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Happy Last Day of September!

there's too much color goin' on in mah room. had to be black-and-whitened.

This romper is kinda my go-to on a hot day.

I am SO looking forward to tomorrow. Because:

a. It's Friday.

b. It's October.

c. I only have 1.25 hours of class!

d. I can go shopping.

e. My NEW CAMERA is arriving.

f. It's Friday!

Just have to make it through today...

It's WAY too humid and gross to be almost-October. Weather gods, what the hell?

this is me doing an anti-humidity-and-rain dance. 

And don't worry! I haven't forgotten about Self-Stitched September - I made these earrings in middle school. HAH.

outfit: Marshall's romper, $7. H&M cardigan, $10. Target shoes, $7? selfmade earrings.

love and right triangles,

april

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER! @shopapez

wrapping up september

A couple weeks ago, I posted this list of goals for September......and then proceeded to drop off the face of the earth.

WELL. Let me explain.

College. It's rough. There are many things do to. Like attend class. Be a good student and do all of the required homework. Ya know. And then there's my job. Which in the beginning of the school year is extremely beyond hectic slash chaotic slash hell slash my second home. And then my other job, which is kinda the opposite but still takes up valuable time during which I could be, like, asleep. And then there's extracurricular activities. Meetings. Et cetera. And naps. Yeah, naps are good.

So, I've been a terrible blogger, but now that it's (almost) October, I WILL REDEEM MYSELF.

Firstly, I ordered my new camera today, and it's arriving to the mailroom on Friday and I AM SO FREAKING EXCITED I AM ONCE AGAIN YELLING IN YOUR FACE.

Secondly, I am actually going to get dressed tomorrow and take the LAST OUTFIT PICTURE EVER WITH MY OLD SHITTY CAMERA I AM YELLING AGAIN I APOLOGIZE.

Thirdly, the shopping ban is over! I can go shopping! And I fully intend to. Friday. See you at the mall. And on Etsy. And at Urban Outfitters. eek.

FOURTHLY and Lastly with a capital L, it's a new month. Which meanssssss new goals!

yes that is my sillyband collection. no, i am not the slightest bit embarrassed.

GOAL 1. 

duh.

GOAL 2. 

Inspired by a fantastic tumblr, Little Tin Soldier, in which the lovely tumblr-er posts an outfit pic AND an adorable drawing of her outfits every day. Also inspired by this Flickr group!

GOAL 3.

for the benefit of y'all. <3 What diy things would you like to see?! TELL ME! (please)

SO. Here's to a lovely last day of September and an even lovelier October!

love and right triangles,

april

back soon

hi! i promise i'll be posting more regularly soon.

gimme a week or so.

i've got to sort my life together.

love and right triangles,

april

quickie couple-a outfits

I realize I've been completely MIA - BLEGHHH school is extremely time-consuming.

But the great thing is, I think I've FINALLY cured my senioritis. Which I have been suffering from since junior year of high school. And it's wonderful to finally care about doing well in school again, and be on top of my game, but it is a very large time commitment - ya know, attending all my classes and doing all my readings. But what can ya do? -shrugs-

thrifted boots ($6?), diy skirt, Target tights ($2), Marshall's top ($7)

Marshall's boots ($20), Marshall's jeggings ($12), diy top, Forever21 cardigan ($13)

Outfits have been kind of uninspired lately. But last night, my two roommates left me with the room all to myself (!) - they were both out of town for the night. So, I gottalotta sewing done YAY.

This shopping ban has been incredibly hard. No clothes, no shoes, no accessories, no bags, no jewelry, no makeup, no nail polish?! (unless from Salvation Army) It's driving me bonkers. There are like 8 things I want to buy from Etsy right now, and I have to wait 11 more days and what if they're sold out by then and omgwhyamidoingthisitistorture!?

In other GREAT news, I will finally be able to afford the Canon Rebel I have been lusting for a YEAR when I get my paycheck this Friday. I CANNOT EFFING WAIT I AM DYING TO HAVE A HIGHQUAL CAMERA FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE SORRY FOR THE YELLING. but I am super psyched. 

hope your weekend was grand and your Sunday is lazy!

love and right triangles,

april

classic april

Just some simple outfit photos. My Monday has been pretty solid so far - I'm really loving all of my classes this semester, especially Chinese :) ...After years of failing at being Chinese, I'm finally learning my language! haha, it's pretty great. 

I'm also taking Contemporary Art History which is fabulous - contemporary art is where it's at, yo.

outfit details:

skirt, diy

F21 tank, $3

H&M cardigan, $15

thrifted boots, $8?

stolen-from-mom belt, free! (muahaha)

love and right triangles,

april

black and white and brights

I'm so smiley in this picture because I took this when my roommates were in the room.....embarrassing.

I live in a one-room triple, and my two roommates are guys. They're like, my best friends, but yes they are guys. Also I live in the Jewish fraternity house. I am not in the Jewish fraternity (obvious? I hope so) Weird? A little, but it's normal for my school. Anyway, living with guys is not that weird, and like I said, they're my best friends and I love them to death.

scary face

I whipped together this swirly-black-and-white print top yesterday before dinner so I could wear it all night - many people confused it for zebra print which is is clearly not, DUH people. Get your prints RIGHT, yo. (kidding, mostly)

Anyway, the top was actually a huge success, considering I sewed it from start to finish in about two hours, and every seam is finished and everything! HUTCHAHH!

Decided to go with teal, lime and hot pink, because y'all know me - black and white alone just ain't gon' cut it. (...just started typing in a southern accent...don't know why)

And for the eyezzz

green on top, blue on bottom :)

Definitely lost one of these earrings in the events of the night :(

outfit details:

self-made top, 2 hours

H&M skirt, $6 (wish I bought more!)

Payless shoes, $10?

Marshall's cardigan, $7

Forever 21 belt, $2

NY&Co watch, $15

Claire's earrings, $1

MAC eyeshadow in Zingy and Lime, $14.50 each

love and right triangles,

april

let's review

I like making lists and I like goals. Except getting them done usually proves extremely difficult. 

But I figure a month is doable. I'm doing pretty well so far.

Let's review dem goalz.

1. Self-Stitched September. Self-Explanatory. (Or read more about it here)

So far, I'm doing well. When I have to follow dress code for work, I throw on a piece of handmade jewelry, just so I'm not breaking this month-long pledge :)

2. Shopping Ban. No shopping for clothing, shoes, jewelry, accessories, or makeup anywhere except from a thrift store.

This one is harder than I thought it'd be. But after all that shopping I did in August, it was necessary. Plus, it goes hand in hand with Goal One. If you can't buy it, make it!

3. Gym it up ERRday. 

I like the gym. I like working out. I got really into it this summer, and I still love it, and I don't want the laziness of college to get to me, so I'm making this a goal. On Thursday and Friday, I failed at this, but today I rocked it hard. And I only missed gym trips on those days because I was so wiped out, that I passed out and took naps instead of working out. Haha.

4. Don't skip class!

Yeah...Well, last semester, it got a little out of hand....But this semester I'm in love with all my classes and there's really no opportunity to skip anyway - only one of my classes is a lecture, but there's no textbook, so lecture is kinda mandatory in order to learn anything.

:D

I BE GOIN' OUT TONIGHTTT, outfit post tomorrow with my going out wear :)

love and right triangles,

april

Peter Som, you da bob-omb

Peter Som, thank you for bringing color into people's lives.

And awesome graphic prints.

And gorgeous, fun dresses.

As much as I'm dying for fall and winter (for tights and boots and sweaters!), I'm super looking forward to spring, thanks to Peter Som.

[all photos from style.com, Peter Som Spring 2011 Ready-to-wear]

This is how I want to dress every second of every day!

love and right triangles,

april

handmade and shades of grey

Someone asked me today why I was so dressed up. I just shrugged and said, "no reason!"

I don't really see this as dressed up! It's kinda just...normal. I guess a full brocade skirt and heels make a little over the top for just going to class, but I have no where else to go, so why not dress up!? :)

Grey and black are my favorite neutrals - I'm not a huge fan of brown (the color, that is - I love the school, duh! :D)

outfit details:

self-made dress, $0

thrifted shoes and belt, $3 and $3?

H&M cardigan, $10

I don't have much else to say today!

love and right triangles,

april

I really can't wrap my head around how busy I am

But I am really fracking busy.

On Tuesday, I:

woke up at 5AM, 

went to work from 6:00 - 9:00, 

went to class from 9:30 - 10:20,

went to the post office to ship an etsy order,

went back to work from 11:00 - 1:00,

went to class from 1:00 - 4:50,

ate some food,

went to a meeting from 5:30 - 6:00,

.....passed out.....

woke up,

worked out,

took a shower,

did homework,

got extremely distracted by Google's mysterious homepage

and then passed out again.

This morning, I managed to put together an outfit! With one handmade item for Self-Stitched September!

you should see my room...it's like a barf of color, just like my outfits

i'm still working on finding the perfect outfit photo location that doesn't attract awkward stares

for now, my room will do

yes, you see three beds in my room. and yes, my two roommates are guys.

If you notice, my hair is curly.

Wanna see what it looked like pre-bedtime last night? (Nod with me: yes, April, yes I do.)

twisty bun insanity

After learning about this hair-curling technique...ten years ago...from one of my American Girl books (specifically, it was from Molly, who curled her hair like this for a patriotic dance show).

Basically, you just section your hair up and twist each section until it spirals like crazy, and then you proceed to bobby pin the hell out of it. Then you sleep, and in the morning, you intensely hunt for the millions of bobby pins in your head that somehow did not poke holes in your scalp during the night, take out said bobby pins, and finger-comb your hair. Serum and/or pomade would probably help, but I lack these ingredients because my hair is kinda lame and fun products do not add nor detract from it. Plus, they tend to be expensive.

NOW let's talk about my rainboots.

yellow shiny plastic goodness

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for rain, which is ridiculous because I go to school in Providence where it rains basically every other day. And this morning it was supposed to rain, just like any Wednesday. BUT IT DIDN'T. WEATHER.COM YOU LIED. So I wore these ridiculous humongous shiny yellow boots which I'm sure is why everyone was staring at me this morning for no apparent reason, which I'm sure is why everyone was staring at me. Plus, it was like, 80 degrees. 

But despite their tackyness, I love them. Because I generally love tacky things, especially if they are yellow and shiny and waterproof. So now I await a real rainy day.

And thank you to everyone who stayed with me through my rough break-up with Ex-Blog - you're true friends! Thanks for pigging out on Ben and Jerry's from the carton with me!

outfit details:
handmade/diy skirt, bloodsweat&tears (kidding!)
Target tights, $2
Target tank, $2
borrowed Heritage 1981 cardigan, free
F21 belt, $2
Sperry Top-Sider boots, $50
necklace inherited from nana, free

love and right triangles,

april

PS: If you read this whole post, you deserve a prize. Like a high-five or something.
HIGH FIVE!

Self-Stitched September: Days 2 and 3

I totally participated in SSS yesterday, in the multiple outfits I changed into (one for work, one for classes) but all I have to show for it is this photo:

taken while doing french homework

I wore various handmade/diy'd teeshirts but never took outfit pictures because you would have died of boredom after seeing them. But since I needed something to show for Day Two, I took a pic of this pretty beaded bracelet a friend made for me.

Today, I also wore various outfits, but only photographed one.

It's just so freaking hottt and I thought today would have cooled down due to Hurricane Earl attacking us here on the northeast coast this weekend, but all we got is extreme humidity, no sun, and a brief downpour. I'm for serious looking forward to the 60mph winds, aren't you? No? I mean, it's going to blow me away. (HA i so funnnee)

Anyway, I blame the sucktastic weather and my tendency to sweat profusely and the lack of air conditioning in many places on campus (including my room) on my constant outfit changes.

I honestly don't know how I'm going to make it through the end of the day. I will be a pile of melted human cells in about 57 minutes. I'm sure my roommates will quite enjoy cleaning that up.

outfit details:
selfmade dress, thrifted shoes, F21 ring, NY&Co earrings

I hope you're faring better than me in this dreadful weather! Or if you live in a different part of the country, I am extremely jealous of your non-hurricane weather.

love and right triangles,
april

Self-Stitched September: Day 1 (9/1/2010)

Phew! Day One of SSS happened to coincide with Day One of sophomore year classes, so it was QUITE hectic, especially with having to cover shifts at my job. BUT I MADE IT THROUGH and lived to see Day Two. Hurrah!

If you live in the northeast (in da states) then you know the HELLUVA heat wave we've been experiencing, which severely sucks because it severely limits the clothing I can wear. Severely.

And not only am I limited by the weather, but when I'm at work, I have to wear long pants and close-toed shoes and no sleeveless shirts! Which severely sucks even more. I mean, how many times have you seen me wear long pants? Like, 3 times a year? It's rough.

The 'self-stitched' part of this outfit is the skirt. I made it out of a watermelon-printed cotton stretch sateen which was meant to be used for a 4th-of-July romper...but that failed miserably. Allover watermelon print for a romper? No. Lesson learned. I managed to salvage a skirt out of the Disaster Romper though, and it's far from perfect but it works.

Hurricane Earl is heading our way tomorrow - there's supposed to be scary winds and torrential downpour all afternoon - but I'm extremely looking forward because 1) it'll be a million degrees cooler, and 2) I can wear my new shiny, tacky, yellow rainboots (which you will also get to see!) :D muahaha

Time to.....do homework. boo you, school.

outfit details:

self-made skirt, Gap tee, NY&Co headband, F21 belt, H&M flats

love and right triangles,

april!