About Madeline Beard

Posts by Madeline Beard :

Some Kind of Wonderful

I would say on the whole, I mostly have good days. Days that start and end with a smile, filled with many moments of little triumphs or tiny fits of joy and few disappointments. I am lucky, because these days far outweigh the ones where I can’t pull out myself out of a seemingly perpetual funk.

And then there are those rare, wonderful days that surpass all of your expectations — days that are not simply “good” but rather “supremely excellent”. Today was one of those days, and this movie scene kept coming to mind as the most accurate way to describe it:

To start off, last night I went to meet one of my idols, Emily Schuman from the blog Cupcakes and Cashmere. I have been following Cupcakes for about 2 and 1/2 years now and Emily has been a consistent inspiration and role model in my life. She recently came out with a book of the same name, and last night she had a signing at the South Moon Under store opening at the brand new Mosaic District. But first, let’s rewind to an epic style challenge I faced before the event: what on earth do you wear to meet your personal version of a rock star? Here’s what I came up with:

I picked this dress up at the Buffalo Exchange in Las Vegas for a cool $4.00. After about 30 minutes of trying on outfits that varied from buttoned up and sophisticated to chic and edgy, I gave up and grabbed a favorite that could best be described as me. This dress feels almost like an extension of my personality — a little goofy, bright, colorful and just the right amount of girly. If you’ve got the opportunity to meet someone you’ve always looked up to, I suggest dressing in something that makes you feel the most like yourself — there is no better way to make an immediate impression in what will most likely be a fleeting encounter.

I went to the book signing with my dear friend Cristina. She deserves a serious thank you — not too many people would willingly stand for 40 minutes outside of a store in the freezing cold with me just so I could have some company before meeting my idol. If you’re reading this Cristina, you are the greatest!

Meeting Emily was like a surreal dream. In my Intermediate Typography class I have been working on a book jacket inspired by her book, and I had the chance to give her the first draft of the project (an explanation for the photos I posted the other day). It all went by so quickly, but I am so glad I had the opportunity! After the signing, Cristina and I walked the store (which is amazing!) and naturally did a bit of shopping…

As if things could get any better, today I got the best surprise! During the event I entered a contest to receive a brand new Michael Kors watch and I won! Looking forward to sharing some photos with you guys when it arrives in the mail.

Tonight my heart is light. The nice thing about the “supremely excellent” days is that they don’t come too often, which makes them so special and memorable. I know I will look back on this day for months to come and just smile. And thanks to SLB, I will have pictures and text to accompany the memories, like a digital time capsule. To end this post, I want to thank the people who have stuck by me through all of my days, when I am at both my highest highs and lowest lows — to my roommates who keep me laughing and will eat pudding with me on our kitchen floor, to Cristina for being my person and my sanity, to my Phi Sig sisters for giving me the greatest support system, to Frager and Caroline for being consistent lights in my life, to my mom for knowing how to care for me from 1,000+ miles away, to my dad for helping make my dreams a reality, to my brother for his honesty and guidance, and to my readers for giving SLB meaning and purpose.

More adventures to come, for now I will relish this sweet some kind of wonderful.

Belated Fashion Friday + Weekend Recap

Hello dear readers! Can we start referring to the month of November as “Maddie’s Get Out of Blogger Jail Free Card”? Deal? Deal. I am really looking forward to the sweet month of December following my final exams when I can make SLB my front and center priority. There is a part of me that wishes I could just press the pause button on everything else and simply blog 24/7. Until that time, cut me a small bit of slack and just know that SLB is never far from my mind — just an extra full plate to balance right now.

Okay, crazy schedule/life aside, I first wanted to share with you guys the wonderful photos I snapped for this week’s Fashion Friday post.

Meet Angela del Sol Varela.

The only way I can truly describe Angela is a shining beam of light. I met her in my PR Case Studies class and she caught my attention for both her funky urban style and her contagious enthusiasm. Even when the weather gets cold, Angela brings lightness and fun to the darker colors, heavier fabrics and chunky layers she sports. I think my favorite item Angela wore to the shoot was her pair of beat up, well-loved Doc Martens — with one look at those shoes, you can tell they hold a lifetime of adventures in their soles.

Angela was a fabulous subject to work with and I had such a good time shooting her — definitely a high point of my week! And that brings me to my weekend recap:

My weekend consisted of work on work on work with some fun breaks thrown in. On Friday I spontaneously attended a fraternity formal, which was the perfect way to kick off the weekend. It was held on a boat that sailed the Potomac as we dined and danced, plus I got to wear a dress that had only once seen light outside of my closet. I made some new friends, enjoyed the night with some old friends and blew off the steam that had been building since Monday. Here’s one of my favorite photos from the evening, me with my dear friend Liz:

Saturday I spent the day lounging and the night in, reenergizing my mind, body and spirit. Sunday I went back to work on various projects, including a special book jacket I am designing that I will share more about soon. Here are some of my favorite photos I shot to be included in the project:

Can’t wait to reveal what all of these images are for, so keep your eyes peeled and your Google Readers open. For now, I must refocus my attention to wire frames and responsive design — aka, things far less fun than writing on SLB. I want to leave with some new tunes that my close friend Cristina shared with me today — The Nighttime Adventure Society is a DC-based band that is on the rise. They remind me of a revamped Rilo Kiley, take a listen to one of my favorite songs and let me know what you think:

Red, White and YOU

And by you, I mean… me. Us. Everyone. It is now two days after the election and I am still buzzing from that night. The minute that Wolf Blitzer projected a winner, I turned to my roommate Aliya and said “Drop your things, we’re going to the White House.” And we did! It was amazing. A lot of cheering, high fives, hugs and chanting. You don’t just have to take my word for it though, here are a couple of photos I snapped from the night:

Yesterday morning I was still experiencing the symptoms of “election fever”, so I chose to don one of my most patriotic outfits to class. The combination of red, white and blue with a chambray button up and my beloved L.L. Bean duck boots felt like the winter version of a Fourth of July picnic.

Oh and I own probably the most obnoxiously patriotic sweater ever. I wore it all of election night, and I think it’s one of the reasons my mood went from mildly interested to excessively enthusiastic as the night wore on. See for yourself:

While a bit of the initial excitement has worn off, I am still in awe over the effect DC has had on me over the last two years. Being around so many people who are passionate about making a difference in the world and igniting positive change has really rubbed off on me — casting my first ballot and then seeing the outcome truly made me proud to be a part of something so much greater than myself. Okay, okay I’ll cool it on all the election love for now. More adventures to come, including a fabulous Fashion Friday post tomorrow…