Music Monday

I had an especially fantastic Thanksgiving break. I loved being home and seeing my friends, and while I'm sad that it's over, I'll be home next Friday, so I really can't complain. I got this song stuck in my head earlier in the day, and it seems like a sort of wintry song to play - maybe because I remember seeing it in theaters in the winter. I love musicals and I love 60s girl groups, so it's pretty much a given that I would love this song.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

I love being home, especially since it's the holiday season. Today I was finally able to start playing christmas music, and I've had so much fun spending time with my family. We had two delicious meals yesterday - special breakfast for my dad's birthday, which happened to coincide with the holiday, and of course a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. I got to see my friends who I've been missing since August as well, so it was reunions all around.
I was glad to be back to my room as well. While I've been away, my room was painted, so instead of light blue walls and white trim (with a hideous beige closet because the painters messed that up before) my walls are completely white. The only downside is that all the artwork has been removed, so my walls are bare. It's great for picture taking though. I also got new blinds - red venetian blinds to match the decor of my room. I did a lot of redecorating this summer, and the paint and blinds really pull it together.

Collegiate

Sometimes I feel like I stick out a little bit in my dresses and skirts - a bit of a departure from the general college wardrobe of jeans and leggings. I have to admit that I prefer wearing skirts and dresses for a number of reasons, not limited to the fact that I like how they look better and that they fit my small frame better. Sometimes, though, I just want to try and fit in a little bit. I broke out the hoodie and denim skirt last Friday, though the bright blue tights and over-the-knee boots probably didn't help me to look like I had just thrown on something in my rush to get to class. On Saturday, for the game I picked purple as my main color and wore pants for only the 4th time since I've been at school. It was a little weird, but probably warmer than a skirt would have been, which is always appreciated in the stadium. If the pictures today seem a little weird, it's because I've been messing around with photoshop.
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Music Monday

This week my song idea came from a post on the Jezebel open thread last night. When discussing favorite songs, someone brought up the song "Romeo and Juliet" by Dire Straits. It's a song I really enjoy - the first time I ever heard it was watching Empire Records, and that has always been a scene that stood out to me for its music. On their album Sawdust, The Killers covered the song. It's easily one of my favorite covers. Here are both versions.

Cause I'm a Paperchaser

I love making cards and decorating and being crafty. I love wonderfully patterned paper, I could spend hours in Michael's shopping for craft supplies (I bought the paper pictured above this summer on an extremely productive trip to Michael's) and if I had a steady income (that allowed for a disposable income) a good portion of it would go to buying paper and glitter and yarn and beads and...well, a lot of things. Since I don't have a disposable income, it's probably bad that I found Paper Source.
It's full of wonderfully patterned papers, rubber stamps, and crafty kits and ideas that make me wish I had a room to fill with crafts and the time to spend working on them. I'm definitely going to buy some wrapping paper from there for the holiday season as well as some special paper for special projects. I've been making my plans for winter break already.Some of my favorite wrapping paper patterns from Paper Source. They'll be coming to my home this December.

Go U

It's the last home game of the season, so I headed out to the game earlier. The picture is from last year - today we had an almost full stadium. We beat Wisconsin, so hopefully we'll get a good bowl game.

shirt: Old Navy, dress: H&M, shoes: target, tights: old navy

It's the end of the week, and I'm gearing up for a weekend that actually will involve a relatively small amount of work. I've started packing for going home, which is perhaps the most exciting thing I've done in the past couple days. I'm bringing all my dirty clothes home to wash in the wonderful washer and dryer at home. I'm excited about taking pictures when I get home, excited about spending time with family and friends, just excited in general. I'm also planning out blog posts, especially for winter break, when I imagine the pictures will be better and I'll have real things to write about.

The End is Near

The end of the quarter that is. I have only five more classes until I'm done with actual class for the quarter. After that, it's all writing my paper and studying for my one final. As someone who is almost done, I have of course started daydreaming about winter break and what clothes I'll bring back to school with me when it's over. I'm not going to lie, I have a lot of clothes, and a fair amount of them are here at school with me. However, there's still a strong contingent at home, some of which will be coming back with me. Definitely some sweaters, more dresses (I might finally break out my red Forever 21 shirtdress that I bought a couple of years ago), and some special things that haven't gotten much wear. I'm thinking especially of a black satin tuxedo-esque jacket that was part of a suit that I bought at a thrift store senior year. It's got shoulder pads, of course, and some matching cigarette pants that may or may not make the trip, but I'm pretty excited to incorporate it into my winter wardrobe. Right now my wardrobe's in the transition stage - it's not winter yet, but it's certainly coming on strong for fall. With temperatures in the 40s and low 50s, its getting more important to break out the wool coats and layer up. On Tuesday I broke out my favorite new (old) coat. As part of my all-green ensemble, I added my mom's old Loden coat on top. It's a forest green with a great red floral lining and white piping. I can't wait to wear it throughout the winter. Sweater: H&M, dress, F21, tights: Hue, boots: nordstrom

American Idol...

On Monday night, the College Feminists had their fall speaker, none other than the completely awesome Jessica Valenti. I wrote this summer about I have a complete girl (woman?) crush on her, so I was extremely excited to hear her speak, and I braved the cold to walk to Tech to go. I've mentioned that I'm a card-carrying feminist, and it was really great to see so many people who identify the same way at the talk. It's sometimes hard to find someone who will openly admit to it - someone who doesn't look at you like you're a little crazy when you mention it, and I was really impressed and pleased at the number of men there. Jessica Valenti is the editor of feministing and the author of three books, one of which, The Purity Myth, (which I highly recommend) she talked about on Monday night. Since I've read the book it wasn't that I was getting new information, but the anecdotes that she told that were separate from the book were funny and compelling. I also loved her discussion of what makes sites like feministing so important. I was introduced to feminism in my family - my mother and my sister are both feminists (my mother even has a copy of the Feminine Mystique that's signed by Betty Friedan) but I know that there are a lot of men and women who aren't exposed to that in the home, or are exposed to the very opposite. I like feministing because it takes feminist issues and talks about them in a way that's engaging and accessible - for everyone. They're also debunking myths about feminists that hurt us everyday. I'm extremely glad I got to hear Jessica talk, and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Sick, Sick, Sick (Music Monday)

This is the first day that I've felt marginally okay since Thursday, so I actually have enough energy to post today. Yesterday I could barely get out of bed on my own (that's where having a friend who's 6'7" and a former football player really comes in handy) and the most active I was involved going downstairs to the dining hall and then not eating anything because I didn't feel well enough. Bleh. I'm perking up a little today though, I was able to actually eat something and I'm wearing real clothes instead of pajamas. Last week when I actually had to go to class I did make an effort with dressing myself in fun patterns and colors to take my mind off being sick and to take others' eyes off of my bright red nose.
Thursday:

Shirt: Old Navy, Blazer: F21, Skirt: F21, boots: Nordstrom

Friday:Sweater: H&M, Cropped cardigan: F21, skirt: American Eagle, boots: Urban Outfitters, Tights: Hue

I had a lot of fun putting this outfit together, with the bright colors. I liked the mixing of textures especially - the knit scarf, the rosette cardigan, the suede boots. I closed the scarf (which I made myself) with a turtle pin that I got years ago in Mexico. I think over winter break I'll make myself a circle scarf.
I decided that for today, I'd have the musical selection go with how I've been feeling for the past few days courtesy of Josh Homme and the rest of the Queens of the Stone Age.

Personal Health Day

That's right, I'm sick. Not swine flu, on my death bed-sick, but sick nonetheless and so I've decided to skip class for the day. I slept until 1, thanks to the nyquil and since then it's been lunch and hanging out. It's a little chilly today - weather.com lied to me a little bit and I only put on knee socks when I should have put on tights, but the student center (where I ate lunch) is only a short walk away from my dorm, so it wasn't too bad. I'm trying to be more creative with the pictures I take - which is hard to do in a dorm room. I'm always jealous of people who have someone to take their picture every day or have a secluded spot in which to take pictures. I've got a busy campus and a fear of being spotted by passerby with my camera and tripod. So, I try to make the best of my dorm room. This makes for some pretty boring me standing by the door pictures, but I've decided that I have to get creative. So, earlier this week, I took my picture standing on my bed, against the backdrop of my magazine ads and spider lights. I think it came out looking a little better than what I usually have, so I'll be doing more experimenting in the future.

Dress: modcloth, hair bow: home made, shoes: target, tights: gift

Music Monday

I received three cds in the past two weeks from my sister. First, with my Halloween care package, she sent the new Paramore album and the New Moon soundtrack (say what you will about the books and movies, but those soundtracks are quality). Then, last week she also sent me the Glee soundtrack, which of course is full of excellent faux-show choir covers. Today the song stuck in my head comes from the first album, Paramore's Brand New Eyes. I first heard this song when I was still at home and I was glad to hear it again when I listened to the album for the first time.

Just busy-ness as usual

I'm busy as ever, with a paper due Tuesday and a meeting tomorrow night and reading Moby Dick and working on my journalism final project...whew. I'm stressed, of course, it wouldn't be school if there wasn't stress, but I'm not going to neglect this. In fact, I've already planned out what I want to write about. I just have to put it on my calendar. I made a calendar on my wall out of post-it notes, just so I can lay everything out, and though I haven't really had time yet, I think it will be a great asset to straightening my life out.Today was my friend Abbey's birthday so I had fun decorating a card for her over the past few days. Well, rather I decorated the envelope, as I bought the card a few months ago at one of my favorite little shops in DC. And of course last but not least, what I wore on Friday. jacket: LL Bean, sweater vest: target, skirt: vineyard vines, tights: Hue, shoes: Minnetonka

Hope the holidays keep bringing happy holidays to you

I love the holidays, and I'm really looking forward to this holiday season. I can't wait to go home for Thanksgiving and then spend the next two weeks at school doing basically nothing and preparing to go home for Christmas. I feel like winter is one of those times when you can go all out all the time and there's nothing wrong with it. As I said in my anthropologie post, I fully plan on getting the most from sequins and sparkles and fuzzy sweaters and rich colors. I can't wait for snow and the chance to wear my winter apparel. I want to be able to sit on the end of my bed in my dorm room with a cup of tea or hot chocolate and watch the snow fall on the courtyard below. I can't wait to give gifts and wrap presents and make cards. I've already started on making my wishlist. I love looking at the wishlists that stores put up online. My favorite is J.Crew, for it's colorful background and beautiful items. I should probably stop thinking about it, because it just makes me yearn for home, which is highly unproductive when one has a paper to write, but I can't help myself. Below, images from last winter.

Transitions

I wore one of my favorite skirts today - a floral one from target that I bought in the spring. And while it was perfect (and certainly appropriate) for spring and summer, I worried a little bit about making the transition into fall. So today when it was clear and sunny, I brought it out with a few items to make the ride into fall a smooth one.

Clothed

I get a little distracted sometimes from posting outfits the day I wear them, mostly because I forget to upload them right after I take my pictures. This is probably the reason that today I posted my photo from yesterday on Weardrobe. Here are the past two days - maybe I'll get to today later, but it might be tomorrow. On Wednesday I wore my new kilt that I got at the Scottish store in Williamsburg when I went to visit Liz in September. On Tuesday I matched my tights to my sweater and got a friend to take my picture. Hopefully I can convince him to do that more often and outside, so I can have some more interesting pictures.

Studying people

I'm always lusting after things I see at anthropologie. This summer, when my parents and I were staying at a hotel while the floors were being resurfaced, the hotel was attached to the mall so I wandered around there for a full day. I spent a fair amount of time looking at all the wonders in Anthropolgie, and trying on dresses and skirts that were ultimately a bit too big. Once I have a steady paycheck, you can bet that some money will be squirreled away for the purpose of buying something special from there. I always love each month when they put their catalog online. The November catalog is beautiful. I want to live inside the first part of it, wandering around a snow-filled mansion wearing gorgeous clothing. I think I'll keep it in mind as inspiration for the winter. Who says that cold days have to mean dressing for warmth and not for style? My goal for the winter is to keep it a little more glamorous than usual - wear sequins and bright hues. Sparkle and snow is the perfect combination.

I'm also in love with the other spreads of the catalog. I'm a girl who can't resist a good book, so the book cutouts and general library-esque feeling warmed my heart. The little kids in the third spread were amazingly cute, and even though I'm not really a country-side type of girl, I love the look of the setting and clothing choices for the last section. All pictures from anthropologie.com

Tuneful Tuesday

As I was neglectful yesterday, due to the fact that I had to read half of the Scarlet Letter, I figured I transfigure Music Monday into another alliterative day of the week.
The weather's getting chillier and I feel like I want to transition into some kind of soundtrack for the winter. Old crooner, rat-pack style music really evokes winter for me - it makes me think of blazing fires and lush snowfall and bundling up in your best wool jacket to make your way outside to somewhere warm where friends are gathered and hot cocoa and cider are the drinks of choice.
So, I'll let Ol' Blue Eyes take the reins tonight and think of December days.

Updates pt. II

I cut out some little flowers to decorate my wall hooks where I hang my scarves, as well as finally putting something up above my desk.
I went out on Wednesday for Halloween - a barn in Indiana played host to the festivities.
Self-explanatory: Minnie Mouse
Monday, 11/2
Saturday 10/31 - out for the dog parade
Friday 10/30
Thursday 10/29

Updates...

Sophomore year is certainly a lot busier than freshman year. I think that's partly due to the class that causes me more pain than any other, the one that caused me to drop a class and almost have an emotional and mental break. It'll be over in a few weeks - that's what I keep telling myself. This month is going to be spent finishing all the work for that class and looking for summer internship opportunities - both at home and in the city that never sleeps. I'm extremely excited for Thanksgiving, which is what will get me through these next few weeks. I feel bad for not writing - I always say I'll write every day, but then I get busy...these things happen. But I guess that just means it's time for a massive update.