Dior & More: For the Love of Fashion

I live in Cleveland (we're not Detroit! (for the record, this video was made before LeBron left and Cleveland started getting nicer).  We actually have a pretty nice museum district in University Circle, one of which is the Western Reserve Historical Society.

one of their buildings, a mansion they give tours of/that I want because it's gorgeous (especially in pictures taken in not-February

They have like four or five buildings they've managed to squish together - the cognitive dissonance of the different architecture styles is probably the one thing I can complain about them for, because otherwise, they're pretty nice, and they win a lot of bonus points for having a gallery filled with designer dresses.  Which is obviously why I'm writing this post, isn't it?  ;)  I think after my post about Dreaming of Dior and Dreaming of Chanel, we know how I feel about vintage designer dresses.  Seriously, though, I went there mainly to see that, although I'll have to return for their library.

The exhibit showcases vintage clothing from different eras, donated to WRHS by various figures - diplomats' wives, Cleveland socialites of days past, and even Audrey Hepburn.

Probably my favorite part of the exhibit, however, were the videos shown along with it on displays in the gallery:

The second video, for some reason, will not embed, but no matter, it's here, and interesting if you've never heard of Lesage.

The exhibit itself is really lovely.  All the dresses are enclosed in a giant glass box in the center of the gallery so that visitors walk around, and there are little informational stands about each saying who wore it, who made it, roughly when, and interesting little personal tidbits that may have been passed along with the dress, as well as discussing some of the technique put into the dress.  I loved reading those - I spent about three hours in WRHS, and two of those were spent in this gallery, so...

Audrey Hepburn dress! 

I would love to find dresses as amazing as all the ones in this exhibit, but just looking at them is at least a treat.  And it's open till March 30, 2014, so I'll probably go back there again to drool admire them more before then.  Probably multiple times.

Have you been to any cool museum exhibits lately?

WizardQuest!

There is a place, located in the Wisconsin Dells, known as WizardQuest.

It's an interactive game/labyrinth sort of thing where you figure out puzzles in order to free trapped wizards to keep the 'realms' they rule safe.  It's technically meant for little kids.  It's also the most fun thing I've done all summer.

I went with a group of friends (faces blocked out cuz, y'know, privacy.  I'd block out the school shirt if it wasn't already out where I go to uni.  I should eventually actually talk to them about whether or not they're okay with being on my blog...course I also have to tell them I have a blog in order to do that...)

My friend Nick and I left Cleveland on a Friday evening...after taking a bunch of pictures cuz we could.

Our next stop was in Indiana to pick up our friend Sarah, and then on till Chicago and Tasha's cats house!  The next morning we loaded up the car and raced away to Wisconsin, where we found interesting gems like this advertisement...

And then........WIZARDQUEST.  (After a stop in an inordinately fancy McDonald's, of course).

Highlights included the ball pit and spinny chairs and a room lit by only a blacklight with a stuffed chicken perched atop it.

I freed one of the wizards!  We only freed three of the four though, because our glimmers kept decreasing even when we had enough, which was sad. :c

Afterwards, we went shopping at....!

We purchased Harry Potter wands, once we realized they stocked them.  Naturally, I got Harry's wand.

Afterwards, we went camping.  It was an adventure to find a campground, as we couldn't find the one we'd reserved at (they listed the wrong location on their website...yeah, a major fail).  We made delicious food and had wand battles over the campfire.

And then we went to hike and swim at a nearby park, which was quite fun.

And then we departed, home-bound, leaving only the first part of our school's name in the sand (as you do).

It was a lovely little vacation, and I hope I get to do more things like this in the future!

What sort of fun things have y'all been up to while I've been out of the loop?

welp, I've returned

Thank you for the comments on my last blog post.  This has been a slightly longer break than I initially intended (oops?) but I think I needed it.  And I mean, I got an A in my class, so maybe it helped with that.  My GPA's certainly thanking me (it'll hate me when I start math in a few weeks... sigh).  Aside from papers, my life's kind of been consumed by a summer romance.  I'm clearly making up for all my very non-stereotypical-teenagery summers spent sitting in my room online not actually speaking, considering that this summer's seen a couple of beach trips, a road trip, and all manner of silliness.  Such as having wizard duels by a campfire and trying to convince our friend to let us burn a sponge (that hopefully flammable adventure's being saved for fall semester, though).

I'm still working on figuring out exactly what I want to do with this blog, precisely. I'll be posting some photo diary adventurey things over the next couple of weeks before classes start, and then some more during the first couple of weeks of classes, and then I intend to return to regular, daily updates, hopefully with a better idea of what I'm actually trying to do with this blog.

Until my first photo diary goes up, though, I present you the photo diary of Charles Xavier, who typically lives in my friend Tasha's purse, and goes places.  I would also like to register that this is one of the less overwhelmingly nerdy things in my life.  (And that all pictures are taken from her facebook, because she has an album for this).

"Charles finds his happy place"

"Charles will catch up with you all later"

"Charles enjoys the warmth against his plastic but not melting face"

Hope everything's been alright with all of y'all, and posts of a regularish nature start next week!

question for y'all

I intended to post this week...and didn't.  It can be very difficult to feel motivated to work on blog posts when there are a trillion and seven other things happening in your life, and I guess I've been trying to do too many things, because blogging isn't particularly fun right now.  (Or maybe that's the thought of all the essays I need to write that's making it feel not fun).  A break's a logical thing, right?  On the other hand, I don't want to just leave this sitting here, blank and bleak, especially since that introduces bad habits for the school year (*cough* just look at my 2011/2012 posts for evidence of that...)  I want a break, but I don't want to go too far away from the blog, and I'd like to figure out something that works for summers in general, because (for some reason) I'm always least interested in writing on here during them.  Maybe because I get really boring, clothing-wise, really fast?  It's a possibility.  Anyways, what I'd like to know, from you, my readers, is: Would once-weekly or once every two week 'photo diary' posts a la Lauren Conrad be acceptable?  I mean, I'm probably going to go that route regardless, but I'm curious to hear from y'all, so tell me!

Also: Do you guys have this problem?  How do you handle it?


ps: my back and shoulder have started peeling and everything hurts so much less now!

hell on my back

I got a sunburn on the fifth, and before you ask, it's actually the worst one I've ever had.  Which is weird, because it happened in half the time it usually takes me to get ones that are almost as bad...  Apparently, Ohio sun is nastier than Spain or California sun (we won't speculate on Texas sun, because I've never been stupid enough to stay outside too long in that...well, except when I was six, but...)  Anyways, I can't really lift my arms or comfortably put shirts on, and that, added to the fact I have two papers to write this week, means minimal posting this week.  (I know, again!? Yes, again, I am sorry).  I'll try to get an outfit post up on Wednesday, since I'm not even going to really bother with today.

Now, time to go try to get a shirt on without screaming, write this paper, go to my doctor's appointment, go get some aloe vera, and find someone capable of reaching my back to assist me in the noble endeavor of making it possible for me to function semi-normally...

ugly vs. comfy

I'm writing this Thursday, after a fun (and terrifying) hiking experience.  I'm about to go watch fireworks...and I'm going to wear ugly, white espradilles because they're really comfortable.  Yeah...  In the meantime, I'm going to share some things I've enjoyed this week.

My friend made these amazingly delicious overly-cookied chocolate confections as thanks for getting to stay with me while she visits.  It's been great! :D

source

The Periodic Table of Elements being used for its proper purpose: sneaking in swearwords.  This translates to: "(F) fluorine (U) uranium (C) carbon (K) potassium (Bi) bismuth (Tc) technetium (He) helium (S) sulfur (Ge) germanium (Tm) thulium (O) oxygen (Ne) neon (Y) yttrium."

source

What have you loved this week?

Happy Fourth!

It's the Fourth of July! I hope you guys have a lovely holiday - I'm going to be chilling with my friends and enjoying whatever shenanigans we engage in. What're you going to be up to?

source

twice the speed of life

One of my favorite bands during my country phase was (and is) Sugarland. I love the lyrics and the energy of the songs so much (honestly, almost all my favorite songs are very high-energy ones). Here are some of my favorite Sugarland songs over the years!

Are you a country fan at all? (And as always, I'm up for any recommendations y'all have!)

everything absurd

It's been a bit of a nutty time for me recently, as you mighta noticed by the approximate two-week absence.  Starting class definitely took a toll on my time (a Case grad I was talking to recently told "you're fucking insane!" when I told her I was taking a class while working) as did going back to Texas.  Seriously, visiting my parents made me less energetic than running around with friends the whole weekend would have.  Granted, hanging out with friends would have been severely lacking in feline and canine perks, soooo...

Anyways, here are some things I've worn over the past few weeks, presented without much commentary - I didn't get any good pictures in Texas, because there was nowhere to shoot from (seriously! All my old places are GONE, somehow).  I also only have one picture from Cleveland Pride, since I spent the entire parade holding a giant sign.

Shirt - F21 | Short - Wet Seal | Shoes - H&M

Shirt - Kohl's | Skirt/belt - F21 | Necklace - great-aunt's

Shirt/skirt/hairthing - F21 | Shoes - PayLess | Bracelet - made by me

Skirt (as dress) - TJ Maxx | Scarf/necklace - presents | Belt - Papaya | Shoes - Charlotte Russe | Headband - ???

Dress - F21 | Shoes - thrifted | Bracelet - Jewelmint

And finally...the promised picture from Pride! Let's take a moment to appreciate how short I am, compared to my friends...

How have you been these past few weeks?


ps: Since Google Reader's ending today, you should follow me on Bloglovin' and let me know! Odds are that if you're one of my regular readers, I already follow you. (And if you're not...if I like your blog, I'll be following).