in which you promised me a rose garden

This coat was the only thing I bought (miraculously) while Steph was visiting.  As soon as I saw it on the rack at Second Time Around, I knew I had to have it for Easter week. (There was also a really great velvety mustard blazer that I would have bought if it had been a size smaller... I'm willing to work with sizes at Goodwill, but not for $40.)  Anyway, I'm pretty much in love with this coat, so I'm satisfied.

(coat: second time around; blouse: from steph; skirt: from mom; shoes: seychelles; socks: uo)

(My favorite part is the back.)

I finally finished my dress last night!  I need to wait for some more summery weather to wear it--it's too bright and sunshine-y for spring (and not even remotely warm), but I like seeing it hanging happily in my closet, for now.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the week (after laundry night is over, that is).  Even though I was reminded that K has to work on Friday (and Saturday) night, I have Art Club tomorrow, a potential girls' night on Saturday, and then Easter at Log Town on Sunday--yay!  Hopefully somewhere in there I will have time to start my next dress and do a little bit of writing.  I'm still trying to figure out the best way to print copies of the book for tomorrow night... such a procrastinator!

Also, is Mercury still in retrograde?  It seems to be messing with a lot of my friends lives, so if it could please get back on track that would be great, thanks.

in which winter has returned with a vengeance

When I woke up this morning to frigid cold and a fresh layer of snow, there was only one thing to do:

FUR HAT FUR HAT!

(dress/shoes: thrifted; chambray: walmart; tights: tjmaxx; hat: h&m)

I love this little jumper dress, but for some reason I always feel like it looks the same every time I wear it. That's not really the case. This is how I wore it last time. I'm even wearing it backwards today... maybe I'm just crazy. One thing is for sure: I think it will look so cute in the summertime, as a little sleeveless sundress (hint hint: summer, where are youuu??). I'll just need some fun wedges to go with it...

I spent some quality time with my sewing machine last night (before The Bachelor). I think I've got it pretty well figured out now (finally getting my hands on the instruction manual sure didn't hurt!), though the upper thread doesn't like to pick up the bobbin thread and I'm not sure why (thoughts??), and I still haven't gotten the balance of tension quite right. But I'll get there! And now I have a nice floral summer skirt freshly hemmed (double hint hint: summer, where are youuu??).

Seriously feeling inspired, you guys, about everything. But tired--there is so much I want to be doing instead of sleeping, these days!

in which this is the summer of straw hats

Hi friends! I have been a busy bee this week, and the madness is scheduled to continue right up until the weekend :)

(skirt/hat/belt: thrifted; shirt: old navy; shoes: seychelles)

On Friday night K and I finally went to the drive-in, armed with Battleship, Leonardo's pizza and giant cans of strange semi-alcoholic beverages [hers: tea, his: cola] and saw The Change-Up and Cowboys and Aliens (double-feature for $7.50--best deal in town!). I was actually kind of surprised by The Change-Up (in a good way), even if there were some incredibly gag-worthy moments. Ever since Arrested Development, Jason Bateman can basically do no wrong in my book. As for Cowboys and Aliens? I may or may not have fallen asleep several times during the extended fight scene at the end. This could either be because a) I'm an old woman, or b) the movie was pretty snore-worthy. Probably a combination of both. Even K thought it was pretty awful, and he likes those John Wayne-type movies (not saying this compares AT ALL to John Wayne. Just saying in general).

Last night I spent several hours sitting across the kitchen table from Elizabeth while we watched the footage from our interview session last weekend. We're full of ideas for our little documentary, and it feels pretty awesome to be working on a collaborative creative project again. Hopefully I'll be able to share more as the project progresses (which means, hopefully it progresses)!

(stage one of documentary project)

Today I'm having a picnic in the park with K on my lunch break (yay mid-work-day dates!) and tonight I think I'm going to rope him into doing some shopping. Because he needs a new beach towel for Cape Cod (so soon!) and I need... some other things :)

Happy Hump Day!

in which i am back in the summer spirit!

Whoops, sorry for my absence of late! I have had a horrendously hard time getting out of bed in the morning, which barely leaves me enough time to dress myself, let alone take photos of the final product. I was going to wear something altogether different today but at the last minute reminded myself that I only have so many more warm-weather weeks to go and threw on this fun little romper for the full summer-day effect. It makes me want to have a picnic. Unfortunately, I am not having a picnic. Unless eating an apple at my desk counts... (it doesn't).

(romper: old navy; hat/blouse: thrifted; shoes: kohl's; necklace: gift from k)

I have had such a wallow-y week and I am incredibly ready for it to be over. Tonight I will be watching Project Runway and eating. And drinking. And then tomorrow night K and I are FINALLY going to the drive-in (I'm documenting it here so he can't back out at the last minute--you hear me, K??) This weekend he has to study for a final, and now that I'm out of my funk I think I'm ready to buckle down and spend the weekend exercising my creative muscle (my brain). If I could finish the first draft of my screenplay this weekend that would be excellent, especially considering that the last time I sat down to write it I decided that the entire premise needed to be radically redone.

I also want to hit JoAnn's this weekend and maybe pick up some discount fabric for a little project I've had brewing in my mind for the past couple of days. I started a new blog that will combine my love of fashion and travel (and will hopefully act as a launching-point for said project). More on that later! In the meantime, I'm glad to be back :)

in which life is a fashionable circus

So, it's Monday. Once again. I had a pretty good weekend, although an intense anxious boredom descended upon me on Sunday afternoon between museum-going and K's return home. Sometimes I just feel so bored that it absolutely incapacitates me... and it usually happens when I've been a busy little bee for so long that I forget how to relax!

(dress/scarf/sunglasses/shoes: thrifted; socks: uo)

I bought this dress soooo long ago and have yet to wear it on this blog (actually I think I wore it once before but I can't remember if I posted the pictures... I just remember I didn't like them). It was one of those things that I bought without trying on and then didn't really like the way it fit. But it fits fine so I'm not sure what I thought was wrong with it! Anyway, I love how the little pockets look like tulips :)

On Friday night K and I stayed in and watched a movie (LA Story), which was light and funny and just what we needed after a stressful week. Saturday he left really early and I got up around the same time and went for a run, then hit Goodwill for a bit of a shopping spree (I definitely stocked up for A/W, although every single dress I bought needs serious hemming) before meeting my friend Elizabeth at VCAM to load up some film equipment. We chatted over iced mate at the bar below her apartment, then started setting up to film the first in what we hope will be a series of interviews for a documentary we are working on. We finally wrapped around midnight and went out to meet her BF at a bar where we drank G&T and watched people sing karaoke until the wee hours.

(source)

The next morning I dropped her (and the equipment) off at work and headed over to the Shelburne Museum to check out the In Fashion exhibit. It was definitely enjoyable, albeit a bit small (pretty much to be expected around here), and I spent a couple of hours closely examining couture and stepping back through the fashion of decades past. Having never seen a couture gown up close, I was absolutely astonished at how beautiful and intricate they really are. I think one of my favorite parts of the exhibit was the FIT student work. The museum had a small collection of bodices that were missing skirts, and they opened up a competition to FIT students to complete the look. I just thought it was a pretty creative way to juxtapose contemporary and historical fashion design and to expose the community to new design talent.

(source)

The only other exhibit I was really excited about was the Circus Figures and Posters. It didn't disappoint. The moment I walked in the door I was awed by an elaborate hand-carved three-ring circus (Kirk Bros), which Edgar Kirk fashioned over a period of 40 years using a penknife and treadle jigsaw! Can you imagine committing to a project like that for 40 years?? That's almost double my lifetime. I've always been fascinated by the old-time circus of the 30s, so this was definitely another interesting exhibit for me. Finally I headed home and waited for K to return with a fresh (and fabulous) tattoo... but man, do I feel exhausted! Getting up this morning was no easy feat.