The laughing tree

Now that summer is here, I've been catching up on my favorite television shows. "Game of Thrones" has provided a lot of fodder for my other blog this season, and I celebrated its finale last week by making a floral wreath inspired by the character Lyanna Stark. Because her character died before the events of the show's timeline, she hasn't appeared, but her actions in the overall book series have pushed the narrative forward. In the story about the mysterious "knight of the laughing tree," Lyanna accepts a wreath of blue roses. I made mine out of blue hydrangeas because the small flowers are easier to bend into floral wire.

What books or television shows are you enjoying right now?

credits: 

dress: giorgio kauten, vintage, thrifted | shoes: born crown | floral crown: diy (tutorial here).  

The trials of photo-taking in public places

Dress: Giorgio Kauten, thrifted; Sweater: Loft; 

Watch necklace: Waltham pocket watch, heirloom (read story here);

Boots, tights: Target.

It had been raining for a week straight here, so over the weekend I was determined to take sunrise photos on Sunday, early time and chilly temperatures be damned. When I drove close to my usual park, I saw that police had cordoned the stretch of highway my park was at to let a mass of cyclists ride on the road. I thought the cyclists were part of a trial run for an upcoming bike race that's in Athens every spring, so I decided to wait another hour or so and I would try to get into my park at another entrance.

A while later, I enter my park from another entrance, and though there are police cars nearby, I have no problem getting into the parking lot and driving down the lane to the park. I'm not doing anything wrong at all, I thought, and look there are other people here early this morning too!

And there were. Lots of them. Running. And some in bathing suits. Bathing suits?

The two situations were not isolated. The cyclists and the runners were part of one big event, and somehow I had managed to drive right onto the course for a triathlon. I drove through a triathlon. 

When I got to the parking lot, I was soon trapped because the runners were using the only way out of the park as the course, and I didn't want to screw up their running times by driving on the course again. So I quietly went into the park, shot some photos. And while there, I found out from a nice girl in the parking lot it was the first time there was a triathlon of this kind in town, which may explain why there were no signs around the park publicizing it.  Then I sat in my car very awkwardly for 30 minutes until I could exit the course without running any errant joggers over with my car. All the while thinking that I had probably gone insane, going through all of this trouble on a weekend to snap the two photos above. 

I am sure there are many lessons here, and they may involve checking park schedules and knowing that a public place, no matter how many times you may visit it, never really belongs to you and can be converted on a whim to suit public needs. And uh, being sane enough to know when to sleep in.

I actually  have had this vintage Giorgio Kauten dress for a couple years, and have only worn it a couple times. Any ideas of how to style mint green? Here's how I've worn this dress before:

Back at my old farm park location a couple years ago.


Have you had any awkward photo-taking experiences? This was just one of many for me.

Elegy for Cecilia Tallis' wardrobe

Dress: Giorgio Kauten, thrifted;

Shoes: Tayla platforms, Target;

Bracelet: gift.

Thanks for the shopping ban support, everyone -- it does mean a lot to me. 

Here's the dress that prompted the ban. It wasn't that it cost very much -- in fact, I thrifted it. But I did feel a little guilty after the purchase because I realized I was going for, yet again, another floral little summer dress, and I have about 5,000 of those already. 

I've thought long and hard about the psychological factors of why I seem to go for these kinds of wispy dresses, and I think I finally know the root of it, or at least, one of the major influences. I've fallen really hard in the last couple of years for vintage pieces, and it's because of the movie "Atonement." The last year of purchases have helped fuel this Cecilia Tallis Syndrome I seem to have, in which I try to fulfill this fantasy of wearing what Keira Knightley wore in "Atonement." Subtle florals, green, floaty fabrics -- it's all there in this dress. (And now that I think about, these outfits seem to evoke that film too - I, II, III, IV) 

I wish I was kidding, and I know it seems incredibly silly, to blame purchases on a 2007 film and to idolize the wardrobe of a fictional character. But I guess it isn't too dissimilar from, say, wanting to live like the images in an Anthro or J. Crew catalog. It's all about succumbing to a fantasy which becomes less elusive with the more you search and spend. I think I've finally stared my own wardrobe fantasy down long enough to halt the increasing dress collection. I guess I'm atoning for my spending (see what I did there? Harhar).

Okay, I hope this wardrobe musing didn't sound too crazy. Do you find outfit inspiration from the arts -- movies, paintings, music videos, book illustrations, etc. -- and do they ever influence your spending purchases?

Happy Friday,