Apple Blossom Season

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v021/edited-33_zps84a3a657.jpg" /><br />I nearly missed apple blossom season before I left Ireland--we took these pictures on the sunset of my last day in Northern Ireland. The blossoms weren't as full as they probably are now, but the orchards were still very beautiful and striking. Summer will always be my favorite season, yet there's definitely something wonderful about spring as the world goes from cold and grey to full bloom overnight. Ironically my dress echoes the spring blossoms, when I acquired this dress last fall and wore it around the farm in Ireland while the orchard was full of apples and picking season was nigh. I left the dress at Thomas's house (along with these heels! and a few other pieces) last October when I returned to the States. I suppose it was rather forward of me to leave pieces behind, assuming I'd receive an invitation to visit again, but since it did work out it was quite convenient to have a few pieces waiting at his house to wear and save me space in my suitcase for other things. I won't even say how many pieces I left behind this time, but leaving things does feel like a silent hope for a speedy return.<br /><div></div><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v021/edited-37_zps6c83889d.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v021/edited-31_zpsc9a66c6f.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v021/edited-34_zps923a1422.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v021/edited-32_zps81406b0d.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v021/edited-41_zps4d753016.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v021/edited-35_zpsb247edf1.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v021/edited-45_zpsb6fade6a.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v021/edited-44_zps9bc3614d.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v021/edited-46_zps3985eebd.jpg" /><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: right;">Outfit details:</div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.sheinside.com/Wine-Red-Zipper-V-back-Sunflower-Lace-Skater-Dress-p-145140-cat-1727.html?url_from=theclothes" target="_blank">Sheinside dress</a> (old)</div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/120985666/cupids-arrow-brooch-red-embroidered?ref=shop_home_active_1" target="_blank">Les Mirettes brooch</a></div><div style="text-align: right;">thrifted belt</div><div style="text-align: right;">Seychelles heels (old)</div><div style="text-align: right;">*pictures by Thomas<br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/15904/the-clothes-horse" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Bloglovin</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://twitter.com/aclotheshorse" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Twitter</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/aclotheshorse?v=wall" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Facebook</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://theclotheshorse.tumblr.com/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://instagram.com/aclotheshorse" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Instagram</a></div></div>

Apple Blossom Season

I nearly missed apple blossom season before I left Ireland--we took these pictures on the sunset of my last day in Northern Ireland. The blo...

Read more »

Hanami

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_4145_zpsf0cab03b.jpg" /><br />People usually associate the Japanese term "hanami" with cherry blossoms, but strictly speaking hanami means flower viewing. A literal practice of stopping to smell the flowers in the form of festivals, outdoor parties, and picnics. In Japan most festivals revolve around the cherry blossoms, but I'm trying to have a little "hanami" of my own in Northern Ireland with whatever blooms I can find. I did have the good fortune of studying abroad in Japan when the cherry blossoms bloomed (to go my spring semester was not a coincidence) and I can still recall how magical it felt to walk to school as pink petals floated through the air and kids rode by on their bicycles in a happy babble I was only just beginning to understand. It was one of those changing springs when not only winter is cast off but you also shed an old skin and your life starts to become something different. I feel a similar shift this spring as if more than the weather will change in the next few months. I'm rambling, in most ways this is just another ubiquitous "yay spring" post.<br /><div></div><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_3780_zpsaa3cf876.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_4243_zpsbd8cfbc0.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_3937_zpsf5e10e78.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_4025_zpsaad46b4f.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_4142_zps478fef1c.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_3995_zps94e2f269.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_4076_zpsf50a1e9d.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_4231_zpsb6200353.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_3990_zpsf5e98168.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_4072_zpsabc1bd00.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_4258-3_zps0e4bde16.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/_MG_41652_zpsfee83374.jpg" /><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: right;">Outfit details:</div><div style="text-align: right;">ASOS jacket (old, <a href="http://rstyle.me/n/gp6vnhu7e" target="_blank">similar</a>)<br /><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/120985666/heart-arrow-brooch-red-embroidery-and?ref=shop_home_active_5" target="_blank">Les Mirettes heart brooch</a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?u=761928&b=393018&m=41271&afftrack=&urllink=www%2Echoies%2Ecom%2Fproduct%2Fdot%2Dprint%2Dshirt%2Ddress%2Dwith%2Dlong%2Dsleeve%5Fp22611" target="_blank">Choies dress</a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://rstyle.me/~1QFmu" target="_blank">heart tights</a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://rstyle.me/~1QFm2" target="_blank">Seychelles boots</a></div><div style="text-align: right;">*pictures by Thomas</div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/15904/the-clothes-horse" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Bloglovin</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://twitter.com/aclotheshorse" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Twitter</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/aclotheshorse?v=wall" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Facebook</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://theclotheshorse.tumblr.com/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://instagram.com/aclotheshorse" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Instagram</a></div></div>

Hanami

People usually associate the Japanese term "hanami" with cherry blossoms, but strictly speaking hanami means flower viewing. A lit...

Read more »

Do I Dare Disturb The Universe?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_7735_zps857a2116.jpg" /><br />The question "do I dare disturb the universe?" has been on my mind lately--it's from a T.S. Eliot poem I discovered in <a href="http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/04/10/dare-to-be-creative-madeleine-l-engle/" target="_blank">an article</a> on my favorite author who referenced it in terms of her writing. Writing which often made people uncomfortable by asking questions without easy answers and broadening minds; disturbing the comfortable universe they have created for themselves. Many of us little in a self-manufactured universe of half-truths and find ourselves uneasy when presented with other realities like different beliefs, lifestyles, etc. I see individual universes as comfort zones we live in and dislike being forced out of. Most of that is aside from the main questions on my mind, that being: do I dare disturb the universe? Do my friends? When people say things I am vehemently opposed to how often do I choose to leave the universe alone, to remain silent in fear of rocking the proverbial boat? I feel quite often that I am meek when I should be brazen...<br /><div></div><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_8069_zpsdad99524.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_8034_zpsa2fee801.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_7307_zps7db67bfb.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_7470_zps079ff2be.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_7889_zps8dbcc3b7.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_7935_zps4747a88c.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_8302_zps9a1e0a27.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_8300_zpsd9480a9e.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_8188_zps15f0a23e.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_8139_zps7c6a969e.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_8077_zps70592075.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_7973_zpsc4aac26b.jpg" /><img border="0" src="http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z301/theclotheshorse/1v/1v002/_MG_8181_zpsd4564602.jpg" /><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: right;">Outfit details:</div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.asianicandy.com/products/5jm4hs9k" target="_blank">Asian iCandy coat</a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.sheinside.com/Navy-Short-Sleeve-Bowknot-Dress-p-164903-cat-1727.html?url_from=theclothes" target="_blank">dress ℅ Sheinside</a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://shop.tabbisocks.com/signature/crochet/crochet-over-the-knee-socks-in-ivory/" target="_blank">Tabbisocks crochet socks</a></div><div style="text-align: right;">vintage shoes</div><div style="text-align: right;">*pictures by Thomas<br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/15904/the-clothes-horse" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Bloglovin</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://twitter.com/aclotheshorse" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Twitter</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/aclotheshorse?v=wall" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Facebook</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://theclotheshorse.tumblr.com/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Tumblr</a><span style="text-align: center;"> | </span><a href="http://instagram.com/aclotheshorse" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Instagram</a></div></div>

Do I Dare Disturb The Universe?

The question "do I dare disturb the universe?" has been on my mind lately--it's from a T.S. Eliot poem I discovered in an arti...

Read more »