holiday – Page 8 – L'ensemble du jour

October 30, 2017 – Late to the Halloween Party (OOTD #148)

Published on November 3, 2017November 3, 2017 by lensembledujour2 Comments

What? You mean to tell me Halloween is over?

Ah yes, the downsides of posting your blogs on a delay. See, I take my pictures of my outfit a few days before I write the actual blog post about it – that way, I have time to reflect upon the day, and I’m not stressed to immediately write a blog about a day that’s not even over yet. It’s also helpful in case I don’t manage to get my photos done until later in the afternoon.

So far, it’s worked pretty well. With some exceptions, I’ve managed to get a blog posted on this website almost every day for the last few months (I’ve yet to have a perfect month though…November goals?) The pitfall of this strategy though, is that holidays like Halloween pass and I don’t have a topical blog that I’m able to post for the event.

That’s particularly unfortunate when I have an outfit themed around the event – like, for example, this spooky and low-key emo outfit I wore the day before Halloween. See, now that it’s November 3 and I’m posting about the outfit, it seems weird to invoke any Halloween imagery or talk about my excitement for the holiday since it’s already passed. But that was what was on my mind on October 30 when I was wearing the outfit – so do I talk about my October 30 Halloween vibes, since that’s the day that I wore the outfit, or my November 3 not-Halloween vibes, since that’s the day I’m posting the blog?

Or maybe I can just talk about the conundrum of posting my blogs on a delay and avoid the issue altogether. That should fill up space so to that I don’t have to deal with my problems.

That will be slightly problematic for when I have to post my October 31 blog tomorrow though…

Jacket: Banana Republic

Jeans: Hot Topic

Top: Hot Topic

October 26, 2017 – Plaid Is Rad (OOTD #145)

Published on October 31, 2017October 31, 2017 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

(Alternative title: plaid is bad, depending on your opinion of plaid.)

I’m sitting here writing this blog in my Astronomy lecture.

And by that I mean, of course, I’m not paying attention at all to my Astronomy lecture. My poor Astronomy professor is horribly sick, and every five words he manages to wheeze out, he’s interrupted by a 30 second coughing fit. It makes listening to him rather difficult – he sounds like he’s dying. It doesn’t help that he wears a microphone, and every time he licks his lips or exhales a rattling breath, I have to hear it like he’s right next to my ear.

It all just makes you want to fall asleep, if only to escape the horrible, pained gasping. Or maybe write a blog.

The Meilin of today (Halloween, by the way – happy Halloween!) is rather jealous of the Meilin of October 26 – the Meilin of October 26 was wearing pants, and today’s Meilin is not. And now, as a result, today’s Meilin is cold.

It, of course, doesn’t help that I’m drinking an iced coffee from Starbucks – yes, I’m one of those people. Allow me to explain myself – I like to have something with a bit of sugar in it in the afternoon to wake me up. However, I don’t enjoy things that are both hot and sweet, and thus, I’m not a fan of Starbucks’ hot, dessert drinks. I’ll go for one every once in a while – see my blog about pumpkin spice lattes – but in general, hot drinks are best bitter, and cold drinks are best sweet.

And so, even though it’s 30 degrees out outside, I don’t mind the cold drink. Or rather, it’s not that I don’t mind it, but I need it, and so I grimace through the negative effects. Is this what addiction is?

Anyway, happy Halloween! Even though the post that depicts my ~sPoOky~ Halloween outfit isn’t going to come for another few days, because that’s what happens when you have your blogs on a several day delay. I hope you have fun doing whatever festive things you’re doing tonight, or, if you’re like me and you did your festive stuff over the weekend and now that it’s Tuesday you have too much homework to do to bother doing any more festive stuff, I hope you have fun being non-festive!

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: Vintage (thrifted)

Turtleneck: The LOFT (thrifted)

October 19, 2017 – My Inner Emo Kid (OOTD #139)

Published on October 24, 2017 by lensembledujour9 Comments

How many times have I described myself as something of an emo kid, here on this blog?

Plenty, it seems. And the thing is, I’m not even a proper emo kid – not at least, in the sense that emo kids existed in the early 2000s. I don’t even know if the “emo” subculture exists anymore; I’m pretty sure they were replaced by hipsters as the predominant “alternative” crowd sometime around 2012-2013.

When emo kids were a thing – say, back in 2006 – I was just eight years old, and Hot Topic was the scariest store in the mall to me. It played loud music, had scary masks in the window at Halloween, and had dim lighting that made the entrance look more like the entrance to a dungeon than a clothing store.

It wasn’t until I was about 14 that I actually started listening to some of the music that they played in Hot Topic and experimenting with an “edgier” dark style. It started with Fall Out Boy and some black sweaters, eventually evolving into My Chemical Romance and leather jackets, and finally, Bring Me the Horizon and Doc Martens. I never had a full-on emo phase – no fringe haircuts, studded belts, or rawr XD text messages (at least, when I was 14…I probably experimented with a “rawr XD” or an “lol so randomz” message when I was 11) – but I did like to dress in all-black every once in a while.

The decision to dye my hair blonde when I was 17 actually came, in some part, from my love of My Chemical Romance music. I wanted to look like Gerard Way circa the Black Parade era (and also Elsa). I instead wound up with an orangey honey color – I didn’t wind up with truly white hair until about a year later, and even then, it was impossible to maintain, haha.

So impossible, that I decided the other day to chop it off. The ends were just looking too scraggly and awful – just have a look at my last blog with blonde hair if you don’t believe me. And since I was chopping it off, I figured I would go for another change while I was at it – dying it grey.

The dye I used, if you’re curious, is the Ion Semi-Permanent color in Titanium. It was quite easy, actually: all I did was whip up a 1:1 mixture of conditioner and dye and then paint it on my already bleached hair. I didn’t add any more bleach to my hair than what was already there, since I didn’t want to damage it further, so I’ve still got my black roots.

So, with my newly grey hair and my outfit that made me look like a Hot Topic model (well, a short Hot Topic model), I went out to a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant with my family to celebrate my birthday. In actuality, my birthday’s not until November 1, but since I’m going to be back at school by then, my family wanted to celebrate it early.

I’m not sure exactly what my grandmother thought about going to lunch with her grey-haired, Doc Martens-wearing teenage granddaughter, but I don’t think she minded too much. And if she did, well it’s because *whiny voice* she just doesn’t understand, right?

Dress: Forever21

Jacket: Forever21

Boots: Doc Marten

Also, if you’re curious about how my father’s and my pumpkin display from this year turned out, here it is!

July 30, 2017 – Yay Adoption (OOTD #78)

Published on August 4, 2017 by lensembledujour12 Comments

Odd title, I know, but I mean it – yay for adoption!

On Sunday, my parents and I went out for lunch in celebration of Gotcha Day – the day my parents "got" me from China.

I don't believe I've mentioned this before, but I was adopted from Hunan, China when I was a few months old. I mean, I guess you probably could've figured that – it is a white dude who's in my Father's Day photos - but I haven't discussed it formally. Not that I personally think there's much to discuss; it's not like I remember anything about China or my birth parents, and I've always considered myself much more American than Chinese, or even Chinese-American.

So in general, my adopted-ness plays very little role in my everyday life. The exception of course is Gotcha Day, my family's little celebration of, basically, the fact that we are a family. We usually go out to eat, and my parents get me a little gift; it's not unlike a mini birthday party. My grandmother sometimes joins us too. It's just a nice little way for us to bond, and of course, a nice little excuse for us to eat out.

This year, we ate out at Bella Notte, one of my favorite restaurants in all of Lexington. I adore Italian, and this is probably the best Italian I've ever had outside of Little Italy in New York. Everything tastes so fresh and flavorful, the décor is stylish and charming, and I don't even feel badly about eating the pasta with heavy cream sauce – it's that good. My dad and I always get the family-size Penne Gorgonzola to share, and we can nearly finish it off.

After lunch, we went out and did some shopping for my dorm room. There wasn't a lot we could get, since I haven't seen my room yet and don't really know how much space I've got, but I did pick out some nice sheets and a duvet cover. I'll have to do a Saturday Musings + Coffee post about it sometime and show it all off to you guys; I'm definitely excited about it all!

I know this is kind of a short post, but I think I'm going to end it here. Thanks again to my parents for being super cool and also making it so that I didn't spend the rest of my life in a Chinese orphanage!

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!

Top: Unknown (thrifted)

Pants: The LOFT

Scarf: American Eagle

June 21, 2017 – It’s the Summer Solstice, and I’m Dressed For Fall (OOTD #49)

Published on June 21, 2017June 22, 2017 by lensembledujour20 Comments

I’d be lying if I told you I liked summer.

Granted, I like certain aspects of summer – being off school, wearing shorts, eating ice cream – summer’s not a terrible season at all. Like any season, it has its merits and its faults. But for me, living in the hot and humid state of Kentucky, the faults outweigh the merits.

I can stand heat. I don’t mind when it gets into the upper 80s (don’t mind, I say, as in can tolerate – not like), but when it’s in the upper 80s and has a humidity of over about 40%, that’s when I draw the line. When the humidity hits in Kentucky, all those pleasant aspects of summer – the sunny skies, the warm air, the bright colors – melt into a hot, unpleasant, sticky mess that no one wants to out be in, especially me.

So naturally, today, being the summer solstice and the first day of summer, I decided to break out my fall jacket, scarf, turtleneck, jeans, and boots. Sensible, right?

Actually, my reasoning for dressing this way wasn’t purely vanity (though I’m sure that does play a part – as I’ve mentioned many times before, I don’t like to let the weather determine how I’m going to dress…mostly); I had work today, and it’s just easier to wear pants than a dress or skirt. Plus there’s the shaving…there are plenty of reasons where pants can be a good choice in summer.

And the turtleneck? It’s actually very lightweight and thin – if I’m not careful, you might even see my bra through it. So for modesty (and yes, fashion) I threw a light blazer on top. And what outfit could be complete without a scarf to tie it together – literally and figuratively?

So at first glance, this may seem like a fall outfit, totally impractical for summer heat, but it was actually quite comfortable. I stayed modest, stylish, and best of all, kept the blazing sun off my skin.

…or maybe I’m lying to myself and every time I stepped outside today, I felt like I was cooking in an oven, but I’m too stubborn to change. You can take your pick of explanations 😉

That’s it for today! 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

Pants: J. Crew

Shirt: Forever21

Jacket: Kohl’s

Shoes: Steve Madden

June 18, 2017 – Father’s Day Fashion (OOTD #46)

Published on June 18, 2017June 21, 2017 by lensembledujour11 Comments

Sorry for the late post, but it’s been a busy day.

It’s Father’s Day here in the US, and my family likes to celebrate by taking a day to spend out doing some things of my dad’s choosing. He opted to get lunch at a new(ish) restaurant in the Summit called Ted’s Montana Grill, and we walked around and window shopped for a while.

We also invited my grandmother (my father’s mother) into town to join us, making it a nice little family outing. I actually shared my lunch with her – it was a half chicken, and neither of us could eat the whole thing.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the thing – it was so good! Best chicken in my life? Well, no. But pretty solid. I did get a picture of our appetizer, some homemade chips, so you can look at that instead and pretend I was a good blogger who actually documented what she ate like she was supposed to.

On a more serious note, I do rather like Father’s Day – not just because I love excuses to go out to eat, but because I rather love my father too. He takes a lot of pictures for this blog for me (including almost all of the ones for today!) and does all of the proper fatherly duties very well. I must give him something of a shoutout – he’s pretty cool.

In addition to my father, I also love my outfit from today. I layered a sheer, lacy top underneath my sleeveless dress to create a really interesting, unique look. I particularly liked the mixture of the velvet texture of the dress with the sheer top. For accessories, I added my trusty black sun hat, which seems to make any outfit look more chic and trendy.

I also added some cute rings – I got this little bird one in New York, actually, at a street market. Only $10. The little sales lady said it was sterling silver, and my fingers haven’t turned green yet, so I guess I’ve got to believe her.