The Maximalist

  Since my closet is so small (and half of it is full of Dan's stuff) I often hang more than one item on each hanger– such as a cardigan over a dress.  But every once in a while I do this and then stop and look at the two pieces I just paired together and realize they'd make a perfect outfit together.  Which is exactly what happened with this blazer and dress.  I suspect the print mixing might be a bit too crazy for some people, but I love mixing all kinds of prints.  I've realized that my natural tendency is to maximalism, in pretty much all areas of my life.  My design work always tends towards the visually dense, in all my art I end up doing the most tedious processes ever (and love it), my hair is big, curly, and crazy... so I suppose it only makes sense that my outfits would express this as well.

blazer/courtesy of modcloth :: shoes/minnetonka :: dress/modcloth bag/courtesy of handbag heaven :: belt/thrifted
Lately I've been trying to get better at minimalism.  I've always really appreciated and loved the clean lines and open feeling of minimalism.  Aesthetically I think it's beautiful, but whenever I go to design something it will naturally tend to be visually dense.  It takes work for me to get my brain to re-calibrate to a more minimal look, but I'd like to have the ability to create things with more diverse aesthetics.  My aesthetic has always been a sort of tacky, 70's, pattern-filled aesthetic, but there's something to be said for the sophistication of minimalism.  I'd like to be able to merge the two somehow.  To retain that retro, sort of tacky, feel while maintaining a more sophisticated look.  Graphic and interior design aside, though, I think I'll always like to wear visually dense outfits with mixing patterns, textures, and colors.

Charlotte's Blueberry Patch

A couple weeks ago, my coworker told me about this blueberry patch in Tacoma where you can pick blueberries for free all summer.  Apparently it used to be a commercial blueberry farm that the city bought in order to build a high school on the land.  The city ended up building the school elsewhere and people started tending to the blueberries and it's now this idyllic patch of thousands of blueberry bushes that anyone can go pick!  There were still lots of berries that weren't ripe yet, so we're planning on going back in a couple weeks to see if they're done yet.  It's just such a peaceful, quiet spot in the middle of a sprawling city, I could seriously spend hours there.  I love discovering new treasures in Tacoma.  I'm so new to the city that there's still so much that I don't know about.  

cardigan + dress/courtesy of modcloth :: shoes/thrifted :: shades/courtesy of lulu's photos by Dan
I felt very Kate Spade S/S 2011 in this outfit.  This dress usually feels too fancy and "party dress" when I try to put it on, but pairing it with a cardigan and sneakers made it just casual enough to wear all day.  The forecast for the next week says it should be in the upper 70's everyday, but I can feel the nip coming.  At night I'm already wishing I'd worn mittens, and I almost want to put the heat on in the house, but I refuse to do such a thing until at least October.  This cardigan is super thick and cozy though, so I think it'll be a good layer for fall.  It's hard to tell how thick a cardigan will be when you get it online.  Sometimes they can provide barely any warmth at all, and sometimes they can replace a light jacket.  This one feels nice and thick and heavy, though.  Perfect for fall temperatures.

Kindred Spirits

I've been missing my long hair lately, so I dragged out my black wig to satiate my desire for longer locks.  I bought it back when my hair was red and I was missing my darker hair, but now it's nice to have longer hair when my short hair just isn't cutting it.  My hair is slowly growing, but it's actually not that much shorter than the wig now.  My hair grows relatively quickly, but since it's curly it seems to take longer to actually gain length.  I like my shorter hair, but for some reason I feel more myself with longer hair.
Speaking of feeling "myself," damn does it feel good to drive this car again!  I'd been putting off getting it registered because I had to go through the whole process of transferring the title from AK to WA and getting new plates, etc, etc.  Every time I have to forfeit another piece of my Alaskan roots my heart hurts a little bit... getting a Washinton drivers license, losing my Alaska license plates, getting a Washington voter's card... little pieces of my Alaskan identity slowly being taken away.  I suppose an identity is internal, but it's hard to give up those symbols.  I always felt a little cool and "other" driving around with AK plates.  I love seeing the occasional AK license plates driving around here in Washington.  It seems like I'm near a kindred spirit or something.

dress(worn as top)/courtesy of modcloth :: skirt/thrifted :: shoes/courtesy of blowfish  
It's crazy that I've had this little car for a whole decade!  She's my girl.  I love all her quirks and oddities, like how to wiggle the key just right to unlock the door, and how you have to turn the key back to get her to start, how I know which bumps to avoid so her undercarriage doesn't scrape on the pavement, and how the transmission is wonky and doesn't want to shift into 3rd after she warms up.  Granted, most of these "quirks" are things I should and could fix.  To some extent, though, it feels like she's a person with these flaws.  I have a tendency to give human attributes to my vehicles...  but she does feel like an old friend.  Someone I've cried with and who's been with me through break-ups and major life events.  She's my girl.

Form + Function

You know how sometimes you hang onto a piece of clothing because you know it's just waiting to be paired with it's sartorial soulmate?  I'm pretty sure this dress was just sitting in my closet waiting until the day it was united with this blazer.  Oh and fair warning, I've already styled this blazer again, and even Dan was like, "you sure do like that blazer, huh?"  Um, yes.  Yes I do.  Something about how it's structured, yet floral.  Floral things seem to normally be flowy and draped, so I like the juxtaposition of the floral pattern in structured a menswear-inspired form.  It just seemed natural to pair it with such a structured, architectural dress.

dress + blazer/courtesy of modcloth :: belt + shoes/thrifted :: shades/vintage
This week Dan and I went out to visit his parents and it's about a two hour drive through rural and mountain country.  So beautiful.  There were tons of farms for sale out there with upwards of 60 acres, and we were both kind of daydreaming about owning a huge tract of land with pastures and crops and such.  Neither of us were too into raising livestock, but having crops or fruit trees... and of course I'd love to have a horse or two.  It sounds so amazing.  Granted, I don't know the first thing about running a whole farm, but damn if that isn't a beautiful way to live.  And a beautiful place to live.  I always have this internal struggle between wanting to live among people in a town, and living out in the sticks in a cozy little home on some land.  I think for now we're set on living in town, but maybe our brains will keep dreaming about having a farm and a few years from now, who knows!

Broccoli Mushroom Quiche

I think fall is definitely in the air because I have been baking and cooking up a storm.  In the last two days we've made two quiches, baked potato chips, strawberry rhubarb crisp, chocolate covered cherries, mini ice cream pies, and two shrubs.  And I have all the makings for a rhubarb pie, but it seemed unwise to have a rhubarb pie and a strawberry rhubarb crisp in the house at the same time.  Anyway, quiche.  I don't know at what point I started liking quiche.  Not that I remember particularly disliking them.  We used to serve quiche at a cafe I worked at a few years ago and I always loved getting to take home the ones that were "expired" after my shift.  I think I made a quiche last fall, but I have a feeling the amount of quiches eaten this fall will increase exponentially.

What you'll need:
1 9-inch pie shell
About 1 1/2 cups steamed broccoli
1 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

While you're whipping everything together, preheat your oven to 375°. Make your pie crust and get it all ready to receive the goods.  Then, in a mixing bowl, combine the milk, eggs, butter, flour, salt, pepper and 1 cup cheese and whisk until everything is well blended.  Spread the remaining 3/4 cup of cheese over the bottom of the crust.  On top of the cheese, layer your broccoli and mushrooms.  Now, pour milk and egg mixture over everything.  Stick it in the oven and bake at 375 for 35 to 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Makes about 4-6 servings.

I also made a broccoli potato quiche just about the same way.  Instead of mushrooms I did some diced potato that I'd sauteed for a few minutes.  Super yum.  Play around!  Throw in random stuff and see what happens!  Necessity is the mother of invention.