Nice stems ya got there

What's better than eating delicious summer fruit? Taking gratuitous photos of it.

Start spreading the news ...

I have some life news I've been waiting a little while to share on the blog, and now that things are underway, it feels like it's time. Jeremiah's accepted a job offer in NYC and he'll be starting up after his graduation this summer. I will be finishing up my last year of graduate school down here in Georgia, and I'll join him up in the city after my graduation in May. Though we'll be long-distance for a while, we know this is absolutely the right thing for both of us and we're both really excited about this next stage in our lives.

I've been sitting on this post for a little bit, adding and deleting things until it felt like the right time to publish. It feels surreal to say that we're moving to New York. A couple years ago, we almost did when I thought about accepting an unpaid internship there (and in the end, I'm glad I didn't). After that experience, it felt like we were bound to have so many failed attempts with jump-starting our careers and the rest of our lives. In the end, I'm glad that move didn't work out, because it gave us some time to reflect on what we both wanted to do with our lives after our undergrad years. For Jeremiah, it meant going back to school to enhance a skill he already had; for me, it meant getting more work experience and jumping from journalism to advertising in school. I'm glad I made that switch because it's opened up some opportunities.  And for now, I think we're both ready to say goodbye to living in the South and try our best at living somewhere else for a while.

I'm not sure what the next year will bring, but I do know that I'm looking forward to my last year in Athens. There's still so much I want to do here -- projects to finish, places to visit -- that I feel lucky I get a few more months to do that. I'm a little sad that Jeremiah will be up in NYC without me, but I'm glad that he'll be a short Skype call (and occasionally, a plane ride) away. 

For now, there's so much to do between getting Jeremiah ready up there and getting me ready for my final year of school down here. But I'm happy -- I feel like it means we're finally on our way.

* photo is from a trip to NYC I took several years ago. I converted it to a paint style in Photoshop.

Art of the matter

There are some clothing items that feel like they could be on display in a museum if they didn't already belong in a closet. This thrift dress is quickly becoming a summer favorite and every time I wear it, I feel like I'm a walking display of expressionist art. I've only worn it with simple accessories to downplay its ostentatious nature -- how would you wear it?

These photos were taken on an impromptu trip downtown with Jeremiah. With my research class this month, it feels like I haven't had that much of a summer break, and I sometimes have to force myself out of the house.Too often in grad school, conversation can turn to who has the busiest schedule or the hardest workload, and I've been trying to break free of that by actually trying to have fun outside of class. Since I've started caring about getting more out of my free time, I've watched a few movies, been to an ice cream party, and gone exploring downtown. I may not "win" for having the biggest workload this week, but who cares?

credits - dress: marnie west, thrifted, vintage | shoes: miss trish of capri| bracelet: from aloha stadium in hawaii | bag: fossil, thrifted.

* photos by Jeremiah.

Lately: Pattern play

Just a photo dump of the last few weeks. I've really been drawn to patterns and repetition in architecture around town.

In the shadows of tall buildings

On Friday, I wore this silk dress. Technically it's way too hot to even consider wearing silk in the summertime, but I spend my days mostly inside, so it's actually fine. I'm at the point in the summer where I'm sick of hot temperatures and am tired of wearing the same five or so outfits, so I'll try to justify wearing cooler-weather clothing instead. My drycleaning load has been getting bigger because of these justifications, though -- one wear and the clothes are usually gross because of humidity.

How was your weekend? Jeremiah and I went to a museum mixer, ate lots of chicken sandwiches and watched the fifth season premiere of "Breaking Bad." 

credits- dress: forenza, thrifted, vintage; sandals: miss trish of capri, target; bag: thrifted, vintage.

We will become silhouettes

I have been forcing myself to look at my photography more closely. Whenever I take outfit photos, I take them very quickly with a timer, give them a passing glance, dump 90 or so photos onto my Picture2Life account, and then choose four or five that I think would merit a post. This happens every day (or almost every day) that I take photos. I now have roughly 18,000 photos on my photo account and most of them I have considered rejects because the composition was off or the lighting was too dim. That's too many photos, and too much effort on my part to have that many that will never see the light of day.

Lately I've been in a rut with photography. I don't know if it's the summer heat that's keeping me from exploring new places, or if my always-changing school schedule has made it hard to keep a consistent pattern. I've noticed that I keep going to the same locations and trying the same compositions — and I'm not sure that these excursions are really helping me evolve in my photography.

Perhaps this weekend I will discover a new spot or try a different time of day. But for now, I'm perusing my archives and giving new life to the "rejects" with a more discerning eye and some help from Photoshop.

What kind of bird are you?

I saw "Moonrise Kingdom" last week and I am hard-pressed to think of anything I didn't like in it. The sweet storyline, cast, vintage aesthetics and soundtrack were perfect, and this may be my favorite Wes Anderson film (not an easy thing for me to say, because I admire all of his work). Perhaps my favorite parts of the movie include the scenes at the Boy Scout camp. As a former Boy Scout camp counselor, I thought the cinematography during these scenes caught the outdoor orderliness of camp life well, and some of the compositions seemed inspired by Norman Rockwell paintings of BSA life. 

When it's humid outside, my thoughts often linger on those strange and wonderful summer months I spent in the mountains teaching aspiring Eagle Scouts how to pitch tents, build fires and work compasses, all while hanging out with the coolest staff. My friend Viktoria has been feeling nostalgic for those summer days too and recently wrote about our time at camp (check out a photo of us in uniform here). As some of the only girls on staff (let alone in the entire camp), we were mini-celebrities, which came with its pitfalls (imagine getting noticed and pranked quite a bit). But Vik sums it up well: "It was never easy to being a girl at Boy Scout camp, but it was always, always worth it."

This outfit is not only a nod to "Moonrise Kingdom," but also a personal tribute to that seminal time in my teenage life.

credits - blouse: spenser jeremy, thrifted, vintage | shorts: walmart | belt: from camp | necklace: vintage, from minx| shoes: born crown.

I've written about camp before, but this is probably my favorite post on it.

9 best places to shop for Athens, GA fashion

Though Athens is more known for its music scene, the town has its own artsy culture that makes shopping around here memorable. After being asked by some grad school friends about where to shop, I pulled together a list of my favorite places in the Classic City from 6+ years of living and experiencing Athens. Whether it's a quirky locally-owned boutique or a megachain thrift store, there are tons of treasures to be found around here:

downtown

minx vintage (166 w. clayton street): I absolutely love this store. It's very well organized and the prices are decent. Lots of 1940s - 1980s clothing. They also have discounted stuff in the back (50% and $5 bin). Their jewelry is really pretty too in the front. Here are some items I've worn before that are from Minx.

agora (260 w. clayton street): This place is where I take out-of-town friends to visit, because it's like an amusement park for vintage because it's so huge. Not only will you find tons of clothes, but there are so many housewares, knickknacks and furniture that you could spend all day in Agora and still not see everything. The owner, Airee, is super nice and very knowledgeable about everything in the store (not a small feat!). Here are some pieces I've previously bought from Agora.

junkman's daughter brother (458 e. clayton street): Another place to visit with out-of-towners. This store has everything -- fun gag gifts, music memorabilia, candy. A fun place to shop when you don't know what to get someone.  I really like going up to the second floor and looking at the band t-shirt collection. 

cheeky peach (269 north hull street): If I could, I'd buy everything in my size at this store. This store has more contemporary fashions that are on-trend but seem to have staying power -- ikat designs, lace blouses, fun jewelry. I love looking at their accessories table, where a lot of local designers are featured. Check out their lookbook here.

cillie's clothing (175 e. clayton street): This place has secondhand and vintage clothing. Lots of clothing is still on trend, but a lot of it is mall stuff/semiformal that would be a good option if you  have a wedding/formal to go to. You may find some good deals, especially on sundresses -- they seem to have a ton everytime I go. 

dynamite clothing (143 n. jackson street): I have been going to Dynamite even before it was in this location (it used to be Uncle Albert's Vintage). You can find accessories (in the front) and home goods (in the back) for pretty good deals. I've done more than my fair share of Christmas shopping here because they have cute knickknacks and accessories that make great stocking stuffers.

five points

suska (1664 s. lumpkin street): This place isn't vintage, but it is upscale secondhand. They do have an excellent eye and it is worth looking to see if you can get any designer deals. I got an Akris Punto dress there for my college graduation at like 95% off in fantastic shape.

detour: Head to hodgson's pharmacy (1260 s. milledge avenue) for an ice cream cone or soda from their old-fashioned soda fountain counter. Cheap, super-delicious and fun to do.

west side

america's thrift stores (3190 atlanta highway): They have a ton of women's clothing and accessories, and tons of vintage if you are willing to look closely. They also have crazy discounts dictated by color -- I think it's like 30%, 50% and 70%. It's basically free. It's good to go if you have an hour or so. They also have an awesome collection of old National Geographics. One downside: they don't have dressing rooms, so you'll have to either eyeball and just buy it, or try items on over your clothes in the aisles. Some recent finds for me include this sweater vest and this silk vintage dress. 
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goodwill (10 huntington road): They do have a great dress collection. If you need furniture, don't look on a weekend day -- a lot of it's scooped up by mid-afternoon. I think vintage resellers look at this particular store often because there's not a lot of vintage stuff here, but because this is a college town, you can find some stuff that's still on trend in clothing. 

what are your favorite places to shop around your town?

 Previously:
[Sidewalk Chic: How to shop for vintage dresses]

Stuck in neutral

This was one of my favorite outfits last week -- I like how my loose lace dress is transformed with a structured vest on top! I took these photos on campus over the weekend after running some errands, and I can never get over feeling like I'm photobombing these historical buildings whenever I do photos here.

How was your week? Jeremiah and I celebrated a lazy Fourth of July at home. He completed his thesis (yay!) and is on track to graduate this summer. Me? I'm starting a research class today -- wish me luck! I wish my summer didn't have to end so abruptly after one month of blissful freedom, but I am looking forward to seeing some of my friends again ...

credits: dress - the webster, target | vest - old navy | purse - fossil, secondhand | bracelet - aloha stadium, hawaii | shoes - born crown.

Outfits, illustrated

Since I had a lot of fun trying my hand at sketching with my vintage costume design book, here are a few more illustrations of past outfits. Instead of doing 1950s-style illustrations like last time, I modified the sketches to look more like me. The first sketch is based off this outfit. Here are the rest: 

Pickin' me a bouquet of wildwood flowers:

No whimpers, just bangs: 

The laughing tree | In the flickering light

Red, white & blue

With July 4th tomorrow, I thought it'd be fun to post my favorite red, white and blue outfits of the past year for some sartorial inspiration. For those of you who celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful holiday full of picnics, sparklers and hopefully a pool or lake nearby!

Red, white and blue remains one of my favorite color combos (I love primary colors in general) -- check out my July 4th outfit compilations from 2011 and 2010. 

Cotton candy

When Sway Chic, a California boutique line, contacted me about featuring one of their dresses, I had fun  perusing their quirky assortment of clothing and accessories that can be described as vintage with an easygoing West Coast vibe. Too often when shopping online it's hard to find vintage-style clothing at moderate prices, but Sway Chic provides an anecdote to that with an array of beautiful blouses, dresses and jackets that are inspired from previous eras but don't require decades of preservation. I ultimately chose the confectionery Sweet Pea dress, and it seemed like a perfect fit with the floral wreath I made a few weeks ago. Sway Chic is currently having a July 4th sale, so check it out -- I'm a fan of the animal print blouses and lace dresses (surprise, surprise).

credits - dress: c/o Sway Chic| floral wreath: diy (here's a tutorial)| shoes: Born Crown.