gifted hat – thrifted belt, loafers, shirt – canvas cords
two things are for sure: i am having a major hat moment. they are my favorite flourish to add to an outfit. plus they were great in new mexico for keeping that gorgeous amazing bright sun off of my uber-pale skin. love the sun, but skin cancer? not so much.
the other thing: yeah, this shirt didn’t make the cut. sorry, shirt, i like you in theory, but not in reality. the space between the buttons is a little wide, and they keep gapping and framing bits of my torso that i really just prefer to remain covered. i’m not trying for a peek-a-boo game with my belly button, oddly enough. i chose not to show the photos that illustrate this, for what i believe to be self-evident reasons, so just take my word for this. this remix was it’s last shot, because i love the polka dots and the tie neck. alack the day. now i’m in the market for a new polka dot shirt!
i’m super behind in blog-posts. i might declare july a catch-up month. there are written posts that just need pictures, and lots of pictures that just need writing, and several more that need both!
i was just in new mexico, a quick weekend visit to see my family. my grandmother has been having some health issues, which are resolving themselves, thank god. but they didn’t get to fly back north on their normal snowbird schedule, so i decided i positively needed to fly south to see them.
but i love love love new mexico, and i spammed up my instagram feed with gluttonous shots of the ridiculous beauty here.
anyways, while i was there, i had an opportunity to cross something off of my summer to-do list: walking in the foothills of the sandias.
so many more pictures, go on, go on, go on, go on, you know you want to:
crewcuts chambray – j crew belt – anthropologie skirt – thrifted shoes, purse
eons ago, when i was young, i decided i ought to be an artist. and i thought, this is more than a someday dream, this is something i need to be working on immediately. i began my training. i thought that to be an artist, i needed to be able to find the beauty in anything. anything i could see must have some beauty, it was all a matter of perspective. so i began training myself to look for beauty all around me. i’m not sure where i came up with this idea. knowing me, it was probably gleaned from a novel.
later, i went to art school, where any thought of being an artist was dashed to the ground and walked over by hundreds of uncaring pedestrians. i’m still working on regaining my previous joy in art, in drawing and painting and creation. but something that started long before that has continued on, unheeding of my own drama’s with ‘art’. my habit of looking for the beauty in things clings on to me, and i really find it a useful tool to this day, even though i’m not the artist i set out to be so long ago.
this anecdote has absolutely nothing to do with this outfit. it was just something i’ve been thinking about today.
tell me about something beautiful in your world!
i saw a girl named leney‘s summer to do list, and when i found myself nodding along with her choices, i thought, hey, i should write mine up! there’s something about writing up a list, it makes it so much more likely to happen!
summer is always too brief
-eat a peach that has sat in the sun, ripe and warm and fragrant
–go to the drive-in theatre
–find a saturday farmers market in the area
–eat more fresh produce
-swim in the lake
-make it to at least one date with the 80’s
-read outside
–go to an amusement park
–watch fireworks
–walk in the foothills of the sandias
-start a vlog
–cuddle with sgt grumbles and soy sauce
-do a day trip to a covered bridge
-catch up on our TV shows as new seasons are released this summer (true blood, suits, parks & rec)
-peonies, at least once
EDIT: if i blogged about any of these accomplishments, i linked up with them!
what’s on your to do list?
i have something a little different for you today! jake and i recently got a new toy, and jake wanted to test out it’s slow-motion capabilities. so we went out and shot some clips of me doing various things to test it out. so, if you’d like, here’s a little video of the eleventh outfit:
we do have fun, it’s true! thanks to jake for his camera & editing prowess, the song is driftless pony club (don’t you love it?). all that spinning made me feel like lucille austero, though!
and, i dunno, in case your plug-in is broken, or you’re at work, or you have an abysmal internet connection and the idea of waiting for a 90 second video is more than you can stand, here’s the more traditional outfit post:
gifted hat – hand-me-over blouse – thrifted belt, purse, shoes – anthropologie skirt
you know how i tore this skirt and said since it was in the remix, i’d have to mend it quickly? i lied. i stuck a safety pin in it and called it a day. hmmm…
and this is definitely my favorite picture of myself at the moment:
i’ve been in an awful drought in terms of reading recently, and it was really starting to weigh down on me. i kept starting books and never finishing them, through no fault of their own, which can get to feeling fairly oppressive for me.
there are two sure fire ways to break a drought for me: a mid grade novel, or a bodice ripper. this time i chose mid grade novel. one i actually read before, back when i was very much the target audience. but, obviously, it’s been a little while. i remember ruby in the smoke as being quite good, but when i revisit things i loved as an early adolescent, the results are pretty… mixed. but then thea of the book smugglers reviewed it and that rekindled my memories of it. and then i actually won the giveaway for it! (true story: it was kind of thrilling. ok, totally thrilling!)
so i figured now was a great time to revisit it. and it was fabulous to re-read it. have i ever mentioned that i am a total sucker for victorian mysteries?
a few quotes:
“Lodgings, in the East End, is a word that covers a multitude of horrors. At its worst, it means a room steaming with damp and poisonous with stench, with a rope stretched across the middle. Those far gone in drink or poverty can pay a penny for the privilege of slumping against this rope, to keep themselves off the floor while they sleep. At its best, it means a decent clean place where they change the linen as often as they remember. Somewhere in between, there is Holland’s Lodgings… You were never alone at Holland’s Lodgings. If the fleas disdained your flesh, the bedbugs had no snobbery; they’d take a bite out of anyone.”
“Jim looked up and released a jet of language that might have blistered a battleship. He was no respecter of clerks: they were a very low form of life.”
“He shrugged. ‘What d’you think, Jim?’
‘She’s mad. Best leave her be, in case it’s catching.'”
based on my selections, you’d think jim was the main character. sally is a great main character (thea says more on the subject, and i happen to whole-heartedly agree, to the point where i’d feel a bit redundant telling you about it), but i do love a well-meaning rapscallion, and jim is a good one.
here’s hoping the drought is over! (incidentally, it’s storming outside at the moment)
now…. to finish some of these half-read books? or cut my losses and start something fresh? have you read anything fantastic recently? any books you think i should for sure/definitely/have to read?
target black tee rummaged j. crew dress ebay cole haan loafers
i’ve tried knotting a t-shirt once before, but it’s not something i felt particularly confident about. but bloggers i like do it so well! kendi: 1, 2, elizabeth: 1. there’s probably loads more, but that’s what i can source without spending a slightly ridiculous amount of time on it! anyways, so far, this is my favorite attempt at a knotted tee! once again, the dress is proving to be the most versatile item in a remix… maybe next time i should do two dresses instead of one?
target scarf – thrifted j. crew cardigan – crewcuts chambray
rummaged liz claiborne purse – canvas cords – forever21 yellow shoes
when you’re working with a limited closet, sometimes there are going to be variations on a theme. i love this color combo; pumpkin spice orange, grainy denim, and mustard. it deserves many repetitions.
last night was super excellent. we went to chicago’s ribfest, more for the music than the ribs:
mucca pazza! here, quick, watch this if you can:
stolen from mucca pazza’s youtube channel, click through for source!
the sound quality is not amazing, but it gives you a fabulous idea of their theatricality, energetic, boisterous, engaging quality. jake and i make a point of seeing them when we can, and if you get an opportunity yourself, obviously i would recommend it!
then ribs, some 312, and hanging out with friends! (slightly less picasso-ed in real life than this pic ^_^)
have a great weekend, guys!
target black tee – rummaged silk scarf, purse – forever21 orange belt – j crew navy cords – ebay cole haan loafers
this is a classic example of ‘it worked better in my head’. not that there’s anything wrong with this outfit, but in my mind it was much more dynamic, the bright orange playing nice with the navy of the cords, perfectly backdropped by a classic black tee. then i put it on, and it was slightly more ‘meh’ than all that. now that i’ve sat here picking this apart, i think there are two things that might have changed it: 1) if the scarf was chunkier, like the outfit inspiration, and 2) if the contrast between my light & bright scarf and the black tee weren’t so high, they might not fight each other as much.
i’m over thinking this, you say? you are probably right. ^_^
today we’re stuck with cell phone pictures! so i thought i’d just roll with it and show you some recent things i’ve captured on my cell phone from this last weekend:
we drove out to the family farm in the evening, and the last light in the sky looked like a munch painting i once saw in LA. or, i thought it was a munch, but several google searches have yielded nothing, so i’m wondering if it was just a painting that reminded me very much of a munch? but it wasn’t actually his work? the quality is terrible, of course, because cell phone + no light + moving car, but i still think it captures something of the sky.
i was so blissed out, tromping around the farm in my new yellow boots, and dipping them in the pond had a lovely cooling effect.
in the afternoon it rained lightly while still being very sunny, which is so very cool looking!
this area has a lot of antique stores, which i loooove to spend time in, digging around and looking at curiosities. i found many fabulous things, but i didn’t end up buying anything. i thought these brass horn rimmed glasses were pretty fun.
one of the views on the ride home. it was a bummer driving there in the dark because the drive itself is so lovely. so we left a little early to make sure our drive home was in daylight. this is one of many lovely vistas.
thrifted gray blazer – rummaged j. crew dress, liz claiborne purse – target belt – ebay vintage cole haan shoes
i was super impressed with myself when i came up with this outfit and realized that the whole thing was thrifted! usually when i come up with an outfit, it’ll be like 60% thrifted. shoes & pants are the hardest, for whatever reason. i fixed that this time by going pantless, as you can see.
thanks, you guys, for all of your cast iron tips and interest in my rummage sale tips. i’m working on that post, and hopefully it’ll be up soon!
how’s your day going?
ifandany 