diamonds on the soles of her shoes

last night i went out to astoria and had a delicious, home-cooked meal of stewed eggplant and capers and sheeps-milk ricotta over pasta with garlic bread and pecan pie al la mode for dessert. my friends there had all lived in or extensively visited chicago at some point, and we spent a lot of time talking about the merits of this city versus that. as i start to plan my return back to the windy city, i recognize that it isn't just that i love chicago and want to return; going back there is going to be like hitting the refresh button on my old life there, keeping the good things and getting to change the things that i felt stuck in before. i'll get a new apartment (alone, hallelujah,) a new job, one in a field that i love; my time in new york has changed me fundamentally into a much more independent and happy person, and i can't wait to get to experience the city i love more than any other through these new eyes.

i was taking a car home from queens after all this last night, a couple beers later, and thinking about this blog and what a strange and funny thing it can be. i identify myself as many things: a cook, a friend, an artist, a lover of life and music and food and fun and, of course, clothing. but clothing isn't how i define myself, or, i think, my strongest interest. i write this blog most mornings, monday through friday, and gab for a bit about what i did the night before, post a photo, tell you where i got everything, and sign off. i was wondering last night how this came to be the way that i tell you guys who i am. staring out the window, zipping down the BQE, i thought i could just as easily post a photo of what i ate for dinner every night, or the train car that i rode in, the song i listened to on my ipod this morning (99% it's just NPR, i'm a nerd) or the state of my increasingly, horrifyingly disastrous bedroom. but i do believe, as i think many of you do, that the way we present ourselves to the world every day says a lot about you as a person. i take care in getting dressed because i like to. because i like clothes and i like feeling good in what i'm wearing and bright colors and pretty things make me happy. i started doing this because i so enjoy looking at other people's blogs of a similar nature - i don't think of "fashion" or "styling" as my art, but there are so many people who are so much more deft and skilled at this than i that i think it really transcends to that. and i love seeing what everyone does when presented with a nearly limitless number of options when it comes to what to wear.

anyway, i guess i just wanted to thank everyone for continuing to read, and for all the amazingly sweet and kind things that you say. i love reading about other peoples' lives and daily nothings, and it is beyond flattering that anyone cares enough to check in on mine.

enough of the diatribe, though -



i definitely have beatles hair this morning. the awkward lack-of-haircut gets ever more awkward.

shirt: thrifted
skirt: american apparel
necklace: ebay
shoes: devotte purr

couldn't find the brooch i usually wear with this shirt, which was a bummer. may try to stop in an urban outfitters (i have a gift certificate) and snag one at lunch.

again - big thanks, and big love.

xo audrey