monkey in my pocket

Sun hats. I found this hat, with tags still on, at the secondhand shop right before leaving for Paris. Now, you curly haired chicas know that wearing hats when you have curly hair can be a total catastrophe. Either they make your curls stick out stupid or you take the hat off and your hair is plastered to the top of your head, thus making your curls stick out and look stupid. People with straight hair or that wavy at the bottom hair probably don't encounter these issues, but for people with curly all over hair? Hats probably have a bright, flashing red warning light attached to them. That being said, I saw this big, floppy straw one and something just made me feel like a major part of my summer experience would be missing if I didn't buy a floppy sunhat. So I bought it. And it makes my curls look stupid. But life is life and we all must keep on going, so I've compromised and changed my hair to better accommodate the hat. The things we do for fashion...   Minnesota is well known for having the type of hot summers where it's so humid that you feel as if you're just swimming through the air. Everything is sticky and muggy and miserable. So far this summer hasn't disappointed on this expectation/reality. I've decided to just suck it up, beat the heat, and spend most of my time in shorts and tanks and crop tops. This isn't too bad, however I was out the other day, feeling sorry for myself because I don't have any sandals and have to wear tennis shoes or loafers all the time. In addition, I also have to wear socks with them so that I don't destroy the shoe with sweat and stink. So, as I was saying, I was feeling sorry for myself because of all of this and decided to make a change. So, I went and bought myself some sandals. Two pairs. These brown ones with the wedge being one pair.   It's not as if I don't like sandals. There are tons of cool sandal styles out there that I love (such as THESE by JuJu Jellies) but I have this condition called I-Wear-Kids-Sized-Shoes. A side effect of this condition is that most sandals are sparkly pink and have Dora the Explorer on them. I always find this discouraging and so, for the past couple of years, I had given up full stop on ever finding a pair of sandals. But I was at JCP to buy a tea kettle and I had a $10 off coupon - and I had pretty much sweated through the socks I was wearing - so I decided that it would be worth my time (and humiliation of trying to find mature footwear with a bunch of 6 year olds) to just suck it up and head to the kid's section. And I made off with two pairs of decently mature sandals and a pair of flats for the fall! Flats are another big thing absent from my wardrobe. My feet are so narrow that they tend not to work for me, but a size two kids? Perf.     All photos today were taken by this boy right here! (p.s. Remember when I wore that shirt? He looks so much better in it.) I told him that he could have a few day break from being photographed (except this shot, but I had the excuse of using it as a test shot) and in exchange, he could turn the camera on me. As a result of being photographed by my best friend, we have photos like this one below:   But seriously, that brim is a bit of a pain!   I found this monkey tank top in Camden when I was in London in June. Hilarious! I saw the booth and just burst out in giggles over how great these were. All sorts of animals in clothes popping out of pockets. I also got a sweatshirt with a giraffe wearing a Hawaiian shirt. So funny. And also really nice, soft fabric. The girl told me that the designer was from California, so I guess it's 'Murican. I always end up buying American designs when I'm in a foreign country. Hard, fast, true American girl right here, yupp. But LOOK AT THAT MONKEY. IN MY POCKET.   I was in a great mood when taking these photos. I was nearly finished with homework, it was cooling off outside, I'd been developing a friendship with a chipmunk in the backyard, and I was talking about plans for my next semester. Life is always good when I'm dreaming about my future. But before yesterday, I'd been struggling a lot, which is why I haven't been updating. Things have been pretty bad for me and I've been stuck in this loop of feeling like nothing. I was hoping to break free of it this summer but so far, not so lucky. What do you guys do when you need to feel strong and love yourself? I'm thinking of putting together a collage, even though I've scoffed at the idea in the past. Doing something crafty to remind myself of who I am seems like a good idea. But I'm curious what other people do to get out of that loop which I'm sure we've all found ourselves stuck in before...   That's all I have for you today! I thought I'd end on this great photo... I have no idea how I made that face! Winking is absolutely NOT my thing and I usually look stupid and gregarious. I'm a conspicuous winker. But somehow my boyfriend got this shot and it just makes me laugh!   Anyways, I'm off to either make that collage I was talking about...or play Nancy Drew. Steam is having their summer sale and all Nancy Drew is $3.50 each OMG. Stay cool, friends! xx