Hearts all a-flutter

Outfit: Dress from Asos/ Shoes from Lulu's/ Necklace from Ruche/  1st picture taken by good friend/co-worker

It was with great glee that I met up with some of my friend/labmates for drinks at the bar in a nearby university (I'm kinda jealous, and wish my school had a bar/ fun gathering place).  In addition to cheap drinks and good company, I also got to see one of my labmate's baby (and consequently practice my picture-taking skills on a subject that can't complain).  In exchange (and because she had just bought the same camera I have), she snapped some pictures of what I was wearing.  Naturally, my favorite one is the one where I'm cracking up.  I feel like it's characteristic of me- cheerfully awkward.  Also awkward?  Yeah...in the place where I stopped off to get some of the details of the dress (because it looked like no one else was over there), I wound up sort of in the way of someone's bridal portraits.

The sun ain't going to stop you from shining

Outfit: Skirt, Tank: Anthropologie, Shirt: Victoria's Secret, Belt: Target, Necklace: Jess LC, Shoes: Lulu's

Light-weight buttons ups = summer cardigans.  Also, it's Friday night and I just got home from school, so I'm clean out of insightful thoughts (even though I totally had them on the bike ride home. I love bike rides).  Also, this is what I look like after a five-mile bike ride- a little shiny, a lotta wrinkled, and hair that just don't care, with a backdrop of one of the major highways in my city.  I feel like Houston is slowly growing on me (like mold), which is not to say that I disliked when I first moved here, but I feel like I appreciate it more these days.  I think that biking and seeing it at that speed helps, and I think I might (after three summers here) finally be getting used to the heat.

The best tree on the bike path

Outfit: Dress as skirt, belt: Target, Shirt: Marc by Marc Jacobs via Gilt, Cardigan: Banana Republic Outlet, Oxfords: Wanted, Necklace: Ruche

I bike past this tree every day (well twice a day), and I love it.  My usual path to work isn't hideous, but it's not necessarily the most picturesque, so it delights me that there's this one big random tree (with a couple other trees hanging out nearby so it has friends).  And I love this yellow belt. It makes everything better, or at least more colorful, which is frequently the same thing.

Gosh, it's weird looking at this pictures-they're from a couple weeks back, and just never got posted- and remembering how chilly it was that day, compared to the weather we're getting now (ie 90s until September probably).  Also, I didn't try to pose to cover up my scabby knee.  However, I did need a lot of attempts to A) get even that much of the tree in the picture (and that's not even the entire tree) and B) get myself on my bike in the frame appropriately (my helmet is hidden in this picture, but yes, I wear one every time I'm on a bike, much to the dismay of my hair).

Lately

I don't know if it really counts as a long weekend, since science doesn't really take a vacation (although I did come in late and leave early yesterday, so that was awesome), but it definitely felt luxurious.  Bf turned to me Monday morning and said that every Sunday should be like our Sunday was this weekend- We explored a new bike trail (and I now have some sexy burn lines), spent most of the afternoon alternating between being totally lazy and slowly checking things off of the to-do list, followed by cooking up delicious food in the evening (and bf supplying me with tasty drinks at random).  I really enjoy making food, and it's lovely to have the luxury of a whole evening to cook up a bunch of random and less practical things (things that aren't oh crumb we need to eat in like 15 minutes before we pass out from hunger/start snacking and give up on dinner).  Since I was home yesterday by 5, having that time post-school also felt pretty dang luxurious.

So what did I make this weekend?

Pictured: Strawberry Summer cake (Smitten Kitchen), Tomato, Ricotta, and Basil Galette (Cooking Light magazine), Donut muffins (found via Caffeinerd), Shrimp, tomato, and red pepper pasta

Not pictured: Indian Spiced Vegetable Fritters (Smitten Kitchen), Porch Swing (Smitten Kitchen), Bacon-cheese-corn muffins (Cooking Light)- feel free to email me for any recipes if you're interested


What else have I been up to over the past few weeks?

In addition to bike rides, trivia, and watching the Bachelor with good friends and good drinks, I've been taking blurry pictures and forcing BF to listen to one of my favorite bands live (we hit up the Arcade Fire concert), which was neat because the lead guy is actually from the Woodlands (suburb of Houston and subject of their latest album), and got even neater when he encouraged the audience to move closer to the stage (yesss).

BF and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary with a bike ride (when I got into a fight with a pole and then was ganged up on by the sidewalk and the road) followed by dinner at our favorite sushi place and BF wearing my favorite shirt.

 

Roadtripping to Austin with a group of awesome dudes (in the middle of the week, even though I'm too old for these sorts of shenanigans) to see Of Montreal (which I love and have missed the past couple times they've come to Houston).   We hit up an amazing sushi place for happy hour, and a couple of great bars and still managed to make up our way close enough to the stage that we were within spitting distance of the band.  I know their music isn't for everyone, but it was probably one of the best concerts I've ever been to, an incredibly fun evening, and totally worth spending six hours in the car and getting home at 3 (okay I fell asleep in the car on the way home- such an old lady).  I felt like I was back in college (in a good way), and I'm so glad that I finally got to see them.

Music, love, and living- May's been a great month for me.

Sunny shiney sunshine

Outfit: Dress, Cardigan: Anthropologie, Shoes: Gap, Belt: Ruche, Necklace: Urban Outfitters

I have long been a fan of flowers- getting them, trying to keep them alive on my balcony, photographing them, painting them, etc.  Since today is Floral Day on Everybody, Everywear (check out everyone else at the main site), I gleefully threw two of my favorite floral patterned items yesterday (I couldn't pick just one).  Now that we're on the cusp of the absolutely blazing part of summer, every morning when I get ready I want to wear the lightest weight thing possible, so it might not have been the best idea to wear both of these summer favorites at once, since they'll be seeing a lot of wear this summer, but I couldn't resist.  

I attempted to go one step beyond that and track down some florals for my backdrop (although getting them in the frame didn't work out as well as I would have liked, due to the lighting and not wanting to be in the way of foot traffic).  And then I got intimidated out of my spot by a teenager texting, staring at me, and continuously moving closer.  When she sat down on my bench I decided it might be time to leave (also there was a hot dinner waiting for me at home prepared by someone else, which is awesome).  On the side of making me sound like less of a coward, I was able to withstand the previous being stared at really hard (why yes, I do see you looking behind you to look at the weird girl taking pictures of herself.  All four times that you did it. Is it because you think her hair is fabulous?)  Actually, I did really enjoy trying out a new hairstyle (tutorial via Cup of Jo), which I think suits me more so than wearing both braids wrapped over my head.  The really exciting part was the part where the bf complimented it when I was getting ready in the morning- although it's not as bike helmet friendly as I would like.  Are the flowers blooming where you are?

Day 24 of 30, Plaid 2: Return of the plaid

I had wanted to post this earlier, but last night was taken up by finalizing the contract of my new apartment, watching the bf slide around on our snazzy wooden floors in his socks with glee, singing practice, and making a cake.  And not having my computer with me.  In addition to being capable of caking making, our new place is pretty exciting for a lot of reasons.  I can sum it up mostly by saying that for someone who makes about $2/ hr as a grad student it's obscenely nice, but since it's now two people pooling together $4/hr, we won't be overspending on it (one of the PIs here actually commented to the bf that it was inappropriate for grad students to be living in this kind of place).  Also exciting?  the closet is all mine, and it was the bf's idea.  Anyways, I anticipate being all sorts of busy this weekend with packing, unpacking, and cleaning, but I'm hoping to continue posting so that I can finish up the 30x30 challenge on here soon, since in real life, it's actually my last day today! How about ya'll?  Big plans for the weekend?  I've had a few friends finish up with school stuff for the year, but I know a few that are still dealing with finals and school commitments.

And just it time I'm sure, since maybe I just wore this shirt two days before.  Blame it on the 30 for 30?  I'm going to miss being able to use that as an excuse.  Do ya'll have any suggestions for other excuses to use for repeating items close together?  Truthfully, it just so happened that I saw these two items hanging in my closet like they were meant to go together right as I was falling asleep the other night (I guess they were sticking out more than the other stuff in my closet).  Fortunately, I liked the way it turned out outside my head, pairing one of my girliest items with a rougher element (or at least it should be since it's actually a guy's shirt).

Outfit: Dress as skirt, Shirt: Urban Outfitters, Shirt underneath: Anthropologie, Boots: Steven Madden Intyce, Scarf: vendor in Montreal, Belt: Ancient, Leggings: Target

And then on the way home I was really excited about having my bike ride-able again after having a more knowledgeable friend look at it to figure out a couple things I had screwed up putting the rear wheel on myself.  Unfortunately, I'm still being troubled by some gear slippage- anyone have any ideas on what I can do to help this out?  I'm a little afraid that I'm going to need to replace my chains and gears and possibly some of my brake cables to sort out the rest of the little troubling things going on with my bike.  Which is not welcome news after putting around a hundred dollars down on new tires/tubes.