We're all human, so we should act like it. Oh, and an Outfit, too!

Do you ever have those days where no matter how much you get done, you never feel productive? The days where everything feels a little out of place, and your clothes don't fit exactly like you want them to, and your favorite food doesn't taste as good, and there's no real explanation for any it? Yesterday was one of those days for me. 

I had my day planned out, including my outfit, and the blogpost I was going to do after I got home from school. It was going to be a quick outfit post, saying "Hey! Here's me wearing a sheer Zara shirt and a 100% Human shirt, topped off with a collar I made myself!" (which is all pictured above, btw). But I was just in such a weird mood, it almost felt like I was being artificial in writing something so unsubstantial. I just felt like I wasn't being honest to only write about what I looked like from the outside, when there was so much going on inside. 

I was thinking about how I felt, which was like crying, even though there wasn't something really wrong. As I felt the tears welling in my eyes, I kept trying to come up with reasons for why they were there. "Is something wrong with me? Did something happen today that made me upset? Am I about to get my period?" But the answer was no to all of these questions, which made me even more frustrated. I think that as human beings, we have to have excuses and justifications for everything we feel or do, and not even to other humans, but to ourselves.

At this point, I looked down at my shirt, which read 100% Human.

This shirt was created as an advocate for human rights, saying we're all more alike than we are different, since we are all 100% human. I love this idea, and in no way am I trying to undermine it, because I think it's one of the most important philosophies in the world right now. But I think it can be stretched to include other ideas too.

Humans are a vulnerable species, whether we like to admit it or not. We can put up barriers between each other, and we can act strong, or like we don't care, but the truth is that we feel a spectrum of emotions every single day, and unlike our actions or words, we can't really control this. So why do we need to justify this to ourselves, and others? Why is it so looked down upon to cry in public? And why do we automatically look crazy if we walk around smiling? Why does everyone have to pretend they feel "fine" or "good" every time the cashier asks? I can only speak for myself, but I'm pretty sure not everyone feels "fine" all the time. Sometimes we feel ecstatic, and other times we feel totally despondent. And this is ok! This is what makes us 100% human.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I wish that there was more honesty about emotions, and more of a dialogue between all people, regardless of how well you know each other, or how much you may think you have in common. I think it would be cool if you could tell your cashier that you felt really excited because you just ordered a cool new sweater and it could be at your house any minute now. And then, maybe your cashier could tell you that honestly, they're not having the best day ever because their dog ran away that morning and they haven't found her yet.

A little bit of honesty can do a lot of good. I think if everyone was more open, (and I'm included in everyone) people might feel less alone in their own situations, and their could even be a bigger sense of community in the world, because that is slipping away. Sure, everyone has digital connections with other people, but how many real human connections do we make on a daily basis? Not enough, in my opinion.

  And, on a totally different side note, I did make this collar the other day, and embroidered it myself. It's a really fun way to jazz up a simple outfit.

I'll Tell You What I Want

(what I really really want)

For the past week, about 90% (maybe more) of my time has been spent in bed. I had an emergency with my uh.. tailbone area, and even spent some time in an ambulance, and the ER! Woohoo. To say the least, it has all been a big pain in the ass (pun totally intended). But on the bright side, I have had endless computer time. When I haven't been catching up on homework or binging on Gossip Girl, I've been playing this game where I go on Nordstrom's or Topshop or Net-A-Porter and fill my cart up with beautiful items I can't afford, and imagine myself strutting through the Upper East Side with my lips perfectly glossed, wearing them (yes, I have been watching too much Gossip Girl). 

Anyway, I'd like so share some of the things I've been lusting after lately. 

   Gucci loafers. Another synonym for perfection. But really, could these be any more amazing? I'm just as in love with the red pair with the cat on them, but this pair really caught my eye. I just got a pair of gold velvet socks, and the two together would make the best pair. Sigh. One day I will own Gucci shoes.

That's my meditative mantra by the way. I repeat it over and over as I do my Ujjayi breathing. "I will own Gucci shoes one day, I will own Gucci shoes one day." It really gets me into that yoga zone.

One thing I am currently obsessed with in fashion right now: different textures. This fuzzy-blanket like fabric mixed with the double breasted sophisticated-ness of this coat is such a good combo. Good job Topshop.

Socks and sandals is a trend that I will pretty much always stand behind, unless the sandals are flip flops. I'll never stand behind anything that has to do with flip flops. But these sandals, besides being incredibly funky and original, would look SO cool with my gold velvet socks too! Velvet on velvet is my obsession right now, in case you haven't noticed. Plus, brining socks into the game makes these platforms wearable in winter too. Always a plus. I found these on Man Repeller and it was love at first sight. Unfortunately, even if I had the 208$ to spend on these, they're all sold out online. 

                                               

In my first life, I was a victorian princess who went to tea parties, ate crumpets, and spent my free time in Alice in Wonderland style flower gardens. The extreme desire to own this Needle & Thread shirt is a remnant of that life seeping into this one. 

I love things that you wouldn't think would go well together, but then they somehow do. For example, to me, these pretty, dangly earrings say fancy night out, but I think it would be really fun to pair them with a band t shirt and leather jacket.

You didn't think I could make a wishlist with only just one Gucci piece on it, did you? I don't care if bombers are fading out. This jacket beats trends, it's insane! The shoulder detail, the rainbow bottom, all of it...gah! Alessandro Michele is brilliant. 

I want a Gucci jacket! I want it now! (in very snobby British accent)

Well that concludes my Veruca Salt moment of spewing off the things I currently want, although I could probably list quite a few more if you let me. If only my birthday was coming up. 

Paid to Stitch

After doing my first Frida Kahlo embroidery, which you may have seen on here a couple weeks ago, I received a sweet direct message on Instagram from someone I didn't know, asking me to do an embroidery commission for her. I love to embroider, and of course, I said yes. 

The girl who asked soon mailed me her denim jacket, and I got to work embroidered Frida on the back. 

The final product made me so happy, and I hope it made it's owner happy too. 

It was only my second time embroidering Frida's face (not my first time embroidering) and it was crazy to see how much I improved from the first Frida to the second! See for yourself below.

My first take on Frida

Frida 2.0!

I hope to get more commissions to work on soon. Not just Frida, but I want to explore other faces and things too! 

No Sleep til Brooklyn

After much internal debate and some last minute decision making from my family, we decided to take a mini trip to New York City for a quick escape from small town Virginia life. 

Packing Necessities: Patti tee, a camera, red lipstick, Jeffrey Campbell boots that killed my feet, and my jeans with a snake patch.

NYC is my favorite city, I fall in love again every single time we go. This time, to shake things up a bit, we stayed in Brooklyn. 

I've had this idea in my head for a while, where I grow up and live as a fashion designer (or whatever I end up becoming) in Brooklyn. I wanted to use this trip to confirm whether or not it actually would be a place I could live, and it definitely was. My friend, who goes to Pratt, gave me a tour of the school, and I loved it. 

Now, on another note, one of my favorite things about NYC is the food. There's just so much! New York pretty much has it all when it comes to food. Here's a mini review of the best things I ate on my little trip. 

Champ's Diner (See first photo on left)-  All vegan diner food, with a cool old but modern diner style atmosphere. The sweet potato fries were out of this world!  I ordered a little bit of everything, and feasted on vegan pancakes, tofu scramble, tempeh bacon, and hash browns. 10/10 would eat there again. 

Roberta's - A very hip pizza joint in Brooklyn. It felt a little bit like we were at a club, the trap music was so loud we had to shout to make conversation, but I like trap so it wasn't that big of a deal. Plus, the margarita pizza was soo good. 

The Bagel Store - Classic tourists. One of the main motivators of the trip was the rainbow bagels we repeatedly saw on Instagram. I watched a video on how they were made, and someone in it described the experience as eating cake for breakfast. That was no lie. 

Tea Bar (Last photo on right) - A little Brooklyn coffee shop that we stopped in whenever we needed to re-caffeinate. They matcha and chai tea lattes were superb here. (I can't really believe I just used the term superb, but they were.) 

Five Leaves (Middle Photo) - This was our last food stop on the way out of Brooklyn. We had eaten so much the past few days, and I spent all the time before the hipster waiter took our order debating between more pancakes, or trying something healthy (a word I forgot the meaning of in NYC.) I went with the healthy option, a bowl of quinoa, farro, and some other grain I can't remember the name of. It had watermelon radish, poached eggs, and asparagus on it. Let's just say I'm still dreaming of this bowl today. 

Nyc is like a different world. It has trends that catch on before anywhere else in the US, and I love to go there, just to see what they are. This visit, I noticed that oversized is everything. People were wearing culottes with big, bulky sweaters. And trench coats were everywhere too. All different kinds, but I saw a lot of furry ones. Denim jackets are a classic still too, but just make sure that you don't walk out in NYC wearing a denim jacket without covering it in patches first. 

Shoe wise, I am SO happy to see that they Adidas Superstars are finally out. Vans are the new adidas for sure. 

So that basically wraps up my trip. It definitely got my creative juices flowing, and in the next few weeks (when I'm not studying, of course) I hope to be working on some new projects and then putting them up here! 

In 2017 I Want To Focus on...

It's easy, with places to be and obligations and the stress of everyday life, to forget that taking care of yourself well really matters. I know from experience. Throughout 2016, I found myself feeling sick, breaking out to the point of wanting to wear a paper bag over my head, getting headaches that lasted for weeks, and just feeling down and bad about myself. All of this was pretty much caused by stress. So with that said, I am writing this post for myself, and others, with some ideas for treating yourself the best during 2017. 

First and most obvious; take a bath and relax! 

Light some candles. Put some music on. 

Baths are proven to improve your mood, help your skin, decrease muscle pain, and help you sleep. Just don't make your water too hot, because that isn't actually very good for you. 

                        Spice your bath up with a nice body scrub, a face mask, or some essential oils! 

These are my favorites: Pure Body Naturals Dead Sea Face Mask, Majestic Pure Spirulina Skin Scrub, Eden's Gardens Essential Oils, Witch Hazel to splash on my face, and of course anything from Lush. 

Here is my bath playlist!

#2 : Yoga!

 If you aren't already a yoga-practicer, you may have already made up some itdeas about this physical and mental form of exercise in your head. For example, my little brother thought about it as easy, and made fun of me when I talked about yoga as a workout. Others may find yoga to be too intense physically, or too zen. But really, the cool thing about yoga is that it can be changed to suit anyone. If you are looking for meditation mixed with a muscle stretch, yoga is perfect. If you want a workout

that will make you strong (and sweaty) yoga can be like that too.

For me, yoga helps me be more open and accepting of myself, and I am currently working on becoming stronger through yoga, both physically and mentally.

This is my most recent yoga playlist.

#3: Bust a move!

Put on your red shoes! Let loose! Boogie!

But for real. Whether it's at a concert, a party, alone in your bedroom, or in the kitchen with the broom as a microphone, dancing always will increase your mood. You don't have to qualify for Dancing With the Stars or anything, it's not about being good. It's about opening up, moving, and being spontaneous. Life can become really monotonous and restricted sometimes. Everyone gets caught up in routines, and it's easy to get stuck in them. But when you're dancing you don't really know what is coming. Each move just moves into the next, and for a little bit those routines are forgotten. So if dancing isn't a part of your day already, then crank up your favorite tunes and break it down! 

Here are some of my favorite songs to dance to.

#4: Listen

And not to the people telling you what you should or should not do. You shouldn't have to call a certain type of music your "guilty pleasure" as so many do. If you like it, listen to it and be proud! Music can really influence how you feel, so don't listen to something that doesn't make you feel good, just because everyone else is.

For me, it's Chance The Rapper, and I'm not afraid to have everyone know that I blast No Problem anytime I feel down. 

This is my spotify if you wanna see what I'm listening to! 

#5: Wear what YOU want

You don't have to wear what fashion magazines say is "in style" if it doesn't make you feel good about yourself. Rock what you want to rock, not what everyone rocks if it doesn't feel right. And if anyone says anything about how you dress, don't listen to em! You'll be the cooler person in the long run. 

#6: Eat Right! 

Sure, a little indulgence once in a while is fine. But in the long run, if your main diet is simple and wholesome, your body will thank you. I don't wanna sound like a health magazine or something, so I won't say much more. But when you eat, think of your body as a fantastic machine, and in order to keep it running, you have to give it all of the things it needs, and extra stuff will only slow it down. And the more colorful the better! 

#7: Get some Vitamin D!

Just a couple of minutes a day in the sun (if you have it where you live!) can seriously help your mood and mindset. Go outside, get a breath of fresh air, and soak up some sun. 

#8: Take time to do what YOU wanna do

This can be hard if you have a busy life. Last year I thought I didn't have time to do anything I wanted, until a teacher helped changed my mind a little bit. He said that you have time to do anything, it's just how you prioritize that time. For me, that would mean that if I spent ten less minutes on my phone, I'd have ten more minutes for embroidery.

Hopefully this post gave you some ideas of how you can treat yourself this year! If you have any self care tips to share I'd love to hear them. I wish you all the light and love and happiness that 2017 can give.

xoxo
India

business with a twist

my outfit from thursday

it consisted of a blazer I thrifted for 3$, tassle earrings I got from a shop near my grandparents house with locally made items, the ring is vintage, and the necklaces are mostly made by me. 

r&b baby

The past few weeks have been kind of (very) rough for me. Now is just one of those times where nothing seems to be going right. I haven't woken up with the same excitement about life that I used to. 

Luckily, there is one good thing that happened recently. The Weeknd released a new album and it's fantastic. I listened to the whole thing at least 4 times today. 

This year has been shitty for a lot of reasons, but a good year for r&b. Blood Orange, Frank Ocean, Chance the Rapper, Drake, The Weeknd, Rihanna, and freaking Beyoncé all released albums this year! 

Here's a playlist of some of my favorite r&b tunes (though not all are from this year). Check it out!

                                           

fried koala

After beginning this project in the spring, abandoning it for a month or two, then working on it sporadically for a while, the seven hour car drive over thanksgiving break finally pushed me to finish embroidering Frida Kahlo onto the knee of an old pair of jeans. 

a clean slate

I feel like most of my previous posts, while I usually wrote what I felt, had a little bit of falseness to them. I ended all of them with "I'll be back soon!" or something like that, but of course I never stayed true to that. Part of me wants to delete this entire blog and start fresh. A clean slate sounds so nice. I'm all about clean slates lately. I got rid of tons of clothing that didn't feel "me" anymore, redid my room so it is much more minimalist, and better for creating. I could do the same thing here, but I'm not going to yet. This is a platform I have been building up since seventh grade, and it shows progress, which is positive. Really I'm just looking for positivity in any shape or form right now.



I hope that showing up, and posting on here more will do that. At first, I blogged for other people. I wanted everyone to see what I was doing, where I was, etc. I still do, and I'm still writing in hopes that someone out there will read this and be interested in my achievements, but I also want to do it for myself. I want a place to keep track of what I'm doing, to be able to look back and say "see, I have improved." For now, I'm going to ease back into it slowly. I'm not promising a weekly post or anything. I know with school work I won't be keeping that up at first.

This is my room right now. Or, some parts of it at least. 

making six seconds that last forever

As an artist and creative kind of person in general, I always seem to bite off more than I can chew when it comes to projects. One day I'll paint something, then decide I'm going to make a line of similar paintings, sell them, and become a famous artist. The next, I make a dress or something, and plot how I can get on Project Runway. As if perfecting my cello skills isn't enough, last week I had a few days where all I wanted was a guitar. I figured using Vine again would be like that, and that it would probably die out as I got busy with my other ambitious ideas. But so far, it hasn't, and I am really enjoying it as a way to express myself.

flower girls

I Still Exist!!

Just maybe not on my blog. Or on He Grew, She Drew. But I am attempting to make a comeback! School is over, so I really have no excuse for not blogging. Summer break is finally here for me, and I'm so excited about it. I have an endless list of things to do, and this is the first summer in two years that I am not moving, so hopefully I can actually get some things done. So far, I have been! I painted these mushrooms, which you can find for sale on my Etsy (my shop is Ophiblu!) I also still have Shop Local tees up there too, and I will continue to add art as I make it. 

                       

So, if you are still coming around to my blog every once in a while, thank you! Enjoy this watercolor painting I did, and then go outside because it's summer! 

dressin up

I'm home from NYC, and with me I brought back many ideas and quite a bit of inspiration. Oh, and also $80 worth of fabric from Mood....! One kind of fabric that I got is this lightly striped linen. With it I decided to make a vintage-inspired dress. It was sort of ambitious, considering that I haven't sewn a whole lot lately, and I didn't even have a pattern. But that didn't stop me. I created my own pattern, based off one of my dresses from UO, and got sewing.

 It took me three days total to make it. That means three days of spending 80% of the day in my room sewing, pinning, cutting, accidentally stabbing myself with pins, throwing piles of thread onto the floor, and forgetting to eat lunch. But it was all worth it! I am in love with how it turned out.