“Loneliness is black coffee and late-night television; solitude is herb tea and soft music. Solitude, quality solitude, is an assertion of self-worth, because only in the stillness can we hear the truth of our own unique voices.”     -Pearl Cleage

8. I am completely and utterly in love. With plaid pants. You’ve cleaned out my bank account again, Anthro.

7. Twitter. It’s where I’ve been keeping my rage, as of late.

6. I’ve decided to make a large investment in my future–while a camera would be great for blogging, I find myself constantly missing sewing. And as I make things, the excitement feeds into more things. I’m researching industrial sewing machines as we speak.

5. I am wasting days on Pinterest, as of late. And I don’t even feel bad about it. Come pin things with me.

4. I want want want want this Heirloom Seed Kit. Someone drop $50 and make my day?

3. Allison and I had a movie-date last week, thanks to Netflix. We watched a 1960s French film, Une femme est une femme, which was fantastic. There were so many quotable moments & the style of the film was inspiring. I’m giving it a full five stars. Check it out.

“Is it a comedy or tragedy?”

“You never know with women.”

2. I am so obsessed with The Freedom Experiment’s list:

55 Gentle Ways to Take Care of Yourself.

1. I’m too caught up in number two to finish this list. Sweet, sweet bliss.

Wondering what I’m up to these days?

Well. I’m taking six classes, one of which is Racial Science Fiction–let me tell you, the most interesting and demanding class I’ve ever taken. We first read The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allen Poe. Now, we’re moving on to a far newer, yet related book, Pym by Mat Johnson. So far, Johnson’s is far more interesting than Poe’s. No offense to Poe, of course.

I just got a second job at the cutest store in Auburn, called Faunhouse. It’s been open since November and I am taking sewing lessons from the owner, while helping her in the store when she needs it. Plus, I will be sewing things for the store! EEEKKK.

I’m spending entire days in silence (which is so relaxing) and I am reading everything required for classes, finishing homework early, watching tv shows and movies, and will be playing video games later tonight. Take that, Resolutions! Oh yes–Alyssa, Sarah, and I made potstickers last night and paired it with a yummy red wine.

Things are going well. I’m becoming content in myself.

8. I am dying to go to Jazz Fest this year. Someone volunteer  to go with before you’re forced.

7. I’m not really sure why I was shy about Florence + The Machine previously. This song is on loop. An unofficial anthem, if you will–I am dancing to it right now.

6. Things you should know: after I watched an incredibly disturbing video about hacking into webcams, I am occasionally freaked out when alone. I was looking for more lovelies to post here and someone started talking. YES, TALKING. Thankfully, it was an auto-play video on the bottom of a page on which I had not scrolled down far enough. I basically just died.

5. I’ve been wanting this map series for a while. Maybe this is the year I save up for purchasing them!

4. I’m completely obsessed with Best Made Company. Which is kind of a cop-out, because #9 was also Best Made-related. I CAN’T HELP IT THAT EVERYTHING ON THEIR WEBSITE IS AMAZING.

3. I need this shirt. A whole bunch.

2. The AntiDuckface. I. CAN’T. STOP. LAUGHING. And maybe just scrolled through every post ever. Yep, this is my Sunday night.

1. I am completely OBSESSED with Dallas Maynard’s kind of gothic jewelry. I want to buy everything, absolutely everything. You’ll see several links to this obsession upcoming, with my birthday fast-approaching and all!

Outfit details//  Target basic grey tee//Pleated black maxi skirt (thrifted)//Ropers calf-height black boots (thrifted)//Dooney & Bourke leather purse (thrifted)

Shutters & Shuttles custom-ordered wool scarf

Outfit details// Deener brown denim cigarette pants//For Joseph navy blue sweater//Tommy Hilfiger leather jacket//Plaid cashmere scarf//Anthropologie woven leather boots//Anthropologie headband//Madewell fox necklace (from Allison!)//Dooney & Bourke bag (thrifted)

Photos courtesy of Allison!

NO BIG.

I’m blaming my takeover of all photos on the fact that there were four people in the booth. I should not have coordinated sitting arrangements, clearly.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 8,900 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

My first semester at Auburn is over! A lot has happened since. Here is the past year in countdown, along with the first semester at Auburn.

January 2011:

I was pretty certain I would be a vegetarian and exercise daily. I had a trainer for the month. Then decided I didn’t really need either of those things, which is what generally happens to those New Years’ resolutions.

February 2011:

I turned 21! The event was well-chronicled by my close friends–I had my first drink (Long Island Iced Tea, courtesy of Ian) at midnight, and have tried many other since. Why, yes. That is Tim Kasher in the last photo! (SWOON)

March 2011:

Allison and I participated in a fashion show!

May 2011:

CHICAGO. TATTOO. SHOPPING. Don’t ask me whatever happened to the photos. I haven’t a clue. But I do have a few from my phone! [Note: FRONT ROW, LYKKI LI]

June 2011

The anniversary of my blog and I. What a journey it has been.

August-November 2011:

I moved to Auburn and got a job at a coffee shop! Jennifer and I spent a lot of time making our apartment extra adorable, also. I learned to like appreciate football, with the help of a visit from Miss Kelsey.

I made some great new friends and was an impressive Lady Gaga and later Holly Golightly for Halloween, if I do say so myself. I went to Atlanta for a day of thrifting, Greek food-eating, coffee-drinking, and vintage digging. Allison moved to Nashville while I’ve been in Auburn, and we have visited each other. Which has been very lovely.

December 2011:

So much has changed this year! The boy and I have parted ways, which I will not be sharing the details of. I have taken off the entire month of December from work and have been fully enjoying what I like to refer to as “curmudgeon” time. Kelsey has followed suit–she, Grace, and I got sushi pajamas for Christmas, and we have hardly left them since. Buffs has returned to being a lil’ lap doggie. I have missed the wiener schnitzel so so so much.

And that’s my year! Expect a post dedicated to New Year’s Eve. I have big plans.

9. Rule #245 from Etiquette for a Lady

You will quickly learn that “cool” is a concept devoid of all meaning. Being smart, kind, and genuine will help you navigate your way through life. “Cool” simply dissolves after high school.

8. Jennifer Humphrey from A Go-Go turned me on to a new line, entitled Dainty Hooligan. Check out their amazing video. I want to be paid to have people pamper me, then just stand around and look pretty while I am photographed?!

7. What an amazing beard this man has. I think the Boy would likely agree. AND DID YOU SEE HIS PUPPY?! HIS PUPPY IS SO SO SO SO SO QT. I need puppy times. Puppy depression has reached epic proportions.

6. A Softer World; someone buy me lots of these to decorate my apartment, s’il vous plait?

5. I can’t stop lookbook‘n. Why? Because it is almost Thanksgiving break, and I therefore have time to waste. EEKKKEEEKEKEKEK.

4. Speaking of Thanksgiving, I get to see Allison & Kelsey & Kelsey in just a handful of days.

3. I haven’t done a Ninesday in so long that it is getting difficult to compose this post. And because of that, I will rename it “Sixday” and leave it at that.

Okay, okay. So maybe I found one more, thanks to Alex; “MANIQWINNING,” the art of beating the mannequin at it’s own game. Tweet @ her//starting a revolution: G_Reath