Tag: holiday

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

November 30, 2017 – On the First Day of Christmas (OOTD #172)

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The Christmas season is finally here!

Well, according to me, anyway. I suppose the Catholic church may have a different definition of the advent season, and the big box stores seem to think Christmas begins as early as mid-October (seriously, I swear, while I was looking for Halloween decorations this year at Target, I was already coming across Christmas lights), but for me, Christmas begins on the last day of November.

I’m not really sure how I came up with the last day of November as the first day I start dressing for Christmas – it’d make more sense that it be the first day of December, right?  It also doesn’t make sense because I’ve designated the day after Thanksgiving as when I first begin to listen to Christmas music, so the last of November isn’t even necessarily the day I first fully begin celebrating Christmas…

I wish I had some kooky story to tell you about some imaginary fantasy I had as a kid about why I had to wait until November 30 to break out my Christmas sweaters and the red and green color combinations, but I have nothing. This arbitrary, self-imposed rule has been like this for years now, though – on November 30, I start dressing for Christmas.

And it’s my goal, from now until December 25, to continue dressing in Christmas outfits. Call it an outfit challenge. How many ways can I wear the red and green pieces in my closet? How many hours can I go in my wool Abercrombie Christmas sweater before I’m trying to itch off my pores? Looks like now’s the time to find out.

If you’re still looking for a kooky Christmas story though, I do have one about how, in first grade, I went on a loud tirade in the middle of our Christmas party about how Santa wasn’t real, and that my classmates were stupid to believe in him. I was obnoxious enough that my teacher had to pull me aside to tell me to shut up. Interestingly, though the Santa illusion didn’t last long for me, the concept of flying reindeer was significantly less unbelievable to my childhood self. I’m pretty sure wasn’t until years after my Santa realization that I  realized that flying reindeer were fake too.

To be fair, I’ve never seen a reindeer before in my life. How can I be sure they don’t really fly?

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

Sweater: H&M

Pants: Banana Republic

Saturday Musings + Coffee – Festive Feelings

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Look at these Christmas festivities – look at them!

I love Christmas decorations, but, going to public school for 13 years, I didn’t get to see them much in a classroom setting. I guess maybe in elementary school, I had some teachers who would decorate their rooms and let us do Christmas-themed crafts, but the Christmas festivities decreased significantly as I got older.

I’m pretty sure I didn’t even know what Christmas was in high school; I didn’t get to see it at all, so how could it possibly exist?

But no longer – I go to a Catholic university, so Christmas is a pretty big deal. It’s like…it’s the basis for the religion practiced here, or something.

Pretty much all of the class buildings have Christmas trees in them, and many have Christmas lights outside. My favorite has to be O’Shag, one of the Arts and Letters buildings, which has some really beautiful garland and a wreath at the entrance.

South Dining Hall also has some really nice decorations, but maybe that’s just because SDH is a beautiful building to begin with. There are lights lining the entire main dining area, and there’s a nice big Christmas tree right where you walk in. If you’ve seen the Great Hall Christmas feast scene from the first Harry Potter film, it basically looks like that.

It’s all especially nice because finals are coming up, and anything sweet and beautiful like Christmas decorations are appreciated as I stare into my textbooks and pray that I remember any information in them.

November 24, 2017 – A Shopping Day (OOTD #167)

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Once upon a time, my dad and I used to go out on Black Friday at 2 or 3 am in the morning to get to big stores like Target or Best Buy and stand in hour-long lines in the late November cold.

It doesn’t sound like much fun, but believe me: it was!

I used to love Black Friday, and truth be told, I still kind of do. I don’t know, I just really like crowds, (strange thing to like, I know), so even though the nature of Black Friday has changed drastically in the last few years, I can still enjoy it.

I may not be lining up at 5pm on Thursday evening to get to the stores right when they open (because honestly, what’s the fun of going to Target at 5pm? I could do that literally any other day of the year), but I still do like to go out with my family at some point in the day. My mother hates crowds, so we tend to avoid places like the malls, but we get to get out of the house and spend time together, and that’s what matters.

This year’s Black Friday shopping had the super-glamorous goals of finding a pair of winter gloves and boots for me, and a comb for my dad! As you might have guessed, we didn’t expect to find such rare items anywhere in the stores we looked in, but to our surprise, we stumbled upon what we were looking for. A Christmas miracle.

Speaking of Christmas, the day after Thanksgiving is officially the day I begin listening my Christmas playlists on Apple Music. Back when I used to do early morning Black Friday shopping with my dad, this meant listening to my iPod while I stood in line to check out or in line to get into the store, but now that tradition is gone and I don’t really have one in its place. I still enjoy that first Christmas song I play at some point during the day on Black Friday, but it’s not quite as magical.

I like the traditional Christmas classics – you know, your Perry Como and Frank Sinatra – and I like the traditional carols and hymns, but in particular, I’m a fan of bitter pop punk Christmas rants. Give “Merry Christmas, Kiss My Ass” by All Time Low or “Yule Shoot Your Eye Out” by Fall Out Boy a listen – they’re a nice way to shake things up from your typical “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”

Anyway, it’s basically 1 AM here as I write this blog, and I’ve still got some homework I’d like to get done before I go to bed. What a concept.

November 23, 2017 – Thanksgiving Thriving (OOTD #166)

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh wait, you mean to tell me that Thanksgiving’s passed?

Yes, as I’ve discussed before, my blogs are on a few days’ delay (the delay varies quite a bit depending on if I’ve kept up with posting and if I’ve photographed my outfit every day or if I’ve skipped a few), which is all fine and dandy until a holiday rolls around and I don’t have an appropriate holiday-themed outfit to post on said holiday.

So here’s my Thanksgiving outfit, even though Thanksgiving was nearly a week ago and I have not relevant Thanksgiving-related things to say since I discussed my Thanksgiving thoughts on actual Thanksgiving.

It’s funny – the day before Thanksgiving, I stayed up fairly late hanging out with some friends, so on the morning of Thanksgiving, I slept in pretty late, like, until noon. I missed both the parade and the dog show, which was a little bit unfortunate, but I don’t usually watch those closely anyway so it wasn’t a big deal. Anyway, I woke up at noon to my dad telling that I needed to get downstairs because my grandmother was already in and everyone was getting ready for dinner, so I had very little time to pick out an appropriate festive outfit.

But despite these tremendous obstacles, I think I still managed to put together a pretty decent Thanksgiving-ready outfit. The skirt is reminiscent of both fall and Christmas, with a nondescript pattern of what might be fall leaves or Christmas poinsettia petals, and the sweater is just loose enough that I could eat basically whatever I wanted without feeling uncomfortable.

I think I’ll use this anecdote the next time an interviewer asks me about overcoming adversity.

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: Unknown (thrifted)

Skirt: Vintage: (thrifted)

(Huh…my entire outfit was thrifted here. I didn’t even realize that until just now when I wrote where they were from. Interesting)

November 17, 2017 – Thanksgiving Aesthetic (OOTD #162)

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Just kidding, this outfit couldn’t possibly be a Thanksgiving outfit – this dress is way too fitted for any of the hardcore eating I do on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is such a weird holiday in terms of clothes – you want to look nice because you’re seeing all of your family, but you also want something big and comfy so no one can see your inevitable food baby.

That’s alright, though – I can still dress nicely in anticipation of Thanksgiving while still dressing in pajamas and lazing around the house on actual Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a truly spectacular holiday. I mean, the significance of the event is pretty nice – you know, the whole Native Americans and Pilgrims getting along for a day to feast, and to be thankful for what they have – but mainly, I just really like the eating part.

How many other holidays are so focused upon eating? I mean, Christmas and Easter and the Super Bowl tend to involve lots of cooking and feasts, but they don’t revolve around food like Thanksgiving. I mean, obviously, Thanksgiving also revolves around being thankful – which is important, don’t get me wrong – but second most important to its celebration is the food.

At my family’s Thanksgivings, we tend to have turkey and cheesy mashed potatoes and pecan pie, which are all lovely things that I don’t eat very often and that I adore to have for Thanksgiving. If I’m lucky, my mother will also do garlic green beans, some kind of rolls, and maybe an appetizer.

My point? I really like Thanksgiving. You could say I’m thankful for it.

(Just like I’m thankful for Internet platforms like WordPress where I can share my stupid word plays like that and no one cans stop me)

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!

Dress: The LOFT

Jacket: Forever21

October 31, 2017 – Even More Late to the Halloween Party (OOTD #149)

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Fun fact: I had to look to a WordReference forum to find out how I should word this blog title – “even more late” or “even later.”

My findings: neither one really sounds right, and no one on WordReference knew what was proper and what wasn’t. One user suggested saying “even more behind schedule,” but then I wouldn’t have the fun continuity from the October 30 blog titled, “Late to the Halloween Party,” and the October 31 blog titled, “Even More Late (Even Later?) to the Halloween Party,” so I just went for what I felt like.

Feel free to leave me a comment telling me I’m wrong.

Seeing as I already devoted an entire blog to the topic, I’m not going to whine today about the issue of my blog delay resulting in awkward moments where I’m posting about a festive Halloween outfit days after Halloween is over.

Do note, however, that it bothers me, and I’m still trying to think of a way to post topical date-specific blogs on their respective dates without giving up the comfort of not needing to rush to take my outfit photos and write about that same outfit in a single day.

Anywho, I’ve barely left my room all day today, and it feels fantastic. The Meilin of October 31 was put-together, dressed for a festive holiday, and posing in front of the most beautiful building on campus (the Basilica); the Meilin of November 5 hasn’t looks like a slob, hasn’t gotten out of her pajamas, and has been sitting in the same place that she has been for several hours, alternating between doing her French homework and looking at WordReference forums.

It’s been a dull, unproductive day, but that’s alright. Some days are like that; they’re balanced out by days that are exciting and productive.

…which, you know, I can’t remember the last time I had, but I’m sure they’re out there. Look, I just want to feel justified for being lazy today, okay?

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: Target

Top: River Island

Skirt: Rue21