Simple Seductive Melodies

"Time, often it’s so strange.  Maybe if it’s plated in gold, you’d like it more.  When the seas and the oceans pull, feels like we were miles apart.  And all these sunny days that we sleep inside, destiny is calling us home."

                 -  Jason Glick, "Hey Now"

A Sweet Carousel

Sometimes words muffle what the soul wants to say. Haunting secrets and stories that must softly uttered. One cold frozen word at a time. Like sand that seems to sift through my fingers, unable to grasp the tiny amber-hued specks. Bright lights flashing and spinning. Endless spinning. Hot red blood rushes into my head and I try to hold on. Round and round I go, faster and faster. But when the ride is over, all that I want to say is lost. All that lay in my hands are raw jagged pieces unable to fit together. Footsteps retreat, fainter with each step, and my soul closes the door.

Show Me the Roses

Follow me and I'll show you where the roses lie. A secret place, a treasure hidden beneath worthless scraps, that only I know of. The pungent aroma, so heady, so sweet, so succulent. We can share secrets under the big oak tree as the clouds wave at us ever so slightly from above. You can hold my hand and I yours. Trace every line of our palms, read between every crack and crevice. The birds may cry out for us but we know we are safe. Safe. Safe among the bloody red roses in our secret garden.

Kling Summer 2010

I'm pretty bummed out that I haven't been able to go to the beach because there has been an algae infestation in the water. Going to the pool isn't just quite the same as a hot evening spent frolicking in the cool lake water and building sand castles. But I guess I'll have to live vicariously at the beach through these lovely photos from Kling's Summer 2010 collection. The somewhat vintage-inspired outfits are just adorable and of course, I love the quaint beach photos the most. I think the white dresses would be my absolute favorite outfits on here just because I love white dresses. What's even more fabulous about this collection is that these outfits are not extremely pricey.

Quaint Evening at the Pier

Today, it's raining quite heavily here but yesterday was a nice evening spent at the pier. Madison is right by a small lake so I love going to the pier when the sun is about to set. The view is just beautiful. It's just such a relaxing end to my day and it really clears my mind, even if I have a headache. I haven't actually gone swimming in the lake since I'm not a very good swimmer and I'm really shabby at free-floating, but other students do swim in it all the time.

I also took some pictures, but my camera doesn't do the view justice. I think it's just me since I'm not an expert yet at my vintage Yashica TL Electro X. It could also be that I had accidentally put in the 160iso instead of 400 which wouldn't be the best under semi-light conditions.

Swedish Hasbeens

I really like these photos from the Swedish Hasbeens Fall 2010 Collection. I love the style, color, lighting, everything. It's just too bad I couldn't find these photos in a larger size. My favorites shoes in this collection would have to be the red boots. They just look deliciously red. =)

I've never really been one for clogs, but every time I see these Swedish Hasbeens, I like them a little more. The first time I saw them, I thought they were just plain ugly. But I'm slowing changing my mind. Maybe it's the wood platform, the low heel, and the simple design that is growing on me. I think the biggest factor may be that they look awesome with vintage outfits and the pictures above just proves it.

I really like this pair in this color. I just adore this shade of marigold yellow and it is perfect in these Hasbeens.

(refinery29 & bonjouritsjinah)

Lazy Wednesday

I just got back recently from my three weeks working with PEOPLE and it has been an exhausting experience, waking up early and going to sleep late. In short, PEOPLE is a program geared at promoting underprivileged students towards achieving higher education in general, but specifically at Madison. There were about 550 students total and some of them had terrible attitudes and were incredibly rude. They were not supposed to wear inappropriate clothing (no tank tops, cleavage, or short shorts) to present themselves in a respectful manner, so most of them always complained and talked back when they were told to go change. But it was a somewhat positive experience overall. I had a lot of fun hanging out with some of the kids, whether it was eating or playing games.

So now, I'm going to take a few days off to rest and then I have to start studying and getting ready for the GRE.

Vintage Shopping

Today, I decided to go vintage shopping, but with no such luck. Four stores I went to went out of business. I'm so bummed since I was really looking forward to it. There are a few more vintage stores I haven't hit yet, but I just hope those aren't closed already too.

There used to be a rather nice vintage shop on State Street, but I think they have closed down now. The last time I went there was around 4 years ago when I was a HS senior and touring Madison. I wasn't into vintage finds back then so I didn't look around the store thoroughly. But I do remember some gorgeous dresses on display though.

Test Roll Pictures

Oh my goodness, I'm falling so deep in love with my Yashica TL Electro X! Man, I can't believe this amazing equipment was made in the 70s and it still works like a charm! About 1/3 of the shots were ruined since I accidentally popped the back cover open a couple of times and exposed the shots to sunlight. Some photos were rather dark since I keep forgetting to check the light meter. But overall, the photos weren't too bad since they are making me learn more and more about my camera.

By the way, developing film is so expensive. A roll of 36 exposure costs about $12 at Walgreens. :(

More photos can be viewed at my Flickr. =)

Rose Bush and Film Bust =(

Yay!!! I'm finally done with finals. But now I have to clean my ridiculously messy apartment. =( But I'm back on blogging and I'm done with finals so I'm still happy.

I bought this mini rose bush at Copp's on Sunday and it's already dying. =( Well, not the entire plant, but parts of it. The plate under the plant got stuck in the shades as I was trying to pull the shades up and my plant crashed onto the carpet. In the grueling process, I killed two baby buds and the big rose is dying since the stalk is half severed. Gosh, I'm such a terrible mother. This makes me rethinking about wanting to buy more small plants for my apartment. I may just kill them too.





Some more bad news. This Yashica TL Electro X is an early birthday present from my boyfriend. When we finished shooting the first roll of film and I rewound the film, I found that my boyfriend had put the film in wrong and so the film wasn't able to rewind. Thus, the first roll was completely ruined. =( I was looking forward to seeing how the pictures turned out, but sadly that's not going to happen. I put a new roll in so I'm praying this roll turns out fine.

But I do absolutely LOVE the look of this vintage camera. I love it's design, especially the Yashica tattoo. You can't really see it in this photo, but it's at the top of the pyramid head. The only downside is that this camera is heavy. I swear you can kill someone with this thing. It is that heavy, especially if you pair it with some big lenses.

I also bought this Yashica 35 Electro GSN for myself. I popped in a roll of film already so I hope it's not a bust like the first roll on the Yashica TL was. In my 5th shot, it got stuck. Although I did manage to fix it, I hope that's not a bad sign that the entire roll is ruined. *Fingers crossed.* Comparing the handling of these two models, I think I like the TL more than the GSN though. Focusing on the GSN seem really awkward to me since the area of focus is so tiny! But I'll see how the pictures turn out to judge it entirely.

Stop Falling In Love?

I think my problem is that I fall in love too easily. I see something and crazily fall in love with it. And then my love for that thing dies down and it's just all such a waste. For example, I bought some painting supplies when I saw some gorgeous watercolor paintings and sketches, but I haven't touched my painting supplies since my first attempt! Then I bought a sewing book because I really wanted to learn how to sew my own dresses, but I haven't even gotten around to reading the book yet. I'm just glad I didn't buy a sewing machine or a mannequin yet. And now, I'm falling in love with photography since I just bought a Holga and two film cameras.

I feel like sometimes I'm really impulsive when I fall in love with hobbies at first sight. I don't have all the time in the world nor the resources to do everything I would want to do, not if I really want to explore and do well in those hobbies. I also think not having instant gratification kills my love for those hobbies. My first painting turned out terrible and I just lost the passion to paint.

I think photography will be the real hobby for me since I have always loved it, from my first film camera back in middle school to my first digital point-and-shoot. And unlike painting, I've gone ups and downs with photography. Some pictures turned out horrible and were a waste while some were average, and a few were really good. As for sewing, I might still try it out since I did buy the book and I did borrow my mom's sewing machine. But I just don't know when that will be LOL.

But I think I should post a big post-it note somewhere that says to "Stop Falling In Love!!!" ;p But then again, I also feel like if I don't try something that I like then I'll also never know so........I don't really know where that leaves me. Maybe I should look at exploration as a good thing (even though it does waste money).

P.S. I think this is the longest post I have ever written LOL.

Holga Happy!

My Holga arrived yesterday! I'm so excited to go and shoot something today. I know my first roll will be messed up already since it took me about 15 minutes just to load up the film. I just had a hard time locking the film into the spool. But I'm still uber excited. It definitely does feel a bit odd going back to film though, but also nice in a way.

On a side note....I wished my apartment smelled like freshly baked bread every morning. So warm and toasty.....

So much to choose from!

Everything looks so deliciously good here! I also love the vintage flour and sugar cans in the bakery.

(1. Interludio, 2 + 3 + 4: by Annika Vannerus, 5. Cannelle-vanille)

A Little Light

I'm enjoying the beautiful light streaming through my windows and here are some shots.