ahrite, this is the only time i'll feature Lauren Conrad on here but she dresses cute. Always looks comfy & put together. Not to mention she has pretty hair & carries around my dream Chanel purse. oh and that big travel sized Balenciaga is fine too. poor person.

ps: if i EVER talk about how CoOL her book "LA Candy" is, please just throw me into fire. Sorry, L.C.

ink!

for my first assignment for Intro To Fashion Design, we have to come up with a concept & storyboard. After coming up with a number of ideas, I decided to concentrate on the whole idea of vintage tattoos, specifically pin-up girl type tattoos that marines/sailors & other men would get on their bodies back when the idea of tattoos were a huge taboo, let alone having a scantily clad, voluptuous woman permanently inked on your body.

i love the whole pin-up girl look and what it meant for women (this can be debated as a positive or negative, of course, but I like to see it as a positive), and it's a style that has carried on to the current times. The silhouettes of their dresses, swimwear, tops, bottoms, etc. all carry that mix between 'innocent good ol' girl next door' and completely sexy. It's all over the place in fashion now whether it's the whole sailor/nautical feminine look or the rockabilly look. I don't know, it's all so interesting. The hair, the poses, the make up, all of it is so staged to present this huge fantasy that men were so into that they would actually get it etched into their skin forever.

After exploring on the internet and grabbing so many photos, I took out two books from the SCAD library that I cannot wait to delve into. The first one is Vintage Tattoos (which I can't put down already) and the second is Pin-Up Grrrls: Feminism, Sexuality & Popular Culture. Hopefully my teacher will be supportive of this idea because already it's something I really am enjoying learning more about. It will be interesting to eventually come up with a full on garment inspired by this idea.

ReForm School

what an interesting little site! check it out.

good mawning

imagine having the energy and initiative in the morning to wake up to a beautiful sight like this? maybe one day. i literally dream about having a kitchen with a table like that and white tiled walls behind the sink, PS.

photo credit from design*sponge.

chloe

more Jenna Lyons

role model extraordinaire

martha

martha stewart is clearly a HBIC (head bitch in charge) but I'm really thankful for her because of her veggie enchiladas. i've been making these for a while now cause they are easy and make you feel accomplished when you're done preparing it. they always look and taste authentic! here is the recipe in case any of you want to try it out. i changed a couple things to make it more ~mE~ though. PS: this recipe serves 8, so just reduce the measurements however you want to accommodate how many people you're cooking for.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for baking dishes
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin (also add any herbs& spices you'd like! i use garlic, salt, pepper, a bit of red pepper flake & cumin)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium vegetable broth (or simply use water and just add a little bit more spices..)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3 cups grated pepper Jack cheese (12 ounces) (if you're just cooking for one, just use one cup..i use skim milk mozzarella.)
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 box (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (i use fresh baby spinach and sometimes cilantro!)
• 2 shredded chicken breasts (this is not veggie, i get it. bake these in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 mins, seasoned, and then shred with a fork)
• 6 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated (I usually just use one yellow onion, chopped.)
• 16 corn tortillas (6-inch) (i like to use sundried tomato or spinach flavored tortillas instead of white flour..also, don't use 16 if you're just cooking for yourself OBVZZZZZ)

Directions

1. Make sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add 1 teaspoon cumin, flour, and tomato paste; cook, whisking, 1 minute. Whisk in broth and 3/4 cup water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until slightly thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
2. Make filling: In a large bowl, combine 2 cups cheese, beans, spinach, corn, scallion whites, and remaining 1 teaspoon cumin; season with salt and pepper. also add the shredded chicken if you'd like to use that.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil two 8-inch square baking dishes; set aside. Stack tortillas, and wrap in damp paper towels; microwave on high for 1 minute. Or stack and wrap in aluminum foil, and heat in oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Top each tortilla with a heaping 1/3 cup of filling; roll up tightly and arrange, seam side down, in prepared baking dishes.
4. Dividing evenly, sprinkle enchiladas with remaining 1 cup cheese, and top with sauce. Bake, uncovered, until hot and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes; serve garnished with scallion greens.
5. Now enjoy! It's simple and delicious. Cook it for your loved ones and impress them, or simply put on some Bravo tv or a horrible E! reality show & cook it for yourself like a single cat lady (that may not even own a cat) like me!

scarf dreams

well, i'm going to go there and dedicate this whole post to a scarf. i'm going to be that person. so if you came here looking for my thoughts on william s. burroughs or transcendentalism, you've once again arrived at the wrong blog. woops!

i found this scarf at a touristy incense, bob marley poster & paper lantern selling store in Savannah. It was in big pile marked "clearance" and I got this guy for $3.00! At first it reminded me of a Missoni print but I was quickly reminded by a gay pal of mine that i was dead wrong (they always know more than me, let's not even argue that) I suppose it's more of an Aztec print. Either way, it's amazing. It's soft, the colors are a great pink, gray and white and it allows me to look less gothic when I wear all black.

I just keep staring at it and touching it all morning, making it big like a blanket and then small and then big again. SCARVES RULE. Don't mind me doing my best to photobooth it up in those low budget pics above. I figure I'd show my tired face just every once in a while on here so anyone who reads this realizes that I am infact a 21 year old girl and not some weird faceless human who is posing as a female fashion student blogger with a taste for feminine details.

MuSiC

the past two nights have been extremely amazing music wise. on thursday, Wilco came to Savannah and last night I traveled to Atlanta with a friend to see Joanna Newsom. Two nights in a row, two of my favorite musical acts? So great.

For both of the shows, I obviously enjoyed their music & the overall experience but I just kept looking at them, standing in front of me, staring at them trying to make sense of it all. It's like these people are just doin' their thing, putting out music and performing but each show represented more. I looked at Wilco and Joanna thinking about how much their music means to me and my life and how they don't even know who I am, will never know who I am, but they have touched my life. it was magical to see them in the flesh when they have just been sounds playing as a soundtrack to my life (and so many others) for the past 5 or so years.

Wilco was amazing and played a three hour set. Played almost all of my favorite songs and were so incredible live. Hearing "Impossible Germany" live was just as perfect as I thought it would be. They are in their late 40's and performed like they were 20 years old.

Fred Armisen (from SNL) opened up for Joanna, as this crazy German new-age drummer guy character that was hilarious. He also played cowbell when Joanna performed (a favorite) "Good Intentions Paving Company". Also- she is truly that beautiful in real life. It was almost unreal! Her show was probably the most beautiful concert I've ever seen in my life.

lara stone

finally a modern day supermodel with big boobs. so ~coNtrOversiaL~

balenciaga fall 2010 shoes

these shoes are fucking cool. i can't stop staring at them. there's so much going on!

oops

i really love lady gaga sometimes. i've fallen for it. however, i love beyonce more. soooooo. look how beautiful she is with that pinup girl hair!? queen beyonce.

sucker for good packaging

throughout my trip this past week, i really couldn't stop commenting on the presentation and packaging of products. The way that Europeans package simple thing such as food items from Tesco or toiletries from Boots really amazes me. I'm just a sucker for pretty and interesting packaging. It could be actual urine in a bottle or a box filled with human toes but if the logo, colors and layout of the label is beautiful then I'm sold.

I don't mean to sound like some pretentious asshole but if you're in a different country, and have the chance to go to a grocery store, convenience store or pharmacy, do it. It's just interesting to go and observe something as simple as those places, and see how the locals get the items that are necessities in life because although it's the same idea as the U.S, it's very different. While my friends were at class, I took a trip to Tesco to pick up some items for dinner that I was going to cook them but also to just go up & down the aisles to see how everything was displayed. It was just so fascinating!

The whole difference in culture comes out in something as simple as the way that their bread is freshly baked and put in baskets without a cover & exposed to the air. Or how the spice aisle is filled with the most interesting herbs that we would never find in a Stop & Shop or Publix. I just loved the way thing were packaged there. It all caught my eye.

It seems that Europeans have a much more relaxed approach to something like preparing a meal. It is the quality of it that is important and I believe quality is also put across in the way something is presented. Am I looking too deeply into this? Whatever. I'm a merchandising student.

you've got the love

here is a song that abby and all her friends are obsessed with in ireland. it's a great one. give it a listen.

ireland~

finally i am back in my little southern city! it was a full 24 hour quest to get home but finally i am here, all cozy and at last relaxing. ireland was nice and it was such a treat to be able to spend so much time with abby. i missed her so much and we had so much fun talkin in our accents and laughing at everything. i love her.

the city of Galway itself was really cute & had wonderful shops, pubs and cafes. the weather was kind of dreary, windy and cold but that's what I expected I guess. The first night I met most of Abby's friends and we went to a wine & cheese night at her school with local irish music. It was great although I was completely tired from my trip.

Saint Patricks Day in Ireland was really a cool experience although it was also a very college-type experience. Drinking at 1030am until 3am. But we did get to go to the local Galway parade that was really bizarre but cute and festive. We saw so many adorable Irish babies and people just simply having fun. We wound up at this great pub that had an upstairs with a sun-roof type thing which let the sun shine on us while we drank our drinks. It was lovely.

That night we all drank and listened to music at one of the dorm apartments and then wandered to this great dance club called the Roisin which reminded me of my favorite bar The Jinx back in Savannah. Just great music, drinks and dancing. It was so sweaty and crowded but it did not matter. There was even a huge group sing/scream along to Wake Up by the Arcade Fire.

Basically, the whole trip was just walking around, exploring, meeting great new people and being with my best friend. Ah, yes and drinking of course. Tons of pubs that brought Irish cliche moments like bagpipe players, cute old Irish men playing Bob Marley songs with their guitar, stepdancers and all of that. It was cool and made me feel closer to a culture that I should feel connected to because of my strong Irish heritage. Also, I felt like every person (mainly just boys and babies) looked like they could be a member of my family.

I fell in love with this bar called the Townhouse that was so relaxing and unique. It was designed to look like a kitschy old house with sections of the pub made to look like rooms in an old house. Floral wallpaper, retro furniture, 60s/70s music memorabilia, etc. It was such an interesting place. I also tried Bulmer's cider for the first time there and it was deeeelicious.

A huge misconception about Ireland is that the food is just a potato and a slab of corned beef and that's it. Being the "foodies" (that sounds much better than People Who Like Eating Sometimes/Mostly Fat Things and Talking About It) that we are, of course we ventured to the most adorable and delicious restaurants and cafes. My favorite one had to be Nimmo's . I had herb roasted potatoes & Morrocan mint tea. It was right on the water and was decorated in a very relaxed, French vintage inspired way. Everything down to the tray that the check was laid on was perfect and pretty.

All in all it was a great trip, but I must admit I missed my Savannah so much. I'm happy to be back and ready for the next quarter~