thirty before thirty progress

I'm happy to report that I'm making some pretty good progress on my thirty before thirty list, and I've only been 29 for about two weeks!

The biggest thing, and the reason I look like I'm bursting with happiness in this photo, is that I booked a trip to France and Italy for next August! And I'm going alone! I am so excited I keep grinning ear-to-ear. I'm doing a group tour that starts out in Paris and then ends in Rome. So this will take care of numbers 4 (Travel to Europe) and 5 (Travel somewhere alone) on my list. I seriously can't believe I'm actually doing it. I've been dreaming about this my whole life.

I'm doing well with number 1 (learn French) which is really going to come in handy now! I've been trying to use the Duolingo app every night and I've only missed a couple days so far. For number 6 (complete a 30 before 30 watchlist) I've completed the list of movies I want to watch over the next year (you can view the list here) but so far I've only watched one of them. It was Eyes Without a Face, one that I'd been wanting to see for a while and I'm SO GLAD I finally watched it. It's one of my favorite new-to-me movies this year.

I'm also making progress with number 7 (start driving) I actually drove myself to the movies last week! I'm still a little nervous about actually being on the road (I'm mostly scared of other drivers more than anything else) but I feel like I'm very skilled at handling the car now. And once I get even more comfortable I'll be able to really get to work on numbers 28 (go to the movies more often) and 15 (volunteer)

I've made a little headway on number 13 (reading books on the middle ages) I have a book called 1215 that's all about the year that the Magna Carta was signed, and I'm dead set on finishing it while it's still 2015, the 800th anniversary year. I'm about 1/4 of the way through. I also started this book on The Black Death, which seems like it'll be very good, too.

The one that I'm still having a lot of trouble with is 22 (spend my time more wisely) This one is probably going to take all 12 months of being 29 because it's more of a lifestyle change than just trying to complete a task, you know? I waste way too much time on the internet or just dawdling when I should be getting work done. Sometimes I legitimately decide to skip projects entirely because it would take away from my movie-watching time. It's slightly pathetic. I'm working on it though!

That's about it so far. I'm seriously so excited about Paris and Rome, though, I think this must be what it feels like to be in love. I'm giddy and floating and I cannot stop smiling. Somebody pinch me, this can't be real!

shirt - asos

happy thanksgiving

Feeling thankful for my family, my cats, my friends, my health, my brain, potatoes, sleep, the internet, pizza, $1 unsweetened iced tea from mcdonalds, living in an era where we have access to almost every movie ever made, Tina Fey, being my own boss (which allows me to sleep late every day and travel often), color, music, crisp fall air, Alain Delon, and this pretty vintage dress. And more stuff that I just can't think of right now. Oh, air conditioning. And modern medicine, duh.

dress - vintage | shoes - bait footwear

(ps. bait is offering 30% off everything right now. I DIE.)

winter mood

First of all, this picture of Claudia Cardinale is HAIR GOALS x 1000. I mean, seriously, this hair might be all I've ever wanted in life. I'm actually kind of close to achieving it (!!) so I might do a tutorial. I'm in the process of growing out my bangs so it doesn't look exactly like hers yet but I'm working on it. THAT DAY WILL SOON COME.

Anyway. This is just a little post of pictures I've been accumulating on my computer that are inspiring my winter wardrobe and hair/makeup. Right now I'm really into darker colors, a late 60's/early 70's aesthetic with a little bit of edgy 90's thrown in for good measure; heavy eye makeup and nude lips. And bell sleeves, always. I really need to start taking more outfit posts because I've been VERY happy with a lot of my outfits lately. It's just such a hassle to take them in like the only five minutes in the early afternoon when the lighting doesn't actually suck. I've had the same issue with product photos, I swear I have the cutest batch of little Christmas brooches that have been ready to go since October but I keep missing the time of day when you could actually see them without turning on all of the lights in the house :\

So somehow this turned into yet another post complaining about lighting, blerg. Okay, here are the pictures!

















60's hair and makeup + middle ages armor and chain maille? YES PLEASE.

anything goes

This probably shouldn't even count as an outfit post since I didn't get good photos, but it's really the only outfit I have left to share from the trip. I did wear clothes every day, I swear, I just didn't get good pictures of most of them.

I wore this the night of the theme party, where you're supposed to get all dolled up. I've never been on a TCM Cruise before so I had no idea if it was like ballgown-dressy, cocktail party-dressy or semi-fancier-than-jeans dressy so I just played it safe with a little black dress. As it turns out, people really do get super dressed up, a lot of people wore period clothing (it is a classic movie-themed cruise, after all!) complete with feather boas and everything! I'm definitely going to bring something fancier when I go next time!

I've been in a horrible funk ever since I got home, to be honest. I'm usually really excited about getting home after vacations but this time I'm having a really difficult time getting back into my normal routines and I've been kind of grouchy. I've been spending way too much time looking at group travel packages to Europe and dreaming about my next adventure. I guess a lot of this is tied up in my whole age-crisis stuff (#firstworldproblems) but I just feel like I need a major change.

dress - asos | shoes - blowfish