Friend Friday: Heather goes on about books edition

I know, it's been a long time since I've participated in one of these, but the theme this week is books and reading, and that's one of my great long-lived passions- has been since I first discovered how amazing losing yourself in a good book was.  I was actually scolded as a kid for reading too much (and sometimes walking while reading- which I swear I was actually great at even though I'm a huge klutz).  Now that no one is around to stop me, my bookshelves are stacked dangerously high, and I  almost always have a book in my purse.  There's a lot of text here, so read on if you're okay with me running my mouth about books, but if you want to scroll past it to look at pictures of pretty clothes, it's okay.  We can still be friends.

November is the national novel writing month (NaNoWriMo), and since Katy of Modly Chic and organizer of FBFF (Fashion Beauty Friend Friday) has been working on her next young adult book for the last several months with very little progress it got her thinking...what's everyone reading?

Image via weheartit.com

Top 5 6 books and authors that I feel like I can always come back to:

I tried to narrow it down to 5, but I kept adding things on and not being able to remove things- and I had a hard time picking favorites even within authors, so you're getting more than 5 (and the knowledge that I'm terribly indecisive).   I don't want to overwhelm you any more than this, so I'm cutting myself off, but please feel free to continue the discussion  if you're interested :)  I tried to put them in roughly the order that I read them in, but while some of the earlier books are aimed at a younger audience, they're still books I read and enjoy to this day.

A Wind in the Door and The Arm of the Starfish: Madeline L'Engle
-One of the most influential authors on my life, since I'm pretty sure that A Wind in the Door sparked my fascination with science and The Arm of the Starfish was one of the first things that interested me in Neuroscience (my chosen field of study).  Many of the same themes come up in a lot of her books (science, music, family) that I really appreciate, and I love her style.  Honorable mentions for this author are The Small Rain/ A Severed Wasp, which I didn't read until I was older, and act as beautiful bookends on one character's life (and were written at the beginning and end of MLE's career).

Court/Crown Duel: Sherwood Smith
-This is one of the first books that I remember loving as a kid.  Also, saving up my pennies to buy it at Crown Books (and those went out of business a long time ago).  I've later realized that my early attempts to write the next great novel were almost attempts at fan-fiction, before I even knew what that was.  Strong female lead, political intrigue, and one of those antagonistic romances that are great on paper (but would probably suck in real life).  It was originally published as two hardback books, so I  even wound up buying a second copy (paperback and had both books= way easier to transport).

The Black Swan: Mercedes Lackey
-A revisionist look at one of my favorite ballets (the music for Swan Lake makes me feel alive like almost nothing else).  It's got magic, love, and some sweet outfits, and I love that it turns the traditional story on it's head and the personalities it brings to life.

Hexwood: Diana Wynne Jones
-A little unusual in formatting, but very worth re-reading even after the novelty of the first time through wears off.  This is one of my long-time favorites, and even though I'm probably pretty close to memorizing the book at this point, it's still a comfort read for me that often gets taken on trips.  I'd like to choose honorable mentions for her, since she was a great and a prolific author, but I don't think I can pick.

The Salmon of Doubt: Douglas Adams
-Most well known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (which is hilarious and smart), but for some reason this odd posthumous collection of bits has been what's stuck with me most- first read when I was starting to think more carefully about certain things (like religion), and it really helped thinking through serious things.

Anything by Terry Pratchett, but particularly Small Gods and Night Watch:
-It would be hard for me to not include him on this list, since the bf and I have now amassed an almost complete collection of his Discworld books.  Most of his books are set in an alternate universe (much like our own except completely flat and balanced on four elephants on a turtle flying through space), which means that it falls under the sci-fi/fantasy umbrella, but in addition to being hilarious, these books are some of the smartest discussions of serious issues I've ever read.  Small Gods is probably the best one and Night Watch sticks out as one of my other personal favorites.  Also, the bf loves them, allowing me to live out my lifelong fantasy of reading in bed next to my bf.

The Eyre Affair and Thursday Next books: Jasper Fforde
-Much like Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, this author uses the fantasy/sci-fi genre to make smart commentary, and I actually laughed out loud while reading it.  It also involves more literary jokes than you can shake a stick at and allows the main character to do what I've always wanted to do: literally lose herself in a book.

Enchantment: Orson Scott Card 
-Revisionist (theme, I've got one) Sleeping Beauty.  I love that it pulls from history and Russian folklore influences.  Honorable mention for this author is Ender's Game/Shadow, which were super influential on me when I was younger.

Robin McKinley, particularly Sunshine, but also Spindle's End and Chalice:
-Her books have this magical hold on me, where I feel as though I'm being totally consumed by the book's world while reading through it (more so than even other good authors).  She does a lot of revisionist fairy tale/ mythology type things (which I love), but it's the way she writes and not just the content that puts her here.  It doesn't hurt that Sunshine (along with the TV show Pushing Daises) are among what I cite as influencing my love of baking. 

Neil Gaiman: American Gods
-Dark, gritty, and pulls together a lot of different mythologies- both the gods that we've forgotten and the gods that we've unknowingly set up in modern times.   I'm also a huge fan of Stardust (both book and movie) and Mirrormask (more so the movie than the book).


For what it's worth, I'm currently reading:

The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt- an odd but mostly engaging read that I don't know how to summarize well (think steampunk mixed with elder gods and human sacrifice).

The Tortall books of Tamora Pierce- I'm not sure if anyone else was enthralled by the world of Alana the female knight, but it come up in conversation with friends over a few drinks, and it made me realize I was totally ready for a re-read (strong female lead! coming of age! fighting and magic!)  Unfortunately I read through them much faster now than I did the first time.


 For more people's thoughts about books, check out today's link-up post on Modly Chic

Momentous moment

Outfit: Dress: Gap
Shoes: Chelsea Crew via Urban Outfitters
Bracelets: Self made and Hawaii Airport
Ring: Self made
Bag: Jess LC

Hey look! My first (real) maxi!  Believe me, it's not the first one that I've tried on, but it is the first one that I felt reasonably suited me- and a lot of that is due to the glorious color and feel of the fabric.  I've still got plans to make a couple of long-skirted things, which would allow me to combine the things that I like about maxis without dealing with some of the things that make me leery of them (seriously, why do so many of them have those triangle tops? That is eeeevil).  I'm not sure how practical this baby is for work (or biking into work- I ended up knotting it at the bottom to avoid gear entanglement and sadness), but I'm looking forward to seeing how much I can do with this (mostly because I'm head over heels with the color.  And the fabric.  And the fact that it's long-as in long for a maxi, since I was able to buy this in a tall size).

Other things that I'm excited about?  It's something that I've been thinking about for awhile now, but after making up pieces to sell at my school's Art Show, I'm now gearing up to open an Etsy shop.  My first (and now that I think of it, my last) endeavor into selling jewelry was in elementary school (I made those totally rad daisy chain beaded bracelets), but I've been playing around with things people might want to wear for years, and I'm excited to be moving in this direction.  Most of the things that I've been working on lately are wire-wrapped jewelry (like the bracelet and ring I'm wearing above), which I couldn't have done without taking an excellent class by Alicia of Dismount Creative, and I've also been messing around with headbands and other accessories.  I'm a little nervous about putting my stuff out there and whether it will sell, but for now I remain cautiously optimistic.  Have you made a leap into the business of selling things that you make, or other endeavors of the self-employed nature?  Any advice?

Being brave

Outfit: Dress as skirt: Gap, Shirt: Shop Ruche, Necklace: Jess LC, Bracelet: Modcloth, Shoes: Lulu's, Belt: BR

I think that starting to be brave and bold in what I was wearing (and posting it on the internet) has helped to open this up in me.  This outfit, with it's loose undefined top and drop waist on the dress is not a sillouette that feels easy to me, and wearing it out of the house is hard for me, but rewarding.  All that practice in taking chances with this small daily choice is paying off.    After years of missing dance and doing nothing about it (and rationalizing that it was too expensive an indulgence on a grad student salary), I decided to throw myself back into ballet classes.  The boy told me how proud he is of me, and that I'm brave for being willing to put myself out there in this way and go after something even though I feel like I'm flailing.  I felt sick before the first class, not knowing what to expect, but knowing that I don't in any way resemble a dancer (except for my good feet).  My body doesn't move in all the same ways that it used to, even a few short years ago, but mostly, coming to class feels like coming home.

This necklace tells me exactly what I need to hear sometimes. Be brave.  I had admired these Jess LC necklaces since I first saw them, but for the longest time wasn't sure what it was that I wanted to wear around my neck- it's good to be thankful, and yes, also to be present and dream big things- these are things I need to remind myself of often.  But I realized that being brave has been what I've been most intentionally striving for over the past couple years.  Brave enough to take chances (like introducing yourself to that cute boy at a party), to not shut down in the face of the loss of a loved one, to throw yourself into something even though it'll make you uncomfortable.  Brave enough to live and love fully.

Just a little trespassing

Outfit:  Dress: Modcloth, Shirt: Express, Leggings, Target, Shoes: Lulus, Necklace: Jess LC, Bracelet: self made (inspired by the mixed chains of this bracelet and this necklace)

Hey guys, haven't died over here (okay if we're friends on Twitter you already knew that)- just dealing with some changes in scheduling (by which I mean I had social engagements every night for awhile) and recovering from a fall on my bike (scraped up my knee, so I was cranky from pain and limited knee flexibility for a week straight).  I still have scabs all ova, but I was able to crop them out here, and I started taking pictures again towards the end of last week.  I even found myself in a random field, where I may or may not have been trespassing (well I happened to be driving past a random field and thought that no one would see me since it was in a business park and it was after 7.  And then two trucks turned in past me.  Fortunately no cops were called)

I find myself feeling like this past weekend marked the beginning of summer for me (for no real reason) and that I'm really looking forward to this summer.  Even though I'm a student, the summer coming doesn't really change up my daily schedule-so I'm going to have to figure out how to change things up on my own, and I feel like I have many things to look forward to:

Long bike rides with the bf and biking to places as often as I can
Trivia nights on Tuesday with delicious gyros and kebabs from the restaurant next door.
Fresh produce for baking and cooking (and making more of an effort to fit those in)
A trip to Mexico
Wearing those gold sandals all. the. time.
More random jewelry making and sewing projects
Making the time to fit in things I enjoy that are good for me (yoga), and I'm seriously contemplating signing up for a ballet class even though I'm woefully out of shape and haven't danced since college

What are you looking forward to this summer?

30 for 30 wrap-up

Okay, so I know that it has been a crazy amount of time since I began Kendi's 30 for 30, and I wound up posting the last outfit not that long ago. So it seems like I should try to finally put together a composite showing 30 little Heathers wearing different outfits and overthink things a little bit out loud.  

So what did I get out of this experience?  Well, I can tell you that it was much easier for me to get dressed in the morning when I was working with a limited collection.  I didn't miss the clothes that I wasn't wearing much, although I think the fact that most of them were packed up in preparation for moving made this much easier.  I'm still wearing (and love even more) many of the items that were worn throughout this.  I did end up switching out quite a few things- some were things I thought I might substitute, since I wound up ordering a couple pairs of shoes just beforehand and wasn't sure if they would work.  But it would probably be best if I thought my picks through a little bit more to avoid the need for subbing this time around.  I wore everything at least once (although somethings were worn only once), and my MVPs were probably the gray (9 wears)  and brown boots (8 wears and they didn't even arrive until midway through the challenge), the plaid shirt (5), the short black skirt (5) the brown and navy floral dress (5), my striped cardigan (4), and the sweaterdress (4).  I don't think I can pick a favorite outfit, but I'm quite fond of Days 3, 4, 6, 17, and 30 (it's like trying to pick a favorite child).  I wore a skirt as a dress (Day 5), a cape (Day 18), and tricked a halter dress into thinking it had sleeves (Day 30).  I had a lot of fun with my closet.

What I think is even more important is that I had a lot of fun with the community- i found a lot of new blogs and a lot of new people found me (Hi there!), both of which are awesome.  I feel into the time-sucking trap of twitter, I traveled (twice), I moved, and joined FBFF.  All in all, it was a pretty exciting couple of months for me, both blog wise and personally.  And this might be crazy, but I'm planning to do it again (and hopefully quicker) for the winter edition of the remix.  You can officially sign up until tomorrow (Jan 28th) here.  So what did you guys think?  Any suggestions for what I can do better, or things that I should include?  More importantly, are any of you joining me in this?  Much like last time, I'm not too worried about being restrained or remixing- I feel like shopping is much more my weakness than being able to wear things differently (maybe they should use 30 for 30-ing as a rehabilitation for shopaholics?) and I'm looking forward to it being easier in the morning to get dressed.

FBFF: Truth in Advertising

We approach the end of another week, which I'm looking forward to since we're having an apartment warming party tomorrow night. This week's FBFF (Fashion Beauty Friend Friday), a group of questions organized Katy of Modly Chic around a relevant topic for bloggers to answer, is on blogger authenticity.  You can check out her site for more answers to the question and to find out more about FBFF.
 
1. Most readers and fellow fashion bloggers value authenticity in the blogs they read. How would you describe blog/blogger authenticity?

For me, much of this comes down to voice- does the writing match up to the way it sounds like someone would speak, and in case of a longtime read, does the voice remain consistent?  It should sound like a real person is writing posts, as opposed to something that sounds like it was written for an ad or a fashion magazine spread.  I suppose I'll put more time into vising someone's blog that makes me feel like if we met up in real life we could hang out and go out for drinks, maybe watch reality television together.

2. When it comes to your blog how to you infuse it with that true/authentic feeling?


I don't think I've ever really thought much about purposefully adding authenticity and truth here, but I'd like to think that it comes naturally- does that count as being authentic?  I just think of this as communicating with a friend, which is how the blog started off- me and a couple friends goofing off and talking about clothes to each other on the internet.  I do try to edit for coherence which does not always happen when I speak, but that's about it.  Also, while I do edit myself in terms of picking pictures that are the most flattering/ least blurry (which I'm guessing that most people do), I'm posting pictures of what I actually wore, without attempting to photoshop anything (I don't have the skills to do it really, although sometimes I try to take out the occasional wrinkle in my skirt).  And I will post outfits that I feel questionable about in terms of how I like it and how it photographed, not just the ones that I feel really positive about.


3. Have you stopped following a blog in the last three months? What made you lose interest?

While they haven't dropped totally off my radar, I have noticed a few blogs that I've stopped feeling as invested in or visit less frequently.  I think part of this is that now that I've discovered more and more blogs that I'd like to read and it's impossible to keep up with everything, so somewhere along the line choices need to be made.  Another part is that as I've started to blog I find myself more interested in people that I feel like I can relate to better and may want to establish more of a connection with than just clicking through and looking at pictures.

4. We can't communicate effectively on our blogs, something we don't live in real life... what are some ways you try to live an authentic life?


Much like in #2, I don't think I've ever really thought about living an authentic life, but I suppose I do try to live a life that I would like to live instead of trying to fit into someone else's ideas for how I should live my life or giving in to peer pressure.  To be fair, I don't think there really is a lot of peer pressure in my life- I dress somewhat differently than a lot of grad students, but no one's ever given me crap about it or about caring what I wear.

5. Give a shout-out... Which bloggers do you think are truly genuine and why?

Just to pick a few (so that you know if we ever meet up, we should totally go out for drinks), Kendi Everyday, Sydney of The Daybook, Erin of Work With What You've Got, Kyla of Blue Collar Catwalk, Linda of The Auspicious Life, Indiana of Adored Austin and Laura of Ruby Bastille, although the truth is that this list could stretch on and on, since there's a lot of really great blogs out there that convey a sense of being genuine.  They all seem like people who are very much themselves and not an internet persona that they're putting on.

You can find out what other bloggers are thinking about these questions on Modly Chic, and read more about Fashion/Beauty Friend Friday here.

Neutrals with a pop of tights

I am planning to do a 30 for 30 wrap-up, but I'd like to put some thought into it, and currently I'm not up for careful thinking.  Instead I'm all about showing off how I'd layer tights (ya'll may have figured out that I love layering things), since it's been quite cold for Houston these past couple days.  I'm also excited to start working through this back-log of photos that were taken between when I considered myself finished with the 30x30 and when I realized that I wasn't going to recreate outfit solely for pictures and needed to keep on wearing 30x30 items.  Fortunately I still adore the items I picked and they've gotten a lot of use since the end, but right now I'm just excited to post something that's not 30x30.  What makes me so excited about this outfit?

Outfit: Skirt: Gap, Cami: Lucy's, Sweater, Socks, Outer Tights: Target, Inner Tights: We Love Colors, Boots: Steve Madden Intyce, Bracelet: Gift, Coat: Old Navy, Scarf: Vendor in Montreal

Reasons why this outfit made me happy:
1.  It's positively frigid for Houston, which means it's cold enough to wear a coat and bike in (although unfortunately cold enough in my lab for me to need a coat inside- what the what building facilities?)
2.  This skirt is pretty ancient, as in surprised it still fits me that's how old- it's been lying in the pile of needs fixes.  It'd be more of a win if I'd actually replaced the zipper, but instead I've reconciled myself with wearing slightly broken items so long as it can be hidden, and I'm totally okay with that.
3.  I went through a phase where I wanted to dress preppy (think black pants, khakis and polos), and while I now realize that layering a collared shirt would've totally upped the prep factor (although the socks and coat probably balance this lack), it's fun to have a slightly prep outfit.
4.  Cold enough to need layered tights, but warm enough for one of them to have a pattern!  So exciting I needed to take a detail shot-and you even get a better look at the bracelet for a two for one bonus.

Have you guys recently rediscovered anything really great in your closet lately?  This baby is a nicely cut lightweight full skirt (bought before I even realized how valuable full skirts were in my closet), and because of the color I can probably sneak it into keeping with the military trend (I don't really worry about trends, but I'm tickled when something accidentally qualifies as trendy-ish).

Also, this is what I was wearing last night at the bar when I described myself as a nerd and my friend's friend (who I had just met), looked at me and said "oh, I wouldn't have categorized you that way."  Don't get me wrong- I'm totally proud of my nerdiness and wouldn't have it any other way, but it was a very weird and interesting thing for me to hear, since I've categorized myself as a nerd forever.  And now I'm wondering- when and where did this disconnect between the way that I see myself and the first impression I might give off others happen?  Some of it may be due to self editing, like in yesterday's post where I put up flattering pictures of a dress that I described myself as not being terribly comfortable in, only it's with my clothes and personality that I may be editing.  But I'd like to think that I'm not dressing to convey anything other than myself- the same girl who has an I <3 nerds shirt and wound up wearing bright blue fishnets on her first day of college.

Or it could be an argument over semantics- the two of us may have totally different qualifications for the term nerd, much like how I tend to think of fashion and style bloggers as distinct terms, something that I got into a little bit in the comments of my recent FBFF post.  Clearly, I'm just using what could have been a 5 second anecdote to overthink something, and grasp to make connections with my recent thoughts, but hey, I'm a grad student.  So how about you guys- have you had any experiences with a (perhaps shocking) disconnect between how you self-identify and how others perceive you?  How much do you think your clothing choices influence this?