rained out

sweater - H&M / t-shirt - Target / jeans - UO / ring - H&M / shoes - Target

...or in, I should say. Those of you familiar with Berlin will immediately recognize that this is not Berlin. Today was a thoroughly enjoyable rainy, indoors, laundromat-going, chili-making, documentary-watching (NOVA & History Channel specials on Venice) and book-reading (finally finished Eating Animals, started Atonement) kind of day, and in all that we completely failed to take any outfit pictures. Fortunately, I'd worn the exact same thing (save swapping the gray tee for a pink one and the ring for my watch) a little over a month ago on a day trip to Ghent, so my rainy day outfit needn't go wholly undocumented. I love this sweater for days like this, it's perfectly soft and cozy, and I can skip any kind of makeup or accessories and just let my sequins do the work.

unruly

sunglasses - Nasty Gal / necklace - Forever 21 / jacket - Forever 21 / tote - Forever 21 / silk shirt - vintage, thrifted / overdyed skinnies - Zara / sneakers - Target

I really wanted to post these pictures yesterday, but the last minute scrambling of another international move got in the way - honestly, you'd think I'd be better at planning those by this point! Of course I'm now completely exhausted from the moving day from hell (honestly, I'm a very non-confrontational person, but I came this close to physical violence today - but more on that another time) and have a rapidly dying laptop battery with no hopes of a quick recharge (when you plug in your adapter and it emits visible sparks and pops back out of the outlet with a crack, that's a bad thing, right?), so I'm afraid this will have to be a little short and sweet.

I wore this outfit on a day trip to Bruges over the weekend; since I knew we'd be doing a great deal of walking (and having become accustomed to the highly variable Belgian weather), I opted for lightweight layers, a tote bag big enough for a few umbrellas, and comfortable sneakers. We managed to avoid getting rained on until the very end of our walk back to the train station, but the breeze was pretty stiff all day - I had a hard time finding any photos in which my shirt hadn't blown up or my bangs weren't flying around like crazy. I loved the color of this blouse with my jacket and necklace, and it kept my outfit easy without leaving me feeling sloppy or underdressed. Naturally, I managed to get a little teeny ketchup stain on the hem while sharing some frieten with Chris, but I've chosen to just think of it as a distinctly Flemish souvenir.

stripes again

necklace - Forever 21 / jacket - Forever 21 / tote - Forever 21 / striped dress (worn as a top) - Old Navy / belt - vintage, thrifted / skirt - homemade / brogues - Primark

We snapped these pictures on our way to the incredible Victor Horta house museum over the weekend - it's a good thing they didn't allow photos in the house, or you would be absolutely inundated with Horta pictures right now! I knew going in that I could expect the incredible (some might say obsessive) attention to detail that I've always loved about Art Nouveau buildings, but what I wasn't expecting was how much I would love the colors of the interiors! In particular, the real pièce de résistance was the central staircase, with its warm, cognac-colored wood, blush pink carpet, and incredible pink, mustard, and gold ornamental painting on all the walls - all of my favorites!

On an entirely unrelated note, I was recently interviewed by Smashion.com - if you haven't heard of Smashion before, it's a cool site where you can shop for (or sell, without fees!) new or gently used clothes and accessories from other users - so there are definitely some great deals to be found! You can read the interview here.

housekeeping

If you'd like to see what's in my suitcase at the moment (all 37 pounds of it!), check out my freshly updated in the bag page. I've also updated my on the map page to include our new home here in Belgium, and will keep adding to that map over the course of our travels.

And just a reminder, tonight is your last chance to enter my giveaway to win the adorable L'Amour dress from Shabby Apple! I'll be picking a winner tomorrow, and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment on the giveaway post by midnight tonight (EST), so get to it!

le second retour

necklace - boutique in Montmartre, Paris / jacket - Forever 21 / tote - convention freebie from Germany / tank - Anthropologie / braided belt - vintage, thrifted / jeans - Gap / brogues - Primark

Monumental architecture, immaculate gardens, and cool, rainy weather? That can only mean one thing - I'm back! After a week of craziness (and a very long flight, populated by one good ('Rango') and one awful ('Just Go With It') movie and absolutely no sleep) we are back on the road and back on the Continent - and what better place to start than the 'capital of Europe,' Brussels! We've been sampling our fair share of beers (including my new favorite style, the fizzy, wine-like Gueuze), ogling more Art Nouveau buildings than you can shake a serpentine stick at, and breathing in the dreamy aromas of fresh waffles and chocolate at every street corner. And to think, I'd almost forgotten how pleasant this lifestyle can be.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting up with the incredibly sweet, talented, and preposterously cute Megan Nielsen in Georgetown for some shopping, coffee, and blog-talk. It was my first time meeting someone in real life who I already 'knew' through blogging, and I will admit, I was pretty durn nervous - but it turned out to be so much fun! It was definitely a little surreal to introduce myself to someone I already felt I knew so much about, but within minutes we just felt like old friends. And she totally helped me justify the purchase of these welted wide-leg jeans, which I've long admired on Carie and which I managed to find just one pair of, in my size, on the sale rack. With an additional 30% off the sale price. Rad.

We snapped these photos outside the Palais du Roi, during a brief break in the light, drizzly rain that seems to be the hallmark of a Belgian spring (Or summer? Surely not!). Apparently I looked a little too serious about picture taking, as an older, white-haired Belgian gent stopped immediately behind Chris, flashed me a huge double-thumbs-up, and cried out, "Sourire!" So, naturally, I did.

Pretty!