Hair inspiration: Anna Karina

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I've been having such a hard time deciding whether or not I wanted to get bangs, it's kind of ridiculous. You'd think I was making some kind of life-or-death decision. But nope. It's just my hair, which, I need to remind myself, will grow out if I don't like how it looks.

At this point, I'm leaning towards having bangs, and one of the main reasons is because of this lady: Anna Karina. Anna was a Danish actress popular in the 1960's, who is most well-known for being the muse of French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard. I'm ashamed to say I've never seen a single one of her movies, but every time I come across a photo of her, I'm absolutely smitten. In addition to having a wonderful 1960's wardrobe, her hair is always enviably perfect:

[ sources for all but the last can be found at my tumblr; the last photo is from here ]

Will my bangs turn out as picture-perfect as Anna's? Well, that remains to be seen...but I am excited to see how they turn out this time around. I have had bangs before, but I think this time I'll go for a different look.

 

This time, I'm envisioning lots of 60's-style bouffants. I can't wait to experiment!

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I think you're a contra

Saturday was one of those days that feels like three in one - absolutely jam-packed from start to finish with little time to think. Luckily, it was all good things! It was my first anniversary of being with Chris, so we spent the whole morning and early afternoon together before he went to work.

We started off right by eating at Marie Catrib's, a restaurant in Eastown. For you non-Grand-Rapidians, I am sincerely sorry - you don't know what you're missing! It's heaven on earth. Lots of locally-grown food and delicious vegan (and non-vegan) food. I'd love to learn to make some of their dishes...though it wouldn't be the same without Marie's touch! 

Once we were finished, we grabbed our Turkish coffee to go and headed over to a vintage shop we had passed on the way...and once we got there, I was kicking myself. Turns out this place was two blocks from my old house - and I had never known! Agh! It used to be a hair salon and I guess I never noticed the switchover...ah well. I'll try not to think of the treasures I missed out on. I splurged a little and bought a gorgeous 60's party dress and 50's skirt...both of which you'll be seeing here soon, no doubt! (Unfortunately, they didn't allow photos to be taken in the shop. Boo.)

From there, we went downtown to a clothing swap hosted by Lily of Love Charles Vintage. I picked up some great new things, including a pair of pants I'm hoping to transform into a pencil skirt. (I really need to learn how to sew...) There were also tons of local artists there selling their work. Silly me, I was so in awe that I forgot to take photos...

dress: Urban Outfitters | belt: thrifted | cardigan: Forever 21 | boots: ModCloth

Sadly, our time was limited, since Chris had to get to work soon, so we stopped for coffee at our favorite coffee shop (the Sparrows) and took some photos. I was drawn immediately to this bright orange wall - I have a thing for contrasting colors, I suppose. I just loved the contrasting pop of the teal against the expanse of orange.

 All in all, it was a lovely, successful Saturday - not to mention that it was the perfect opportunity to wear my new lovelies! How was your weekend?

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Joy, it's all founded

   

As I write this, there isn't a snowflake on the ground. We had the faintest of flurries today, but they didn't sick. (Or at least last time I checked!) And these photos are actually from the blizzard we had last February - I simply forgot to post them on the old blog. So why am I posting them now?

Really, more than anything, it's a reminder.

If you've never spent any time in Michigan during the winter, well...here's what it looks like. Lots of snow. Driving is treacherous and the skies are gray as a general rule. But I'm not trying to remind myself of the misery of winter - I'm trying to remind myself of the joy.

Yes, winter can be blah. But when else can you do things like this:

 

  

 

 I'm a firm believer that you find joy where you look for it; that's actually part of the reason I picked the name for this blog. I wanted something with foxes since they're very dear to me, and "joy" was a natural fit. A constant reminder.

So whenever I'm feeling down about winter's impending arrival, I just look at these photos. We took in the late-afternoon beauty of our little neighborhood:

And we sat on the porch of strangers:

 

Twirled and played in the snow 'til we couldn't feel our fingers:

 

 And then warmed up at Brick Road Pizza with some hot tomato bisque and the best breadsticks in the world.

Maybe, just maybe winter's not so bad.

dress & belt: Charlotte Russe | cardigan: Target | tights: various places (I was wearing 4 layers of them!) | boots: DSW

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Two towns from me

Let's pretend my skirt wasn't so wrinkled, shall we?

At least I had a good reason for it to be so. I took Friday off work and Chris and I spent the day in Ann Arbor - a city highly recommended to us, a mere 2.5 hours from us, and neither of us had ever been. We figured it was high time we fixed that.

cardigan and boots: Forever 21 | dress (as top): Modcloth | skirt: GAP | tights: Goodwill | belt: Salvation Army (from the boy's section!)

I decided to tackle two of my sartorial fears in one outfit: neutrals and separates. Dresses and bright colors are like a security blanket to me. Separates are scary and I always feel I look boring in neutrals. It's totally irrational. But wrinkles from car travel notwithstanding, I actually loved how this outfit turned out and I will be wearing it again!

After a considerable amount of time spent looking for parking, we stopped into a lovely little free trade/organic coffee shop and grocery store. I had an Americano and Chris got some freshly-made juice: carrot, apple, orange, and ginger. My coffee was wonderful (probably the best Americano I've had) but I most confess I was jealous of his juice. Made me want to buy a juicer!

Next, we stopped into Zingerman's Deli. How great can a deli be, I thought? Well, I got my answer, and there's not room enough here to do it justice. So much food, so many lovely smells and tastes - fresh bread, cheeses, vinegar dips, pumpkin butter anything you could imagine -and you can sample as much as you want! I wish I'd gotten photos of the inside, but I suppose that will serve as even more motivation to return.

After that, we walked around downtown, struck out at a vintage shop (the shop was great but everything was too small - so disappointing), bought a few sale items from Urban Outfitters, and headed to one of Ann Arbor's many used bookstores. It did not disappoint.

I didn't buy anything, but it's lovely to look, isn't it? I found an early edition of A Farewell to Arms...

...the biggest dictionary I've ever seen...

...lovely Russian books in my favorite colors...

...and this Charles Dana Gibson book (behind glass) that Chris pretty much had to physically drag me away from:

 

Though we enjoyed all of the bookstore, Chris looks quite at home in the kid's section, no?

 

We finished off our long, lovely day with a Blind Pilot concert, which made my love for that band grow (their albums are already in heavy rotation on my mp3 player so far this week!). We were so close, I was actually leaning on the stage.

I couldn't have asked for a better 11.11.11.

 

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A fresh start

Why hello there! A few of you out there may know me from Owl Eyes. Clearly, I haven't blogged there in awhile. But lately, I've found myself aching for a fresh start - a new name, new design, a new perspective. And what better time to do that than in autumn - when nature is in the midst of a spectacular change, when she's reinventing herself?

On the day we took these photos, I really didn't feel like having my picture taken. My hair was dirty and I just felt unprepared. But my boyfriend needed to take some shots for his photography class, so we went on a little adventure. He took me to Grand River Park, which I had never been to. (Turns out, I had passed it hundreds of times on my way to class - I never even knew it was there.)

Once we got there, I felt so silly for being hesitant. I think this park is destined to become one of my favorite spots in the area. Chris can attest: I simply would not shut up about how gorgeous and idyllic everything was. It was one of those crisp fall days where the colors are out in full force, the sun is warm and the breeze is just strong enough to make the grasses gently wave.

I can't believe I never knew about this park before. I wonder what other treasures are hiding right under my nose?

 

dress, sweater, belt: vintage | tights: GAP | shoes: Forever 21

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