Being Holly

Being such an introvert, dressing up on Halloween is not a favorite day of mine. Before taking my current job, there were only a handful of costumed years since officially stopping in the sixth grade. (Including the requisite Franklin Street experience in college.)

Flash forward to said job, where the one staff meeting we have a year is a Halloween party where costumes, and highly-creative costumes at that, are strongly encouraged. I've grinned and bared it the previous two years, with my ladybug in a tutu and my devil in a blue dress. But this year I decided to exert a bit more effort and try and do justice, for a second time, to my favorite actress, character, and movie: Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

My first Holly G. attempt was sophomore year of college, a fairly last minute and weak effort. I wanted to do it better but still keep it simple and thought I could manage the little black dress/big black hat ensemble she wears to visit Sally Tomato at Sing Sing.

The Inspiration

The Reality

"How do I look?" (Holly)

I'm really happy with the way it turned out and would gladly wear a dress and giant hat everyday if I could. And if door frames were widened. And there was no wind. Unfortunately, only about half of my co-workers recognized me and the other half just thought I was a posh lady in a big hat. But that's alright.

The Details

"As I understand it, we're getting you ready to visit someone at Sing Sing." (Paul/Fred)

To me, being Audrey is all in the details. And since I've seen the film, read the book, read the book about the film, saw the dress from the opening scene, own the Barbie doll, and see the posters in my room every day, I'm pretty familiar with the details.

The LBD: Macy's Junior's department, on sale for $30. I love it and will definitely wear it again.

Shoes: Already had. From Target.

"Be a darling and look under the bed for a pair of alligator shoes." (Holly)

Belt: Already had. From Forever 21 and technically a headband. And though her belt was a bow, I decided to use what I had and give it my own twist.

Earrings: Earring World at Potomac Mills. They were clip-ons which was nice because they are so heavy, but hurt after a few hours.

"You can always tell what kind of a person a man thinks you are by the earrings he gives you. I must say, the mind reels." (Holly)

Sunglasses: Already had. Old Navy. One of the details that is most often done incorrectly (looking at you, Jennifer Love Hewitt) are her sunglasses. Wayfarers, not Jackie O's. (Get a life, I know.)

Hat: I bought the below hat at a costume store to use as a base, and after removing the accents, constructed the brim using felt, poster board, and a healthy amount of hot glue.

Hat scarf: Made from some sheer fabric from Ikea. It was the last thing I made and it shows as the sewing is not at all straight and there are lots of stray bits of the fabric.

"Miss Golightly is on her way to Sing Sing. Just visiting, of course." (Paul/Fred)

I opted out of making the ruffle on the bottom or wearing black gloves, which I actually own. I was going for the essence of Holly, not an exact replica. (At least that's what I was telling myself with every new person that asked who I was. The ruffle and gloves surely wouldn't have made a difference, right?)

Until next year...

What do we want? Sanity! When do we want it? Yesterday! Or, you know, when you get a sec.

I had been looking forward to this past weekend for more than a month, ever since my friend, Jan, booked her plane ticket to D.C. for the 2010 NSATC reunion.

And then, a certain Mr. Stewart and another certain Mr. Colbert, announced their plans for a rally to restore sanity and a march to keep fear alive, which just so happened to be the same weekend as the Jan Plan.

The result? Four Carolina girls and a whole lot of sanity and/or fear.

It has been more than a year since my last mass event on the mall, and while I can't say I've missed being squashed together with thousands of strangers, standing up for far too long, completely exposed to the elements, it was definitely worth it. And at least this time, the temperature hovered well above freezing.

Highlights:
1. All the signs! It's inevitable that a rally sponsored by two of America's most brilliant comedians would have the most intelligent, witty, and sarcastic signs. DCist has a good collection. One of my favorites:

2. The Peace Crazy Love Train medley. Yousef (nee Cat Stevens) vs. Ozzy Osbourne vs. The O Jays. Unbelievable.

3. Stephen's Chilean miner entrance and the crowd chanting Chi-Chi-Le-Le.

4. Jon's keynote address on the end. His show is the sole reason I made it through the Bush years alive and he continues to inspire me with his insightful and hilarious commentary. He made some excellent points without  mocking those he disagrees or taking himself too seriously. Well done, Mr. Stewart.

5. Experiencing it all with these lovely ladies:

Lowlight:

1. The tease that Stephen was going to give one of his fear medals to Anderson Cooper, only to end up giving it to his tight dark shirt instead. Not cool, Stephen, not cool. It took awhile for my heart to start beating again after I thought I was going to be within three blocks of Mr. Cooper.

In closing...
My political beliefs are no secret. And while this was not a traditional political rally, it was still nice to be around so many people who are thinking the same thing as me. And not necessarily about healthcare or gay marriage or abortion. But more along the lines that fear, bitter rhetoric, empty promises, and mindless posturing aren't the answer. That things aren't perfect but that our President isn't Hitler. That if we all just took a minute to chill the fuck out and try to act sane for like a millisecond, we can do great things.

I may not agree with what you say but I'll defend to the death your right to say it. But if you could not be completely crazy and irrational when you do it, it would make that whole death thing a lot more tolerable.

Hoping that this weekend was the first step in a lot of steps of sanity, on the left and right.

Weekend Preview

Fountain Friday

July 2005

September 2009

World War II Memorial

Washington, D.C.

"Here in the presence of Washington and Lincoln, one the eighteenth century father and the other the nineteenth century preserver of our nation, we honor those twentieth century Americans who took up the struggle during the second World War and made the sacrifices to perpetuate the gift our forefathers entrusted to us: a nation conceived in liberty and justice."

Fountain Friday

Trafalgar Square

London, England

"When the square was first built in 1845, the fountains' primary purpose was not aesthetics, but rather to reduce the open space available and the risk of riotous assembly." (Wikipedia)


Fountains: 1
Riotous activity: 0*
Pigeons: 44 bajillion


*Not really 0 as there are still frequent demonstrations and protests in the area. But fountains still get the advantage, in my opinion.

A Fancy Tradition

At the end of last week's Very Special Episode of Glee, Kurt went to church wearing this fabulous hat:

In between my Simon and Garfunkel tears, I couldn't help but admire his fancy church-lady hat. When I was little, and then slightly older, and then still older, I used to love to try on the fancy hats at JCPenney.  

Tucked away with the wallets and purses, the hats hung on a wall of soft-covered hooks, a rainbow of felt and lace. My eyes and my hands gravitated toward the red, hot pink, or purple chapeaus with flowers, beading, or rhinestones.

I love that in certain circles--particularly the African-American Community--there existed, and still exists, a tradition of wearing a hat to church. Selecting the perfect match for one's dress, shoes, and bag. 

Jeans and a sweater are enough for me 90% of the time, but one day I shall have a fancy hat and a place to wear it.

Images: My screen capture and TheMarginalized.

Sabrina: But you don't believe in marriage. Linus: Yes, I do. That's why I'm not married.

This past weekend was simply gorgeous with blue skies, a bright sun, and a cooling breeze. My weekend activities consisted of: eyebrow threading, reading, thrifting, sewing, watching (tv), cleaning, and relaxing. To top it off I went here...

to see this...

Ford's Theatre re-opened in February after a grand restoration and this was my first trip to the historic site. Having never been in the theatre before the remodel I'm not sure how the current incarnation compares, except to say that it is currently beautiful and bright. The theatre is small but grand, and the stage dominates, as it should.

And in case you couldn't read the banner above, I was there to see Sabrina Fair! Not surprisingly, I adore the Audrey Hepburn original, and like the 1995 remake alright as well, so as soon as I saw an ad for the stage version, I snatched up a ticket.

This review from the Washington Post pretty much says what I would say, only better, of course. It was interesting to see the racial element added, though it would have been more powerful had they not stuck so strictly to the original text. However, it really was a wonderful play, very funny and witty, well-acted, and the stages and costumes were beautiful. It just put me in a great mood.

"So I invested in something I had complete confidence in: General Motors."

-Fairchild 

(Not sure this was supposed to get the laugh it did, but it was great.)

Maude: Well, who do you want to marry?

Sabrina: [looking at Linus] Him.

Linus: For god's sake, Sabrina, watch your grammar!

Sabrina:  It is he.

"You want to own her without being owned."

-Aunt Julia (to Linus)

I did walk 500 miles and I did walk 500 more

Friday morning I stepped out of my apartment building and in to a crisp fall morning. Glancing briefly down at my Rainbow sandals, I thought about backtracking to change into some warmer shoes. But since Rainbow weather is quickly coming to an end, I kept moving forward. Not five seconds later -- whop -- my flip flop strap broke.

These shoes are five years old, perfectly broken in and perfectly molded to my foot. Now, because they are so worn, the tread is gone and the shoe itself is so smooth my foot doesn't always stay in it whilst I walk.

I shouldn't be surprised that the portion of the strap that started fraying three summers ago should finally give out. Though I am surprised that it broke just outside of my apartment building and not somewhere along my commute, like on the metro escalator or four blocks into my eight block walk to the metro or four blocks into my eight block walk to the office.

They were good shoes. They've been with me since the summer of junior year, purchased to carry me across Europe. Which they did, from England to Germany to Austria to Spain to France to Italy...

...back to Chapel Hill, including graduation...

...and to everywhere I've been since.

On hot days, on cool days, in rain, in sand, in the Red Clay Mud Incident of '06, they were there. Au revoir brown rainbows, skinny strap, it has been a good run. (Well, technically, a good, long, walk.)

Fountain Friday

Lustgarten Fountain near Berliner Dom

Berlin, Germany

Too sleepy to be witty

After what feels like months of nothing to do, October is shaping up to be just the opposite. 

My weekend kicked off Friday night with dinner, froyo, and a movie with some friends. After an amazing meal at Oyamel and a quick trip for frozen yogurt, we saw "Never Let Me Go." The three of us read the book for our book club a year ago and have been looking forward to the film adaptation ever since; it didn't disappoint.

Saturday started early, at least for me on a Saturday, with a trip to the Crafty Bastards craft fair in Adams Morgan with a friend. It's been two years since I was able to attend the fair, but it was just as good as I remembered. Though significantly larger and more crowded, too. 

It was an absolutely beautiful fall day and to be surrounded by homemade goods and in the company of a friend made it even better. I only bought a few things, as seen below. In addition to the free bag and Etsy sticker, I purchased a lunch bag, a ring, a print, and two buttons. 

The lunch bag has the Eiffel Tower on it with different facts about the various levels. The ring is made with part of a security envelope. (The vendor makes everything using the various patterns that are seen in envelopes; I never knew the variety that they come in.) The buttons have the names of two authors on them: Zadie Smith and Dorothy Parker. And the print is just of row houses, because even though I live in a boring apartment building now, I used to live in a row house and miss its character.

One particular highlight of the fair, though I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it, were the art students drawing free caricatures or portraits. I have no interest in a caricature so my friend and I had our portraits done. While my nose is my least favorite feature in real life due to its pointiness, I don't think it's nearly as pointy as the artist made it out to be. However, as my friend said, the rest of the portrait does "have a certain Bonnie-ness" to it. Now to just figure out what to do with a portrait of myself that doesn't scream conceited. 

After the fair I came home and crashed. A two-hour nap, dinner, mindless tv, terrible headache, and I was in bed before Saturday Night Live. 

Sunday I made pancakes and watched Tivoed SNL before taking another nap, even though I was supposed to be cleaning. Then I took a walk to Friendship Heights to see my second movie of the weekend, "The Social Network."

I've been looking forward to this movie since the trailer came out over the summer and it too, did not disappoint. The intriguing even if not entirely true back story. Aaron Sorkin's dialogue. (Potential favorite line: "Lawyer up, asshole.") The cute actor that just so happened to be in "Never Let Me Go," too. Very good and highly recommended.

Now it's late and I"m watching the end of the Giants game. All the players on both teams have on pink gloves, pink sweat bands, pink on their hats, pink chin guards, pink towels, and pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness month. It's really beautiful.