Keeping the dream alive [well...]

This past Labor Day weekend isn't exactly what I would have called the most ideal way to brush our summer freckles away, but I'll take it because it is unlikely that I could have spent it with a better companion. We learned, once again, when it rains, it pours. After a car towed, a flooded house, a counterpart's broken hand, a serious longing for candy, and four full trash bags later-here I am. None really need explaining except perhaps the heap of garbage bags that now sit complacently in my car. I guess this perfect Chicago Autumn weather this past Monday gave me the Spring cleaning kick and I tackled my closet. As mentioned previously in some other post [obviously you're an avid reader and nearly have my posts memorized...] Fall is the one season that I actually shop for or get inspired just by the weather. I love going to Goodwill to pick out a few sweaters. In anticipation for that, I thought it would likely be reasonable for me to take a few things there because my closet always has a few unnecessary items. Needless to say, I didn't really expect to be getting rid of SO MANY clothes. The worst part about it is that I just went through my clothes just over a year ago, but I find that sometimes it takes a few closet clean-outs before you let yourself throw away certain items. So here is the final result;

I share a closet with my counterpart. This is my half.

We kind of converted his old bedroom/closet/spare room into one massive walk way so it's all connected.

This organizer pretty much runs the length of the room. It's terribly convenient. Ikea ;)

The motivation to write has been scarce. My motivation to do much is scarce...but rest assured! I am indeed getting things done, i.e. lots of paper & yarn flowers. In case you haven't heard [you probably haven't] I'm barely working these days. Which can be great for things like crafts, long walks, and quality time with my cat. It can be bad for things like; bills, food, and my general well being. However, my house is constantly clean, laundry never piles up, and I have my Saturdays back. Don't worry, this whole paragraph will be just chocked full of comparative measure, but my intentions are good. It just feels nice to have so much time to do all the things that I've been wanting to do but haven't had the time to do because I was working at the prime "get things done" hours.

One of the primary reasons that I find it so hard to snag another part time gig is because of the huge amount of talk going on in this household revolving around a move to Portland, OR. I fear finding a part time job that I end up falling in love with and progressing rather quickly into something more stable and finding it that much harder to detach myself from when it comes time to move. There's a lot more that goes into the reasons why I do not even want to tamper with deplorable search to find a job; I sort of like my soul and it's such a shame when it gets sucked out of me and if you possess a job it's bound to happen.

...but after watching this video, it seems like it would be pretty easy to detach yourself from anything to keep the dreams alive!

{We are pretty into Portlandia in this house and we wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm so glad it's renewed. Back on IFC in January. YAY! It only adds to the excitement/motivation.}

I feel like I can't be picky when it comes to choosing a job, but I am. There are some things that I just cannot see myself doing, and the whole process is just damn depressing. Everything I want to do I'm extremely unqualified for, but dudes! Doesn't On-The-Job experience count for anything these days? Oh you bet it does. Especially with the decline of available/qualified workers for highly technical positions in this country; a few examples here [1], [2]. Ha! I cannot help but laugh when I see that the latter was written in 1989, proving that this has been a pressing problem from 20+ years, yet the education just continues to dwindle down as the funding gets taken away. Companies are starting to take people and train them as they go along because that is the best place for them to learn; schools aren't teaching it. To me, books can never give you anything near a real life experience anyway. It is like my meteorology teacher always said: "You're reading a book on how to ride a bike. It's useless." which is not the most motivating thing one can hear, but he was absolutely right. Anywho; here's how jobs are looking.


With Fall brings; good shows, spooktacular weather, trying to out-carve my pumpkin from last year, amazing seasonal eats, and it of course starts the countdown for me dressing up as Rachel Maddow for Halloween this year. The only problem I may encounter is something with that wig, which would ultimately be the end of that idea. Hopefully the search won't be as irritating as I'm expecting it to be. Overall, this season always has good things in store. It makes me realize how much I find other seasons to be completely useless.

So yeah, I wasn't yanking your chains when I told you I was getting downright crafty. Here's one of my favourite things I made from the weekend;

The Crayon Meltdown

In music news, I am so happy that PJ Harvey took home her second Mercury Prize-the first artist ever to do so. Her album 'Let England Shake' came out earlier this year and I fell in love with it right away. I'm glad to see it got the recognition it deserved. I also have to admit I am SO glad that she outdid Adele for the prize. I love Adele, but DAMN I'm worn out. While I also think that Adele is plenty talented, I feel that PJ Harvey is more of an artist.

[read more here]

It seems as if I've been writing this post for days...

Spring Mix: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.

PLUS

PLUS

EQUALS

Some of the ingredients for an amazing past few days!

(my boyfriend played the biggest role in making it awesome!)

So many ideas have been bouncing around my head for quite awhile now. While being immersed in the Portland culture for the past four days & five nights I have had countless things I have been wanting to delve more into. Luckily, the new October issue was on stands for me to grab before I got on my flight.

My tweet deck had been sending countless reminders of new lines that have been making their way down runways in Milan during my stay. Needless to say, I've been busy in between seeing the wonderful, wonderful sights that Oregon & Washington had to offer us.

Before I start getting into designer lines, I'll speak my mind about the fashion vibes in Portland. Wow, what a great city! Not only when it comes to funky fashion, but the people are just down right awesome. One of the first stops I had to make was Goodwill. I LOVE thifting. I think it is the best ways to create your outfits and you can really make something your own with what you find. It's like going shopping in 1,000 closets of people of all decades with different styles. I lucked out immensely with this particular one. Almost everything on the hangers was designer. I ended up with a divine purple polyester BCBG top with a long tie-wrap around the waist (reminds me of something you would find in the Ralph Lauren 2010 fall line) I got another top as well. I will have to post a picture;

...but the real winner of the bunch was a beautiful Pendleton coat (made in Oregon) in a deep red. I was absent minded and forgot my coat for the voyage, but knew that I would get to buy one whilst we were there. When I tried it on in the store, three people came up to me and said "You need to buy that coat, it's simply gorgeous and in perfect condition." I snagged this little luxury for only fifty dollars! I couldn't believe my luck, especially since I did not have the desire to spend more than that since I have plenty of coats floating around the house. "They" say never buy a red coat, but "they" can go to hell, it's perfect, especially for holiday time.

I actually just chopped even more of my hair off.

Professional shears are dangerous for me to have.

It more so resembles a longer bob now.

With such fabulous thrifting, so many people are decked out in the coolest threads. I loved that about Portland. Sort of that "Let your freak flag fly" mentality. Which of course, is my favourite.

On to the designers.... I checked out a few collections this past week as the updates rolled in from all over via fashion tweets. heh (this all sounds quite lame to me. I never. ever. ever thought that I would have a twitter, but I do and I love it. dammit.) A few stand out to me; for reasons good and bad. Jil Sander is one of those. I normally like things by Jil Sander. But only through ads I've seen in Vogue over the years. I actually saw one of her dresses in the September issue and I loved it. When I saw the tweet about the latest Jil Sander line, I tapped the screen with a finger and wasn't exactly "in love" with what I saw. I saw big horizontal stripes across the body, unflattering, no shape, etc. But to be fair, I came back to the spring 2011 line multiple times to see if my mind would change the more I saw it. You know, like music, the more you hear it, the more you like it (sometimes.) So here we go; half of page three & page four is probably their only highlights and that is mostly in reference to colour. A lot of it is used here and I love that, I just disdain the shape of the clothes.

This is really the only thing I liked.

Some of the ones I did not like. At All.

see?! no shape!

These clothes are so expensive. They are supposed to make a woman feel wonderful about herself. I cannot see myself ever paying a lot for these garments. The female form should be celebrated and or at least silhouetted in some way. This line didn't do it for me.

On the other hand...we have some lines that I will be lusting over for a long, long time. Hats off to Aquilano.Rimondi & Versus! I love the patterns, the colours, the plaid, the line...really everything! It was hard to only pick six from each that I loved. They just make me gush!

.VERSUS.

mmm. mmm. mmm.

Excuse me, plaid just became extremely sexy.

I have admired the plaid look going around for the past few years, but I was never really into the grunge look so I always hesitate with plaid. I think sometimes it looks dashing and sometimes I hate the look so much. It's all about the rest of the outfit and the occasion. This looks like 'Little
House On The Prairie' all sexed up. I want this whole line.

.Aquilano.Rimondi.

Just PERFECT for spring. This line gives me such a good vibe. It looks like something Margot Tenenbaum would wear if she were 30 years old in the 60's hipster era. However they look like things I would wear now. I also love the one length long hair on these models. It goes perfectly with the clothes and the mood of it all.

But I cannot get too caught up in spring clothes just yet. For the time is coming for tons and tons of layers for me, simply because my body cannot handle these Chicago Winters. It's a season for me where my whole closet gets to jump in the mix. The Versus line holds more inspiration for me now because of the plaids. Plaids have always gotten me into fall, whether or not I wore them or not. They just remind me of the leaves changing colours and the crisp fall air. I am SO EXCITED.

Ah. My thoughts are finally put in their place for now.

This sunny day is making me chipper! Normally it's the opposite.

Hope you all tuned into Dexter on Sunday.