a charming commuter

My favorite black ballet flats, a vintage Dior shirt-dress, a pair of square gold earrings repossessed from my Mom, a vintage dark green Loewe handbag from the same source, and black leggings.
Oh, and my favorite Miu Miu shades.
Plus a bright red cruiser.
Rides to school, the store, the coffee shop are effortlessly stylish.
Yeah, right.
The [sad] reality actually consists of layers of socks, Underarmour, fleece zip-ups, and some legit Pearl Izumi gloves. Sweat also makes a consistent appearance; and while I may be able to get up Heartbreak Hill with a laptop and some casebooks on my back, the gasping for breath at the top of that hill is definitely not stylish.
Although, to be fair, this would probably totally clash on a red cruiser:

My Mom, paranoid that my bike commuting will eventually get me killed, bought me a commuter safety charm. Lucky me that it was dark green, matches my bike, and is small enough to fit underneath the seat without me having to raise it.

my last day of freedom

What to do on your last day of freedom before school starts up again:
1. Clean the apartment
2. Take a break from all the sewing
3. Go out to a diner with a friend
4. Eat some gigantor blueberry pancakes at Victor's Diner in Watertown

5. Go for a bike ride

noodle legs

It's the first time I've been downtown in what seems like forever. Battling the wind and cold, I found myself at Hot Tomatoes, having lunch with some fellow fixed riders.
With great company, I got to eat the yummiest grilled cheese and tomato soup. We even got free cookies!
I mean, it all came back to bite me in the ass when I was trying to pedal up the hills on Beacon Street on a full stomach (and headwind!), but it was still loads of fun.
Of course I showed up wearing one of my hats - an old school one though, one that's missing this:

They're not perfect, but then again, nothing that I do really is. It's better than sending them out into the world totally naked though, right?

early accomplishments

I just slept for 17 hours straight.
Yeah, 17.
But at least I got this done before I passed out:

I started it around New Year's when I ran out of bias tape for the hats and the prospect of not actually doing anything for the next 3 days was too overwhelming.
The shirt was simple to put together, the embroidery (by hand, people), not so much. Still, about 3 solid days of work...just enough to tide me over.

(sorry about the dark blurry pictures...)

hello, 2009!

I’m back in Boston.
Back from the land of anorexically skinny girls, equally slight boys, and faux fixed gear bikes with freewheels but only one brake.
Needless to say, I didn’t do much while back at home. I did mentally review the never-ending goal of losing five pounds while I stuffed my face with food and stopped exercising (I don’t have a bike at home and I don’t like to run, okay?). It did occur to me how monstrous I was going to look when I was suited back up in my Underarmour but I don’t think I cared.
But if it this makes me look slightly less lazy, I at least got something done:

Here’s to a new year, a new site, new hats, and hopefully fulfilling new year’s resolutions of not being a total waste of life...at least, not all of the time.

snow party

(Apologies for the blurry picture...)
I lost my [riding fixed in the snow] virginity yesterday.
And like most good things, I'm totally hooked on biking in this snow. Sure, I did it last year on a freewheel but this is a whole new level of awesome.
To make today even better, Open is having another Boldsprints & party event.
I can't wait - the perfect event to let me stay up all night before I fly home to Tokyo. Which is why the store will be closed for a while; but I'm coming back with more hats and a few more tricks...stay tuned!