Tag: winter

#70 – The Cold, Patience, BBC Pride and Prejudice

This winter, it’s wildly beautiful with it’s near constant snow accumulation (uncommon for where I live) and icy drops in temperature where we spent a month or so below 32 Fahrenheit. These rhythms of snow, ice, and cold fronts entering the atmosphere on a Friday and lasting all weekend led to many weeks of waiting, being still, escaping to my Stardew Valley farm. Waiting for the winter to pass, knitting away my boredom.

Time Passing Marked By Candles

We made a balloon arch for my birthday, a Brooklyn 99 high honor, and I decorated the living room with Stardew Valley garlands, making the time lost to snow and ice marked with something to remember.

In this waiting, I’ve had unwelcome house guest of Winter, the lingering cold. I had a troubling cold over Christmas, with sinus pain that kept me awake through the night. I thought it was gone as we entered January but I realize now the cold retreated but hovered in the shadows throughout the long mid-winter until Valentine’s Day when it re-animated and gave me some of the worst congestion, ear-aches, and sinus pain I can remember. I couldn’t lay down without the sinus pressure pain building, I couldn’t sleep. I felt miserable.

The Grim Night

I think the hardest part of feeling sick is the mental part. The patience to do nothing, and let go of the goals in your  mind. It’s boring! There was a few days of utter boredom. Knitting felt like too much, taking naps would trigger the sinus pain, and I remember   feeling useless, empty, and void of joy.

I felt deeply frustrated. Why was I going through a second round of this? Why is this happening to the point that I can’t write, or work on my projects, I can’t even keep up with my share of the housework. How long until I feel normal again?

When we lack health, it is the only thing we crave. It truly is more valuable than money. As I go further into adulthood, I growing in appreciation for the little things like health, a boring day where you feel great, and you tend to forget this feeling looking back on it. It blends with the others, but those ordinary moments are what give us such rich life.

Like those mild days of the year, those 60s or low 70s and sunny days, they blur in the background of the weather extremes, but really those days were probably the most mood boosting of the year.

Shall the Shades of Pemberly Be Thus Polluted?

One of the few things that gave me joy during that week of sickness was BBC’s Pride and Prejudice 1995.

It was my first watch. I’ve read the book and watched the 2005 version, but this series had escaped me. I think I put it off because I though it was a hipster scheme. How could this one be so much better than the 2005 movie? With its soundtrack and cinematography? The hype was real, it’s spectacular.

It’s a series I could watch again, and again, for those nature shots and the beautiful furniture. The costumes are true regency in design, compared to the 2005 version. Each character is flushed out like book and it is simply a treasure. 😍

Nothing Nice to Say

February and January to be honest have been a challenge for me creatively. I haven’t known what to write about without it sounding like I am complaining. There is a lot of crap going in the world and it’s been a struggle for me to keep my eyes fixed on the good.

When I’m in this mood, like I was during our house buying process in May 2024, I struggled to write on here as well. I didn’t want to complain and also didn’t feel inspired because of the distractions. And so, time passes.

In this time I’ve been listening, reflecting. I’ve been enamored by the latest Bible Project series. I’ve been waiting for the final blow for Joann’s which happened. I’ve been researching new sources of yarn and fabric, keeping my eyes and ears open for new brands to fill the void.

I started reading again – beginning with an attempt to re-read Crime and Punishment which I shelved for now after Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov‘s long rant in the bar. I was feeling too sick at that point to envelope myself in that misery and pivotted to Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim.

I have filled my days with the soundtrack of Aespa, Stray Kids, and Red Velvet. We even started a new K-drama, Crash Landing on You, which I’d like to write about along with Business Proposal and Extraordinary Attorney Woo.

We’re re-watching Only Murders in the Building and laughing our way through Impractical Jokers. All the while I’ve been working on several knitting WIPs that I look forward to sharing! Along with a Mia update, she is one happy bun, and has become a cuddly little friend who desires our company. My heart is full. 🥰

I hope wherever you are in the world, you are feeling healthy, loved and know how much I appreciate you, reader, who spend time with me here. I wish you a lovely weekend!

#67 – Decorating, Snow, and Small Upgrades

Christmas knitting is full swing and I am yet again behind! This happens every year to me. Oh well. But, this is one of my favorite seasons of the year and I wanted to share some tidbits that have made this year a little merrier.

This is the first Christmas in our house. It was special moment unboxing our decorations that have moved with us from apartment to apartment that can now be rested here. Some are heirloom pieces that lived a life long before I was born, such as the nativity my Grandma cast in the 1970s. Others are ornaments given by piano students.

The Christmas village was my mom’s and I remember putting it out in on the third floor, our little apartment within my grandparents’ house. I can’t believe the journey it has been on with me through my life. I am also excited to have a staircase to decorate with garland like my mom and Grandma have done each Christmas. It makes it feel like home.

The next thing that has filled this time with joy, has been the fresh paint of my sewing room. Kyle graciously primed the woodwork and painted this room while I was sick. It satisfyingly looks like the color scheme of my bedroom at my mom’s before an ice dam melted through my ceiling in 2015, destroying it. I’ve missed this mauve-lavender color. I took the opportunity to rest my Stray Kids, NCT, and Aespa posters. I like the minimalist cozy atmosphere this room radiates now with this simple makeover. It was a room I kinda hated before with its janky woodwork and boring walls. Now it looks complete!

We’ve been blessed with a little lake effect snow and it has been a marshmallow world. The views here become serene and open without the leaves. Some may see this as bleak but I love the transformation of snow and the peaceful slumber of the nature for the winter months. I hope we get more moments like this.

Lastly, we made some upgrades to our first floor before Thanksgiving. Our daybed’s framework broke. Instead of buying new furniture, Kyle set to work on designing a whole new base frame for the couch, complete with storage drawers! We also updated our front door with stained glass window film. Cheap? Yes, but, it allowed us to remove the broken blind that was an eyesore while maintaing privacy until we decide on a permanent solution for this door.

At 20 USD it was an affordable way to create character to a pretty ugly door. We’re making slow progress on updating the house, but as time goes by I realize, it’s part of the fun and changing everything all at once, if we had the money (which we don’t) would be pretty boring! Anyways, I hope wherever you are you have a lovely day and thanks for stopping by my little blog. Now, time to get back to Christmas knitting. I can’t wait to show you what I’m making! 😁

Aespa’s Supernova MV is an Explosion of Imagination

I wanted to be quick and write this post before their full album release on Monday because the Supernova release has been one of the most fun comebacks they have had I think since Next Level in 2021, which was how I found Aespa initially. This song has dethroned “Supernova Girl” from Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century as my favorite futuristic, y2k, outer-space-themed song. That is no small compliment, I’ve loved that song and the styling of the movie since 1999. That being said, Aespa blew me away with their ‘that tick, tick, bomb’ bridge and funky mix of Portal 2 sounds, reminiscent of the lasers and aerial faith plates, layered over the signature production of Dem Jointz. I wasn’t expecting that signature “Incoming!” line that I find on most NCT albums. This was the fun noise music style I was missing from the current comebacks of Stray Kids, NCT’s solo work, and the releases of girl groups so far in 2024.

Four Distinct Looks

I love a music video with a good costume change, and this one gave me four! The stylist for Aespa hit it out of the park with these experimental yet familiar pieces giving the eye a tasting menu of throwback futuristic pieces yet styled in a way that felt now and new at the same time.

In one short story, we move from streetwear with mesh and bright colors, to light pastel pleather for that space-age feel, to vibrant, shocking, and furry accessories that look like the star exploding, to a y2k jeans look in gray tones as the supernova is complete. The girls are blown into the wind.

My favorite look of them all happens to be Winter’s pink tutu look with platform shoes. She resembles a magical faerie or modern-day superhero without the cringy Hollywood painted-on catsuit. Other details I appreciate are the vampire fangs, pointy nails, intricate braids, colorful eyeliner, bubble hems, dual eye colors, chunky jewelry that looks DIY in a good way, and Gisele’s bedazzled cast.

Imagery of Supernova

Each member seems to have special powers in this music video. Winter can fly, Ningning can fire bend, Gisele can change time, and Karina has superhuman strength. They have the power of the “Supernova” and are a unified force to be reckoned with. I love that Karina falls to earth like an asteroid to open the scene. There is imagery of heat and destruction, darkness and light, brokenness like the dying star, and birthdays like a star reborn through the explosion. They are like a storm but are also a source of power.

Aespa Lore – Returning to Concept

This comeback feels like Aespa’s lore and concept coming full circle where other bands have drifted off into randomness, Aespa is keeping the story of Kwangya, Black Mamba, Naevis, and the real world all in its premise. Some were disappointed with the shift to being in the real world with Spicy (2023) and Drama (2023) as falling prey to the 2000s nostalgia bug sweeping the 2020s.

But I see their comebacks as chapters in one story like Ateez does so well. For Savage and Girls they were in Kwangya, Kosmo, and the Flat. They have fought Black Mamba then coming into the real world with Naevis in My World, continuing the fight in Drama. For now, it seems like Supernova and Armageddon are returning the girls to the other dimension but reborn with powers instead of being consumed by the destruction. I am very excited for May 27th to behold what is in store for their first full album!

Winter Light

A jolt of life. A bright, warm, hope!

Vast blue sky, a wash of cerulean lifts above my head.

All worries, fade. Care melts from my shoulders.

A hope for tomorrow! Truth breaks through the lies.

Darkness lasts for a moment but life springs forth

to sunshine’s embrace. A welcome friend.

You comfort my soul and invigorate my mind!

Welcome home, welcome back, bright, blue sky.

Dark Winter

Rosy, golden haze breaks through the greige. Dark, lifeless sky.

I miss the sun on my pale, blue eyes.

The sun on my face? A vampire’s disgrace!

Winter is finally getting to me.

The wind has whipped, into the ether

and clouds slip, like a blip, and slide away into gray nothing monotone before I can comprehend.

I dream of snow. I dream of the sun. The crunch of cool.

November rain, December shadows, January freeze, this nightmare will not end.

#45 – Allergy and Winter Winds

I miss humidity, like I really, really do. My skin does. It struggles during this mid-winter stretch. I’m itchy, a desert instead of a moisture barrier, and all my skincare products seem to jump ship at this time of the year. I know I’m not the only one either, there are dozens of us!

Now back in January, we got our deep freeze and oh buddy, it was intense. Like two weeks of pure polar vortex, kind of out of nowhere, yet I always know this will happen. Yet I put off getting ready for it. And I certainly forget to moisturize! Until, POW I wake up to 0 degrees Fahrenheit with a real feel of -9, -18, and simply frigid dry air. My skin freaks out! My tried and true skincare starts to waver, and slowly my toner stops doing its job. Soon, my moisture barrier is a distant memory and my face is red and I’m thinking how did this happen?

This year’s gambit of skincare 2024 had a one-two punch of an allergic reaction to ibuprofen and Maybelline foundation. And boy, oh boy did it catch me by surprise. Big red blisters on my face! It was the strangest experience I’ve had. I didn’t feel like anything was wrong until I looked into the mirror one January night before bed and saw five blisters on my face, adorning my chin and nose. It gave me quite the jump scare!

I’ve had hives, I’ve accidentally layered the wrong skincare serums and given myself a chemical burn (that was last year), but I had never experienced blisters, and truly freaked me out. The blisters had only gotten worse because the Maybelline foundation I wore that day had been burning. I thought it was because my skin was parched and irritated until a quick Reddit search on Maybelline foundation shed light on a reaction that some people have to it.

The goofiest part of this whole experience is that it is always days before my birthday, like a weird tradition I’d like to leave behind but life continues to bring it to the party. Well, could be worse.

I’m thankful all reactions were minor, faded in a few days, and were relegated just to my face. I’m incredibly grateful to have never experienced a dangerous situation due to an allergic reaction. Does this happen to you though, after a situation like that where you feel like you can’t trust your tried and true products or medicine? For a few weeks after I feel like I am still on edge, waiting for it not to be the end. This morning I found razor bumps on my leg, and I was sure something else was making me sick! I feel so silly and yet I let myself wander down the road of what ifs.

If I could make one solid change this year, I’d like to leave my disposition to worry behind this year and move forward in emotional maturity, because I really don’t like how I let myself exist in worry when things are fine. I don’t want to be the kind of person who can’t be happy or ignores the good things right in front of me because the experience with those blisters scared me a bit.

Do you have a penchant for worrying? Are you level-headed and chill? If you are I’d love to be more like you! I hope wherever you are you know that you are safe and know that you are loved. Thanks, dear reader for giving me your time today. ❤

Merry and Bright: Styling Colorful Pieces in Dark Winter

In mid-December and January, I tend to drop off into cozy land where all I want to wear are leggings, fuzzy socks, and hoodies. I feel unproductive and I don’t know what to wear. This is odd because, in terms of fashion, this is my favorite season for fabrics, garments, and occasions. I love layering coats, hats, scarves, boots, mittens, etc.

To fight the slump, I’m leaning into bright colors and bold prints.

I’m pushing myself this year to rediscover the love I used to have for dressing up when it got cold like I did in college. I still indulge a bit when I can pair cozy pieces with more polished items but they have to have more personality this year! I am setting a hard line with my clothing choices to break out of the athleisure slump.

To accomplish this goal, I’ve found myself reaching for my colorful knitwear! I’ve spent the time making the items, I need to wear them. This sweater dress is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. It is just as comforting as a hoodie but looks like a dress and can be worn over jeans or leggings depending on the occasion.

Going into the fall, I knew I wanted more knitwear and accessories but I was dubious about my design choices. Would they work together to form cohesive outfits? Well yes and no, it depends on a matter of taste.

To someone who wears neutrals and classic accessories, this might be a bit ugly. But to a maximalist, like myself I enjoy the color palettes and pops of color these pieces bring to the brown and gray landscape of early winter.

I prefer having that neutral coat and having that punch of accessories to bring the look together. Hats and scarves can say a lot in an outfit yet are easy to mix and match, it’s a hit of creativity for minimal effort.

I’ve been reaching for my cat-ear beanie like a staple which I have to be honest I was not expecting. I get some stares, good and bad, but for every weird look, there are two expressions of joy at the sight of the cat beanie. If I can dress to bring people joy by the color and unusual design then that is a win for me.

Another style I am dabbling in is the academic style of a collared shirt and a vest. In this version, I styled a mini dress over a long flannel (from the men’s tall section) to create what I say is a Chandler Bing outfit. This was an insanely comfortable outfit yet mixed up my casual style for the winter. Because the colors are a bit unusual for the academic silhouette I felt playful and more like me.

I’m happy to say I’ve reached for some of my handmade pieces on those cozy days I may have opted for leggings or sweatpants like this laundry day outfit of a flannel “cardigan” over a thermal crewneck and the patterned corduroy pants that drafted myself. It was an odd combo but the colorful patterns truly brightened up a gray and dark snowy day.

That’s not to say that I haven’t reached for the cozy staples but with more polish, like this Aran Jumper style sweater that my mom knit for me. It’s a stunner!

How do you dress in December and January? Like me, in this dark winter do you struggle to find the joy in getting dressed?

Yellow Tree in the Snow | November 2023

Just like that the season has changed. On Halloween night, big fluffy flakes appeared on our door step. Frosting the fallen orange leaves with a marshmallow wrapping of snow. It was magical, snow globe-esque.

As morning dawned the fall livelry was swapped for a dazzling white coating my little world in snowflake robes. It was crunchy beneath my shoe, squeaky even.

From the gloomy shades of autumn and their spooky splendor to the bright, starkness of winter in one night. A remnant of autumn hangings on in the trees beyond my street. The lovely yellow leaves I saw through my window. A bright, hopeful contrast from the pine, the branch, and the white. This was my inspiration.

Do you enjoy snow?

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