long day

So as I said, I'm off crutches and it's amazing! But as I also said, it hurts. A lot. So send some healing vibes, k? I could really use them. All this walking made for a long day. On the bright side: we had our first Georgetown farmers' market today! It was a bit over-priced but had good samples and yummy-looking banana bread Emily and I just had to get! 

 old navy romper

jcrew cardigan

topshop necklace

 No, it's not a tank top and shorts, it's a romper. When Emily discovered this fact she was supremely weirded out and couldn't take me seriously for the rest of the night. I don't know, it was old navy and cheap and I decided to experiment! And it's a dark color, so I don't feel like a baby in a onesie. Gotta say though, it's super comfortable

As you may or may not have noticed from reading my blog, this is one of my all-time favorite necklaces. I can't believe I found it on sale at topshop for only 4 pounds! Such a deal, and considering how many times I've worn it, if you use the cost-per-wear theory I'm probably down into small change

The weather here keeps getting nicer! It was a bit cloudy today, but when I walked out of the library, I honestly felt like I was in the Virgin Islands - it was warm, and super humid because of the recent rain. It was actually uncanny! That, coupled with the pains of walking, makes me wonder about what it would've been like if I'd just had surgery and went to recover with my grandparents down in St. Thomas... kidding. As nice as that would have been, I know I made the right decision forgoing surgery and staying in school. And if I can get the weather here, that makes it even better!

Just finished watching Anastasia, forgot how much I love that movie. And how dark it is... but the bat is sooo cute! Regardless, a good way to spend my Wednesday, no? Good night everyone :)

and... we're back

Back in D.C, back to real life (sort of? I feel like college - or at least the college I'm currently experiencing - doesn't count). Regardless, the weather is b-e-a-utiful here (unlike the 40 degrees and pouring rain my poor family is currently experiencing in lovely MN) and I'm back without a scooter! I left the horrid instrument - I'm being mean to it. It was a love-hate relationship - back at home, and I've been instructed by the doctor to walk sans crutches! It's painful and I'm kind of gimpy, but it's just so exciting! Went to the dining hall for the first time on my own two feet, it was quite a moment. On another note, my outfit today:

 jcrew shirt

martin&osa shorts

 Oh how I love summer clothes! I know that I will be complaining about them soon enough, and begin waxing poetic about my sweaters and boots. But for now, let the record show that I am excited to start wearing my shorts and sundresses again (though I am disturbed to discover that many of those dresses that were quite short to begin with are now tipping more into the scandalously short region. Did I experience some sort of growth spurt unknowingly? Stress). Though note the fact that my feet are still cut off in the photograph - I am still forced to wear those lovely tennis shoes, and probably will for some time. No flip flops or cute flat sandals for Alison.

rings (from left to right): gift from Grandma (studded), flea market in Oregon (rose), class ring, market in Greece

How I've missed all my rings! As I've complained many a time before, they are just a nuisance while on crutches. So now that I'm no longer on crutches, I went a little crazy with my rings and threw them all on. 

Today was a pretty good day, chill as per usual considering my current schedule. After all classes were over, I went to Sweetgreen for dinner and tried their salads for the first time. They are quite good! I would definitely walk down there once and a while for a break from the dining hall (where the salads are most definitely lacking). And I will throw in a little reference to Glee - the episode was an hour and a half tonight and sooo good! Especially love the mash-up Quinn and Rachel did in the beginning. Ok. Done being annoying and talking about silly tv. 

Trying to get this up before midnight since I haven't posted in Sunday... we shall see if I succeed. Good night!

new (old) jewelry

So, in lieu of outfit pictures tonight (though Natalie and I did have pretty fabulous Easter outfits if I do say so myself), this post is dedicated to some gorgeous new jewelry Natalie and I got from our Grandma Bev!

First is this ring, which we have decided that during the times we don't live together (a.k.a anytime except the summer) gets to stay with me. It's my great-grandmother Gigi's class ring, and I absolutely adoreee it. It has such a cool vintage feel, and I do love my rings! Can't wait to be off crutches so I can start wearing them all again (another downside to dressing with crutches - rings cut into your hands in a quite painful way. Is there no end to the havoc this injury will wreak on my fashion?!)

And here is the piece Natalie gets to keep with her! It's also Gigi's, and it's from when she was the Grand Matron (I believe that is the correct title?) of the Order of the Eastern Star. Funnily enough, when we were traipsing around D.C while moving me into Georgetown, we saw a building that belonged to the Order and thought it was really creepy... but since we have family connections, maybe we can become members! That would be kind of awesome

So, it was a lovely Easter with the Vandenburgh family. We went to church, then headed over to my aunt and uncle's house for dinner. Natalie and Dad tried to bike there, then my dad popped two tires and we had to go pick them up. Then we forgot the ice cream and the bread at home and had to turn around to go back about halfway there... overall it was a long trip. But dinner was yummy and Natalie made this amaaazing chocolate pudding cake thing. Now we are all home and I am putting up this post then packing to go back to school tomorrow! Can't believe how fast break went by, but I'm excited to get back to school, only a few more weeks until summer!

Hope you all had a lovely Easter, good night :)

bday celebration

So I wasn't dressed very cute today, but then we all went out to the club to celebrate my mother's birthday, and Natalie and I dressed up a bit! We went to J. Crew earlier, and they are having an amazing 30% off all sale, so we went a little crazy. Here Natalie and I are both wearing some new pieces we got!

 jcrew cardigan

 jcrew top (new purchase)

american eagle shorts

I love Natalie's mixing of neons here! It's something I can never pull off (as you may or may not have noticed, I'm not really a color person). And the top is so much fun. It's kind of sheer, with a minimalist look to it despite the bright colors. And I love the shorts! Apparently she wears them all the time, and I can see why - the tie-waist and the navy color is gorgeous

mother's necklace

jcrew shirt (new purchase)

old navy cardigan

 jcrew pants

jcrew shoes

I really should work at J. Crew.... Perhaps I should see if they're hiring for summer? But honestly I feel like half my wardrobe comes from them and I would do such a good job working for them! Problem is it's soooo difficult to get your first job. Everyone wants you to have experience, but you can't have experience if you don't get a job - catch 22 anyone? 

Once again, don't have that much to say. Besides shopping and dinner, mostly I've spent my time watching Top Chef and reading fashion magazines. Living the American dream, right? Anyways, good night all!

home again!

How I love being at home! I have come to love Georgetown, my life and my friends in Washington D.C, but nothing compares to spending time with my family in Minnesota (despite the approximately 30 degree difference - no shorts here!). Today has been a relaxing day, with a chiropractic adjustment and a massage. Crutches really mess up your back, so apparently I'm a mess... But they really improved my walking! Assuming the doctor doesn't uncover anything earth-shattering in my appointment on Monday, I should be walking on one crutch when I get back and moving shortly to none at all! 

 old navy sweater

 vintage necklace

 gap jeans

Since we (or rather I) didn't leave the house today other than for a lunch outing to Noodles&Company (why don't we have these in D.C? Their pesto is my absolute favorite) I decided to keep my outfit simple. What really made it is the necklace, another awesome piece from my Grandma in Iowa.

I love all the jewelry she brings me! Mom really wants to keep this one, and she may have to fight me for it! We both decided that the clasp, with its beautiful detailing, should be worn in front and shown off. This new batch of jewelry also came with amazing silver pendant locket with a little carved scene on the front and enough pretty, delicate chains to last me a lifetime! I'm sure I'll be showing you more of them very soon.

Not much to say now that I'm here! Oooh but one thing: lent ends tomorrow! At sundown I am officially allowed to eat all the muffins and cupcakes I want! It's been a hard road, and I'm sad to say that for the last 40 days I've been trying to replace my carb fix with bagels (not any healthier...) but I'm almost done. Tomorrow mom and I will head over to a new bakery downtown to pick out the perfect muffins, and Natalie is baking a cake to celebrate her own as well as my mother's return to sweets - they both gave them all up for Lent! I don't know how they did it, I would have gone absolutely insane. 

But I'm going to bed now, so good night world :)

warmer days

So here's my outfit from yesterday, which despite being cloudy turned out to be quite nice - much like today! I'm so excited that it seems to be finally getting warmer here. Like actually warmer, without any random 40 degree rainstorm days (fingers crossed). Sadly, today I'm getting on a plan and going to somewhere much colder (I mean this in a fashion sense only - I can't wait to go home, even though its cold)

h&m button down

bdg tank

martin&osa shorts

Bringing out my shorts makes me miss Martin&Osa again - I don't know how many of you will recognize the name, it was an offshoot of American Eagle targeted at an older age group. It was so cute and classic and had great sales!  I own two pairs of their shorts and they are my absolute favorite. Then they closed it down and filled its place with American Eagle's new store aimed at babies and such. Really?

I'm packing my suitcase (a.k.a filling it with all my dirty laundry so I can do it at home for free) and getting ready to head to the airport - while deciding whether or not to go to the early map class. I can't go to my section, but technically I would have time to go the earlier section. And since I gave myself a little gift this morning and slept through my 8:50 philosophy class, I feel like I should go. I probably will. Look at me, going to classes like I actually attend this school! (Just kidding mom ^^)

On that note, happy birthday to my mom! I'm so glad that I get to come home for your birthday (thank you Catholic school and Easter break), love you and can't wait to see you and the rest of the family! 

Cheers everyone, have a lovely afternoon :)

oh mondays

Is it weird, that I like Mondays? Only because on Mondays I only have two classes, meaning that I'm done at noon - almost as good as Fridays, where I start at 11 and am done at 1, but who doesn't like Fridays? Once again, the weather was lovely. Its like the world is trying to make Mondays more manageable for everyone by giving us nice weather! Keep it coming :)

jcrew top and cardigan

gap jeans

I just got back from a relaxing session playing piano in the practice rooms behind my dorm - the rooms aren't soundproofed and there are only two of them, which is annoying, but honestly playing the piano is such a stress reliever I don't even mind! Only thing is I think I might be giving myself a mild case of carpal tunnel with the crutching, and playing the piano doesn't exactly help that... oh well

Just some detail shots. My mother, a.k.a the jcrew sale ninja, picked these up for me as a little pick-me-up over spring break since I wasn't exactly spending it like I planned (in other words I was at home on the couch with my foot elevated instead of on the beach with my friend in California - bit of a difference). But I really like the cardigan! Most all of my cardigans are neutrals, and this kind of burnt red is really a nice change.

Can't believe that I go home in two days! It's been a long stretch since spring break, and I can't wait to go home to show my family all the progress I've made in my healing - fingers crossed I will be walking by the end of the semester, I honestly think I'm really close! Send healing thoughts my way

Deciding what to do tonight, since I've actually done all the homework I have due for this week! I know, I'm so ahead (or, I barely had any to start with - but that doesn't sound as good). Perhaps a movie? I've really had the urge to see Pirate Radio, brought it with me to school and haven't watched it in a while... we shall see. Have a good night :)

two day update

Due to my failure to post yesterday, you get two outfits today! I like them both, but if you ask me they look like they come from to completely different climates. Washington springs are so confusing - yesterday it was chilly and drizzling (although I will say it cleared up nicely in the evening) and today was absolutely gorgeous and sunny! I am just not mentally equipped to deal with these changes. I get myself in the swing of summer clothes, thinking up outfits with floral sundresses and denim shorts, then I wake up the next day to find it pouring buckets with a high of 40 degrees. Difficulties to be sure

 jcrew tshirt

 h&m button down

 gap jeans

 So yesterday was an interesting day - managed to make it to all of my classes despite the rain, which I'm proud of, but I have to say I totally failed on the homework front. I probably watched 4 episodes of "Make it or Break it" (my new bad-tv obsession - they have all the back episodes on hulu and I'm making my way through) and read only I would say, 14 pages of philosophy? That's what I get for going up to the 4th floor to do homework with other people. Pros: puppy chow and good conversation. Cons: distraction, distraction, distraction!

old navy tank top

zara cardigan

vintage skirt

I must say today was gorgeous! We even managed to get our T.A to let us have philosophy discussion outside on the grass, which was quite lovely. And walking out of my econ class I saw the most beautiful tree with little pink flowers, I think it must have just bloomed or I would have noticed it before. Little things that make my Thursdays (the most busy day for me, class-wise) a little bit better.

That's about it, want to keep this post short and sweet since it has double the photos as usual - hope you all had gorgeous weather like we had today! Enjoy the evening :)

and it goes downhill...

The weather at least. It was rainy and gross outside, so much so that I only made it to 1 out of my 2 classes... that's probably mostly my fault though to be honest. So here's the story: this morning I wake up to find what looks like a popped blood vessel in my eye, so I have to wear glasses. I made it to Russian ok because I was on my scooter and able to mostly shield my eyes. However, while walking to Russian on my crutches in the torrential downpour that is spring in Washington D.C, the hood of my raincoat is blown off my head, I can't hold it up because my hands are busy crutching, and my hair and glasses are getting soaked - basically I just said screw it, turned around and went back in the dorm. Good decision, no? I think so

topshop necklace

old navy shirt

thrifted belt

jcrew pants

Basically that's the only story from my day - ever since we got the final paper assignment for my philosophy class and it says that we can write our paper on Aristotle OR Marx OR Macintyre, I've just decided that since I obviously won't be writing a paper on Marx I should just stop reading him. I read the Communist Manifesto, how much else by him do you really need? Therefore I've been left with a lot of hulu time, as well as time to - memorize all the capitals in the world! Yes, I finally did it! As you may or may not know, I've been studying these for my geography final, and it's been slowly melting my brain. But now its done, and with some refreshers I should be good on that for the final! Yayy!

That's really all I have to say! Have a lovely evening :)

gorgeous day

So apparently Mondays equal awesome weather... almost makes them manageable, no? But honestly, both today (sadly a Monday) and last Monday were beautiful, in the 70's if not over 80. So last week I got to wear a dress, and today I broke out the shorts. It was a pretty awesome moment for me

coco love shirt

h&m cardigan

vintage necklace

martin&osa shorts

The first picture, besides showing my necklace, also shows off the adorable pattern of my shirt! Its covered in tiny little foxes, and I absolutely adore it.

Shows the detail on the back - such a fun, interesting shirt! Got it for pretty cheap back last semester when I visited my friend Beth in NYC for the weekend and we had a Soho day. Good times.

So I had physical therapy today and the good news is that I don't have anything horribly wrong with my foot that is making it hurt so badly. Apparently I just have a lot of swelling in my foot that is pushing on the nerves and causing it to hurt. Therefore I just need to ice it frequently and take regular ibuprofen along with elevation to make the swelling go down and it should start to feel better. That, along with all the exercises I'm doing to strengthen that leg, should (fingers crossed) have me walking fairly soon! And don't worry, I'm not getting carried away with myself - by fairly soon, I mean maybe in a few weeks? We shall see. I've given up on putting dates on when I should be done. It just leads to disappointment and stress.

In other news, I am sooo near Easter Break! I go home a week from Wednesday, and I can't wait to see everyone and get a mini-break from school before the hectic-ness of finals. But for now, I think I will just watch some hulu and eat a bit of the pita and hummus I bought for myself at the library... Yum. Have a good night :)

lazy sunday

Slept in until 11 this morning and it was absolutely amazing! Been doing homework on and off all day but honestly, and as usual, I don't have that much to do, so it's been pretty chill. The weather wasn't as warm as expected - actually, for a while, it was 20 degrees warmer at home in MN that it was here. How does that happen?? But still it was lovely, and tomorrow is supposed to hit 80 degrees - excited to break out the shorts!

zara tshirt

bdg cardigan

vintage necklace

jcrew pants

Bad news about the foot though: it hurts. A lot. And I honestly don't know why! My heel (a.k.a the formerly broken part) doesn't hurt at all. It's every other joint in my foot that screams every time I try to make a walking motion. Got to be honest, its kind of disheartening. But I have physical therapy tomorrow, so wish me luck! Hopefully Sarah can shed some light on whats going on.

It was a pretty fun weekend overall though! We went out to a Lebanese restaurant on Friday night for Jessie's birthday (she's a girl on my hall) and despite the horrible service, the food was really really good (I ate more carbs than I care to recall...) Afterward we got fro yo at sweetgreen - complete with candles for the birthday girl. It was my first time on the metro with crutches, and it went well! 

Saturday on the other hand was pretty chill, just hanging out in the library doing homework and spending the night in the dorm hanging out with friends. But its a good balance, you know? I just don't understand the people that go out every night - its just so tiring! And speaking of people having a bit too much fun on the weekends, one of the elevators was closed today for cleaning because some idiot threw up. When the elevator is your only option to get out of the building and is now at least twice as slow as its previous turtle- speed, things can get a bit annoying. Hopefully it will be up and running again tomorrow...

That's about all I have to say! Hope you all had a lovely weekend too, get some sleep because tomorrow Monday's back again (does it really have to happen every week?) Good night :)

oh thursday

Pretty good day overall - can't believe how the week has flown! I had physical therapy, got to be honest it wasn't as fun as Tuesday's session, with its exciting walking discovery. Instead, now that we have discovered that I can walk we've graduated from picking up marbles with my toes to having me balance on my bad foot. Which, by the way, is physically impossible for me at the moment. I have absolutely nothing in the way of ankle muscles, and it was actually embarrassing how much I failed at it. And my foot hurts. A fair amount actually. But I know that its necessary, its just soreness from the ankle and stress from a general lack of use. I'm getting there. It's been what, 3 weeks of therapy? So another couple and hopefully I can graduate to a functioning undergrad once more

forever21 necklace

old navy shirt

gap jeans

Cut-off head - remember when I said I wouldn't do this? It is actually unfortunate how often this happens, but as you can tell by looking at the time this was posted, its kind of late, I look kind of messy. Such is life.

Guess what? I now know almost all the countries in the world! In the School of Foreign Service, we have a geography requirement, specifically "Map of the Modern World" - a one-credit course based completely on the final, on which we must get 70% to pass. To be prepared we need, among other things, to know the locations and capitals of all the countries in the world. And with the help of sporcle.com (suchhh a fun site by the way) I know all countries - except the ones in Oceania. But does anyone actually know those? And capitals are a different story all together...

Ok I'm going to bed now! For this first time this week I get to sleep in and I plan on getting as much sleep as possible - sweet dreams everyone :)

best. day. ever.

I mean, in the grand scheme of things that might be a bit of an overstatement, but its been a pretty awesome day - my physical therapist told me I should walk in the dorm without crutches! She had me do an exercise where I walked over cones, first with one crutch, then with my crutch nearby, then without them altogether. And I did it! I still walk kind of weirdly, but its such a big step I can't get over it! Oh the things I can do now... I had my friend hold my crutches so I could walk down the stairs outside our dorm like a normal person, and - I showered in a real shower stall tonight! Not in the horrid handicapped stall, with its badly designed bench and wimpy water pressure. I mean, our showers aren't awesome, but I was actually so happy to be in them I didn't even care. So overall, pretty awesome day.

jcrew cardigan

zara tank

gap jeans

Now all I need is for the weather to warm up and to get out of these tennis shoes and my life will be perfect :)

Sooo, my outfit was just ok today, kind of simple, not really any detail shots or extra photos necessary. So I wanted to reflect my happiness with some gorgeous cherry blossom photos! Some girls on my hall went this weekend, and although I didn't go because not only would it have been logistically difficult, but I had a lot of reading, they took pictures and it looks absolutely gorgeous!

For sure will be going out to this next year when I am a normal, walking college student again. But on the bright side, we have some gorgeous flowers here too! Earlier we had crocuses, and these gorgeous red tulips outside of White-Gravenor. And we have lilacs!! I was so sad to be missing the lilacs, my house back in MN is surrounded with them and they smell divine... but I'm rambling again. I still have basically nothing to do. Before 7 this evening I had already done my Russian and Econ for tomorrow as well as doing a quarter of the philosophy readings not due until next week (working ahead? horrible I know). Ughhh I will go insane if I have another movie night in my room while the rest of the world has lives. But oh well. Today goes to show that I will be there soon!

Hope you are all having lovely spring days :)

beautifullll day

Today, it was over 80 degrees. I know. Compared to last weeks constant drizzle and bone-chilling wind, it was absolutely amazing. At times, it was actually too warm. Is that possible? Considering its supposed to rain tomorrow, probably I will regret that statement.

h&m cardigan and dress

vintage belt

Something about this dress: its definitely shorter than I remember. I only bought it recently, when I was home for spring break and shopping with my mother. And it's probably shorter than she remembers too... to tell you a secret (except I'm sharing it, and she shares it, so not really), my mother does not really approve of my summer-dress wardrobe. She finds them all too short. And yes, while I will grant that they are short, I believe that I wear them appropriately (and generally, like today, with shorts underneath). And I'm quite tall, so when stores make normal-length dresses, they are short on me. When they make short dresses? No-sirree those are just shirts on me. So there. How many years is it appropriate for a girl to where such short dresses anyways? Might as well live it up while I can :)

I do like Mondays - never thought I would ever actually say those words. But being done at noon is quite refreshing (especially on such nice days!) and a good way to ease back into the week. Don't think that will be an option next year though. Looking at classes for next semester, and not really sure how its all going to work out! I'm rambling now, so I think I'm going to be done... and watch a movie? Perhaps. Once again, no homework for the evening. So cheers!

rough day

 topshop necklace

 target top

 gap jeans

 kirkland sweater (as I said before, yes, it is indeed from Costo... awesome right?)

 vintage necklace

jcrew pants

My innocence has been shattered. Last night while studying Russian on my bed I look down to find a mouse scurrying throughout my shoes on the floor, not 3 feet away. A mouse. In my room. As most girls are wont to do (despite the fact that I owned pet mice as a child) I screamed and texted/facebooked just about everyone telling them to come save me. I mean, when you have a broken foot and need crutches, you can't even run! What is my life? I was almost content to just stay there, until my roommate texted me saying she googled it and found that mice can climb walls. And my friend facebooked me saying they jump. Really? Are these super-mice? Clearly I spent the rest of the evening in my friends room, despite the venture back in to set up mouse traps (which, may I add, was an adventure in its own right, one that didn't work out so well...). That's really all I have to say, it kind of overshadowed the rest of my week.

P.S Sorry for no faces in the pictures (they are from Wednesday and Thursday respectively, by the way) - as the post explains, things were rough, I think my will to take good photos suffered along with it...