Recap: Part 1

Happy 2011! In the spirit of moving on, I figured I'd recap the last year and put the past in the past before moving on to bigger and better things this year. So!

Last January, I moved away from home for the first time to go to college--while still in high school. It was difficult and exciting and I learned a lot about myself, how to deal, and how to balance.


In February, I began to get into a routine. It was when I made my final decision to transfer in the fall to a school more suited to my interests. I met people, had fantastic times with my brother & our friends, had some rough days where I really questioned my decision to move away, and finally settled in.



March was a fun month. Classes were good, friends were good, and spring break was right in the middle of the month. Went home, made dresses, had a jolly time, etc.

April was crazy busy. I was not only busy with college classes, but I was working on graduating high school as well. Somehow I still fit in time to sew, go to concerts and plays, and swing dance with cute boys. (Recap parts 2 & 3 coming shortly!)

I always wait a couple days to write out my official resolutions, and then I end up making a massive list that is hardly accomplish-able. But I chalk it up to always trying to be better, & one can't say that that's a bad thing! What are your resolutions this year? Do you even make resolutions or do you ignore the tradition?

Playing Catch-Up

It's been a while and I have so much to catch up on! But for the last four days, I've been thoroughly enjoying being home and on break, and I couldn't bring myself to do anything responsible, haha. Now it's time to whip my internet life into shape and get back into the swing of things! I have some major plans for the next few weeks (I don't go back to school until the 23rd or so), and I doubtlessly will run out of time to execute them all, but hopefully I'll be able to surprise you guys with some special stuff to make up for my absences this fall.

How was your Christmas? I hope you all had a lovely day spent with your families. I certainly did! I think my favorite part of the day was after all the festivities and eating and extended family visiting and such. My parents, my brother and I all sat down, and after a devotion, we listened to Loreena McKennitt's latest Christmas album and were just together. My mom was sitting at her spinning wheel, I was sketching, and we finally got to spend some quality family time. That sounds so tame, but it was really the best of times.



hat / handmade by mom | scarf / the niche | shirt / handmade | skirt / mom's closet, shortened by me | sweater / boden | tights / welovecolors.com | flats / gift



More to come soon! Belated Merry Christmas to you all.

i built a fort

Hey lovelies. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families... I know I did! I went home for the first time since the semester started and it was the most amazing thing to be back. We had about a foot of snow on the ground, so we went sledding, hung out and played board games, talked, ate good food, and relaxed. I slept until noon one day! I never do that. But it was needed and it was wonderful. As hard as it was to come back and get back into my routine, it's very comforting to know there are a scant three weeks between me and Christmas break. I couldn't be more excited! Plus, coming back to friends here at school made things easier.



I wish I could describe to you how insane things have been. Basically, I've been learning way more than I thought I would, and not just in class. I had a pile up of exams and papers and huge projects this past month, making for a rough November. I stayed up for 40 straight hours one instance, learned that coffee trumps caffeine pills (at least in how you feel later), broke down a couple times, and probably wouldn't have made it without writing to my mom and hearing back from her. She always knows exactly what I need to hear, somehow. So, it's been a very stressful semester, but I'm hanging in there and have successfully made it through the worst. I think. Basically, this is why I haven't been blogging. Some things just have to fall to the way side when life takes over!

In my classic, airheaded fashion, I left the pants I made for Apparel Construction at home, so I can't show you photos until break. But this skirt is something I made back when I had more time. It's a heavier cotton mini with an asymmetrical separating zipper up the front.



shirt / wal-mart | skirt / handmade | tights / forever21

I got hair extensions, too, if you were wondering. My hair doesn't quite grow that fast! They're just clip-in ones, so I can take them out and put them in whenever. I love the length and thickness they give my hair, so awesome!

Haha, so, I made this little fort in my room and was trying to take photos just with the self timer but there wasn't much space and I was having a hard time of it. My neighbor Lindsay, also an apparel major, knocked on my door and burst out laughing when she saw what I was up to. Then she offered to take photos for me, which worked much better. This is the result of our fun!



Oh, guys. There's so much that's been happening that I don't think I can even put a dent in it. Maybe when the semester is over I'll do a long write-up of all the work I've done and show you a bunch of photos and such. I miss you all and I've been so terrible at following blogs. If you've been up to anything cool or have had anything happen lately, tell me about it! <3

Madison on Halloween

Making excuses is pointless right now, am I correct? Shame on me for being neglectful, etc, etc. It has been unbelievably crazy, guys, and I have so much to tell you! I am mastering flys in pants and fancy hand-stitched hems and having lectures from technical designers from Target and giving speeches (and failing at it) and re-evaluating and it's been fantastic and utter madness. I've been realizing a lot of things lately, and also questioning a lot of things. I don't know. My head is so full of thoughts and life has been going by too quickly to sit and breathe. All I'm trying to do is make it through the semester in one piece with decent grades. Everything else is a bonus. Please, forgive me if this post is all over the place; and if it is, then it mirrors my life perfectly.

First off, how was your Halloween weekend? What did you dress up as? Where did you go and what did you do? I went with a group of friends to Madison. We stayed at one girl's house and went to the Badgers hockey game on Friday--not very Halloween of us, but still awesome--and then Saturday we went to Freakfest, ran into a lot of crazy people in crazy costumes, and saw Little Big Town play. It was such a blast, and people watching was the best part.

I made myself a costume, of course! I sewed up a little sailor girl dress on Thursday night and borrowed a hat from a friend. I wore it with some shoes I bought for Urban Outfitters earlier that day (for $5! I've never been in the store before and their sale section was unbelievable!), a few layers of tights (it was cold!), and my peacoat.



Unfortunately, we didn't get awesome photos, but these work.



Good ol' bathroom mirror shots!



We were walking along State Street when I saw this guy dressed as Popeye, so I was like, "Hey! Can we take a picture?" and he enthusiastically responded, "Absolutely YES, I'll take a picture!" Result:



Best. Ever.

After Little Big Town (and almost being crushed/knocked over in the packed crowd) we went home at about 1AM and popped a movie in and didn't go to sleep until 4. It was a good night, in other words!

But of course, after the fun, one must buckle down and get back to work. We've been working on a group presentation on design elements in my Intro to Apparel Design class. My group specifically is working on Coats, Jackets, and Blazers. Basically, we put together a powerpoint presentation on our topic, talking about the design and history of them. It's a little tedious, to tell you the truth! But in Apparel Construction, we're making pants, which is actually super fun. I'm making navy blue slacks that come up past my belly button, haha. They're due next Thursday and coming along swimmingly: I finished the fly today (went in smoothly, for the most part -- thank goodness!), and I get to really start putting them together now that I've had my final fitting. I'll take pictures for you, okay? I love that class so much, because it's exactly what I want to be learning.

Besides that, I've been working away in my other classes and getting really excited to be home for Thanksgiving. I can't believe it's even time to get excited about Thanksgiving! Things have gone by so quickly. Have two months really passed? Crazy business.

Thank goodness it's Friday! Have any exciting plans for the weekend? I have plans to spend the entire weekend working on homework and having not very much fun (and not sleeping very much... hi, coffee)--but that's okay, it's what I'm here to do. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm going broke over college so I'd better manage my time and make it worth it. :)

College Girl

Hey darlings. Things have been so crazy busy, but I know that's not really an excuse not to write. The truth is, there have been so many things I've wanted to blog about in the last month. Things I hope you'd find interest in, and things I know I want to document for myself. But I've been too much of a wuss to go find a place to take photos of outfits, to be honest. I'm trying to make it a mission to go out and about with a camera and tripod before it gets to cold, so hopefully I'll have some good shots coming up. (Until then, you get cheesy webcam shots.)



In the meantime, how does a recap sound? We did this back in the summer & it was fun, so shall we try again? College is terrific, and here's what it's been all about so far:

Spending money (ew), "We're fashion students! We can wear anything and get away with it.", late night movies, whispered secrets, coffee, flipping through magazines for homework, hopping fences in dresses, smiles, writing about my brother's old house for English Composition and caring more about it than anything I've written in a long time, sarcasm and wit, guys who like Zooey Deschanel movies, falling asleep to the Isley Brothers, time management, getting gussied up very often, homecoming excitement, gratifying A's and good feedback (I love feedback from profs!), four outfits in a day, adoring my roomie, amazing professional irons, vintage shopping downtown, making curtains on a Saturday night (we're that cool, yes), feeling really good, "Who doesn't have a crush on Robert Downey Jr.?!", falling into routine, swing dancing, mini-road trips, Packers games, highlighter tattoos under blacklights, owl decorations, construction paper & glue sticks in class (haha), doing things properly, and glittering tights.

What's your autumn been like so far?



edit:

P.S. Lame cell phone photo, but here's what I wore the other day while vintage shopping:



glasses & tights / f21 | cardi / american eagle | dress / handmade | bag / kakadu australia