Graffiti Falls

Rainbow Falls (aka graffiti falls) is Manitou Springs' perfect summer afternoon getaway spot. The day before I left for Seattle, Gwendolyn and I went there after lunch at La Baguette and took some pictures while cooling off in the creek.

Cute, aren't we? This is one of the most popular places in the springs for us hipsters to take photos, but they always turn out fun and original.

Cooking

Living on my own lesson #1: it's probably better to cook the chicken breast and then slice it later. But it was still attached to the bone so I was confused.

Summer Adventure

My last post had something to do with my favorite coffee shop, and now I find myself in a city full of stellar coffee shops. I've come to Seattle, WA to visit my sister and attempt to find a summer job. I've got the top bunk in a small room, three clothes cubbies, and limited access to the car. Planning for this trip mostly consisted of buying a plane ticket and thoughts like 'oh yeah, that will be fun. It will all work out.' and now I'm starting to think through the logistics of things. I want it to be a spontaneous summer of adventures, but I definitely can't support myself for long so I'll have to find some form of employment ASAP, or go back home and live with my parents for the remainder of break.

That said, I'm going to have to be pretty creative and innovative this summer to survive. I thought it would be fun to blog about my adventures and new experiences, just to put the thoughts down in words and out there in the world to be seen by whomever.

The first adventure, then, happened today. I was at a diner until 4 am, then began anew at 8 am to explore the city with the company of a friend. We (sort of by accident) ended up across the water at West Seattle and found ourselves some espresso to drink while walking along the beach. Next was a quick tour of Pike Place Market (during which a homeless man commented on the classiness of our dress. Thank you, homeless man.) and Ballard for lunch and Bop Street Records.

I spent the rest of the afternoon turning in job applications and trying to figure out how to get back to where I live. And now the evening: tv and strawberries. C'est la vie d'une chômeuse.

coffee and old lace

Much of my inspiration this year has been found at Kaladi Brother's Coffee with a kaladi latte or venetian cream. The coffee is delicious, the baristas are fantastic, and they always play classical music. Plus the atmosphere is pretty cool, kind of like this artwork on the outside wall of the shop: 

I also wanted to mention a project that I had a lot of fun with over spring break. I was only home for about half of my spring break week, all of which I spent cooped up in the sewing room doing a few freelance projects and this skirt:

Someday I'll have better pictures. This is a project that I've been thinking about for a long time and I gathered the materials for it from dozens of fabric stores and antique shops across the states. There's bits of lace from my Grandmother and a beautiful piece of European lace I found in Florida last winter. It's all combined into a cream explosion of lacy goodness with chic, bohemian, vintage flairs.

As Iris says - "you could get married in that skirt!" or you could just wear it for a walk in the park.

Blackbird

I have been working on a few projects lately, but I haven't had the time or presence of mind to translate them to a blog post.

My most recent project, however, I did last night and am very happy with. I have been wanting to do this probably since last summer, so now that it's warm weather, I went to Urban Outfitters and bought these shoes:

While plain white shoes like this are really cute, my idea was to draw/write on them in black sharpie. So I settled on a 'Blackbird' theme (the Beatles' song, of course) and got to work!

(the anchor doesn't really go with the theme at all... I just liked it)

And now I've got my perfect hipster shoes for spending the summer in Seattle! (don't worry, I also have a plaid shirt and combat boots)

Back to Basics

I'm supposed to be writing a paper on ethics for my Business Law class right now, but I decided to write this blog post instead. Obviously, I'm making good life decisions. Anyway. The point is that I've decided to take up blogging again. I never really decided to stop blogging, I just haven't been doing much of anything these past few months worth blogging about. I've been getting myself used to college life and enjoying all the experiences that come with that, so it has been a good break I think. But it has been painfully clear to me lately how much I am craving creativity in my life, as well as some good ol' introverted pensiveness.

A few things have been on my mind lately:
Living a simple, healthy life. This includes regular exercise and figuring out creative ways to eat well in the cafeteria.
Thinking, writing, reading. I am making more of a point of this in my personal life, but I think my classes this quarter will help with this as well. I'm most excited about my food-related writing class, where I hope to do a lot more research on the things I've been thinking about. Also, my French literature class has been very interesting and mind-broadening.
DIY/back-to-basics. Let's be honest, this is mostly stemmed from my dwindling student budget, but I've also entered a hippie-ish phase of my life. I've been enjoying finding ways to do things in a cheap, natural way.

More to come on these topics (and, as always, sewing and art when I have the time).

The Shirt

I have been working on this plaid shirt for a few months now, and it is finished just in time for the cool fall weather! This is the first shirt I have made, and I did everything from the pattern to the buttons. The outer is checkered flannel and it is fully lined with a contrasting cotton material. I feel like a woodsman wearing it, and it is really warm so hopefully I will get several opportunities to wear it.