Tag: Harry Potter

March 9, 2019 – A Slytherin in Cincinnati (OOTD #468)

Published on by lensembledujour6 Comments

A big shout out to Cincinnati for being grey and rainy the day I wanted to take pictures of its skyline.

I don’t go into Cincinnati much, despite the fact that it’s the closest (major?) city to me in Lexington, beside Louisville. I actually go into Louisville way more, as my grandmother lives there and it’s where I grew up. Cincinnati is just a place that sort-of exists on the edge of my consciousness, one of those places I recognize exists but I hardly ever think about it.

One of my best friends, Jane, actually lives in Cincinnati, though, so it’s slowly becoming more relevant to me. I stopped by her apartment to visit last winter after I came home from Qatar/France, though unfortunately, I was too sick to really do anything. All I really felt well enough to do when I visited her last was lay in bed and sleep, so I wanted to make it up to her with another short visit.

As it turned out, on my way back to Lexington from Notre Dame, my flight went through Cincinnati. Instead of just driving home after I got in, my parents and I decided to meet my friend for lunch.

I still want to go back and visit Jane properly again sometime so we can actually spend more than an hour together while I’m not spaced out on cold medicine. Maybe I’ll visit her this summer, if I’m able to make space between my various travel experiences — and if I’m not too exhausted in the space between my various travel experiences.

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 Notre Dame. 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!

Hat and Scarf: Harry Potter store

Jacket: Vintage (thrifted, Foxhouse Vintage)

Sweater: American Eagle

Jeans: Abercrombie (thrifted)

 

February 9, 2019 – Next Best Thing (OOTD #453)

Published on by lensembledujourLeave a comment

I think every kid who grew up in the early 2000s reading Harry Potter was a little disappointed when they didn’t receive their Hogwarts acceptance letter when they turned 11.

I mean, I knew Harry Potter and Hogwarts and magic weren’t real — but I still kind-of held onto an irrational hope that I was wrong. Harry didn’t know magic was a thing when he received his letter to Hogwarts. I figured the same could happen to me.

I read the books for the first time when I was 8 or 9, and so I had a few years to believe that Hogwarts was potentially in my foreseeable future. My best friend, Erin, and I used to play pretend a lot, and we would pretend we went to Hogwarts. Back then, I used to think I’d be a Ravenclaw (which, to be fair, I still think is a decent fit) because I liked blue, and Erin would be a Slytherin because she liked green.

Now, of course, I know Slytherin is a better place for me — in case you couldn’t tell from the Slytherin scarf, hat, and sweater I now own.

Erin and I would find sticks in the woods behind my house  to use as wands and get dressed up in grey sweaters and pretend to cast spells at each other. I ended up memorizing quite a few spells — beyond your typical Expelliarmus and Expecto Patronum — because of our game. We would also make up a lot of spells, which, given the way most spells sound like nonsense, was pretty easy. Making potions out of random rocks and mud from the creek was also a common pastime.

I turned 11 in November, so I wasn’t sure if I’d get my letter on my actual birthday, midway through my fifth grade year, or if would come the summer before I entered sixth grade, but I figured that was something for Hogwarts administration to deal with. The day I turned 11, I kept an eye out of owls that might have been hidden in the trees or flying above the clouds.

Unfortunately, none came.

Flash forward seven years, and I did however, get my acceptance letter to Notre Dame — and I guess that’s not a bad substitute. There is, after all, a magic in the sound of her name…

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 Notre Dame. 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!

Sweater: Hot Topic

Hat: Harry Potter shop

Trousers: Thrifted (Salvation Army)

December 14, 2019 – Hiss, Hiss (OOTD #422)

Published on by lensembledujour1 Comment

 Harry Potter seems to be a recurring theme in this blog.

Maybe it has to do with how part of the reason why I came to Notre Dame was South Dining Hall, which looks like the Great Hall from the Harry Potter films. Maybe it has to do with all of the collegiate gothic architecture, which makes me feel like I go to school in a castle.

Or at least, I feel like I go to school in a castle until I actually go inside the buildings. Then I see the facilities that haven’t been updated since Bill Clinton was president, the cockroaches that live in my room, and the brown water in DeBart, and the illusion dies pretty quickly. Hogwarts probably has its problems — a lake monster, an evil tree, a prankster ghost — but I doubt they have mold like us.

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hiss hiss bish

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Granted, I’m not convinced the art building isn’t haunted by a ghost itself, as well.

Don’t get me wrong — Notre Dame has the money to fix this stuff. They’ll just spend it on everything else they consider more important first: a new practice facility for the football team, perhaps.

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wow, you guessed it — i’m a gryffindor

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Anyway, back to Harry Potter: I love to bust out my Slytherin scarf whenever I can, especially around Christmastime, because I appreciate it as a more subtle way to show off some nerd pride. Nerd pride? Harry Potter is so mainstream I wonder if it even counts as nerdy anymore.

I feel like wearing Hogwarts House-themed attire out in public counts as nerdy though. I got a nerdy-looking guy in Au Bon Pain to tell me he liked my scarf (after like, three awkward attempts to get my attention) so I suppose it caters to that crowd.

Hiss, hiss, I guess. #slytherinpride

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 Notre Dame. 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: Forever21

Sweater: H&M

Skirt: Forever21

December 5, 2018 – Christmas at Hogwarts (OOTD #417)

Published on by lensembledujour3 Comments

There are plenty of buildings at Notre Dame that look like they could be a part of Hogwarts.

South Dining Hall is probably the most notable. Some of the arches of the Rock and certain dorms can lean that way too. It’s that collegiate gothic style of architecture — gotta love it, because it makes going to class in the buildings and living in the cockroach-infested rooms a little more bearable.

These pictures were taken in the math department’s building, a building which I never venture into, in part because I have no math classes, and in part because math is terrifying. I made sure to test out of college math for a reason — contrary to the Asian stereotype, I rather hate math.

I so hate it that for the majority of my time at Notre Dame, I’ve tried to completely avoid the math department building out of fear. That was, until last semester, when some friends convinced me to go inside for some pictures.

Turns out, the math building (or at least, half of it) is actually really beautiful and makes for great photos. In fact, I’ve gone to the ivy garden courtyard many times this year for photos because I love it so much.

This was the first time I ventured up to the second floor to look for photo locations, and as you can see, I was not disappointed. I think the second floor might be even more lovely and Hogwarts-like than the first. Don’t be too surprised if I wind up taking pictures again sometime soon.

I guess math really is magical?

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 Notre Dame. 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: thrifted (Goodwill)

Sweater: Abercrombie

Skirt: Forever21

December 1, 2017 – Slytherdor (OOTD #173)

Published on by lensembledujour2 Comments

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