hey, i trimmed my bangs; does that count as a haircut?

Today is just full of accomplishments! I went to the bank and made my first deposit in a different state (out of state deposit slip confused me a bit), finished some sewing homework, and went out to buy hair cutting shears and got my straight bangs! I've been looking for a pair of scissors, and had the biggest smile on my face when I found a pair for $2.50. They're pretty terrible, but they get the job done. Awkward hand sorry. The light was on so I was blocking it.As much as I missed my straight bangs, I actually quite liked how it looked. It was just getting long and into my eyes all the time, and so I started to do that skater boy hair flip all the time. Probably no one can tell that I cut my hair anyway. That's usually how it goes.

So yesterday, I had my first college classes. First class was pretty underwhelming. Two hours of sitting and listening, yeah. Second class was so overwhelming. No classmate introductions. We start right from the get go. No supplies? NO PROBLEM! Run out to get them right now. Gosh, no joke, that's what happened. We were given 20 minutes of class to run out and gather a list of supplies. It takes five minutes just to run off to the store, at least five minutes to look for supplies, and another five for checkout. If I'm fast and lucky.

We started using the sewing machines on the first day of class. Our teacher went so fast paced with everything, I'm just glad I'm not completely new to sewing.
But man, these machines are fast and furious. These industrial machines. At their slowest, they go as fast as my home sewing machine goes.

Our first assignment was to sew lines, corners, and curves.
In the beginning of class, it felt like everyone had a lot of experience and it was a little intimidating because I felt like the one that would fall behind in class. But after we started practicing sewing, I felt like a lot of people were in the same position as me, and it's kind of reassuring to know that I'm not alone. The corners one came out alrightish, but eep those jagged curves in the swirls...

My other homework for the class is to go off to the garment district to look for swatches because we're making a skirt next class or next next class. I am so terrified of going to the city. I thought I was ready, but in the end I'm still just a meek small suburban girl.

My survey of fashion class today was pretty chill. Our teacher likes to talk and tell stories, which I like. We watched a video today about influential fashion designers (Mcqueen wasn't in it and I was kind of bummed), and Karl was speaking in it. I tried to take notes but honestly I couldn't understand what he was saying.

Here's today's outfit.

shirt from Goodwill, Sam's petticoat from flea market, old beat up Converse from the 8th grade.
I wanted to wear casual plaid, but not really in the mood for pants. Maxi skirts are so much fun to wear. I used to wear mini skirts in middle school and freshman year. I can't stand them now. Feel like I'm turning into an old woman.

I just finished another homework, where we have to look through our closet and write about it. But. I was having a really hard time finding enough items to write down. I think I need more clothes. I was going to buy new shoes and clothes with the money I made, but we're getting neverending supply lists from every class.

Maybe I should scratch out shopping in Manhattan and go thrift shopping.
That sounds more reasonable.

Oh, story. I'm going by Kaia in most of my classes now because there were other Biancas in my class (which happens way too often. You'd think Bianca wouldn't be THAT common of a name).

Yeah.
Love,
Kaia

rolling in fluff and florals on a day off.

I don't have classes on tuesdays, and I couldn't be more bored. Usually I like days off, but I've had so many days off already that I wouldn't have minded-or rather, would rather be in class today. All the trips that I was looking forward to over the weekend were cancelled because of hurricane Irene. All the campus buildings minus cafeteria and dorm halls were closed, and school on Monday was cancelled. I was bored out of my mind.
Because of that, I haven't been up to much lately; watched the VMAs as I do every year, drew a bit, and lived off of snacks an instant food. And then watched Adventure Time with some cool kids who also wanted to watch at the lounge yesterday. I really don't have much to do, so I've been tidying up my workspace and my side of the dorm. Currently obsessing over the color pink. I went to the hardware store yesterday to look at pink paint. And I've also been looking for pink decor. Pink! I need more pink! I've saved up enough for those pink Doc Martens I wanted, but I have to go make a deposit at the ATM and I'm too scared to walk off campus to the ATM to make that deposit. I need friends.

Kinda just prancing around my room in my favorite petticoat today. It's really fluffy on the bottom and makes it hard for me to sit down.

dress from H&M, petticoat from flea market, frill top from Tokyo Fashion Co in Taiwan, slippers from Taiwan.

I wrote a list of places that I want to go to, and it's been over a week that I've been here, and I've gone to none of them. It really does feel different when I don't have my parents around to ask them to drive me to places. A while back, I went to Target, and it took three hours to get there, shop, and then get back. Mainly because we got lost a few times on the way to and from, and the lines were insanely long because everyone was preparing for hurricane.

I drew this on one of those hurricane-you-can't-go-out-or-do-anything days. I don't post art on this blog much anymore because I have my tumblr for that now. But I really like this one and it's a photograph so.
Makes me feel like I should paint more so I can get better, but painting is such a headache. Takes forever and results vary.

Tomorrow is my first day of class! I have three classes tomorrow, from 9:30-6:20. Sounds like a long day. Though it looks pretty similar to my Monday schedule. Thursday and Friday have less classes.

Hope I'm prepared...

Love, Kaia

you would think that my lack of a y chromosome would make me more girl.

But unfortunately my hair length still plays a big role on first impressions. I especially wore a dress to my first day of school so at least I wouldn't be thought to be a boy on my first day on campus.Which reminds me, my hair is growing into my field of vision. Still deciding if I want to go somewhere to get my bangs trimmed or if I want to do it myself. Lack of outfit posts recently, I know. The first few days I've been trying to take outfit posts with my DSLR but it's so loud when it takes pictures. Really awkwardly loud. So I went back to using my point and shoots.

Tee, jeans, and scarf from Taiwan, plaid shirt from Goodwill, shoes from Salvation Army.
These jeans usually feel tighter. I think I lost weight from the last couple days. I got lost and couldn't get back to campus myself so I followed other people and spent the whole day outside. I'm sort of frugal when it comes to food. Though yesterday night I spent ten bucks on pizza at Grimaldi's. The line must have been at least an hour and a half. Maybe two. The pizza was good; it tastes like they use higher quality ingredients, but I'd rather go for grab and go pizza.

These rainboots are pretty frickin uncomfortable. I'm usually a size 7.5, and these are size 6 shoes and they're still a size too big. It's dinnertime now so I'm going to go down now. Though I don't think there's free dinner tonight; just coupons. I miss free lunch and dinners.

Love, Kaia

thrifting as a college student is even more exciting than thrifting as a high schooler.

I settled into my college dorm on Saturday, and now it's already Wednesday. I'm so tired today, I don't even know where to begin. And school hasn't even started yet!
The past few days have been nonstop orientation. There's something to do at all times. One of the things I was stressing out the most before arriving was what and how much to bring.
Especially clothes wise. In total, I brought four tees, four shirts, two spring dresses, a sweater, six outerwears, a vest, three camisoles, three skirts, two pairs of leggings, two pairs of jeans, six pairs of shorts, five scarves, and two pairs of shoes. I thought that was a lot. I thought I was overpacking. But most of the things need to have something underneath or be layered, so it's only enough for about a week or a week and a half.
A few thing I wish I had after I got here were flip flops and a pair of rainboots. Also, I got these Converse in 8th grade, so they're peeling pretty badly on the inside now.

So!!! Today I went on my first thrifting trip in New York. I looked up the closest Salvation Army to my school and just went to that one. Luckily there's one close enough to walk to. I found it on Yelp, and it was supposed to have this pretty unwelcoming sign that's spray painted "STORE." If I didn't know what it was, I'd be pretty freaked out. This picture is from yelp. The picture I took came out blurry. I was surprised at how much bigger the store is compared to the one I have back home. My hometown one is about the size of a really big living room. This one was the size of a really big Goodwill. Maybe that's what a real Salvation Army is supposed to look like. I wouldn't know because the ones I go to are all so small.
It's a lot of fun to shop as a college kid because I freak out about the prices. Like. THIS IS ON SALE! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT! And so on. $10 total for everything! I wanted rainboots, and found these rain sneakers at the store today. They were on sale for $4. Not bad, considering I was looking into $30-$70 rainboots. I also got a plate, bowl, spoon, and shelf.

Successful trip overall. I didn't look at clothes at all so that I could concentrate on things I needed. I need to go put my clothes away now.

Love, Kaia

girls in the old days who had to wear corsets must have had it hard.

I was cleaning out my room today and doing some last minute packing and came across this dress I bought a few months ago. That dress that I was never in my life going to ever be able to fit in. Well. I tried it on today and it fit.
I think I just really suck at zipping up zippers and I was probably too scared to zip it up all the way in case of breaking it. It's just. Really. Tight. Can't. Breath. This must be what corsets feel like. I've never felt so fat and skinny at the same time.

Gunne Sax dress from Goodwill, petticoat from Malco Mode, headdress and necklace from Forever21, shoes from Salvation Army.

The dress is a vintage size 7. I'm trying to look for a sizing conversion chart, but it's not going that well for me. I think my keywords are wrong. It feels kind of like a size 1/3. Not my size.

I'm at the airport...still waiting for my plane, which has been delayed due to thunderstorms and the like. Looks like...a little more than three hours. My battery's not going to last that long.

Hopefully it'll be a safe flight.

Love,
Kaia