And The Days Go By

______Welp, another week has zoomed by and I didn't even realize it. I hope you all had a most excellent holiday, ate lots of things, saw lots of family, blah, blah blah, I'm sure you've heard this from every blog so I'll spare ya. My Christmas was more wondrous than I could have imagined, as was having everybody (including our spoiled wirehair pointer pup) under the same roof. The parental units cooked a meaty turkey on the Big Green Egg to celebrate our togetherness, and we opened the gifts up on Christmas Eve, as per tradition. I received a lovely number of cycling goodies and a limited edition gold Zelda 3DS.

______Yes, I am twenty years old. Yes, I was ecstatic to get Pokemon X and the newest Animal Crossing. Yes, I stayed in my fluffy robe all day and played my handheld nonstop.

______Huzzah, adulthood!






______Thinking it was over, and more than thankful for what I had already been given, I moseyed on over to our cookie counter to suck the white chocolate off some pretzels doused in the sweet stuff. When I turned around, I heard a soft clicking noise, and to my astonishment, witnessed my dad wheeling out a brand new Specialized road bike. It possessed a dazzling black frame that boasted a carbon fork, and the curved handlebars were taped off in a fiery red.

______Such divine. So much unexpect. What pretty. How English?

______Somehow my dad snuck this into the house and hid it under a big old tarp from me for two weeks, even though I was mere inches away from it from time to time. I don't question the big old tarps. Oblivion is a beautiful thing.

______For those of you who don't know, I'm super into biking and have been seriously for about three or four years now, doing at least ten miles a day, even if that means braving the cold winter air at 5 in the morning before college classes. Now, I'll be able to better that tradition and train more smoothly on roads with this bad boy, who I have named Sir Spider. Pre-Sir Spider, I tried to convince myself that I didn't need a shiny new road bike, but after receiving this one on Christmas morning and easing through my usual routine in record time, along with feeling faster than a cockroach in a brightly-lit room, I quickly erased that notion from my mind.



Cape jacket: via Lotus Boutique (similar)
Dress: Charlotte Russe
Booties: Lucky Brand, secondhand (similar)
Bow gloves: via Target
Socks: also via Target
Necklace: land down under naw naw jp Charming Charlie

Holiday Lately

______Somehow, someway, I've gotten myself into a busy rut--and on the winter break, at that! I built myself a mega-canvas on Tuesday and have been painting on it ever since, and my, how time flies when you paint! Why, one of the clocks in my house sprouted wings and took flight after it witnessed me at work. Now it is out in the real world and will probably soar to a neighboring state and befuddle the citizens of a differing time zone.

______But I digress! Because of my severe case of the busy bees, I was unable to get any formal outfit pictures up this week; however, I have been snapping a few pictures here and there of myself and of all the scrumptious things I've been baking, so that counts for something, right? Close-ups of my face, my fashion junk, and sugar-filled goodies... what more could you ask for?

______Hope you guys have an excellent weekend! Be sure to devour everything you can, and watch out for flying clocks!



Sunnies: thrifted
Booties: Lucky Brand, secondhand (similar)
All jewelry: Charming Charlie
Sweater: via TJ Maxx
Hair: styled by the mom

Wintry Wishlist + Persunmall

______Now that exams are out of sight and out of mind, I can relax to the max, both by merrily working on some art things and doing a much needed closet cleanout. I've already sold a good chunk of my wardrobe, and today I'm getting to organizing my socks. Guys, please don't ever become a sock and tight addict. It's not worth it. I'm drowning in an estimated fifty plus pairs of socks and tights and now very aware that I have a problem. Welp, the first step is admitting it.

check sweater | abstract sweater | green dress 

necklace | red sweater | cropped blazer 

______Once I get through it, though, I'm eager to fill the cracks of my closet with a plethora of wearable new goodies, namely smart, classic patterns and bold hues... perhaps some of these delicacies from Persunmall would fit the bill? Persunmall offers an ogle-worthy collection of sweaters, dresses, shoes, and more; I'm seriously impressed by their stylish selections! I'm especially eying their sweaters, like the three I've picked out above.

______What colors are you most excited to wear this season? I'm pretty in love with deep burgundy right now!

Cinnamon and Cloves

______Besides baking truckloads of scrumptious cookies and fudge, one of my favorite holiday activities is viewing the festive light patterns that speckle and spatter people's homes in the crispy cool evenings. Not far from my own house, there's a quaint cluster of homes on a hill that's vivified at night by a spectacular montage of tacky holiday decorations. And when I say tacky, I mean all the tacky. All of it: odd Santa Clause blow-ups with spinning eyes, labyrinths of intricate candy-cane paths, multitudes of seizure-inducing lights, rainbow-bright reindeers, and nativity scenes constructed from blowups and plastic figurines that pulse with a strange inner light.

______My family lovingly calls it, "Redneck Christmas," and we appreciate its fragility each and every passing holiday season. It truly is a spectacle to hold within your mind.


___
______This camera here was purchased for five buckaroonis (yes, that is most definitely a word) at an antique shop. What it lacks in function it gains in being a precious little prop. And also at being a weapon for slinging ferociously at zombie butterflies. They're coming one day, you know. Legend says they're born when the butterflies in everyone's stomaches are regurgitated after college finals are over. Be safe out there, my friends. It is said the collective beating of their wings can deafen a man.



Coat: Altr'd State (same here)
Dress: Forever 21
Socks: Target
Booties: Chelsea Crew (similar)
Gloves: some leather shop sorries forgot
Earrings: Charming Charlie
35mm Kodak: $5 from an antique shop

Dreamscenes I

______Man, I've been slower than a fat Santa through a chimney on keeping up with my artwork this semester, but I feel like that's because I've been experimenting and learning new ways of approaching art opposed to actively working at producing end products. Which I am totally fine with. You can always make stuff on your own, but sometimes you need a little teacher coercion to tug you out of your comfort zone.

______I did come out with a few snapshot-worthy works, though, and I'll be posting those throughout the winter break (if I make it through exam week... insert frightening organ pipe music here). This was my figure drawing final, in which we were to create whatever we desired using anything at all.  I mean anything. One guy used butter, mustard, and vaseline to finalize his, and curiously enough, it was effective.

______I didn't add perishable food products in mine, but rather opted to scan through my Word document full of dreams I've scribbled down and use acrylic. I decided to base mine on an uber weird dream I had that involved a mushroom-cloud-like tree, two figures contemplating said mystical mushroom tree, and multiple crows delivering cobs of corn to the tree (which I chose to left out, because naaaaah). 

______There are lots of things I've learned through making this: 

______a) working on such a large scale is quite refreshing! 

______b) I need to paint more and more, for I've only produced a single-digit number of paintings and I know I could have done better than this. Painting should be second nature to me by now! 

______c) dreams are a rich source material, and having a fashion blog and a brother who is overtly willing to pose for you makes finding decent models easy peasy!

Dreamscenes I, acrylic on Rives BFK (60"x44")

Figure Drawing, Fall 2013