With a certain amount of resolve

Boy am I pooped... safe to say I did not get a lot of sleep last night, but the party was very fun and I am pretty much cleaned up now with the exception of my still needing to vacuum. Anyway, I did use quite a bit of resolve on some carpet spills last night and am going to take a little bit longer to revel in the punnyness it makes with the New Year and the resolutions that so oft go with it.

The one truly sad thing of last night however, was that the former firework viewing spot that was my building's roof now has it's view entirely blocked by another, even taller building going up just a block or two away. So no fireworks for me last night... and never again from my roof for that matter -- très triste :(


{New Years '06 and Fourth of July '06}

So today, after I woke up (unintentionally early - boo!), cleaned, and rested/recouped a bit, I went over to my friend Laura's house for a nice New Years open house. Her mom made excellent vegetarian chili and there were many deserts, including my mom's famous snickerdoodles (which firefox would like to correct to be knickerbockers or nickelodeons, haha). When I got home, I had leftover risotto, which my mom made last night for New Year's dinner, for dinner again tonight. It was incredibly delicious!




{gap fair isle sweater, beaded skirt from a shop called coup de cour,
grey wool tights - ?, found maroon socks, vintage boots}

I really would have liked to wear black tights with this, but mine were all dirty, seeing as I wore the same skirt and boots with black tights the other day and black tights with my New Year's outfit as well. And yes, these are the "new" ($25, including shipping, from ebay) boots I wanted to show off... didn't take me long to work them into an outfit again. I love them so much, and they are comfy too! :)



The skirt is an old one of mine which I recently shortened by taking off about one tier at the top and sewing in a new elastic waistband. The craftsmanship is a bit shoddy (large, much lighter pink hand stitches as my machine refused to sew the super stretchy fabric) but I'm still very happy with the result.

The outfit as a whole might have looked better with the t-shirt I had on underneath the sweater, but it was cold and I still really wanted something with a somewhat stripey vibe.



Anyway... as I was speaking about "resolve" before... Mary wrote a really inspiring post of New Years resolutions and I decided to take up a few of my own. (Does anyone ever keep these things? Maybe not... but I'm trying to set at least a few realistic goals this time!)

1. Eat less--only when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full
2. Try out vegetarianism, or pesco-vegetarianism, for at least 2 weeks. I currently don't eat red meat but I'm curious to see how it would be to cut out poultry as well. (There are so many turkey substitutes--meatballs, burgers--that I love so it might be difficult)
3. Get exercise- starting with a measly and easy 10 push-ups a day!
4. Keep up with this blog! I'm really enjoying keeping this blog so far and I so want to keep up with it.
5. Set aside a little time for myself each day rather than continually procrastinating (especially on facebook and ebay) while I'm doing schoolwork.
6. More generally: procrastinate less... though I say this one every year and it never does work... so that I will have time for my other resolutions!
   
7. Read more for pleasure!
8. Finish knitting this. I started working on it in winter of '06-'07 and while progress has been very intermittent I would love to see it done by the end of 2009.
9. Keep in touch- with my parents, my grandparents, other family and especially old friends.
   
10. Be true to myself! There is no need to delve into a big explanation, and while I do think I am slowly becoming better at this, I want to continue working on being honest with myself, which will also help me in being more honest with others.

Maybe a little silly, but I have always been a list maker and I am really determined to make 2009, the last of my teen years and the last of the era of new years glasses, my best year yet!

Regards,
Freddie

A year in pictures

I did this on my craft blog last year and thought it would be fun to do again.

No editing on these photos since I was lazy, but oh well.

{January}


{February}


{March}


{April}


{May}


{June}


{July}


{August}


{September}


{October}


{November}


{December}


And my outfit for New Year's Eve:

(please excuse that I have not put on my makeup yet)

{shirt from goodwill (part of yesterday's haul), belt from my mother's closet, urban outfitters
pants and tank top, target tights and shoes, hat from last year's New Year's party}

Once again, hope everyone had a good 2008, and that 2009 proves to be a happy and healthy year!

Regards,
Freddie

p.s. if you're bored, watch this, preferably before midnight ;)

The value of repeats

So much for doing the Switzerland outfit post yesterday, huh? I got pretty busy actually... and didn't even end up taking yesterday's outfit photos which disappoints me because I had pretty new boots (well, new to me) to show off. But it's an outfit that will surely be repeated up at school in the near future.

Yesterday, I woke up early (yay jetlag, though I think I am pretty much back on schedule now) and went to get student rush tickets for my best friend and I to see Gypsy, after which I went to Barnes & Noble, Goodwill and Housing Works. I snagged a few real gems, including a super shiny shirt to wear tonight. Some of the things are in need of a little editing (shortening and shoulder pad removal) but I am so excited to show them off when they are done. Housing Works was also having an end of the year 50% off sale, so I got a bag and a dress there for $2.50 each - fantastic! (Thift/Second-hand shops in NYC are not always all that cheap.) I also stopped briefly into Steve Madden and Orva Shoes to tortue myself a little, because I really want a pair of hunter rain boots (though what color, I know not) and, thanks to The Sylish Wanderer, a pair of clydde flats. My mom said I could choose one as a belated Christmashannukwanzukah gift as the only thing I really got were theater tickets, but I just don't know which to choose! ;)



Anyway, after that, I got my bangs trimmed, had lunch and then went home to rest/nap a bit before going with Mike to Ollie's (the good one, not the noodle shop chain) for dinner and then to Gypsy... which was, by the way, so so fantastic. I love the show and Patti Lupone never ceases to blow me away, she is a true, old fashioned Broadway Diva and does not fail to deliver wonderful performances. This may have been my favorite show that I've seen in a long time... it was long too, we didn't get out until 11 and then of course waited at the stage door to get Ms. fabulous diva LuPone's autograph on our playbills and such... but really, you could not feel the length at all, it was so wonderful. We also saw Jessica Rush, who was understudying Laura Benanti's role as Louise (Ms. Gypsy Rose Lee) and while I was momentarily disapointed to be missing Ms. Benanti's Tony award winning performance, Ms. Rush really impressed me as well.

Alright, alright, enough of that. I promise I will have less Broadway related blabbing to do when I'm back up at school... life is much less exciting there ;P

So, on to my Switzerland outfits, yes. As I mentioned, I was rather ill on Christmas day, but after spending the whole day in bed, I pulled myself together for the Christmas dinner we had to go to. It was pretty cool actually- we were in the bottom of a building, under a bar in an old fashioned bowling alley!


{vintage red cardgian, urban outfitters dress, white tights - ?, hotel room key}

I know this outfit is an almost direct repeat of a recent one, but this dress deserved a more official spin. Also, I was lucky enough to lose a button of my cardigan as soon as I put it on, haha, but now that I am home with sewing supplies it has been reattached ;)

You may also be wondering what exactly I mean by hotel room key. Well, I mean just that...



This key went to my closet in the hotel room (though it turns out it didn't even work) and I thought it was too fantastic not to wear. I really wanted to steal it, but in order to restrain myself and save my parent's friends a potentially absurd fine for a missing key, I decided wearing it on Christmas would have to do. I had to giggle when I got compliments on it at the party... I just said thank you and smiled to myself thinking about it's origin.

I also brought my tape measure print clutch, which is my usual going out bag up at school, and wore earrings which my dad had surprise gifted me with that day. We weren't expecting presents, but he brought the earrings for me and a necklace for my mom all the way to Switzerland from a shop on Lexington avenue. It was really sweet :)



So, I felt quite a bit better after a few glasses of prosecco at the party, haha, and even found out one of the Swiss-German girls around my age who was at the party is the cousin of a friend of mine from school. What are the chances??

Anyway, the next day I was feeling quite a bit better, though woke up with an eye infection, (which was probably just a stye and is now cleared up thanks to some antibiotic), oy vey. After sleeping in and then going to another snowboarding lesson, we had another long dinner and I went out with my parents and our hostess to "The Casa," the local discotheque which was in a big house. It was quite a thing to see, though not really much fun for me to go out to with my parents. I had a few drinks but we didn't stay long.


{vintage red cardigan, vintage pinstripe vest, h&m turtleneck, bitten locket, AG jeans, frye boots}

I really need to find a better way to get my shoes in these photos....

Speaking of shoes- Patti LuPone had the most fantastic shoes in Gypsy! She had a new pair with every costume- some t-strap, some buckled, some pumps, and all fabulous colors- yellow and orange, green... oh they were epic. I wish I could find pictures to share.

You can see her shoes in this picture, but they are far from the best pair:


Well anyway, I suppose that's all I have for now. A real mouthful anyway... haha. Time to start cleaning up a little for my New Year's party tonight, I'll let you know how that goes ;)

Happy New Year to you all!

Regards,
Freddie

Swiss Miss

So, I have returned from Switzerland, and have quite a few things to post and so thought I would start now in my effort to stay awake until at least 10pm (4am Swiss time) in battling jet lag. So I apologize in advance for any incoherence, seeing as I have now been awake (with the exception of a short nap on the plane) for 20 hours... geez I didn't realize it was quite that long. haha.

Anyway, I wanted to start with something I forgot to mention last time, which is the exciting news that a new H&M is opening about a 10 minute walk from my house. However, as I was walking down the street (with my dad on the way to the seagull actually) and noticed the sign up in the store windows of the new building, a large chunk of snow fell off a building and hit me square on the head, knocking me over! Not fun. But worth sharing due to it's sheer ridiculousness. And luckily it didn't mess up my flower. haha.

So then... Switzerland. It was really quite a trip. I learned to snowboard! (Sort of) and went down a 2 1/2 mile, incredibly steep tobogganing (or "sledging") trail. My cheeks are a bit windburned. And I am very sore. But it was quite fun. We also met some nice people and I generally managed to tolerate my dad's friends (we were their guests) who can, lets say, often be quite overbearing. But their kids are quite nice and were good company.

I had this adorable little room in the hotel, and while I was supposed to swap and share a room with the aforementioned overbearing couple's 14 year old daughter (which would have been fine, really), I was really quite ill on Christmas day (had a fever and all that) and so ended up keeping my own cozy hole.

This is pretty much the entire room. I stood in the doorway of the bathroom (which must have been about half the size of the room) to take the picture. My mom told me she had been afraid my freshman dorm room was going to be about this size before I moved in a year and a half ago. haha, thank goodness it was larger than this--fine for a week, but to live in for a year? I don't think so.

Speaking of the bathroom (a few lines back), it had a rather nice tub to soak in, but the shower head anchored to the wall at about eye level (and I'm not a tall person) so I had to hold it up to wash my hair, resulting in a few minor bathroom floods. Thank goodness I was home and didn't have to shower like that again tonight, especially with my arms so sore from holding on for dear life during sledging (which was yesterday's activity). Don't believe I had a reason to? Here's a picture my dad took of a tiny portion of the track from the gondola (which he rode down while the rest of us took the sleds down the mountain... it took him about 15 minutes to get down and us about 20!) ... many many feet/meters/however you would like to measure above:

The photo really doesn't do it justice, and this part doesn't look all that steep, but most of it was. It was quite fun though (once I figured out how to steer--some of the track was literally along the edge of the mountain in a cliff-like/steep drop sort of way) and in my opinion, worth the minor life risk ;)

Alright alright, back on track--the room. I do believe my favorite parts of this cozy little corner were the curtains and the trash can (as well as a certain key I will show you tomorrow).


Oh, and of course I can't forget this darling little (ok, actually it was quite huge) tree right outside my window which lit up at night. I was on the fourth floor to give a little more perspective.

I could also hear the sounds of jingling bells as horses dragging sleighs "drove" by when I was in the room during the day, which was rather delightful.

Now, I was going to move on to outfits, though I only have two days worth of pictures on those as I spent a lot of time in leggings, a ski parka, and snow pants, but this post is already long and picture heavy (not to mention I am about to keel over with exhaustion--I don't think I can stay awake even another five minutes) so I will leave you with a few more Switzerland pictures (I, with the assistance of my father as he participated in fewer potentially camera breaking activities, took so many, it was impossible to choose) and save the outfits for tomorrow.

Regards,
Freddie

I'm the seagull. No, that's not it. I'm an actress. That's it.

Today I went to see the Seagull with my father. It was the closing performance and it was wonderful. I mean, it was still Chekhov... but it was still wonderful. I'm mostly kidding, but it really didn't drag much and I loved the moments of self-referential humor. The actors were amazing, especially the ladies (Kristin Scott Thomas, Zoe Kazan, and Carey Mulligan) though I must say Peter Sarsgaard (of Garden State, etc) dragged it down for me a bit, but I think it was not just his acting but by virtue of the character as well. But anyway, anyway, this is not a theatre review site (though if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm pretty big into theatre- it's my major after all) and I have my old high school crew coming over within minutes for a good old fashioned sleepover, complete with sushi eating, baking and incredibly mature movies. haha. So let me cut to the chase.


{pinstriped jeans - ?, navy target tee, vintage sequined cardigan, navy keds,
black flower pinned on white ribbon as headband}





This last picture shows off the flower in my hair and the pretty awesome sequins and collar on the cardigan the best. Something about going to the theatre lately has made me want to wear mildly extravagant things on my head. hmm...

Anyway, I must run and this may be my last post for a week or so as I am off to Switzerland tomorrow evening! But we shall see... and hopefully I have some funny snowboarding pictures and other things to share when I return.

Regards,
Freddie

All dressed up and nowhere to go

This morning when my mom saw me after I got dressed she said "where are you going?" I asked why and she said, "because you're dressed up" and I said - "I am?" haha. Truth is that I did not go anywhere today, which is nice sometimes on vacation. I spent the better part of the day watching Christmas movies and Private Practice while knitting half of a thrummed mitten. It's turning out SUPER puffy though, so we'll see how it goes.

Anyway, I wore my new dress from urban today, and as no one saw me besides my parents it is likely an outfit I will recycle fairly soon. Although I almost ran out of daylight before I got to take my photos (my mom was hanging around my half of the apartment and I didn't really feel like explaining why I was taking self portraits, haha) I did remember to incorporate the tree branch, which I kind of love. Though I should probably throw it away now before it drys out and sheds on everything... alas, très triste.


{dress from urban outfitters, tights- ?, h&m cloche hat}





It's a little hard to tell from the pictures but the dress has some pretty awesomely large pockets as well.

Regards,
Freddie

When the weather outside is frightful

I suppose one of the problems with starting a fashion blog is that my wardrobe isn't always that exciting. Today, for example, wasn't a far cry from a t-shirt and jeans, especially as the red cardigan was promptly removed since my apartment is rather warm and I did not leave the house today with the outside world looking something like this:



Almost Ithaca worthy... though I'm sure it was much worse up there- many of my friends who had their last finals today or yesterday and were trying to go home had their trips postponed. I got snowed in last year before winter break, so lucky I made it home before the mess this time.

Anyway, I did don this little vintage crocheted collar for the first time which I found on ebay when in search of peter pan collars to wear with sweaters. While I know I could probably learn to make something like it, I'm an awful crocheter--much more of a knitter.


{american apparel tee, vintage red cardi, AG jeans, vintage crocheted collar,
bitten locket, red lace as headband and merrell snow boots}



The snow boots of course were also quick to come off when I made the executive decision to stay in. They aren't my favorite things ever but most certainly do the job keeping my feet warm and dry, which in Ithaca, is always a top priority... though I have recently found myself notorious for making poor shoe choices, so after break I know these will be a staple.

So anyway, two of my besties came over today and we baked cookies and then had latkes in an early Hannukah celebration, which is an old tradition of ours. The cookies were chocolate hazelnut and oh so good, I highly recommend them - there are now only two left from what we made earlier! (Though I did have a third friend over later who helped us out a bit with the eating). We also almost burned the house down as one of the Hannukah candles dripped and somehow the place mat underneath the menorah caught on fire! But luckily the smoke detectors, which were almost well behaved during the latke making (they have a bad habit of going off all of the time) caught that little blunder and we put it out before anything but the place mat was seriously damaged.

One of my friends, while teasing me about the collar a little bit, did offer to make me others and started rattling off yarn colors, we'll see if that actually happens but it would be pretty fab. Well, I suppose that's all for now--I really need to unpack so I actually have outfits to wear, hah! Though I will just have to pack up (mostly sweaters, leggings, parka, and snow boots) again in a couple of days for our upcoming trip to Switzerland.

Regards,
Freddie