censored

brass whistle necklace - vintage via etsy / wrap watch - La Mer / sweater - H&M / dress - thrifted / tights - Target / socks - H&M / boots - Steve Madden

Not to spoil the surprise or anything, but I am in Istanbul now! Exciting, right? This has absolutely nothing to do with these photos (taken a few days ago in Glasgow), but it surprisingly has everything to do with my blogging. See, I went to fire up my bloglovin' today, but I kept getting this error message, "Bu siteye erişim mahkeme kararıyla engellenmiştir," almost every time I'd try to view a whole post. Huh. So finally I popped that phrase into Google Translate:

"This prevented access to the site by court order."

Oh. Right.

The internet is totally censored here. While it probably reveals an incredible amount of naïveté on my part, I was pretty shocked. I can still view a few self-hosted blogs, but no Blogger or Wordpress, and my Disqus dashboard is only about half functional. I am still able to use Flickr, keep up with most of my favorite blogs on Google Reader, and seem to be able to create (but not preview) posts here. I can't leave comments on other blogs and am not sure yet whether I'll be able to answer my own. Oh yeah, and we're here for a whole month. I'm going to do what I can to keep up my posting schedule, but my apologies if things look a little janky around here for a while. Personally, I am definitely anticipating some serious blogroll withdrawal....

So...yeah. That's weird! But let me get down to more important business - these rad pictures Chris took of me in Glasgow. I'd initially planned to grab some photos in Kelvingrove Park, or somewhere else more readily identified with the city, but I couldn't resist the graphic potential of this sunny pedestrian bridge over the Clydeside Expressway.

This particular outfit was not what I'd planned to wear on our trip to Glasgow on Monday. I'd planned to wear this skirt, as it's been sorely neglected over the course of my 30x30, only making two outings so far. However, as our previous apartment had an iron but no ironing board (and it's the same deal here - seriously, what is up with that?), and I discovered that I am even more inept with a garment steamer than an iron, that plan had to get quickly scrapped in favor of wearing my pink stripes again. I was surprised how much I ended up liking this outfit - while I'm usually pretty insistent on having some kind of waist-definition going on, this boxy sweater over jersey dress combo was ridiculously comfy but still felt pretty cute. I realized later that the colors I went for in the outfit were almost identical to those I wore the day before, just in different proportions.

Unfortunately I was not able to get back my package of clothes yesterday - it turns out Heathrow won't actually let you leave the connecting flights terminal unless escorted by security, no matter how many tears you shed in front of the British Airways Customer Service desk, and they won't take you if your layover is under three hours long. So, after weeks of anticipation, many calls to UK Customs and Parcel Force, forking over a chunk of change on VAT, a few final days of frantic planning, Skyping, haranguing delivery drivers, and dragging a family friend out to the airport with package in tow....bupkiss. The upside is that at least my goodies are with someone I trust, and I'll definitely get them back sometime in May. In the meantime, I'll just have to keep on keepin' on, working with what I've got. Sigh.
//

pinkerton

necklace - vintage, Brooklyn flea market / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / pink striped sweater - H&M / black tee - UO / overdyed skinnies - Zara / brogues - Primark

Y'all, I really like this one. And I don't think that's just the thrill of a new sweater talking.

Well, ok, maybe it is. Because this sweater? It rocks. (And for those keeping score, it's only the 26th item I've worn in my remix so far, so not totally cheating....)

Normally, as a curvy and rather petite lady, I avoid tops with this kind of shorter, boxier fit for fear of the dastardly things they might do to my shape, but given my affinities for both stripes and for wearing things the exact same color as my skin (like being naked, but better!), when I spotted this one on sale at H&M I was powerless to resist. (I'd actually gone in hoping to find a mustard-colored cardigan, but apparently mustard is not very "in" right now.) I love the easiness of the loose fit, and that the shorter length allows it to read "oversized" without being overwhelming. For it's first day out, I kept things simple and just paired it with dark neutrals and a few of my favorite gold and brown accessories. I'm definitely looking forward to some wilder stripey pink remixes to come...

Yesterday was our last real day in Edinburgh, as we're making a day trip to Glasgow today and then leaving Scotland on Tuesday. We spent the better part of the day hiking up Arthur's Seat, a massive volcanic hill that overlooks the city, then walking around the old city, grabbing a late lunch, and stopping in to the City Art Center. It's still a little disappointing that we lost two days of our visit to my being sick, but we'll just have to come back to Edinburgh another time to see all the things we haven't had time for. Fortunately we'll have lots of time to explore our next home - and it couldn't be more different than this one!

I also got some very exciting to me (and probably not that interesting to everyone else) news - all my packages are not lost! I sent a package home from Spain about a month ago, and it finally arrived the other day. And even better... the package my mother sent me isn't lost, it's in London! So I'm working on various elaborate schemes to get my hands on it - it'll either be this week, or not 'til May! So we'll see how that goes.
//

repetition

necklace - H&M / cardigan - Cynthia Rowley via Marshall's / overdyed skinnies - Zara / shoes - Toms

Yesterday I finally felt well enough to leave the apartment,* so we took a little walk up Calton Hill to see the view and enjoy the sunshine. You can see the Scottish Royal Palace behind me in these photos, and behind that, Arthur's Seat, the much bigger volcanic hill we wound up climbing today. What you cannot see in these photos is how crazy-bad my eyes were watering from the wind, or how many used condoms were on the ground freakin' everywhere. (I love you Scotland, but please, keep it indoors!) Yes, the lengths to which I will go for the outfit shots knows no bounds.

I'll admit to having some qualms about posting this outfit on the blog at all, as it's remarkably similar to this one (albeit comparatively under-accessorized). I used to be a serious outfit-repeater. I would come up with a combination that I liked, and I'd go back to it frequently, often wearing the exact same thing multiple times in a month. A big part of why I started blogging my outfits was to force myself to be a little more creative with my closet, to try and mix things up a little and see if I couldn't come up with some more interesting results. I feel like I've more or less been making good progress on that front, but a major side-effect has been a total phobia of repetition. I never meant to make a rule for myself that I couldn't wear an outfit more than once, only that I'd like to not do it all the time, and yet since I've been blogging my outfits, I have avoided it assiduously.

What do you guys think - is it a cardinal blogger crime to wear the same thing twice?

*Or, more likely, got sick enough of being sick to throw caution to the wind.
//

encore

 necklace - vintage, great-grandmother's / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / breton striped cardigan - H&M / striped tee - UO / tights - Calzedonia / brogues - Primark

...otherwise known as Day Two of my couch vigil, brought to you by Earl Gray, Kleenex, and copious quantities of expired Sudafed.

I am nothing if not dedicated to optimism while sick, so despite my body's misgivings, I made an effort to actually get up and get dressed today in hopes of making at least some small excursion. We even ventured out to get some lunch and for me to scope the nearest Salvation Army, but by the time we got there I was too exhausted for serious thrifting, and was further demoralized by the price tag on the first awesome dress I found.* So, once again, we turned 'round and headed home, and I swapped my tights for leggings and have been in a sniffly heap on the couch ever since. The highlight of my day was probably getting the boyfriend to watch a Justin Bieber number on a recent episode of Glee, as the Biebs has fairly recently entered our collective cultural awareness (yeah, we're old), but we weren't sure we had actually heard any of his music as of yet.

Much as I love this corner of our kitchen (it makes me feel like I'm in an Anthropologie catalog!), I have majorly high hopes of feeling better tomorrow, and making it out to some more interesting photo locations. Being sick is so totally boring, y'all.

*As an aside, it makes me so nuts when thrift shops mark-up 'vintage' pieces. To me it is totally different from the premium I expect to pay at a store devoted to vintage, where buyers are using their expertise to hunt down great pieces and curate their offerings for discerning customers. Thrifts that rely on donations don't bring any of that added value, so why should I pay £18 for one dress versus £2 for another, just because you've successfully identified it as 'old'? Obviously this burns me more in for-profit shops rather than charities, but still. (And I did not buy the £18 dress.)
//

sick day

brass whistle necklace - vintage, MyMomsBasement via etsy / watch - La Mer / red print button-down - vintage, thrifted / gray tank - Anthropologie / overdyed skinnies - Zara / shoes - Toms

I went for a pretty simple outfit today, counting on the pretty print of my vintage button-down to keep things interesting. We'd planned to hike up one of the volcanic hills overlooking Edinburgh, so comfort was definitely key. We took our pictures inside because yesterday I felt like I was getting a little sick - then we headed out for our walk, and I quickly realized I was definitely already sick. It never fails, I only get sick on days with really lovely weather. We turned around and headed home, and I've since spent the afternoon watching TV under the duvet - hopefully we'll get another sunny day soon, and my nasty cold won't last too long!

I'm pretty pleased to be 2/3 of the way through my 30x30, although I think coming to the end of the remix challenge will be a bit of an anti-climax - I don't exactly have a lot of other clothes to wear! Still, having given up halfway through last summer, I expect to have at least some sense of accomplishment. Here's a round-up of my last ten remixes:



Evidently, I really had a thing for dark blues this past week! I think my favorites from this bunch are #12, #14, and #18.
//

highlander

earrings - Anthropologie / scarf - gift / watch - La Mer / ring - Primark / cardigan - Primark / tank - Anthropologie / belt - vintage, thrifted / skirt - Zara / tights - Target / brogues - Primark

Ok, so I'm not actually in the Highlands (and I'm not the Highlander), but I am in Scotland! After a fairly smelly nine and a half hour bus ride yesterday, we arrived last night in Edinburgh, and took advantage of the surprisingly great weather today to go out exploring. The old town is exceedingly cute, and everything is compact enough that we can walk pretty much everywhere. We snapped these pictures in Greyfriars Kirkyard, after paying our respects to Greyfriars Bobby. As far as I can tell, Scotland's two biggest tourist industries are tartan and ghost stories - so far we haven't really indulged in either, although the pub where we had dinner last night does claim to have their own house ghost. I've also noticed a serious abundance of charity shops within walking distance of our apartment....

After seeing (and freaking loving) this kind of pink, pumpkin, and cognac color combination on both sartoriography and fancy treehouse this past week, I decided to try and style up a similar color story with my new favorite skirt and a pink tank. I really loved the core combination, but I think it got a little lost after adding the navy cardigan and (especially) the yellow scarf, so I'll definitely be trying it again sometime with more neutral outerwear. I'm also going to be on the lookout for some rusty orange tights, so I can wear them with my pink skirt for even more pink-pumpkin love.

 
The new stars of my traveling wardrobe - the brogues. Comfortable enough to walk in all day and they go with everything. Best £8 I ever spent.
//