another Wednesday, another loaf of impromptu pumpkin bread.

To 'reward' myself for making it through this week of midterms and presentations, I made another loaf of pumpkin bread, and this time I added walnuts! Let me be the first to say, those walnuts make ALL the difference. I don't particularly care for walnuts on their own, but in bread it's amazing! The walnuts really enhanced the pumpkin flavor—I was quite pleased.

I don't have any plans for this weekend/Halloween yet....even though it's a few days away. I might go to the West Village Halloween Parade with my friend Justine, but I'm not sure yet. But, I do plan on going to PS 1 in Queens, as my weekly museum visit. I've never been to PS 1 before, but I know they do a lot of installation art, and it's associated with MOMA, which is one of my favorite museums. And, according to the PS 1 website, this Saturday, the museum is having a special event called MOVE!, a "two-day event merging the worlds of fashion and art through the collaboration of designers and artists," which sounds like something right up my alley.

just some impromptu pumpkin bread.

I bought a box of pumpkin bread mix from Trader Joe's last week, and I've been eager to make it ever since. I'm not exactly the domestic type....in fact, I'm not really allowed in the kitchen at home because I'm rather accident prone. BUT, I really, really wanted to make this bread for me and my friends. So on Wednesday, my friend Dan was feeling rather down, so I decided to cheer him up and make the pumpkin bread!! He wanted it plain, but I really wanted craisins, so I added some craisins on top. My first attempt was pretty successful, there are a few kinks to work out, but it wasn't totally disastrous. Next time I make the bread, I plan on adding craisins and walnuts!

Passport. check.

I spent a large portion of my afternoon at the New York Passport Agency, where I got my new passport today! Well, I actually have to go back tomorrow afternoon and pick it up, but regardless, I'm one step closer to Shanghai!
I've been sick for almost a week, but I think I'm getting better.

Over the weekend, I had two successful outfits! The first one consisted of: white oxford, navy blue (with a hint of sparkle here and there) mohair sweater, brown corduroy mini skirt, black textured tights, brown suede boots and an olive military jacket. The second outfit consisted of: black chiffon long sleeve blouse, brown faux fur vest, dark wash boyfriend jeans, and light tan wingtip/oxford shoes. But, I still don't know how to wear my cape!! Maybe I'll test it out tomorrow with the second outfit.

Shanghai, here I come!

Yesterday afternoon, I received the best news I've received in awhile: I am officially studying abroad next semester in Shanghai!!! I am so unbelievably excited to go to Asia for the first time (and hopefully not my last time) and, quite honestly, to get away from everything and everyone in New York. I still haven't read through everything carefully yet, but I have so much to do before the end of this semester: get a new passport, obtain a visa, figure out the housing situation in China and for next year, choose classes and hopefully save up a last bit of money. whew. It's overwhelming just thinking about it, but one of my new friends, GIAN will be in Shanghai with me, so I won't be totally lost next semester!

"When it rain and rain and rain and rains"

It's been rainy the past few days in the city, so I tried to make my Monday a tad cheerier with some fun outerwear. My outfit had a strong military influence and very neutral colors (beige military sweater and navy chinos). So for my raincoat and scarf, I went with a more playful route. I haven't mixed patterns too much before, so I'm not sure if this quite worked. It wasn't tragic, so I think I did something right.

Rodarte for Target raincoat, Zara scarf

first week of school blues.

It's only the first week of school, and I'm already having some anxiety for this semester. After the first day of class, I already had 170 pages of reading, one paper, one quiz, 18 pages of Chinese character writing, I have to go to an art exhibit before Wednesday, I have to watch Ghost World for a paper (where we compare the movie to the Bible) also due Wednesday and I have to teach myself 40 Chinese characters for the aforementioned quiz. It's just a lot to digest in one day. However, I am very pleased with my schedule (the timing of classes) and I love my classes! I'm taking an art history class and we go to a museum nearly every week, which I'm quite pleased about. I think I'm just freaking out because this weekend is super busy for me. I'm working a Fashion's Night Out event Thursday and Friday and if I do well, I may possibly get an internship I interviewed for last week, and I'm also working on Saturday and Sunday.

only 9 pages to go!

fall booties update.

I ended up returning both the H&M and the Aldo boots. I realized that it's just not really my style, but more of what I want my style to be, if that makes any sense. Also, the Aldo boots were SUPER tight and I already had to size up—not a good sign.