three things thursday!

here are three things i love on this hot, humid thursday!

my lovely danish friend mathilde being back in america! (and not ever going back to denmark!)

so insanely great.

the return of project runway!

have a great weekend! i'll be spending mine in colorado!

the boy who lived.

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that is is not real?" -Albus Dumbledore

I think that line completely summarizes my feelings on the world of Harry Potter. I’ve had a really difficult time putting together this post, because I just have so many things I want to say. First of all, J.K Rowling should be made a Dame of some sort, and recognized as an international hero of some sort. When one person can come along and spark the imaginations of millions for over a decade, even though it’s cheesy, I would say that’s nothing short of true magic. Honestly, there aren’t many things in our society today of 15 minutes of fame and come-and-go fads that really have the staying power of the story of Harry Potter. I think because it’s timeless, who doesn’t love a good underdog story? Good triumphing over evil? Love being the most powerful magic of all?

I’ve been an Potterphile since I was eight (thanks Mrs. Shreckhise!), I’m nineteen now and my appreciation for it has done nothing but grow. I, like so many others, have grown up with Harry, Ron and Hermione. I can remember seeing the first movie with my brother and best friends, when we came out of the theater we used our straws as wands and shouted, “Wingardium Leviosa!” over and over. I remember getting all the books as they came out and not sleeping until I had finished reading them. When the final book was released, I remember getting it at midnight at reading it with my two friends in my living room (just so you know this is a bad idea, it’s very hard to concentrate at 3 a.m when other people are there) and gasping and crying and laughing together. As much as we wanted to see the outcome and read it quickly, we wanted to draw it out as long as possible so we wouldn’t have to see the end come. And now, tonight I’ll go to the movie theater and be surrounded by hundreds of other fans, all waiting for what many of us are thinking of as the end of our childhoods. It’s going to be bittersweet I’m sure; finally we’ll see this epic ending to this epic tale, but we’ll also probably linger in the theater a little bit longer, knowing that this kind of event won’t happen again.

I kind of wish that I could say that I didn’t like to read until I read Harry Potter, but I’ve been a nerd my whole life. What Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Snape, Dumbledore, Hagrid, McGonnagal, Ginny, Dobby, Sirius, Luna, and even Malfoy have given me though is something that’s irreplaceable. I’ve gotten a chance to live in their world- to feel a sense of home at Hogwarts, to get the rush of adrenaline from flying a broom, the thrill of adventure from breaking into the Ministry, and to know what it’s like to experience real magic.

All of the posters say, “It all ends.” That isn’t really true though; I know that for years and years to come children and adults alike will still be entranced by the idea of hippogriffs and three-headed dogs, and eleven-year-olds all over the world will still await their Hogwarts letter to be delivered to them by a white, snowy owl. At the world premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two last week, J.K Rowling said, “The stories we love best do live in us forever, so whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.” I know that I’ll always believe that the Hogwarts Express is waiting just beyond the barrier of Platform 9 3/4, and so what if it’s all in my mind? If that’s good enough for Dumbledore, then that’s good enough for me.  

my weekend in instagram.

free slurpees!

cute dogs!

sitting in starbucks for a few hours just taking lots in instagram pictures!

getting ready for harry potter!

more free slurpees!

and feathers in her hair.

Finally! I finally have feathers in my hair!

My friend Kali and I have been obsessing over the idea for a while thanks to our extremely stylish former teacher (Make It Beautiful). Just before we broke down and bought our own kits Mrs. H found a great site, Fine Featherheads, and ordered her own to sell to us! So tonight she had a feather party, and we basically geeked out about how cool we were going to be with our feathers. And we were so right. Since we got the natural set, they're neutral enough that they don't scream, "Hey, look how cool I think am because I have feathers in my hair!" But they're enough to quietly whisper, "Oh, I have feathers in my hair? Yeah, no big deal." They're kind of addicting too, like tattoos, you just can't stop at one. People keep joking that I'm just going to end up with a head full of feathers, and no more hair. To that I say... well, maybe (just kidding, I like things in moderation.). What made us feel even cooler was driving down a back road with the wind blowing our feathered hair. I love nothing more than bringing out my inner hippie, which isn't that hard to do considering that I often feel like I was born in the completely wrong time period,  and my new feathers definitely help contribute to feeling like I could be driving a VW bus on my way to Woodstock rather than driving my Oldsmobile on my way to the post office... 

we really just can't stop looking at them.

featherheads <3

bewitched.

The release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two is only a week away, and seeing as I am an uber-nerd my anticipation is almost unbearable. Although I never really got excited to see the movies until the last three (simply because in the first five I couldn't separate the books from the movies and would just sit there thinking about everything that was missing), I was always excited for the premieres. This is mostly because I may, or may not, have a mild girl crush on Emma Watson and her developing style over the years. Seriously, the girl has had Karl Lagerfeld and Christopher Bailey (she was the face of Burberry for a while) wrapped around her finger since she was fifteen. Obviously we've all watched her grow up (weird since I was growing up at the same rate) but I really feel like she has managed an extremely graceful transition from adolescence to adulthood. She's come a long way from her frilly, poofy dresses at eleven years old to not being afraid to be edgy or take a risk like chopping all her hair off. And she hasn't just taken an interest in wearing fashion, but has gotten into designing as well. She established a collaboration with People Tree to create a fair trade clothing line, and then was approached by Alberta Ferretti to contribute to another fair trade line. So not only is she making great clothes, but she's helping the world too! Just more reasons to love her!
Anyway, before I go on for too long about how awesome she is, I'll just share with you some of my favorite looks of Emma's over the years. The press tour has just started today, and I can't wait to see what she pulls out for tomorrow night's London premiere.

In Rafael Lopez. One of my favorite looks ever. 2010

In Vintage Ossie Clark. 2009.

Oh you know, just hanging around Glastonbury festival wearing straight off the runway Vuitton. NBD. 2010.

In Proenza Schouler. Emma in my favorite designer... awesome. 2009.

In custom Burberry. Oh just being Christopher Bailey's date at the Met Gala, whatevs. 2010

In Burberry. Love. 2009

In Burberry. 2010

In Chanel. 2007.

In Rafael Lopez again. A promising start to the final press tour. 2011

(ps- thanks to emma-watson.net for the pictures!)

my weekend in instagram.

I love instagram. Seriously, you can take a picture of anything at all and instagram will make it look cool. So what I've decided to do is document all of my weekends via this app. Here is what my extended 4th of July weekend looked like from the viewfinder of my iphone (if you have an iphone and don't have this app, get it... now!).