Collecting new ideas as a squirrel collects nuts

I've been taking my time with Howards End, and today's title quotation comes from this novel. This weekend has been pretty busy and scattered so I'm just squeezing this post in before dinner. I'm sorry that there isn't a haircut picture here for you today. I did get it all chopped off (gosh, there was a lot of hair on the floor!) but after coming home and showering (and subsequently re-straightening my hair) I realized that it might need a night to be slept on before it looks quite presentable. Right now, because it's sooo short and straight, it looks kind of. . . stiff? Do you know what I mean? Like me, it obviously needs a night to relax.

So for tomorrow I'm thinking a full OOTD combined with haircut pictures. Tuesday will be another OOTD so you should feel sufficiently spoiled that I'm giving you two in a row. I'll be going to see Iron Man 3 on Tuesday with a friend of mine and it kind of makes me wish that I had a really dorky (not actually) superhero t-shirt to wear. Even though that piece of clothing wouldn't get worn much. Plus, I don't actually like the Iron Man series (more about my mixed feelings on comic book series here). This still feels like a blasphemous thing to say, but they are my friend's absolute favourite movies, so I might be taking one for the team here, but I'm not ruling out the possibility that it will be great and I'll love it.

This makes me think fondly of an amazing (to me) t-shirt that I used to have. It said "I love Italian boys" on it and was accompanied by a picture of Mario and Luigi. I've regained my affection for it, but now have no idea where it is! It might be a fortunate thing that I haven't found it sooner though, because I might have been tempted to wear it to Italian class (I'm studying for a minor in Italian Language Studies at my university) thereby making prof and students alike either laugh or feel uncomfortable.

Do you have a favourite graphic t-shirt (that others find dorky)? Are you planning to see the latest Iron Man installment? Are you a superhero film fan generally?

-C

It's like walking a tightrope

This evening's (it is evening where I am) quotation come from the television show "Modern Family." If you read my last post, you may be able to guess that I'm using the simile to reference my forecasted experience with the Italian language this year: something for which you need a piece of rope, a long stick, and a willing carnie. Just kidding. But humour is a useful tool for dealing with stressful situations sometimes, so heck, why not?!

Anyway, included in this post is my first day back to class OOTD. It doesn't comprise anything I haven't worn before in a post, but I figured I put up pictures anyway because, #1 everyone likes to look at pictures, and #2 it'll get me into a routine of OOTDing during school.

Top seen here; skirt seen here

Hair cut: brand new! Not available in stores.

-C

Call me male-ish

Today's title is a mixed up, me-trying-to-be-clever quotation derived from the first (and oh so famous) line of my current read: Herman Melville's Moby Dick. The real line of course runs "Call me Ishmael." This sentence, and novel as a whole, are well suited to today's OOTD post as my outfit is quite nautical themed. If this isn't really your thing, fair enough, but I happened to love this shirt as soon as I laid eyes on it. These coraly-red canvas boat shoes also happen to be my favourite shoes ever. I tend to dress fairly casually, while still trying to look nice, and these shoes have always suited my needs while being extremely comfortable at the same time.

Skirt & Shoes: Tommy Hilfiger

Relating to the shoes, and my being casual in general, you might have noticed that, unlike the majority of fashion bloggers I've seen, I've never had an OOTD with heels. It's just personal preference really; I've always found the shoes I gravitated towards are fairly flat, but interesting. Luckily, this less typically feminine preference also allowed me to play around with my quotation today, so I'm happy all around!

Top: Joe Fresh; Earrings: Le Chateau

Also, you might be wondering what's going on with my hair in these pictures. It is in fact tied back in a very small pony tail. I'm debating whether or not I want to cut it all off, which is how I used to have it before starting this blog. I've been letting it grow out for many months now (since March or April), but super short hair still holds such an appeal for me. It means using less shampoo, not having to straighten it almost every day, more time for doing makeup in the morning. . . but we'll see how it goes.

I know that while I like wearing oddly patterned cotton shirts, I'm going to be thrilled the day I can wake up and put on a nice big sweater. Are you as excited for autumn as I am?

-C

I have a sock that I refer to as my "good sock"

I don't actually have a sock like that; today's quotation comes from the show "2 Broke Girls." It's funny if you're feeling tolerant of fairly constant sexual humour, but mostly I've quoted it because I've spent the day thinking about money. Not in a greedy Ebenezer Scrooge kind of way. School is coming up on me rapidly now and it's time to start thinking about paying tuition and dealing with student loans. This process elicits from me a "yay" heavily laden with sarcasm.

I've been picking up my required texts for this year AND my copy of Moby Dick came in the mail the other day! I love getting things in the mail, even though I'm still sitting in wait for the piano book I ordered (mentioned here). The push is now on for me to finish what has become my final elective read for the summer before embarking on my school reading list. Right now I'm working my way through Stieg Larsson's The Girl Who Played With Fire. One thing that certainly stands out about this series, whether you've read the novels or watched the films, is the extreme amount of violence; a popular theme running throughout the novels is society's treatment of women. When I mentioned to a friend of mine recently that I was reading this novel, their reaction was surprisingly negative. I thought the reason was perhaps what I have just suggested, the mistreatment of women. I was wrong. My friend's issue with the trilogy was rather the way in which it deals with men's issues; read: sexism against men. This is an area unfortunately often overlooked by scholars and laymen alike, but bringing this point of view into consideration has really helped me have a new perspective as I continue on with the novel.

Besides my literary endeavours, I've also been picking up the odd clothing item here and there. My intention was, of course, to get some new things for fall, but I ended up buying a couple of summer pieces anyway. Hopefully you'll see some of these in OOTDs sooner rather than later. I was planning on taking pictures today as the weather looked promising, but things have clouded over here so I'll save that for another day. If you're living in Canada and looking to do some back-to-school shopping, I'd recommend checking out corduroy pants at Joe Fresh. I pretty much never buy anything from them, but was pleasantly surprised to come across these pants for $19 in a plethora of amazing autumn colours. I bought mind in a dark burgundy, but there's also mustard, dark green, cobalt blue, burnt orange, brown, and black from what I can remember.

Happy back-to-school shopping!

-C

It's because he's a muscular genius

Something very strange has happened recently. I know I mentioned in a previous post my general distaste for the most recent Batman series , but I watched "The Dark Knight" the other day and then went out and bought "Batman Begins." Here are my theories on the reason for enjoying them more this time around:

1. They are best watched out of order. This time I've tackled the problem by starting with the second film.
2. Robin was obviously the best character ever and he didn't make it into the latest franchise so I've been subconsciously boycotting them.
3. Superhero movies are a hit and miss with me. Spiderman: miss. Iron Man: miss. Captain America: HIT! Maybe I should pursue the ones without "man" in the title?
4. As Jay explains in "Modern Family" (which I've just started watching; see last post), Batman is a "muscular genius." I used to write Batman off because I felt that he relied too much on gadgets and not enough on sweet alien powers (although, I oddly also dislike Superman and there's one dude who's all about the alien powers), but I'm starting to get the impact of the whole life story that gets played out in this series.
5. I will basically watch anything in which Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a somewhat dominant role (see review of "Brick" here). This willingness will truly be tested when I see "The Dark Knight Rises" however, due to the supreme irritation inflicted on me by watching Anne Hathaway. My love for her pretty much begins and ends with her exaggerated "Gueeess not" when Gabbana is not spelt for her over the phone in "The Devil Wears Prada." 

 Also in the category of things that are strange for me to do, I wore red yesterday. Let us scoop up our collectively dropped jaws and move on. This news should definitely rank somewhere between "J.K. Rowling is a billionaire?" and "you can almost smell the Lush store from across the mall" on the scale all things ridiculously uninformative and/or obvious. And nothing against Lush, but if I ever got a job there, I think I might be asphyxiated by the million and two scents in that small, small space. Anyway, yes, I did in fact stray towards coral's spaghetti sauce coloured cousin and I felt that this uncharacteristic dressing choice must be documented. 

Skirt: Old navy; Shoes: Guess via TJMaxx

As well, girls with short hair can do more than just wear it down! Braiding my hair has become a great option for me when I don't feel like pulling out the straightener on a hot day (and when something absolutely MUST be done with my hair because it's way too thick).

Top: Banana Republic

This post was supposed to contain my OOTD (check) and two movie reviews (neither of which was going to be Batman. . . oops) but it turns out that I was not at all at a loss for words! Have you seen "The Dark Knight Rises" yet? What are your feelings about superhero films (such a serious issue, I know)?

-C

I wanted to be supportive but throw up at the same time

I find myself needing to quote "Gilmore Girls" yet again to come up with a fitting title for this post. A similar feeling to today's quotation is what I anticipated being overcome with yesterday. I spent the day with family, which unexpectedly included one relative's boyfriend (whom I had never previously met). Before you all get the idea that I harbour any negative ideas towards any family member or their plus-ones, let me remind you that I only thought I might have the feeling expressed in this post's title. Luckily, everyone behaved themselves and there was no awkward couple-ness going on.

Potential family drama averted, the group of us had a great time at a local festival, followed by dinner and games. We're definitely a big family for games. I also heard some great music performed while we were out, including one band called "Olenka and the Autumn Lovers," who I'm definitely going to look into further.

Here are some quick pictures of what I generally looked like. It was pretty hot out and we were pressed for time with family visiting and getting to and from the festival, so I don't have nice shots like I usually do. My top was worn in a slightly different way here. You can't see it in these pictures, but I've tied the belt in a bow at the back because I find it cuts me strangely to wear it wrapped around the top in the way it was intended to be. I paired it with some simple white shorts and no jewellery other than the earrings you see pictured.

On the film and literature front, I'm still working my way through Byatt and am halfway through two different movies: "Brick" and "Il Generale della Rovere." All three will be reviewed here upon their completion.

What did you get up to this weekend? Have you come across any great music lately? Let me know!

-C

The poet in the grip of the divine madness

Today's bizarre quotation is taken from my current read: A. S. Byatt's The Shadow of the Sun. I'm feeling a bit in the grip of "the divine madness" myself as so many crazy and wonderful things have been happening lately! I've been getting through this novel at a slow, but steady rate, so hopefully I can present all of you with a fresh book review sometime next week! Speaking of books, I put in an order on Amazon today. If you've been reading my posts for a while, it should be fairly transparent to you that I am an equal lover of fashion and literature. Although I major in English at university, I don't set books aside come summer holidays. I've been plowing through my reading list this year and have already managed to complete 10 novels (Byatt's will be numero undici [#11]). However, school is not nearly so far away as it was two months ago (funny how that works) and I'm starting to turn my attention back to mandatory readings and textbook lists.

From Amazon I ordered one novel I know I'll be reading in my fall American lit course: Herman Melville's Moby Dick. This thrills me on so many levels. First of all, you know how I love a good classic; Faulkner, Hemingway, and James have all made appearances on my reading list so far this season. Second of all, I love the television show "Gilmore Girls" (more on my obsession here) and ordering Moby Dick takes me back to the very first episode of the series. Rory is in the middle of her first awkward conversation with Dean (how many times does she end up saying "cake"?!) and as the topic swings over to books she tells him "[she knows] it's kind of cliché to pick Moby Dick as your first Melville. . ." Besides the fact that I needed to buy this novel for school, I felt instinctively better knowing that it had the Rory Gilmore stamp of approval; even if it is a cliché.

The other book I bought is actually not for reading. "A book not for reading?!" I hear you exclaim, "How can it be so?" Well, I'm also an avid piano player (saying "an avid pianist" will just never sound quite right to me) and I was in need of some new material. What I'm about to tell you may make some of you cringe, but bear with me and I'll explain. I bought the piano book for the "Breaking Dawn: Part 1" soundtrack. I know this is not exactly a best-loved series of books or films, but to clarify, the soundtracks compiled for these movies are typically AMAZING. I kid you not. As in, the musical selections from these films introduced me to both Florence + the Machine and Muse. According to Amazon, I shouldn't be getting either of my books for a good three weeks, but at the risk of calling them dirty liars, I find my orders typically arrive much sooner than that.

I'm planning on hitting up a great little festival in my city tomorrow, so I should have a fresh post complete with OOTD sometime this weekend. I would put it up straight away, but I have family coming to visit as well, so my blog may have to take the backburner for a day or two.

What are your plans this weekend? Do you get overly excited buying books, or purchasing anything online for that matter?

-C

Standing out as though sugared

Today's title is an adapted quotation from A. S. Byatt's The Shadow of the Sun, which I am currently reading. I found the idea of something "sugared" a pleasant one, evoking sweetness and a sort of frozen brilliance; the arrested beauty of the rose from "Beauty and the Beast" comes to mind. I spent this morning dealing in equal parts with something "frozen" and "brilliant." At my mother's behest, I was out picking raspberries at a local farm. Seeing as this has been the first cooler day for a while, it felt quite comfortable to be out in shorts and a t-shirt. However, this sensation quickly evaporated as the weather turned from just pleasantly cool to pouring down rain. I was totally drenched and chilled to the bone, but at least I have a whole container of fresh raspberries to show for it!

I took this early one just to demonstrate how amazing this mascara is! The flash made the colour a bit stark. Face: MAC select SPF 15 foundation in NW15; Sonia Kashuk beautifying blush in "Flamingo"

Eyes: a purpley-taupe from the E.L.F. everyday basic palette; Lancôme hypôse drama mascara in "Black"; E.L.F. liner in "Brown"

Luckily, I wasn't planning on taking any OOTD pictures outdoors today because the weather would definitely have spoiled that idea before it even got off the ground. Instead, I'll leave you with some quick FOTD shots I took to go with the outfit images I posted yesterday.

Lips: EOS lip balm in "Sweet Mint" (because the lipstick is a bit drying); MAC creamsheen lipstick in "Speak Louder"

Hope you're all staying warm and dry! Do you have any plans for getting outdoors this weekend?

-C

The KISS principle

The title of this post is not a quotation. I'll give you a second to get over the shock. Aaand we're back. It's actually a nifty little saying I picked up from my father, who, working in the business of advertising and graphic design, is full of such tips, tricks, and tools of the trade. In this case, "KISS" (very unromantically) stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid! It's funny, catchy, and a great reminder that the simplest thing/plan/idea is often the best. I like to think this same idea is one I apply (no pun intended) when putting on makeup or compiling items for an outfit. I try to find pieces that are interesting, but still an organic part of my style.

Top: Monteau via TJMaxx; Necklace: Forever 21

Skirt: Forever 21; Shoes: Enzo Angiolini via TJMaxx

In today's outfit, I've paired a neutral top with a bright coral (surprise, surprise) skirt. If you'd like to learn more about my love of coral, including the explanation behind my blog's title, please click here! The top is clean and simple with straight lines and little detail, but I absolutely loved it when I saw it. It sort of reminds me of being on safari (not that I've ever been on safari. . . you know what I mean). The skirt is likewise simply cut, but also includes a scalloped hem, which I think is a beautiful feminine touch. The gold of my necklace is picked up in the detail on my sandals, and both include a great piece-y geometric look.

-C

His life, though vivid, was largely a dream

The quotation for this post comes from E. M. Forster's A Passage to India. Today's composition will be my 27th blog entry; not exactly a typical landmark, but it did strike me as I was beginning to write this that almost every one of these posts has been introduced with a quotation. Repetition is a wonderful thing- the more I say, think, or write something, the more likely I am to remember it for ages and ages. I've always delighted in recording lines from books. Events in real life often recall almost-forgotten song lyrics. The frequency with which I introduce film speeches into everyday conversation is almost obscene. When I see all of my past titles lined up along the side of my blog, it's like a row of little gems I've picked out over the recent days, weeks, months, and years of my cultural experience with film, literature, and television. For me, it's pretty much the best of the best; C's "greatest hits," if you will, in the form of snippets from a million (27) individuals moments of joy at stumbling across a line I just loved.

The act of finding, recording, rediscovering, and transposing each of these separate moments onto my blog is a feeling similar to the Forster quotation I've used today. Each one has the dreamlike quality of a memory, but possesses a sharp vividness in my mind from being especially selected for the purpose of being remembered.

In terms of the real meat of this blog post (yes, I did just go from a sort of poetic attempt at explanation to "meat"), I can connect the most recent novel I've completed to this same half-imagined reality. This book would be L. M. Montgomery's Anne's House of Dreams. I don't feel as though I really need to review this; either you've read the Anne series, or you ought to. These are certainly not works for children alone. Characters (Anne especially) spend as much time in the world of imagination as they do faced with very real, difficult, life-altering challenges.

Giving myself a break from Montgomery for now, next on my reading list is A. S. Byatt's The Shadow of the Sun. So far I've only read the introduction, but honestly, even that was extraordinarily interesting. Though this is near blasphemy for a student of English literature, I must admit that I usually skim or skip entirely over introductions in novels (not to be confused with prologues which are actually a part of the fictional text). I was prepared to do the same for this latest work, but I found myself captivated as Byatt reflected on her novel (N. B. the introduction was added 20 years after the original publication), drawing parallels between her life and her characters, these characters and figures of her other texts, and how she has come to see her novel in a new way, making fresh connections she was previously unaware of in her own book. Imagine coming back to something you'd finished decades before and feeling as though you were seeing aspects of it for the first time! To me, this certainly counts as a mark of a great author.

I'll be watching the Italian film "Don Giovanni" in a little while, so I should have a post about that up tomorrow or the following day. Also on the blog roster are items from a recent shopping excursion, which will be compiled into a little skincare and fashion haul. I didn't think it would be exceptionally interesting to display these items as a pile of stuff (some of it wrinkled, none of it laundered), so I'll be giving reviews of the cosmetic products alongside pictures of them, but just describing briefly the clothing I bought. Out of personal preference, I'm going to save images of fashion pieces for OOTDs to give you a better idea of the actual size and shape of each article as it exists on an average-heighted/weighted person, outdoors, in natural light.

Have you been enjoying your weekends? As always, feel free to leave a comment to let me know what you've been reading/watching/wearing or any recommendations you might have for me!

-C

The delusion that it was bright hot morning

The quotation I've used today comes from a novel I read a little while ago now; Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night. Now, it being bright hot morning (well, afternoon actually, but near enough!) when I took these OOTD pictures was not in fact a delusion, but rather a harsh, humid reality. Looking at these images, you're likely going to think the only delusion going on is whichever one I had in my head that convinced me to wear a scarf wrapped nearly thrice around my neck in the middle of summer. I don't really have a great answer for that, except that it is quite a light-weight scarf, so I wasn't completely boiling.

Scarf: Calvin Klein via TJMaxx; Watch: Fossil

Top: Forever 21; Skirt: Tommy Hilfiger; Shoes: Enzo Angiolini via TJMaxx

It was actually quite a lovely day today, so I ventured out to the library (yay!) to return my Faulkner novel and James short stories. In their place I am now in possession of the novel The Shadow of the Sun by A.S. Byatt. I've never read anything by Byatt before, and actually never intended to read this particular novel. I became aware of this author through my favourite novel, The Time Traveler's Wife. Texts that make reference to other works are really great sources when you're trying to find new material; I already knew how much I loved Niffenegger's novel so I figured the outside quotations she worked in were worth checking out. By the way, The Shadow of the Sun isn't the book I was aiming for. I'm hoping to get my hands on Possession (also by Byatt), but all of the copies are out. . . and have holds on them for when they're returned. I decided getting something else out by the same author would at least give me a chance to test-drive her work while I wait.

In the interest of continuing to forge ahead con il mio italiano, I picked up three Italian films as well. They are: "Il Generale della Rovere" directed by Roberto Rossellini, "Don Giovanni" directed by Carlos Saura, and "Il Deserto Rosso" directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. If you're interested in foreign films (which I think everyone really ought to be), keep checking back to my blog. I'll be putting up reviews as I watch these films, so hopefully I can give you a couple of new recommendations!


Do you look internationally when selecting movies or literature? If you live outside of North America, are there any great films from your country that you would like to tell me about? Provided I can find them online or in a library, I will happily check them out!


-C
P.S. I thought I'd get back into the swing of things with this OOTD and include a couple of coral pieces. The mustardy-yellow of my top is another of my favourite colours, and putting these two together was, I think, a happy accident!

I'm going to be surprisingly better

As promised, here are the outfit pictures to go along with the FOTD I posted yesterday. I'm a big fan of keeping it simple, especially with clothing. I don't usually go in for anything with a big brand name splashed across the front or an excess of anything like beads or lace. I've also been buying many more solid pieces than I used to. This may seem boring to some, but it's fantastic for me! It's so much easier to put things together and have them look nice when each item has less going on. However, I also choose articles with interesting details because dressing simply and dressing boring do NOT have to be the same thing. 

For example, the white t-shirt I'm wearing here has a low scoop in both the front and the back, so it's a little variation on a classic staple (I also wore it in my first OOTD here). The shorts are definitely a bolder choice. I'm pretty much in love with the coloured jeans/pants trend (check out my coral capris!), but it's not really feasible to wear full-length bottoms when it's this hot outside. For me, these purple shorts are a great alternative; they're bright, but have a classic look, great fit, and really adorable button detailing to keep them from looking too casual.

Since I was spending the afternoon outdoors and new it would be about one million degrees (maybe a slight exaggeration. . .), I wanted to look nice, but be comfortable and not over-dress. To achieve this, I picked one bright colour and paired it with neutrals like white and brown.

Sunglasses: Nine West via TJMaxx; Top: Old Navy

Bag: Fossil; Shoes: Enzo Angiolini via TJMaxx

Shorts: Banana Republic; Bracelet: Kohl's

I know I usually talk about my title right at the beginning of each post, but I wanted to jump right in to the outfit today since I'd promised it yesterday. Anyway, this titular quotation comes from the short story I recently finished: Henry James' The Lesson of the Master. I don't have too much to say about it other than that it was a very good read and I enjoyed it. It's a simple quotation that I've picked out, but it just struck me as quite a nice line. I like the idea of improving yourself for your own benefit, not to mention doing it so well that you end up surprising even yourself. I'm definitely looking forward to getting into the next short story on my roster: The Turn of the Screw.

In the future, would you prefer to see literature and fashion/beauty mixed in together in one post, or a separate entry for each? Also, I just realized that I've been blogging for just over a month now. I've really enjoyed the change and am so grateful for the people who have chosen to follow me and the wonderful comments I've received. Thank you all so much!

-C

We band of boaters

My title has been appropriated from one of the most famous speeches penned by William Shakespeare: dear Harry's "band of brothers" oration from Henry V. However, this post is not about royalty, nor war, nor even men. I went to an event today which I never could have predicted myself going to. For several years, I've had a vague idea that my city held dragon boat races every year, but had really no need to think any further about them than that brief recognition of their existence. Well, this year my mother decided to get involved and join a team and so my family experienced our first dragon boat event (my mom was the only one actually racing though). Only one person in my mom's boat had ever done this sort of thing before, apart from the two practice sessions the boat club sets up for each team prior to race day. Even though they weren't the top team in the water, they still managed to beat six other groups, making them champions of their division. This "band of boaters," as I'm calling them, stuck it out in a fantastic display of teamwork and motivation. I'm honestly so proud of my mom for finding something new to try and really giving it her all.

To further adapt the quotation I've chosen, I'd like to back-track further up the line to "We few, we happy few." In terms of today's event, it was something more along the lines of "We many, we sweaty, sunburnt many." I feel like I do perhaps say too much about the heat, but I've already told you in my last post that I managed to acquire a lovely red burn yesterday, so being out by the lake today was not so pleasant on my skin. As for the many, I am so not kidding when I said that. I had no idea how many teams entered into a competition like this, or how many others came to watch it! There were easily a thousand people present. All this means is that, in terms of this blog, I didn't take any pictures of myself there. I'm still new to this being in front of the camera thing and I was sure I'd attract more stares than I'd have been comfortable with if I started snapping pictures of myself at the event, so I took them at home afterwards instead.

I'm completely in love with the shirt I wore (that sounds quite self-indulgent, but if I hadn't loved it, I wouldn't have bought it, right?). This outfit ended up pleasing me so much for looking a sort of mix of retro/classy/comfortable, that by the end of the afternoon I had myself pretty nearly talked into believing I was a modern Vivian Ward, only watching boats race rather than horses. If only I had a sweet little pair of white gloves to go with it. . . those are going straight on the top of my list!


Also, seeing as tomorrow is Father's Day, I likely won't have a post for you. I'll be away at a big family BBQ, but I hope you all enjoy your day!

Hat: Forever 21; Top: Monteau via TJMaxx; Shorts: Jacob; Sunglasses: Ralph Lauren via TJMaxx; Watch&Bag: Fossil; Shoes: Enzo Angiolini also via TJMaxx

Julia Roberts as Vivian Ward in "Pretty Woman"

Maybe a little similarity? I wish I'd realized it before and done a cute hat-holding pose like Julia. Darn!

 -C

To world enough, and time

I only have another quick post today, so my apologies. I got home from seeing "Prometheus" with my friend and I wanted to show you what I wore. I ended up going for what turned out to be a sort of nautical outfit. I really love my navy and, as you should definitely be able to tell by now, my coral. I felt that this outfit was cute, comfortable enough to sit in the theatre in for a couple of hours, and still stylish, though technically just denim and a tank top. The pants are actually capris, but I've been rolling down the cuff lately because I think they look great as cropped pants too. I'm wearing flip-flops in these pictures, but I ended up going in brown leather gladiator sandals and the brown leather Fossil bag (which I was also wearing in a previous post). These shots also give you a look at my glasses, which I don't normally wear out. I snapped these before doing my makeup just to make sure I had a few images of my clothing before my friend arrived to pick me up.

As for the movie itself, the main idea it left me with is that if ever I find myself on an alien planet, I will absolutely NOT touch anything.

The quotation I've used for this post is from my favourite novel, Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, but originally references the poem "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell. I thought this might be appropriate for today/tonight since this entry marks the one week mark in my blog's existance! To tack on an extra meaning, which you know I can never resist doing if there's an opportunity, I could also say that the "world enough" part is how I feel after seeing "Prometheus." I can say that this film has completely put me off space travel for the time being and the Earth is looking like a pretty lovely place to be this evening.

Top: Hollister; Capris: DKNY via TJMaxx

Happy one week to my dear blog and onwards and upwards from here!
-C

Embarking on a passage to India

Before anyone gets excited, no, I'm not actually going to India. At least, not right now. My title today refers to the latest novel I've picked up: E.M. Forster's A Passage to India. I've only just started reading it, so I can't comment yet, except that I know it's meant to be quite a good film as well. I've never watched it myself, but I probably will once I've finished reading the book.

The most suitable post to accompany such a title would probably involve something interesting or exotic. Unfortunately, I haven't done anything befitting said descriptions lately, so today we're going to have to settle for "hot" as the unifying adjective between my OOTD and a novel about India. And by hot, I mean that the temperature is extremely warm so I've been keeping my clothing pretty cas (as in casual. . . I'm so lazy I even neglect to spell out a full word). Another notable aspect of my outfit is the prevalence of coral. As I mentioned in my first post, I called my blog "C of Corals" because coral has been my absolute favourite colour for several years now. I figured I ought to start living up to my name, wouldn't you say? I own so many things in this colour. . . it's actually ridiculous. Expect to see this shade again in the not so distant future!

Top: Hollister; Capris: Aeropostale; Flip-flops: Old Navy

Watch: Fossil; Bracelet: present from a friend; Bag: Fossil

What have you all been doing to keep cool? Do you have a go-to colour this season?
-C

Sunny days and sepia suits

Today I was a bit lax with my reading schedule as I spent the day shopping instead. The "sepia suits" I speak of in my title are a reference to the most recent novel I've finished, the completion of which happened a few days ago now, but hey, I'm doing my best! This wardrobe allusion is connected to The Man in the Brown Suit, by Agatha Christie. Honestly, what person doesn't like to spend an impossibly hot summer day sitting outdoors, reading a Christie novel?! Well, potentially a lot of people, but not me. I've read so many of her stories over the years that I've actually lost track of which I've read and which ones I haven't. The Man in the Brown Suit wasn't ringing any bells, so I picked it up from the library and ended up finishing it in two days. It definitely wasn't my favourite of her novels; I found it a bit too easy to predict. When it comes to mystery novels, this can either be incredibly satisfying or a let down. I prefer to make my own guesses as I go along with one of her books, but I still look forward to being surprised at the end when I turn out to be about 99% wrong in my predictions.

Either way, Agatha Christie is always great reading material on toasty days like today. However, as I've already alluded to, I was inside shopping today instead. I'm thinking I may post some photos from my little haul, or just use the pieces in future OOTD. I'm going to leave off writing this post here, and give you the shots of my first ever blogged OOTD. Like I said, it was pretty warm today, so I went for a more casual look, almost no makeup, but still a little bit girly!

-C