notre dame – Page 17 – L'ensemble du jour

Saturday Musings + Coffee – It’s Sunday

Published on April 22, 2018 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

T-minus one week of classes to go, and am I ready for them? Nope!

It’s fine — I have a lot of late nights ahead of me, and a lot of pages of writing to get through. If blogging has taught me one thing, though, it’s how to put words on a page in order to fill space when I have nothing interesting to say, so I should be set.

You know what’s not set? My schedule for next semester. I have the absolute last time slot for sophomores in my university, which means I am probably not going to get into all of the classes I want. I did have a really good registration time last semester, so I can’t complain too much — but that doesn’t mean I won’t still, especially if I don’t make it into a few classes that I am particularly keen on getting into.

Scheduling classes is such a stressful process — your college career, and by extension, your actual career, is dependent upon it, which could be bad in the long run if you can’t get into the courses you need. For me, trying to do two majors and possibly two minors, the classes I manage to get into for next semester could have a big impact on my ability to actually achieve those goals.

And yet instead of trying to get my life together and actually prepare for course registration, I have spent a large portion of my day looking into study abroad programs for my junior year, like the degenerate with time management issues I am. I mean, why prepare for the important thing I have to do tomorrow when I could prepare for the important thing that doesn’t become relevant to me for another year?

You’d think with all of the time management games I played as a kid, like Diner Dash and Sally’s Salon, I would actually be better at holding myself to a schedule now. But alas — here I am at 11 o’ clock writing a blog detailing my woes, instead of actually doing the work I need to do for tomorrow.

Guess it’s time to get on that then. 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!

April 13, 2018 – 80s Figure Skater Aesthetic (OOTD #266)

Published on April 21, 2018April 21, 2018 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

I’m pretty sure I’m only getting this vibe because I just saw I, Tonya and I think she wore an outfit like this in the movie.

You see what I’m seeing though, with the vibrant striped sweater and the swingy skirt? Total 80s figure skater vibe. The sweater’s even vintage and everything!

You’ll have to excuse my lack of a Saturday Musings post today; I didn’t get a chance to take any flatlay photos before Saturday. In its place, you get a regular OOTD post — hopefully, I’ll get a Saturday Musings post in tomorrow instead. It’ll be Sunday instead of a Saturday, but you know — it happens.

After this weekend, I’ll only have a week and a half left of classes before finals week and then the end of my freshman year. Can you believe it? I definitely can’t.

I’m kind of sad because I’m afraid I’ll almost completely miss out on spring weather — it’s only just this week really begun to feel spring-like here in South Bend, and I know that by the time I’m back in Lexington, it’ll feel like summer. Ho hum. I guess that’s what I get for getting such a lovely, long autumn earlier this school year.

I am excited though to go home and get to use some new backgrounds that aren’t just Notre Dame buildings. I think I did a decent job of diversifying things with stairwells and empty classrooms in recent months, though — it’s not all doors anymore!

I’m also excited to have my parents come visit campus, because then I’ll have free reign to have them take my picture in front of any building I want without feeling badly about asking someone to go out of their way and take pictures of me! Not that my parents wouldn’t necessarily still be going out of their way for photos — but I don’t feel badly asking them because they’re my parents. Maybe we’ll get some shots inside of main building — or even the basilica.

Stay tuned.

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!

Sweater: vintage (thrifted)

Skirt: thrift

April 12, 2018 – The Blues (OOTD #265)

Published on April 20, 2018April 20, 2018 by lensembledujour4 Comments

I think the recent trend of a short sleeveless shift dress layered over top of a long sleeved shirt is one of my favorites.

Maybe it’s just because I’m a sucker for layering, and I love any kind of trend that allows me to put multiple pieces together in a stylish way. It allows me to feel trendy while still maintaining my love for piling as many clothes on my body at once.

I think my least favorite trends are the ones that require a single niche article of clothing that doesn’t really lend itself to creative outfits. I’m thinking like, some of the voluminous off the shoulder blouses that were all over the mall boutiques last summer — they were super cute, but they didn’t lend themselves to layering at all, and for that reason, I didn’t really buy up a bunch.

The job search is a little over a month old now, and unfortunately, I still haven’t come across anything that works for me. I actually was offered one that I really wanted to take, that paid well and that would allow me to take off for two weeks to go to Nepal, but I wasn’t going to be able to perform the job duties properly…so alas, I am still unemployed.

I’ve applied for some that really interest me, but getting one of those employers to actually contact me and then interview and then hire me is such a struggle. I wish I had majored in something more job-friendly, like business or engineering. Sigh. I’m going to have to do this every summer for four more years.

Hey, maybe this blog will have taken off by then and I’ll be paying off my student loans comfortably with just sponsored posts. Seems feasible, right?

Dress: Vintage (thrifted)

Shirt: Hollis

April 11, 2018 – Amethyst Ardor (OOTD #264)

Published on April 19, 2018 by lensembledujour3 Comments

Oh boy, is my current Instagram color scheme going to love this.

I’ve mentioned several times recently that I’ve been trying to create more color scheme-centric outfits in order to fit in with my attempt to make my Instagram feed more cohesive. This means that I’ve been putting more thought into making my outfits and backgrounds coordinate, which means they have both been more on the monochromatic side.

This then, is the perfect Instagram-friendly purple composition.

My mother would be so proud of me — purple is her favorite color. I think my purple hair color has been one of her favorites of the last two years of hair color changes.

Purple theme aside, I’m a fan of this outfit just on its structure. It’s very feminine, in a 40’s librarian kind of a way. And if there’s anything I like in terms of fashion aesthetics, it’s quirky vintage-inspired and narrative-friendly vibe.

Sometimes I fear my outfits lean a little too much on the narrative side, sometimes heading in the direction of costume, but it’s that line that I toe that makes fashion interesting to me. How do you create dramatic and eclectic styles without going gimmicky? How do you remain artistic while still following the trends?

In general, I’ve found that the best way to keep from going too far is to keep the accessories and styling contemporary and conservative, while going more quirky on the clothes themselves. In that way, I keep a pretty decent balance of the bold and the conservative.

My purple hair, however, is anything but conservative, which sometimes makes it hard for me to look like anything but an adventurous hipster. I have nothing against being an adventurous hipster, but it’s not always the best look for say, a job interview, you know? In general, though, it seems people are starting to fear unconventional hair dye a little less now. You wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell that on Notre Dame’s campus, where I’m actually one of the only people to have an unnatural hair color, but the whole of the US seems to be heading that way.

On a side note, today (the day of posting, April 19 — not the outfit featured here, April 11) is the one year anniversary of L’ensemble du jour! I’m going to be doing a more involved special edition post for the April 19 OOTD blog commemorating the anniversary, but for now, let me just say thank you to anyone who’s bothered to stick around reading this blog for an entire year! And also to thank anyone who just started reading or has been reading any amount of time at all really — it means a lot, as a relatively small presence in the ocean of the Internet, that anyone would stop by and pay attention to me.

Sweater: The LOFT

Turtleneck: Forever21

Skirt: Vintage

April 10, 2018 – Little Red Riding Hood (OOTD #263)

Published on April 18, 2018 by lensembledujour6 Comments

Plot twist: this cape has no hood.

Anyone else getting intense Catholic cardinal vibes from this outfit?

Just give me a little red hat, and I could fit right in at the Vatican. Well, except for being a woman of course. Okay, maybe not the Vatican, so how about the Volturi? I think immortality and vampirism might look good on me.

(Side note — man, I love an outdated Twilight reference. Do the kids these days even remember the Edward vs Jacob controversy? 2011 was a terrifying time to be alive)

Anyway, by a series of fortunate circumstances, I only had one class last Tuesday.

Two classes ,for completely independent reasons, were canceled, which meant I had most of the day, save for a short one-credit 9:30 class that ended up being cut a half an hour short anyway, free.

Or at least, it should’ve been free. I ended up actually being very busy, with two interviews and two meetings keeping me from relaxing. Honestly, I think I was just as busy as if I had had class.

I only have two weeks left of class though (as of writing this on April 18), so I’m looking forward to the end of everything and finally getting to go home. On the other hand, I’m not looking forward to going home and being jobless — that’s not going to be any fun.

Maybe I really should look into becoming a cardinal. Being a leader of the Catholic church surely has to pay something, right? I’m sure once I flash my Notre Dame student ID they’ll let me bypass being a normal priest and a bishop and an archbishop and then just promote me straight to cardinal — I mean, I already have the red cape, so what else is there to do?

Cape: thrifted

Sweater: thrifted

Leggings: The LOFT

April 9, 2018 – Low-Key Angst (OOTD #262)

Published on April 17, 2018 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

The first time I wore this sweater…jacket thing, a friend of mine told me I looked like “low-key angst.”

For some reason, I remember thinking that was a major compliment. I didn’t really like to wear my angsty teenager status on my sleeve in high school, since there were already so many edgy teens with badly dyed hair running all over the place so the fact that someone could tell I was trying to be little more “hardcore” but in a subtle way was flattering.

I still think of this as my low-key angst sweater-thing. Partially, because I don’t know what else to call it — is it a sweater? Is it a jacket? A shirt? In the absence of a real name, I’ve just gone with calling it the piece that makes me look like a “low-key angsty” teenager.

I don’t have much longer to be an angsty teen though, do I? In a few months, I’ll be 20, and I can’t blame my problems on hormones anymore. What are adults even supposed to blame their woes on anyway? The government?

In other news, I’m still on the hunt for a summer job. I’ve had a couple of possibilities come up, but for one reason or another, nothing’s really worked out, unfortunately. McDonald’s is looking more and more inviting as the days go by. Moschino made fast food look very chic in their iconic Fall 2014 RTW collection — too bad you can’t actually afford Moschino when you’re working a minimum wage fast food job.

Jacket sweater shirt thing: Free People

Jeans: Hollister

April 6, 2018 – Formal Fashion (OOTD #261)

Published on April 16, 2018April 16, 2018 by lensembledujour2 Comments

My parents said I wouldn’t have to deal with formals after my high school prom — they were wrong.

Granted, my dorm formal wasn’t nearly the level of formality my high school prom was — for that, I had a big ball gown, and a corsage, and did all of the regular cheesy high school prom stuff. For my dorm formal, I just took a shower and did nicer makeup than usual, which, come to think of it, was probably all I needed to have done for my high school prom in order to have a good time and would have left me significantly less stressed.

I was kind of concerned about how my dorm formal was going to go, as I’m not much of a partier to begin with and a lot of my friends were bringing dates while I was not, but it turned out pretty fun. It really was basically just like a high school dance, except there were no teachers to pat you down for alcohol when you first came in.

The theme was technically masquerade, but I don’t really know of anyone who kept up with that beyond taking a few cute pictures with masks beforehand. I mean, that’s what I did. I definitely did not keep the mask that’s perched atop my head in some of these photos on all night — in fact I think I left it on a table somewhere and lost it. Oops.

In the end, I’m definitely glad I paid the $5 and went. I had been considering staying in, since, like I said, I don’t usually party and I was concerned my more party-enthused friends would find me boring to be around, but I managed to have fun, even though it wasn’t really an environment I typically hang out in. Whether or not I was boring to be around isn’t something I can really speak to, but I think I made for a good fake extrovert, at least for the night.

Plus, I got an excuse to wear this gorgeous vintage dress I got from a flea market over winter break for $8! It’s not really something I can just wear out and about, so I was waiting for the perfect occasion to wear it — and I think this was it. I looked very nice among the gold balloon decorations of the ballroom, if I do say so myself.

Honestly, wearing the pretty dress made all of the socializing-in-a-public-place woes worth it for me. If any of my friends or family is reading this, keep that in mind: if ever you need to coax me out of the house, promise me that you’ll take pictures of me in pretty clothes against a pretty background and I’ll probably crawl out of my cave.

Dress: Vintage (thrifted)

April 6, 2018 – Winter Wrap Up (OOTD #260)

Published on April 15, 2018April 15, 2018 by lensembledujour2 Comments

If you’d like to hear the delightful My Little Pony song that inspired the title of this blog, have a look here.

For a 19 year-old adult, I probably care more for cartoons than I should, but I have to admit, my childhood obsessions like My Little Pony, the Disney Princess films, and the Powerpuff Girls still hold up pretty well today. They’re good to put on while I’m on the elliptical in the morning because they’re so sweet and innocent — the perfect way to clear my head from anything that’s stressing me out.

But anyway, just like the ponies of the Winter Wrap Up song, it looks like spring is finally getting ready to show itself here in South Bend. I almost wondered if it would never come, what with some of the snow showers we continued to get even into early and mid-April, but once we get through these next few days of chilly rain, it looks like the warmer weather is finally here to stay. At least, that’s what the Weather Channel app says for now.

Fingers crossed it stays that way!

I got some cute pieces over spring break that I’ve been excited to finally show off, so maybe, with the spring weather due to come soon, I’ll be motivated enough to wear them.

I don’t know if this is a common thing, but do you ever feel like you have to wait for a special occasion to wear new clothes? Like, even if you didn’t buy them for a special cause, and even if they’re seasonable for the current weather, it seems like new clothes deserve a special unveiling event. Maybe I just like my clothes too much.

Jacket: H&M

Top: Free People

Pants: The LOFT

Saturday Musings + Coffee – Late Starts

Published on April 14, 2018 by lensembledujour2 Comments

Guys, I woke up at 2:30 pm today.

Part of me really loves late starts to the day, and another really part of me really hates the fact that it means I never get anything done. I’m probably going to wind up with a really late night now doing the work I didn’t do during this morning…but it’s fine. I work better late at night anyway!

Or at least…that’s what I like to tell myself.

It’s Moms’ Weekend currently for my dorm, but unfortunately, my mother’s not here. It’s okay — we both decided it wasn’t really going to work out for this weekend, especially with my schedule, and especially given the fact that she’s going to be on campus in a month to help me move out.

Besides, even though my mother’s not here, other people’s mothers are here, which means I’ve been treated to like three free meals in the last few days. I feel kind of badly continuously going out to eat and not paying but like…free food. I’m not going to say no to that ever.

In other news, the baby cactus I mentioned in my last Saturday Musings post is doing well! He grew his first a little spine, and I am a proud mother. I’ll keep you updated on his progress — probably less because anyone other than me is interested, and more because I’m just really excited about plants right now.

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!

April 5, 2018 – Spider Plant, Spider Plant, Does Whatever a Spider Plant Does (OOTD #259)

Published on April 12, 2018August 13, 2019 by lensembledujour7 Comments

Look familiar?

Yes, you might remember, I’ve used this setup before as a background for my photos . It’s the painting studio in Riley, and I’m a fan of it in particular because of the spider plants that hang from the ceiling.

If you’ve been keeping up with this blog, you might know I’m very into plants now. In fact, I’m so into plants that I even decided to take a little clipping of one of the spider plantlet growths hanging from the tips of this (very overgrown) spider plant and take it home to try to propagate. I mentioned this in my last Saturday Musings post, so go check it out if you wanna see the progress of that project.

I realized the other day that I only have two and a half weeks left of classes — can you believe that? I definitely can’t. There’s no way my freshman year is almost over.

Furthermore, there’s no way finals are coming up soon because there’s no way I’m prepared for them!

I sat down and did some calculations and came to the conclusion that I have a little under 60 pages worth of writing due before the last day of school, May 11. So far, I have about 5 of those written — so I’m maybe 1/12 of the way done with my work. 75% of the way through the semester and 8% of the way done with the work — those aren’t concerning numbers at all!

I’m a little worried, but I figure it’ll all turn out in the end. With some of my classes, I think my grade is already pretty set, and some, I’m going to have to work pretty hard still if I want to get a grade that I’m happy with. I also have class scheduling still to worry about coming up in about a week — which will be fun, considering I am in the very last time slot for the whole sophomore class. Basically, I’m probably not going to be getting my ideal schedule for next year.