~ holiday cheer ~

The leaves have fallen.  The cookies are baked.  The wrapping paper is down from the attic.

The Holidays are here.

 

And with the Holidays come holiday parties, holiday music on the record player, and a sudden desire to not wear what I slept in.  The fake eyelashes come out of their box, stockings out of their drawer, hair is put into pin curls, nailed are painted, and festive clothing rescued from the back of the closet.

 Perhaps it's the Publix commercials that never fail to bring me to tears, or seeing wreaths hung on doors, or stockings over fireplaces, but the holiday season seems especially merry this year.

2015 has done its best to knock me down - and it's going out with a bang - but despite the painful things in this world, the holiday season still comes around, presents are still given, and love is still shared.  There may be days when it's hard to get out of bed, and hard to face the things one must face, but these moments of happiness (however fleeting) make life worth while.

 

So, Happy Holidays.  Hold your loved-ones close, appreciate what you have, and eat lots of cookie dough.

xoxo,

Eliza

~ teal ~

I confess that I'm not an expert in color.  I skipped Color Theory class at school, black and black is my go-to color combo, my room was Rose Pink .01 for 12 years because I couldn't decide what color to paint it, and when I finally did paint it, I settled on white so that I wouldn't have to buy matching bed linens.  Despite this lack of color literacy , I find myself strongly drawn to different colors during different stages of my life.  Pink, light gray, orange, navy blue, and now, teal.  For those of you more proficient than I am in the language of colors, feel free to let me know what that means.

This heavy presence of color in my life, coupled with a new-founded obsession with Wes Anderson, has lead to the birth of a new project: The Interior Portrait Series.  A monochromatic study on the link between color and emotion.

In such a chaotic and transformative period of my life, I'm excited to begin a new project.  And who knows?  Maybe it will be just as good for me as any color theory class would have been.

xoxo,

Eliza

~ the stray ~

Ever since I was little and read books like Alice in Wonderland, Linnea in Monet's Garden, and Anne of Green Gables, I've had dreams of running through the tall green grass in a vast meadow on a warm day.

Thanks to beautiful weather and a perfectly-placed flat, I lived out that dream.

And it was just as heavenly as I always imagined it would be.

{Photos by my sweet friend Sarah, who put up with my micromanaging beautifully}

It was a warm evening with a nice breeze (which gave a gaggle of university boys a nice look at my undies), so I whipped out my new (to me) 1980s-does-1950s dress which I picked up in Manchester, and paired it with my favorite bakelite bangles and hoops.

I'd be happy to do nothing but frolick in the Stray for the rest of my days.

xoxo,

Eliza

~ baby it's cold outside ~

Merry Christmas to all you lovely people!

Today I celebrated with a big breakfast (and my grandfather's famous oven toast recipe), a long walk with my mom, and seeing Into The Woods with one of my best friends.  It was a great day!

Today was all about being thankful for what I have instead of wishing for more and appreciating the little things.  I snuggled with my mom, danced around my room to holiday music, wore high heels for no reason, and talked to my neighbors.  It was a good day.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday and a great rest of 2014.

xoxo,

Eliza

~ little things ~

Moments from my life this week and cool things that currently have my attention...enjoy!

01. taking photos outside and somehow avoiding the mosquito bites and poison ivy.

02. bathing suits from 1956 that would really come in handy with this heat

03. some advice from the card aisle at World Market

04. reading my sister's awesome article about urban beekeeping in Atlanta.

05. kitten snuggles

06. this beautiful mosaic in my favorite color

07. my new favorite mascara

08. shopping for beautiful vintage pieces that I can't afford and aren't my size (a girl can dream, can't she?)

{all from Adored Vintage}

Not included are the countless cold showers that come with summertime, hours of studying and essay-writing, and the record breaking outfit repeating that's been happening lately. 

Happy Monday!

xoxo,

Eliza

~ once upon a time ~

This weekend was filled with more than its fare share of fairy tales.

Beginning with Saturday's magical photoshoot...

I was planning on doing a 50s version of Alice in Wonderland but when I walked outside, Mother Nature was getting ready to have a major storm.  In between the lightning and before it started pouring, I changed the mood of the photoshoot into a creepy Alice/Dorothy/Wizard of Oz/tornado - I don't know why I didn't think of it before!

Continuing with the magic theme, last night I went to see Maleficent, which was amazing!  There were definitely some bits that could have been cut out, but overall it was a great film for kids and adults.  After paying more attention to the makeup and costumes than to the plot, I came home and did a rough version of Angelina Jolie's makeup and awesome cheekbones.  I'll have to try again when I'm using something other than brown eye shadow and concealer.

Whew.  What a weekend!  On the agenda for this week?  Making Maleficent's horns out of masking tape and cardboard and writing an essay on urbanization, immigration, and the politics of the Gilded Age.  I'd say back to normal, but I'm not so sure that counts as normal!  As close as I can get for now...

xoxo,

Eliza

~ it's a mod, mod world ~

Don't get me wrong, the 1930s, 40s, and 50s are absolutely fantastic eras for fashion - but there's just something about the 60s...

A little Twiggy, a little Audrey, and a little Bardot.

Even Ida wanted to get in on the mod action!

xoxo,

Eliza

~ little things ~

01. starting the morning off right with a cup of tea

02. beautiful sunflowers

03. Ida eating the beautiful sunflowers

04. this morning's fresh eggs from the chickens

05. giving my new Burt's Bees blemish stick a go.  I give it an A+

06.  sifting through outtakes from my self portrait project for photography class

07. a good quote to remember

xoxo,

Eliza