Back from limbo. Ah, it’s such a relief to be done with wholesale orders after 3 weeks of solitary confinement! Okay, maybe I wasn’t completely alone. Evan Dando was still chillin’ in my squeezebox to keep me company.

Gosh, has it really been a month since my last post? I guess this makes me a bad blogger. Sorry sorry x_X Here’s the only conclusion I can come to—it’s either got to be sewing or blogging, but I can’t do both without one or the other suffering. Idk how Jenny Gordy does it! Sewing is the easiest thing in the world to do, but there’s no way around it being incredibly time consuming. Well, at least not without sacrificing workmanship. Which is something I’d rather not do. And you know how the internet vortex goes—one hour online leads to two hours leads to three leads to there goes my entire day. So ultimately I’ve chosen to make stuff first and then come to the surface for a breath of fresh air every once in a while. Hi, how are you?

Today is the first day in a long time I wake up without anything pressing to complete. I’d like to take a trip to Tokyo Mart and pick up a copy of ViVi. Maybe we could make a picnic of cheap beer and deluxe combo sushi. You know, the kind with packaged soy sauce and weird plastic grass separators. They always load it with too much rice and not nearly enough filling and then comes the carb crash 30 minutes later. But I guess you get what you pay for buying sushi at a grocery store, right? Tonight, it’s dinner with the bff and then Dinner for Schmucks. I’d really just like to get out of the the house if only for a short while before starting on a new collection again. I am feeling a little out of it and need something to pull me back in.

Robert Pirsig talks about this feeling a lot in Zen and the Art of Mortorcycle Maintenance—how traveling is better than arriving. He says he always falls into a period of depression after reaching a goal and has to reorient himself toward a new one. Even if he was a little cuckoo, still, it’s comforting to know I am not alone in feeling that way—at a loss for what to do next.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do last night though. And that was enjoy a meal that didn’t come in a bar or shake. For our ulam, I baked unagi and served it over a bed of brown rice. Then I used this recipe (which was incredible) and this (which was meh) for our side dishes. It was nice all in all.

Three awesome new additions to my jewelry box:
1. The leaves of Lorien
2. Arwen’s evenstar necklace
3. Gandolf’s brooch

These are so fun! I can see the brooches as a quirky touch to my everyday twee outfits on colorful cardigan sweaters. Arwen’s delicate necklace would pair well with soft chiffon maxi dresses with low necklines or even a sheer Edwardian blouse with long, billowy sleeves.

This Slytherin locket was originally what I was searching for when I discovered the LOTR costume jewelry—keyword spamming is not such a terrible thing after all. Since forever ago, I’ve been wanting a long antique gold necklace with a gigantic pendant to top my simple sundresses with. And because everyday is a summer day on Guam, I wear A LOT of sundresses. Which is to say, I’d wear the necklace a lot. So I wanted it to be special and kind of esoteric and a Slytherin locket seemed like the best bet. Problem is, it’s nowhere to be found! Well, at least not the version pictured above. I’ve searched the ends of the internet—every crevice in eBay, etsy and google—and the only thing that comes close is this locket from The Noble Collection:

Bummer it’s in metal :/ I have to admit how much I love that they included Regulus Black’s letter to Voldemort though. Even if it does seem a little gimmicky.

Since we’re on horcruxes though, how’s this for Marvolo Gaunt’s ring?

Except I imagine it to be encased in tarnished gold. I like how a gem, something that’s normally meant to be elegant and polished, can also be as raw and imperfect as this one.

On a side note, my big brother is a bona fide Harry Potter haterader. I can already hear him snickering under his breath all the way from Gainesville at the idea of a post even remotely relating to HP. So as a preemptive move against his backhanded remarks, I just wanna say—go do some calculus, or physics, or how about reverse engineering YOUR SKINNY BUTT, smarty pants!

Ahem, now where were we? Right, so while I’m still on the hunt for a horcrux (get it? get it? ha ha. I can be so lame), these *hunches forward and taps fingers together in an all-conspiring gesture* preciouses will suit me just dandy.

mustard cardigan – vintage
Leaves of Lorien brooch – eBay
ascot top – Zara
polka dot skirt – thrifted (no label)
mary janes – Nine West

braided headband – eBay
charcoal knit cardigan – Forever 21
jabot blouse – Zara
black velvet bow – diy
rock bracelet – gift from Michelle
brown leather belt – Polo
kelly green shorts – gift from Lydia
lace oxfords – cool, casual by Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Lydia, my internet pal over at Style is Style sent these shaweet shorts for a clothes swap we did last month. After going through her box of goodies, I knew it was the first of the bunch that I wanted to wear. But as with most vintage pieces, it needed a couple of modern alterations before making its debut—taking in at the waist with some pleats and permanent cuffs at the hem.

Fit is so crucial to me. You can have a great fit in the grossest fabric and still look fantastic, but hardly ever vice versa. The truth is, I’ve been living in my jammies. mostly holed up sewing custom orders for the past month—with intermittent snack breaks over Breaking Bad reruns so as not to go completely bonkers. Sometimes I’m so preoccupied trying to dress other girls up nice and spiffy; it hardly affords any opportunities to dress myself up.

But over the weekend I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy and it kinda broke my heart and left me with an increasing need to ditch home and appreciate the outside world a little more. Well, that, and also we were down to our last slice of Roman Meal and last cup of Egg Beaters. And like the man and the boy, I was forced out of hibernation to make a quick food run.

So thankies Lydia for allowing me to do it in KELLY GREEN SHORTS! For sure, you’ll be seeing some of her other awesome picks in future style diary entries. But for now, look how cute she is in the cupcake skirt I made as a part of her care package: