11.03.2009

what i wore today:

wiwt 11.03.09 front

boots: thrifted
grey tights: walmart
grey cord skirt: walmart
white t-shirt: old navy
belt: repurposed weight belt {see here}
silver hair clip: my mother's

and from behind:

wiwt 11.03.09 back

10.28.2009

what i wore yesterday:

wiwt: 10.27.09

boots: thrifted
brown tights: target
cord skirt: wal-mart
grey sweater: my mother's
leather jacket: old navy
rust scarf: brussels

10.23.2009

cupcake

i made these the other night using this recipe from
the november issue of bon appetit. rather than fuss
with a layer cake, i just made cupcakes because they're
cuter and more fun and who doesn't love cupcakes?
cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes. even the word is fun to
say. i also ditched the orange zest in the frosting
and just grated some fresh on top. on a scale of 1
to 10 my mother rated these magnolia.

i know that makes very little sense, but basically these
are freaking delicious and you should go make them.
now.

10.12.2009

what i wore today:

wiwt: 10.12.09.

clogs: dansko
railroad stripped pants: old navy
grey t-shirt: old navy
grey sweater: hand me down
brown leather jacket: old navy
déjeuner, aujourd'hui.

déjeuner.

for lunch today i had some pumpkin and swiss chard
lasagne i made the other day {recipe here}, a
spinach salad and some fresh pear. all alongside a
giant mug of tea and lots of water and orange juice,
as i am on day 6 of a horrendous cold and was sent
home from work this morning. which means: catch up
time for computer projects.

10.04.2009

O K T O B E R F E S T!

in honor of the season, my dad's german heritage,
and the three inches of snow outside we had our own
little oktoberfest tonight complete with spaten,
bockwurst, potatoes, red cabbage and i even made
pretzels from scratch:

















one of my co-teachers and her german husband and
another friend came over for dinner and a fire. and
we can't forget the polka music. all around a lovely
evening. eins, zwei, drei zuffa!

and i decided to fore go the dirndl and braids for this:








































brown leather maryjane pumps: walmart
grey tights: target
black jersey dress: ross
orange + black pashmina: cost plus world market
earrings: target
bierstein: germany (belonging to my co-teacher)

9.13.2009

this evening i tried in vain to pretend that summer is not over,
despite the fact that the pine needles are falling, the telltale brisk,
autumnal breeze has blown in, i had to put on long sleeves for my
run and it was dark by the time i ate dinner. at least what i was
eating was summery.

dinner.

i made spaghetti with oven roasted green and yellow zucchini, crumbled
goat cheese and lemon juice and zest. it was delicious. if only the weather
was complimentary.

8.27.2009

this is one of the best unplanned, thrown together
meals i have ever made.
i started with some hamburger {i'll confess that
i use the frozen patties}. i topped that with some st.
agur blue cheese, put it on some sliced ciabatta from pearl
bakery
and spread on some horseradish mayo. then
i added some sliced onion, some spring greens and a
sliced green tomato from the farmers' market.

















at the market, i also picked up some fresh beets. i've
never bought beats before so i just tried one sliced last
night with some balsamic and salt and pepper. but beets
have a much higher potential{and have you seen their
color!?!?!}, so today i shredded one and tossed it with a
little olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. to really
'make it work' as tim gunn would say i topped it with some
crumbled chevre and chopped fresh walnuts.


















eating like this should be illegal.

what i wore today:





















cowboy boots: thrifted
dress: ross
belt: thrifted
feather earrings: charlotte russe

8.10.2009

















we had quite the feast last night. at the special request
of one my roommates, i made toasties; a sun dried tomato,
garlic parmesan spread broiled on top of baguette slices.
we also had a cheese plate with some st. agur blue cheese,
tillamook cheddar, red grapes, garlic stuffed olives and
an artichoke jalapeno spread. there was a also a green
salad with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette, some fresh
cherries and a cucumber and heirloom tomato salad.
john made some lovely penne with lemon zest, goat
cheese and roasted summer squash.

































and kelly, not to be outdone, made this lovely
blackberry, plum and peach lattice work pie.

it was a lovely evening on the porch with great food,
good company and then a bike ride in the dark.

8.02.2009


































despite the extreme heat the roomies and i got all
dolled up the other night and biked to one of the
many rose gardens in the neighborhood. how i
managed to bike in a pencil skirt and heels i'll never
know. must be some french blood in there somewhere.

anyways:
yellow maryjane heels: target
black pencil skirt: kmart
white ruffled blouse: old navy
pearl earrings: gift

7.24.2009

i started and finished this project several weeks ago, but i'm just know
getting around to the photos. i have two old, mismatched chairs i've
acquired from an old roommate and the goodwill.

chairs before

chairs after

i decided to refinish and reupholster them so they are updated and match
a little better. i had originally planned on painting the wood frames
but once i was done sanding off the old finishes i was really happy with
the raw wood. then i recovered the cushions with some fabric i got on
sale. overall, i'm quite happy with the results.

CIMG5549

and no, these chairs don't live outside. there is just a
complete lack of natural light in my house which makes
photographing things quite difficult.
mmmmm dinner. i usually cook pretty simple and cheap meals, but
after a visit to the farmers' market yesterday, something better was in
store.

dinner.

first i oven roasted some veggies by just coating some sliced zucchini and
carrots and chopped onion in olive oil. then i sprinkled on some salt, pepper
and herbes de provence. then i roasted them in a hot oven (about 450 degrees)
for about 20 minutes. they were delicious.

roasted veggies.

while those were roasting a pork chop was marinating in some chopped garlic,
fresh rosemary (picked from a bush around the corner), olive oil, red wine
vinegar, salt and pepper. after it had sat for a while, i put it in a hot pan to
sear both sides then turned the heat down to cook it through. after letting
it rest a few minutes, i sliced it and it was perfect. not too dry or tough.

rosemary pork chops.

to top off the pork chops i caramelized an apricot by just slicing it and heating
it in a pan. super easy and a great compliment to the pork.

carmelized apricots.

last, but certainly not least, a green salad with gorgonzola crumbles and
walnuts. i made a simple boysenberry dressing by mashing up some berries
with red wine vinegar and a bit of mustard.

salade.

all this was thoroughly enjoyed on the front porch.

7.23.2009

what i wore today:

wiwt 7.23.09

now i ain't complaining, but it has been hot. and
apprently only supposed to get hotter this weekend
and into next week. i'm talking triple digits. finding
decent outfits for that kind of heat {most of portland
is a/c free} that also work on my bike is tough. but
here's one that works.

woven leather flats: thrifted
coral skirt: a too short dress from f21 that i made into a skirt.
black tank: ross
mexican scarf: my mother's
pearl earrings: gift

7.14.2009

what i wore today:
{in honor of bastille day, sort of. at least by
virtue of the menswear shirt and cuffed shorts.}





























{i was having problems with the flash but i
kind of like the beachy, washed out effect.}

leather flats: thrifted in tahoe
khaki shorts {cuffed by me}: old navy
menswear shirt: my dad's
belt: thifted in portland
brass bangle: my mom's
brass earrings: charlotte russe

and a clearer version:




























p.s. jouyeux fête de la bastille mes amis français!
hurray for the proletariat violently overthrowing
the ruling aristocratic class! but not really
overthrowing them just yet, rather destroying a no
longer used royal prison brick by brick.
then surviving numerous additional violent
revolutions.
inspired by this:
















{via a cup of jo}

i tried and somewhat accomplished this:






















it has almost the same idea, but not as well executed.
the inspiration called it seahorse curls.
i call mine the pin 'n pray method.
twist and pin everything up and pray it stays
through the day. it did for the most part, barring
my biking all over town and ripping my helmet on and
off.

7.13.2009

'bout time i updated this.
what i wore saturday (with my goofy roommate laura):






















a bunch of us went to the bastille day
festival in jameson park on saturday, even
though the actual holiday isn't until tomorrow
(the 14th).

red wedges: target
black pencil skirt: target
red patent belt: thrifted
white tank: hanes

and the photo was taken by my other lovely roommate, emily.
more updates later. maybe.

5.30.2009

what i wore today:





















navy salt water sandals: thrifted
high wast, wide-leg jeans: old navy
blue floral camisole: old navy
white camisole: old navy
leather skinny belt: my mother's
earrings: charlotte russe
i don't completely understand all the techie goop
but this is very exciting. so basically right now
only a select few fonts are supported by html
coding. so when you post something on a website
it must be in one of these 8 fonts. if you'd like to
use a different font you have to create your
content in an image that is then hosted or use
a flash animation. with this new fangled typekit,
they will be hosting a multitude of fonts so html
will soon be able to support nearly any font. oh
the possibilities...
(via kottke)

5.10.2009

what i wore today:

PICT0040

a little black dress of sorts...

5.09.2009

scrap! or the school and community reuse action project.
this place is amazing, especially considering my own
pack rat tendencies when it comes to things that could
be used to make other things. the organization accepts
donations of, you guessed it, scraps. then they sort it all
and sell it for super cheap in the store in northeast portland.
here's some of their bounty:



















































like their motto states, it's a great way
to 'create more and make less'.
what i wore friday:


















this amazing dress i got at anthropologie:
a cardigan from h&m.
herringbone tights from target.
and yellow mary jane pumps also from target.

oh and that's my dad after honors convocation.

5.05.2009

what i wore today:























i suppose this is a little more new york
in november than portland in the
printemps but whatever it's been cold.

there was also apparently something
interesting in the street. otherwise,
i have no idea what that face was for.

boots: ross, ages ago
tights: target
skirt:target
sweater: f21
turquoise bracelet: my grandmother's
what i wore monday:






















yellow mary janes: target
black tights: target
skirt: target
belt: thrifted
shirt: thrifted/altered by me

5.04.2009

look what i went and did...
emilieesders.com
it will hopefully be up and running by the end of the month.
fingers crossed.
just in case you'd like to brush up on your spanish....

será fantástico. from Emilie Schludecker on Vimeo.

5.01.2009























new house.
new room.

it looks so dreamy with the wind blowing
the curtains and hardly any of my stuff in there.

more pics to come after we're settled in...

4.29.2009

today i attended my very last classes as an undergraduate student. i'd like to report that i feel a great sense of accomplishment and relief and a new hope for the future. unfortunately i am moving across town tomorrow, have one more final project and two exams next week and then will have family in town for graduation festivities. so far from over. however, i can't resist the temptation to follow in the media's footsteps and make a big deal about the past 100 days. it just so happens that president obama's first 100 days in office correspond exactly to my final 100 days of class at lewis & clark college. so i'm going to rip off this point of reflection which is really a rip off of fdr and the new deal, but i digress.

as i mentioned above, there are three pressing issues at the moment. first off, my current lease is ending tomorrow, april 30. unfortunately, the successive lease does not start until friday, may 1, resulting in some intermediate couch surfing and cramming as many of my possessions as possible into my car.

next off, final exams next week will require a thorough study of a survey of spanish literature from the middle ages to the twentieth century ranging in forms of narrative, poetry, drama and the novel. gender roles in selected works from 19th century france will also be reviewed through the forms of novel, film and poetry across the genres of romanticism, naturalism and realism. as expected these two examinations will occur in their original languages, spanish and french, respectively.

like many students of the past, time is short and work is long and multi-tasking is a must. within mere hours of the completion of said exams, family will begin trickling into town. life will become a severe balancing act of taking care of my own personal business, coordinating meals and events and acting as liaison between non-communicating relatives. endless hours of fun are sure to abound.

thanks to the many years of multi-tasking and overly packed schedules the next week should be handled with ease, if not several releases of stress into micro brews at the nearest dive bar.

so there is a lot of work to do, but i thank my parents, teachers, professors, mentors and the american education system for preparing me well for the path ahead.

and with that i will start taking questions.

with the swine flu epidemic growing, the possibilities of illnesses spreading in our global society is becoming quite evident. what are your thoughts?

i was fortunate enough to live in the dorms on campus for three semesters during my first two years at lewis & clark and i was very often run down and sick. once i moved off campus to cleaner and less populated environment, i noticed an immediate decrease in illness. lesson learned: less people, less germs, less sickness. also, fresh fruits, veggies and air help. as does semi-regular sleep and exercise. next question.

gm has hinted at the possibility of bankruptcy as they propose a company wide restructure and mass closing of dealerships. do these plans seem sufficient to save the auto industry?

this one is a little tricky seeing that i have skated through college without a single business or economics course. here's how i see things:
having a mobile, cultured and informed society, partly possible through car travel: good
environmental impacts of said car travel: bad
driving at sunset with windows down and music loud: very good
cost of running and maintaining a single car, not to mention an entire industry: not so good
economic impact of the collapse of a domestic auto industry: also, not so good
thanks to the last four years of my life spent in college, i'm not exactly in the economic position to provide any aid to the ailing industry, but i will continue to drive my lovely car that is almost as old as i am, with the gas mileage that would make any saudi prince oil magnate a very happy, very rich man. and next question.

there has been much controversy over mr. president's commencement address at notre dame because of his stance on abortion. thoughts?

first of all, why on earth would anyone complain about having not only the current president of the united states, but the first black president and an extremely intelligent, compelling and eloquent man speak at an undergraduate commencement? i mean seriously? but back to killing babies, i can't say enough as to how good i feel about having a man in power that respects women as much as barack obama. he's made it clear that he is pro-choice, but it is more nuanced than that. he is very aware of the complex moral and ethical issues at hand. he is also cognisant of a woman's capabilities to understand these issues surrounding her choices with her own body, unlike the language in the ruling in gonzales v. carhart back in 2007 that outlawed partial birth abortions. the majority opinion basically stated that women in the hormonal and emotional state of pregnancy are incapable of understanding the scope of the consequences their choices may have. therefore, it is the government's job to play the role of a moral compass and directing all women in the matter. ridiculous. it is probably not necessary to say at this point, but i believe my time in college has confirmed me to be more of a feminist than not. a title i've finally eased into accepting in the past 100 days. next question.

during these last 100 days, what has surprised, enchanted, humbled and troubled you the most?

what has surprised me most is what little i care about my academic work. call it laziness, call it senioritis, call it apathy. it just doesn't seem important. my gpa may be tanking but letting loose some of that work has allowed me to pursue other opportunities that seem more pertinent to life outside of homework and exams and papers. i greatly enjoyed participating in the gender studies symposium this year (see feminist comment above). i had three pieces in the art exhibition and sat on an artist's panel. as the only student on the panel, it was an important step for me as far as building confidence in my abilities to cut it as an artist (another scary label i have yet to accept for myself). i was also an editor for the polyglot, lewis & clark's foreign language journal. this was an epic amount of work laying out the journal, especially doing it twice after losing the final version in a power surge. but it was a great learning process and can hopefully serve as an anchor on my resume for the possibility of editorial work in the future. i also had this minor side project known as my senior thesis in studio art. it's not like i have work in a professional gallery or anything. and i just found out yesterday that my work from that show has garnered me a nomination to a recent graduates show at blackfish gallery in downtown portland. i'm still waiting further details but i believe the show goes up in july.

what has enchanted me. that one is a little tougher. i tend to be driven on stress and caffeine not enchantment. i suppose working with new materials in my artwork. i built my first website for kiss inc. i also got into a lot of metal working. i suppose the most enchanting thing was cutting slits in the top of half inch steel rods with a four inch cutting blade on a grinder. for those of you not familiar, this tool has a diamond blade that spins really, really fast. so fast that even very strong men must brace themselves and use two hands in order to control the thing. there's also the minor detail that whenever working with metal, it tends to heat up a whole lot and then shoot little firework shows of sparks at your face. they are pretty to look at but they tend to burn. one night after welding for a good two hours, i went to pull up my tights only to discover several dozen holes in them from all the sparks. but back to the grinder (or grind). so i was totally suited up with leather chaps, a face mask and respirator cutting away. the first one went fine. oh and there's this issue with this particular blade that it can only cut into things, not away from things so if it gets the slightest pressure on either side, the whole blade can shatter. so i've braced myself, made sure i had a good handle on the grinder and wouldn't end up grinding my wrist along with the steel, sparks are flying, when suddenly there is some strange cracking noise. also, metal working is very loud. so hearing a weird noise that gives you that sinking feeling something is going terribly wrong doesn't happen often, even if something has gone terribly wrong. so after this noise i turn off the grinder and after it stops spinning thirty seconds later, i notice there is a pretty good sized chunk missing from the blade, which means it must have flown somewhere with all the sparks. i lift up my hands to check out the backs of my forearms and there is a burning hot chuck of the grinder blade sticking right out of my left arm. i pulled it right out and it didn't bleed too much. i don't even really have a scar now, but it had to have been one of the most enchanting, nay disturbing moments of the last 100 days.

what has humbled me? that is tough because i have always been a hyper-obsessive, perfectionist, over achiever. humble is not something i do particularly well. but i've had to deal with a rejection from teach for america and a probable rejection from the fulbright program. i was also nominated for awards that i knew i had no chance in hell of winning. so i guess that has been humbling, realizing there are a hell of a lot more intelligent, capable and talented people out there than i am. now, most days, i feel like i should just get out of the way, rather than trying to keep up with the pack.

the most troubling aspect of these final 100 days has been the unknown. my whole life up to this point has been pretty structured and laid out for me. graduating from public high school is a given for nearly 2/3 of american kids (why it's not 100% is also very troubling). the prospect of attending and graduating from college also felt like a given. there were many times when i wasn't so stoked on the whole college thing, but now i'm glad i did it and have learned a lot and had some great experiences. i consider myself extremely lucky in our current times that i actually have a job lined up and many things i have been involved in at lewis & clark are leading to greater opportunities away from the school. i also consider myself lucky that i have a trendy little roof over my head, a car to drive, a bike to ride and good food to eat, not to mention good beer to drink. i guess it's just the fact that the blue print ends here. now it's all up to me to make my own way. one can argue that you have to do that all along in life, but up to this point there has been some sort of structure to guide the way or at least provide the framework. now the only structure is i have basic needs to live and now need to find some way to satisfy those needs. there's also the feeling of standing on the precipice of the infinite abyss. before, if a semester was particularly stressful for whatever reason, i would just tell myself, just three more months and then things will change. now it's just 60 more years and then... i don't know. i suppose this is why people get married and have kids. some other way to occupy and divide time until they meet their maker. i wish i had more wisdom of how to deal with this, but i'm at a loss. everything i've learned in college and i don't know how to occupy myself satisfyingly. i suppose that is what troubles me most.

i think that about sums up my last 100 days.

now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

4.23.2009

















sunset over downtown a few blocks from my new house...

4.10.2009

this week has been a bit of a blur as i've been coping with the letdown and recovery after the show opened on friday {you can hear me blabber about it here}. after much celebrating friday night, i awoke to a glorious sunny saturday. and sunday. and monday. i spent as much of it as i could outside. i even did some homework down by the river sunday afternoon.






















and to play some catch up...
what i wore on monday:






















it was a gorgeous day with full sun and temperatures in the seventies. i took this on my bike ride home through all the blooming trees. spring has definitely sprung.
old white converse chucks
khaki skirt: target
wide white belt: target
basic white tank
blue and white scarf: from my mom's collection
sunglasses: target






















for the entirety of my three hour sculpture class, we just sat outside and talked as we basked in the sun. i even managed to get a bit of a sunburn. portland has finally awoken from its sixth month winter slumber.


and what i wore on tuesday:























yellow mary jane heels: target
cream and black dot dress: marshall's
tan belt: thrifted

and then on wednesday, as if portland didn't want us to get any ideas, it returned to its cool and dreary self.

3.24.2009

what i wore last thursday...






















shoes: kenneth cole
jeans: old navy
shirt: my dad's
belt: my mom's
jacket: thrifted

3.11.2009

oh my god, xiu xiu!

i'm super excited and nervous to be participating
in the 38th annual gender studies symposium at
lewis & clark college.

i have three pieces in the art exhibition and will
be part of an artist talk back panel with jamie
stewart of the band xiu xiu and eva lake, a
portland based collage artist.

makes me want to sing this song non-stop:



it's like i'm a real artist or something...

2.26.2009

what i wore today:

{i feel as if i should be off to a fancy
tea party. the kind with tiers of
little goodies like finger sandwiches,
scones with clotted cream and little
bisquity cookies. and of course, pinkies out.}






















creamy satin kitten heels: payless
grey tights: target
black jersey dress: gap
blue scarf à la belt: from my mother's stash
vintage doilies à la scarf: also from my mother's stash
pearl earrings: gift
blue gemstone hair pin: gift

and after i took that shot, the sun and
penelope decided to come out:

2.24.2009

new hair:















it was time for a change so i had about
8 inches cut off and bleached it.
what i wore today:
{i didn't feel that great and it shows}






















boots: thrifted
tights: target
black slip: hand me down
purple dress: thrifted
black cardigan: h&m
grey hoodie: target
leather jacket: thrifted
gold hoops: target