blushing bride

when reese witherspoon decided on a blush pink monique lhuillier gown, i must say that at first i wasn't really sure. i mean it's been a long time since i decked myself out in pink. but these pictures (from people magazine) made me totally rethink the pink. that bodice and neckline! swoon mania. 

and of course, now pink gowns are becoming a hit across all of bridal's top designers. here are two of my favorites from instyle's feature...

Vera Wang, mermaid organza 

Elle Saab, butterfly sleeve

i must say, at this point, i'm a total believer. 

what do you think? could you pull off the pink?

eye candy

oh the beautiful people! i don't know about you, but i love dark, plastic eyewear. maybe it's because i've been in the same pair of dark green specs for six years, but nonetheless, this trend is something i'm going to hang on to. and thanks to the brains behind the new warby parker, these chic eyeglasses can easily be yours. at just $95 a pair, it's fashion for everyone. and beyond that (here's something i totally adore) for every pair of glasses that are sold, one pair of glasses are donated. did you know that one billion people don't have access to glasses? already warby parker has donated 30,000 pairs! 

i have to say, i love my trusty green glasses, but i am in the market for sunglasses. while the site doesn't offer sunnies quite yet, i can buy the frames and get the lenses separate. i'm super stoked.

check them out! and rock the glasses proudly!

(pics: here, here)

tuesday tunage

these three songs became the soundtrack of my past weekend. i really love them all, though the last one may be a personal favorite. 

what do you think? 

(thanks savoy for helping me cultivate a 1061 approved music taste :)

the way we were...

the weekend started with rooting on some old wahoos at uva springfest's vermonster. it was intense.

us cavs, we take our ice cream seriously

ruffin hall, the studio art building. aka where i became me...

this is my favorite! the sculpture hallway. where one of my best friends and i became BFFS

MAS. artichoke and goat cheese and the best bread like ever. 

i managed eating everything on my plate just fine

savoy. the sister i chose to have. 

we may have had winter weather in april, but no one told the daffodils. 

chris, becks, me. the eye of the storm. they keep me sane and laughing. we are definitely a force of nature. 

coffee tastes better in charlottesville. 

me and savoy. 

oh charlottesville, how i will miss you!

i spent the past weekend in charlottesville visiting some old friends before i went to california (and then mali). it was bittersweet. wonderful to be back where so much good happened, sad to see it all so different (either the place or me...that is a whole other conversation). i only spent the night, but it was simply lovely. my friends were overtly good to me. 

(1-2) savoy and i started out at uva's springfest. yes, i went to springfest after i graduated, but c'est la vie. one of her roomies was taking part in the vermonster and we went to cheer her team on. we got wrapped up in all the free food and music. who doesn't love fresh friend chicken and doughnuts?

(3-4) in typical r2m (though at the moment it was just r/m) fashion, we spent friday evening at the art quad admiring the fifth year fellows studio art end of the year show. it was truly a great exhibition and totally reminded me of all the time i spent over there as an art history major with friends in all over the art department. 

(5-7) late night at one of our favorite belmont spots. mas is perfection each and every time. 

(8) downtown charlottesville farmer's market. is there any other way to spend saturday morning? i bought from my favorite bakery. yum-o!

(9-11) friends at mudhouse downtown. coffee and conversation is the epitome of my college experience. 

(12) april flowers. change is in the air along with the incoming warmth of spring...

listen to barbara sing it

THE HAIR

ok, so a couple of things: (1) don't choose to take your own picture at 1am without makeup. like ever. (2) does my hand look larger than it should? (3) why yes, my nails and my shirt do basically match. don't ever doubt it!

not to state the obvious but i got my haircut! i wanted to put it up because i've been getting a lot of questions about it. better (promise!) pictures to come! 

thanks so much barrie...you did a wonderful job and i don't know what i'll do without your magic!

happy weekend!

new hair, new me

don't you just love a little audrey? i think i could live my life according to audrey and do just fine. but in the meantime, i just may do my hair according to her and see where that gets me. 

with my move to mali coming within the eight week mark, i'm freaking out about the things i would...what i'm going to wear, how i can talk my parents into buying me as many pairs of TOMS as possible, fashionable luggage, hair, and hygiene. (and sadly, my concerns are in that order.) since it is most likely i am going to have to take bucket baths, long hair is not an option. who wants to deal with that nonsense! thus, i am getting all my courage up, going to my dear friend and hair stylist and asking for this audrey hairstyle from her lovely movie sabrina. i may not have those cheekbones, but i am going to give it a try.

what do you think? can i pull it off? would you have the guts to go this short?

twenty-seven months

so you remember how i said there has been some heavy thinking going on lately? well i thought it was about time i filled everyone in (and my apologies for keeping this under wraps)

it's not usually the thing here to digress too far from the world of fashion and travel, but i do love sharing my life with the world so here we go...

when i was in high school i was an international relations nerd for lack of a better word. i was in model UN all four years. i petitioned my school to offer comparative government. yeah, i was that girl. i was a save the world type.  and shocker (!) not much has changed.

seventeen months ago i started the application to join the peace corps. i learned about it through high school government classes, and it's kinda stuck. throughout the period there have been periods where i was sure nothing would come of it all, times when i really wondered if it was right for me, if i could even really do it. but then it would boil down to the point where i can't imagine my life without it. so i went through all the forms, the interviews, the doctors appointments (and more appointments, and more...). until now. 

i.got.in.

and now i have my country assignment. 

i leave june 1 2011. i'm going to be a education/literacy volunteer. in mali. 

MALI.

like the country in west africa. a muslim, french-speaking, african country. 

pale white me. in africa. for real. probably no running water, probably no electricity. probably no internet or cell phone. 

talk about a change. i think this can classify as a radical readjustment. 

i think i may be insane enough to find this the right thing to do. in fact i know i did because i accepted on monday and it's totally official. 

there are moments when i think i've lost all my marbles. i don't know if i can do this. if i can get on that airplane and travel around the world and learn to speak the language, learn to be Malian. there are moments when i know, to my very core, that this is exactly what i should be doing. i sticking to that. i believe that this is going to make me the person i am meant to be. 

so between now and june there will be a ton of preparations, shopping, learning about the Malian culture, working on my language lessons. and then there is of course learning about outdoor equipment (something i  know nothing about...who knew there were all these kinds of sleeping bags and short wave radios and all this other jargon! it's a whole new world!). 

on top of all that. as if that were not enough on its own. my dad is being transferred to san diego, CA. so because i need to have somewhere to keep my belongings, and i want to spend as much time as possible with my parents, i will be, first, moving to california. 

seriously. are you following all this?

here's the short of it all: mid april--to california. june--to mali. 

i'm trying to breathe. 

if you have any thoughts...on what to wear, what to bring, what to research...in mali or CA...pass them along!

more fashion to come as well...linen, linen and more linen..soooo goooodddd!

(map)

happy friday everyone! thanks for reading!