iordanovs.in.the.avenues: 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

0 military cape

similiar bomber jacket, similar blouse, similar necklace, similar shorts, similar tights, similar wedge sneakers, similar clutch

i have to admit i wasn't quite sold on the whole "coat as cape" thing. that's fine for super heroes & all, but for us mortal folk? is it right? or do we look ~~pretentious~~ silly? i'm not sure really, the only thing i know is that when one of your favorite jackets is a few sizes too big {one of the few sad stories of weight loss}, the whole "i'm too cool to really put this jacket on properly" thing kind of works. i mean at least i don't look like i'm swimming it anymore. or do i? i have to admit i wasn't quite sold on the whole "coat as cape" thing. cape's are fine for super heroes & all {although edna mode might diagree}, but for us mortals? is it right? or do we look ~~pretentious~~ silly? i'm not sure really, the only thing i know is that when one of your favorite jackets is a few sizes too big {one of the few sad stories of weight loss}, the whole "i'm too cool to really put this jacket on properly" thing kind of works. i mean at least i don't look like i'm swimming in it . . . or do i? either way i kind of like how it looks photographed {even if i do put it on properly when i wear it out in public - it is kind of chilly over here}. well happy halloween folks! we watched "rosemary's baby" as we munched on cheese & drank some wine {the fact that this was our chosen activity halloween night is probably related to why we didn't get id'ed at the liquor store - come on! don't i look like i'm 20 & going to a crazy frat party? . . . yeah . . . no.} anyway i was excited & a little sad that autumn was in full swing when i got back from japan {it's my favorite season & i'd hate to think i missed any of it}. the colors in the trees, the brisk air, it's perfect for sipping a cappuccino {but really when is it not perfect to sip a cappuccino?}. i am pretty happy right now so i'll give him the one. why am i happy you may ask? because i turned the charm i bought at the meiji shrine into a necklace {along with a 50 yen coin}. the charm is supposed to bring soundness of mind & body, let me tell you this - if there's anything i need right now, it's that. less than 2 months until the end of the semester & then 4 months more is graduation! the prospect of school ending {& what the hell i'm supposed to do after that} is a little daunting. here's to japanese luck!

p.s. this is one of my muji shirts & i'm in love!

p.p.s. i turned in my film from japan today . . . i'm so freakishly excited to get the photographs back! ah delayed gratification, there's nothing quite like it.

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Monday, October 28, 2013

0 peach salsa

in one of our ventures to the farmers market we came across so many peaches {delicious peaches too} that we bought a bagful & i decided that the best thing to do was to make salsa with them! i didn't like any of the recipes i found online so this is my own creation, ta-da! i'm pretty proud of it & neither ivan nor i could get enough of it. i hope you enjoy it! {best with fresh peaches of course!}

ingredients:

3 medium peaches - diced

2 large tomatoes - diced

1 avocado - diced

1/2 bunch cilantro - chopped

1/2 cup red onion - diced

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tbs. apple cider vinegar

2 garlic cloves - minced

1 bell pepper {color of your choice} - diced

1 jalapeño - thinly diced {this can be reduced if you prefer your salsa less spicy}

directions:

combine ingredients & keep covered in fridge until ready to serve.

enjoy with chips or as we did with some grilled chicken, arugula & queso fresco! que delicioso!

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Saturday, October 26, 2013

0 no i didn't die

school & work have just been, ~~really~~, ~~incredibly~~, insanely demanding since school started at the end of august. hence, my long silence. i guess i could have posted something, but i felt like to do anything with any sort of quality whatsoever would have taken more time that i had to spare - so i just didn't do anything at all. which is very much like most of what i do. i'm a bit of an extremist in a way and tend to go all in or not at all - something i've been working on, as sometimes you can't go all in but you can't not do it either - hello busy work! so that's a personality thing that's showing up here in the blog. i'm sure you all understand that. however, i do enjoy blogging a lot and didn't want to just quit because i didn't have a lot of time. so i waited {not so patiently} until the first, insanely busy first half of my semester was over and i got back from japan - JAPAN!!! - to start up again. that's right folks, my childhood dream of ~~growing up to be a beautiful japanese girl~~ going to japan was finally fulfilled. well, not fulfilled really, because instead of leaving me satiated it only whetted my appetite! i took over 2,500 pictures - don't worry i won't post them all - as well as 4 rolls of film on my holga. however i will do several posts that highlight different aspects, like food, new & old architecture, oddities, etc. - everything was so diverse, animated (often literally), dense, beautiful & culturally rich that i felt that our extremely fast-paced {there was more than one occasion where someone got lost/left behind} 10 day tour barely skimmed the surface. i am currently just finishing transcribing an interview that took place on the trip and am almost done {7 pages down, just 3 minutes more to go!} well, now that i've addressed the most recent past i wanted to show a little about the beginning of the semester - mostly my school shopping! i, at 31, still get excited about shopping for a new semester - i probably always will. i just love buying stationary, pens, bags, etc., basically anything that will help me stay organized - all in the hopes that this will be the best semester ever! it probably stems from my frequent childhood moves {which often occurred during the summer} & seeing each new place {& usually new school year} as a chance to do a little better, a chance to {in a highly aspirational way} reinvent myself. now my goals are a little smaller, but they do usually include things like not being late to class & not half-assing any assignments - i have yet to accomplish those during an entire semester so far {the transcription i'm working on now was due yesterday - oops!}, but that's why there's always next time!

in other news i've recently become obsessed with loose/comfy/sexy tops. i bought 3 at muji in japan! i find it especially sexy to combine it with other inherently sexy pieces - such as my beloved leather pants and something fun like my wedge sneakers! they are my absolute favorites & yes i did take them trekking ~~what felt like~~ all over tokyo with only minor casualties - totally worth how cute they looked!

gap oversized button-up shirt: similar, hm leather pants: similar, aldo wedge sneakers: similar

i'm loving my new "bookbag"! similar here

p.s. how absolutely fantastic is this day planner?! i'm so sad i have to wait 2 more months to use it!

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Sunday, August 25, 2013

2 a little luxury

sometimes you want something simply because it's beautiful, ridiculous, impractical & unexpected. my two luxury purchases this week were precisely that. i'd been eyeballing the caviar manicure kit for quite some time now & finally caved. the texture is super fun although i have to admit it's definitely for people who don't use their hands a lot {or never do dishes} as it only lasted a couple of days - a couple of gloriously textured days! the other splurge was lady gaga's perfume, fame. the perfume itself is black {not the bottle} & smells addictively sweet. there's nothing like a little luxury to make reality {read school starting on monday} a little more bearable.

as a sucker for good packaging i loved this seal. as well as the bottle, it's quite stunning.

p.s. the perfume in the background on the left is flowerbomb {my "signature scent"} the price tag is well worth the compliments it garners & although i love it, i'm pretty excited to add a little variety to my olfactory repertoire.

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Saturday, August 17, 2013

0 so much keeps happening!

as i may have mentioned before i've been working A LOT. i've been working so much that sleep has become a luxury & my coffee intake has increased exponentially {i never thought i'd be so excited for school to start so that i can work less}. over the weekend my sister suzy {who is a year younger than myself} & her husband dave came to town! why did they do that you may ask. was it to escape the extreme heat & boredom of phoenix? no, well maybe a little, but it was mostly because my dear brother travis got married this tuesday! the rest of my family {except one sister - there are 13 siblings total - I'm from utah remember?} made it for the wedding & it was a small, beautiful event. we were able to get together with natalie, a dear friend for brunch & discussed the awesomeness of "sharknado" {which ivan is trying desperately to procure - since we don't have TV}. we had thai food with my parents & the kiddos as well as indian food with the girls while the boys went go-kart racing for travis's bachelor party. all in all it was a great weekend & week! oh! i also purchased a pair of wedge sneakers! ivan is convinced they look like boots & only likes them because of how happy they make me {apparently high-top velcro sneakers were never popular in bulgaria so he's missing the whole nostalgic affect the shoes give}. in other news i finally got my hair done! inch long roots are sooo not my thing. aaaaannnnnnd we ran a half-marathon this morning! after which we enjoyed the much anticipated machine gun sandwich from bruges waffles & frites {this indulgence has been planned since we decided that we wanted to run a half-marathon - how else could we justify eating that many carbs in one sitting?} we had to walk around downtown afterwards so that we didn't feel quite so sick - i couldn't even eat the whole thing. sorry that my posts have become so infrequent & consequently ridiculously long! that being said here are a silly amount of pictures! i hope you are enjoying your summer! only one week until school starts! eek!