Construction

 

Sorry for the lack of updates this week! The weather here, like most of the country, has been pretty gross all week, so I haven't had much inspiration or opportunities for more photos. Instead, I've taken to the indoors and have decided to revel in my inheritance.

As some of you might know, my grandmother passed away suddenly early last fall. It was quite a shock, and we're still going through many of her things. She grew up during the Great Depression, and like many people from that generation, she had boxes upon boxes of just, stuff, packed away in her house. As you can imagine, it takes a while to sort all of it. My parents even found some tin type photos from the late 1800s in her basement! Pretty amazing, huh? Anyway, my grandfather generously passed on all of her sewing supplies to my mother, who then passed them on to me (since my old room is full of her own sewing supplies!!). 

When I was little, my mom used to sew a lot. In fact, she made a living sewing dresses for entire wedding parties, including the bride's gown. She even made mine! Naturally, when I was a kid, I helped her a lot...mostly by staying out of her way and not sticking myself with the pins, I suspect, but I know the basics of sewing from those years. It's been quite a while since I last had my hands on a machine (awhile = 9-10 years! eek!), but I'm hoping it's like riding a bicycle.

  

So, I borrowed some patterns from my mom and bought some fabric and sat down to sew. Now, my apartment is teeny tiny, so I don't have room for a sewing table. Above is my current setup-- all my crafty supplies on a low table with folding legs, straight from my undergraduate days. It's not bad so far, but it's a bit tricky to use the foot pedal this way!

When I bought the fabric, I also invested in a pair of left-handed scissors. I'm not sure if I've ever had a proper pair of lefty scissors. I've always had a huge problem using scissors, and my teachers in elementary school didn't really know what to do and of course didn't have lefty scissors, so they would usually just do any necessary cutting for me. It was the same way at home. So, I was really excited the other day when I found some lefty scissors made just for sewing! I came home and started cutting out a pattern, and realized.....

...I can't really use scissors. Talk about embarrassing. I guess all those scissor skill development years were lost on me! It took soooo long to cut out the darn thing, but it was really pretty funny. I'll just have to practice, I guess!

  

This thread was the bulk of the inheritance. Some of these guys are tiny wooden spools from the 1950s (in the right side of the picture). 

  

 Here are some of the fabrics I bought. Aren't they gorgeous? Prints have really come a long way from the cheesy ones I remember from the early 1990s. I'm planning to turn these into dresses and skirts. Providing I can maneuver the scissors well enough, that is! Do any of you make your own clothes? Any tips or tricks for a novice?

Lastly, I'd like to send a huge thank-you to Tieka of Selective Potential, who recently included me & K in her "Guy Behind the Camera" series. I'm flattered to be in such good company! I'm sure you've all seen her blog, but if for some reason you haven't, go pay her a visit! She is so sweet and stylish. Thanks, lady!! :)

February showers bring floral skirts

 

Time for an outfit post, 'cause it's been a little while now. (Have you ever noticed how southerners like to attach "now" to the end of sentences? Why do we do that??) 

Ironic that it was sunny the whole time I was in Ohio, and the day I get back to South Carolina, it's rainy and overcast! I felt that this was a perfect reason to break out my new floral skirt. It's just so cheerful, isn't it? This outfit is also part of my attempt to accept my legs as they are. My attitude is that, since I have no aspirations of becoming a model, I might as well have fun with what I wear and not worry so much. If I'm comfortable and confident in what I wear, then what else matters? 

I don't think there's such a thing as a perfect body, anyway. Do you have any insecurities about your body? If so, does it affect the clothes you choose?

  

This top actually has tiny black and white stripes. I guess they're just too tiny to turn out in the photo! I need some bigger stripes. It is awfully comfty though. Always a bonus of thrifting!

  

I might have to trade these boots in for my galoshes when I head out to my second language acquisition class later this afternoon. Don't wanna get my pretty purple tights all splotchy from the puddles! I suspect that I will be tearing my way to the parking lot after class because it ends at 8:00-- which, as you know, is when the season premiere of LOST starts! Why oh why did they move it an hour earlier?! I only have one real class that I attend each week, and it has to interfere with my beloved LOST. I guess this is why they invented VCRs. Yep, that's right, I said VCRs. Not Tivo or DVR. We kick it old school 'round these parts :)

  

top - Banana Republic (thrifted) / skirt - Forever 21 / tights - Urban Outfitters

boots - thrifted 

Hitting "reset"

Sometimes, when it feels like the floor is crumbling beneath your feet, it becomes necessary to temporarily get away.

No outfit or fashion to post today, though I do have some new finds that will be up shortly.

I've spent the past five days mulling some things over and searching for some new perspective.  It had been a very long time since I had made the pilgrimage north to my parents' house, and I had forgotten how beautiful the Appalachian Mountains are. The middle and lower Appalachians got a surprise snow storm while I was huddled by the fireplace up in Ohio, and the drive back gave me some spectacular and rare views.

For a while, it seemed like the further south I went, the more snow there was.  

 

One of the things that I find most inspiring about this region is the perseverance of the people. The landscape is unforgiving, the area is one of the poorest in the whole country, the weather is unpredictable (as you can see), but the people have such a strong spirit and pride in their roots.

Many Americans have mistaken ideas about the people here, and some don't even like to acknowledge the existence of the place. But I really think that there is so much beauty to be found here, and so many rich stories.

  

I spent a lot of time on these roads when I was younger. My grandfather lived out in rural Appalachia (even more rural than this pictures, if you can imagine that!) and we would often visit him on school breaks. My ancestors were among the first to live past the foothills in the 1700s, but I didn't really appreciate it until recently. They must have been made of stronger stuff than me. I was very grateful for the heater in my car as I zipped through! It's hard to imagine what it would have been like for those people, coming through on foot or horseback, with no roads or landmarks.

 

 

I can honestly say that I feel refreshed after this trip. Hopefully this will give me the energy I need to push through the next couple of months. A lot of changes will take place in my life before summer is here, and I'm trying to find a more zen way of approaching them. A "go with the flow" attitude and all that. But sometimes, you just have to step back from things to be able to think more clearly. It's like they say, "don't get mad, just get away."

Er, wait, maybe that's not quite right...

The dangers of jewelry

How fun is this ring? As a former pianist, I've always had to keep my fingernails very short and rings were always forbidden.  Even though I gave up piano professionally several years ago now, it still feels very unnatural for me to wear rings. It was really an adjustment to wear my wedding ring every day!  Now that I've finally gotten used to that, I'm trying to branch out more and play around with rings. The size of this one is pretty extreme for someone who isn't used to wearing rings, but it's so colorful and perky, I was drawn to it right away. (The price was right, too-- only $6!)

I thought I looked pretty rad with it on yesterday. Until, that is, I found the best parallel parking space in the world right in front of the library, and I had to make a sudden turn to back into it before anyone else spotted it, and scraped the heck out of my thigh with the ring in the process.  OUUUCH!!  I now have three lovely red scratches on top of a purple-blue bruise the size of a half-dollar.

They weren't joking when they said beauty is pain, people.

It was also deceptively cold outside today! Bright and sunny, but that wind is a killer.

I was kind of in a bad mood when I took this outfit picture. Does anyone else find that their pictures don't come out well when they're in a bad mood?

I felt a little better after working out today. I did my two miles, but I had to walk for almost half of it because my knee started to hurt again. Annoying, but I didn't want to push it and make it worse. I thought about switching to swimming again like I did during undergrad. But then I thought some more, and remembered that my hair was short when I used to swim a lot, and then thought about how I would spend as much time blow-drying my hair as I would actually exercising. Or maybe that's just my laziness coming up with excuses, hahaha. If nothing else, I'll switch to Wii Fit or yoga to give my knee a rest for the next few days. Oh, the sacrifices I make :)

Well, off to the library again! 

cardigan, tights - Target / top - Macy's / shoes - Dillards / shorts - JC Penney

earrings - Forever 21 / ring - Belk's

Happy Saturday!

1:45 on a Saturday and I've already been to the library to work on my microfilm projects. Now, time to take a break and... go on a picnic?

Oh wait. Occupied :(

Guess I'll have to make other plans for lunch...

On my way to campus this morning, I noticed a tree that is already covered in pale pink flowers! It seems like a pretty early sign of spring, even here. But it made me so happy to see it! Spring always seemed to be fairly nonexistent when I lived up north, but here it's one of my favorite seasons. I can't wait till the magnolias and paperwhites start blooming. It won't be long!

In hopes of early spring, I've really been into the florals lately.

dress - Kimchi & Blue / tights - Target / shoes - Target / shoes - Target

This is what I wore yesterday. I switched to my black tights when I went to the Shakespeare production with my students because they're warmer.  Sorry for the weird lighting, I took these when it was already dark outside.

Can I just say I love these shoes? They make me four inches taller! I'm almost as tall as the Mr. when I wear them.

 

I'm also a fan of this hairstyle. Perfect for Fridays, when I feel too lazy to try very hard.

The production of A Midsummer Night's Dream was pretty solid. It's a play that is very near and dear to my heart because I played the role of Hermia in a production of it when I was a senior in high school. The actors in this production were quite good, but they went for a 1940s theme with the costumes of the mortals. The fairies were wearing a hodgepodge of costumes, including track pants, leather vests, and jersey skirts. The fairies also performed this weird butt-shaking hip-hop dance in the second act. I'm all for creative reinterpretations, but in spite of these updates to the play, they still used the original Shakespearean lines. I thought it would have been more effective if they would have updates the script with more modern English if they were going to update everything else about it. K said it would be neat to reinterpret Athens in the play to Athens, Georgia, and do an Old South-style production of it, script and all. Hm.

"Lysander, I do declare..."

It would certainly be interesting.

Mango Passionfruit...

...is the flavor of tea I'm drinking! It's an herbal blend from Stash. Generally I prefer loose teas, but as far as grocery store brands go, Stash is pretty solid. I feel I need a sunny, tropical taste tonight because Mother Nature has decided to punish me for gloating about the nice weather by making it rain all day today.

I took these yesterday on campus.  Come back soon, sunny weather!

In the meantime, I've had to modify my wardrobe a bit. Nothing too special today since I had to traipse around in the puddles. In fact, most of the day I didn't even wear these boots you see here, I had my purple plaid rain boots on! Wearing them makes me want to jump into every puddle I see. Yes, deep down I am five years old.

  

These jeans are not one of my favorites. I really don't care for those faded sections on the front. But really, it was so icky today, why would I want to wear one of my favorite pairs of jeans?

By the way, I am really loving this warm chocolate-colored nail polish this winter. It has just enough sparkle to make me feel glam. I haven't tried the matte craze yet, but I'm kicking it around. Any tips for a first-time matte nail polish wearer?

As you may or may not know, early last spring I had a slew of frequent flier miles set to expire. I didn't have enough to use for my summer trip to Japan, and I wasn't really planning on going anywhere else, so I decided to take advantage of a "VERY SPECIAL OFFER" that the airline offered-- to cash them all in on magazine subscriptions instead! See the humongous stack of them next to me? That's not all of them. There are more scattered on those shelves, and on my desk, and in the magazine rack by our couch. And the 12 months of subscriptions aren't up yet. I get a magazine usually every three days, and occasionally I get two or three at once. Once the 12 months end, I plan to take them to a used book store and make a little cash. If they give me enough for even a halfway decent dinner, I'll be happy. My thrifty spirit can't pass up something free!

Or maybe I'll give some of the profit to my mailman as a tip, since I'm sure he loathes me by now.

sweater - too old to remember / jeans - American Rag

scarf - old / boots - thrifted

Golden like the sunshine

cardigan - Target / dress - thrifted / belt - thrifted / shoes - Target

The grand total for this outfit- including shoes, but not including underwear :P - was $16. I'm in love with this retro lace overlay dress, and even more in love with the price: $5.00! Oh thrift stores, how I love you. Sometimes I really wish I lived in a bigger city with lots of great thrift stores, but as you can see here, it's possible to find some treasures even here in South Carolina. Still, if I ever find myself in New York, you can bet I'll hit up every thrift store I can find....

This week, I have some exciting things coming up. Too bad not all of them are exciting in the good way :(  I've hinted before that I've been having some issues with my thesis/dissertation committee, and none of that has gone away as I had hoped. So tomorrow, my director has requested a meeting with me to discuss "options." Somehow that sounds really scary to me. I also have a meeting with the professor I work for in my research assistantship. Right now, I'm going through hundreds of transcripts of interviews that are part of the Appalachian Oral History Project. It's a huge series of interviews that were recorded in eastern Tennessee with locals who were mostly elderly at the time. There's really some incredible material in them, I wish I had time to sit down and really read through each one. It's so strange to read interviews with people who start out by saying they were born in 1890. It's amazing to me that I'm able to read the exact words of people who grew up so long ago, sharing their personal histories.

I also get to take one of my ESL students to a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream this Friday. I'm super excited about it! She is such a good student, and it was her choice to start reading Shakespeare plays last fall. She has to be one of the most ambitious students I've ever met-- to tackle Shakespeare as a non-native speaker takes some guts. We've started reading and discussing our third Shakespeare play together, and I'm very impressed with her. It really is rewarding to work with young teens and watch them grow into the people they will be as adults. 

As much as I'm enjoying the work I'm doing right now, and the classes I'm taking (Second Language Acquisition and Advanced Topics in Japanese Sociolinguistics- taught in Japanese! eek!), I'm already making plans for spring break. K and I have decided to take a few days and go down to Savannah. I can't believe I've lived this close to Savannah for almost two years now and I've still never been there! So, we're going to go down and do it properly and see all the sights, and hopefully eat at Paula Deen's restaurant!!  Have any of you ever been to Savannah? I'd love to hear tips and must-sees if you have.

P.S.~ Thank you so much for all the comments and follows lately :) I really appreciate it. You guys are so sweet!