Friday

According to the schedule, Friday is messay day. According to my calendar, today is the last day of the month. Don't tell, but I have two posts to get in and no time to do it. 

SO

What am I gonna do? 

A visual messay. 

(of sorts)

I made this at the Louvre. It's a map. So if you ever need to get around [my head] inside the Louvre in Paris, use this. 

Sorry it's so tiny. Here's close-ups of a few of my favorite places:

Enjoy!

Throwback Thursday

Here, as promised, is a Saturday (week summary) post on a Thursday (throwback, because it's of two weeks in July). 

This is Kanakuk, which I left on Sunday June 28th. I had been there for 6 weeks and it was amazing. This is church, can you believe that?!

My foot procedure (PRP) was in Birmingham, so I visited school and saw my new dorm! And mama and I shopped some; I took a picture of the feather because I thought it'd be cute and easy decor to make. 

This is 4th of July. Our family and friends went on a walk, which I couldn't do, so they stuck me on a bike and my dad pushed me around. It rocked. He rocks. 

I also saw a fabric garland at the same Birmingham store with the feather, so I made one! It's hung now on the back of my door. 

I baked Pioneer Woman oatmeal crispie cookies and Mini Blueberry Galettes. 

I did some nail painting and reading with the littles, which is always lovely. 

And there you have it! Happy first two weeks of July, as we close out the last two weeks of July!

Saturday Summary: "Travel is Broadening"

When this particular blog post goes down in history and farther back in the blog archives, and the mass of my readership only stalks me this far back in rare bursts of time-consuming appreciation, no one will notice that I posted a Saturday post on a Wednesday. Right?

Right?

Right. Okay thank you. 

For the last two weeks, I've been traveling Europe. (My excitement over that would render it in all caps, but that's a little too obnoxious even for this extreme level of excitement. So keep that in mind.) 

And as it's Saturday (IT IS SATURDAY) (sorry I'll stop yelling now), I shall provide you a recapitulation of a few marvelous adventures! 

I've decided to organize them according to location, which works nicely because we left Ireland (our first destination) on Saturday, making it our first week. Perfect! 

But before we get that far, I'm going to warn you: I have lots of good pictures from the week I got back from kamp and had a foot procedure, and as tomorrow is Thursday, I might do a throwback-thursday-saturday post and share some of that fun. Now you know. 

On our drive from Dublin (where we landed) to Belfast (where we stayed), we stopped at Tolleymore Forest. It was positively enchanting. 

This is Dunluce Castle, which is abandoned and in ruins and you can climb all over. Because of the considerable pain my feet were in, I took this picture then a nap. I love this because it is of a castle, a tiny town, and the sea. All in one picture! Lovely, isn't it?

The second picture is my dad and I as we were leaving. And the sun. And some rugby-playing Irish people. #local, yanno? 

This is Kinbane Castle, which we visited on Thursday. It had a hike of stairs leading down to it. It's on a promontory jutting into the sea (see it? the grey thing in the middle where the rock meets the sea?). I wrote my name in charcoal on one one of the smaller structures. 

After Kinbane we went to Cerrick-a-rede, which was similar except you crossed a rope bridge to get to the promontory. It was beautiful, exactly what you'd picture Ireland to look like. 

We stopped for lunch in a tiny, adorable Irish town. The flags? Those are real decoration. They were really there; this is not made up. Why do we not string banners around towns in America? let's start doing that. Plan? Plan. Also, we passed a post office that had ice cream. Let me repeat that louder. 

A POST OFFICE. 

WITH ICE CREAM. 

America, take notes for the second time. Ireland has managed to take a happy place and make it even happier. And they call Oreo ice cream "American Cookie," which I thought was funny. 

There was also a fruiterer. I think that word speaks for itself. 

After lunch we visited Giant's Causeway, where there are hundreds and thousands of rock columns in hexagon shapes that reach under the sea from Ireland to Scotland and no one knows why. It was beautiful. See my tiny feet?

We spent Friday in the city of Belfast shopping and la-dee-da (wow that does not read smoothly). This is a lovely and adorable lunch we ate (notice a trend of those two words?) at Avoca. 

The next day, before returning to Dublin to catch our flight to Normandy, we went to St. George's market. It was very local and fun. And, true to form, lovely and adorable. 

And there were more banners strung from the ceiling. Ireland really does it right. 

There were also stalls of pastries, eggs, and an organic juice stand. 

So with that, we conclude our week in Belfast. It is a lovely (and adorable ... no? too much?) city, which my older sister claims is far superior to the tourist-y Dublin. Please, if you get the chance, go. 

Bye for now,

Charlie

Maddie

I'm both now, I've decided. Sorry if you're confused. Please don't have an identity crisis for me, I'm not worried about it. K? Swag. 

Fashion on Tuesday: Haute Couture 2—Oscar de la Renta

I couldn't find a runway show on the Oscar de la Renta website. Their instagram posted a short video of their most recent resort collection, but I couldn't find it online. So I looked at their ready-to-wear, and these are my favorites. 

This pink dress. I like gowns, pink, pleating, and has all of those. I also love the neckline. And, 

THE BACK. Isn't it sweet!?

I thought this was kinda precious. Pleasant, perhaps. It's a little low for practicalities, but it looks nice in the picture. And the back is cute!

I thought this was intriguing. I like the Chinese-inspired design, the use of jade, the fluffiness and length of the skirt, and the transparency at the top and bottom. 

Then I started watching the bridal show. I wasn't as blown away by them as I was expected, but I liked this little one! You know me, I always pick short over long anyway. I like this one, and the texture is interesting. 

Then these precious little ones came trotting down the runway. Aren't they adorable?

I have nothing great to say about Oscar's recent endeavors, except that I was unable to find them easily, I like the pink gown, and I am excited for a new Oscar show soon. And I hope that I can find it when it happens. 

In the Gap: Dance

Hola! Exciting news! This post right here is the first dance video! I pretended to post one earlier, but it never uploaded.
This is to "Heartquake" by Mads Langer. I decided to do a dance sitting down because I recently had an operation on my feet so I'm not too mobile. I'm facing backwards to retain my sense of mystery.
Here's a reminder: I am "in the gap" with dance. Have you watched the video yet? You know it's my favorite! Do it, if you haven't. And just in case you don't read it, I'll explain: I am new at dance, so I have to work through a "gap," a gap where my skill and technique don't match what I know is good dance. But the thing about the gap is that there's no way to get around it. I have to work through it, and that's why I made dance posts a part of this blog. So that I would have accountability to choreograph. Because if I don't practice, I won't improve.
I wrote this post while watching a movie, so no promises on the grammar. or continuity.

Fashion on Tuesday: Haute Couture 1— Dior

About today's topic, "haute couture:" If you're like me, you're not exactly sure if "haute" is pronounced "hot" or "out," and you always forget the first "u" in "couture." Well today when I was preparing for this post, I was in the eye doctor. And in the waiting room, I read the wikipedia article on haute couture. (I phrased that as if the waiting room induced me to do it, because for some strange reason I think it did.) I learned that there is a regulating committee in Paris protected by French law who releases a list every year of houses who are considered to be haute couture. I looked at the list of included fashion houses and watched and analyzed certain shows. I'll begin today with Dior.

I watched their Autumn/Winter 2015-6 show, and I am sad to say I was less than impressed. That seems like a silly thing to say, so I shall rephrase: "I was not impressed." Usually their designs take my breath away, but the ones I've included only caught my eye in relation to the other unnoticeable designs. Sorry, Dior, for the harsh review. I'm probably wrong, but hey! I'm only in the gap anyway. Maybe I'm just not seeing your creative vision, Raf.

Multiple silhouettes featured this cage-structure-over-dress design; this was was the best of those, and I liked it hitting the all-white look that's so popular right now.

Here we have the cape/cloak trend, which I love, and this silhouette is flatteringly enhanced by the fur sleeve. Positive ratings.

This one is slightly more "deconstructed-I-couldnt-find-my-coat-so-I-grabbed-this-blanket-do-I-look-couture," but I'm buying it. I think?

Here the cape/cloak trend is expanded into slouchy-coat trend—I like this direction. I would be so down to wear a slouchy coat around to keep warm this winter! Also the burgundy/pink pairing is on point.

And again:

These are two dresses I—well—liked. I give an overall positive review for the dresses in question, but an overall negative review because my top-ranked dresses from the show I merely "like."

These are the last two, and my top pics from the whole show. Despite the low neck of this first one, the power and elegance it portrays shoot it to the top of my list. Also, velvet? Yes! Sleek, chic, and not-so-meek! (Just kidding about the last one; fighting for the rhyme, yanno?)

And this. Blazer+feminine pattern+menswear+pajama trend=business-chic-please-come-into-style-and-my-closet.

So there you have it, our first July Haute Couture show review. I'm not sure about the timing of these; I can't figure out all the fashion weeks and the different shows and designers at each of them. Until I figure it out, except more patchwork gatherings-up like these! Up next: Oscar de la Renta (and hopefully fewer this-is-my-train-of-thought adjectives).