.  I need them to offer alternate ways of looking at the world.  I need them to push me to be better, to take my passions and play them, instead of holding them close to my chest.  No matter how much I may drag my feet, I rarely regret venturing out into the world and spending time with other people.  But there does need to be a balance.  We also need to know how to think for ourselves, to reflect on the neverending bombardment of information, to distinguish fact from fabrication, to understand what we feel and why and to adjust accordingly.

Wow, okay.  So that was maybe a lot for a Wednesday.  Here's the thing: Be happy.  Get out in the world.  Unplug.  Simplify.  Grow your own food and share it.  That is the world I want to live in.  That is the world we need.  Also: wear hats. :)

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

in which i love red, red wine

Photobucket

... in general, but also on my nails!  I got this glorious shade of burgundy wine Essie polish from SkinCareRX at the beginning of the summer (looking ahead, for once!) and it may be my new favorite :)  Also, I love the smell of my MAC lipstick--is that weird??--it reminds me of fall because I only really wear it when the weather cools!

Photobucket Photobucket Picture1492two Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

(vest: thrifted; sweater: target; jeans: banana republic; boots: seychelles)

Also, these jeans are totally unflattering, apparently, unless I am wearing five-inch wedges.  C'est la vie.  I am a changed woman lately, and my closet has felt it.  I've been kind of in a funk, not really liking any of my clothes, feeling all melodramatic and woe-is-me and adrift, sartorially and otherwise.  In recent months I've been cleaning out my closet again and again, slowly whittling it down to the necessities.  I've been selling on Etsy, something I wanted to do for so long.  I set a cleaning schedule of sorts and have been trying to keep the apartment grown-up and tidier (like, full-on fridge cleaning on a Tuesday evening--not usually my style).  I went to the dentist for the first time since I graduated from college.

I don't know if it is because I am officially approaching my "scary age" (next month I am 27--the age my mother was when she gave birth to me!), but my revelations have been somersaulting over each other.  I'm ready for some serious uprooting, some major change.  I want to dress my age.  I want to go to the gym regularly (off to a good start since K started going with me).  I might even embrace new technologies.  I want to cook more, to clean more, to create more.  I have always hated change, but it's coming, and I think I'm finally ready. 

Monday, September 17, 2012

life lately: end-of-summer update

Photobucket Picture1175two Photobucket Photobucket Picture1186two Picture1200two Photobucket Photobucket Picture1369two Photobucket Picture1403two Photobucket Photobucket Picture1471two

1/2/3: wine and BBQ at the cottage
4/5: working hard/more BBQ
6: pancakes and dinersaurs
7: STRUT
8/9: camping at elmore
10/11/12: midnight tent fiasco
13: morning coffee attempt
14: vogue and ANTM marathon/sweaters