The beautiful day beckons

Like many a-fickle person, I'm loath to but find myself wanting to blame the dismal weather for my dampened (pun intended) spirits. These photos were taken literally within a span of roughly five minutes by dear Pink because that was really all the time we had. And here's where I let out a big sigh. Ah, back in the day when it was actually too hot for me to foolishly wear tights, long sleeves and heavy boots. Back when it wasn't a week-long rainy fest of gray. I feel like I'm living in London during the 1800s. I expect an old crone to come hobbling out and whisk me away on some Dickensian adventure. If only.

(It's been raining all this week, if that wasn't already clear)

And today I just came back from a day-long trip in the Windy City, which was more of a Windy-and-Steadily-Raining-all-day-City today. But y'know what? It's all good in this tri-state area neighborhood.

Dress- Target  ::  Scarf- stolen from my friend Pink  ::  Boots- Kenneth Cole 925  ::  Lipstick- Revlon Matte "In the Red"

Season of the Blazer

It's that time of year again, everyone. Time to dust off your trusty blazers, because that slight chill in the air isn't going to warm itself. Oh, and scarves, don't forget the scarves (though die-hard hipsters would probably argue that scarves are a year-long thing).

The other female in these set of photos that is clearly not to be confused with me is my dear friend Kirsten. She's ridiculous, derpy, cool, crazy and weird. Once, she jammed to "Party in the USA" and I told her that all her street cred was lost. Then she got it back by not caring about street cred. Boss.

Did I mention derpy? I consider it an important, endearing quality to have.

Top- Nasty Gal  ::  Shorts- Thailand  ::  Shoes- Dolce Vita for Target  ::  Blazer- stolen from Mom, stolen from Ralph Lauren


Time to get back to my stressfully and delightfully busy weekend!

A title would be redundant.

Guess who randomly decided to come back for a spell?

I don't think you want to know that answer.

Shirt- Target (actually stolen from Mom's closet) ::  Shorts- benevolent mystery  ::  Cardigan- H&M  ::  Shoes- Charlotte Russe  ::  Lipstick- Revlon in Siren

Normally I'd be compelled to explain my unannounced absence; but again, I feel like that'd be redundant. Today was just a spark of inspiration, more than I've gotten in awhile.
But I assure you through the power of crappy photography and the internet, that I am alive and well. If you'd like to see significantly more alive internet ramblings, my tumblr is the place to be. :)
Till next (sporadic) time!

Bravo! pour le clown

Bienvenue, messieurs et mesdames.

Will not sit down awhile, listen to The Sparrow and join the circus with us?

Rapture and Awe

Hi, everybody! (and this is where you go, "Hi, Dr. Nick!") I'm here, it's 2ish AM and the rapture hasn't arrived yet. I wasn't exactly sure whether it was a day-based thing or a time-based thing that would occur on the particular day... But either way, you need to cancel your dinner reservations. Because this is serious business.


Unfortunately, I don't have any particular profundity to spout or more jabs to poke. All I have are these quick photos that I managed to get while partaking in the lovingly warm outside world today before the weather goes badonk because of you-know-what.


And now it's 2:30ish AM. Nothing yet on my end of the world. Lemme know if something comes up on your end of the world. Whether your clocks start going backwards, or your dog starts acting weird, or your doorstep suddenly becomes inhabited by a certain Son of God who has a baseball mitt in hand... Either way, y'know.

V-neck- Thailand  ::  Skinnies- Gap  ::  Shoes- Jessica Simpson  ::  Ribbon- who knows and what does it matter because THE RAPTURE IS UPON US
Oh yeah, and look, I got a new haircut yay hi everybody hi.

WWJD? Probably say, "chillax everyone, chillax." 
My mom will probably kill me for saying that. Or not, since she isn't completely convinced that Jesus is going to make a comeback so soon. She also isn't insane.

The smell of last year

Blouse- secondhand  ::  Belt- Thailand  ::  Skirt- so long ago, since ... 9th grade! geez  ::  Sandals- TJMaxx  :: Lipstick- Revlon Lustrous Lipstick "Plumalicious"  ::  Horse- THE LAND OF EQUESTRIA

Can you ever believe that this statue is made out of metal, not wood? 

Though I wore this shirt primarily for the practical reason to cover myself without collapsing into a pool of tired sweat, nostalgia managed to permeate my skin as soon as I put it on. I couldn't help but recall that around the same time last year, I wore this shirt (and sandals) on my first day out in a thrillingly new country. Just looking at the pictures I took back then make me smile. They remind me of the smell of frangipanis, the tropical flower that grew almost everywhere in fragrant clusters. 


Here, there are no frangipanis. But there are ... whatever these flowers are. I'm no botanist, so if anyone can kindly point out what flowers they are (I know they're not lavender, unless my nose is broken and I couldn't easily tell), I'd appreciate the extra bit of knowledge. These might not hold the same sweet scent, but they still had the sweetness to attract many bees. 


Wait, crap. That's not a fair trade-off, is it? Shit.


Anyway: is it weird that I find myself occasionally missing a place that isn't home? Have you ever found yourself in the same or similar position? Most importantly, will the bees leave me alone?

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. 

Everybody loves a winner

So nobody loved me.

Just kidding. But you know what I'm getting no love from? Finals. But it's almost over. But I have to begin studying, first. Yikes.

Shirt- Mossino  ::  Skirt- Modcloth  ::  Belt- Thailand  ::  Shoes- Target

Directing Traffic

Shirt- Mossino ::  Scarf- Urban Outfitters  ::  Shorts- Thailand  ::  Belt- secondhand  ::  Tights- We Love Colors  ::  Wedges- Bandolino via TJMaxx  ::  Coat- Gap  ::  Color blindness not included

WHAM. 
Hear that? That was... not the sound of the death of Osama bin Laden, unlike what amazingly happened with this man who inadvertently tweeted the historic incident. 


No, that sound was actually supposed to be the sound of color slapping you in the face. It's almost laughable how drastically different this outfit is in comparison to the one featured before it. Well, not that laughable, but at least it'll coerce a little chortle, no? You know, even though this is a relatively well-lit-happy-sunshine-look-at-me-guyz post like any other, I'd feel out of place not talking about it. I find it odd that while social media has revolutionized how we receive our breaking news, there are different compartments as to how they're distributed. 


Where were you when you first heard that Osama bin Laden was dead?

A clean slate

There are two things lovely about this photo: My friend and the fact that this picture was taken right before she said "... boobs."

This is probably why she said that word. Because she's mature.

Today it rained. Thankfully by the time I went out, it had stopped and all that was left over was the heady scent of earth after rain. I wish I could take that smell and trap it into a little green bottle for keepsake and usage. In my downtime after class, I was entranced like a child at how marvelously green the campus was; it made me appreciate the rain (coincidentally I loved it when it wasn't drizzling on me). Spring just gained a point towards being my favorite season at the moment.

The bare bones of it all

Let's play the game: who can spot the squirrel? Or as I like to call them, "spurls."

Moody close-ups are moody.

Shirt- Goodwill? or something  ::  Cardigan- TJMaxx  ::  Skirt- secondhand  ::  Tights- We Love Colors  ::  Socks- Sock Theory ::  Shoes- Old Navy

Quick note: I just realized that in a weird way, this outfit is "totes ironic" (what makes that phrase even more annoying is if you imagine me saying it with air quotes) because while this post is called "bare bones," the clashing color scheme is anything BUT. This outfit has more print mixing than paper factory explosion, it's insanity. Call it an eyesore or mad, it's just Charmalade! 


New annoying catch phrase? Hell yes.


BUT YEAH. It feels weird to jump back into the blogging pool after nearly two weeks of silence. It's even weirder that a) I don't mention that I was gone at all and/or b) considering that it's coming from me, the ever-so-loud one. 

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...

Forgotten snowy weekend

Look at your calendar. Now look at this blog post's date. Now back to the calendar. Now back to the blog post. Sadly, something doesn't seem right because 


a) there isn't this much snow and warm cozy feeling in April.
b) this is a poor adaptation of that one thing you all love.
c) answers a and b.
d) I'm on a horse.


Free hug to anyone who gets the right answer.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming

Miss me?

Polo+Sweater+Flats- I think they're all Mom'd, oh geez  ::  Shorts- Thailand  ::  Socks- Urban Outfitters

Noticed anything different about me? Perhaps in the hair follicle area?

You mean you didn't miss me? I think I need to quote my friend Cee-Lo Green and say... fffff-f-