When the year grows old

 Dress: Sangria; Jacket: Aeropostale, thrifted;

Boots: Target; Tights: Vera Wang; 

Skeleton key necklace: vintage, from Minx. 

I cannot but remember     When the year grows old --  October -- November --     How she disliked the cold!  She used to watch the swallows     Go down across the sky,  And turn from the window     With a little sharp sigh.  And often when the brown leaves     Were brittle on the ground,  And the wind in the chimney     Made a melancholy sound ... I cannot but remember     When the year grows old --  October -- November --     How she disliked the cold!  - Edna St. Vincent Millay, "When the Year Grows Old"

How quickly the glamour fades

Dress: Sangria; Sweater, boots: Loft; Necklace: BR, gift from ML.

Taking photos in the mornings is one my favorite pleasures in life. This morning the lake was clear, the birds (egrets and owls and ducks) were out, and everything just felt so peaceful -- something I've been needing for a while in the midst of school and work.

  

Maybe it's the changing season and spending too many hours watching the leaves fall, but I'm thinking I need to lose a few layers as well -- of my hair, that is. I'm debating how short to go, but I think bangs are definitely in my future ...

Shall I return to take you by the hand

 Dress: Sangria; Shoes: Zigi Soho;

 Bag: Fossil; Headband: gift from Marilou.

I shall go back again to the bleak shore And build a little shanty on the sand In such a way that the extremest band Of brittle seaweed shall escape my door But by a yard or two; and nevermore Shall I return to take you by the hand. I shall be gone to what I understand, And happier than I ever was before. The love that stood a moment in your eyes, The words that lay a moment on your tongue, Are one with all that in a moment dies, A little under-said and over-sung. But I shall find the sullen rocks and skies Unchanged from what they were when I was young.  - "I shall go back, " Edna St. Vincent Millay.

What's the story, morning glory?

 Coat: H&M, thrifted; Dress: Sangria; 

Blouse: Ann Taylor, thrifted;

Hairbow (as bowtie): Treasure Box of Bows;

Tights: Target; Boots: LOFT (gift from Mom!).

Shop similar: Coat, dress, boots. 

Another thing a girl can do when she's really bored in a small town? Besides household organization and tripod crazy stunts? Make up a story in photos and pretend it's for an editorial spread. 

Whenever I put this outfit on, I thought I looked like the human embodiment of a tree, and so I kind of just expounded on the nature theme when I took photos in the woods. When I studied Latin in school, one of my favorite legends was about the nymph Daphne, who, after getting chased around by the lovesick god Apollo, prayed to Zeus to be turned into a tree to escape Apollo's advances. 

Skeezy mythical gods aside, I always thought this metamorphosis story was beautiful -- being able to transform --- and so I decided to play it out in my photos by embodying the myth. In half, I look like I'm ready to escape; in some, I'm at ease and completely grounded.

One of my goals for the next year is to tell more stories with my photos. It's incredibly fun and it beats organizing cereal boxes by color and deliciousness any day. 

So, I dare you: What kind of story would you tell with your outfit photos?

Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild

Dress: Sangria;

Sweater: Faded Glory;

Boots: Target;

Bag: H&M;

Necklace: Forever 21;

Black cougar bracelet: vintage, thrifted.

I went to my first advisor meeting yesterday to talk about one of the programs I'm considering for graduate school, and here's what I wore. I'm surprised I haven't done this combination before, because I love the sweater and the thick-cotton-nubbiness of the dress. They happened to be hanging next to each other in the closet and it just clicked that they should work in some sort of combination. I love the serendipity of random occurrences like that.

I actually agonized before this meeting, from the questions to formulate and ask, to what I should wear. I'm all about dressing up for confidence and dressing like you already have that position, but what if the environment is really casual, like a university setting? It wasn't exactly an interview, so it wasn't a formal thing, but it was in that grey area. Do I wear a suit and heels, and risk looking out of place, or like I'm trying too hard? Or do I wear jeans, and risk seeming too blasé about it all? In the end, I went with this. It's put together, shows off my personal style, is modest and, in my opinion, vaguely collegiate-looking. In the end, the meeting went really well and I'm excited about this particular program.




What do you wear for those "grey area" events in your life? 

Time for rebirth

Dress: Sangria;

Belt: Ann Taylor Loft;

Shoes: from Philippines, gift;

Bracelet: found in my couch cushions,

unknown origins.

How I've worn the dress before: here.

Okay, more farm park photos. This will be one of the last times for awhile, for real. We had to go back to the old apartment to clean up, and we went to trivia afterwards. It's taking a lot longer than I thought it would to move, what with our small cars and smaller car loads. It's okay. Every time we go back to the old neighborhood, I'm reminded of how much this is going to be a good move for us. It seems like the time we lived there was ages ago.


I really love this dress. It reminds me of tree bark, or peacock feathers. The red belt just pops against the dark pattern. I felt pretty put together while moving boxes.

Weathered planks

Dress: Sangria;

Shoes: Zigi Soho;

Sweater: Merona, borrowed from Nik;

Belt: Ann Taylor Loft.
Photos by me.

How I've worn the dress before: here.

Thank you all for your very sweet comments and virtual hugs on my last post. I'm sometimes a little afraid to publish posts like that, because it seems like I always have a gratitude post every couple weeks because I wrote about something really depressing, and I don't want my blog to become this thing of sadness. Sometimes I wish my blog could be this shiny, happy place all the time, just full of fun outfit posts, but it wouldn't really be depicting reality if I did that.

I really do, though, appreciate everything you guys said in the last post about J. It's so strange how someone can be in your life for a fraction of time, impact it and then you mourn that person's disappearance from your life. It was so meaningful to read all of your words -- from condolences and personal stories. I feel like this "virtual" world has really become such a wonderful, supportive community, in such a way that I feel like many of you have become such good friends, too. Sometimes I feel like my readers may know more about me than some of my college friends or family members, because I think blogging (and journal-writing) can offer more insight to a person's life than other stuff. Some of the people I know in real time don't understand that style blogging isn't just some vain construct where we fashionistas just post pretty pictures all day...it is a living, breathing community full of awesome, encouraging people. Like you.

Anyways, I thought I'd talk about today. I have today through Thursday off, and there was no way I could bring myself to waste any of today lying in bed with unwashed hair and just watching reruns. I wanted to, but I just couldn't. I woke up still feeling really sad, but I just got in the shower and got ready. I spent most of the afternoon at my mom's house -- she and my sister are coming back tomorrow from their month-long trip in the Philippines, and I wanted to do my laundry there (I am shameless) and clean up around the house (I can be nice though) before they got back. 

While I was there, I played around in my backyard. My whole outfit is a tribute to my backyard -- the dress is pretty reminiscent of the tree bark and the planks on the treehouse, and of course the yellow sweater is a close color match to the swings and the slide. Nik and I have posted some photos of our treehouse before, but I wanted to show them again. When we were younger, my brother and I told my dad that we really wanted a treehouse, but he really exceeded our expectations by making it as big as it is. My dad built it for us in 1997, and it is a two-story behemoth in the backyard.  A yellow slide and swingset came with the house when we moved in, and my parents just added on to it. It's technically not a house in a tree -- it's concreted to the ground with support beams and the second floor wraps around the tree. The second floor has no roof, unless you count the tree's branches and leaves as a shelter, which was so smart of my parents because we really got to see nature up there. My dad affixed the old yellow slide to the back area of the first floor. We asked for a treehouse, and our dad built us a Frank Gehry piece of art, in our eyes.

We kids were so lucky growing up. We became popular in our neighborhood, and many treehouses were built around our road the following summer, but none as cool as ours. Many of our friends wanted to spend hours up on the second floor with us. We played games, acted out stories, watched leaves fall and change colors up there. When I was 14, we got a trampoline, and we pushed it next to the treehouse so we could perform the daredevil stunt of jumping off the second floor and landing on the trampoline. Looking back, I could've broken my neck doing that. It's crazy to look at the treehouse and be reminded of all the acrobatic leaps I used to be able to do.

Now, the treehouse is aging. Some of the wood has rotted so that the second floor is probably too unsafe to climb in. The blue "Welcome" sign I made and nailed to the front of the treehouse can now barely be read. But I like going out to it, and tracing my hand down the weathered planks. I'll be sad when the whole thing will eventually have to come down. It is still a happy place, and I still swing out there.

Ye banks and braes, or Dress #31

Dress: Sangria, NYC;

Shoes: Zigi Soho;

Jade bracelet: Finder's Keepers;

Belt: Fossil.

How I've worn the dress before: here, here.

Just playing around with different locations at the park in these photos. I love how green the hill looks at 5 pm. All of a sudden, it seems like Georgia skipped over spring and went straight to summer -- I was feeling sweaty after about five minutes outside. I actually think I look a little like a tree because of the colors in this outfit. I also blend in a bit with the tree trunk in that last photo. I really love this dress -- it was versatile in the fall and winter, and I'm probably going to experiment with different bright colors for spring.

These photos actually remind me of a song we had to sing in my high school chorus called "Ye Banks and Braes." I always thought it was a beautiful, romantic song and probably my favorite out of all of our programs. Sometimes I miss my chorus days -- I was in it for 10 years, and quit in 11th grade to take more AP classes/do the video broadcasting class. I think the show "Glee" is pretty brilliant -- I remember there were enough dramatic scenarios in my class and our setting up for shows that could fill a reality show.

I wasn't cool enough to come up with an April Fool's joke this morning, but I always think Google is pretty clever with their multiple pranks. See any good pranks today, or have you ever pulled a good one? 

 

31 down, 14 to go.

And I'm bound to keep on riding

 

  

  

  

Listening to: "Midnight Rider," The Allman Brothers.

Dress: Sangria, from Sym's, NYC;

Sweater: Ann Taylor Loft;

Boots: Kady cognac, Target;

Tights: Target;

Necklace: Caiem, lovely giveaway gift from Lizzy Punch.

How I've worn the dress: here.

How I've worn the sweater: here, here, here, here.

Thank you for all of your support on my last two posts. I read every comment and responded to most of them (on the post). With my dad entry, it felt really refreshing to talk about something I'm not open about with many people, and reading your kind words and thoughts was very humbling and encouraging. Thank you.

  As for the blog adjustments post -- I think change will be good. I've been thinking a lot about a quote from Mad Men in which Don Draper says, "My life moves in one direction -- forward," and I think that's how I'll continue to think about this blog.  As I alluded to previously, I've got a couple projects I'm excited about that will come up in the next month or so, and this weekend I will be changing the layout a bit with the blog. So thank you for hanging in there with me. :) Of course, I'll give updates on Nikki's goings-on as they come.

 Okay, about this outfit. I've already worn this exact outfit before, but these photos were taken after Jeremiah and I went to visit his grandfather, so I wanted to feel good in an outfit that I knew worked for me. The weather was so nice today -- 60 degrees -- that I didn't need a coat. 

Hooray for beautiful weather and the weekend! Have a great one.