For Auld Lang Syne, My Dear

I have been playing a lot of piano lately. By no means am I good at it, but it's always enjoyable. So much of my life is about trying to convey things through words, so playing music is a relaxing change.

I have also started wearing a watch again. It feels so old-fashioned to do so, but in the best possible way.

I felt like I was channeling Audrey Hepburn a little in this outfit.

Vintage Gap denim shirt, Forever 21 pants and flats, gifted watch

I am not normally the resolution-making type, but here are my two resolutions for the new year: write one poem every day, and learn how to knit. I will be spending New Year's Eve with almost all of my best friends (to the ones who will not be there, you will be dearly missed!), eating and dancing and relaxing and having a generally fantastic night. I hope you all have an amazing New Year's Eve!

Delicious.

Delicious is the best word I can come up with to describe my feelings about the Missoni pre-fall collection. Just when I was starting to doubt my purchasing of those Missoni-esque leggings, this collection appears before me, and my faith is restored. I still have no idea what to wear the leggings with, but looking at the immaculate colors and coziness and layering in this collection assures me that I will eventually come up with something. I know I would feel much differently about these pieces if I saw them out of the runway context - meaning, the styling is such a huge part of why I love Missoni. And the shoes are amazing.

Whatever may happen with the blog in the next few weeks or months, I will definitely be updating my Tumblr regularly, so keep up with me there!

There Will Be Feasting And Dancing In Jerusalem Next Year

I returned a few hours ago from a brief but very nice family trip to Washington. We stayed on the fringes of Georgetown, which is such an adorable and fun area for shopping and walking around, and our hotel was magnificent. It's always nice to go somewhere.

I feel like the blog might start to take a different direction soon, but I am not exactly sure how. I have been thinking a lot about fashion recently, and how I feel about it, and how it connects to other parts of my life, and I feel like I might need some time away from fashion and blogging to think about the other creative things that are important to me. I feel really good about my clothes lately, and obviously that's the most important part of personal style, but I am starting to think that deep down the fashion I am all about is not especially innovative or provocative, and therefore not entirely blogworthy. This is all sort of difficult to explain.

Lately I am not sure whether my dedication to my personal fashion is waning or waxing. By that I mean, I have been wearing a lot of simple, comfortable clothes lately, none that feel quite special enough to share on the blog but all that I love to wear. Basically, I think I need to start setting slightly lower expectations for myself in terms of what I wear on a daily basis, and then coming up with things to show off on the blog will seem much less (or hopefully not at all) stressful. I just want to be happy with what I post here, and then hopefully you all will be too.

I apologize if I sound maudlin at all. With the end of the year right around the corner, I have been feeling extremely pensive lately about every aspect of my life - friends, romance, writing, blogging, school, college, and everything beyond that. I think I just need to sort myself out a little.

All photos from The Cherry Blossom Girl. The above picture was taken at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, a place of which I have very fond memories. And the post title is from "This Year" by The Mountain Goats, my favorite and most mood-appropriate song lately.

About a week ago I started a Tumblr, which I will probably be updating more frequently than the blog at least for a little while. Please do not take this as an abandonment of the blog! Please! I just need to relieve myself of some blogging responsibility for a bit. And no matter what happens here, I will continue to read your blogs as I always do.

Dreaming Of Scandinavia

I have pretty much been living in variations on this sweater-and-leggings combination since the snowstorm last Saturday. Meet the newest addition to my granny sweater collection.

The vibrant colors, cozy knit, and wonderful oversizedness make it, I think, the sweater to end all sweaters. Sylvie, my dear, this is definitely one for the record books, and you must borrow it immediately!

These stirrup leggings I bought on Saturday are amazingly warm. Also, note the crazily thick socks. Under normal circumstances I usually wear thin cotton ankle socks, but in these chilly temperatures a good woolly pair is an absolute necessity. I feel like I am channeling Isabel of Hipster Musings in this outfit (never a bad thing, I am totally in love with her casual/cozy/insanely sequined style).

Between the glorious amount of snow and my newly blossomed love affair with leggings, I have been fantasizing lately about a winter vacation in some Scandinavian mountain cabin. Like this one, full of white walls, pale wood, minimalist furnishings, and huge windows for watching the blizzards. I can just picture sitting on a squashy couch in the loft, with only a mug of peppermint tea and a fresh notebook to keep me company, listening to The Mountain Goats. What's your fantasy winter locale?

Vintage sweater and suede boots, Forever 21 stirrup leggings, random woolly socks

I am heading out now for my favorite Christmas Eve activity: seeing a movie with my family and some fellow Semites. Merry Christmas to all!

The Stars Are My Chandelier

The name of the game is... simple colors, soft fabrics, and choosing comfort over trend.

Steven Alan wool trousers, Tomas Maier cashmere poncho, Vince jersey top, Acne tee, Alexander McQueen cashmere sweater dress, Alexander Wang sweater, Richard Nicoll dress, Miu Miu jersey stirrup leggings

These pieces totally embody the type of clothing I have been craving (and wearing very much of) lately. I cannot imagine anything more delicious than a cashmere poncho. Because of late rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday, then the absence of a camera battery charger this afternoon, I have yet to take any pictures of my purchases from Saturday, but I can assure you that they all fall into this category of simple, comfortable items, and that you will definitely be seeing them soon!

School is finally out for winter break. I could cry with happiness. A lengthy hiatus from schoolwork and alarm clocks is exactly what I need right now, preferably one filled with oversized sweaters and mugs of peppermint tea, snowy afternoons spent writing poetry and playing the piano, and spending as much time as possible with my friends.

My friend Chris and I (a different Chris from the one you met briefly in my last post) swapped mixtapes today, and I am totally in love with the one he gave me. It has lots of odd acousticky music on it, which totally suits my mood right now, and the post title is from one of my favorite songs on the mix, "The Stars Are My Chandelier" by David Dondero.

These pictures of Paris buried under snow are so magical. I want to experience Paris in wintertime so badly. Anyway, we got a significant amount of snow on Saturday night (I believe around eight inches) and it's been cold enough these past few days that basically all the snow is still here! Now it truly feels like winter.

Since I probably will not post again before tomorrow night, I hope all of you who are celebrating Christmas have a fantastic holiday!

It's Christmas Time In The City

Rather than plead for your forgiveness for my lack of blogging this week, I offer these photos from my spectacular trip into New York City today as penance, done in somewhat of a picture-or-two-or-three-an-hour fashion.

8:00 AM - Luke and I arrive at Grand Central Terminal, all prettily decked out for the holidays.

9:00 AM - We make a much needed stop at Starbucks before delving into our shopping adventures. The first store on our agenda? H&M, where I purchase several fantastic items that you will surely see soon. Luke gets a few things too.

10:00 AM - Next is J. Crew, where Luke buys khakis and a gorgeous deep red sweater. I am wearing my beautiful new black wool Banana Republic pea coat (well, sort of new, I found it at the thrift shop).

11:00 AM - Our final shopping locale is Forever 21, where I make four heavily laden trips to the dressing room and leave the store with a brimming bag. I almost literally screamed with delight when I found these Missoni Fall 2009 lookalike leggings. And I should mention that I purchased four pairs of leggings today. Craziness.

12:00 PM - In dire need of sustenance, we stumble into a cozy and beautifully decorated Irish pub near Herald Square for lunch. I have the yummiest crock of French onion soup and some of the best chicken fingers of my life. During lunch I flip through the Forever 21 magazine and see some of my favorite bloggers featured!

1:00 PM - Luke and I take the subway up to Bryant Park, where it starts to snow. I had never been before and it's quite a sweet little area, sort of a much less frenzied version of Rockefeller Center. There we meet up with Sylvia (who is wearing her magnificent Christmas sweater) and our friend Chris!

2:00 PM - The four of us trek through flurries and blustering wind back to Grand Central, where we buy our last coffees and snacks and head back home.

This was the first time I had properly shopped at real stores since the summer, and it was so much fun. I think I spent more money at once than I ever have, which felt slightly revolting but also pretty appropriate. It's the holiday season!

After being insanely busy this past week, I now have only two and a half days of school left until winter break. I already feel like a huge load is being lifted off my shoulder, and I will definitely not be taking any more six-day breaks from the blog. I missed it very much.

Short & Sweet

I wore this to see The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center today. It was, in a word, magical. I might have mentioned this after I saw Romeo & Juliet, but I think that ballet is truly the most exquisite art form in existence.
I won this Yokoo for Urban Outfitters scarf in a giveaway on her blog, it's deliciously cozy and quirky and will definitely be reappearing here soon. After lusting nonstop for the magnificent knits in her Etsy shop, I am so excited to have this!
And these are the boots I briefly showed you here. I know, they have yet to make a decent appearance... soon, I promise.

Vintage lace skirt, my favorite vintage dress (underneath), Forever 21 cardigan, Yokoo for Urban Outfitters scarf, Hue tights, Aerosoles boots, vintage clutch

Sorry for such a quick post, but I am feeling a strange sense of urgency. My life is starting to become very hectic. Between rehearsals and the complete academic craziness of junior year, I feel like I am not going to have a minute of rest until the end of January. If posts become a little sparse for a couple of weeks, please forgive me! Blogging is always a bright spot when real life starts to drag me down.

Let's Make Believe That We Are Wealthy For Just This Once

This dress is one of my favorite things I have ever worn. And, regarding the post title, I know I have quoted this song for a post before, but it's one of my all time favorites and this is certainly the season for it.

I love the way black flats and black tights look together. So simple and so chic. You remember these beauties, right? I wore them much differently back in May. Something about wearing all black, with just a touch of something glittery, makes me feel much older. In a good way!

Anyway, back to the dress... I saw it buried in a bin at the thrift shop and was immediately intrigued by the bit of black lace poking out from under a pile of random clothes. As you might recall, black lace is one of the staples of my idealized winter wardrobe. I adore the ballerina style skirt, the fact that it's Anna Sui from Henri Bendel, and most of all the rather dramatic back...

... or lack thereof! The black bra was the best I could do for now, but I really want something from American Apparel to wear underneath, preferably this, because the black and gold are perfect together. I really love backless dresses. They are extremely sexy in a less obvious way.

Smiles! I think one of my New Year's resolutions will be to post more smiling pictures on here, I feel like I come off much too serious in my photographs sometimes. Well, you let me know.

Vintage Anna Sui lace dress, vintage Gucci blazer, Beverly Feldman shoes, Calvin Klein bra, Nicole Miller tights, ShopKim ring

I wore this to school on Monday and felt like I was wasting it. This outfit deserves something scintillating! This will sound slightly ridiculous, maybe, but outfits like this make me wish I were all grown up and living in some fabulous city like New York or Paris in an apartment with my best friends, throwing a crazy party or something. Standing on a balcony, drinking champagne, looking out at glittering city lights, while snow flurries magically around me. You know what I mean? I feel like everyone has a piece of clothing that makes them wish they had a more exciting life.

As I mentioned before, one of my best friends turns sixteen on New Year's Eve, so hopefully there will be terrific celebrations that involve dressing up! Do you all have fabulous plans yet for ringing in the new year?

P.S. Don't forget to check out my shop!

Before The Snow

The winter weather has officially descended. We had our first snow last night. True, it was mixed with rain and had pretty much turned to slush by this morning... but it was there. It makes me excited.

Have I ever mentioned my deep, irrevocable love for strings of twinkly Christmas lights? Actually, I believe I have. There is something so magical about them.

Speaking of Christmas lights... on Friday night our town kicked off the holiday season with its annual tradition: lighting the Christmas tree in the center of town. My friends and I caroled with our select singing group from school, then ate greasy Chinese food until we felt like we were going to pass out. It was magnificent.

As silly as this may seem, all the Christmas hoopla swirling about makes me wish I were in Paris for the holiday season. True, I am always wishing I were in Paris, but right now especially. I can only imagine how stunning it must be blanketed in snow, with all the trees lit up. And I would think that French Christmas traditions are much more dignified than those of Americans.

I love how dreamy this photograph is. I really want to hang a few strings of white lights around my room. First image found here, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth.

A few months ago I received mail from Smith College regarding a poetry contest for sophomore and junior high school girls residing in New England. Seems like fate, right? A week ago I submitted my poem, and I figured I would show it to you since it somewhat relates to the topic at hand. I hope you don't mind when I post poems on here, but writing is just as important to me as fashion, and probably more so, so I like sharing things.

Before The Snow

hard to recall whether our knees touched
under the cramped table at dinner,
or whether you noticed me noticing.
much later we lay together
among the spare blankets,
clean apartment lush with lamplight,
our cold feet touching under a virginally
white comforter.
it felt like both the safest
and the strangest place to want,
with warm electricity flowing through my marrow,
a surreal sense of peace fluttering
about my eyelids.

I promise some more fashion-related things soon, but the snow had me in the dreamiest mood today. I cannot wait for the first snow day.