the ground is dirt, the dirt is sweet

On J::
shirt and sweater:: thrifted
pants:: thrifted
socks:: dollar store- THAT'S RIGHT, my socks are from the Dollar Store.
shoes:: thrifted
bag::military

wanderlust

Last night I saw Beirut for the first time. It was hands down one of the best and most exciting shows I've been to.  Unfortunately I'm now stricken with a strong case of wanderlust ( a likely side effect of listening to Beirut for long periods of time) and am now quite sad.

Feelings of wanderlust have led me to feeling trapped. I just have no idea how I got to this point in my life and I just can't see myself doing, for the rest of my life, what I will be doing if I don't change something. I just wish I could go back to the beginning (of college) and study classical vocal like I knew I wanted to and I knew I should have and my family told me to. I'd have to resign myself to always being poor though (then I'd probably be spouting a different sad story). But most of me thinks I wouldn't mind not having money.

Then the other part of me needs to travel. Since returning from my study abroad, I try to travel once a year (internationally if I can) but I hate the way I've traveled in my life. I don't want to be the ugly tourist. Though I've spent my fair share of time sleeping in train stations and bargaining at hostels, I still don't feel as though I've traveled authentically. Everyone always says travel has to be so money-centric, but part of me knows it shouldn't be and it doesn't have to be. I want so so badly to just drop everything and travel slowly for a while.
But it takes courage, because in this country, if there's a gap on your resume and you explain that it was for travel, or for soul-sorting, employers don't take kindly to it. The American workforce is so rigidly static. I don't want to sit in a chair all day. I don't want to get married. I don't want to have children. I don't want to have a mortgage, and I certainly won't be told that these are the ingredients for fulfillment.
I know I'm still young, but I'm static! How can I get moving?


On J:
dress:: second hand via Rumors Boutique
belt:: thrifted
tights:: Target
shoes:: thrifted
bag:: vintage Coach
hat:: thrifted

don't know what they're missing

So they started setting up tents on the capitol lawn to film the Lincoln movie (I think). It made me a little sad because I never got called back to be an extra. I think it's mainly because I don't have a beard (a few guys I know got cast as extras and they all have 19th century looking beards). Facial hair discrimination! I should have worn my fake John Wilkes Booth mustache in the photo I submitted.

Whatever, they don't know what they're missing. Because if there's anyone who can stand around unobtrusively in the background while wearing a bonnet and not getting in anyone's way, it's this lady.


On J:
shirt::thrifted
shorts::thrifted
tights::Target
shoes::thrifted
bag:: vintage Coach

after a while, crocodile

This is what I wore yesterday.

We wanted to go to a museum, but only if they offered a student discount (we're cheap, but mostly we're poor). Alas, they did! For "Students with ID (18-22)". Hmmmm. There are so many things to say about that, but I'll just share some of my initial thoughts.

1.  Students come at all ages, and school is just as expensive for everyone. I don't get a discount because I'm a 23 year old student??

2.  As a 23 year old student, I probably need a discount much more than the average 18 year old student.  My student loan status is hovering around $30,000 as of right now (100% more than what it was as an 18 year old).  Plus, my parents helped me out way more when I was younger than they do now. I know this isn't the case for everyone, but it definitely is the trend. I am poorer now than I ever was as an undergrad.

3.  What about high school students? whose parents don't pay for everything? They exist! And some of them might be interested in 19th century history!

4.  Discounts for everyone plz; knowledge is power (more public museums?)

5.  :(

6. Fine, I'll pay $9 instead of $7.

On J:
shirt:: thrifted
beige cardigan:: H&M
green & white cardigan:: vintage
jeans:: from a mall
shoes:: thrifted
bag:: Francesca's

fleur de lis

This is what I wore today. I like this sweater because it has a fleur de lis print on it (et j'adooore parce que je suis francophile!). 

I'm also feeling quite frenchy today because I've been on French film overload for the past few weeks.
I graduated from undergrad (where I majored in French) almost a year ago and haven't really had many chances to practice since, so I've been watching tons of French movies so I don't lose it! In the past two weeks, I've watched (sorry, I'm too lazy to do accents right now):
Le Battement D'Aile du Papillon
Welcome
L'argent de Poche
La Faute a Fidel and
Une Femme est une Femme

Okay, so maybe that's not "tons", but it's tons relative to how many movies per week I usually watch (maybe 1, usually 0). 

I would really highly recommend both Welcome and La Faute a Fidele to everyone.

Welcome is about  this Kurdish teen who's an illegal immigrant in France trying to cross the channel to England to be reunited with his love. He decides the best option is to attempt to swim across it. and

La Faute a Fidel is about this little girl in the early 70s whose parents go to Allende's Chile and return radical Marxists. The film follows her readjustment as she laments her former bourgeois lifestyle. Adorable movie. Plus, the costumes in this film were beauuutiful. I took some screen shots of the leather schoolbags all the children were running around with, but I accidentally deleted them :(

So go watch those movies! I'm not a film buff by any standards. In fact I know very little about film in any sort of conversant or informed way. I just know what I like and what I believe. So I hope you will watch them and like them too!

 Les filles francaises (ou francophones ou francophiles), pouvez vous me recommander quelques bons films francais ou en francais?



On J:
blouse:: thrifted
sweater:: thrifted
shorts:: thrifted
belt: J Crew men's
shoes:: thrifted
bag:: H&M
hat:: thrifted

The Folk Festival

Yesterday we went to the Folk Festival (it's where the folk go) and this is what I wore.

This festival never ceases to amaze me with the diversity of performances it offers. My favorites from this year: The SH Thompson Memorial Gospel Choir and the Git Hoan Dancers (Tsimshian of northern BC and southeastern Alaska). I was too wrapped up in the performances to remember to actually take pictures.

But I did faithfully snap pictures of the obligatory junk food stands.




Can someone please tell me what "Steak in a Sac" is??? I played it safe with a gyro (I had pictures of myself with said gyro but they were so unreasonably and embarrassingly gluttonous that I just couldn't).




(that's right, gyros AND ice cream)









On Saturday,  Rebecca of The Clothes Horse asked myself and other bloggers to send a picture featuring our coziest scarves for her Scarf Saturday feature.  Check it out!


On J:
shirt:: thrifted
skirt:: thrifted
bag:: inherited, military
shoes:: thrifted

rally for women's health

This is what I wore today.

B and I took Ms. Ivy Lou to the rally for women's health to protest VA TRAP laws.  There were a lot more people there than I expected, which made me really ecstatic. Hopefully this had an impact. Some of my favorite shots from today:



















 I'm excited because we're going to the folk festival tomorrow, which is one of my most favorite events of the year. Happy Saturday!

On J:
shirt:: thrifted
pants:: don't remember, from a mall
bag:: hand made par moi
hat:: thrifted

l'automne

I went kind of gif crazy today.

Today was the quintessential Fall day. It was sunny and breezy and cool and crisp. Tonight will a quintessential Fall night. Never sticks around long enough.



On J: dress:: thrifted
sweater:: thrifted, chopped and hemmed
socks:: Target
shoes:: thrifted
hat:: thrifted

A plea to Virginians: Rally for Women's Health!

Sorry, the picture really doesn't have anything to do with this post. It's just that some people don't even look at posts unless they have pictures. (So, uh....please enjoy this picture of an eye on a wall?)

Anyway,

This is mainly addressed to my fellow Virginian readers (but this concerns everyone!).

Safe, affordable, and accessible women's health care in Virginia is in danger.
The Virginia Board of Health has recently approved a set of regulations on Virginia women's health centers that would threaten and likely successfully CLOSE ALL WOMEN'S HEALTH CLINICS.

These regulations, literally the strictest in the country, would treat women's health centers as hospitals and would require certain unnecessary structural standards, forcing the majority, if not all women's health clinics in the state to close their doors to women in need. These laws are not targeted at any other type of clinic, where even more invasive procedures are performed. These laws target only women's health clinics. From the Virginia Coilition to Protect Women's Health:

"Laws that target only abortion providers have nothing to do with the safe delivery of services for women and everything to do with legislators’ efforts to restrict access to reproductive healthcare."If these regulations are passed by the governor, it would be a tragic and embarrassing change for the worst for men and women of Virginia. If women's health centers closed, women would lose access to not only safe abortion services, but they would also lose access to the services which make up the majority of services offered in most women's health centers: screenings, family planning, STI testing/treatment, etc.

For many women, these centers offer them their only option for safe, accessible, and affordable reproductive care.

Virginia anti-choice governor Bob McDonnel has the final say in whether or not these regulations are passed.

This Saturday, October 15, please attend the Rally for Women's Health in Monroe Park in Richmond. I don't have anything to do with the organization of this event, but I consider it my duty, as a woman of Virginia, to inform everyone of this calamity. (please RSVP here. facebook event here.). If you don't live in Richmond, buses are available from several locations around the state. If you don't live in Virginia, please spread the word around to everyone (especially any Virginians you know). This isn't getting enough attention.

I know that at least a good handful of my followers are from Virginia, so please please please consider coming this Saturday. Please help keep women's health in Virginia safe, accessible, and affordable!

staring into the sun

I'm in a Jose Gonzalez kind of mood today.




On J:

leotard:: American Apparel
skirt:: thrifted
shoes:: thrifted
bag:: inherited

Nadinoo Autumn '11

I was so exited this morning to see that Nadinoo has posted their Autumn '11 collection, 'Sounds of the Woods'. The prints are beautiful! Here were my favorites:

no heat

My apartment has no heat right now. This doesn't sound like it would be a big deal since the high today was upper 50s, which isn't cold, but man, it gets cold at night. That doesn't really have anything to do with this outfit, but I needed to complain about that.








I was really trying to look like Scotch & Soda today. Like, bad.
Exhibit A:



I hope I did okay.


Man, this post was really poorly written. Sorry.


On J:

blouse:: thrifted
sweater:: from Target, chopped and hemmed
jeans:: thrifted
shoes:: thrifted
bag:: thrifted
hat:: thrifted