On bookshelves

Scarf: Target
Top: Target
Dress as skirt: Anthropologie
Tights: Target
Wedges: Shoe Carnival



In relatively unexciting (but exciting to some of you) news, my bookshelf is fully assembled and mostly filled! I warned most of you that I actually don't own many books; I'm a library user through and through, and most of the books I do own are either Latin & Italian history books from college or books that are special to me--favourites, signed copies, etc. Beyond that, most of my Latin books are actually boxed up right now, and I'm trying to decide if I want to haul them out and put them in my bookshelf which I will eventually have to move or if I want to use the shelf space for other things. The latter will likely avail.



If you take a good look at this grainy iPhone picture of the new bookshelf, you'll see that I have an assorted variety of complete crap. I have made a few changes since this picture was taken--moving a few things around, collecting more things. Although I try to live an uncluttered life, I am a thing collector. I don't have a difficult time throwing things away, but my mind has to be pretty far removed from the object, or I have to be fed up with it as a piece of clutter, to toss it. I also am guilty of liking pretty things, and unique things, and things that are fun to look at.



So my bookshelf is really more a receptacle for some of these random objects I've amassed over the years. My fiberglass xylophone mallets from high school. A framed picture of my dad at his college graduation. A signed copy of Jimmy Fallon's Thank You Notes. The stuffed bunny my grandfather game me as a baby. (The stuffed frog he gave me still lives on my headboard.) The roller skates I practically lived in during middle school (and which still fit, so I need to get back into that!). Crayons, nail polish, pens, lotion, the roses that were in one of the arrangements at my grandfather's funeral. My college class ring box. A birthday card my friend E. sent me a couple years ago that I just can't throw away. I have a lot of random objects, and they aren't necessarily books, but to me they're just as enjoyable to look at.

Though that I Voted sticker from two years ago? Yeah, that's gotta go.

In a bind

Scarf: Anthropologie
Top: Urban Outfitters
Jeans: Walmart
Boots: Target



One of the great things about being a reader is that you usually amass quite the collection of books. And as a reader, you expect to have a bookshelf to put all your books on, right? Well, not exactly. My bedroom is about the size of my horse's stall (actually less--Indy's stall is 12'x12', my room is like 11'x10'), and for a long time it's been my bed, my dresser and my bedside table, all straight from a little patch of Sweden in North Carolina known as Ikea.



So the time finally came for me to throw some stuff away, move some stuff around, and suddenly I had "room", aka just enough space to stuff a bookshelf of some sort into my room. Off to Ikea my mom and I went, and we found the perfect setup! Two tall and wide glass door covered shelves flanking a narrow DVD shelf. The only problem was that we brought my Volvo, which is an amazing car but is a bit small for a nearly seven foot tall shelving unit. So three hours and one auto change later, we returned to Carolinian Sweden with the family SUV and loaded up five flat and long boxes that I hope will hold my assorted crap. I mean books.

The perfect "yo" face

Because I kind of hated my outfit today...



The second one is my horse, Indy :)

Crunchy sunset

Necklace: wapa on Etsy
Cardigan: Anthropologie
Dress: JCPenney
Tight: Target
Boots: Target



So for my 300th post, here are some grainy pictures of me in a parking garage.



See you tomorrow!

Barney rubble

Top: Urban Outfitters
Cami: Eddie Bauer
Skirt: handmade
Bangles: Walmart & Forever 21
Wedges: Payless
Fingers: Zoya Shawn



This morning I woke up and updated Twitter, because one of my goals surrounding this blog for 2012 (see sidebar) is to be more engaged with Twitter. So I said, and I quote:

I have wanted to paint my nails for about a week but haven't been able to pick a colour. That's dumb. Let's do this.

Another one of my goals is to be more proactive and not procrastinate quite so much, especially now that I'm deeply entrenched in the warfare of grad school (why did no one tell me how much WORK this is?!), I not only painted my nails but I also curled my hair! I recently started reading Skippy Says and Feathered and Freckled, and these two lovelies have such pretty, red, curly hair. I wanted to go to there, so I did. And it only took an hour of my life that I'll never get back! Looks cute though, I guess. I'll probably stick to Slightly Rumpled for most future engagements (eg. life).



If you are wondering why the perspective of these pictures looks a little off, it's because for the most part my camera gently teetered atop a piece of mill rubble while I took these shots. My brain broke this afternoon and I grabbed my camera but had taken the tripod foot off to replace the batteries and I forgot to put it back on, so it sat on my ottoman, five miles away from my car and I in the mill park. Oops. So rubble it was! The pictures turned out fine but my camera probably has asbestos poisoning now. As long as it get the mesothelioma those personal injury lawyers are always talking about, we're okay. But my camera has a mean streak so if it needs to sew we're taking that rubble DOWN. I mean, even further down. Because it's already pretty far down there.

B-52

I'll be back tomorrow night with a new outfit post (there is nothing worse than cold rain for outfit pictures) but for now, Madeline of Madeline Quaint created an amazing post involving yours truly and some other amazing bloggers with everyones' if-I-could-do-anything-to-ny-hair hairstyles! I'm sure I'm making it sound weirder than it is so obviously you need to click the link and check it out. I am totally in love with mine but everyone else looks great too!

Wondering where I am?

Sweater: JCPenney
Pants: Old Navy

Passed out drunk on Ikea furniture and glögg.

Sad, then happy, then wtf

Necklace: JCPenney
Sweater: gift from parents
Skirt: thrifted
Tights: Target
Wedges: Shoe Carnival



Do you remember the cat from this post? Her name was Abigail, and we adopted her waaaaay back in 1999. She was basically the best cat I've ever met--not a mean bone in her body, always happy, knew she was in charge, and pretty much had the run of the place. She died at the age of 13 (!) in November, and my parents and I were absolutely heartbroken. Abby moved with us from NJ to SC, and she was the last remaining cat from that part of our lives.



After a couple months of mourning, I caught my mother on petfinder.com (do you see where this is going?) and by the time 2012 rolled around, we were driving to Charlotte to meet a new black cat who we would eventually adopt, named Hera. Hera has been fitting in pretty well--she fights with the other cats, but much like Abby, she's very social, loves people, purrs VERY loudly, and loves to play. She also greatly appreciates attention. Unfortunately, a side effect of this can-do attitude is that today while I was doing some reading for one of my classes she vaulted onto my back and clung there, hanging off me, with her nails firmly sunk into my flesh.

My back is now a paisley of Hello Kitty band aids and allergic rashes. AWESOME

D minor

Coat: Old Navy (and $25!)
Sweater: Gap
Skirt: JCPenney
Tights: We Love Colors
Heels: Urban Outfitters



On my way home from work today, I stopped at a pedestrian crossing and watched two women walk across the street, almost exactly on pace with each other. But something was ever so slightly off, and suddenly with each step they were more and more out of pace with each other. Obviously one just had a slightly shorter stride, but it reminded me of how much I seem to enjoy dissonance.



When I was young and we went grocery shopping, my dad and I would carry the groceries up a floor of steps and into the kitchen. He would be in front of me, and I would make sure that when I followed him up the steps I would walk almost in pace with his steps, but just slightly off so there was an eighth note-eighth note-eighth rest-eighth note beat. Weird, I know, but I loved it, and when I took a class on Mozart in college, I noted that some of my favourite pieces were written in dissonant keys (K. 626, anyone?) and that's strange indeed.



So I guess it comes as no surprise that I really like the dissonance of this outfit. Cream sweater versus white details on the skirt, slouchy knit reined in by form fitting...polyester, plaid against floral, black battling gray, and let's top it all off with some crazy nearly neon shoes. I also took a big step out of my comfort zone and wore some dark lipstick, which looks pretty dissonant on my face. But for some weird reason, I think it all works. I could be totally wrong, though.

Root beer

Gold necklace: antiques shop
Bow necklace: Anthropologie
Sweater: JCPenney
Dress as skirt: Anthropologie
Boots: Target



A looooooong time ago, I was a daily reader of the comics in the newspaper. My dad still does it but I'm too lazy now. Anyway, I read them all, whether I loved them or not, thought they were funny or not. There's one comic called Zits, which is about a teenager, his parents, his girlfriend, his best friend, and his best friend's girlfriend. It's not very good (I bet it's hilarious if you're the parent of a teenager though), but one day Zits made a whooooole lot of sense.



The teenager is staring into his girlfriend's eyes, and he says "your eyes are so beautiful, like...chocolate". Then he tries again. "Like...Oreos." One more time. "Like...root beer. Ugh, now I'm hungry." And he leaves. And the girlfriend says "blue eyes get all the romance." And it's totally true, right? Root beer? That's the best you can do? I personally love root beer (just bought ten bottles of Barq's today...it's that good) but please do not compare my eye colour or sweater colour to something I drink. Thanks in advance!

Cut loose

Shirt: Walmart?/hand-me-down from my dad
Top underneath: Target
Jeggings: Old Navy
Boots: Target



Did I ever mention that I went to see Footloose with my coworker T.? Well, I did. We caught it at the dollar theatre (which was $1.50, by the way, such a ripoff!), and I was totally ready for it to suck. I was emotionally prepared to have wasted my hard earned $1.50. But something wonderful happened. It didn't stink! I'm happy to report that it was a pretty faithful remake of a movie that seems difficult to update (who bans dancing anymore???). Also, school bus racing. Seriously.



So today I just on this outfit and thought I could probably be cast as an extra in Footloose wearing this. It's the plaid shirt, no doubt. My dad gave me this shirt because it shrank on the whole, but especially in the sleeves; one day he put it on and the sleeves ended at about mid-forearm. So I took it, and the sleeves are short on me too but unlike my dad I am well verse in the art of rolling my sleeves up, so they stayed there all day. And now I'm going to kick off my Sunday shoes and watch some Downton Abbey because I am nothing if not classy and in love with British period dramas.

The difference between January and July

Dress: JCPenney/Christmas gift
Belt: Target
Tights: We Love Colors
Wedges: Shoe Carnival



Overall, the summer vs. winter argument has a clear leader, and that's winter. Sweaters, the Super Bowl, snow, tights, caramel hot chocolate, past date Octoberfest, bonspiel season. Oh, and Christmas/Hanukkah and all the fun that comes with that. And by fun I mean food.



But one thing that summer really succeeds in doing is avoiding depressing movies. I horseback ride, and people know that, so hello! I do not want to see War Horse so stop asking me about it! I am going to see The Muppets tomorrow and I'm going to cry through that, so what makes the world think that I can handle a movie like War Horse? I start crying every time the trailer comes on. So no, no War Horse. And listen--I am That One Librarian You Know who did not read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (I tried but got 50 pages in and decided I'd rather read a book I didn't have to force myself to open) and will not be going to see the movie. Sorry, gang. I'll wait with semi-baited breath for Six Fast Six Furious with everyone else.

A quick primer on grad school note taking

Step one and only: just don't do this.

Green sweater party

Necklace: gift from parents
Sweater: JCPenney
Scarf as belt: gift from parents
Skirt: JCPenney
Booties: Old Navy
Nails: butter London Bluey, All Hail the Queen, Victoriana, British Racing Green, & Wallis (I got bored again)



Since cutting my hair (did you notice it's seven inches shorter?) I've been trying various ways to make it look how I want, and I have found that the most successful way to do so is my pulling the bottom half of the hair on my head into a bun and covering it with the top half. I feel kind of dumb wearing a hidden bun in my hair but it looks good now! I just have so much hair that even when it's shortish it's really hard to control. But ha, I have the upper hand now. And even better, it looks awesome with my green sweater, so we're all set for today. I thought about doing EBEW but at the last minute I decided I hated my outfit (ever had that happen?) and yanked out my green sweater instead.



And it turns out my boss and I both wore green sweaters. Is it a sign? Probably not, but who cares? Green sweaters are awesome. In theory, one of my shopping "rules" for this year is not buying things in multiples unless it's really, truly necessary (riding pants, underwear, etc.). But this sweater, you guys. I got two for Christmas in gray and ivory, and then I saw that it came in a variety of actual colours, and I couldn't resist moss green and hot pink. And the green matches my hair really well, which is what I need after cutting it off and traumatizing the daylights out of it.

The tweest of them all

Flower clips: H&M
Coat: JCPenney
Dress: JCPenney
Tights: Target?
Wedges: Shoe Carnival



Let's talk twee! My best friend A. and I spent some quality time (ok so it was like 2 hours) picking the perfect sleeve for my Macbook. And even then, I was still uncertain and had to ask another friend for advice. And my mom! This is how bad I am at making decisions, you guys. I ended up buying this sleeve, and I think I made the right choice. During our long, epic journey through Etsyland, A. referred to more than one of my picks as "twee". I don't really know a lot about twee, so I set off to investigate.



Turns out, in Britain, twee's kind of an insult. Sweet to the point of disgust, like eating 20 packets of Splenda. I'm sure A. didn't mean it that way, and I certainly didn't take it that way. In America, though, twee is a term for a specific subgenre of indie pop that is surprisingly sweet and seemingly innocent. Ever heard of Belle and Sebastian? Los Campesinos!? Camera Obscura? The Postal Service, even, is a little bit twee. And the serious terminologists end the definition at that--a type of saccharine music that is enjoyable but can be almost too precious for its own good.



But twee seems to go beyond that simple genre description, according to most of the internet. The styles of Zooey Deschanel, Miranda July and Carey Mulligan are considered twee. The Athens (Georgia, y'all) Banner-Journal even outlined twee fashion points before a local concert. Women are often derided for dressing too uptight, too childish, and everything in between. Wearing anything other than a black sweater and black trousers is an open gate for criticism, and I'm not a fan of that, especially since for a very long time I personally believed that wearing twee clothing was really not classy or cute. But I think, after being introduced to the world of style blogging, and feeling more comfortable with who I am and confident in how my body is, maybe twee isn't so bad. It looks good on some women, and they embody the positive, happy lifestyle that the music helps develop. And I decided, after looking at this dress and all the research that lay before me, that I might be slightly twee today. And I'm okay with that.



Want to read more? Try this stuff:
Twee As Fuck: The Story of Indie Pop on Pitchfork
Twee on Urbandictionary
How to be twee on Wikihow
Don't Fear the Dowager: A Valentine to Maturity by Julie Klausner, and the amazing response by Elizabeth of Delightfully Tacky, The Infinite Variety of Individuals
And if you're really into the point Elizabeth made about the woman's power to bring life into the world, Why Women Aren't Funny by Christopher Hitchens*



*I'm just practicing citing things for grad school