Thursday, January 30, 2014

up close and personal.


there have been several requests of some 'close-ups'
so... here's some stuff i made, or whatever.

fashion illustration of a cowl hooded scarf i designed, printed with leaves, and made last semester

a live model study on pleats and draping

a live model study on mixed media, grunge techniques

a study on pointillism and skin tone (i love this one)





mange my baguette



things i should be doing:
homework,
laundry (literally down to one pair of underwear)
cleaning my apartment,
pattern drafting,
hand sewing,
returning emails,
etc.

things i am doing:
looking through every possible picture of my nephew i can find,
missing harlow and his silly personality,
and lastly- food.
i went to the market this morning & as the lady in front of me had clearly forgotten her carte bleu (debit card), she scrambled for the change at the bottom of her purse.
and by scrambled, i mean took literally 17 minutes, casually looking from previously checked pouch to pocket.
the french do nothing- literally NOTHING- in a hurry.
after about 12 minutes, i offered the cashier 2€ on her behalf. her total was 5,31€. 
people only realize i'm not french when i try to do nice things. 
mildly offended but mostly surprised, the woman refused and suddenly produced the rest of the money. 
she thanked me like 4 times (i'm pretty sure that's a record in france), and said a bunch of other things i couldn't understand- likely, 'how rude' 'i could never' 'i'll pay for my own groceries thank you very much' 
lady. i just was getting annoyed and wanted to buy my two liters of water, one apple and dog food and get out of there. 
then it hit me. 
this cashier, whom i see a few times a week, must think i live off water, cheese and the occasional bottle of wine. 
then it hit me again.
what DO i live off of? what do i eat? i never really buy anything else. 
also, in my absurdity, i briefly thought: does wine count as a fruit?
i came home and have been looking at photos of food i used to make on the regular.
back when i had sprouts and safeway and trader joes.
back when i had money.
and people to eat food with.
it's so weird eating literally every meal alone. 
this is not how food was intended to be enjoyed.
but when i cook, cook. i wind up eating the same thing for 6-7 straight meals (breakfast included).
because, a) only one dish can fit in my mini fridge at a time,
and b) can't be wasting!

here's some food i wish i could put in my mouth:

veggies skewers in olive oil, garlic, s&p

breakfast tacos and sw hashbrowns

mmm, pasta and stuffed tomatoes

quinoa veggie salad

white bean, tomato salad :: sliced zucchini salad :: grilled curry tilapia over a bed of fries and topped with an avocado vert tapenade  


now that i'm salivating, i'm gonna go drink some water for dinner.
(jokes- i have some gummybears too).


which way to loveland.



someone sent me this song about a year and a half ago.
it's beautiful.
it's also terribly sad.
i haven't listened to it in months,
but i've woken up with it stuck in my head for the last three mornings.
it's probably some sign i'm blatantly ignoring.
anyway, it's worth a listen.
this is them performing in my hometown.
enjoy.




Saturday, January 25, 2014

Smithing!! (or- my best got married)



while riding in the front row of a private jet down to Cabo San Lucas,
my new best friends (jess & julie) and i were struck by the fact,
that for being wandering, painfully broke, 20-somethings- our life is ridiculously rich.
huzzah!!

my dearest sarah moved to africa,
met a boy,
fell in love,
and is about to live happily ever after.
(her and Blake's story is far more elaborate and deeply inspiring that that, 
but, i used that up for my toast).
also, a few of us upgraded the phrase 'winning' to 'smithing'-
because if you're a smith, you're winning at life ;) 

here are some pics from the fabulous destination week! 
(and my bookend journeys along the way)



this is my lil dress i made.
the flight to dublin. (this is the beautiful irish seaside).

due to weather, i was delayed in dublin, aka- bussed to a 5star hotel for free and fed awesome food.

some of the maids in bloomington! cabo bound.

oh, heyyy private jet status.

to Casa Penasco por favor!
bach party on a boat!

so so pretty. (minus me ralphing my guts out at sea)

love.
love.
love.
i'll take any excuse to make a crown for this babe.

best part of waking up.

welcome to the New Year, party!

glow cups for the win, with this beauty. thanks joan!

pimp my bride.
fun luncheon and cooking class at floras farm.
heirloom carrot margaritas- yes please!
bride in blue.
the greatest APU tragedy i've never known: not being besties with this ladybird.
so fresh and so clean, clean.
last contrucci eve. rehearsal din and toasts at mi casa. 
one more sleep.

it's here, it's here!!! (wedding morn)

these two. like a fairy tale.
ay ay ay!
we get to share her now. too lovely.
private jet back to reality.
also, reality bites.
shared my flaming hot cheeto with ZJ- he took it like a champ. 
missing this sweet dude.
my extended family in chicago, sans one. i know- we're such a big family we barely fit in one photo. 



oh hey 3 months later



gosh- i had such a plan to blog, blog, blog while in Paris.
apparently, ain't nobody got time for that. 

here's some updates:
i survived last semester.
barely.
cried some, worked hard, did well.
cleared my medical appt & got my french residency.
stayed in Paris for xmas.
thank GOD my friend Jess stayed too.
we went to window displays, 
monuments,
and had christmas eve dinner together.
it was super nice.
it was really hard to be away from my nephew and fam this year.
then i flew from here > ireland > us > mexico
for sarah's wedding.
(second blog coming soon).

i'm already two weeks into my second and last semester.
it's already going super fast.
i did two internships this fashion week
& have another lined up next month.
gotta build that res.

here are some pics from the above mentioned updates! 

this is how i look & ride the metro on friday nights. it's so sexy. i get hit on a lot.

my proposed 'statement collection' for comme des garçons

me: 0, final's week: 1

preparing for my final critique. it's a huge deal in front of a jury of assessors.

the fruits of my labor.

i got dressed up one- literally one- day last semester. final critique and OFII appointment day.

whoop whoop- practically parisian.

on the last day of school, i took a long walk and reflected and saw some beautiful streetart.

and found a rainbow road. best, ever.

st. nick really gets around...the world.

trying to be tourists during break & take advantage of living in paris.

christmas eve dinner with my jessi boo. made soup, poulet & pommes de terre, and haricots vert. equipped with candles and drop dead diva.

we took the city bus to look at christmas lights with oliver. it was freezing and pouring rain, but fun for sure.




Bonne Annee!