Best summer ever?

What's that? SCHOOL IS FINALLY OVER? Thank goodness!

Looking back on this school year, I'm disappointed in the amount of time I spent either upset/complaining about stuff. Looking back, it was actually the best year of all, right? I was cast in two school plays (for the first time, too), I got a callback every term, I got a scholarship and great grades and made it in the final round of the BFA acting sequence. I lived off campus, I tried new things, dated someone, grew out my hair, performed one of the best performances of my life in our directing project of God of Carnage.

This year really was the best one yet.

Dress: vintage, Three Penny Mercantile in Ashland OR

Sweater: F21

Shoes: Payless

Harry Potter tote: Barnes & Noble

Listening to: "Waitin' on a Sunny Day," Bruce Springsteen

This is one of the shortest dresses I have worn in a long time, but I felt beautiful and 90s chic and ready for summer in it. Bring on the shorter dresses!

I am so excited for this summer. I am staying in Ashland, OR the whole time with a new job at the local ice cream shop. The boys next door are staying as is my roommate. I'm turning 21! We're gonna spend every day we can at the lake! I'm going to Outside Lands! YAY!

BEST. SUMMER. EVER.

Si se puede!

The girl who used to never wear logo'd shirts has since acquired several of them, and the collection is growing with a purchase of a NASA-themed shirt just last night (this morning?). I used to vehemently oppose wearing shirts with logos/pictures on them, but how could I pass up this Rosie the Riveter shirt from Couthclothing on Etsy? Really, though it's become the only shirt I want to wear anymore.

Denim jacket: GAP via Plato's closet

Shirt: Couthclothing on Etsy

Skirt: F21

Shoes: TOMS

Scarf: vintage via Plato's Closet

Earrings: forks, handmade gift from Rachel

"My Vagina Is Angry" button: SOU WRC

The day I wore this someone in passing called in my "feminist outfit," b/c of the button and the t-shirt. I can't help it if I want to support strong, independent, possibly angry vaginas. 

In other news, here's what's happened since I've been here last: I performed and closed Cyrano, went home for spring break, started spring term of school, went to Portland, broke my collarbone & almost healed it, and next weekend I'm heading back home to watch my sister graduate high school and see Mumford & Sons in concert! SCHOOL IS ALMOST OVER. I'm so happy!

Listening to: Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend

Concerning Cyrano.

So much for my New Year's Resolution of dressing better. My acting sequence classes leave me exhausted every morning at 7 am when I struggle out of bed, throw on any and all black clothes I can find, and head out to the door to make it to 830 am classes Monday through Thursday. To create more of a sense of uniformity, we are required to wear all black for our movement class, which is followed immediately by acting; on Mondays and Wednesdays we have voice which also requires sweats and pulling your hair out of your face. I am CERTAINLY not complaining; me being in these classes is a miracle in itself, and I am so happy to be there. But it can be a little bit of a bummer, especially in the winter, when all that's keeping me out of feeling ugly and lazy and gross is dressing up.

I still manage it on a few days, like yesterday: I had a few items in my closet I hadn't worn in a while, and even though the skies in Ashland were cloudy and grey all day yesterday, the weather actually wasn't that cold and I got away without wearing a jacket. I had my friend Lucas get a photo of it during a break while we were at rehearsal for our school's production of The Cyrano Project, a re-telling of Cyrano de Bergerac!

Vest, skirt: F21

Sweater, scarf: Marshall's

Boots: GAP Outlet

Shirt: Target

Lucas's outfit details to come.

I was speaking to a friend at the same rehearsal about personal style, and she bemoaned the fact that she doesn't dress as nice as she would like to. I retorted by saying, "I think I've learned over the past couple of years that less people are paying attention to what I'm wearing than I think," which she immediately dismissed as not being true. Another girl at the rehearsal wore this adorable black tulle skirt last week and when I complimented her on it, she said that the reason she had decided to dress up more was partly because of me. I guess more people are looking at what I wear than I think? That is simultaneously flattering and terrifying!

Listening to: "Touch the Sky (Shire Theme" by Kanye West

Mischief Managed.

Last week my friends and I threw a Harry Potter themed surprise birthday party for our friend Ethan. We all dressed as different characters and ate a lot of food!

We hung up Hogwarts letters for Ethan, a la that scene in Sorcerer's Stone.

Me as Moaning Myrtle.

Mallory as Penelope Clearwater, 

Spencer as Gilderoy Lockhart (yeah I don't get it either), 

Sarah as a Muggle

Azalea, Jillian, and Autumn as Hermione, Harry, and Ron

Duckie was our Sirius!

We all signed the chalboard as our characters!

2013.

It's the New Year! Inspired by this post by Kallie from Happy, Honey, and Lark, here's a general overview of my year.

Five events that have been the best this year?
1. Being cast as Natasha in Chekhov's Three Sisters
2. Interning with the Livermore Shakespeare Festival
3. Getting into the preliminary round of the acting BFA
4. Seeing Mumford & Sons in Monterey in August
5. Not gonna lie, my first kiss was pretty great.

Five events that have been the worst this year?
1. Not making it into the second round of the BFA
2. Saying goodbye to Fiona for a while
3. Being apart from Mallory for so long
4. Not being in a show with Sarah
5. living next to my neighbor

What have you learned this year?
I have learned that I need to take better care of myself. I need to be able to voice my opinions and needs without being afraid of getting in trouble or being disliked. I learned that I am a strong person, no matter what. I learned that I can feel incredibly happy and incredibly sad all at the same time.

Was it the year you had in mind?
It was definitely better than last year. I had no idea so many horrible things would happen to me this year, I had no idea so many amazing things would happen to me.

What clothes did you wear the most?
Black leggings almost every day of summer and fall term. My GAP denim jacket I got from Plato's Closet for $15. I wore that almost every single day.

What music did you listen to the most?
Danielle Ate the Sandwich's Like a King. Yeasayer's "Ambling Alp." The Lumineer's "Ho Hey." The Middle East's "Blood."

What have you watched?
I started watching Breaking Bad. Mad Men was amazing. Continued with the hilarity that is Parks & Recreation. Sobbed my heart out over Downton Abbey. Fell in love with Bob's Burgers. Took a break from Gossip Girl and then started up again. Les Miserables tore my heart out, The Hobbit was great, Anna Karenina with Sazi. Ruby Sparks is the exact thing I want to act in, I want to write.

Which people do you hang with the most?
Sarah, Mallory, and Fiona were my best friends and always will be. Erin and Katie were there, too, as was the Cutest Girl Eden.

What new people did you come to know this year?
I met some amazing people at Livermore Shakes, especially the interns. Rachel Seeley and I fell in love at Three Sisters. Scott Kaiser, our director. Molly, Mary, and Joelle saved my life. Kevin Dempsey and I had a great showcase. Nick Altishin and I fell in love.

What is the best thing you've read?
The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay was great.

Did you do anything this year you've never done before?
I dyed my hair! I kissed someone! I was in a play in college! I had an internship with a semi-professional theatre company! I got really, really drunk! I moved into my first apartment!

What was your biggest achievement in 2012?
Probably being in Three Sisters. It was the best thing that has ever happened to me.

What did you spend the most money on?
Gas, getting to and from my internship this summer. Food, clothes.

What do you wish you'd done more?
I wish I had hung out with more people that I promised I'd hang out with. I wish I had written more. I am very proud of the play I wrote in my playwriting class, and am hoping I write some more plays in the upcoming year.

What did you do on your birthday in 2012?
Emma, my mother, and I went to Disneyland! I got a special button and the pirate band in New Orleans Square sang me Happy Birthday. All the employees called me princess, even though I was turning the big 2-0!

How would you describe your style in 2012?
Continuously evolving, and relaxing as the year went on. This year I learned how to embrace certain parts of my body and spent the summer showing off my shoulders. Wore a lot of black, wore a lot of leggings. Tried some brighter colors but mostly loved greys and blacks.

The opposite of love's indifference.

I envy men, sometimes. At least the way they get dressed. I'm still riding my high from seeing Mumford & Sons a couple of months ago, and so all that's been on my tumblr feed is pictures of those boys. And they're so chic! And the best part is, they're chic in a really easy way. Button-up shirts, slim-fitting pants, maybe some boots or a belt buckle or a nice hat. And that's it. I do applaud personal style, but I can't see why anyone wouldn't dress that way. I don't know. Is it uncomfortable for men to dress that way? Is Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad the icon of comfort?

Butts are nice. Butts are good. We should see men's butts more often.

Dress: Deja Vu consignment, $5

Coat: Styles 4 Less

Tights: F21

Boots: Steve Madden via Marshall's

Earrings: gift from my grandfather

I was running errands last week when I decided to pop into the consignment store near the movie theatre to take a look around. I was looking for a big, men's flannel shirt, specifically: I didn't remember that the store only sold women's clothes. However, I found this dress, tried it on, LOVED it, and while I can't really afford new clothes right now AT ALL, this one only cost $5, so I had to. I just had to.

I've been liking dresses like this lately: longer hem lengths, longer sleeves. I like being covered up as much as possible, because I'm more comfortable, but--dare I say it?--it still made me feel rather sexy, which is a feeling I'm not entirely used to. I also like the way the hem of the skirt hits the tops of my boots. I've also been wearing these teal horse earrings a lot more lately; they were given to me many years ago as a gift from my mother's father, about 10ish years after my obsession with horses ended. But having short hair is great for wearing earrings, and these are the only pair I own!

Photos courtesy of Azalea M. in front of the theatre building

Currently listening to: "Ho Hey," The Lumineers

You're stuck in my mind all of the time.

Opening weekend of Three Sisters at Southern Oregon University has prompted me to start actually putting effort into my ensembles: the past two days I've worn real clothes! Ee! Dresses! Lately it's been all black, all the time: my movement class requires everyone wear all black so that we all look uniform, so my Mondays and Wednesdays are spent in black leggings and huge black t-shirts. Whatever!

Scott, Joe, and Tyler during rehearsal

Zlato and Tyler

Hannah

Henry

Sam and Henry are twins!

Austin took a few seconds to snap a picture of me! You can see him in the mirror of the dressing room. I like creeping around in my scary old-lady dressing gown backstage in the dark and scaring Austin.

Dress, sweater: F21

Boots: Steve Madden via Marshall's

Tights: Target

Yes, yes, I know I need to work on my posing.

Listening to: "I Remember," Yeasayer