30 for 30 remix pieces

These are the 30 pieces I picked out for my 30 for 30 challenge (inspired by the posts Kendi Everyday used to do here) After I finished picking everything out it actually seemed like an awful lot of clothes! So now I'm thinking it'll be a lot easier than I anticipated, but I might eat those words after 30 days are up, lol...

I stuck with a kind of basic (for me at least) color scheme of red, purple, mint, ocher, navy, and black-and-white so that everything should be able to be remixed kind of easily. I think the main part of this challenge that is actually *CHALLENGING* for me is to actually take photos of all of the outfits and post them every day. Considering I've been blogging maybe a few times a month at the most lately, that's a bit of an undertaking.

But now that I've picked out my 30 items I'm beginning to get some ideas and I'm looking forward to assembling my outfits! Part of me wants to just jump right in and start today instead of waiting until June 1st, haha! 

partly cloudy

I'm really determined to start doing more outfit posts again. I've been feeling so uninspired and unmotivated lately in every aspect of my life, and I need to just snap out of it. Does anyone remember when Kendi from Kendi Everyday used to do 30 for 30 remix challenges? You pick out 30 pieces to wear for the whole month, and every day you remix those pieces into a different outfit. I never got around to participating back then, but I'm thinking about going for it this June. It seems like a good way to jolt my creativity back to life.

If you're feeling uninspired too maybe join along! I'm going to pick out my 30 pieces this weekend and I'll share them here before I start wearing them on June 1st.



By the way, how amazing are the sleeves on this dress? I'm such a sucker for bell sleeves. And the light blue/cream lace combination is one of my favorites... I think I have 3 dresses in this colorway and they just seem so lovely & vintagey to me. This particular one is my tentative birthday dress (6 months away, but whatever) and it's actually 30% off now. I bought it full price... but it was worth it so I'm not bitter about it, I swear.

dress - modcloth | shoes - bait footwear
belt - from another dress | purple rug - amazon

city lights

Last night I went to see City Lights (a silent film by Charlie Chaplin) with live accompaniment from the New York Philharmonic. City Lights is on my 30-before-30 movie list and I really can't think of a better way to experience it for the first time than on a big screen with Chaplin's score being performed by what is arguably one of the best orchestras in the world.

The movie itself was as wonderful as I was expecting it to be. It's widely considered one of the best movies ever made, and the final scene is so iconic that even if you're not a film buff you've probably seen it anyway, somewhere, somehow. I'd seen it in movie montages and Chaplin documentaries but to see it in the context of the entirety of the film just makes it all the more lovely, poignant and absolutely beautiful.



The only disappointment yesterday was the actual venue (David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center) I don't know how I got the impression that it was going to be a classy, elegant establishment but honestly it just reminded me of the buildings at our local community college. There was an exposed extension cord running down the floor outside the theater, the bathroom was the single worst one I think I've ever been in in New York City (and that's saying a lot!) and it just felt sort of... dingy?

So I was clearly over-dressed, but c'est la vie! I didn't go there yesterday to soak up the atmosphere of the hallways and bathrooms -- I was there for a movie and music, and that part was beyond phenomenal.



As I've mentioned a couple times recently (well, not too recently since my posting has been kind of sparse and erratic lately) I'm still in a major style rut. I was incredibly happy with what I wore yesterday, but it felt like a fluke that I put together something presentable. Part of my hang-up is that I don't feel like anything I want to wear fits my normal aesthetic, and that's just kind of jarring and strange. I feel much more influenced right now by 60's black and white photography, cliche wannabe-French stuff like stripes and berets, and late 70's/early 80's punk style, which is a huge departure from the pastel, frilly sort of look I've had for years.

Like.. I feel weird about posting any of these photos on my instagram because they don't fit in. And that's crazy. I guess when it comes down to it, you need to be true to yourself, even if who you are right now is different than who you were last year. It's a tough thing to come to grips with, though, to give in and accept that being yourself sometimes means being someone new.

TCMFF photo album

Over the last few years I've gotten in the habit of making photo albums -- you know, the old fashioned kind where you print out pictures and put them in binders. I make one per year and then I also make little 4" x 4" albums for vacations or themed photos (I have one album called "OMG!" with photos from really exciting things that have happened in my life, like when I met Steve Carell)

And this is my TCM Film Festival album. I wanted to share this one in particular because I thought it might be helpful for other festival attendees. It's a great way to preserve your memories and it also solves the "where the heck do I put this now?!" problem that presents itself when you come home with a ton of ribbons, buttons and a festival pass :)



I made a cover page for my album that features my "2nd festival" button. I printed one of my festival photos (this one is a close-up of the montage that was playing on the movie screens before the films started) on glossy label paper, and adhered it to a piece of thin chipboard. Then I punched holes in the side (I lined it up with a photo sleeve to make sure I was punching the holes in the right place) so I could put it in my album.

To attach the button, I just pressed the button onto the board so that the pin on the back left two little marks. I punched holes in those spots and was able to pin the button right onto the board! Then I just added some glittery stickers that said "2016 TCMFF"



My next page is a collage of movie posters from the films I saw at the festival! I made mine in photoshop and then followed the same steps listed above (I printed it on glossy label paper, adhered it to thin chipboard and then punched holes in the side... including an unfortunately placed one on Gary Cooper's eye. OUCH!)

If you don't have photoshop you could easily print these out individually and do an old-fashioned collage! :)



I also punched holes in the ribbons I got at the festival (I obviously wasn't too good at collecting them, but I'm proud of the two I did get!) and then filled the rest of the album with a combination of 4" x 4" photos and pages with four little 2" x 2" photos.



Finally at the end of the book I included my festival pass!

I'm also planning on adding some text pages to the back with memories and stories, and maybe even a little itinerary so I can remember what I did each day. The key, I think, is to do these tiny albums as soon as you can before you start to forget all of the little details from your trip (or before life gets so busy that you don't even have time to order the pictures to begin with! I still haven't assembled my album from the TCM cruise last year..)

Materials I use for these books: 4" x 4" albums / glossy label paper / thin chipboard / glitter stickers are from Michaels / long-reach hole punch