Travel + Light

I Am Packed is  a website showcasing the many (or surprisingly few) necessities needed for a vacation. I don't think anyone actually likes packing for trips, but this site makes me want to pack a suitcase for the pure sake of a good picture (also the various locations are making me wanderlust-y).

Spotted by Jacob.

Cuba + 2012

Hope you all had a fabulous holiday and a happy new years!

My mother surprised my father, my sisters and I with a trip to Cuba on Christmas day! We did a People to People tour (aka not illegal..) with a focus on (delicious) food. 

The music, the people, everything about the culture was vivacious and colorful and I can't wait to go back.

We were only there for about 4 days but I made a short video of our adventure. 

Check it out for a little taste of Cuba!

Here's to 2013! May it bring on many more enriching experiences and unforgettable trips.

Summer + 2012

For the summer of 2012, I was awarded an undergraduate research grant from Wash U to study textiles in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar). Although I have travelled all my life I’ve never had the opportunity to focus a trip solely on textiles and design.

My goal was to understand how Southeast Asian designers are manipulating traditional textiles to appeal to modern consumers, along with learning the process of creating a textile from beginning to end. I also focused on recognizing and understanding important motifs in traditional textiles and what cultural, geological and sociological differences effect and influence their production and design.  My research involved visiting silk farms, weaving factories and artisan markets.

SOOO I decided to make a movie about the things I saw ( I couldn't nearly incorporate everything I wanted to without making a 5 hour movie) but its a short and sweet glimpse into some of the experiences I had.

Check it out and enjoy.

{Editor's note: for the ultimate viewing experience, have it large screen and the music blasting}

Kinetic + Rain

Whilst in the Singapore Changi Airport over the summer (AMAZING airport. It has won over 390 awards since opening in 1981 including Best International Transit award this year. Anywho, I digress) I saw, from afar, the most magical art installation piece I've ever laid eyes upon. From where I was standing, it seemed as though hundreds of little silver droplets (608 to be exact) were not only floating midair, but fluidly moving and changing shapes from one poetic form to another. Truly breathtaking. Obviously it's all done with programmed wires, but the effect from afar is tremendous. It's titled "Kinetic Rain" and was created by ART+COM for Terminal 1. 

Check out the video below to get a glimpse of what I'm talking about.
And if you're ever in Singapore, don't miss it.

EAT + LEARN + MOVE

Need some inspiration to get off your butt this summer? These should just about do it (if you havn't already seen them):

3 GUYS, 44 DAYS, 11 COUNTRIES, 18 FLIGHTS, 38 THOUSAND MILES,
 AN EXPLODING VOLCANO, 

2 CAMERAS AND ALMOST A TERABYTE OF FOOTAGE…
ALL TO TURN 3 AMBITIOUS LINEAR CONCEPTS BASED ON
MOVEMENT, LEARNING AND FOOD ….
INTO 3 BEAUTIFUL AND HOPEFULLY COMPELLING SHORT FILMS…..

= A TRIP OF A LIFETIME.

Three short films by Rick Mereki, Tim White and Andrew Lees.
Also hi Rick Mereki, please marry me. kthanxbai.

It's kind of like Eat Pray Love but a lot less whinny and self-sympathizing.

Spotted at Cup of Jo.

Thu + Thu

Currently lusting after the label THU THU by designer Thuy Duong Nyguyen. Vietnamese-born, she has since moved to Germany and influences from both places can be strongly noted in her work. Apparently I have a weakness for handcrafted embroideries (see Free People Parka).

 

This jacket is to DIE for.

Travel + Sheik

I have some wonderful summer plans ahead of me! The first part of my summer will be spent in Great Britain- visiting relatives in England and then backpacking around Scotland, Ireland and Wales!  I'll be with my sister Lorelei and my good friend Jacob will be joining us before he heads to Coppenhagen for the summer and we head over to Singapore to see our beloved sister Selina and a bit of South East Asia!

Considering I leave in two days- I should probably start packing. WHAT TO PACK. The goal: attempt to be as chic as the lovely ladies below as I tramp across the green hills of the north and the fields of the south. And if you are doing any traveling yourself, take some notes.

Wish me luck.

Colder weather:

Hiking in heels is reasonable, right?

 

Warmer weather:

GREAT backpack.

Travel + Wardrobe

For those of you about to embark on an exciting adventure for spring break, here's a quick simple guide for the perfect travel outfit from Oh Happy Day! Keep it to these 7 easy essentials and you will be ready for all the jet setting in the world. And hey, if you're abroad, no one will know/care if you wear the same outfit everyday! 

 {if you take only one tip away from this outfit- the scarf that doubles as a blanket is by far the most useful item. Airplanes, road trips, impromptu naps- there's nothing it won't come in handy for! Try this gorgeous purple travel wrap from White + Warren}

Swiss +Miss

After a spectacular 2 days in NYC,  I'm headed to Zurich! Contrary to apparent popular belief, Zurich is not in Germany, but in Switzerland. Christmas in Zurich should be rather magical, and I am keeping my fingers crossed for a white Christmas. I'm expecting exquisite chocolate, excellent fondues and over-bearing punctuality. 

It will be the first time our family is all together again since the summer so it should be grand. Last new year's we spent in Russia partying it up St. Petersburg-style. Let's see if we can top that night, shall we?

Cheers and Happy Holidays! xoxo 

SUMMER + HIATUS

Parting is such sweet sorrow. 

Alas, I shall be back. You can look forward to more glittastic posts starting August 10th.
Feel free to roam the young archives of Glitterature in my absence.
 For now, I will leave you with the wonderful plans that are my summer.

 (Its my blog, I do what I want.)

July 3rd-5th: visiting family in England. My grandparents 50th anniversary and my uncle's birthday! Hooray! We'll be splitting our time between the beautiful little town of Winchester...

  ...the bustling and intoxicating London town...

 

and the beautiful little village of Bledington.

Afterwards we head to Ibiza- an island off the eastern coast of Spain. 

See earlier posts.

Then I leave on the 15th with my older sister Selina to meet up with my friend Amelia- 

to backpack Eastern Europe!!

Our (incredibly loose) itinerary:

Istanbul, Turkey

Sofia, Bulgaria

Belgrade, Serbia

Budapest, Hungary

Bratislava, Slovakia

Prague, Czech Republic

 Berlin, Germany

 

Amsterdam, Netherlands

THEN I part ways with my lovely travel partners and fly? train? walk? to Athens (where I demand that the rioting will be finished and we shall all come to a peaceful conclusion) and meet up with my past and future roommates Richard and Ariella (and dearly missing our fourth who is studying in STL this summer). Richard will be coming from Morocco where he has spent the summer studying Arabic and Ariella will be coming from Italy where she has been studying art. So we will no doubt be exhausted, multi-lingual, dirty (in my case) and ready to party. 

We'll (hopefully) be hitting up Athens

 Santorini

 and Mykonos!

HUZZAH! then back to the good ole' ATX for the small remainder of summer. Then the cycle completes in St. Louis for junior year. Psycheddd.