ah-ha!

ah-ha! at last it is a new week (as i always consider sundays to be the start of the week)! i awoke with a renewed sense of "take-on-the-day-ness" and have thus banished last week into the past. for those of you who think to yourself, "hmmm, isn't that a little redundant," i answer you with this: i have been blessed with the uncanny ability to dwell and focus on any number of topics or events to the utmost, teeniest detail to which point they no longer become things that have happened but rather things are are still/always happening within my mind. so it is until the point when i literally declare to myself that was then, this is now, that the separation occurs. and that separation has arrived today - sunday - the day in which i start the third (ohmygosh how did we get here already) week of january.

i am welcoming in the week with numerous things to read (for class), copious amounts of coffee (as usual) and the desire to get out into the sun while it still shines (weather forecasts are calling for possible rain on wednesday - i hope, i hope, i hope).

 

 

vintage skirt, vintage levi's jacket, target tank, lucky watch, franco sarto shoes, usual rings

wool warmth

finicky weather can lead to frustrating dressing. the days have been insanely beautiful with the sun shining at full blast but the wind chill factor and the fact that i have evening classes this quarter are proving to chill me through and through. this jacket, that i got here, however is ideal for this conundrum. it is lightweight enough that it doesn't feel too bulky, a bit on the large side so i can layer under it if necessary, but very warm all by itself seeing as it is wool. i love the print and colors too - something other than my usual black to add a bit of spice.

 

worn with uo tank, gap pants, vintage jewelry, clark wedges

great expectations

i tend to hold myself to very high standards, especially when it comes to school. even though i was at a junior college before coming to ucsc and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, i just couldn't adopt the "i don't care" attitude. naturally, the expectations that i place upon myself have only grown since i started last quarter. as i sit writing this, upon the eve of the first day of my second quarter at the university, i can't help but be filled with a little bit of anxiety and trepidation as to what these next two and a half months will hold. what if last quarter was just a fluke and the real work will start now? (probably not). what if somehow i choose the three hardest classes in the entire course catalog? (come on, it's literature, not likely). but still, amongst all these oh-so-pleasant and encouraging thoughts, there is the anticipation and excitement that school still brings me.

today i spent part of the afternoon hiking around campus, finding my classes, and timing (yes, literally with a stopwatch app) how long it would take for me to get from one to the other. with the sun shining it feels more like i am leaving summer vacation behind me rather than winter. i pulled out and dusted off my old converse today. they were perfect for tramping along the redwoods as i watched my timer ticking away.

 i love "science hill" on campus. all of the concrete stairways and high concrete walls remind me of something right out of the wicked witch of the west's castle. 

 

this one feels a little senior portraity...

 still cannot believe the view from campus on clear days like this

 

cardigan, ponytail, blue jeans and cons - i must be ready for school

 pretty amazing place to immerse oneself for learning, if you ask me

<3

 

little houses made of ticky tacky

yesterday was my big, final hoorah outing of my winter break which i celebrated by disappearing to walnut creek and various surrounding places with the darling kels. i go back to school on monday and this day trip fit the bill perfectly for yet another swell time with this lovely lady. as always, the day was filled with lots o' coffee, thrifting, and going to what i am going to term "grown-up disney land for the wealthy housewives of danville."

have you seen the show weeds? the one with the widowed suburban housewife who sells weed? well, the show is set in a town called agrestic and i am pretty sure that if the show wasn't shot at/in/near blackhawk plaza in danville then it was at least modeled after this place. it was quite ridiculous in the most fabulous of ways. creeks, fountains and waterfalls all running throughout the center of it, hidden pockets on spanish style verandas with cushioned lounge chairs and sofas, outdoor fireplaces encased in elaborate mantles, geese and ducks and swans swimming amongst the koi fish...you get the idea.

little boxes made of ticky tacky...

 

if i am counting correctly, this is fountain #6

 

  

decided to go with a strapless, paisley print maxi dress that i bought over the summer for a wedding, and i'm really glad i did too since the day turned out to be much warmer than i had anticipated. i paired it with a pale leather jacket as i have seen the like in a few different places and have really liked the way the structure of the jacket offsets the drape and general flow of the dress. and, of course,  ankle boots too.  

 

i never not laugh when i am with kels!

there were really amazing burgers...that you ate on couches...

trying to befriend the wild life

 

where we started the day - a lovely little french cafe

with their large coffees served in soup bowls

 

from here we go to the weekend. a few days filled with birthday celebrations for e! lots of long walks, rock climbing, batting cages, cinnamon bread french toast, flourless chocolate cake and whatever else he could dream of <3 i couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the last days of my break.

pink party

i have never really been a fan of the color pink. so why i chose these out of the whole spectrum of the color wheel of pants that are abundant, i don't know. perhaps i have subconsciously made a resolution to break out of my comfort zone. so much for baby steps. yet i still had to make them "me." although the pants look like someone dipped them in a vat of highlighter ink, i must say, throw on a blazer and another neutral and i love them!

one of the best things i have discovered about our side of town are all of the benches hidden at the dead ends of streets along the cliffs of the beach

 

blazer = security blanket

nicole platform booties - love 'em

 

essie wicked, bf bracelet, menswear watch, usual rings + hm ring, silver wrap cuff, forever necklace

 

 

thrifted blazer, bdg tank, glasses & les folles de joie jeans from uo 

pop (of color)

 maybe it is the sunny weather that we have been having here in sc these past few days but something i am calling the "color bug" has bit me and now i am fully infected. to be honest, i am just slightly, superficially, worried about the side affects of this new condition seeing as i am wholly and fully dedicated to my neutrals and basic colors. i know in large part, it is due to the unrelenting images of neon and brights that have been popping up everywhere from pinterest to vogue.

the portion of my brain that has been in retail for many years understands that the sales industry is always seasons ahead (explains the bathing suits already on display at target). i mean, come on, the fashion industry even created the "resort wear" season and runway shows that are overflowing with everything from floral prints to the perfect nautical striped shift to wear on your vacation to the south of france for this dismal time of year.

nonetheless, i am (maybe for the first time in my adult life) attracted to color and have even ventured into this world with the purchase of a pair of hot pink pants. yes. i have done it. photos to come later once i 1) figure out how to wear them without freaking myself out, 2) remember to pack the correct tripod head plate when i go out to take photos (today's failure). in the meantime, here is a dose of the images and colors that have been running through my brain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

photos in sequence from: nylonmagblog/herlolife/e's bike photos/vanessajackman/vogue.it/freepeopleblog/vogue.december2011/reasonstobreathe/midnightdreamboat/pinterest/refinery29/andywarhol.flowers

b&w and nisene all over

nothing like spending new years eve completely exhausted and wiped out due to an earlier hike through the redwoods...

actually, that is just how i prefer to spend my holidays. i love staying in, being cozy and in this case, ringing in the new year with a movie, pizza and a happy kiss at midnight.

but during the day we took a hike around nisene marks, a local state park that is full of redwoods that never fails to render me speechless. e's dad is in town and the three of us, along with many others, decided that a holiday saturday was a great day to immerse ourselves in the gorgeous sc mountains. while e and his dad were more in the mindset of a "hike", i was there to be on a "photo walk." i couldn't help but be inspired and awed by the ridiculously tall trees, some covered in so much moss that it looked like they were wrapped in velvet. others were spotted with fungi and some had fallen to the way side and were whitening with decay and sun.

i am re-falling in love with b&w photography, particularly in the landscape. and the photos that came out of the day feel a little post-apocalyptic to me with the extreme contrast that the filtered light provided. i love that there are only the two far ends of the grey scale in most of these photos and that all middle tones have seemingly vanished.