Sweet Jesus! Fall Is Upon Us!

Finally!!! It's here...the season I wait for all year long. How does one celebrate such a wonderful time of year? The best way, of course -- a day on the town with a friend, caramel iced coffee in hand, shopping at Whole Foods (where we are apparently kale experts), and enjoying a new playlist while commuting from each destination to the next. Today I decided I wanted to do something fun with my wardrobe. And Voila! 

A fun, fall outfit for a fun, fall day. Thanks to Michelle (my trusty little photographer and fellow kale lover) for the wonderful photos. :)

    

Skirt, Scarf, & Necklace: Forever 21

Boots: Ross

Belt: Wet Seal

Shirt: Target

Happy Fall! 

Baby Room Painting

My sister is due with her first baby literally any day now. Before I made the big move across the country to the Bay area in California, I made a quick and easy painting for my new niece's room. My sister painted the room teal and coral, and she loves Africa and giraffes, so I figured I would incorporate these two elements into my art. This is an extremely easy project for even the most artistically-challenged person. All you need is some paint, scissors, and an hour or two.

1. Find a cute cartoon-looking image that you want to use. I Googled "Baby Giraffe" and then made two copies, one large giraffe and one smaller giraffe. Print and cut out. 2. Tape the stencils onto your canvas and lightly trace with pencil. I decided to add some circles in the background, which I just traced the bottom of a bowl for. 3. Carefully remove your stencils and paint within the lines (which can be harder than you think!). 4. Let dry for about two hours and then use a paint marker, which you can find at most craft stores, to outline your image. I added in the details on the giraffe on my own, so feel free to add as much or as little details to the character as you want. My sister loved this and it was a unique, simple, and cute way to spice up my nieces room!

Week Eleven (La Fin!)

Norway

Norway and Ireland

Ireland

It's five in the morning and I am wide awake. FIVE IN THE MORNING AND WIDE AWAKE. Those two things should NEVER be allowed in a sentence together. But I arrived home from Ireland last night after 15 hours of travel and clearly jetlag has decided to have its way with me.

Since I'm up dark and early, I figured I might as well take this time to write my final outfit post. Continuing with last week's trend, I've made a series of top-fives about the last three and a half months. Therefore, this post is a bit longer than my previous ones and I do not apologize.

Top-Five Moments
1. The unexpected evening in Felixkirk, England ("population 30-40") where we stayed with a hitchhiking lift and his partner, went to the local pub quiz with them and another couple, and had wonderfully splendid conversations.
2. The impromptu dance party in the middle of a Polish highway.
3. The 2 days of stealth camping in a park 5 minutes from the center of (feckin') Bruges, Belgium.
4. "The best day ever" in Warsaw, Poland in which Kendall and I ate like kings for the price of almost nothing.
5. The 4th of July on which we climbed a mountain, made breakfast for dinner, and shared cocktails the size of my head, all in the company of some splendidly awesome Austrians.

Top-Five Hitchhiking Lifts
1. Ruth and Donna -- the ones who saved a horse in the middle of the road and bought us ice cream.
2. Tim -- the one who was going to raid a castle for his 21st and brought us to see his friend's 10 puppies.
3. The Swedish James Deans -- the ones who owned a caravan of four classic American cars in which we rode while listening to oldies and driving through the Swedish countryside.
4. The Translator -- the one who loved languages as much as I do and seemed just as excited as me to discuss the grammar and best words of various languages.
5. La Maman Belge -- the one with whom conversing in French didn't feel the least bit difficult and who, when talking to her two children on speaker phone, told them about how she picked up hitchhikers on a post-studies adventure and encouraged them to do the same.

Top-Five Cities
1. Paris, France.
2. Edinburgh, Scotland.
3. Berlin, Germany.
4. Warsaw, Poland.
5. Bergen, Norway.

Top-Five Countries
1. Poland.
2. Austria.
3. Ireland.
4. Sweden.
5. Norway.

Top-Five Songs
1. I Love A Rainy Night by Eddie Rabbitt.
2. Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye.
3. That Thing You Do by The Wonders
4. Nosa Nosa by Micharl Telo.
5. Emmy-Lou by First Aid Kit.

Top-Five Pizzas According To The Country They Were Consumed In
1. Austria.
2. England.
3. Denmark.
4. France.
5. Scotland.

Top-Five Airlines
1. British Airways.
2. British Airways.
3. British Airways.
4. British Airways.
5. British Airways.

Week Ten

Sweden

Sweden

Sweden

Since I only have a handful of days left on my journey, I've decided to take a page out of Kendall's bookand create a top-five list of things that I'm looking forward to upon my return to the States:

1. Being in the presence of some of the spectacular people who have been missing from my life since May 16th. But, duh.
2. Not having to lug around my backpack. I overheard another backpacker on the start of this journey talking about how he had taken a long trip with only a backpack and how pit had kind of become a part of him and he almost missed it when his trip was over. I suspected it then, but I am certain now--he was some kind of crazy person. I am in no way attached to wearing my backpack and I'm so excited that after Wednesday I'll never have to strap it on again.
3. My wardrobe! In particular my maxi dresses and heels. But also anything that isn't streched, hole-y, or faded from being worn far too often during the last three and a half months.
4. The most recent season of HIMYM and pumpkin curry pizza. My day after I return to the US tradition.
5. My mom's pasta salad. I'm just as surprised by this one as you are. But I got a craving for it about halfway through my trip that I haven't been able to shake since.

Week Nine

Sweden

Sweden

Sweden

If it hasn't become obvious to you already, I'm starting to have to get quite creative to complete this outfit challenge: sweaters have become dresses and shirts have become skirts. And now, tutus have become shirts. This newest invention is thanks to my oldest sister (coincidentally, the giver of said tutu...actually the giver of an entire BAG full of colorful tutus for my most recent birthday. Best sister ever? Well, top 5, for sure.) who, well discussing my difficulty piecing together my remaining outfits during a recent Skype conversation, showed me how she wears a tutu like a shirt.

After putting together a tutu-shirted outfit for myself, I was unsure about whether I liked the whole ensemble better with or without my sweater and I emailed her asking for her opinion. Not only is she the giver of the most perfect birthday present--a bag of them--but also perfect fashion advice:

"For overall everyday chic, I prefer the sweater. The color and print on the bow in combination with the sweater gives it the perfect touch of ironically preppy, without seeming too forcefully ironic. As if you're saying: 'Psssh. You THINK I'm a nonsensical child for wearing a tutu, but if that's true how do you explain my dignified librarian sweater? Hmmmm?'"

Well? Clearly there's no explanation. Dignified librarian sweaters with non-sensical tutus it is!

Week Eight

Sweden

Sweden

Sweden

Socialist nightmare FTW.

That is all.

Oh, and, as always, God bless Ikea.

Week Seven

France and The Netherlands

The Netherlands

The Netherlands and Denmark

Here's a fact: Vibrant orange henna-dyed hair is much much harder to coordinate clothing with than vibrant red hair. 

Here's another fact: Vibrant orange hair, though more difficult to properly coordinate overall than red hair, does go spectacularly with neutral colors (brown, cream, etc) as well as blue (but, duh, UF figured that out ages ago). Neither of which I have an extraordinary amount of on this trip. Not that I have an extraordinary amount of anything on this trip, really.

Looks like I'll just have to channel my inner Tim Gunn and make it work.