quote, unquote

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Something to keep in mind always.  School is getting overwhelming, but I'm trying to enjoy it as much as possible because this may be my last year of school, ever.  So I might as well embrace it, right?  Even the essays I don't want to write, the readings I don't want to do, the nights I want to stay home but still go out, the mistakes I've made (like the fact that I leave work with a new article of clothing more often than I'd like to admit), the quirks of living and going to school with so many different kinds of people.  I know I'll miss it all, so I must keep living, living, living, reading, writing, stressing, guessing, failing, flailing, succeeding, eating, studying, breathing, working, working, working even if it's hard.

photo taken in hallstatt, austria

love this

(pinterest)

"i feel old, but not very wise"

(from An Education)

Little kids deserve more credit.  They are imaginative, creative, and believe the impossible is completely 100% possible.  Nothing can get in the way of them until... They are forced to "grow up".

When I was a wee one, I wanted to be an artist, a fashion designer, and finally an author.  As I grew older and "wiser", reality took ahold of me and shook me until these dreams fell out one by one to be filled with new, practical ones. Wisdom.  What is that, anyway?  This so-called wisdom told me to abandon my fantastical dreams.  I don't like the idea of wisdom being a cruel thing, so I say, wisdom isn't like that at all.

Maybe it's the hot summer sun draining my energy and common sense that's leaving me in such a daydream-like state or perhaps it's the aftermath of finally becoming a high school graduate, but I have finally unattached myself from reality's inhibiting, forceful grasp and let myself be filled with great, magnificent dreams once more.

I tried for so long to become a practical human being (no small feat, I assure you), and once I succeeded to an extent, I found that my inescapable dreaming was snuffed out by discouraging thoughts.  Practical thoughts.  I felt guilty for dreaming.  No one should ever, ever be guilty for having a dream, however impractical it may be.

Wisdom, I think, lies in the little kids.  As we grow older, we must remember to not lose sight of our true desires.  Because the thing about desires, is that however much you try to hide from them or replace them with more sensible ones, they never truly go away.  One day you might wake up and say, "I really wish I would've..."  I'm not going to let that happen to me.

Remember:  "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible.'" -Audrey Hepburn

kaylie the girl with a hat on

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

Lately I have been questioning EVERTHING.  Not to mention kind of freaking out about getting into the school I want to, how on earth I would even pay for it if I did, and if I'm really cut out for the real world.  So I thought it would be nice to sit back and remember some of my favorite quotes.  And remember...you know, I'm just Kaylie, the girl with a hat on.  (BTW:  Best.  Short film.  Ever.)

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.  -Buddha

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”  -e.e. cummings

All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

new years resolutions: five months later

So, almost half of the year has gone by. How incredibly exciting and terrifying is that? Life has this cunning way of sneaking by time right under my nose. It's been wonderful, regardless. Life just gets better and better. I can only hope I am too!

So, for starters, I have been sewing up my own clothes in lieu of shopping, starting with this dress.  Here are some examples:

This dress was (believe it or not) my fifth grade Halloween costume at one time.  I altered it as a halter dress so it still fits me.  For the record, that year I was Nancy Drew.  Little did I know then that seven years later I would strive to be Nancy every day...

This is the dress I made over spring break with the fabric my dear friend Rachel gave to me for my birthday!  And yes, the hat is necessary (as hats usually are). 

I made this top with some old 70's material I found in a tub in a closet at my grandma's.  (My great-grandma went through a phase where she would just bring over boxes of old stuff--score, right?)

 My latest sewing project took place a few nights ago--I finally put my Portland fabric to use! 

Although I haven't used a pattern since sixth grade for my Harry Potter cloak (oh yes), the other week I was given this magic at my mom's relay for life team's garage sale:

Two HUGE tubes of vintage patterns.  So my Portland skirt is the product of (loosely) following the pattern on the very far right.  I don't take direction well when it comes to sewing, but I now have two tubs of endless inspiration!  Life is sweet.

But I have a confession.  You know that garage sale I mentioned?  Just so happens that the parents of one of the team members (coincidentally my awesome 6th grade math teacher), were getting rid of everything in their house (where the sale was at) before moving in an old folks home.  Just so happens this woman's mother kept ALL of her and her children's clothes from EVER. 

And just so happens I ended up going home with a few bag fulls of vintage clothes for under $20.  But can you blame me?  At the time I thought I was in a dream.  A miraculous, wonderful, lovely dream. It was pure joy, being surrounded by so much old stuff on a beautiful Saturday morning. 

So I broke my first resolution slightly.  Although I have to say--hey, the money went to charity.  And isn't that my second resolution?  To be more charitable?  So there you go.

More acts of charity have been...acted.  I can't bring myself to list charitable instances though.  Seems silly.

Perhaps most importantly, my third resolution was to live more in the present.  This is sometimes a struggle for someone like me, who finds so much pleasure in the past and easily dwells on sweet memories.  The only thing that cures this is being around people, creating new memories.  John Steinbeck says it best:  "Having a companion fixes you in time and that is the present, but when the quality of aloneless settles down, past, present, and future all flow together.  A memory, a present event, and a forecast all equally present."  Although I do value my alone time, sewing and reading, I count on the company of others to root me in the present. 

So there you go.  That's that.

P.S.  I think I can officially declare myself out of the blogging blues.  Longest blogpost of my life.

quote of the day (found on my tea bag)

"The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think."

Horace Walpole

p.s. isn't this polaroid lovely?