scarves en chine

a couple of my last outfit pictures from china--i think i wore a scarf there every single day.

at the terra cotta warriors in xi'an. i bought this scarf in shanghai, and lost it in beijing at a concert about a month and a half later. depressing. it was my favorite for a while...i had a tempestuous love affair with gray and yellow.

at the temple of the eight immortals in xi'an. when we first got there, it was fairly warm; i didn't even bring a coat from beijing. yet literally on our last day there, it got disturbingly cold. i was wearing all of the clothing i had brought. in this picture, i look cold but happy. the scarf is from a brilliant 10-and-20-kuai (up to about $3) scarf shop in downtown xi'an.

the smell of chinese ink of the stone carvings was indescribably rich and dark and perfect.

i went twice to the great wall at jinshanling, outside of beijing. it's my favorite site by far on the wall: wild and lonely, and only partially restored. i'm wearing chinese pink pearl earrings--there have been stretches since then where i haven't taken them out for a couple days at a time!

backpacker

ah, tourism.

this was from the lovely champagne-colored elevator in my shanghai hotel...who says that i can't wear a nice big ring and a good scarf at the same time i am toting a giant backpack?

a western peace

xi'an 西安 means "western peace." i went twice this past fall/winter. i really love it, especially the part of the city within the stone walls. the muslim quarter and its bazaar are brilliant, packed with history and food and shiny things...i'll post more photos of the night bazaar later, from my second trip to xi'an.


i fell in love with this moon door while exploring an old courtyard house complex in the muslim quarter. while it's impossible for me to blend in as a local in china, it's fun for me to try not to dress like an american tourist. that means linen pants instead of jeans or short-shorts, neutral colors, and puma sneakers. people usually presumed that i was french or russian.

costumes were available for tourist photos on the drum tower at the heart of town.

winds

a traveling buddy, on the way to xi'an, hometown of the terra cotta warriors:

we biked around the wide top of the city wall. look at all that grey! oh, i love it.

gilded blue

this was my museum-visiting outfit. i thought i'd never say this, but i miss the shanghai heat and cozy smog.

skirt, purse, and omnipresent black flats are secondhand; shirt is a north face hiking shirt that i like to travel with because it fits perfectly and refuses to get stinky or dirty; little cut-glass earrings are from the yuyuan bazaar; gold-and-blue scarf is from suzhou.

inside the shanghai art museum. it says "the people."

the people's park

at the center of shanghai, near the shanghai museum, shanghai art museum, and nanjing road.

kari and sarah: supermodels for life

my friends look too sharp, loitering in black and red.

a failed attempt at a jumping picture

great big wall in china

continuing the trend of anachronistic posts, here is the second of my three visits to the great wall. my friends and i hiked from jinshanling (my favorite site on the wall) to simatai--hours out in the sun, and so beautiful.

look at that sky! (not to mention bradford's grin and sweet t-shirt)

descending stairs in a guardhouse in style. the shirt is one of those tees with nonsense english on it that is ubiquitous in china.

 

mimi, styling an american flag sweatshirt and ray-bans, against an incredible vista.

there was a great breeze coming in the windows of every guardhouse.

 

miaofengshan

we visited a huge number of temples in china this fall. here's the hike up to miaofengshan temple.

i love jimin's outfit. in the left of the photo.

at that point, we were still enjoying the gorgeous fall weather...we hiked all the way up to the buildings on top of that mountain!

 

 

a favorite chinese scarf, bought at the dongwuyuanr (beijing zoo) clothes market for 15 or 20 kuai, which translates to less than 3 american bucks.

purple bamboo

i visited the big local park with friends last week. it is only ten or fifteen minutes away on foot and is gorgeous and large--we were there all afternoon and i could probably spend several full days there getting lost and taking boat rides on a number of little lakes. it was hot and clear outside (clear probably due to the the fact that it was near national day--things were still pretty shut down).

american apparel t-shirt (it fits perfectly--how cliche!), chinese scarf from silk street, vintage skirt, trusty black rocket dog flats. glass earrings from my parents.

english brights

minni wearing a long dress that she pinned up herself. this is a novel but gentle combination of colors--bright pink and pale yellow. minni always looked great this summer, even at work, when we were outside sweating and getting covered in mud and dirt. i also love her accessories: the belt is great, and she made her necklace out of plastic and wooden beads and a bear paw bottle opener from our neighborhood gas station. ah yes...and she is from england.

experimenting back at work...

naturale

sprout wearing a gorgeous, simple print dress and chaco sandals out to dinner--i love chacos. i dorkily have my eye on a specific pair; i know the size and everything; i'm just waiting until i feel like i can drop a substantial chunk of money on 'em.

and the feeling is easy

summertime. a few last shots to commemorate the end of the season.

luigi swimming in a river during weekend break at my job. hooray, my camera is waterproof!

this, to me, pretty much exemplifies what summer should look like: love, dirt, rocks, water, and "jewelry" that can stand up to it all.

dancing dancing dancing, and wearing crazy prints.

smoothie in a metro station, en route to a club on u street in dc. i've basically spent the last month, since work ended, doing nothing except hanging around the city and seeing people, going out day and night and just exploring. u street is especially incredible at night--you can walk up and down u or 14th at 11 pm on a weekend night and people are spilling out of every doorway, dressed excellently, eating or listening to jazz or going dancing. my friends and i found this crazy caribbean hole-in-the-wall cafe on u where there is always loud soca music playing, and they sell pizza slices as long as your forearm, and THEY HAVE MULTIPLE DISCO BALLS. in a cafe. it is insanity.

festivaller

g, previously featured, in her carefree fourth of july outfit...there was a big festival on the national mall and i got a huge group of people together to hang out and see the fireworks.

easy dress and solid sunglasses.

idyllic.

american summer

some summer shots...these should give you the idea of my summer: lots of friends, trees, and wanderings.

en route to georgetown from dupont circle.

national mall.

a class act.