One of those days...weeks...months...

You know you're in a slump when it's the middle of the week and you can't remember what day it is. Slumps come and go for me, and I'm not particularly worried about this one, but I can easily identify my slumps. I don't want to go out much, I wear clothes that reflect ease and comfort rather than style choices. My clothes are often more drab colors, so they don't stand out when I eventually do leave my home for work or groceries. I've been sticking to leggings and loose dresses and my new favorite sweater from Forever21 (who, by the way, had excellent sweater choices this winter!).

I haven't felt like being out since I've returned home from Portland. Post-vacation depression? Is that a thing? Getting back to routine, to work, and to all the things you were trying to get away from on your vacation; it can be a little overwhelming. I've been trying to be productive by working on comics, or reading, or cooking, but sometimes even the smallest thing is too much work. While I have no small amount of troubles, sometimes they pile up and seem insurmountable. Needless to say, as much as I've wanted to get out and do some fashion posts, they've been on the back burner on my list of self-care and priorities. (Whoo boy, good thing I didn't decide to make this blog focus on fashion!)

This post isn't to worry anyone, I'm not fine, but I will be. These things tend to happen to even the most positive of people (a list for which I probably do not qualify, but that's neither here nor there!) and we all seem to push through. There'll be a day where the items in my closet speak out to me again and I'll be able to put together an outfit and feel amazing in it! But for now I'm just going to push through this little slump of mine until I'm in a better place emotionally and wear my drab, comfy clothes.

I'm actually still editing photos for the next post from my trip as well. There are just SO many lovely images from our trip to Multnomah Falls that I'm having a hell of a time trying to weed out any of them! The nature out in Oregon was just so beautiful, it's hard to look at any picture and think it's not worth showing to everyone! Perhaps I'm just not used to seeing green as others, though. I mean how many pictures of trees can one really take? Let me answer that for you right now: a lot! My apologies in advance for those endless tree photos. I just really love trees! Ask my brother. I'm sure he doesn't miss the countless amount of times I asked to stop what we were doing so I could take yet another picture of a tree. Anyway, I should have that post coming together soon!

Until next time, have a great weekend!
Jessie xxoo

Portland 02/28/14 | Day in Seattle

Because we were in such close proximity, I was absolutely set on getting us in on a day trip to Seattle! Plus, as an early birthday gift to my brother, I wanted to take him to the EMP Museum so he could check out the Jimi Hendrix Exhibit as well as various other things that interest him. But we later found out that there were also segments of the museum dedicated to sci-fi/horror and one for fantasy as well. I was pretty excited after hearing that.

The day was off to a rocky start. We left as scheduled, but our schedule soon got derailed when I got pulled over for speeding shortly after getting into Washington! I was going a speed I normally never go, but in the rental, the ride was so smooth, I kept speeding without even realizing and constantly had to check my speed. Lesson learned the hard way, unfortunately. After that we stopped for a less than mediocre breakfast at the closest stop (which happened to be a Denny's) and I got a free meal for having some kind of label cooked into my potatoes. Silver lining maybe? I was obviously pretty melancholy after that, but as soon as we saw Seattle's beautiful cityscape, I was recharged!

We hit the sci-fi section first and it was a bit of a letdown for me. There were some interactive bits, but usually when there are interactive bits in museums, it means children, and it means children who don't want to share. Basically we came in after a very bratty girl who kind of irritated me the entire time we were walking around, and I ended up passing up on a few things just to get away from her, but what can you really do? On top of that, some of the displays seemed rather pointless (a copy of Battle Angel Alita sitting in a pile of gears? Was that really necessary at all?), and pretty underwhelming. There were a few points of interest, but basically, unless you love standing around reading walls of text, there was not really much too the sci-fi section, unfortunately.

The Lego exhibit was pretty interesting. I've never really been interested in Legos, even as a kid, but the tallest buildings in the world in Lego form were enough to impress me! Though apparently not impressive enough for me to take any good shots of them! I'm a lousy archivist/chronicler/what-have-you! But I had a lot of fun with my brother. I would always suggest traveling with someone who doesn't mind hamming it up for photos! Makes for a lot of fun shots!

I think the Nirvana exhibit might have been my favorite. To be honest, I've never been a huge Nirvana fan, not for lack of enjoying their music, but I wasn't really exposed to them much until later on, long after Kurt Cobain had passed and the fervor for their music had died down considerably. I think they're excellent, and the exhibit had some really great interviews and displays that actually moved me. I don't often connect with musicians, just music, but after reading some of the information, I couldn't help but feel connected to the iconic band.

The fantasy exhibit was also a bit of a let down for me. It had a few interesting displays, and felt like I was in Disneyland for a minute, but other than that, there wasn't much to it! I did like the dragon though.

After leaving the museum we spent the rest of the day wandering around a few streets, trying to use up the time in my expensive parking spot, then traveling to the University District to find a record shop (which apparently did not impress my brother) and finally meeting up with an old internet friend for the first time! Overall, my brother and I felt like Seattle was too much like Los Angeles in the structure and atmosphere, and while it had beautiful spots, mostly we just wanted to get out of there and get back to Portland. Granted, we both agreed we really didn't have enough time to really take in the city. My judgment is reserved until I can return one day!

^{Footnote:I'm hoping my photos will improve during the trip's progress. These shots were a bit disappointing, but I think I got more used to the camera as the days passed! I'm also hoping to figure out how to better organize my posts so they aren't so very long. I don't really like using read more, but if I can't cut down on the photos I want to use per post!}

Portland 02/27/14

I've been back in Los Angeles for 3 days and I'm still recuperating from Portland. My sister suggests it's age, but I've never been good at spending a lot of time out and about. I've always needed down time to follow. It's part of being introverted (which I plan on covering in my comic about the trip)! We were walking and exploring for nearly 12 days straight, with only one day where we actually spent some time relaxing in our room. I'm finally feeling awake while I'm awake, and not feeling like I'm about to pass out by five in the afternoon!

I'll be posting about my trip by the day, to help me better organize everything that went on and not get facts mixed up, as I tend to do often. I know most people like to start things off with a bang, but apparently all I could manage was a fizzle. The first day of our trip I didn't use my camera once. I was too busy trying to get my bearings and adjust, too busy LOOKING at things to really SEE what I was looking at, if that makes any sense! Luckily for myself (and bloggers around the world) instagram exists! I was able to track some of our day with pictures from my phone! So, without further ado:

We spent the first day just exploring downtown Portland, enjoying the architecture, stopping in some shops, consuming a large quantity of warm beverages, etc. It was a fun day, though somewhat uneventful, but it really gave us a chance to understand the city. Our expectations were immediately met, and they were exceeded on a daily basis! We were so stoked to be there and fell in love with the city almost instantly! I was traveling with my brother the entire trip, so you might want to get used to this handsome face:

You'll be seeing a lot of him!
If you're interested in seeing some more peeks at the trip via instagram:
jessadilla -my instagram account
endless_revisions -my brother's instagram account

Until next time!
Jessie xxoo

Portland, BTW

Hey all! So I basically left for my Portland trip without so much as a peep on here! I had a farewell post planned, with this completed image in mind, but that just didn't happen. I ran out of time so fast, I never knew what hit me! This image is an incomplete preview of what will likely be the cover to my collection of autobio travelogue comics about our trip to Portland!

My brother and I are completely enamoured with the area so far! It's been cold and rainy, but it didn't really seem to matter as we walked around downtown and stumbled into different districts! We also traveled to Seattle for a short trip, and while it was a beautiful city, it was a little too much like home for us to really appreciate. However, I'll admit we hardly had enough time to walk around and take it in. Perhaps another time!

I'll definitely have some photo posts from the trip later on, and maybe even a photo an hour post, and an outfit post if I can get my brother to have some patience and photograph me! Hope life is treating you all well! You'll hear from me soon!