The places I've been

Since last I've posted, I've been to...

three towns, four cities, scads of gas stations, one shooting range and too many bars to count.

But lately I've mostly been holed up in the house. Maybe it's time I came back to this place, right here on the interwebs. It's been awhile.

[insert symbolic photograph of your journey and feelings here, you dirty hipster]

But I'm standing still

Where have I been? And while we're (not) asking, where's Hotaru?

We've been off adventuring.

But I've been lounging around like a dilapidated brain all this week. It's quite terrible. One might say that I'm ... trapped in my daily habits.

Yeah no one thought that was funny, either. 




I hope the rest of the photos will come soon in due time!

Alleyways and pay phone calls

V-neck- Pitaya ::  Tee- H&M  ::  Shorts- from Pink!  ::  Shoes- Dolce Vita for Target  ::  Looking this baller- Your mum

As mentioned in the last post, a certain alleyway was home to the photo shoot du jour during our adventure in Indy. And unfortunately that's pretty much all the coherent words I can conjure up to describe this post and my head has run out of ideas faster than RPatz climbs trees (the only reason I refer to that walking pop culture tidbit on this blog is because I just saw Water for Elephants which wasn't the worst movie but OK this sentence is already a paragraph I'll stop right). 


I feel like this whenever I'm given the occasional duty to create a short headline for a story running in the paper. I'm slightly flustered and don't say the right/write thing. Instead of writing a proper/boring headline like "Columnist urges students to study abroad," I'm always tempted to write "STUDYING ABROAD IS FUCKING AWESOME." Because that'll totally grab your attention, right? 


My copy editor friends are sticklers about that and don't find it as humorous as I do. You know who you are, in the comment section. I see you. 

It's always summertime here in my mind

This past Monday, my friends and I celebrated a birthday (and the beginning of summer vacation in general) by gallivanting around Indy. 

Oh wait, did I say... summer vacation? Hell to the bleepin' yes I did. The weather seems to have gotten word of it, too. Literally as I type this, my legs are stuck together like Velcro, thanks to the humidity that seems to have blossomed overnight. But I'm digressing.

As I've so briefly started earlier, Monday was set aside for a whole day's worth of adventuretime with good friends. We laughed, we walked around in circles, we vintage shopped, we shopped in general, we ate copious amounts of food... and I fell in love. Yes, I can't stop thinking about the (to steal a term coined by my friend) deliciously quaint subdivision of the city we hung out in. The setting was perfect, really. There it was in all its artsy-fartsy-downtown-college-student-area glory, and I had no chance. Little eateries/cafés and shaded neighborhoods? Ugh, I'm so there.

Meet Hotaru Lola somethingoranotherIhavetofigureoutherfullandfinalname. Pink gave her to me and this little buddy traveled with me wherever I went. Think of her like the gnome from Amélie and/or Travelocity commercials, only much smaller and cuter. You'll be seeing much of her in this post.

I ended up buying one of these au natural soaps at the local health food store because its scent reminded me of Thailand. Nostalgia, thy name is me.

Indulge that sweet tooth, dear

Imagine a sunny and unbelievably warm Saturday afternoon. Imagine the one thing that'll make it better.


That's right. HOMEMADE CUPCAKES. 


Brandi, I officially made the cupcakes and I officially apologize for how delayed this baking experience has been. In the end, it was totally worth it. 

Please tell me that I'm not the only one who thought of Ms. Frizzle and the Magic School Bus when I saw this....

But did they turn out well?! Dun dun dunnnnn...

Luck o' the Korean

This may be a day late, but I figured I should put it up to preserve the luck o' the Korean. What, you never heard of it? 

It's that thing where you eat kimchi every day for the rest of your life and never get sick.
It's that thing where you ride on a swing while standing up and wearing a wide-brimmed hat made out of horsehair so you can ensure your invincibility.

It's that thing where you take a tiny, irate Korean leprechaun and carry him around in your pocket until some gold falls on your head.

It could be none or all of these things. Either way, I invented my own luck, with a little help from the Irish. I always like dressing for the occasion, so green was in order. I also didn't want to get pinched by a slovenly stranger, because that's unsavory. 

My St. Patrick's Day last year was when I opted for an alternative choice that delineated away from the standard fish 'n' chips + booze fare with Lizzie. Vegan food and taking pictures downtown. Ah, how lovingly quaint.

This year, my mom and I ventured to Indy where we looked at high quality department store items with the prices to match. Have you ever done that thing where you walk into a very high class store, such as Chanel or Burberry, and try to "act like you belong" and pass by clothing you can only dream of purchasing and casually peek at the price tags, casually put them down and then casually walk away with a bemused air of "yeah, I can totally buy that now if I wanted to, but I don't feel like it." 

Hands up, that was me.

Is this a good enough disguise to shake the department store heads off my tail?

Consistency, consistency

Sweater- Old Navy  ::  Black scarf- Pink's  ::  White scarf+Boots- via TJMaxx  ::  Jeans- Gap  ::  Gloves- Urban Outfitters  ::  Beret- thrifted

No, I'm not talking about the kind of consistency that prunes induce. Though I've eaten prunes before, and ... yeah, I prefer fruits that don't make me feel like a geriatric bear.


I'm talking about the kind of consistency that this blog needs, a square kick in the pants to get the machine moving along. And I'm already off to a dismal OK start. Right? Why do I hear crickets, it's the dead of winter. Tough crowd.


[Note: I guess I should also fully disclose that I've been storing these pictures on my jumpdrive since last week, saving it for days like today when I didn't have any plausible time to take photos on my poor, rinky-dink camera that I may or may not have broken already. It doesn't feel so long ago when I first bought it! Yet I'm already considering a "fancier" camera. This is terrible. But does anyone have any suggestions for a reasonably priced, not-too-fancy-and-easy-to-use DSLR? I'd really, really appreciate it ... there's an imaginary amazing cookie in store for you if you do help...]

Come Play With Us

I remembered that I never remembered to put up these photos I took during my little romp during my trip to Chicago back in winter break. After my mom and I put-putted around Adams St., and after checking in and subsequently collapsing in our room, we decided to do two very different things. While my mom was taking a quick nap, I was determined to explore the (supposedly) haunted hotel (despite how tired I actually was). And I made some interesting discoveries... that I photoshopped in later. 


Oh, crap, did I ruin the magic?


Still. I really did have fun poking around the old, historic hotel, especially because there weren't a lot of people around to interfere or question my fun poking around. If you can't tell from the pictures, I had a lot of creeptastic fun.

Werewolf Bar Mitzvah, spooky scary

Two costumes, one dress. Secretly, I was really a person who remixes her clothes for Halloween, but that would've been much harder to explain.

Aaaaand it's the Halloween episode! I mean, post, it's the Halloween post, several days late. Blame it on the barrage of exams and projects, since there wasn't any a-a-a-a-alcohol to be had (disclaimer: that was a reference to a bad song, I've yet to be a raging alcoholic). 


Anyway, onto the fun costumes. Meet my alter egos: 

Lini P. Vixenberger. Channeling Liza Minelli from Cabaret who was channeling Charlie Chaplin. She dislikes pecans and likes cocktails with suggestive names. She's a sweetheart.

One doesn't receive a kiss and tell *exaggerated wink*

The Crimson Shadow. Identity unknown. Powers unknown. Honestly, not much is known about her, except that she's definitely not a sweetheart.

In which I try to look like a total badass super villainess, but when I look at these photos, I realize that it can never be because a) I couldn't run in high heels/wedges and b) I don't have the impossibly large bust/tiny waist body ratio of a typical comic book female.

Welcome to Spectre

Oh, first off: I just joined this new-fangled thing called Bloglovin'. I'd be much obliged and tickled if you'd follow.

I swear this frightfully yellow/blurry-looking picture doesn't do the sushi platter justice...

What's Lovely for October 8, 2010:  How a happenstance run-in with a friend (whom you haven't seen in awhile) pushes away any previous frustration and anger you've had so you can all enjoy a long overdue sushi dinner together

I like this picture because it reminds me of that mysterious town in the movie Big Fish. 

Remember my What's Lovely from last Friday? No? Something about artificial and real stars? Yeah, that wasn't just me trying to be poetic. Well, it was a little bit. The point is, I wanted to share some of the photos I took that night-- it was a small arts/music festival that lured all the local hipsters out from their hovels and coffeehouses into one tiny area. In short, it was a grand ol' time, I really enjoyed it. Click to see more indie goodness. 

We'll always have New York

Shirt- Aeropostale  ::  Scarf- garage sale  ::  Pants- Mom's  ::  Leggings- magic?  ::  Belt- Thailand  ::  Shoes- Jeffrey Campbell via Thailand

What's Lovely for Monday, August 16, 2010:  Being able to see great, famous works of art in the afternoon and eat great lo mein for dinner that same day
&
What's Lovely for Friday, August 20, 2010:  Having a friendly snake tickle your armpit (I swear, not as weird as it sounds)
&
What's Lovely for Saturday, August 21, 2010:  Feeling faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabulous (pictures shall come later)

Gettin' Wild in Williamsburg

What's Lovely for Sunday, August 15, 2010:  Meeting a fellow Hoosier in the city that never sleeps, thanks to blogging. Oh, the possibilities.

[If you'd rather not see my touristy-y pictures of Brooklyn, skip on down to the jump break to see my outfit pics-- and a certain someone else's-- woah that sounded way creepier than I intended. I also finally got a Chictopia, so you could check that out if you want to, too!]

Yes it's true; I never thought I'd be there, but Lizzie and I took the hour-ish long subway ride to Brooklyn, more specifically to that mythical hipster haven they call Williamsburg. And besides seeing hipsters being eco-friendly on bikes, who else would I meet there, but...

Entering the Empire State of Mind

What's Lovely for Saturday, August 14, 2010: The overwhelming relief that you're headed on a plane towards that city with the Big Apple

Little Italy proved to be as delicious as they say. Heavenly bread and cannolis? Yes, please.

100 Acres of Art

What's Lovely for Saturday, July 17, 2010: I'mma be at IMA

Awp. Looks like the little brat who was creeped on earlier is now the creeper. Woah.

Tank- thrifted from Goodwill :: Shorts- gift from Thailand :: Necklaces- Thailand & thrifted :: Brooch- gift from Rome :: Belt-
Goodwill'd :: Shoes- Jeffrey Campbells via Thailand

To clarify, I'm not going to the Indianapolis Museum of Art when I've already been there. But then, the pun wouldn't have worked. YouknowwhatImean. This past weekend the mother and I went to visit IMA and its surrounding gardens. And by that, I mean that I wanted to walk outside while she preferred the air conditioned museum. Usually I never pass up an opportunity to see an art museum with all its glorious art, but I was eager to see the new 100 Acres park that just opened up (is it lame that I also really wanted to go because John Green of Vlogbrothers featured it in one of his videos? perhaps). Even though I only saw a bit of it, it definitely didn't disappoint. I loved walking around all the nature paths-- once or twice I was all by myself, enabling me to sing "Colors of the Wind" in complete peace (no joke, I thought it appropriate for the setting).

Can you believe that not one, but two people are living in this tiny igloo throughout the summer? I applaud them and hope they don't develop claustrophobia or agoraphobia.

I definitely need to visit this place again. And you should too, know why? Because IMA, 100 Acres and everything else around it is free. FREE. How ridiculous is that? I'm almost suspicious of it all, just like how this strange concept of the "library" sounds too good to be true...

I'm only showing this picture of a mannequin from the H&M I went to afterwards because I think I'd walk outside in an outfit like this. What do you think? Do you think that this is Charmalade-style?

When we were leaving, there was this bizarre sight in the sky-- dark clouds with only a sliver of blue and white peeping through. Again, my camera can't do this spectacle full justice, but it's pretty damn close.

And so ended my day in Indy. Next up: Catching up on my What's Lovelies and finally answering Indigo's questions that she tagged me in awhile ago! Yikes.