Comfy Monday.

Today I felt like doing a little fashion inspiration post, so...

Today's fashion inspiration is:

I'm kind of a history buff/history nerd, so I have about a million old pictures on my computer that were taken before 1950. Including this one, which inspired today's outfit. I love forties style clothing, but not for the reason most people love it. I love the more innocent looks like what the girl in this picture is wearing. I'm not really into the pinup look, I'm all about innocent and girly, and this picture sums that up.

So today in the spirit of the forties, I wore this. I also wore color! My theory is that if I wear enough bright colors, the weather will get the hint and get sunny again! 

I know I said I'm not a jeans and sweatshirt kind of girl, but that doesn't mean I never wear jeans. When I saw the rain today, I caved and grabbed the jeans. They're just too comfortable!

In case it's hard to tell, this is what the tops look like:

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While looking through my inspiration photos, I found this gem:

That's my grandpa on the left. Easily one of my favorite photos of all time.

Black Is My Addiction.

You know, I don't know what this blog is going to be, I sort of just started it on a whim because I wanted somewhere to vent my creativity. Whether or not that will actually be enjoyable to read, we shall see... Maybe I'll talk about places I'd like to be or people I look up to or fashion I love. All I know is that it will have nothing to do with my real life.

Don't get me wrong; I love my life. I just like to step away from it for a while and just sink into my imagination; things that aren't reality.

So today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite things in the whole world: fashion. <3 I think I'll chronicle some of my favorite fashion inspiration, one picture or piece each day that has inspired me and my fashion choices throughout my life, probably more for my sake than anything else. Really, I'll have one place that I can go to see all of my favorite aesthetic treats, I should've done this a long time ago! :)

I am inspired by strange things, and I don't have a set style. You'd probably never guess what I dress like by looking at what I'm inspired by. The only thing you need to know is I am not a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl.

Today's inspiration is...

I saw this picture on the Sartorialist a long time ago and saved it so I could look at it over and over and over again. She's so dramatic looking, which is something I like. I love the contrast of the black with her porcelain skin. She looks like she could be the beautiful villain in a story.  I think it just might have started my addiction to black- an addiction I've been trying very hard to break. Today I caved. What can I say? I have a problem. 

Therefore, today's outfit was mainly comprised of black. Black shoes, black tights, black dress, black belt and black details on my sweater! But I am just telling myself that by throwing in the bright blue sweater, it doesn't make me look quite as vampy. I can't help it, I just love the way black looks.  

Yeah, that's me. :) That's all of me that you're going to get!

PS: Through extensive googling, I found this beauty. I think my life just changed forever:

The Men In My Life.

Well, I started a new full time job last Monday, and all I can say is that I'm exhausted! After the busiest week of my life, I think a night rounding up the dreamiest men I know of sounds wonderful, so here I am!

Anyone who knows me could tell you that I am a hopeless romantic. The life of a hopeless romantic is a fun one, because it is filled with thoughts of beautiful men (seriously, who wouldn't want that?). Tonight I thought I would give a little A-Z compilation of the men who have stolen my heart over the years...

(Sidenote: I could NOT think of anyone for Q, U, X, or Y. Sorry. If I think of anyone, I'll update.)

A: Arthur, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt in Inception.
Seriously, the first time I saw that movie I came home with stars in my eyes. My biggest weakness is a well dressed man, and he is definitely one of them.

B: Orlando Bloom.
I've loved Orlando ever since the summer before seventh grade when my friend and I went to the movies  with her parents (ha!) to see the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. All it took was one look and I knew, we'd be together forever. Too bad he had to go off and marry some model...

Joe Bradley played by Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday.
Most beautiful voice ever. I love old Hollywood actors. When I was in Rome I totally went to the Spanish Steps and pretended I was just waiting for Joe to show up. Sadly, he didn't. :(

C: Christian Bale.
Yeah, I know he's supposedly crazy. I also know he's got kind of a terrible temper. But you know what? I'm in love with Theodore Laurence, and love like that just doesn't go away just because someone may or may not be insane.

D. Fitzwilliam Darcy. 

Because who doesn't like Mr. Darcy? I like men who are more than they appear to be on the surface.

David Beckham.

I love David Beckham. Any man who can look good in a ponytail has my respect.

E. Edward Ferrars. Played by Hugh Grant in Sense and Sensibility.

Okay, I don't know what it is about Hugh Grant's fumbling stutter, but it melts my heart. It doesn't matter that he is pretty much the same in every movie I've seen him in. He's just so winning.

F. Frank Tupelo. Played by Johnny Depp in The Tourist.

I partly chose him because I had already used up J and D. But mostly because any character Johnny Depp plays is instantly attractive. Which is odd. And creepy. Yes, I find him oddly attractive as Willy Wonka. 

Anyway, without giving anything away from the movie, I'll just say: he was not what I expected. I like that.

G. Gaspard Ulliel.

He was my first taste of the beauty of a foreign man. I had a huge crush one him sometime around the beginning of high school. Also, his Chanel poster was everywhere I looked when I was in Paris.

H. Howl voiced by Christian Bale in Howl's Moving Castle. 

This one's kind of embarrassing, but really, Howl is a catch. This movie is so sweet and I just wish that Howl was real because I would marry him. Plus, his voice is Christian Bale's (the most beautiful voice in all of the world).

Heath Ledger. I remember when he first started getting popular, my mom thought he was handsome and, being the momma's girl that I am, I developed a huge crush on him which has kept until this day. I may or may not have cried when he died.

I. Ivanhoe played by Robert Taylor in Ivanhoe. 

Okay, this picture's not from Ivanhoe, but just look at him. Any man nicknamed 'The Man With The Perfect Profile' is good enough for me. 

J. JIMMY STEWART.

Jimmy Stewart is without doubt the love of my life. I can't even put into words how much I love Jimmy Stewart; it would just be me going, "UGH, oh my goodness, I love him. He is... he's just... I LOVE HIM!" He was the personification of everything good and respectable a man could be. 

http://artofmanliness.com/2009/11/04/lessons-in-manliness-jimmy-stewart/

Jamie. Played by Colin Firth in Love Actually.

Overall, the movie was too horribly smutty (Wait, did I just say smutty? Okay, it's official, I'm turning into my mother) for me but I loved the relationship between him and Aurelia. The notion of two people not speaking the same language and falling in love anyway was just cute. Plus I just love Colin Firth.

K. Alfred Kralik. Played by James Stewart in The Shop Around The Corner. 

I wasn't going to repeat actors, but Jimmy is the exception. I'll admit it: I am obsessed with Jimmy Stewart. I love Jimmy Stewart. 

On a side note, if you like old movies, you will love this movie. You've Got Mail was actually a remake of this movie, but I think this version is the better version. It even kind of makes me want to fall in love with a co-worker.

L. Leonardo DiCaprio.

I've always love Leo, ever since his Growing Pains days. Look at that photo below, he just seems like the perfect bad boy... 

Luke Ansell from the book Celia Garth.

Okay, this isn't a picture of him, but this is a picture of Celia Garth, which is one of my favorite books EVER. It's one of those 'I bawled my eyes out through the entire book' books, but in a good way; and he was one of my favorite characters.

M. Matt Damon.

Mmmm. Jason Bourne.

Gabriel Martin played by Heath Ledger in The Patriot.

It's such a good movie! I cry my eyes out every time I watch it, and yet I keep watching it. I love how driven his character is by what the Redcoats did to his family. Nothing is more attractive than a man who would do anything for his family.

N. Nick Jonas.

Cough cough cough... I may or may not have a huge crush on Nick Jonas. Okay, stop laughing. He seems nice, alright?

O. Gary Oldman.

No, I don't think he's attractive, but I just had to include him because he is so stinking cool. Cool in a 'if I ever met him I would pass out from great esteem and a little bit of fear' kind of way. 

P. Peter Lyman played by Hugh Jackman in Scoop.

Funniest movie ever. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. I think that aside from possibly being a murderer, Peter Lyman is a pretty good catch...

Q.

R. Robin Hood played by Errol Flynn.

I've always loved the story and character of Robin Hood, he seems so rebellious. I like rebellious (within reason). :)

Rupert Friend as Prince Albert in The Young Victoria.

He's just so adorable in this movie. He doesn't really have any characters flaws and is kind of a flat character, but I love him anyway.

S. Jefferson Smith. Played by Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.

A classic example of why I love Jimmy Stewart. His slow drawl and his love for the things that make America great make me go weak at the knees. Seriously, I can't watch this and not wish I had been born 80 years earlier: 

T. King Tirian from the Chronicles of Narnia book, The Last Battle.

My favorite book. I cried like a baby when I read this book. I also made up my mind that if (when) I ever go to Narnia, I would marry King Tirian. The rest of the Narnian kings are great, but he goes through much more than all the others. He's tough. 

Also, he is the only man who was ever allowed to ride Jewel the Unicorn. 

U. 

V. Captain Vonn Trapp played by Christopher Plummer in The Sound Of Music.

I remember watching The Sound Of Music as a little girl and thinking he was so dreamy!

Eduardo Verastegui.

He is beautiful. And he made a vow to put his bad boy soap opera acting ways behind him and only make movies that matter (like Bella, one of my favorites).

W. Mark Wahlberg. 

Don't ask.

X. Ok, I give up, I can't think of ANYONE whose name begins with X. Sorry.

Y.

Z. Zach from the Gallagher Girls books. 

I guess this stems from my dream of falling in love with a spy. Spies are extremely attractive. 

Zac Efron.

I seriously remember the first time I saw a commercial for High School Musical. I was 15 and it was my dream to have a basketball player fall in love with me. This movie was my dream life and although it's no longer my dream, I still love Zac. 

Wish For Today

Okay, so I really. really wish I was Jason Bourne. I mean, not literally, I don't want to be a boy, but I would really like to be a secret agent right about now. I'm pretty sure that's impossible because my poker face stinks and I think you need extensive knowledge on foreign languages and butt kicking to be a spy, but a girl can dream, can't she? 

I think it all began when I was six years old. I have multiple journal entries chronicling my adventures being a 'sby'. And from there, my life has been a little bit incomplete because I'm not in the CIA. 

I'm not going to lie to you, to this day I still pretend I'm an agent of some secret organization, engaging in clandestine operations and hiding my true intent from everyone around me. 

I would look just like that girl over there on the left (except blonde, and a litttle less slinky) and I would be the lady who no one suspected of anything nefarious. Meanwhile, as they were thinking I was a harmless girl, I would have intersected crucial information and memorized the placement of every single item in the room and where their incriminating evidence was hidden. That type of spy.

I actually checked out the CIA website, and aside from realizing fully the fact that I am missing multiple important credentials, I was really hit with the realization you would actually have to kill people. That's not really something I am prepared to do. Let's ignore the fact that you have to be scary book smart and um... risk dying, the important thing keeping me from my dream job is that I don't want to have to whack people off.  

Therefore I've come to the firm conclusion that before I die, I will write a story about a girl who is in the CIA and live vicariously through her. I've found that one of the most prevalent themes in my stories are spies, intrigue, and probably a girl falling in love with a man who is intriguing and a spy, I guess it's kind of an obvious course for me.