One paisley summer...

Hey, hi, I'm here! I don't know where the time has gone. This summer (well, year) has just been one thing after another. I'd planned on coming back last week, and then I found myself at my ophthalmologist's office everyday to treat a corneal ulcer (I have super sensitive, easily irritated eyes/skin/everything. Although, I am happy to say that my allergies have greatly improved overall thanks to my shots. Here's to progress!).

So, here's a quick outfit post (I took these in June. Sigh. Where is my summer going?!). I could ramble on endlessly about everything that's gone on since my last real post. But I think I'll just keep it brief for now and address things on their own. This has been an extremely rough year all around. I'd like to just let things come out naturally and address each on its own. So, for now, how about a little good news? I'm engaged. How about that! I also have plenty of photos to post from our trip to Oregon! And I got to see one of my best friends from college for the first time in years at her wedding. There have definitely been some good times, even if they quite frequently seem so fleeting.

(Tulle sweater, old ModCloth dress, Michael Antonio wedges from HauteLook)

(And this is what happens when the sprinklers come on whilst shooting an outfit... Whomp whomp.)

I'm eager to get back into the swing of regular posting and blog reading ASAP! I need a little stability, and this blog is always a nice constant to come back to. Any John Cusack fans, by the way? I couldn't resist the terrible post title. Ah well. See you doves soon!

But the wrong words will strand you, come off course while you sleep...

I've been struggling with writing this post for a couple weeks now. Ultimately, I decided that the best approach is to stop (over)thinking about it and to jump right back in. To not worry about making a big come back post or saying just the right thing. Because if I kept on thinking that way, it would be so easy to just never come back, to abandon ship. And that's not what I want at all.

I'll likely flail around a bit. I expect my posting will be even more irregular than it usually is for a while. And I'm completely okay with that. Because this past Monday, I sat in the sun with my aunt and didn't worry about how I should get home so I could take photos later. I've needed that sort of day lately more than ever before, and not every nice day has to be a photo op. 

I'm going to leave it at that for a while. Right now, I just want to thank you all for your patience these past weeks.

 (ModCloth dress (old), Express (?) cardigan (super old), Target tights, same old shoes)

 

So, here I am jumping back in.

Title from "Play Crack the Sky" by Brand New.

The AHA! Moment...

Errr, I'm still here! After a month of frustration, I finally found out what I'm allergic to (not the Christmas tree after all... Whoops. Sorry, tree!). I've lost count of how many doctor's visits I've had, but the allergist (along with my excellent sleuthing skills) finally helped me solve the mystery. Even with all of my allergies, this is actually the first contact allergy I've ever had! And hopefully the last.

This outfit is a direct result of having 90% of my wardrobe in the wash or hanging to dry (my allergic reaction was caused by a couple of chemicals, one very common, the other not so much, found in hand soap/cleaning products/everything in my house... which meant I proceeded to wash ALL the things to get rid of them). And, I have to say, it's one of my favourites so far! 

I just bought a bunch of new tights from ModCloth to replace my many ripped pairs, and this is the pair I love most. For whatever reason, I knew I wanted to pair them with this mint skirt. And so, just as the solution to this month long medical mystery came to me (seriously, I was getting ready for bed around midnight one night when it hit me... It was a random hand soap I'd picked up around Christmas. A three day (horribly itchy!) patch test helped pinpoint the exact substances), so did this outfit.

 (Olive & Oak from HauteLook blouse, ModCloth skirt & tights, vintage boots)

 

Since all of this nonsense basically consumed my every waking moment of the past month, I feel so out of touch with the blogosphere. So, barring anymore mysteries, I'm hopefully back for good. I'm also very slowly catching up on all my blog reading. It's ridiculous how easy it is to fall so behind. But I'm getting there!

A pre-birthday surprise...

Ack, I didn't mean to be gone for so long! My boyfriend and my brother's girlfriend surprised my brother and me with a weekend in Philly with a bunch of friends. I will admit to not being the best person to surprise... Okay, okay, I'm really, really horrible with surprises.

So, Friday night when I realized that a quite a few of our friends were coming out for Saturday day/night, I had a wee bit of a meltdown. (A lot of it has to do with the fact that this is going to be a big birthday for me, and I've been wavering between feeling totally indifferent about it to absolute dead panic.) But! After I got it out of my system, I was totally fine and had a fantastic weekend! We went to a Cuban restaurant for dinner Friday night which was amazingly good. On Saturday, we got up early and grabbed brunch where one of my best friends and her husband were waiting for us. That was a surprise! I was thrilled to have them there. After brunch (which was delicious), we went to the Yards Brewery for a private tour where more friends showed up. After the tour, we all hung out drinking and talking in the bar for a few hours. I'm not a big beer person, but it was a lot of fun and low key! I found a couple of beers I liked, and there was a Brazilian barbeque food truck out front... So I was happy. Then we went back to where we were staying to relax for a bit before heading out to dinner (some of the best pizza I've had in a long time, actually! And olives. So many delicious olives).

I was terrified that it was just going to be too much. As an introvert, I get overwhelmed by these things so easily. The thing that I have the most difficulty with is holding off judgment. Delaying the panic and worry until I'm in the situation and can tell myself, see! This is fun!... Well, it's something I need to work on in a major way.  And, of course, once I was there and in it, it really turned out to be just the right amount of planned activities and downtime. We stayed in a couple of apartments (much cheaper than hotel rooms would have been and cozier!), and they made the perfect places to hang out during the in between times. We drank wine, played board games, watched some movies.

So, that was my surprise pre-birthday weekend! They did a brilliant job with the planning (I really had no idea they were up to anything), and it was a fantastic time!

I didn't get any outfit photos until today. So, this is what I wore to go to brunch (where a couple more friends met us!) and then head home.

(Anthropologie cardigan, ModCloth top and heels, thrifted J. Crew skirt, Target tights)

 

I love this babydoll top, but it's long... And I'm short! Since it's just not long enough to wear alone as a dress, I like to throw this blue skirt underneath. I've had the skirt forever, and it keeps coming in handy! The top also has an elastic back which makes it fit kind of oddly. It was almost seventy degrees today (... yep...), so I didn't need to bundle up at all. This is another one of my peacock colour schemes, and instead of just going with blue or grey or cream tights, I decided to try out this dark teal pair. Meh. I'm not in love with it. It's definitely something I'll keep playing with!

Now, it's time to relax. I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow (and catch up on my blog reading)! Hope you've had a good weekend!

Do you miss me, Miss Misery?

(I'm leading with a photo today because what I felt like writing about has nothing to do with the outfit or style at all. But there is, in fact, an outfit.)

I spent this entire summer on a sort of music strike. I listened to one band and one band only... Fall Out Boy. Yes, you read that correctly. I've made my way through nearly their entire discography (I refuse to listen to their latest album), becoming obsessed with each album and each song as I went along.

Why, for the love of music, would I do this?  

Well, I have the tendency to get sucked into music in an extremely personal way. It's normal to relate to music. The extent to which I take it, or it takes me, is not normal. I'm fairly certain of that.

So, essentially, I needed a break from my intense relationship with music. I needed to listen to something fun. I needed to drown out the nagging bits and pieces floating around my head for a while. I needed to put aside the heaviness of mostly everything else I listen to... The songs I've carried with me through almost three decades. I cling to them so tightly, drag them through the mud over and over and over. It gets to the point where I can no longer separate myself from them. That's quite a bit of extra weight to carry around all the time.

And so, I let myself enjoy something for what it is and nothing more. I took a break from myself more than anything. (As a result, I annoyed the absolute hell out of my boyfriend and my friends... which was rather enjoyable, really!)

(Everything is ModCloth except the skirt... That's another mystery. One pitfall of not blogging and keeping track of purchases for two years.)

But today I had a quiet day in the office. So, I put all of my songs on shuffle. And no FOB came up. Not a single song. Instead, Elliott Smith, Elvis Costello, the National, Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Rilo Kiley, Ryan Adams, Brand New, and so on. Quiet songs. Old favourites. It was as though my music collection had suddenly become sentient and somehow knew this was what I needed (well, I did just upgrade my phone to iOS7). 

All of the songs that came up still carry quite a bit of weight, but I hadn't listened to them in months. Instead of weighing me down, they felt good. They felt familiar and were, in their own ways, refreshing.

Title from "Miss Misery" by Elliott Smith.

Where the woods and marshes meet...

I went for a long bike ride at Estell Manor Park today. It was sunny and perfectly chilly!

They have tons of bike trails, but they also have a beautiful wooden boardwalk that leads you through the woods and the marsh.

Boyfriend being a ham.

Of course, I took no outfit photos while we were there (it never occurs to me while I'm out!). So, I just ran out and quickly snapped this when we got home in the evening.

(F21 plaid shirt, Society 6 Tom Waits tee from my BFF, shorts could be Target?, Wanted oxfords)

Back to work tomorrow. Hmph! Can't I have a do-over for Friday and Saturday now that I'm feeling better? No? Ah well.

Before I forget! I'll probably be playing with the look of the blog soon. It's about that time. So, if things get a little wonky around here for a bit, I apologize in advance!  

Beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena...

These days, I have no trouble admitting that 2012 was a very rough year for me. So, this past winter when I finally started coming out of my haze, I adopted Wonder Woman as my spirit animal. She serves as a reminder to myself that I am more than grad school (and dropping out of it), I am more than a desk job, I am more than an age (this year is a big one for me), and I am more than all the sorrow and frustration the world can heap on any of us at any time. 

(UO cardigan, WW tee from Amazon, F21 skirt, Target tights, ModCloth heels)

While I still have my days (who doesn't?), I generally feel better than I have in a very long time. This post/outfit (and getting back into blogging in general) is about feeling like myself again and finding a foothold in reality through the things I enjoy most in life (however unrealistic and fantastical those things may be).

I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my weekend, and I hope you're enjoying yours!

Oh, hi...

I'm back!

I started writing this re-introductory post at least five times in the past year and trashed them all. I could list all the reasons I took a two year hiatus from this blog. I could go on and on about why these photos aren't my favourite. But I won't because that's not the point. The point (!) is that I'm here, and I'm taking photos and blogging again. 

(ModCloth top, Topshop skirt, Blowfish shoes)

I've moved a couple times since last I was here, and I've only been in my current place for a few months now. So, I'm sure I'll be experimenting with photo locations for a bit. These were my first try on the back porch I love having a screened in porch! The cats do too.

Speaking of the cats, we now have three! Here are a couple photos of them (they're excellent photo bombers, so you'll be seeing more of them). I'll be featuring some more of my favourite photos from my time away from blogging as I go along. If you're curious, I've documented the last couple if years pretty well on Instagram!

Arwen and Cormac. We got Cormac last summer.

Duke! We've had him for just over a week.

So, I hope you guys are still here, and I hope you'll stick around through this transition! I just had the busiest summer of my life, so I'm finally ready to jump back into this thing. It's good to be back, and I'm excited to see where it goes!