To Rise with the Maine Tide

Outfit Details:

Jacket: Wetseal

Sweater: Kohl's
Necklace: Lace Affair

Dress & Boots: TJmaxx

Tights & Socks: Target

The last few post have all been about my New England adventure, well this was my last stop. It wasn't intentional, but perhaps ended up being the most important. I ended up arriving here just at sunset, tired after a day of driving and adventuring. I booked a room just for one night, right beside the ocean. I set my alarm for an early hour and woke to watch the sunrise. It was gorgeous. Then I went back to my room and got my tripod and camera and came back to take pictures.

When you're the one always taking pictures on an old point and shoot camera, you're never sure what you are going to get. The years of self photography have taught me a lot, as have books and the internet. But these have to be some of my favorite pictures I've ever take. The location mixed with magic hour -  I just don't know how you're supposed to beat that.

I should mention that this was when I fell head over heels in love with Maine, but that story is for another day. 

Blue on the River

Outfit Details:

Jacket: Wetseal

Sweater: Belgium

Dress: Charming Charlie's

Purse & Scarf & Socks & Tights & Boots: Target

Scarf in last picture: Paris

The second part of my New England trip was in Vermont. The city was alive, the lake was beautiful, and the trees blasting with colors. I stayed there a few days - mostly enjoying myself. This day I went off to a small city, where I sat beside the river with a coffee and relaxed. 

New England Travels

 Outfit Details: 

Jacket: Wetseal

You and Me Forever Dress: Modcloth

Blue Shirt: Kohl's

Tights & Hat & Socks: Target

Scarf: Paris

Shoes: TJmaxx

This past fall I took a solo trip around the New England area. I took my time getting where I was going so that I could just stop in beautiful places like these and take pictures. Most of these were all in New York state. I seemed to hit everything at the right time, right as the trees were at the end of their brightest days. 

You don't hear often of people taking trips by themselves to places they've never been, not even places where they have been. It's scary and exhilarating. You learn more about yourself than when traveling in a group. Any bumps you find on the road are left for you to fix, well most of the time. I also learned a lot about the kindness of strangers traveling alone. I'd suggest everyone try it at least once. 

Victorian Lakeside

Outfit Details: 

Shirt: TJmaxx

What Meets the Eyelet Skirt & From the Same Cloth Boots: Modcloth

Earrings: Lace Affair

Necklace: Vintage

Shawl/Scarf: Paris

One of my favorite places is lakeside. I love climbing the rocks down to my spot, and then to just sit there and read and rest for as long as I can. It was a beautiful day when these were taken. I was a little sick, tucked down with a cold I caught on the flight back from Europe. But a little lake sitting did me well.

The Fantasy of Science Fiction

       It's impossible for me to deny how much I love science fiction and fantasy. I grew up on books, movies, and TV shows stemmed from Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Star Trek is the first TV show I remember ever watching, I've probably seen The Next Gen more times than I can count. Fantasy was more the world of books I was submerged into. The Chronicles of Prydain and of Narnia are the tales that I remember most from my childhood. As I've grown these genres have become more and more a part of my life. To me being a nerd, as people like to call it, was never something to shy away from or be ashamed of, I never thought that I should be looked down on because of my tastes. More recently this little love of mine has been something I've loved embracing all the more. I enjoy using it to throw people off their game. One glance at me and they see some girl into fashion and clothes, but my phone comes out all decked out in a Doctor Who and I start talking a minute a mile about comic books, Joss Whedon, and Star Trek. My Netflix list is swallowed up in science fiction shows and my bookcases are overwhelmed with fantasy and superheroes. My references can be brought back to the world of Harry Potter, Star Trek, and Merlin. If I could chose to have any pet in the world, it would be a dragon - they are real, don't make me come over there. 

         This doesn't limit me, because despite all of this, two of favorite books aren't considered either fantasy or science fiction. The Count of Monte Cristo and Oliver Twist, two classics and two of the books I love most.

            It reminds me how your tastes aren't stuck in one field, even if it's your passion. It's interesting how one thing can be your focus, your love, but when it comes down to it the thing you treasure most can have little to do with that one great love. I'm sure there is some great meaning under this, something that can be uncovered and taught, but I guess for right now it doesn't matter so much.

One of my favorite quotes is by Lloyd Alexander (who wrote the Prydain Chronicles), saying: 

"Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it."

 I think that far too often people look at those that do retreat into fantasy and science fiction as those that seek to hide from the real world. But for me, just as Lloyd put it, it's all about understanding the real world and accepting it. Somehow between everything that we find impossible in reality, but are accepted in these fictional worlds, it's easier to see the real world without finding it too difficult to survive in, We take those words that we have read, those scenes we have watched and use them to accept what is right in front of us. 

        I've struggled with accepting just who I was for most of my life, far too often fearing what people would say or what they would think. But when it comes down to it, you can hardly break away from that which you love most, as it is one the greatest parts of you. And, besides, why would you want to? In this world it can be so hard to find joy and passion, so if you do manage to grab onto something that gives you it, why in the world would you want to let it go?  

Outfit Details:

Dress: Ebay (it was a BCBG dress)

Twisting Tree Necklace: Modcloth

Shoes: Target

Braclet: Lace affiar

Ring Forever21

Puppy: Drogon

Alright That's my little message for you today, hopefully now you'll want to drive into some great book that will take the world around you and just make it a little more shiny - I meant that in the Firefly version of the word.

P.S. sorry for the super long post.