House Goals For 2021 🌿

When Donna Tartt said Forgive me, for all the things I did but mostly for the ones that I did not, and M. L. Rio said How tremendous the agony of unmade decisions.

Spring Dark Academia Outfits

A rainy day: A pale, oversized sweater with embroidered flowers and vines on the collar of the button down underneath. Hair frizzy with the humidity, wrestled into a messy bun or left in a puffy cloud. Loose, comfortable tartan pants or skirt. Doc Martens or some other combat boots that can splash through puddles. Long trench coat. A dramatically oversized black umbrella, preferably with some sort of fancy handle. 

Strolling through sunny streets: A jewel colored tank top or bralette under an oversized white button down, left unbuttoned and loose. High waisted tan shorts or cigarette pants with brown leather shoes. Hair is loose and overgrown after the cold months of not cutting it. Gold jewelry wrapped around fingers and throat in the shapes of arching branches, thick with flowers and thorns. A baker boy hat to keep loose hair pushed back.

The birds are singing: Flowing white linen skirt or pants. A billowy shirt or sweater in pale colors with ballooning sleeves. A silk bandana over the hair to keep it from fluttering, ticklish against the face. Or perhaps one of the first flowers tucked carefully behind one ear; it slips every so often, but every time fingers brush against it something light and airy ignites in the chest. 

Not ready for summer: Making one last use of winter fashion before the heat forces it back into the closet. A black turtleneck and plaid skirt, but now without a heavy overcoat or warm leggings. Leather boots now used for splashing through puddles instead of snow piles. Dark green sweaters and skirts are getting worn especially, as they match both the new plants springing from between cobblestones and the evergreen trees that never left. Dramatic lipstick, red like freshly crushed fruit. 

Perfect weather to pretend to be an archeologist: Something in all tan and white. A light brown sweater vest over a white cotton shirt with the sleeves pushed up haphazardly. Tan, high waisted palazzo or midi pants. Rich brown leather belt with a gold buckle that matches the comfortable shoes perfectly. Egyptian coins fashioned into earrings. Golden round glasses that keep slipping over the nose, only to be pushed back up again.  

Picnic time: A loose, flowing midi dress with puff sleeves and a delicate floral print. Brown leather lace up boots. Hair in a long braid or up in a French twist, the comb covered in jeweled flowers or perhaps skulls. Rings on almost every finger, each one placed deliberately with an affirmation spoken softly on the lips: this one to protect, this one to offer insight, this one to help me remember. A picnic basket in one hand, worn leather satchel around the other shoulder filled with study materials to enjoy as deeply as the fresh fruit.

Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.

- Rachel Carson

“If you inherently long for something, become it first. If you want gardens, become the gardener. If you want love, embody love. If you want mental stimulation, change the conversation. If you want peace, exude calmness. If you want to fill your world with artists, begin to paint. If you want to be valued, respect your own time. If you want to live ecstatically, find the ecstasy within yourself. This is how to draw it in, day by day, inch by inch.”

— Victoria Erickson

— Neil Hilborn, from Our Numbered Days

If I had a nickel for every time I thought of running away and living in places like this,

 I would have had enough money to actually go there.

-Asena Rawlin

Strolling aimlessly in a bookshop is self care

Jane Austen // Bao Phi

Details: Design for The Magic Flute: The Hall of Stars in the Palace of the Queen of the Night, Act 1, Scene 6. 1847–49. By Karl Friedrich Schinkel.

“People who have nature, sea, and mountains should feel blessed. There’s something about being surrounded by beauty, fresh air, and good scenery that makes you want to be a better person, like describing the wonders around you through poetry, gratitude, or maybe even music. How wonderfully blessed are those who are in harmony with mother earth, for they shall ruminate and overthink less than those who live in the cities with advertisements and information seen everywhere. How graciously blessed are those who are dreaming at the shore as they watch the stars at night and smell the salt of the sea, for they shall feel warmer whenever they feel lost or lonely. How faithfully blessed are those, who are sitting together around a bonfire and telling good stories about what wisdom the trees have given them as they were swaying and what bewilderment they’ve experienced when the birds were talking to each other, and it was music to their morning ears. How infinitely blessed are those who have an inspiring environment to lean on for the rest of their gifted lives.”

— Juansen Dizon, Free Folk