Tag: December

December 24, 2017 – Festive Fashion (OOTD #184)

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Christmas Outfits Challenge 2017: Day 14

Merry Christmas Eve!

It’s still valid to say “merry” to Christmas Eve, right? I know Christmas Eve isn’t typically as festive as Christmas, but it still warrants a solid “merry,” yeah?

Christmas Eve doesn’t really entail anything very exciting for me and my family – for example, today, we did some last-minute shopping, I wrapped the last of my gifts, and I signed some Christmas cards. I know some people who get all dressed up, and party with all of their extended family, but I don’t know the last time I had a Christmas Eve that I like…actually had to go out and do anything significant?

I like it this way though, don’t get me wrong! Christmas Eve is a relaxing day for me, and I’m always down for a relaxing day.

As fashions go, you may have noticed that I’m once again wearing my green Slytherin scarf. I don’t know about you, but to me, the Harry Potter films – in particular, the first, third, and fourth ones – have a definite Christmas vibe to them, no? The first one’s got that awesome Great Hall Christmas scene of Harry’s first Christmas at Hogwarts, the third one’s got some really lovely snow scenes in Hogsmeade, and the fourth one has the Yule Ball (though to be honest….that’s about all the fourth film’s got going for it, in my opinion).

Plus, green is a nice Christmas color, and this is the only green scarf I own, so…

If you’re looking for my true pick for best unconventional Christmas film, it’s got to be the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I’m pretty sure it’s just because I first watched the films (and read the books!) during the Christmas season of my freshman year of high school. Those are some great films. The Hobbit’s (the films, at least) got nothing on the original trilogy.

Anyway, I should probably be heading to bed soon. Don’t want to sleep in too late and miss out on Christmas, amirite?

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one. 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!

Sweater: Forever21

Skirt: Forever21

Saturday Musings + Coffee – Merry Christmas Eve Eve

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Happy almost-Christmas!

It’s two days until Christmas, and things are finally beginning to look like it at my household. I’ve baked some cookies, a cake, we put up our tree, my dad and I put up our outdoor lights – we’ve got just about all of the traditional Christmas stuff done.

I’ve still got quite a bit of wrapping to do, and even a few more gifts to buy, but I’m not too concerned. The gifts I need to buy aren’t due until after Christmas, and the wrapping can be done later tonight while I watch some Christmas specials on television.

It’s weird not being in school – I at once seem to have so much to do and nothing to do at all. For example, I stayed in bed until like 1PM today, like a proper lazy teenager, but after I finally got up, my dad and I managed to get some legitimate work done on the outdoor decorations. I’ll probably stay up late again tonight – I’ve got some Christmas cards to sign and address, the wrapping to do, and maybe even some blogging – and then wake up late tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I’ve been trying to make it through the most recent Harry Potter book – The Cursed Child. I don’t know, does it even count as a book? Is it even officially canon? I actually bought it like, a year ago, but I only made it about halfway through the first act before I gave up on how contrived and corny the plot seemed.

I’m coming across much of the same issue now, trying to read it again – the plot does seem a little silly, and the characters are, for lack of a better term, out-of-character. Maybe it would’ve been better had I seen the actual stage play.

Have any of you read Cursed Child yet? What do you think? Feel free to leave me a comment below.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one. 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!

December 15, 2017 – A Long Day (OOTD #183)

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Christmas Outfits Challenge 2017: Day 13

Fun fact: by the time these photos were taken at about 4 in the afternoon on December 15, I had been up for over 24 hours.

Well, nearly. See, it all started at 6 AM, December 14. Why was I up that early, you ask? I had my final final, that morning at 8 AM, and I wanted to get up early enough so that I could relax (sort of), have some coffee, and get ready before I made the ten minute walk to the building where my exam was held.

This was the final I was most worried about too – Theology. I had an A in the class, but I needed an 87 on the final to keep that grade, so I needed to make sure I actually did well. Thankfully, the exam went well (well enough… I forgot to memorize the quotes I was supposed to by Nestorius and Cyril, but…y’know – you can’t win them all), and by 10 AM, I was finished with my first semester of college.

Then, I managed to sneak in an hour-long nap in my room before my roommates came in and we had to clean up our dorm before we left.

After that…well, I didn’t do much. I really had no reason to be awake – I had a bit of remaining work to do, I guess, and some blogging to work on, but I probably should’ve napped so I could be up in time for my 4 AM bus to Midway Airport.

Should’ve. Instead, I stayed up all night with some of my friends were also waiting to catch buses to catch plains that Saturday after classes ended. It was kind-of a weird night…

Anyway, I wound up on that 4AM bus with only one hour of sleep under my belt. I managed to get another hour of sleep whilst on that 4AM bus, and by 6AM-ish, I was sitting at my gate at Midway Airport. My plane, though, didn’t leave until 9AM, so I just kind-of sat there bleary-eyed for three hours watching the people go by and thinking about how I wanted to nap but I didn’t really want to in the middle of an airport.

Time-skip ahead a few hours, and I was standing in front of my grandmother’s house in Louisville at 4PM taking my photos with only three hours of sleep over the course of 34 hours – one hour after my Theo final, one hour on the 4AM bus to Midway, and one hour on the plane from Chicago to Louisville.

It’s great being home though, and it’s great being done with my first semester of school. It was worth a very long day of being awake.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life as an idiot college student. 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: H&M

Shirt: Forever21

Turtleneck: The LOFT

Pants: American Eagle

Boots: LL Bean

December 13, 2017 – A Summer Dress in Winter (OOTD #181)

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Christmas Outfits Challenge 2017: Day 11

It’s odd, you know, I feel like this dress has the perfect Christmas pattern – it’s literally a mix of red and green flora, with a touch of a classic paisley design. The dress itself, however, is much more of a warm-weather textile, meaning of course, that I was pretty cold wearing it out in the 15 degree Northern Indiana air.

There’s something about the snow, though, that makes things feel warmer. Is it the sun reflecting off the white snow that adds a touch of heat? Is it the way that I just tend to wear a warm coat more often when I go outside in the snow than when it’s just chilly out, and so I feel warmer even though it isn’t really and it’s all in my head? I’m not sure.

Yet there’s just something about a layer of literal frozen water sitting atop the grass that makes me feel warmer, and like I can wear weather-inappropriate clothing outside. Anyone else feel the same?

It also helps that when I wore this outfit, I only had to go outside like once all day, and that was for my 8 AM French final. It was kind of miserable going out at 7:30AM for a 15 minute walk to the classroom in the 15 degree cold, but after that, I just relaxed in my warm room and procrastinated from studying for my Theology final.

The climate control in my room is absolutely horrid, but I must say – it’s always warm. That is a terrible reality in the summer, when staying in the room is the equivalent of staying in the fires of hell, but for now, when it’s actually cold out, it’s nice to be able to come home to a cozy room.

The…benefits of living in a nearly 100 year old dorm with nothing but one shabby radiator for two rooms?

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life as an idiot college student. 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!

Dress: Abercrombie

Sweater: The LOFT

December 12, 2017 – Candy Cane Costume (OOTD #180)

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Christmas Outfits Challenge 2017: Day 9

Oops.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, hasn’t it? I got quite busy there with my finals, but thankfully, it’s all over now. And by all, I do mean all – my entire first semester of college is finally over!

I don’t actually know if finally is the proper word there – it seemed to pass by so quickly. I’m pretty sure Welcome Weekend with its terrible forced socialization and matching t-shirts was just last month. For that matter, I’m pretty sure I just graduated from high school two months ago.

At any rate, I’m back home now, and looking back at these photos from when I was still at school feels so odd. It was only a few days ago, and yet the Meilin of December 12 (that was eight days ago? I really am terribly behind on these blogs) was in a completely different place than the Meilin of December 20 (the day of this blog’s original post). Notably, I’m significantly less stressed now that I don’t have the crushing weight of finals and the societal expectation to perform well pressing upon my shoulders.

In its place, I’ve taken up a festive holiday spirit. My parents and I went out and got a Christmas tree yesterday, and I’ve already baked some gingerbread cookies. I still have wrapping to do, the tree needs to be decorated, not to mention the entire outside of our house – Christmas is a busy time, man.

It’s a good busy though. Tomorrow, I’m doing more baking, decorating the tree (hopefully?), going hiking with a friend, and getting my hair done. Wish me luck! If I’m successful, I’ll hopefully get a blog in too.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life as an idiot college student. 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!

Sweater: Forever21

Shirt: Thrifted

Skirt: J. Crew

Boots: LL Bean

December 6, 2017 – The Final Countdown (OOTD #176)

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Christmas Outfits Challenge 2017: Day 5

Finals haven’t even started yet, and I’m completely done with them.

Done in the sense of “emotionally done” – not literally done. I wish they were literally done. I can’t wait for them to be over, and for me to be back home preparing for Christmas instead of exams.

I have to be honest though – I don’t really have much to complain about. Three of my classes just had papers instead of exams, so I’m done with those, and in the remaining three classes, my grades are fine – I’m not going to fail anything, and even if I do bomb an exam, I’ll still pass the class. Objectively, I’ve got nothing to be worried about.

Of course, though, I’m still worried. I remember, back in 9th grade, for my first round of high school finals, I was so concerned about my grades that I stayed up all night one weekend trying to prepare for my exams. I had no reason to – I had over 100 in several of those classes due to extra credit (in fact, in Biology, I would’ve had to have made a negative grade on the exam just to dip below an A), but because everyone around me was worried, I was too.

I’m pretty sure that’s what’s happening here again, though my grades aren’t quite as obnoxiously high as they were when I was 14. I’m going to pass my classes, and even if I pass them with something less than an A, that’s still fine, that’s still passing. There are people around me, though, who are actually freaking out, and have legitimate reasons to be doing so, so that vibe is feeding into my anxiety.

It’ll be fine, though, and in four days, I’ll be done, and I can go home and celebrate Christmas in full.

Notre Dame’s done a really nice job of trying to alleviate finals stress though with various events around campus; I must give them that. There’s been free food pretty much every day, plenty of Christmas-themed events (like the Christmas sweater sale I mentioned the other day), and lots of encouragement from everyone I’ve come across about how it’ll all be fine.

And with that, I should probably go back to studying. Bonus points if you count how many times I said “fine” in this blog. It’s pretty much my mantra at this point.

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!

Jacket: Forever21

Top: The LOFT

Scarf: The LOFT

December 5, 2017 – Irish You A Merry Christmas (OOTD # 175)

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One of the many reasons I love Notre Dame: the other day, in the LaFun student center, there was a vintage Christmas sweater sale.

I mean, granted, that’s not a common occurrence – it’s pretty rare for there to be any kind of market or vendor sale. This one was only happening as a fundraiser for some club on campus – and of course, because of the widespread need for Christmas sweaters for upcoming Christmas parties.

At any rate, it happened, and I’m glad it did. Not because I need more Christmas sweaters – because Lord knows I have plenty – but because I want more Christmas sweaters, and it’s not like I’m really able to go off campus very easily and shop the local Goodwills and Salvation Armies without a car. Notre Dame’s great, but the campus can be kind of isolating from the outside world, and I’ve been craving some good old-fashioned American consumerism.

At this Christmas sweater sale, I got this fun little jacket – something a little different from all the sweaters I own, right? Nothing says “hipster” quite like getting an ugly Christmas jacket while everyone else is getting Christmas sweaters. Plus, jackets tend to be more versatile than sweaters because they offer more opportunities for layering, so I’ll be sure to get plenty of use out of it before the end of this holiday season.

Speaking of the holiday season, nothing says festive holiday cheer quite like locking yourself in your dorm room all day and studying for finals in silence, right? Because that’s what I’ve been recently doing to prepare for Christmas. I’m not kidding about that silence thing either – there’s a 23 hour silence rule in all of the residence halls from now until the end of the semester when finals are done. I love it – not the studying for finals bit, but the quiet. Silence is as golden as the golden dome.

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!

Jacket : thrifted

Skirt: Forever21

Boots: Doc Marten

Saturday Musings + Coffee – Snow Joke

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Get it? Because it’s a pun on “no joke” which is in itself a joke about snow…?

I really, really should not be allowed on the Internet to make terrible jokes like this – I’m just going to end up embarrassing my grandkids when they look back on the Internet archives to see what their grandmother was doing when she was a young adult.

Anyway, we here in northern Indiana, like a large chunk of the US, got a nice helping of snow last night! While not technically the first snowfall (that was actually Thursday), this is the first time we’ve had enough snow to actually do anything with, you know?

And what anything did I do with the snow? This morning, my friends and I took advantage of the fresh wintery coating to head outside and build a little snowman on South Quad. Here he is, sporting my gloves, scarf, and hat. Honestly, he wears them better than I do – I should probably just give up this blog and let him run it from now on.

After that, I sat in my dorm, drank some coffee, and did pretty much nothing for the rest of the day. I’ve got an essay to write, three finals to study for, and a concert tonight, and I have pretty much made no progress on any of these things! In fairness, I was pretty productive yesterday night…so that makes up for it, right?

I really do think it’s this wonderful snowy atmosphere that’s got me so easily distracted. I mean, sure, I can be easily distracted on any day, regardless of the weather, but today’s been especially bad. I just want to stand by a window, watch the snow fall, and listen to Christmas music, yo. This studying nonsense is cramping my style.

And with that cringey statement, I’m going to go before I embarrass myself further. Wish me luck on my work!

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!

December 4, 2017 – A Not Ugly Christmas Sweater (OOTD #174)

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When did the ugly Christmas sweater become a trend, anyway?

I feel like it’s been within my lifetime, but that’s admittedly been pretty short so far, so I’m not sure. I remember being embarrassed as a kid to have to wear oversized, holiday-themed sweaters – I thought they made me look like my grandmother (no offense to my grandmother  – a truly fabulous, fashionable woman).

But sometime within the last few years it seems, weird, vintage-y sweaters seem to have come back into style. I myself can attest to this – I have about seven Goodwill Christmas sweaters proudly stored in my closet, all waiting until December when they can finally be worn after sitting in storage for the rest of the year.

Maybe that’s why I go out of my way to wear as many Christmas-themd outfits as I can in the weeks leading up to two the holiday – I’ve got all these amazing sweaters that I’ve collected over the years, but I have to keep them stored away in my closet for eleven out of the twelve months. It seems unfair.

This, however, is not one of Goodwill Christmas sweaters – it’s still a Christmas sweater, sure, but it was one that I bought for about $50 at Abercrombie rather than $5 at a secondhand store. Overpriced? Yeah, especially for the fact that it’s only in season for a small portion of the year.

All the more reason to make a point to wear it whenever I can during the holiday season, right? Got to make make the most of that $50 impulse buy.

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!

Sweater: Abercrombie

Skirt: Pitaya

December 1, 2017 – Slytherdor (OOTD #173)

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Christmas Outfits Challenge 2017: Day 2.

Yet another reason to love Christmas: you can wear Slytherin and Gryffindor colors together without anyone judging you!

I’m not sure if I’ve yet talked about my love of Harry Potter on this blog, so, if you don’t mind, I’m now going to talk about my love of Harry Potter.

I first tried to read the Harry Potter novels when I was in second grade. My parents had gotten me a copy of theSorcerer’s Stone for my birthday, and that night, before my mother tucked me into bed, she began to read the opening pages to me.

I literally only lasted two chapters before I told her I was too scared to go on.

Here’s the thing – it wasn’t Voldemort that scared me, or the fact that Harry’s parents had been murdered, or even the concept of witches and wizards and monsters being real. What I was afraid of was the Dursleys, though Dudley specifically. I’m not really sure what it was about them; they were just so mean, but in a realistic way. I’d read books with heroes and villains before, so the concept of an evil wizard trying to kill Harry wasn’t scary, but the Dursleys, who were essentially just abusive parents, were too much for me.

By third grade, though, I was ready to try it again. This time, I tore through the entire series in about six months, aided partially by the way I was racing my friend to finish the series (spoiler alert: I won).

Naturally, like most Harry Potter fans, one of my favorite aspects of the series and the world it created was Hogwarts, the magic school that Harry attends. In fact, I’m pretty sure part of what drew me to Notre Dame was the fact that South Dining Hall looks like the Great Hall as it is depicted in the HP movies.

At Hogwarts, each student is sorted into a house depending on his or her personality traits (actually…that’s kind of debated among the HP fanbase. Are students sorted by who they are, who they should become, or what they want to be? A discussion for another day, perhaps). As a kid reading the books for the first time, I immediately identified with Ravenclaw, the house for the intelligent, creative, and wise. It made sense at the time – I was a giant nerd, thought way too much of how smart I thought I was, and spent most of my leisure time reading.

At some point in high school, though, and I don’t even know when or why, I realized that perhaps Slytherin, the house of cunning and ambition, was the better choice for me. This realization was further supported by how, upon taking the Pottermore Sorting Hat test, I was sorted into Slytherin. Since then, I’ve taken the test a few more times, and I usually get either Slytherin or Ravenclaw, though Slytherin is the more common result.

Thus, the scarf I’m wearing here is for Slytherin, the house I would choose if I were actually able to go to Hogwarts. I still think I might do well in Ravenclaw, and I think that, if I were truly to sit under the Sorting Hat, it might ignore my wishes and stick me in Ravenclaw anyway, but I’m sure I belong in Slytherin.

(Also, for you other Potterheads out there: have you ever thought about how weird it is that Hogwarts sorts 11 year-olds into cliques that they’ve stuck in for the next seven years of their lives without giving them any choice in the matter? Seriously, if 11 year-old, Justin Bieber and Twilight obsessed me were given a personality test that determined my future through the rest of my adolescence, I don’t even want to know where I would’ve wound up. I’d probably just be expelled on the spot.)

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!

Sweater: Abercrombie

Pants: Abercrombie (thrifted)

Scarf: Universal Studios Orlando