a francais day

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY :) I love Friday. Man, was the sunshine wack-tastic this AM, or what? I may have to find a new spot (other than this complete stranger's driveway) to take blogphotos on sunny days.

I decided to wear this scarf today as a bit of a challenge for myself. When I put together my "art of scarves" guest post for Lauren's blog, I noticed that I have never worn this polka-dotted one on my blog! I think I got it the very first time I ever set foot in a Nordstrom Rack, but I can't be sure because that was so many moons ago. At any rate, it's very fun (and feels quite French), especially when origami-ed into a bow :)

Last night was really lovely. My friend M had another crafty night at her house with a few ladies and some fancy cocktails (and, I can't lie, some Housewives of Beverly Hills in the background), and the girls are all so sweet and talented! M is not only a brilliant singer/songwriter, but she makes really amazing multimedia jewelry (think: gold chains, bits of glass and beads, feathers, remixing antique gold pendants and brooches). J does some pretty amazing screenprinting and is training to be a tattoo artist (she also has an etsy shop that I hope to feature when it ramps up), and Z makes really cool pop-art resin jewelry (which I'd never even heard of, but looks totally awesome)! I spent the whole night meticulously stitching feathers onto a strip of ribbon for a project that I'll hopefully be able to debut soon! Anyway, it was nice to get to know these girls a little better and we're definitely going to have to make it a regular occurrence!

(dress: Charlotte Russe; skirt: vintage; tights: TJMaxx; shoes: Payless; scarf: Nordstrom Rack; hat: UO)

Tonight I am kind of looking forward to relaxing in the apartment with some Ugly Betty, a Handsome Boy, and perhaps some cheap-o Chinese food (??). Oh, and in case you were wondering, I totally did eat a loaf of bread last night (okay, like 1/4 of a loaf, but still). The market had multiple sourdough loaves (a rarity--it almost always sells out right away) from my very favorite bakery, Gerard's (my friend S briefly worked for the French baker and gave me the inside scoop). I can't even describe how incredibly moist and tangy and chewy and amazing his bread is, but it was divine. We dipped it in olive oil with minced garlic and diced tomatoes for a little extra oomph.

i've got my spy on you

This morning, K told me that I looked like French spy in my trench coat and classic-cut face-shielding sunnies. I took that as a compliment, and though I am not French (trop dommage), I will certainly be spying--on Fashion Week! Someday I might just make it down for a few days of the fashion-related festivities, but until then, I've got my eye distantly trained on that runway!

I got these sunglasses for $4 at Battery Street Jeans when I was too broke to buy groceries last weekend. They are my new favorite. Also, I'm aware that I sport this grungy grey minidress practically every day--what of it? I love it.

(dress: Goodwill, hemmed; slipdress: UO; scarf: Bargain Boutique; sunglasses: Battery Street Jeans; shoes: Seychelles)

K and I don't have any major plans for the weekend, but I do want to do some serious thrifting. After so many days spent scraping the bottom of my bank account, my recent paycheck is burning a hole in my pocket!! We need some curtains and furniture for the apartment, and I would like to buy a few new wool skirts/warm tights/blouses for the upcoming A/W season!

the francaise way

In honor of my parents' triumphant (albeit delayed) return from La Ville-Lumière (Paris!), I thought it would be à propos to dress in the French spirit.

It would be pretty impossible not to have heard about the Eyjafjallajökull (I just wanted to type it out...) volcanic eruption & subsequent ash-catastrophe, but if you haven't, a word of advice: come out from under your little rock, the weather is fine! My lucky parents got to spend an extra five days in France because of that Icelandic incident, and I just have to say that there is nowhere I would rather be "trapped." Usually when I got trapped in foreign countries *cough* Rome *cough* it was because someone stole my passport and all of my money and credit cards, which isn't really the way to go, in case you were wondering.

You can't see it, but this little UO necklace says " JE T'AIME QU'HIER MOINS QUE DEMAIN," which (according to Babelfish) loosely translates to "I like you yesterday less than tomorrow." That makes little sense. Having taken some French in HS and college, I know that "Je t'aime" means "I love you," which is why I bought the necklace in the first place (not bothering to translate the rest of the text). So it's either a forward-looking and optimistic statement about living in the future rather than the past, or it is addressing a person whom I supposedly liked yesterday more than I will tomorrow. Which would maybe explain the heart with the arrow through it. But that's dumb. Besides, whatever happened to living in the present?

(shirt/necklace/hat: UO; skirt: vintage; belt: thrifted; socks/sweet shoes: Kohl's)

I got these sweet little shoes for $20 (!!) at Kohl's, that magical place.

Speaking of nostalgia, I am still in love with the Wang braid. Did that trend end? Did I miss it? Oh well! Here's to being gloriously attached to the past!

PS: These legs may look innocent enough (more French orphan boy than I may have been going for), but they have been running pretty regularly along the rural roads that surround our new "urban" apartment. (By urban I mean that I don't have to drive for miles to buy some emergency milk. [By milk, I mean liquor.]) Anyway, I'm pretty proud of the fact that I've been sticking with this running thing, even though I sort of hate it and this morning I thought I was going to die because I'm so out of shape. I've officially passed the "woo-hoo I'm excited to be getting exercise--isn't the air fresh--look at that lovely sunrise!" stage and hit the "holy crap that wasn't as far away yesterday as it is today" stage. But I've been in shape before and I will get there again, dog gum it, if it's the last thing I do!

Have fabulous weekends, my fashionable friends! And oh, hey Friday, thanks for finally coming around again--je t'aime aujourd'hui plus que demain!

EDIT: Thanks so much to Erin of Tog & Trappings for clearing up my confusion re: the French necklace! Apparently, it roughly translates to "I love you more every day," which makes so much more sense! You guys are the best :) I'm constantly learning new things from you!