the Netherlands, 1939

(This windmill was built in the early 1900s, and brought over from the Netherlands. It was used as a lookout in WWII, and the fans still have bullet holes.)



Last Wednesday, I was called up by a friend, asking if I could come out to a film set the next morning- they were looking for a dark-haired girl. I was told I would be riding a bicycle through tulip fields in 1930's garb. So my answer was an immediate yes.

It was my second on-set experience, and I loved it. Everyone was wonderful and took great care of me, especially considering the freezing cold morning. My god-sister Rose came with and took photos; it was an incredibly idyllic setting- Windmill Island, Holland. Such a lovely place.

Thanks again, 10 West Studios!





Have a dreamy day, dears!

Kisses,
Esther

George & Priscilla

These are photos from a very late night silliness. I am the charming gent you see pictured here, and the lovely Laura plays my pretty wife. I will perhaps someday share the film we made... wicked funny stuff. And impeccably ridiculous.


The story is centered around a once joyously married couple who fall to the doldrums of matrimony.


Vera played the Swedish maid, madly in love with George. And can you blame her? Those eyebrows, that MUSTACHE!




Boredom never successfully overtakes us. We always find a remedy.

The world spins madly on.

Just a quick post to apologize for the lack of regular posting lately! I've been insanely busy with finals coming up, scrambling to finish big projects - many of which were assigned at the last minute, of course.





But I've also been finding the time to fall even more in love with this city I live in. Well, I guess technically I don't live in it quite yet. But I've been house-hunting with Esther, Vera, Rose, and Emerald, and I'm getting really giddy about the prospect of moving out. We're thinking of buying a foreclosure house now. I can't wait to decorate! The only problem is, it's really distracting me from my schoolwork...oh well.







Anyway, since I'm short on time, I just thought I'd share the spring spirit with some photos from a photoshoot that Esther, Vera, and I did last spring...enjoy!

Be well,

Laura

Wonder this time where she's gone.

This photoshoot started with Vera & I driving around the outskirts of Byron to find a nice place and ended with ice cream sundaes (strawberry sauce & hot fudge... yum.) A little later, we were joined by Laura and Rose. Our adventure to Eastown led us to the home of Matt Fowler (owner of the Coat of Many Colors) where we sat around an imaginary campfire and listened to the sweet tangs of a homemade ukulele... playing everything from Sound of Music to the Pokemon theme song. The highlight of the evening, however, was the epic grape battle that ensued; we emerged with grape innards all over us- and the unicorn picture in the kitchen.

Good day? Yes.

Dress, Forever21; cardigan, TJMax; tights, Aldo; boots, Steve Madden; glasses, thrift store; necklace, gift from Laura.



BEETEEDUBS. I'm absolutely in love with lace right now; anything soft and feminine makes me smile, especially when paired with something a little rough-around-the-edges. Balance, my dears, balance.

I am off to revel in the sunshine; I hope you may do the same.

Kisses,
Esther

Cold, cold water

dress: vintage, gift | socks: the Icing | glasses: stolen from Esther | headband: Forever 21 | shoes: Charlotte Russe

As you can see, I've made a few changes to the layout! I was up far too late doing them (somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 am, actually) but I'm really pleased with how they turned out. The picture used in the new header is from an advertisement from 1917. Why aren't ads pretty like that anymore? I look at ads like that and some of the illustrations done by Alphonse Mucha (my favorite artist!), and then I open up the advertising section of the Sunday paper, and it just makes me sad.

My sister Vera took these pictures yesterday. It was very deceptive outside - the sun was shining and everything was gorgeous, but it was absolutely freezing! But we're getting towards the middle of April...even in Michigan, it can't be cold for too much longer. Our neighbors across the street have the most gorgeous magnolia tree, and it's just about to start exploding into bursts of pink blossoms. I can't wait!

Aren't those glasses great? I stole them from Esther. I couldn't resist.

Our water heater decided that today would be a good day to call it quits, so we were without hot water for a while. I was annoyed at first, I'll admit - but then I just had to laugh. We actually boiled a couple pots of water so that I could take a bath...which ended up being about one inch deep. I couldn't stop laughing. But really, it made me really appreciate having hot, running water whenever I feel like it.

I'm at the point in the semester where I should be going absolutely insane with all of the work I have to get done - but for some reason, I'm not too worried about it. This always happens. I feel like I should be freaking out (and I'm sure that will happen later, eventually) but I feel great! Life is too short to worry too much about things like that. Everything always gets done in the end, so I won't waste time panicking. This summer, I think, will be a great one. I still have lots of uncertainty - decisions to make and whatnot - but I'm okay with that!

Thanks for all your comments on my tights! They're from Modcloth (got them for $5 during one of their big sales!) and I absolutely love them. It's so funny whenever I wear them to watch people's eyes travel right down to my knees.

Yikes, sorry this post has been kind of all over the place. Have a lovely weekend!

Denver dreaming

headband: Forever 21 | tank top & cardigan: Target | belt: Charlotte Russe | skirt: vintage | tights: ModCloth | boots: Shi

The odds are pretty good that I will look back on this collage and think it was a terrible idea...but part of me thinks it's kind of fun! Am I crazy? I really wanted to do an outfit post, but my camera is at home (and the battery is terrible anyway) and I'm going to be on campus all day. What to do? A collage of crappy webcam pictures, apparently. Kind of silly, but on the other hand, it's one way for me to do an outfit post without a working camera!

In many ways, this is the polar opposite of my last outfit, but that's because Michigan is throwing a tantrum. It's been rainy, which isn't a big deal, but it's also been in the 40's again. Oh well. Spring will just be all the more welcome when it comes back.

However, at the moment I'm really wishing I was in Denver. Not because of the weather (I have no idea what it's like there right now!) but because the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference is going on there right now. I have some friends who are attending, and then I found out that my cousin is there - and then, to top it all off, I found out that some of the ModCloth writers are going to be there and host a party! Man, I wish I had known about this. Maybe it's just spring fever, but I feel like I haven't traveled anywhere interesting lately.

Besides, the conference sounds amazing. I don't know if I've mentioned this here before, but I'm a creative writing major. I firmly believe that it's the best major in the world - I get to play around with words, and learn quite a bit about myself in the process. It helps that my school has an incredible writing program. From everything I've heard, there really aren't many schools out there that have the great setup and workshop atmosphere that we have, so I feel really lucky. I have some really awesome opportunities coming up, too - in the fall, a play that I'm helping to write will be up on our school's stage in the fall! It's been so fun being a part of the process and it will be great to see how it turns out.

Well, it's back to homework for me. I've tricked myself into thinking I don't have a lot left to do, but my end-of-the-semester to-do list is actually ridiculously long...we'll see how this goes!

Black & white

dress: ModCloth | tights: Forever 21 | shoes & bow: Charlotte Russe

Just a quick post to introduce you to someone very dear to me! This is Lucy, my puppy. Well, I guess she's technically full-grown - she's 3 - but I think she'll always be a puppy to me. She's the funniest little creature. Like most small dogs, she has a complex, and thinks she's much bigger than she is. But she also snorts like a pig. She can seriously snore as loud as a full-grown man. It's pretty hilarious.

I had fun romping around with her for a few minutes this afternoon. The weather has been absolutely divine - in the mid-80's, in Michigan, in April. I can't believe it! I hope you all are having equally lovely weather. The week of Easter (which is actually called Pascha in my tradition) is my favorite week out of the whole year, so I'm pretty psyched that it's so gorgeous outside.

We've both had a case of spring fever, in case you couldn't tell!