Nov 13, 2012

Belated Fashion Friday + Weekend Recap

Madeline Beard Fashion, Other Adventures Doc Martens, fashion, formal, layers, music, photography, winter 6 Comments

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:

<a href="http://nighttimeadventuresociety.bandcamp.com/track/hell-is-real">Hell is Real by The Nighttime Adventure Society</a>

♥

Nov 6, 2012

And So It Goes

Madeline Beard Fashion, Other Adventures bundled up, checked button up, cold, cold weather, fashion, white jeans, winter 0 Comments

Hey everybody! Remember that time I said I was getting back into my blogging routine? Well this is me officially eating my words. I forget that when November hits, all of a sudden life seems to become a marathon sprint to the finish line that is Winter Break. Not as if that’s any excuse for leaving SLB out in the cold, but as I sit here drinking a big mug of tea in my pink fleece onesie (with dogs on the feet no less), writing feels like catching up with an old friend. I have so many things I have been saving up to post, including a belated outfit from last week and the rediscovery of a band that I am falling in love with all over again…

It is finally cold in DC. I am talking red nose, seeing your breath in front of you, bundled up kind of cold. Coming from hot climates (Texas and then Vegas, you really can’t get much warmer in the States) I think I get crazy excited for the real cold to kick in. Of course, I needed to outwardly reflect my excitement with an outfit that made me want to go sit in a ski lodge, sip hot cocoa and roast marshmallows by a blazing fire.

You might be thinking to yourself “Well, that shirt looks familiar…” (see my post from a few weeks ago). I hate to choose favorites, but my black and red checked shirt probably ranks in the top 5 of pieces I reach for most often. Backstory: I “borrowed” this shirt from my mom when I was maybe a sophomore in high school. Before I acquired it, she had owned the button up for years and years and years. It feels worn in and perfect and seems to transition through trends and seasons pretty seamlessly. Never getting rid of this shirt (unless one day my future daughter steals it from my closet).

To finish off this post, I want to include a video from the band Foster the People. Now I completely understand that they are not the hot “new” thing anymore (I mean, “Pumped Up Kicks” was everyone’s anthem for months last year). However, today I was listening to a playlist on 8tracks that had an acoustic version of one of their songs and I was blown away. I immediately looked up all of their acoustic stuff on YouTube and spent the rest of the afternoon jamming out to old favorites with a new twist:

Stay warm, stay happy, and more adventures to come… pinky promise this time.

♥

Oct 29, 2012

The Most Epic Post Ever

Madeline Beard DIY + Home, Fashion costumes, fashion, halloween, inspiration, weekend 4 Comments

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.”

Woo! The last couple of days have felt like an unbelievable whirlwind. I had every intention of keeping up with SLB, but as suggested in the quote above, sometimes even the best laid plans don’t always turn out the way we envision. Between school, the excitement over Halloween and all of my other various responsibilities, I am just now getting the chance to sit down and take a moment to reflect a bit. This brings me to the title of tonight’s post, “The Most Epic Post Ever”. Pretty big build up, huh? I am referring to this as the most epic post ever simply because I have so many things to share from the past few days — just look at this as a fusion of Weekend Recap/Fashion Friday/Halloween Inspirations: Part II. I just found out that thanks to Hurricane Sandy’s projected path of doom, I don’t have classes tomorrow which feels like the most perfect timing. Just when life was starting to feel slightly overwhelming, I can now reel everything back in and spend the day getting my life together.

So, without further delay, let me get the ball rolling with a recap of Halloweekend 2012. The short version: it. was. great. The long version: I got to spend back-to-back nights in costume with some of the very best people I know, and the combination of the two made for such a fun time. Here is a photo from Friday night, when I dressed as Miss. Muffet (bucket labeled “Curds and Whey” included):

The second night I was a 90’s pop star (see this post if you are forgetting what the sparkly tube top was for). Unfortunately, I didn’t snag a photo of the costume on my DSLR, so an Instagram upload will just have to suffice:

When I get to dress up for something, I feel totally in my element. The past two nights weren’t any different and I am so happy I got to share these moments of euphoria with so many great friends. And now, let the count down for Halloweekend 2013 commence!

Last week, I also got the chance to feature one of the coolest ladies I know in my fashion column for The Eagle. You can read the article here.

Meet Katty Hargrave-Kerns:

Katty went abroad to Kenya her entire junior year of school and when she came back to DC, she had completely reinvented her style. I admire Katty for her sheer badass-ness (I know, not a real word but it’s the only way I can describe her). For one, she is one of the few girls I have seen successfully pull off dreads and still look absolutely beautiful with them. For two, she is able to incorporate all of the pieces she picked up in Kenya pretty seamlessly into her wardrobe, creating this whole new, eclectic style.

And finally, just a few more potential costume ideas for anyone who is still celebrating Halloween and might need a burst of inspiration. I wanted to focus on group costumes this time around, here are some of my favorites that I might just have to pull from next year:

All Time Favorite: Fanta girls

Most Relevant to Pop Culture: The Fab 5

For When You’re Running Out the Door: The cast of Girls

Tried and True: The Spice Girls

Best Coed Group Costume: The cast of Jersey Shore

Do you guys have any other good costume ideas? What did you end up dressing up as for this year’s Halloweekend? Tweet me or leave a comment below. If the power doesn’t go out tomorrow, I will surely be doing some baking/camping out in my apartment when the storm hits, maybe I can share an apocalypse themed recipe or outfit? More adventures to come, rain or shine.

♥