christmas round up

At this point Christmas is over and done with (the package I sent Jonathan finally got there!)

This year took a bit to get in the Christmas spirit, I think it was mainly due to the weather having temperatures in the 60’s leading up to Christmas it’s no wonder. As a result there was next to no motivation to decorate which lead to us having a more “traditional” Chritstmas where we did all the decorating on Christmas eve. Somehow we pulled it all together though and got 2 trees up, the house decorated, presents wrapped, and a bunch of baking done the day before the holiday. Here are a few pictures of what our house looked like.

We did family gifts at home and dinner at my aunt’s house. All in all it was a pretty good day.

As for gifts the best of course was my October trip to London from Jonathan. Some other things that I got that were pretty nifty were a hoodie from my archaeology company with the University and company name on, a framed cross stitch of the Tardis from my friend Madison, and a nail polish top coat which turns all polishes into matte from my bff, Gillian. She also gave me a really beautiful carved soapstone box which will be a great jewelry box for traveling to grad school since it’s smaller than my normal one. 🙂

All in all this year was pretty good.

Hats off

I’ve been back from the UK for 50 days now. 😦 sadness.

Pouting aside while I was there I decided that I’m going to put my money where my mouth is get a top hat. Unfortunately the London vintage shops weren’t on the same page as this notion. The only top hat I found was this one, which was too big, but my friend Esther snapped a cute picture of me in it.

Since returning to the states I started to look more seriously at how to rock a top hat. I mean it’s not something you can just throw on with any look. And with it being such an ostentatious piece, the looks have to be carefully planned so as not to look too costume. I started my doing google image searches of girls wearing top hats.

The obvious first findings were Steampunk chicks.

If I had more time and money this would be something I’d totally get into. The look is amazing and come on the girls are beautiful!

Seriously, yum.

I went looking again and found a lot of 19th century circus images.

 

Very “water for elephants” and not too far off from the steampunk vibe.

The next search results were menswear.

                                                                                                  The menswear is going to be the easiest to pull off but still it can look a little too over the top if not done properly.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               I then started to look for real girls pulling of the top hat and well there are a special few celebs and fashionistas who are making it look good.

I’m in love with these two looks!

This is really cute too though, I’m not as much a fan of the small hat look, but I’m digging the party dress idea. (Also posted cause Andrew Lee Potts is sooo hot *total power couple*)

Now with a few ideas and jumping off points, I took to polyvore.

Jack the Ripper jr. by kittienthecity featuring a pinstripe jacket

For a nonchalant menswear/ boys prep school look I put a top hat with a pair of skinnies, pinstriped blazer, school satchel, awesome pumps, and some skeleton details to give it that twist of me.

steampunkery by kittienthecity featuring a victorian top hat

Then playing around with a hint of a steampunk theme, again top hat with skinnies, (vintage) blazer

gilded by kittienthecity featuring a biker jacket

This one’s a bit over the top but I had to for the McQueen jacket!

And no post on top hats would be complete without a bit of a Mad Hatter Tea Party. Though if you take away all the tea cups this one is very normal looking. I’m seriously in love with pairing top hats with satchel bags.

unbirthday party by kittienthecity featuring messenger bags

The only things that give way the theme of this look are the whimsy earrings and the pocket watch necklace, it’s just enough of a hint to make you smile and try to see who gets it.

Ok so very long post but I think that it’s obvious, I need to get a top hat. And not just one, but two, black and brown, so I can pulls off these polyvore sets.

I now deem that this post is over and that it is:

*whew*

inspired

I haven’t posted too many of my pictures lately so here’s another round.

These are images I found that make me go “whoa” and that I feel inspired by

This one I took a few mornings ago as I left for work.

And for  few more of my instgrams.

The first two are from the woods at Fort Pickett. The last one is from a farmhouse in Middletown, VA.

Now I’d like to share with you a video that an internet friend posted earlier tonight.

I think it’s so amazing. She’s only in high school but this girl has real talent. She’s one of the better artists that I’ve seen out there recently. If you want to check her out take a look at her deviant art page or you can follow her @vaughngogh. And if you really liked her, she does commissions so hit her up at her website.

reflections

This post has taken a long time to type up and post. It’s one of those things that I wrote in the moment on the back of a sheet of paper while on a bus coming back from New York city. When I wrote it I had just filed for graduation (finally) and had realized how much I did miss being in NYC. There was this reflective calm that had washed over me and the over cast day added to that feeling. I began writing about why I love drizzly days and it semi reads like my version of the lyrics to “My favorite things”. I started to try to edit it so I could post it outside of the moment and make it relevant but in the end I couldn’t. I still want to share these thoughts with you because I think I need, in someway, to put them out there. So I decided to stop trying to make it “current”, add a preamble, and just copy what I had written while on the bus. I hope you enjoy it.

 There is such a comfort to me in gray drizzly days. Some reasons are obvious, others less so, and there are others still which I don’t fully understand. The obvious is England. I have spent more time, during my sessions abroad, in winter and early spring on the Northern Atlantic coast of Europe, than anywhere else or any other time of the year. France in February when I was 16, 3 trips to London (1 in January 2 in March), Amsterdam in March, even the 10 hrs in Iceland at the beginning of August was still gray. Drizzle reminds me of travel and train rides, green countrysides and warm houses, warm clothes and hardy meals, cups of tea, books, cats, snuggled bodies, and love.

There’s a muffled silence in drizzly days. A calming stillness that holds you tight but doesn’t overwhelm. It’s not stifling and oppressive like humid days that choke the life out of you. It stings your cheeks and the air cuts through your lungs filling them with a sharp freshness that lets me know I’m alive. And when the drizzle and gray come with a thick fog there’s a certain magic in the atmosphere. It holds a heightened sense of wonder of what the mists will reveal next. Marble faces of gods and giant windmills, boats could be carrying elves and lamps are made into fairy lights. Magic and wonder that remind me of childhood.

On days like this I get a quiet reserve in my heart. I can’t even begin to explain why. Drizzle just makes everything in my world feel right. To me it holds the promise of all the things I love. Chill weather, wool sweaters and coats, hats and scarves, cups of tea and yorkshire pudding, roaring fires and long hours of reading, and most of all seeing Jonathan.

The video below is footage of a cliff in Cornwall falling into the ocean. Very awesome to witness the changing power of nature at work.

back on track

Wow 2 weeks since I posted last. There are a lot of reason for the lack of posting. First there was nothing to blog about, then laziness, then angst, and oh I don’t know what else. But, well, there are a couple of reasons now why a lot of that is behind me. On Wednesday I went to NYC to finally file for graduation. Well, I had filed before back in spring of 2010 but I wasn’t able to get my 4 incomplete courses finished on time, so the graduation didn’t go through. Last week however, I decided to check my transcript and the last incomplete grade had gone through! Seems that emailing the chair of a professor’s department really helps to get the ball rolling on having grades finalized. Though to be fair to the professor, my handing in of the final paper had been a long time coming. I don’t even know why I was so intimidated by that professor and that course. But I ended up building it up so much in my head, that I was afraid to go to NYC and terrified of Hunter College.

I became even more anxious when I realized that my GPA wasn’t going to get near where I was hoping it would. I had a couple of different options of what I was thinking of doing, none of which I was really excited about. Tuesday I finally broke down and told my mom what was going on expecting her to be upset about the low GPA. Instead she told me that I should just graduate, that she was proud of me for getting my degree and sticking to my guns to get it. My BFF told me I should just graduate, as well, before something else fucked up with it.

Even with that advice, however, when the bus to NYC pulled out at 12am Wednesday I was still shitting it. The trip though ended up not being as trying as I was expecting. I had several good meetings and run ins with former professors, stayed with a very dear family, and was able to file for graduation without a hitch. The whole trip ended up being rather therapeutic.

The meetings with professors were really amazing and reassuring that my choice to just file for graduation was the right one. One of my archaeology professors, who’s finishing his PhD, was really supportive and said that with all the experience I have gained over the year that I should be ok with applying to grad schools. He’s someone I’ve always trusted, in an academic sense, and sought his advice. He’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to an ‘advisor’ and well I hope he’s right. He also said he would try to get me on the team from the university that’s going to Iceland, again this summer, to work at a viking burial site. (*super finger crossing*)

Staying with the family was also super amazing. I got to catch up and reconnect with 2 girls who I consider to be my little sisters. It’s so wonderful to see how much they’ve grown up, though a little disconcerting that the younger of the two is now taller than me… hard to refer to her as ‘the little one’ now. lol

The trip was actually everything that I wanted and needed it to be. I had no problems filing for graduation, though I’m holding off celebrating til I have confirmation that I’ll *actually* get my diploma in January. On my way out of the city the taxi driver unknowingly drove through 2 of my favorite parts of Manhattan, West Village and Lower East Side, and really reminded me why I loved living there for 5 years and made me want to visit more often.

My only regret about the trip is that I didn’t realize that NY Comic Con was this weekend and left on thursday evening. >_< and my dad was even like “are you sure you don’t want to stay for the weekend?” blah very pissed at myself because I missed getting to meet the guys from Rooster Teeth at their first NYCC. grrr stupid me.

26

At 8:42pm last night I officially began the 26th year of my life. It’s a very different thing to have your mom exclaim “you’re born!” at the noted moment of your birth when you’re 26, than when you’re 6. I used to find it a moment to cheer over, and I’m not saying that it isn’t still applause worthy, it’s just a bit weirder when you’re older and full grasp the whole truth behind the visit of the stork.

I think this is the first birthday where I’ve been excited about the fact that it’s my b-day but been like “let’s not talk about how old I am”. My disillusionment with this birthday started on my mom’s birthday. The restaurant we went to gave her a free piece of cake and when the guy sat it on the table he jokingly said “Happy 30th!” I then had the FML moment of realizing I’m closer to that age than my mother.

I said at that moment “Good bye early 20’s. Hello downward spiral.” And though it’s a bit dramatic it’s not too far off. I’ve passed all the mile marker years you look forward to, where I’ve been allowed to drive, see R rated movies, buy cigarettes, porn, and lottery tickets, buy alcohol, and finally rent a car. The only mile markers left are being able to run for office, collect social security, and retire. *sigh* A depressing thought indeed.

Ah well, I shouldn’t get too down with everything because no matter what yesterday showed me how many friends and loved ones I have. Which then made ebb of depression vanish and made me feel really special. It also made me aware of nick names that people have for me like sweet pea, short stuff, trouble, and ‘spry li’l pixie”… lol

Anyway here’s to another year of life and the hope that I can make the things I want happen this year. 25 I kinda just was, 26 I’ll make something of myself. (hopefully)

 

ps let’s also hope i can get a job soon!

the cat’s meow

Annie, I got to say I love you. You’re gorgeous, wacky, you wear awesome clothes and insanely sparkly heels at the Oscars, and you’re a very sexy catwoman. (check out her catwoman costume by clicking the link)

All very very cool traits which together make you one awesome lady. This however makes you go so beyond awesome, that words can’t even begin to fathom it.

frustration

It’s never a good idea to start a Pandora station when you don’t know what you want. I should know this by now. I’ve experienced this before and blogged about my poor out comes. But I guess I’ll never learn.

I guess the reason I keep falling into the same pit fall is that I don’t know where else to find new music based on sound, genre, and what I might like. I searched on itunes, only problem is the two songs I’m working with are like the odd men out on the albums. Let’s just refer to them as the “electro hipster wearing cowboy boots”. Confused? yea, so is Pandora. Here check out the two songs and then you might understand.

and

For you Whovian readers, the first one might sound a little familiar, let me give you a hint, think the Master. ;D

Now both of them have a bit of a twangy thing going on, though,I’m more in love with the second one by Dragonette. I adore the banjo picking. Didn’t used to like it, but after being exposed to more blue grass in the archaeology van than I care to remember, I really started to enjoy picking.

Now what I’m looking for is what I stated earlier an electro hipster wearing cowboy boots. I know such a thing exists (just look on around Williamsburg, Brooklyn), or at least I’m hoping for more like the above. If you guys have any song suggestions that are like these two please please please let me know.

oh and important note ABSOLUTELY NO COUNTRY MUSIC!!!

[disclaimer: To anyone who posts a Lady A song suggestion, just know that if you suddenly find yourself mysteriously choking to death, it is because I’ve finally learned to hone my force powers enough to kill you. ]

But death threats aside I would really appreciate any and almost all new music suggestions you guys might have. 🙂

Thanks!

blah

I’m currently at home in bed for 3 reasons. 1. unemployed 2. my car’s in the shop 3. I think I’m catching the sickness that’s been going around my family. Every time I sit up or walk around I get dizzy and my head ache comes back. I also keep getting those weird little clammy spells that one gets before a fever comes on. But other than that I feel fine. I just wish it would go one way or the other. Either be ok or get sick, I’d prefer the ‘be ok’ option but beggars can’t be choosers and I’m just over this sitting the fence nonsense. *sigh*

In the meantime I’m going to post pretty pictures. Enjoy

and now 2 that I’ve taken

yay for instagram photos! If you’re on it and want to follow me look for Kittienthecity. 🙂

Book review

Kushiel’s Dart

by Jacqueline Carey

Pre-amble: First off, I’d like to say that this isn’t the first time I’ve read this book. I started the Kushiel’s Legacy series about 4-5 years ago and read books 1-3. Since all 6 books are out in the series now, I bought the missing ones at the border’s closing sale, and it’s been so long since reading the 3rd book, during the hurricane Irene power outage I thought, “eh what the hell?” I’d like to also say that I am a big supporter of rereading books. I know that in a world so full of books, and with a book shelf like mine that’s stuffed which ones I’ve not read it seems a little like a waste of time but if it’s a good enough book then it’s never a waste. I was actually surprised by the different reaction I had to the book during the second reading. The only explanation I can think of is that I’m in a very different place in my life from where I was when I first picked it up.

Genre: The series is epic fantasy romance. Basically, take your normal trashy, Fabio covered, romance novel, give it some steroids, insert an actual plot line, strong helping of intrigue, dash of adventure, and a smidgen of humor and you’ve got something very worth reading.

Setting: The series is set in a alternate history version of Europe after the fall of Rome but in a world where Christianity never spread. Instead the religion is based around the teachings of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) son, Elua, who preaches “Love as thou wilt”. He and 7 follows wandered the world spreading this practice and are worshipped as gods for it. The concept I find to be very interesting and I was very intrigued to find that many of the place names were derived from pre-Roman tribal names for regions.

Plot: The story follows a girl by the name of Phedra, who starts her life as a “whore’s unwanted git” and is sold to one of the courtesan houses in the city of Elua. However, her beauty is ‘flawed’ and she has no place among the 13 houses. Until one day a man, by the name of Delaunay, sees her for what she is, buys her indenture, and at the age of 10 begins to train her to become more than just a courtesan. Intrigue and betrayal send Phedra and her oath sworn protector to distant lands of ice and snow. Once regaining the City of Elua the two are joined by Phedra’s friend, Hyacinthe, on an equally perilous journey for the Queen on a bid that might save the realm from invasion.

Years later I still love this book. It’s still as thrilling and mind reeling as the first time I read it. The book comes with a map and a cast of characters list that come in very handy and are referred to often during readings. The writing is very powerful, even on the second time round when I had a vague idea of remembered events I still found myself nervous and at times in tears. As a courtesan Phedra leads a rather arousing life style. I knew this going into it, though I was surprised to find myself, after a certain point in the book, to disagree with some of her practices. I mean, I know it’s fiction, I was just a bit surprised at my slight objections to some things, where as before they never phased me. I just chalked it up to being in a different stage of life and continued to gorge myself on the pages. Still an amazing read and something I highly recommend if you’re looking for something to fill the void left by Game of Thrones or the Sookie Stackhouse novels. 😉