Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Heartbreak Hotel

Outfit Details:
Top and skirt: ModCloth (old)
Yellow belt: Forever 21 (old)
Daisy brooch: Mom's




It's taken a while for me to be able to write this post.  If you are a regular follower of my blog, you might have noticed that things have been pretty quiet here during the last week or so.  I've never wanted to be someone who airs her dirty laundry on a public forum, nor do I want my posts to come off as whining or ranting.  I usually like to keep my blog a positive place.  However, I can't pretend that I'm anything close to "okay" or "normal" right now.  I don't think I necessarily need to apologize for my absence on my blog, given the circumstances, but I do want to provide a little bit of an explanation, even if it's just for my own selfish, cathartic purposes.

If you've been following me for a while, you might remember that my boyfriend, Steven, moved up to Rochester in June.  We'd been in a long-distance relationship for almost the entire time we'd been together (just shy of 3 years), in some capacity or another.  I had originally planned to move down to the Westchester area, where he is from, but I wasn't financially or emotionally prepared to go back down to the New York area at that time.  So he packed up his life and moved up here to be with me.





Last Thursday, Steven told me he was moving back home, and that he didn't want to be in a relationship with me anymore.  That he wasn't happy anymore.  That he wasn't in love with me anymore.  This is, by far, one of the most painful things I have ever known, in part because I was completely blindsided.  I've experienced a lot of heartbreak before, but this will probably be the worst of my lifetime.  To be honest, I hope that it is, because I can't even fathom anything worse.  I know that his heart is broken too -- he kept hoping that this wasn't truly how he was feeling, but he finally had to come to terms with it.  I keep thinking about all the things I could have or should have done differently, but even he said that every decision I made was right for me at that time, and that I couldn't have changed anything.  But it's extremely hard for me not to feel like it's all my fault.



I took these photos just hours before he told me it was over.  The irony of the heart-shaped details is not lost on me.
He may have broken my heart, but my dark sense of humor is still intact.


I had always believed that Steven was my soulmate.  We had much of our future planned out, and I think that's what I'm mourning the most.  I couldn't -- and still can't -- imagine my life without him by my side.  There are emotional land mines everywhere I turn.  Every time I think I'm doing okay, I'll think of something else that we both loved or that we planned to do or of a beautiful memory that we shared, and I'm back in hysterics.  I think it's going to take a very long time before I feel like myself again.  When this first happened, I didn't want to act, didn't want to sing, didn't want to blog or eat or laugh or do anything that I usually love.  It all felt meaningless if I didn't have him in my life.  Though I am still struggling with feeling this way, I am starting to feel better -- better than I predicted I would at this point.  I went to an audition on Monday, and I started feeling like myself again (though it all came crashing down on Tuesday, which was a rough day).  I think this is something I'm just going to have to struggle with for a while; there's no way around it.  It's just going to take time. 



As a result, my posting may become a little more sporadic.  Since I'm going to be throwing myself into rehearsals and shows within the next month, this might have happened anyway, but my circumstances have changed so drastically in such a short amount of time, and I feel it's important for me to not feel pressure to blog if I simply don't feel up to it.  I just hope that this post doesn't drive anyone away.  I wanted to be honest and not gloss over the heartache I'm experiencing for the sake of maintaining some kind of impossibly-positive little blog world.  I've already received so many kind comments through text, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram about this, and they have meant more to me than you can imagine.  There's nothing anyone can say to take away this heartache, but knowing that there are people who care enough to reach out makes all the difference.

Although I am not really religious in any way, I've still taken some solace in thinking that if he and I are meant to be in each other's lives, we will be.  I will always love him deeply.  I only wish he still felt the same way I do.

Thank you for listening.
xox Sammi  

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Candy striper

Outfit Details:
Cotton Candy Stand Dress: purchased from Kate of Scathingly Brilliant (orig. from ModCloth)
Pink petticoat: vintage (purchased from my voice teacher)
White bolero: Target (old)
Travel necklace: ASOS (old)
T-strap flats: Urban Outfitters (sold out)





I first wore this dress on my blog in May, when it was finally starting to get warm outside.  It's starting to get cooler (yesterday was the first day that actually felt like fall), so I thought I'd style this dress for the changing seasons.  It's not cool enough to wear tights yet, but I thought this was a good way to try to transition this sweet-and-sugary dress.  This dress is made by Hell Bunny, one of my favorite retro-inspired brands, and I bought it during one of Kate's "shop my closet" updates.  She has such great taste, and I was thrilled to snag this dress from her!  And speaking of "shop my closet"... I am hastily working on an update to my own "shop my closet" store!  I have tons of pieces that will be great for autumn, so I am busy taking photos of those to list!  If you're interested, check out what's currently in my shop here.  The prices are really low, and I'd love to get these items to good homes while there's still the hope of a little last bit of warmth outside!








We're only halfway through the week, but it's already been a crazy-busy one.  I stayed up 'til late editing a bunch of rehearsal tracks (which our pianist so kindly recorded for us) in GarageBand, and I'm still not done.  I'm wearing very many hats for this production.  At least it's never boring.  I'm realizing I'm going to have to take a bunch of photos at once to get ahead on blogging, since the Fringe Festival is an insane time (as is the week or so leading up to it).  I'm gonna have to grab my free time while I can, and make the very most of it.  I'm already feeling the effects of this stressful slash exciting time, so I'm glad that I get a night off to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with my family.  I love going to my grandparents' house for the Jewish holidays.  This holiday is in my top three (the other two being Passover and Chanukkah), but really, any holiday (or day, in general) that involves eating yummy food, I'm all about it.  :)

Hope you have a lovely Wednesday!
xox Sammi

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Brand new cadillac

Outfit Details:
Yumi '50s print dress: ModCloth (old)
Dream of the Crop Cardigan in Red: ModCloth
White flats: yeswalker




I bought this darling dress during ModCloth's big sale during this past winter (I think it was the Cabin Fever Sale?), and it's been sitting in my closet ever since!  Since it's pretty short and made of a rather thin material, it's not a great dress for the winter, but it's a great one for summer!  This dress is almost identical in silhouette to another Yumi dress I recently wore on the blog (you can see that here), and if you know anything about me, you know that I'm a sucker for great patterns -- and Yumi gets the award for unique, gorgeous prints!  I love the classic cars and '50s drive-in/diner aspects!







My mom and I always talk about the fact that there is truly an untapped niche out there for cars that appeal to female drivers.  I suppose that's an unfair generalization on my part, in that there are women who I'm sure don't care about having pretty cars or want to have especially-girly automobiles.  However, I am not one of those women.  I would love to have a beautiful, girly car that speaks to my equally-girly personality!  There was a huge response to the newer VW bugs when they first came out, and cars like the Mini Cooper and Prius have feminine qualities (I think), and are both extremely popular.  But other than that, the choices are pretty limited.  Fiats are adorable too, but I think they're only available in stick shifts, since they're Italian cars.  There's a car commercial out now that tries to compare a beautiful red classic convertible with an ugly, generic newer car, and it tries to make the latter look more desirable (and fails miserably, in my opinion)!  Harlow Darling over at Vintage at Heart made an excellent point on Facebook that there are many wonderful brands who have successfully made their mark in the fashion world with vintage reproductions and retro-inspired silhouettes; why can't the same be true for car companies?!  There are tons of gorgeous, classic cars in my area that come out in the warm weather, and I find myself sighing and lusting after all of them.  I've even seen many for sale, but the problem lies in the maintenance aspects of the car.  Why can't some wonderfully-inventive car company made vintage reproduction cars??  Make the exterior with those classic, beautiful lines and colors, and bring the exterior into the 21st century (while keeping the retro inspiration)!  I would be the first in line to buy one!  After I master learning how to drive, that is.





I took these during a chilly spell (since then it has warmed up and then promptly cooled down again), and I thought this sweater would be perfect with it.  I really cannot say enough good things about these Dream of the Crop cardigans from ModCloth.  They are seriously the perfect length for dresses, and I am the kind of girl who ALWAYS needs to bring a sweater with me.  I love that they're stretchy and form-fitting while being really flattering at the same time.




I can scarcely believe that it's already September.  This month is going to be a busy one for me.  I'm going to have to balance up to three different rehearsal schedules (one for the show I'm both producing and starring in during the Rochester Fringe Festival, one for the Rapunzel show with the children's theater, and possibly another for the Hansel and Gretel show I did last year that may be remounted and taken into more schools), along with everything else.  Let's just hope I make it through alive!

Have a great Tuesday!
xox Sammi

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Chinese lanterns

Outfit Details:
American Rag lantern print dress: Macy's
Dream of the Crop Cardigan in Mint: ModCloth
Necklace: Forever 21
White flats: ASOS
Belt: ASOS





I think this may be the first outfit post in which everything I'm wearing is long gone on the website from which I purchased it!  I bought this dress last year for Steven's and my trip to Montauk, and I just love the print!  It was actually a little big on me at the time, but since I've gained back a bit of weight since then, it fits better now.  I guess that's kind of the silver lining to the situation.









This is also one of the few times where I have actually mastered the sock/donut bun technique -- and on the first try of the day, no less!  Usually it ends with me being very frustrated and having a bad hair day, but it actually worked this time!  It's the small things.





Hope your Sunday is sunny and bright!  And HOW is it September 1st today?!  Eek!
xox Sammi