Wildcat Purple

Today was unintentionally a very school-spirited outfit. I had painted my nails for the trip back to school, but I didn't quite mean for my shirt and purse to get in on the action.

sweater: gap, shirt: old navy, skirt: american eagle, shoes: gap, purse: target
And for a closeup of the perfect match

Princess of Packing

I finally plunged into packing today - breaking out the boxes and suitcases. Everything seems a lot less daunting now, though there's still clothing I wish I could take with me that I just don't have the room for. But I suppose that's what my parents are for - sending me stuff that I need from home (as well as love and support and all that stuff). I've packed six boxes and the majority of the two suitcases I'll be lugging to the airport. It's kind of a mess around here.
Boxes in my room - four of six

Another box and suitcase

The smaller of the two suitcases

Summer's End

In a few days I'll be back in Evanston, which is overwhelming, since I have so much packing to do. Summer went by slowly until now. Now I feel like I have too much to do in too little time. But I suppose I'll manage. The heaps on my sister's bed just keep growing as I add more and more articles of clothing that I think I can't go to school without. Tomorrow I'll start actually loading up the suitcases and the numerous boxes that my mom and I purchased at the Container Store last week.
Today was laundry day - I washed and dried all of my dirty clothes, helped out by the brightly shining sun and hot day for those things that can't go in the dryer (at least not with a good conscience). I also got a flu shot, which made for a sore arm, but ultimately a better outlook for the next few months.
What I wore today:

blouse: H&M, shorts: Old Navy, shoes: Gap
What I wish I wore today:

Sophie Theallet S/S 2010 (from NYmag.com)
I've seen a lot that I liked this fashion week, which I'll be sure to write about later, but this especially caught my eye today. I love the shape and the color of the dress - it's the kind of dress that is beautiful but looks effortless. I would wear that dress in every color. Now if only I had some sort of rich benefactor who would buy such things for me...

Virginia is for Lovers

I spent the past few days down in Williamsburg with my sister, and I took the train down and back. I talk about Virginia somewhat derisively a fair amount of the time - "Virginia's a swamp" you can often hear me saying, usually with some disdain in my voice. But I do love my home state. And, while it is a swamp (that was clear to me after observing the scenery on the train - though I think I would probably use the word marsh) it is a beautiful place. I took pictures on the way down when I should have been reading.

Falling into...fall

I think I've mentioned before that fall is my favorite season for dressing. The change from warm, to cool, to cold is my favorite, because it just means more layers and more coats and gloves and hats, and well, I'm in love with those things. Fashion week starts tomorrow(!!!!), kicking off with Anna Wintour's brain child, Fashion's Night Out - another reason I occasionally wish I had gone with my second or third choice in schools to be in New York - but I wanted to look at some of the things that caught my eye in the spring that I wish could be part of my fall wardrobe.
First up, one of my favorites, Michael Kors

photo from NYMag
While I'm not wild about the turtleneck/cowl/snood that's going on, I'm generally wishing that this outfit were in my closet. Especially those fingerless gloves. He showed them multiple times with the collection, even matching them to some of those neon furs. To me, those arm warmers are the perfect fall accessory - keep your arms warm when it's a little chilly without going for a full glove which is important when you're texting on the way to class. My sister and I had a conversation about how that perfect slouchiness was achieved - since we both like to knit. I'm not sure if I have the talent to knit those arm warmers, but luckily H&M has been helping me out a little bit. On my big back-to-school shop with my mom (best day for it: the first day of public school - all the kids are back in class and not clogging up Forever 21) I bought two pairs of arm warmers that passed the slouch test.
Next up: Alexander McQueen

Photo from NYMag
Again, this is not a whole look thing. The makeup and hat are a little too much for me, and those sunglasses would probably cover my whole face. But I do love a good houndstooth. And that skirt is absolutely amazing. I love full skirts. Give me a full skirt over jeans any day of the week. And while I probably wouldn't go all out houndstooth for my outfit, I could see it paired with a black jacket and heels or flats.

Speaking of full skirts, my outfit from today, for running out to the container store and to Barnes and Noble so that I could pick up a planner and some more magazines.

shirt: Old Navy, skirt: F21, shoes: Target, necklace: H&M

Tomorrow I venture off to Williamsburg to visit my lovely sister and fabulous friends who matriculate at William & Mary (and hopefully buy a kilt at the Scottish shop). Excitement!

I felt pretty productive today, which is something I feel good about, since I usually feel like some sort of lump. I built four shelves for my sister's room (2 for books and 2 for cds) and then loaded up the cd shelves with her (thankfully carefully alphabetized) massive amount of cds. I think it's just something that's inherited - all of us are media junkies. It's a good thing we donate old books or we could probably have a pretty good library running out of our house. Myself, while I love cds and dvds, and books for that matter, my love is really magazines. And with magazines I really like, I keep all of them. It drives my mother crazy that I have all of these old magazines in my bookshelves, but I could never give them up. I rationalize it by saying that they provide me with examples of my desired career and thus are endlessly useful to me. I hope that twenty years from now, I can recall something from an old Vogue and just pull it out of my bookshelf. I love September fashion magazines. I love their size and all the ads and the beautiful clothes they showcase that are completely out of the range of possibility for me. But what do I love more than September fashion magazines in September? Fashion week. I love reading the blogs recounting the shows, I love being able to go onto style.com or New York Magazine's fashion section and look at all the collections. And since it happens before I have to go back to school, it gives me an excellent way to kill some of the boredom that keeps creeping into my life.

And all the boys be stoppin'

This morning I read an article in the Post about middle school fashion that really brought back some memories for me. It also was kind of a terrible article, that, in my opinion shouldn't have been in the A section at all. But I digress. The article, which can be found here, basically talked about how for girls entering middle school, first day of school clothes are really important, because their clothes set the tone for how popular they'll be. I don't think I ever worried much about popularity in middle school - though I did worry about my grades a lot. I certainly can't remember any first day outfits, but there are certain outfits that I remember from middle school that really stand out. The first would be an outfit I wore with a white collared shirt, cranberry corduroy skirt and black tights. I remember getting a lot of questions about why I was so dressed up. I really wish I had that skirt still, because if I recall correctly, it was really cute and a really great color. The second outfit I remember because I wore it just after I had gotten new glasses. The outfit consisted of a white tshirt with a v-neck that laced and a pair of light-wash jeans that had slits starting a little above the ankle and a button fly. I remember thinking I looked really cool. Looking back, I'm pretty sure I didn't. I wasn't trying to be cool though. I didn't look at my clothes and think, now this is what will make the cool girls like me. I think that's what made me kind of sad about the article - the fact that the girls featured cared so much about what their peers would think of them based on their clothes. And the fact that the reporter quoted Lil' Mama.

Glowing embers fly across the sky

I bring you, for the first time, an outfit post.


shirt: H&M, skirt: F21, scarf: gift from a friend, shoes: hand-me-downs from mom

My day today didn't really consist of doing all that much, and all of it was with my mother. We went out to lunch, and then to look for a few things that are on my list of things to bring back to school. We didn't end up buying anything, but found some possibilities. I went to my high school to watch the field hockey team play their second game of the season. It's weird to think about how it was two years ago now the last time that I played on that field. It's a little bit sad. I'm nostalgic when I watch them play - mostly for my defensive family. It was a little warmer than it had been in the past few days - so today I had no need for long sleeves like I have other days this week. It was kind of nice to be able to be outside without being a little chilly, but I did kind of miss that little nip of cold air. Usually I just take pictures by putting my camera on a table out on the deck, but today I decided to break out the tripod, which is what I should do all the time, since I don't have someone who will take the pictures for me.

Taking the plunge?

I've finally done it and decided that I do want to make this blog somewhat about personal style and fashion and the like. So expect more of that. More talk about what I'm wearing, shopping, fashion, actual pictures of me. I'll see how I like it. I guess I've just decided that if it's something I'd like to pursue as a line of work (writing about fashion, or for a fashion-based publication - and that's not definitively what I absolutely want to do, but a very strong feeling of mine) that it's time to start writing about it on a regular basis. We'll see how this goes. I'll attribute the picture above to my ability to use scissors and the availability of an InStyle subscription card, a daily to-do-list, and a picture frame from Ikea. I thought it was cute.

Counting 5,4,3,2,1

Today I realized that I need for it to be time to go to school. Seriously. I've had a little too much of being at home. The only people I know that I've seen in the past ten days have been my parents. I love them dearly but they (okay, really just my mother) are driving me a little crazy. That will luckily change tomorrow when I see my only other friend from home who remains at home as long as I do. We have movie plans for tomorrow, which I'm sure will brighten my mood, especially given that the activities for earlier in the day tomorrow are pretty much limited to going to the dentist. Next week I get to, gasp, leave McLean to head down south. Not that far south, mind you, only to Williamsburg, but since the accent does change, it counts as south. And I'll get to start packing for school, since there's only...16 days til I leave! Not that I'm counting the days.

A chill in the air

It has suddenly turned to fall with cool evenings and mornings and afternoons that don't make you sweat. It's an odd dichotomy in August, when mother nature is usually throwing heat and humidity as fast and furious as possible. It's hard to say what it seems like, because the weather feels like fall or spring, but everything is so green. No color-changing leaves or flower buds in sight. Overall, it's a nice feeling, but it leaves me longing for real fall. I'm ready to go back. I think it all the time, as I sit in my room with little to do. I'm sure that when I'm getting ready to leave that the coming weeks will feel like a blur and I'll ask myself where the time went, not remembering the time when all I had to do was count the minutes. I'm looking forward to fall in Evanston. Real fall, not this odd limbo we're stuck in right now. This morning I sat outside and drank my coffee and took pictures and read Don Quixote. It was relaxing and probably the most interesting part of my day. My goal is to have the rest of my days at home be interesting. To have something to look forward to each day so that I don't feel like I wasted any of my summer.