Seattle Art Museum: Yves Saint Laurent

The current special exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum features the work of Yves Saint Laurent, an acclaimed haute couture designer. While I try to go to as many SAM exhibits as possible, I made a point of going to this one.

Some quick background on Yves Saint Laurent: he started his career at Dior, where he quickly became the head designer for the fashion house upon Christian Dior's sudden death in 1957. After being fired from Dior, he started his own line with the idea that "fashion is for everyone" in mind.

The exhibit featured sketches, concepts, fabric samples, and the clothing themselves from the start of YSL in 1960 to 2000.

My new first-date dress, which reads, "love me forever."

Me (left) and Maddie (right) out on the town.

Before constructing the clothing, a sample is made from inexpensive fabric, a number of which are displayed here.

Spaces & Faces: 3201

Welcome to my apartment! (Finally). I've lived here since October 2015, but apparently it's taken me over a year to finally get my room to the point where I can put it on the blog. Now, just in time for me to move out in a couple weeks, here is a look at my living space.

My bed is where I spend most of my time. I've had most of these pillows and this duvet cover since freshman year, so my room aesthetic has largely remained the same. Emily painted this beautiful piece of art as a rough draft for an incredible gallery piece she did, and I got to keep it because I was one of the people that posed for her.

I've slowly been building up this gallery-style wall since I moved in: it was originally just the quote cards, but has since grown to incorporate my first-ever wedding invite, my sister's grad announcement, some DIYs, and some miscellaneous pictures.

I love the aesthetic that hanging up my jewelry creates. Not only is it like a little wall of art, but it's a super practical way to store my necklaces.

I love my &s: I hope to acquire more of them as I continue decorating my living spaces.

The foot of my bed features some of my own paintings of little succulents.

All of our furniture came from the university, but we do our best to spice it up with our own unique touch, like these DIY wine bottle vases.

Carolyn has a bunch of really cute quote canvases: these are two of my favorites. It doesn't hurt that they're both so aesthetically pleasing.

Living with two dogs (and three women) is a whole bunch of fun. We spend a lot of Friday nights together on the couch watching Harry Potter movie marathons and sharing junk food.

Seattle Bucket List

In June, I realized that I don't have long left in the city I've called home for the last three years. If I'm going to do everything I want to in Seattle, I have to get on it, because I don't have much time left. So, I asked all my Seattle friends places that they recommend I go before I leave. The result is my Seattle Bucket List.

I've actually been to quite a few places on my bucket list since June. I'll continue to keep track of which boxes I've ticked off as I continue to explore.
Volunteer Park Conservatory
Woodland Zoo
South-Lake Union
Golden Gardens park
Ballard farmer's market
Gasworks park & Kerry park
West Point Lighthouse

DIY Review: Succulent Cork Planters

I love succulents. They are so cute and easy to take care of. Unfortunately, I've killed a couple of them on accident. So, I was on the lookout for an easier way to plant and have succulents in my place. This cork planter DIY from Upcycle That seemed like the perfect solution. So, I had a couple friends over to put this tutorial to the test.

Materials:

• Wine, prosecco, or champagne corks (as many as you want!)
• A screwdriver, small knife, or Swiss Army knife
• Soil
• Succulent clippings (one or two per cork): we cut ours from succulents growing around the neighborhood, so don't feel the need to go out and buy an entire plant to use for this project.

Step 1:

Carve a small hole in the top of the cork. It needs to go about halfway down so you have enough room for soil and a succulent clipping. The original tutorial has more details about how to make this hole; we kind of just freehanded it.

Step 2:

Fill the hole with soil. 

Step 3:

Plant your succulent! Make sure to pack down the soil around the succulent so it doesn't fall out and is able to grow roots.

Voila! The tutorial includes attaching magnets to the corks, but we didn't want to do that. Instead, we left some of them to stand on the windowsill, and wrapped wire around others to make little hangers that can hang from the wall or the ceiling.

This was by far one of the easiest and most rewarding DIYs I've ever done. I strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a craft to do or an easy DIY gift.

National Suicide Prevention Week: Words of Wisdom

One of the hardest things I've had to figure out since being diagnosed with chronic depression five years ago is how to get through the rough times. I don't mean "rough times" as in times when I have five essays due, a midterm to cram for, job apps to submit, and a million other things to do. I mean "rough times" as in times when I cannot possibly get out of bed, let alone go to class or even feed myself properly. This is one of the hardest symptoms of depression for me. 

I figured out a long time ago, though, that these periods of debilitating hopelessness pass with enough time. I used to liken it to drowning in the shallow end of the ocean: eventually the tide will go out and I will be able to touch my feet to the bottom and keep my head consistently above the water. The hard part is waiting for that time to pass. One thing I've found that can help distract me during these periods is doing art.

My favorite form of art is painting. I used to exclusively use acrylics, but I recently rediscovered the box of Crayola watercolors we have leftover from our elementary school years. Sometimes I illustrate quotes, especially if I've found one that's especially fitting to the place I'm in. Given that it's National Suicide Prevention Week, I chose to illustrate a quote that I find particularly inspiring in rough times.

This quote is from the TV show Game of Thrones, an unlikely source for such non-ableist inspiration. Whenever I am worried that I am "too much to handle" or that I am a burden on those around me, I think of this quote. When I look around, most of the people I know don't need to be treated like a child the way I often need when I am suffering the most. I may need more at times than someone who is mentally healthy, but that doesn't mean that I don't deserve the help I need. Hearing this sentiment for the first time at 20 years old was revolutionary, and encouraged me to continue to ask for the help necessary to keeping me alive and (mostly) well. I hope that you read these words or share them with someone who needs to hear them the way I needed to.

I didn't like the colors in my first draft, so I decided to do it again!

I believe that this sentiment is an important contribution to the discussion of mental health. If this or any of my other blog posts on National Suicide Prevention Week have touched you, please join me in engaging in dialogue about mental health tomorrow, September 10, for National Suicide Prevention Day. I will be drawing on my wrists and sharing my story and the stories of others on social media tomorrow, and encourage you to do the same in whatever way you feel comfortable.