Tag: august

August 11, 2018 – Danville Days (OOTD #343)

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Actually, I guess it was more of a Danville night — I was only around town for dinner.

For those of you who don’t know, Danville’s a small-ish town in Central Kentucky, about an hour south from Lexington, my home. I’ve been a few times, and every time I go, I’m thoroughly impressed by how quiet it is. Take “quiet” with whatever connotation you’d personally like to assign to it: for me though, I find it a bit boring.

In fairness, I went on a Saturday night, and Danville’s not really a Saturday night kind of a place — maybe more of a Sunday morning place, after everyone’s gone to church. We walked around around 7pm, and it was pretty much dead downtown. Perhaps if I’d been there at 11am the next morning, I would have actually gotten to see the little bakeries and coffee shops in operation.

I did get to go into a Goodwill, though, which was a good idea in that I found a cute jacket and a sweater. It’s not really jacket/sweater season but…that never stopped me.

I had dinner with my friend, Amanda’s family, and after that, we drove back to Lexington. On the way back though, we made a brief stop at a little church we saw on the roadside.

There really wasn’t a good reason why we decided to stop at the church: we just thought it looked cute. I know, a little one-room white church in an empty field is hardly a rare sight in Kentucky, but I feel like I never actually stop and look at them, for as many as I pass on the road. It was locked up (and possibly abandoned? Looked pretty dusty in there), but I still got a nice photo or two of it with the sunset in the background. Just feature my work on my own inspirational “Old Kentucky Home” poster, already.

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at home in Kentucky. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Top: Free People

Jeans: American Eagle (thrifted)

August 5, 2018 – That Was Rewarding (OOTD #342)

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After a long hard day of cleaning the house, my family decided to go out and reward ourselves with a bit of ice cream!

You know, I’m admittedly not even a huge ice cream person, but I just love the concept of it. I think it has something to do with this Arthur book I had as a kid where Arthur goes out and treats DW to ice cream after she proves to him how good she is at spelling. Isn’t it funny how dumb little things like that can permanently change your worldviews?

For example, I don’t really enjoy ice cream in cones. I find them messy, unnecessary, and just generally add on calories that I don’t need when I could enjoy the ice cream just as much out of a bowl. But I’m a sucker for the aesthetic of ice cream in a cone — an aesthetic that I first came to know thanks to that Arthur book.

I’m also a sucker for the cute photos I can get with ice cream in a cone that I just can’t get with ice cream in a bowl. I’m one hundred percent one of those people who will research the most Instagrammable restaurants in a city I’m visiting just so I can get something cute for my feed. Call me shallow.

If you’re wondering, the flavor of the ice cream here is Kentucky Blackberry Buttermilk, and it’s one of my favorite flavors of all time. I don’t get tired of it; I order it every time I come to this particular local ice cream shop. Rather than being super sweet like a lot of ice creams, its flavor comes from its creaminess. 10/10 would recommend.

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at home in Kentucky. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Top: boutique at a flea market

Shorts: PacSun

August 4, 2018 – NuLu Life (OOTD #341)

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NuLu = New Louisville, and that’s your daily dose of Kentucky trivia.

I actually lived in Louisville as a kid, but I don’t remember the city itself very well. My family was in a suburban area, so we didn’t go downtown a lot, especially since I was pretty young. We would always go to Waterfront Park for the Thunder over Louisville fireworks show during Derby season, which was a highlight of my childhood, but otherwise, I don’t remember going into the city often.

So I can’t say if Louisville itself has changed, or if I simply don’t remember it well — but it seemed way cooler than it was back when I lived there. I  remember Louisville as a city with a lot of buildings and a lot of restaurants, but not much in terms of actual things to do. I’ve even gone back and visited Louisville a few times since moving to Lexington, but I guess I’d never really figured out the best neighborhoods to visit.

Anyway, the NuLu neighborhood was pretty sweet. I’d gone past it a few times, but this was my first time really walking around and exploring — going into shops, restaurants, etc. We went with the intent of visiting a particular outdoor flea market (my family’s very into markets, it seems), and we were not disappointed.

The highlight was probably a particular shop we went into that, surprisingly, made for some great photography. I often feel a little weird about taking pictures in a store (it seems unfair to take advantage of a cute store layout if I don’t really buy anything), but I couldn’t stop myself with this gorgeous garden setup. I did tag the store in my Instagram post, so I guess I was kind of justified?

What an influencer I am.

I don’t know if any of you other fashion bloggers out there have experienced the same thing, but I’ve started to judge my enjoyment of an event based on how much good photography I get. Is that shallow? And there’s nothing worse than going out to a cute location and not having a cute outfit — or the converse, having a cute outfit and not being able to find a good background. By these new standards, though, I’d say I had a particularly good day!

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at home in Kentucky. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Top: Zara

Bralette: Aerie

Skirt: Abercrombie

August 3, 2018 – To Market, To Market (OOTD #340)

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I didn’t actually buy or really do anything at this market.

I do some blog writing for a local real estate company about local life (check it out here, if you’d like!), which means I often come across events that I hadn’t been aware of before that I then like to go check out.

Lexington’s not a big city, and not a particularly exciting one (unless you’re really into University of Kentucky athletics ), but it is nonetheless a city. There are parking garages and everything. Sometimes, cool stuff happens, but it’s usually in small doses, like this market my father and I went to.

It was in a cute part of town that I’m not often around —  one of those areas that was once kind of run-down, but has since become gentrified and chic.

Like I said, I didn’t buy anything, but it was good to walk around and get some exercise. I’d been sitting all day at a business expo for my internship, handing out pens and telling people to remember to register to vote. Seeing the hipsters with pink hair buying their craft beer was a welcome change from the boring people in suits.

Easily the most exciting bit of the market was this guy with a bright yellow car with a giant bubble machine. There were no bubbles at the business expo.

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at home in Kentucky. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Top: J. Crew (thrifted)

Pants: Banana Republic

Saturday Musings + Coffee – Back At It and August 2018 Bullet Journal Spread

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Hoo boy, it’s been a long time since I’ve written one of these!

It’s not that these Saturday Musings posts are that hard to write, but the photography for them is a little more challenging, admittedly, than an OOTD post. I don’t want my flatlays to get repetitive, so I don’t want to keep using the same objects and backgrounds over and over again. But I only have so many objects that I can sit atop a white sheet and make them look cute, you know?

I do have new spread in my bullet journal to show off though, so I figured that was some solid content deserving of a post.

It took me a ridiculous number of hours to get this month’s spread looking like it does. Why did August take so much longer than usual? Well…because I never finished July.

A solid chunk of July for me was spent in Nepal, which meant a solid chunk of July was spent doing things like talking about religion and modernity and finding ancient temples and not doodling in my journal. I’m committed enough to my bullet journal that I want it to be pretty and complete, but not committed enough that I want to designate time necessarily every day in order to write in it so it can be pretty and complete. As a result, I often wind up having to fill in days and events that have already passed, which I guess you could argue defeats the purpose of even using it as a planner.

Okay, so maybe my bullet journal is more of a log of past events than a planner of future ones. Whatever, I’m going to make it look cute and aesthetic either way.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

August 2, 2018 – Steak n’ Shake Aesthetic (OOTD #339)

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I don’t remember this episode of Riverdale.

Believe it or not, the way my outfit perfectly matched with the aesthetic of this Steak n’ Shake in Louisville was totally unintentional — in fact, I put this outfit together for a show Amanda and I went to that night.

This will likely be irrelevant information to solid 99% of my readers, but for anyone who was curious, the show I went to was Interactive Introverts, the live stage show by the popular British Youtube comedians Dan and Phil. The stage set up and aesthetic of the show very much matched the red, black, and white of my outfit, which was why I coordinated it that way.

Regardless, I didn’t take any photos of myself at the show, so I guess it wasn’t very important that I matched so well.

Interestingly, though, I matched perfectly with the Steak n’ Shake we stopped at on our way back home after the show was over! To be honest, I’m still in awe of the fact that I didn’t end up clashing horrifically or something with the red of the walls — that’s serendipity if I’ve ever seen it.

You know what else was serendipity? This was my last day of work! It kind of came as a surprise though — see, my last day wasn’t supposed to be for another week, August 9th. My boss came in as I was working though, and told me that due to a scheduling conflict with another employee, they were letting me off early while still paying me for the final week.

That leaves me with the rest of the summer free, save for two more days with the Secretary of State in Frankfort. We’ll see if I make good use of those days, preparing for school, packing up, and being productive, or if I spend most of my time sleeping and procrastinating. My money’s on the latter.

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at home in Kentucky. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Jacket: Adidas (thrifted)

Top: River Island

Skirt: Zara

August 31, 2017 – It’s Casual (OOTD #100)

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I can’t believe I’ve never used that as a blog title before.

For real – blog titles are hard, and I’m not very good about being creative with them. Thus, my titles are usually some sort of dumb reference to pop culture that’ll probably be irrelevant within a few months, but mean that I don’t have to come up with anything intelligent on my own.

I spend most of my waking existence as a college student trying to fake being intelligent in class, so I figure this blog is a place where I can be myself, yeah? And  “myself” really just means being lazy and un-creative most of the time, lol.

Case in point – Thursday’s outfit. It was pretty much as simple as it gets – a white t-shirt and jeans. Granted, I like to think there was a little creativity in there, as layering the green barrette underneath and matching the suede choker to the suede shoes took some thought, but I’d be lying if I said I thought it was a masterpiece.

It’s not, and that’s okay! Not every outfit is a winner, and I’m happy so long as none of them are absolute losers. I’ve even already had some girls from my dorm start telling me that I “look nice everyday,” which is usually my goal when I move to a new place and have to establish myself as a fashion-conscious person. Gaining a reputation for being stylish is all about wearing consistently thoughtful outfits, while every once in a while throwing in a truly artistic one to remind people that you take fashion seriously, and every once in a while, having a dud because nobody’s perfect.

That’s all for today! Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life here at Notre Dame. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Top: Target

Bralette: Aerie

Choker: Madewell

Jeans: J. Crew (thrifted)

 

August 30, 2017 – Overslept and Overdressed (OOTD #99)

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I experienced yet another college “first” on Wednesday – oversleeping an alarm.

Thankfully, it didn’t end up having any bearing on my actual day – I still made it to class on time, got to work out for a little in the morning, and had enough time to get dressed and make myself look presentable. Still, I was definitely in a more rushed mode than usual, if the fact that I wore leggings is any indication.

Wednesdays are one of my more busy days – I have two classes back-to-back that begin at 9:30 and end at 11:30, followed by few hours break, followed up a lecture at 2:00 that ends at 3:15. It’s not bad – certainly less strenuous than high school – but it’s still a far cry from my Friday schedule, which begins at 9:30 and ends at 11:30, meaning my weekend begins before noon even hits.

This particular Wednesday though, I didn’t have as much of an opportunity to rest as usual, as I ended up working on a paper in the library with a friend from the time my second class ended to when my third began (allowing for a little break for lunch), meaning I didn’t get back to my dorm until late in the afternoon. Then, I had a little time to work on some reading and homework before I had to head back out again at 7:00, taking dinner by myself before heading out for a club meeting that lasted basically until 10:00.

But so far, I’m liking college more than high school. There’s more homework but fewer classes, which (right now) is something I appreciate. Granted, I’ve also fallen asleep while doing homework several times now, which has been super fun, but at least it’s been while sitting in a bean bag. Honestly, the bean bag may be more comfortable than my bunk bed.

As for today’s outfit, you might notice it’s not entirely different from one I posted rather early on in my blog-writing career (you know, which began a whopping four months ago). I wasn’t a huge fan with how it turned out, though, in terms of pictures, as that was from a time when I was still taking my own pictures by setting up my iPhone with a timer. Thus, I decided to remix it, taking what I did rather enjoy about the outfit – the combination of a simple black pair of leggings with the bright, colorful top – adding some new elements – the navy blazer – and then photographing it with an actual camera.

Was that my actual thought process? Or maybe I was just lazy this morning and unconsciously chose an outfit that resembled one I had worn before because I was lacking in creativity…you decide. 😉

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame! Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Jacket: Chaps

Top: Pitaya

August 29, 2017 – Sketchy Night Photos (OOTD #98)

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Good lighting is key to good photography.

Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to get. Sometimes, it’s 9:00 at night, you’ve just gotten back from an overwhelming activity fair, which followed after an overwhelming day of classes, and you’re just now getting back to your dorm for the first time all day.

In such situations, you might find that the sun has already gone down by the time you finally get a chance to take your pictures, and that you just have to make do with the street lamps on the sidewalk. You might also find that you have to ask one of the girls in your dorm to take time out of her studying to come outside and take pictures of you, which is just a touch awkward to say the least.

Mais c’est la vie d’un blogeur. Sometimes you have the time and the resources to take really beautiful pictures and write a long, inspired blog post – and sometimes you don’t.

The nice part about being here at Notre Dame is that regardless of how good or bad the lighting is, I can always be assured that my background will be beautiful. It’s amazing how much detail is put into each building – take, for example, the dining hall behind me in this photo.

It looks like something out of Harry Potter, and it’s even more beautiful on the inside. If it weren’t so busy all the time, honestly, I’d do my pictures inside sometime.

Sometime, perhaps, when I manage to make it home sometime before 9:00 at night.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame! Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Skirt: Zara

Top: The LOFT

 

August 28, 2017 – The First Pants Outfit (OOTD #97)

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The day I finally wear pants to school usually denotes the day I finally give up on dressing up.

I lasted a whopping five days here at Notre Dame before I reached that point.

Now, I don’t mean to say you can’t have a perfectly nice outfit and still wear pants, because you can – some of the best put-together and most intelligently designed outfits I’ve ever worn have been pants outfits. But there’s something to be said about the effort it takes to shave you legs for a skirt, dress, or even pair of shorts – and no pants outfit will ever be able to compete with the level of dedication a bare legs outfit requires.

But at any rate, I totally lacked that level of dedication today. In fact, I had a whole 30 second mental dialogue with myself this morning in front of my wardrobe, debating whether or not to go for the skirt outfit or the pants outfit. It went a little like this:

Put-together, organized, motivated Meilin: You’ll look much nicer in the skirt ensemble. Those pants don’t even fit you properly.

Perpetually stressed, disorganized, lazy Meilin: But…shaving…

Put-together, organized, motivated Meilin: …only takes a few minutes.

Perpetually stressed, disorganized, lazy Meilin: But…it’s cold…

Put-together, organized, motivated Meilin: Not all day, it won’t be.

Perpetually stressed, disorganized, lazy Meilin: I don’t wanna…

We went back and worth like that for a while, but eventually, I had to get off to my 9:30 class, and the debate had to end. The winner was, of course, the pants outfit – perhaps only because by the time I had established the opening arguments of both sides, there wasn’t enough time to shave, whether I wanted to or not.

But it was okay in the end, because wearing the pants outfit meant I got to wear this asymmetric tunic I got from Psylo, a steampunk fashion shop in Camden Lock Market in London. Camden was probably second only to Shoreditch in terms of my favorite shopping locations in London (sorry Oxford St., but you’ve got nothing on this), and it was largely due to the presence of alternative fashion boutiques like Psylo.

There’s nothing in Lexington (and definitely nothing in South Bend) like this place. I want to think that even if you’re not into steampunk fashion (which I’m not really  – not in the way some people are…I mean, I like the aesthetic, but I hardly dress in it everyday), you’d still be able to appreciate the artistry of the fashion that this store sold. The silhouettes, the designs – they very clearly demonstrated the effort and creativity that their creator put into their work. These pieces had heart, and that’s something you rarely find in a chain store like Forever21 or J. Crew.

So was the shirt probably overpriced for the materials that it was made of? Well, yeah. But originality is expensive, and I’m willing to drop more money on a piece if it’s something unique.

Whoops, didn’t mean to wax poetic about the artistry of fashion for so long. Guess I’ve been watching too much Project Runway, huh?

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life at Notre Dame! Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Shirt: Psylo

Pants: Altar’d State