November – Page 5 – L'ensemble du jour

November 16, 2017 – No Clever Title Today, Please Try Again Tomorrow (OOTD #161)

Published on November 21, 2017 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

Today’s blog is coming to you from the back of my friend’s car as I head into Chicago to catch a flight from Midway back to Lexington for Thanksgiving.

It’s been a long two days of class. Monday, I had to get up early to register myself for classes for next semester, and Tuesday, I had a huge term paper due in my history class. Admittedly, that’s less than I usually have to do, but for some reason, it just felt like a lot.

It’s all good though, because like I said, I’m heading home tonight. And this time, I’ve got a regular ticket, so there should be no chances of me getting caught in the Atlanta airport for two days because I flew standby.

I do rather like to fly, though. I hate how expensive everything is in airports, but otherwise, they’re really nice places as long as you’re not rushing about. I think 75% of my airport experiences have been highly positive – the only two distinctive times I can remember not enjoying myself in an airport were the ATL fiasco I just mentioned and once, when my family and I were flying through Orlando and we had like 10 minutes to sprint across the airport to catch a flight.

Hopefully though, everything goes smoothly with this one. I figure if I’ve managed to take the Greyhound by myself, flying through Midway should be a breeze.

Who knows, maybe I’ll even get lucky and get bumped to first class like what happened on my outgoing flight to London from Detroit this summer. Probably not since it’s Thanksgiving weekend and the airport is bound to be somewhat busy, even though it’s late, but I can dream.

Anyway, please enjoy this super glamorous shot of the wind catching my hair in an odd way as I try to push up my sunglasses. I’m a beauty.

Skirt: The LOFT

Sweater: H&M

November 15, 2017 – Notre Rain (OOTD #160)

Published on November 20, 2017November 20, 2017 by lensembledujour2 Comments

You know, my photographer made a very valid point as she was taking these photos – this is a very discordant outfit.

I’ve got the rainbow raincoat and yellow rain boots, but also a plaid scarf, and sunglasses. What am I dressed for? The rain, the cold, or the sun?

The rain and the cold are actually completely accurate answers – it was very rainy and drizzly that day. But in late November in South Bend, IN, what day isn’t rainy and drizzly? Who can escape the permacloud of the Northern Midwest?

In fairness, the sunglasses are only there to conceal the fact that I’m not wearing any eye makeup here. Let’s just say it’s quite obvious without sunglasses how much of a sleep-deprived college student I am.

Not to mention, I’ve got my short grey hair, which I’ve already discussed looks kind of strange with preppier pieces, like rainbow raincoats and plaid blanket scarf. I also wore my black gauge-like earrings, just to confuse people even more.

I like to keep people guessing with my outfit, but I don’t necessarily want them to be scratching their heads either. I personally feel like this outfit’s a little closer to that “head-scratching” territory than I would’ve liked, but you know – you win some, and you lose some. I do really like the colors going on here, regardless.

Just because the sky and the weather is going to be dreary and grey, that doesn’t mean my outfit has to be as well. I mean, part of it, sure – my hair, my earrings, and my personality will always be there to bring the melancholy – but some part of me gets to be cheery. Or at the very least, look that way.

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!

Coat: Target

Pants: The LOFT

Scarf: Chinatown

Sweater: Kohl’s

November 14, 2017 – Cherry Blossoms (OOTD #159)

Published on November 20, 2017 by lensembledujour3 Comments

Happy 8PM on a Sunday night, I’m presently standing in the basement of a building I didn’t know existed, typing this blog on my phone because I forgot to do it earlier, and waiting in line for food.

It’s pretty nice, actually – my residence hall has a “Friendsgiving” event, where all the residents, freshmen through seniors, come together with dishes they’ve prepared to celebrate Thanksgiving.

What’s not as nice is that, as a freshman, I get last pick of the food.

I mean, I can’t really complain, because I know I’ll eventually be a senior and get first pick, but I’m pretty hungry and lines are not the friend of a hungry Meilin. I hope there’s still plenty of food left by the time I make it up there – there’s a shrimp dish that looks particularly good, and I’d be a little more than hurt if I didn’t at least get to taste some of it.

Since coming to college, I’ve gotten really spoiled with being able to eat pretty much whenever I want to without waiting, assuming I go to the dining hall at a decent time (there are certain periods that are busy where’s you do have to wait in lines). The whole “waiting for food to cook” notion isn’t something I’ve come across for a while.

Regardless of how long into the afternoon I’ll have to wait before dinner is served, I’m still very excited for Thanksgiving! The food they’ve got for us for Howard Friendsgiving looks good, but it’s nothing compared to my mother’s cooking.

For that matter, it’s nothing compared to my or my grandmother’s cooking, as we both contribute pretty fairly to the Thanksgiving meal. My dad on the other hand…he does a nice job setting the table and turning on the grill.

Saturday Musings + Coffee – Cold, Rainy Game Day

Published on November 18, 2017 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

Maybe this weather is a metaphor for Notre Dame’s playoff chances.

See, we started off the year with gorgeous weather and sunshine. It was late summer in northern Indiana, meaning that being outside and standing for hours in the stadium actually wasn’t bad. Then, as fall came around, the weather cooled, but in a really genuinely nice way.

And now it’s nearly winter – our last several games have been either freezing, raining, or some combination of both, and it’s getting harder and harder to will myself to stay for the entirety of the game. Not to mention, morale is low, and our playoff aspirations are as good as dead.

It should still be fun anyway. And if it’s not, I don’t really feel any obligation to stick around past halftime, especially since I can use the excuse of having a headache from falling the other day.

I guess I never posted about that here! Yeah, so the other day, I fainted while washing my hands in my dorm’s bathroom, and I hit my head pretty hard against the wall on the way down. I woke up on the ground feeling pretty lousy, but I managed to get back up and walk back to my room. After laying down for a little, I felt much better and was even able to go to class about a half an hour later.

I never went to the clinic to get myself checked out, though I probably ought to have, but I haven’t felt that way since and the only lasting issue I’ve had is a headache from hitting my head.

Anyway, I’ve got to get dressed in some sort of Notre Dame-themed outfit and get ready for the game, which starts in a little over an hour. Maybe this time, I’ll actually be able to make a blog post out of my outfit, instead of losing the photo files like I did last time. Go Irish!

November 13, 2017 – Citrusy (OOTD #158)

Published on November 17, 2017February 14, 2018 by lensembledujour6 Comments

Sorry for the late blog today; I’ve been kind of distracted watching an animal documentary about robotic animals that were used to film wildlife social interactions up close.

It’s really fascinating, actually – both for the sake of the technology that must have had to go into these robots to make them realistic enough to blend in in wildlife, and for the sake of the relationships that they’re able to film. I’d highly recommend you check it out, at least the first episode – it’s just the right amount of cute and informative to be wholesome without being sappy.

I remember as a kid, when the first Planet Earth films came out. My dad asked for the box set for Christmas, and I distinctly remember, because of how novel the concept of Internet shopping was to me back then, that my mother had to order it online for him. We sat down that Christmas night to watch the first episode – one that I got to select actually, “Caves,” – and we were all pretty impressed with what we saw. I was a kid and didn’t really care about or understand the years of filming and editing that had to have gone into the making of that series, but I remember enjoying it anyway. The music was a bit loud though.

And I still do. I haven’t gotten around to watching the sequel yet, Planet Earth 2, but I really want to. Maybe I should order the boxed DVD set on the brand new and completely novel concept of the Internet.

Admittedly, nature documentaries have little to do with today’s outfit blog, unless you’d like to think of this blog as something of a nature documentary – it is, after all, a bunch of photographs of a human going about her daily life and engaging in social interactions. Now that would be a clever transition from discussing Planet Earth to discussing fashion, wouldn’t it?

Actually, there’s not a lot to say about Monday’s outfit, other than that I thought the colors were tropical and citrusy, like that of a mango. Not that the weather in South Bend is anything tropical right now – it’s already getting down into the 30s and feelings like winter.

There is some nice color in the trees though. If you forget the cold and look at a tree while squinting your eyes, you can pretend you’re on a tropical island looking at the sunset.

Coat: Vintage (thrifted)

Sweater: Forever21 (thrifted)

November 12, 2017 – Dementor Style (OOTD #156)

Published on November 14, 2017 by lensembledujour4 Comments

Alternative title: fashion for mourning Notre Dame’s playoff hopes and dreams.

You know how I wrote a blog yesterday about enjoying switching up my style from day to day, going from goth teenager to preppy Cher Horowitz wannabe – yeah, I went back to the goth teenager phase.

I’ve always wanted to look like an impending vaporous phantom of dark soul-sucking depression, and on Sunday, I did!

For real though, that Saturday game against Miami was an unfortunate display. I made it to the third quarter before I gave up and curled into a ball sobbing – I didn’t even do any homework that night, just fell asleep feeling sorry I ever hoped we could win another National Championship.

Granted, I often neglect to do my homework, regardless of Notre Dame’s winning-losing history. Like right now, when I’m watching YouTube videos and writing a blog instead of writing my history paper or memorizing the work of Arius or Athanasius.

It’s a hard life, getting distracted so easily and then leaving all of your work to the last second, but I make do. It’s nearly Thanksgiving break, meaning if I can manage to wing it for another week, I can reward myself by eating copious amounts of turkey and mashed potatoes.

Shawl: Unknown (thrifted)

Turtleneck: The LOFT (thrifted)

November 9, 2017 – Cher Horowitz Wannabe (OOTD #155)

Published on November 13, 2017January 15, 2018 by lensembledujour11 Comments

I actually haven’t seen Clueless since I was 11, so I can’t exactly discuss that movie in this blog, but I felt like this outfit was definitely a Cher Horowitz aesthetic anyway…so I hope you enjoy the title, at the very least.

I love to be unexpected with my fashion choices, and that includes going with vastly different styles on different days. So, if you have a look at November 8’s blog, you’ll notice that I dressed in a completely different manner than I did on November 9 – notably, yesterday, I looked like a emo teenager, and today, I look like a preppy 90s it girl.

This is actually one of my favorite outfits I’ve done for a while – I dunno, I’m just a sucker for long coats and short skirts. Plus, the color palette is just nice and pastel…it makes me look much more put-together and chipper than I actually am, which is great when you’re a tired college student who wants to look friendly and approachable so people will talk to her.

Actually, this “coat” isn’t really a coat at all – it’s a wrap dress that I left unbuttoned. So basically, you should put me on the unconventional materials challenge of Project Runway right now; I’m too creative and innovative for this world.

The one bad thing about my short grey hair is that it doesn’t really work so well anymore with my preppier outfits, like this one. It looks spectacular with anything hipster-like, but it just looks a little off with things like mauve tweed skirts. My grey hair is like a constant, conspicuous mark of my self-proclaimed alternativeness – unlike my long blonde hair, which pretty much went with everything. I do rather miss it, but sadly, it was just too hard to maintain and it was really looking awful there at the end. Maybe I’ll go back to it one day.

Dress/coat: NastyGal

Top: Free People

Skirt: Forever21

November 8, 2017 – Edgy Teen Aesthetic (OOTD #154)

Published on November 12, 2017November 12, 2017 by lensembledujour8 Comments

Get you a photographer you points out that one of your socks isn’t pulled up all the way before she starts taking photos.

Seriously, I owe so much to the spectacular people who have agreed to take my photos after lunch every day. I don’t know if they really do it because they want to…but they never complain and don’t look too judgmental when I inevitably ask “Hey, so uh…could you do my pictures today?” so for that, I’m eternally grateful.

You know what else I’m eternally grateful for? Finally being over with my edgy teen years.

What…you mean to say that my outfit still looks I’m a 16 year-old with a My Chemical Romance obsession?

Though my days of exclusively listening to the Emo Trinity and obsessively waiting for new tweets from Gerard Way are over, I’ve kept some of the stylistic influences from the era. That includes my grey hair, which is totally not at all hearkening back to 2006 Gerard Way.

That also includes a taste for black clothes and anything that looks vaguely punk! While I can hardly claim to be a true punk – have you seen the effort that icons like Vivienne Westwood put into their looks? – I like to wear things that have a punk influence.

After all, I am only 19, meaning that I only have one year left during which I can blame my pessimism on teen angst – might as well dress like it.

Sweater: Forever21 (thrift)

Skirt: Target

Saturday Musings + Coffee – Desk Tour

Published on November 12, 2017 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

I’m sitting in my room watching the ND game right now, and let me just say – it’s not off to a good start.

It’s presently 2 minutes until half, and Miami is winning, 20-0. I’m hoping, of course, that things turn around, but right now, it’s not looking so hot.

So, since I’m so sad watching the events of this game unfold, I figured it would be good time to do a blog. And since I was sitting here at my desk alone, I thought – why not offer a little peak of my desk space?

Now, truth be told, I don’t spend a ton of time working at my desk. If you’ve seen my Saturday Musings posts, which often feature photos of my planner, laptop – you know, work supplies – you’ll notice that I like to go all around campus to do my homework. The library, the student lounges, outside – I’ll go anywhere.

And anywhere does include simply my room, sometimes. Today, which was chilly, cloudy, and dark, seemed like the perfect day to simply rest at home.

The top shelf of my desk has my cactus (which I haven’t killed yet! Go me), my books, and a portrait of myself that I did last year in high school. The second shelf has some keepsakes – my teddy bear BoBear, a painting I bought when I went to New York, my camera (where pretty much all of my L’ensemble du Jour photos are taken), and some pumpkins I keep for decoration.

The actual surface of my desk has variable objects strewn across it, depending on the day and what I’ve been up to. Since I was taking photos of my desk space and trying to show off to you guys how nice and neat and “organized I am,” I cleaned off the dirty socks and candy wrappers until I was left with only have the essentials – my laptop, the book I’m using for a paper, my planner, my makeup, and about a dozen drinking vessels (two mugs, a thermos, and a water bottle to be exact). I’ve also got a nice little pin board, but I hardly ever use it for anything relevant. Mostly it’s just ticket stubs and random pieces of paper that I thought looked pretty.

I mean, that’s pretty much all my Pinterest is though, so…

Oh, and look – it’s halftime and we’re losing by 27 now. Bama is losing, Georgia just lost…clearly the world is ending. I’d better go back to watching the game – I don’t want to miss our epic second half comeback!

Assuming it’s coming…hopefully…

November 7, 2017 – RIP My Theology Grade (#153)

Published on November 11, 2017November 11, 2017 by lensembledujourLeave a comment

Alright, so context: at Notre Dame, there’s this superstition that if you walk on the grass of God Quad, you’ll fail your freshman theology class.

What’s God Quad? It’s this area of grass in the middle of campus, right in front of the Golden Dome and the Basilica. It’s a bit sketchy about what the exact boundaries are, some people (but not all) posit that the rule doesn’t apply on game Saturdays, and no one really knows if the rule still applies to theology grades beyond your freshman year. Still, though the rules regarding the rule are kind of hazy, the fact still stands that there is a rule that no one – not students, not professors, not even visitors – step on the God Quad grass.

So naturally, I just had to go romping all around God Quad for this set of photos.

In my defense, I never really intended to step on the grass; my photographer actually did it first. I felt sort of badly about what happened – so I was standing there on the sidewalk, posing stupidly as I do, and, in order to get a better shot, she stepped back onto the forbidden God Quad grass.

I believe I actually shouted a bit in shock when her foot landed upon the ground, I was that shaken that she was willing to break social convention for me. And so, I figured that if she was going to break the God Quad rule, I ought to do it with her – a sort of solidarity in rebellion, you know?

Ah yes, the rebellion of being a college kid at a prestigious Catholic university walking on the grass…put me up there with Che Guevara and George Washington. I’m headed for the history books, guys. Remember my name.

Sweater: H&M

Scarf: Coach

Pants: The LOFT

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