March 8, 2011

29 and 30!

I've got a few new posts up on my tumblr!* Check them out here.
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EDIT: In the interests of maintaining a reasonably contiguous blog archive, I have amended my posts from Tumblr below - you can now read them here, or in their original home (with all the original comments) on Tumblr (click to read famous, thwarted, & spotted). Enjoy!
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3.7.11 FAMOUS


Those who've been reading my blog for a little while might remember my mentioning that I was asked to be in some press photos while visiting the Design Museum in London. I checked the exhibition blog for a day or two to see if they'd show up, but then I sort of forgot about it for a while. Well, I did a little looking today, and found my photo in this article on Luxist.com (of all places!), in slideshows on IBNLive (which is CNN in India) and zimbio.com, and, hilariously, as the lead image in an examiner.com article on bicycling.

(The irony is, I can't even really ride a bike.)
Image by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images, source.
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3.7.11 THWARTED
29 of 30

Galata Bridge, Istanbul
Galata Bridge, Istanbul
Galata Bridge, Istanbul
scarf - vintage, thrifted / coat - UO / gloves - vintage, thrifted / overdyed skinnies - Zara / brogues - Primark

My apologies to those who come here looking for pretty pictures - I'm rather short on those today (and long on potentially dull stories). You see, mediocre as these photos may be outfit-wise, they are nevertheless kind of a miracle. This is the outfit post that almost wasn't.

We spent this afternoon exploring the Taksim area of Istanbul, on the northernmost of the city's three major peninsulas. It's considered the modern center of the city, and I thought we'd find lots of great spots to take some pictures for the blog, but then.... we got lost. Really lost. We haven't actually gotten a decent map of the city yet, and while Chris usually does pretty well with the mini-maps he draws by hand (which I love, and want to collect and frame), this time we got off-track somewhere and wound up under a highway overpass. An older gentlemen watched our confusion with amusement - while he pooped on the ground. Yeah.... awesome.

So by the time we actually found our way back to civilization, the wind had picked up and we were just about frozen solid, so I had to resign myself to taking pictures with my big old puffy coat still on. It may not make the greatest style statement, but on the bright side, the Turkish guys on the tram will always give you a seat when you look vaguely pregnant.

After freezing our toes off all afternoon, we decided to  head home, make a lovely roast chicken dinner, and get properly warmed up. We picked up a few necessities at the store, then walked back to our place. The neighborhood was oddly quiet for the hour, and many of the shops had closed up early. I started to notice candles in the windows, and a portable generator humming happily on the sidewalk, and got a sinking feeling.

The power was out. No lights, no heat, and no running water. Even our oven is electric. We threw our food in the fridge and slammed the door as fast as possible, vowing not to open it until the power came on. We lit the few mostly-burnt-out candles we had, huddled under the duvet, and hoped for the best. After about half an hour, the lights flickered back on, the plumbing gurgled, and the router came back to life. We were saved.

For about five minutes.

And then the power went back out for another three hours. We bought a bunch more candles, ran down the laptop batteries watching old TV shows, ate cookies (him) and Ruffles (me) for dinner and all got tummyaches. (Yes, we are adults in our mid-late-twenties, and no, we would not survive in the wild.) Fortunately the power is back on now, although there is still no water, and our hard-gotten outfit photos will make it on the blog tonight after all. After such a long day, I am thrilled that the weather tomorrow is predicted to be just awful - I have big plans to sleep in, stay home guilt-free and make that dinner after all.
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3.8.11 SPOTTED

30 of 30

Fatma Sultan Cami Sk., Istanbul: 8 Mart Fatma Sultan Cami Sk., Istanbul: 8 Mart Fatma Sultan Cami Sk., Istanbul: 8 Mart
gold paillette necklace - Anthropologie / wood & brass bangle - vintage, thrifted / studded shoulder dress - thrifted / tights - Target / brogues - Primark

...and done! With the 30x30 challenge, that is - although in my case, I never quite got up to 30 items, so it was more of a 26 for 30. I can't wait to start wearing the five or so other things I have with me.
As promised, the weather today is freezing (and snowing!), so we're enjoying a little indoor day in the wake of our chilly adventures yesterday. We lost power at least once more last night, but it was only for about ten minutes, and while food safety concerns are likely to become a more hotly debated topic once dinnertime approaches, for now I think we are reasonably comfortable with the relative advisability of eating the food we already have in our fridge (i.e., raw chicken). We are total daredevils.

On top of being my last day of the remix challenge, today is my first time participating in Everybody Everywear. Since these sheer tights are the only polka-dotted item that came with us on our trip, my options were pretty limited! What a day to be separated from my home closet though - right before we left, I thrifted these amazing silk palazzo pants, black with white polka dots, and I'd love to pair them up with a chambray shirt and my platform sandals and dream about spring weather. Le sigh. I'll just have to hope for an Indian summer when we get back to the US, so I can get at least a few weeks' wear out of all my left-behind summer favorites.

Chambray was actually my EBEW suggestion for this round, and while I was pretty psyched it made it to the final vote, I wound up relieved that it didn't win - my chambray button-down is one of the pieces from home that's still stuck in London! After choosing my tights, the rest of this outfit came together pretty easily. I still haven't managed to iron my poor, crumpled pink skirt, so I decided to keep things easy and go with this thrifted dress. The soft jersey is perfect for a day of lounging around, playing cards and reading,* and I figured the studded shoulders could even count as a subtle extra set of dots.

Don't forget to check out how other bloggers styled up their polka dots today at Everybody Everywear!

Polka Dots | Everybody, Everywear
*Or just as likely, playing Angry Birds and watching Youtoobz. Because I am not afraid to be low-brow.
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