happy halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! This is not exactly an intentional dismissal of the Haunted Holiday, but my costume has not yet (and may never) see the light of day (or the dark of night, for that matter). The hostess of the Halloween party that K and I were planning to attend was taken down with the swine flu and we just didn't really care enough to find an alternative.

This is what I wore yesterday. I didn't have time to take photos in the morning, so I took them after work. My parents took K and I (and my brother) out to dinner for my birthday and there were funny stories galore (as always). I'm lucky to have a really fabulous family that I actually enjoy spending time with.

After dinner K and I didn't want to just go home, so we went to the Savoy to see "A Serious Man" (the new Cohen brothers movie). It was good but not amazing... the novelty of its subtle humor and poignancy of its sadness began to thin as the movie stretched on and it just made the film seem a little shallow. I still enjoyed it, and I would like to say that I think I may have identified with it more if I were Jewish, but that's probably not the problem... I'll just have to settle for disagreeing with those critics who are throwing the word "Masterpiece" around.

(dress: H&M; tights: Ralph Lauren (TJMaxx); boots: ALDO; coat: thrifted; necklace: vintage)

In case you're wondering... this was supposed to be my Halloween costume:

And a little something scary that happens to me almost every day -- my camera falls off the tripod. When that happens it looks like this:

another fantastic foray into fauna

I just stumbled across this brilliance on Delightfully Tacky today and was summarily stricken by deep longing. Not just for this girl's incredibly sky-high curly locks (though I wouldn't mind [correction: I would die for] that kind of voluminous vertex), but the Wild Things collection at Open Ceremony is beyond inspired. K, my affections have temporarily been reassigned and may be missing until I somehow manage to incorporate a version of one of these visions into my wardrobe (I still owe Jo-Ann a visit from the last time animalistic accessorizing captured my attention).

Yeah. Fur skirt = necessity. Immediately. The fur dress might be a little more difficult for me to pull off. I'd probably end up looking like a gerbil. And those aren't very wild, they're just weird and creepy.

Every year K and I carve a pumpkin. This year, we went a little crazy and carved TWO! After our apple-picking adventure we swung by Settlement Farms and picked up a couple of misshapen gourds. His and Hers, if you will:

We were aiming for appropriate proportions (since he's so tall and lean and I'm so short and... round? Don't worry, my body image isn't that distorted...)

I get kind of intense about crafty projects, and pumpkin-carving just happens to fall into the category of my various useless skills. I get bossy when I think K isn't scooping, drawing, or carving in exactly the most efficient and artistic manner. Luckily I had a little bit of wine to chill me out, but that didn't stop me from attacking my poor pumpkin with a mix of concentrated precision and wild abandon.

As one who hunts not only for sport but for food, we saved *most* of the pumpkin seeds, salted, and baked them for a little snack. K did the honors. I love a man in an oven mitt :)

Additionally, I got one stubby little pumpkin to cook with. I plan to make the delicious pumpkin & red lentil soup that I made last year when I find a little time!

**Disclaimer: these are not in any way supposed to be self-portraits or reflections of our true nature. The only resemblance to K or I is the size. He is not a sleazy, moustached, raging pirate and I am not a saucy vampire pumpkin whore ("whourd" if you will... I crack myself up).

***Disclaimer #2: I make no apologies for my un-stylish pumpkin-carving get-up.

indian summer

The story of how this dress came to be is kind of pathetic but has a relatively happy ending.

My mother and I were on our way down to CT for a baby shower and (because I am always eager to drop dough anywhere but my own shopping-impaired state) I did a little research and located a mall en route that had both an H&M and Forever 21.

The goal: to find a dress for a semi-casual outdoor wedding.

The catch: Mom & I arrived at the mall around 10 or 11 AM (I can't remember which), with a good hour set aside for shopping... and it was closed. I was devastated. I can't even remember which mall it was (I'm probably repressing the memory) but it was enormous and promising and entirely unavailable.

Long story short: Mom and I killed some time at Starbucks and although stores started opening their doors within half an hour, H&M and F21 remained locked up tight. Fiiiiinally, ten minutes before our available shopping time had lapsed, I got within the walls and went on a bit of a rampage... ripping dresses off racks and running from here to there like a maniac. I think this was the first dress I tried on that didn't fit in some funky way (probably because it's like a yellow bag)... when I showed it to my mom she just said, "okay, looks good, we've gotta go!" And we high-tailed it out of there.

I do like the dress though. Unfortunately I haven't quite figured out how to adjust the settings on my camera to accomodate these darkening days so you can't see the embroidery very well, but I will! And I'll just wear it again and it will be like a completely different dress because you'll see all the neat grey swirls on the fabric.

And finally, I apologize for the excruciatingly unenlightening post, but it's Thursday. Yeah, that's the best I can come up with. In the meantime, to make up for my babbling banality, here is a photo of me with a stick for a moustache:

(dress: F21; boots: ALDO; hat: UO; striped tee: TJMaxx)

happy new year! (PM)

Last night, to honor the day of my birth, K took me out to a lovely dinner at Red Basil in Stowe. We've been hearing really great things about it and were not disappointed. Though it's a little bit out of our day-to-day price range, it was nice to have an excuse to check it out. We pretty much had the entire restaurant all to ourselves! The room had beautiful, ancient plank wood floors and a luxurious, calming effect thanks to the dim light and perpetually running water. My red dress matched the chairs!

I got a really big, really delicious cosmopolitan...

...and opted for the spicy red curry with carrots, asparagus, red and green peppers and broccoli (a nice vegetarian option). It was divine:


When we were finished eating, we went home and K baked me cookies and tolerated me while I watched "The City" (a verrrry guilty pleasure, but how can you not be entertained?) Everything about the night was wonderful and K was the perfect gentleman, as usual. I've been feeling a little bit down and overwhelmed lately so it was nice to have a night just for K and I to sit down and have a conversation and some relaxing time alone.

The only thing I would have changed about the evening was my shoes. I'll be damned if I have a single pair of shoes in my closet that achieved the desired effect... I think I would need a pair of strappy gold sandals or something to complete the ideal outfit, but the tights kind of complicated everything.

Problem is, I don't really love any of the gold shoes I've found, and they're not very versatile. They would probably end up in the back of my closet like the silver shoes I bought on a whim "for a dressy occasion" last year and still have not worn.

Still, I do enjoy the dress. Next time I wear it I'll probably accessorize it with a scarf and some muted tones (aka brown) and call it a casual outfit.

happy new year! (AM)

It is the dawning of a new age.

Today I am 24 years old. Twenty-four. 12^2. The birthday is hardly noticeable. Now that I can legally drive & drink (not simultaneously) there aren't really any irritating restrictions imposed on me because of my age, and I'm already starting to lose track of how old I've become.

The impact of my advancing age is entirely contained within my psyche. In recent years I've begun to think more seriously about what I am doing and where I am going and how close (or far) I am from becoming the person that I ultimately hope to become.

And so, a few resolutions for my new year:

1. Stop biting my fingernails-I resolve to do this every year and so far, no luck. This is probably more an exercise in self-conciousness and control more than anything. If I can't advance out of the oral fixation stage, Freud says I may be doomed to a life of passivity, gullibility, immaturity and manipulative personality. (But what does he know...)

2. Think before I speak/act/freak out/turn into a raging lunatic-It's incredible how difficult this is for me. I have a tendency to fly off the handle at the drop of a hat (how's that for your daily idiom overdose?) and sometimes little things like rationality and dignity are lost in the haze of my imagination. Whew, I need some sort of Zen Guru...

3. Progress-I need to get this show (my life) on the road (both literally and figuratively, but for the sake of simplicity, lets deal with the figurative first). This is a pretty broad goal, but I hope in a year's time (eek, the dreaded quarter-century!) I will be in a completely different place. With any luck I'll be back in school, but financially that's unlikely. A new location would satisfy me for a while... I need to live in a place where a person can really live--not just survive.

4. Travel-(here's where I literally take my life on the road). I need to get out and about and see new places and experience new cultures and be in a place that is completely different from where I am to get a little distance&perspective. I really want to go back to Europe. Germany, Spain, Amsterdam, Czech Republic, Turkey, Portugal, France... all of them call to me incessantly. I would also like to finally take that cross-country road trip that I've been dreaming of since high school.

5. Eat healthier/Be healthier-Yeah, yeah, I know. But this is an important one for me this year. It's difficult to live in a small space on a small budget with a boy who likes (and can easily metabolize) nachos and pasta and pizza and eats a lot of it. I'm not sure that I will ever be able to decline a heaping tray of nachos (our specialty: chips, spicy refried beans (veggie), jalepenos, hothot salsa, guacamole and a whoooooole lot of Cabot cheese... how could you ever refuse?) but a little bit of physical activity and a few big heaping SALADS to counteract the cheese binge would (I think) do wonders.

I think that's going to have to do it. I don't want to burden myself with too many unrealistic expectations. I think if I can accomplish only #2 I'll be off to a really good start. And maybe just one more...

6. Fill closet with lots of lovely new things! (within reason...)

My Color Scheme for today is REDREDRED! I love it! The red lip, the red shirt, the red shoes... the red birdhouse behind my head..! (I once received a catalog with an insert that recommended what colors you "should" wear based on your skin tone. One of those colors was red.) Tonight, depending on what K has planned for us, I will finally have an occasion worthy of my red velvet H&M dress. Yes! Happy Birthday to me and Happy Hump Day to all of you!

(red thermal: TJMaxx; jeans: GAP; red shoes: Chinese Laundry - Marshalls; scarf: vintage Anne Klein, thiscouldbeyou on etsy)

Amy, this is how happy you made me!

THE RULES ARE SIMPLE

1. Thank the person who nominated me for this award.

Well that is a no-brainer and a half! Thank you, thank you, thank you to Amy of The Bargain Hunter Extraordinaire for nominating me for this award! Amy is a really stylish girl, but don't take my word for it, go see for yourself! It seems like every day she's wearing something that I suddenly feel my closet is incomplete without. I'm super new at the business of blogging, but Amy is always leaving encouraging comments here that inspire me to keep on keeping on. Thank you for your great positive energy--I love your blog and I'm glad you like mine, too!

2. Copy the award & place it on my blog.

(see above)

3. Link to the person who nominated me for this award.

(you got it)

4. Tell us 7 interesting things about yourself.

1. I was a film major in college and thought that one day I would be writing screenplays in Hollywood. Except I don't want to live in Hollywood.

2. I work for a company that publishes scientific journals. I got a C in AP Biology.

3. I am only 5'2" and I am rarely spotted without a pair of high heels.

4. I bite my fingernails, but I try to stop myself by painting them. That turns into a polish-picking habit, which isn't much more attractive.

5. I am a vegetarian and have been since my parents slaughtered our pet pig, Hammy, when I was very young (~7 yrs old), though I sometimes crave hotdogs (esp. at baseball games). K desperately wants me to eat meat and once even snuck a bunch of shrimp in my jalepeno quesadilla (I still can't believe I didn't notice...)

6. I loooooooooove to travel and would do it much more often if I could stop spending money on shoes and actually afford it. I've been to France, Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland, England (for one night), Italy, Morocco, St. Maarten (Caribbean) and of course, Canada. However, the Travel Gods curse me every time I leave the state... I even thought about blogging entirely about my misadventures in globe-trotting.

7. I have a very lovely boyfriend who tolerates my theatrics considerably well (though not my bad driving) and is very stylish in his own right.

5. Nominate 7 bloggers and 6. Post links to the 7 blogs I nominate.

1. Adored Austin

2. All this Happiness

3. Bohemian Musings

4. Left Hand Endeavor

5. Orchid Grey

6. The Spotted Duck

7. All the rest of the beautiful bloggers out there! (that's you)

Ready, Go!

damn you for being sooo easygoing

Last night's show was incredible! K and I have been listening to St. Vincent's album pretty much nonstop for the past couple of days, and it was really cool to actually know all of the songs! She is so adorable and talented, I'm a little jealous :) My only complaint: her violinist's hair was pretty ridiculous.

But lovely as she was, Andrew Bird just blew me away...

In terms of sheer, brilliant technique and unrivaled originality, he takes the cake. And the ice cream. Where St. Vincent's electronic accompaniments sometimes seemed slightly canned and sterile, A. Bird's violin loops (while recorded, technically) could hardly be distinguished from his actual playing and gave the whole set a richness and complexity that only a small orchestra could recreate. Highlight: the moustached triangle player rocking out all over the stage.

It was a lot of fun but we didn't get home until late-late, because 1) Musicians are way too cool to start shows "on time," 2) Afterwards, I had to get gas and pump up my tire (again... it goes flat every three days), 3) K and S desperately needed to stop at McDonalds (and apparently so did everybody else who had been at the show, so that took forever)... so I was BEAT. The last thing I wanted to do was take blogger photos this morning because I feel like I have the swine or something...

But I did! I should get an award or something. OH WAIT, I did (more on that in a minute because it deserves its very own post)!

I got this dress a long time ago from vjones1 on etsy, where it was described as a "vintage reconstructed avant garde wallpaper dress." I just thought it was kind of Mod.

In the past I've worn it with my knee-high black boots but the look is a little too go-go dancer for me.

I bought the belt from Steve Madden when I purchased my sky-high tan&gold gladiator heels because I needed to buy something for $10 or spend $10 on shipping and the belt was on sale. It's a little big (I think it has stretched) and the buckle just looks shiny&enormous on me so it kind of defeats the purpose of the waist-cinching belt. Solution: Backwards!

There are only a couple of problems I have with this dress. 1) it's polyester, 2) it's a liiiittle too long for my liking. I'm super short so skirts have to be just the right length to keep me from looking stumpy. If I were A) less lazy and/or B) a more talented seamstress I might attempt to hike the hem further skyward, but I like how the yellow stripe lines the bottom and hemming to the next level of stripes would usher me into the realm of the scandalous.

(dress: vjones1 on etsy; belt: backwards Steve Madden; shoes: DSW)

EDIT: GAH! somehow i unposted this entry...