2009 Retrospective
December 31st, 2009
2009 holds the record for the fastest passage of time. I really can’t believe that it happened so quickly! I’m not sure if there was something special about this year, or if I’ve finally spent enough years on this planet to be so used to the passing of time that it doesn’t drag on anymore. I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing. What I do know is that 2009 was good to me, way better than 2008 (as anticipated), and I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be even better.
Instead of resolutions, I make goals. I guess they are almost the same thing, but a goal feels more natural and attainable to me, something I can work on over time instead of being forced to commit to it immediately when the clock strikes twelve. For 2009, my goals looked like this:
-continue to work for myself & make more money than last year
-record a song
-be in an art show
-draw more
-do more yoga
-stay in a yurt
-sew a dress
-play cello more
I am happy to say that I accomplished most of these goals, except for sewing a dress and recording a song. That’s ok though! For 2010 I want to work on more creative projects, which covers a whole wide range of possibilities. Some things I did this year that were new to me:
-having chickens!
-seeing (and swimming in) phosphorescent water
-blacklight minigolf
-playing the saw
-sweat lodge
-art shows!
2010 goals:
-work on more creative projects
-play more music with people
-get a DSLR finally
-continue to take analog photos
-organize the house more
-hot springs at least twice
-cruise?!
-read more books (I’m reading a book about DMT now to start it off weird)
-get my driver’s license
How about a 2009 outfit retrospective? It’s a quiet, rainy day, a very Portlandy way to end the year. I have a purring cat next to me, so I’m ready for a big bloggins post! All of the photos that I’m going to use for this retrospective were dug up in the dusty ol’ archives of iPhoto (ha), and almost all of them have never been seen before on the internet!
SPRING
Spring! I was really, really into spring this year. I went wild with it- pastels like crazy, gingham, frilly hair pieces, etc. I really let nature control my fashion choices, mimicking the new blooms and colors that I was seeing around me. I discovered that it was possible for me to wear things on my head (hats, hairpieces, fascinators) without looking totally goofy. I went 25 years thinking that I couldn’t wear hats!
In the spring I acquired some of my favorite pieces of clothing from this year, including my little woven box purse and this 30′s/40′s dress from Stellate Vintage. This dress was one that I tried to win on ebay a long time ago but was outbid, so it is really cool that I ended up having it through the magic of the internet. In the spring I also decided to stop cutting my hair (except for bangs), and these photos show my very first attempt at doing pin curls!
Ok, I know this is a lot of spring, but I’m not kidding when I said that I went nuts for it this year. I couldn’t get enough! Spring also brought me those cute triple-strap shoes, which I don’t wear nearly enough because they are just a tiny bit too narrow for my feet… two of these photos were taken by Rachel during her springtime visit. The top right photo is from the day that my tripod fell over and smashed my old Canon, the dress is one of the comfiest things I own, made by Supayana! It has a really cute sweetheart shape on the top, but you can’t really tell in the photo.
SUMMER
In the summer I tried really hard to wear comfortable things. I discovered my love for silk. I was pincurling my hair a lot and wore a pink scarf tied in a bow, mostly because on day one of pincurls my hair sticks out like crazy and the scarf helps to mellow it out! My inspirations ranged from lazy modern flapper to 1950′s picnic wear. I think summer can be one of the hardest seasons for me, because it can get so hot! Sometimes it’s hard to care about your outfit when you know you’re just going to be sweating all day.
Nevertheless, I got pretty serious about finding awesome, lightweight dresses that would work on even the hottest days! The floral 30′s dress (which I thrifted and spent hours carefully stitching up the torn collar) up on the right was something I wore on the hottest day of the year, and it was such a good choice! This selection of images is totally a perfect representation of my hot weather wear. I wore those woven wedges a lot (a thrifted pair), but the quality was crummy and they quickly started to fall apart. I continued wearing bows in my hair.
AUTUMN
I love fall! I feel like fall really changed things for me, in terms of my style and fashion choices. I think the purchase of my striped shirt and a couple pairs of awesome pants played a big part in my shift of interests, although it’s hard to say if I was equally influenced by the season. I guess I won’t know for sure till next spring and summer came around! Anyway, I became even more serious about comfort- if it wasn’t totally comfortable, I wasn’t interested. My love for stripes was growing very quickly. I loved having longer hair, couldn’t get enough of awesome wedges, found two bags that I adored (giant leather satchel! 40′s tapestry purse!). My outfits became less girly and a little more grown up, and I think it suits me!
In the fall I can’t help but be influenced by colors, so if it looked rusty red or cloudy gray, I was interested! The red dress is one of my favorite thrift finds of the year, it is so, so comfortable. I wore this belt a lot, it’s practically the only one I wear! I finally found a cape that I like. I got an amazing coat for free! My hair continued to grow.
Whew, did you make it through all of this? Maybe one of my 2010 goals should be to be a little less wordy in blog posts. Yes? No? Well, either way, the new year is coming. Start the countdown!
20 Comments
Add your own1. d'arcy | December 31st, 2009 at 12:54 pm
are you reading DMT: the spirit molecule?
that book is AMAZING!
2. Dave | December 31st, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Happy New Year! It did decide to be awfully Portlandy for the end of the year, after being decidedly un-Portlandy a couple days ago and causing the end of the world for an evening.
While 2009 wasn’t a particularly great year for me, I will agree with you that it flew by, and brought some big changes (some of which were very good, despite the overall flavor of the year).
I don’t think I knew you played the cello – I do as well. My goals for this year I think are to finish off an album (of songs), publish my book of poetry finally, get really good at bread baking, and dive further into the world of fermentation and culturing (cheese, sauerkraut, yogurt, etc). Oh, that, and to actually have a well-planned garden
Here’s to 2010 being a year of us living lives we enjoy, that matter in other peoples’ lives, and well… that we get a sense of satisfaction from, whether we get to everything we hoped at the beginning of the year or not.
Cheers!
3. Elise | December 31st, 2009 at 1:29 pm
this is the best retrospective i’ve seen on any of the fashion blogs i read. your pictures are beautiful, and as usual, what you have to say is interesting and insightful. please keep your posts just as wordy this new year!
4. Lexie | December 31st, 2009 at 1:50 pm
you have wonderful personal style.
5. Quincy | December 31st, 2009 at 2:44 pm
this is fabulous! so many pretty pics! i like your writing. i’m just a really bad writer so my post are always short. i’m quite the talker though so it doesn’t make sense, haha! Happy New Year!!!!
thats too funny about the word verification code! i always get these funny ones! the one for this is, Mr strewn, lol
6. Sabrina | December 31st, 2009 at 3:35 pm
I LOVE all of these pics! My favorite are the jumpy legs and the orangey red cape.
7. Rhiannon | December 31st, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I love seeing all the changes in your wardrobe, and I think I like the last outfits best! I’ve been feeling the same lately . . . wanting to go less girly and more grown-up, which I think is partly a winter thing that I’m hoping will last into Spring! That last outfit is especially terrific.
Happy New Year!
8. Jessica | December 31st, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Happy new year, Anja!! You always look as adorable as can be–that dress Stellate Vintage is still my favorite!
ps: sorry I don’t comment here nearly as often as I want to! 2010 resolution: comment on more blogs! haha
9. Alli (One Pearl Button) | December 31st, 2009 at 5:06 pm
So many gorgeous, gorgeous outfits! Happy new year!
10. whatdialike | January 1st, 2010 at 3:17 am
happy new year!
beautiful retrospective.
http://www.whatdialike.com
11. Eliza | January 1st, 2010 at 11:38 am
It’s fun watching your hair grow. Speaking of yurts, did you see this? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/garden/31yurt.html
12. sleepforever/pangs/jas | January 1st, 2010 at 12:30 pm
oooh which dmt book is it? i want to read it, i read ketamine: dreams and realities a while back and it was really interesting. i love anything psychedelia related.
happy new year anja! im sure you will pull through on your resolutions!
13. Gina | January 1st, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Thank you for your gorgeous retrospective! Your style always inspires! I really love the way you paired silkiness and pretty colors and “grown-up vintage” with fun tights, stripey shirts and playful hairpieces…It’s so funny how we all have our own comfort zones….Silk shorts over tights is about as close to pants as I can get, and I feel daringly tomboy when I pair my vintage ferragamo oxfords with a frilly dress. I love the dynamic of finding what is just right and lovely for you, and then pushing it a bit. HAVE A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! (and I will send you some cute pictures of my favorite Clever Nettle vintage frocks–the pale blue and the red party dress with bow!– quite soon in the new year!)
14. frida Salomonsson | January 1st, 2010 at 4:13 pm
beautiful pictures.
15. wix | January 1st, 2010 at 4:14 pm
Love it! Keep up the adventurousness–not a word but probably should be–in 2010.
I also tend to set goals for the year rather than resolutions, and it’s unclear why this is so. Maybe it’s easier to privilege or focus on results over process, or on quantifiable differences like doing more of something. Who doesn’t enjoy checking things off a list, anyway?
Hope the new year brings good, better, best!
16. MannequinMe | January 2nd, 2010 at 1:08 am
I love your blog! What a treasure trove your space is!
Happy 2010!
X
17. catherine_sr | January 2nd, 2010 at 9:13 am
I love seeing how your style has evolved over the year, and all your photos are fantastic! One of my goals for 2010 is to sew something wearable. The last time I made a dress was almost 10 years ago and I had such a hard time with the pattern, my poor choice of fabric and my own hastiness that it nearly put me off dressmaking forever. Hopefully being a decade older and a bit more patient will make things go a bit more smoothly this time!
18. Milla | January 2nd, 2010 at 1:38 pm
what a great year for one of my all-time favorite bloggers. I so appreciate your unique sense of style and the whimsy of your outfit choices. I feel like you don’t take your clothes too seriously, just seriously enough, and that your style is truly an extension of your personality. A VERY interesting personality. Also, if you ever sell that 70s dress dibs please
Happy Happy Happy New Year!
19. katiecrackernuts | January 2nd, 2010 at 9:08 pm
You are too cute. The retrospective is sweet, and your goals are just right. Doable without being too out there. Here’s to a brilliant 2010.
20. enterrement de vie de jeune fille | May 20th, 2010 at 4:44 am
Tu as vraiment un style à part et très personnel et tes photos sont magnifiques avec des couleurs vives très réelles. Bravo !!!
Séréna
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