My Favorite Things : October 27, 2015

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LISTEN

★ Walk On – U2I love this song for so many reasons, but probably my favorite line in the song? “What you got, they can’t steal it. No they can’t even feel it.” They can’t take anything away from you. They cannot confine you. You can leave them behind. You are not trapped.

★ Sweet Thing – Van MorrisonA beautiful epiphany in a song. The multi-layered instrumentation is phenomenal & magical & perfect. Soaring flutes. The tender melody & lyrics. Ebullient guitar. One of my all time favorite songs.

★ You Still Believe In Me – The Beach BoysThe comforting knowledge that even after everything that has happened or will happen, that there is a constant person who has your back & will believe in you, no matter what.

★ Crowded House. I started listening to more Crowded House recently. The song that made me start loving their music was Archer’s Arrows (which is a phenomenal & fantastic song). Then I heard Don’t Dream It’s Over (see below), & fell in love with that too. I haven’t heard that many songs of theirs yet, but I’ve liked what I’ve heard so far. Their songs are very aesthetically pleasing, & very atmospheric. They’re the kind of songs I would like to work into a variety of playlists.

In A Sentimental Mood – John Coltrane & Duke EllingtonI like this song because it’s evocative in a somewhat melancholy way, & John Coltrane expresses this mood perfectly.

 

EAT

★ Vanilla Talenti Gelato. Seriously. Try this with rainbow sprinkles. It’s seriously THE BEST. Rainbow sprinkles make good things even better. Gelato somehow always manages to taste elegant & make you feel elegant while you’re eating it. I also love Talenti, because they keep their ingredients simple & to the point, & produce an awesome product. Fun fact : my father usually refers to my Gelato as “ice cream”, a term which I don’t think encompasses the awesomeness & quality of Gelato.

★ Ducktrap Smoked Salmon & Ducktrap Smoked Trout. I am a huge fan of smoked fish. A huge fan. Their smoked salmon with dill is AMAZING, & I am so in love right now with their smoked trout, which I just recently tried. The smoked trout tastes like a combination between fresh smoked herring fillets and smoked salmon. One thing I love about both the smoked trout & the smoked salmon is that the fillets of them are nice, thick, & wholesome, which is even better than the thin fillets more commonly found. Also, I want to put dill on everything now. I recently made homemade guacamole with dill in it, & it was great.

★ This awesome meal I made a while ago

 

READ

★ Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie PerkinsThis was a nice, heartwarming YA romance story. It made me feel all warm & fuzzy inside, & it’s just a sweet book in general.

★ 10 Really Easy Ways to Love Yourself More TodayAs always, Gala Darling has a lovely, illuminating, magical list. I especially like Point #8, about liking what you like & not liking things just because they’re popular.

This article about Street Dreams Magazine from The New York TimesI really, really like the idea of bringing the Internet into a more tangible, DIY form. Like a zine, of photographs.

 

WATCH

★ Jamming Baby Owls. BABY OWLS DANCING. Owls are the best thing ever.

★ John Owen-Jones Singing “Who Am I?” From Les Miserables. I love this song with a passion, & John Owen-Jones is the very best at singing it. He fills it with an emotion & evocative vulnerability that I haven’t heard in other renditions of the song. It is the most real, honest version, & because of this, a favorite.

 

WEAR

★ Colorful socks inside my awesome sparkly jelly shoes. Right now, I am especially loving my photo print strawberry socks, but since I bought the jelly shoes, I have bought a lot of cute, colorful novelty socks, just for wearing inside my jelly shoes.

My canvas medic bagI wear this bag in a lot of the fashion photos I take, & it’s my go-to bag for everyday usage. Ever since my Indiana Jones phase as a teen, I wanted a bag like this. I finally found one which appropriately matches the one in the films. I love it because it is sturdy, holds a lot of stuff, is comfortable & easy to wear, & just looks cool. Looking cool is the primary reason. It adds a ruggedness & uniqueness to any outfit I add it to.

★ Knee Socks with Jelly Shoes or Combat Boots. I will be posting photos of this combination soon, but it looks tough but feminine at the same time, & also allows me to include the edginess of combat boots while still showing off all my cool, patterned knee socks.

 

TO DO

★ Laying on the floor with my dog & playing fetch with him when I get home from work. He looks forward to this, & would seriously play for hours on end if I didn’t get tired of throwing his toys for him.

★ Learning how to drive. I didn’t learn when I was younger because I had no need to, but I’m learning now, & it’s going great!

★ Earning my GED & passing all the subjects the first time around. I got honors on Reasoning Through Language Arts and in Social Studies, & was one point away from honors in Science. This was something I’d wanted to do for a long time, & I’m so proud of myself for accomplishing this goal.

 

THINGS 

★ “When nothing is sure, everything is possible.” ― Margaret Drabble. Embrace the confusion. Now that you have nothing to lose & maybe nothing to prove, you can do anything. Now that you’re confused & uncertain & scared of the changes going on around you, you can turn this into anything. You have a blank canvas from which you can paint & create & shape into whatever feels best for you.

 

NEW AWESOME THINGS

★ My new album, Confusion is Over. 

New Book – Document Your Life : A Journal.

★ New Book – Panorama Novelty

★ New Book – Ashlee Craft / Assemblage Issue 5

 

Recent Outfits of the Day // October 20, 2015

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products that I recommend. When you click on an affiliate link to a product on an external website, I will receive compensation if you buy something. Thank you for your support.

Mime

Mime - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

Red collared blouse / combat boots / striped tights from Amazon.com / “Happy” earrings / diamond earrings / bright pink lipstick / gold glitter winged eyeliner / black shorts from T. J. Maxx / ponytail

Mime - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

What I liked about this outfit was the contrast between the bright, bold red of the shirt & the black & white stripes on the leggings. I am trying to find things other than plain white shirts to wear with each pair of patterned leggings that I have, & I think I hit the nail on the head with this one. There’s just something about red, black, & white stripes that just looks bold. Also, I really liked how the bright pink lipstick looked on me, as well as the idea of winged glitter eyeliner. My sister said I looked like a mime.

Mime - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

Leaf Scarf
Leaf Scarf - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

Minimal makeup / white t-shirt / hair down / black & white leaf patterned scarf from Bon Worth / canvas Indiana Jones bag

Pretty sure that I wore this with the black shorts from T. J. Maxx that I’m wearing in the above photos, & my Converse-style tennis shoes. It was an outfit for a quick jaunt out, so I didn’t bother to add too much to the outfit. I liked how the scarf looked, especially with the windblown hair & the canvas medic bag – it made me look like a traveler. Unfortunately, the way I wore the scarf caused it to slide around on my neck, requiring frequent adjustment. Oh well. This was my very first time wearing a scarf, so I guess I just need a little more practice to discover what works best!

Pink Polka Dots

Pink Polka Dots  - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

Converse tennis shoes / black shorts from T. J. Maxx / pink & white polka dot shirt from thrift store / ponytail / pink sparkly heart-shaped hair clip / plastic rose earrings / pink eyeliner from Claire’s

Pink Polka Dots  - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

This outfit was a transition from the outfit I wore earlier in the day out shopping, to the outfit I wore for spending some time outdoors. It was a rather simple outfit, but it was warm outside & the no sleeves were very suitable to the Florida weather! I love these rose earrings. The color on them is so pretty!

Pink Polka Dots  - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

Pink Polka Dots  - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

Red & Blue

Red + Blue  - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

Red & blue striped blouse from Bon Worth / black shorts from T. J. Maxx / silver & black zigzag earrings from Walmart / single hair braid / combat boots

I liked the single braid in my hair, as well as the combination of the stripes on my shirt + the zigzag stripes on my earrings.

Red & Blue, Again

Red + Blue, Again - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

Side ponytail / red & blue blouse from Bon Worth / canvas Indiana Jones bag / pink sparkly heart hair clip / black shorts from T. J. Maxx / pink eyeliner / gold facial glitter / strawberry photo print socks / clear sparkly jelly shoes / a variety of bracelets / pink glitter lip gloss

Red + Blue, Again - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

I really loved the way this outfit looked. This shirt from Bon Worth is so, so comfortable! I try working it into many different outfits of mine. Let me note how much I adore my strawberry photo print socks, my jelly shoes, & the combination between great socks & clear jelly shoes. Since I bought the jelly shoes, I’ve been buying all sorts of great, whimsical socks to show off in the jelly shoes.

Red + Blue, Again - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

Many of the bracelets I’m wearing here are ones that I’ve made – I’ve beaded & strung them myself. Some of them, like the red one I’m wearing here, I made when I was as young as 13, & I still wear them now. I also got a few of the bracelets here from my cousin.

Red + Blue, Again - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

I made all the bracelets on this wrist except for the blue rubber one. I love the round blue beads on the first bracelet. The purple bracelet is made of Mardi Gras beads. I learned the technique of making bracelets out of Mardi Gras beads when I was a kid – a friend of mine taught me, & I’ve loved the look & simplicity of these bracelets ever since then.

Red + Blue, Again - Recent Outfits of the Day, October 27, 2015 // ashleecraft.com

Mini-Essays : October 9, 2015

Grass Covering by Ashlee Craft
Mini-essays are going to be a new feature on my blog & I’m so excited! I came up with the idea earlier today & in this feature, I will write a small paragraph about a beautiful minutiae or moment or thing in life, or that I read about, etc.

// SURREAL SLEEP

I awoke, not yet halfway through the short sleep night that I knew I was going to have, & looked around at the darkness of my room, & the sheer lace curtains over my window, illuminated by moonlight. My blankets were too warm; I tried putting one leg in, one leg out, like I did when I was a kid, but it didn’t really help. I tried sleeping everywhere : on the end of my bed, curled into a c-shape, clutching a plush owl & laying on my “weird fish pillow”, as I call it. I thought about the sound of his voice; adrenaline coursing through the shot put athlete preparing to throw; feminism; tender moments between the two of us; pretending that he was there, brushing my hair back from my face to comfort me to sleep; funny TV shows, & the deep cloud that was hanging above me. Still, sleep would not come, & the assumed exhaustion followed.

 

// Goodbye, Tree

You were there, a steady friend of mine over many lonesome nights when I would stare out my empty window at the lake. “Goodnight, tree.”, I would say, thinking about Anne of Green Gables & how she named plants, so they could be her friends. The moon would shine down over the lake, & the water would sparkle like electricity was jolting through it, & you would be out there, a steady, sure companion of mine. & every morning, your branches outstretched to the sky, you would be greeting the day, ready to embrace it. Steady, rooted, certain. That was how I thought of you. Now you are crumpled & uprooted & lying there dead, & I can no longer say goodnight to you, but rather, farewell. “Goodbye, tree.”

 

// The Smell of Fresh Sweet Potatoes

They sat in my fruit bowl on the edge of the counter for quite a while – a white organic sweet potato, & a regular sweet potato. I used to use the fruit bowl all the time, but then the fruit in it slowly rotted, & after I washed the bowl, it got shunned to the pantry. I rediscovered it a few weeks ago, & the sweet potatoes ended up in the bowl. In an effort to rotate the fruits & veggies, I decided to cook the sweet potatoes today. It was one of those moods where I feel inspired to do everything, & make everything, & get everything done creatively & productively. I sliced them & made sweet potato chips. As I sliced off the ends, I took an appreciative sniff of raw sweet potato. I’d never actually sniffed one before & realized I didn’t know what they smelled like. It lacked much of the earthy smell of a regular potato, but had a faint hint of regular sweet potato smell. It smelled refreshing, surprisingly.

 

// Mindfulness, In a Weird Place

Three times it happened, same place, almost the same time. Lost in thought, with the soap on my hands & warm water washing it away. Lost in thoughts about where I was going, & the mere hatred of it all, & every other frustration bearing down upon me. Then, each time, caught up in what wasn’t even real yet, & probably never would be, & maybe wasn’t even important in the scheme of things, I stepped on the same broken acorn on the floor. It crunched under my foot, & the unexpected sound jolted me from my soliloquies, & suddenly I was there, fully & present. It was the alarm clock. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. Then I felt the paper towels on my hands, & felt the crunch of the paper beneath my fingers. This happened two more times the same night, the exact same way.

Summer, I Remember Your Lights – New Short Film Published!

Summer, I Remember Your Lights (2015) is Ashlee Craft’s fifth short film. It’s an aesthetic short film focusing on the somewhat still-life aspects of peaceful, breezy summer afternoons.

Directed by Ashlee Craft
Written by Ashlee Craft
Produced by Ashlee Craft
Cinematography by Ashlee Craft
Edited by Ashlee Craft

Score by Ashlee Craft

Duration // 2 minutes
Release Date // October 9, 2015
Themes // summer, aesthetic,
avant-garde, relaxing

Ashlee Craft / Assemblage – Issue 5

IAshlee Craft / Assemblage - Issue 5ssue 5 of Ashlee Craft’s life-is-a-playground art & poetry zine, Ashlee Craft / Assemblage.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

be a friend 4 / what he said 5 / colorful polka dots 7 / kindness is free 8 / don’t be too quick to judge 9 / diary entry 10 / tell him (maybe it will be great) 11 / fundraising 12 / how can I be happier? 13 / personality 14 / buy flowers for myself 15 / how can you be free? 16 / feeling better emotionally 17 / numbers (of course you’re a champion) 18 / songs to learn 19 / spunky 20 / don’t be scared 21 / assertiveness 22 / ass kicking music 23 / my name is… 24 / be chill 25 / shopping list 26 / Fibonacci 27 / I will teach you 28 / I can do this 29 / to do on break 30 / shared moments 31 / two pained souls 32 / comfort each other 33 / good things happen 34 / the greatest person 36 / change my life 37 / advice for the day 38 / to do 39 / not fake 40 / names I like 41 / from the shadows 42 / why must we be so sad? (there’s really not a reason) 43 / your phone number 44 / I want you back 45 / how you act towards me 46 / sunlight to grow 47 / saying to me 48 / love, in a few syllables 49 / we danced in the rain 50 / again 51 / owls 52

Publish Date // September 29, 2015
Paperback 52 pages
Genre // Magazines

Kindle Edition 

Playlist // Fierce & Looking for Respect

Playlist // Fierce & Looking for Respect (From Ashlee Craft / Assemblage, Issue 5)

Listen to playlist on YouTube

From Issue 5 of Ashlee Craft / Assemblage

1. Hold Your Head Up – Argent

2. Respect – Aretha Franklin

3. My Life – Billy Joel

4. F**k You – CeeLo Green

5. I Really Don’t Care – Demi Lovato

6. Shake it Off – Taylor Swift

7. This is Gospel – Panic! At the Disco

8. Already Gone – The Eagles

9. Another Day – Whigfield

10. Fly By Night – Rush

11. I’m Still Standing – Elton John

12. Mean – Taylor Swift

13. I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor

14. Take the Long Way Home – Supertramp

Note: this is a live version & not the original unfortunately, because I couldn’t find the original on YouTube.

15. Let It Go – Idina Menzel

16. You Don’t Own Me – Lesley Gore

17. Invisible – U2