Sun on my face, wind in my hair

Today has been a quintessential spring day - ideal for enjoying the sun warm your face and the wind weave through your hair. Just perfect. I even decided to express my ardent fondness for springtime with this plaid of handsome greens. I grew up and still live nestled in the Taconic Mountain range of eastern New York and let me tell you, when the mountainsides are illuminated with an endless array of green all seems right with the world.

The dandelion has always intrigued me. With its pretty golden floret and subsequent feathery parachute ball (perfect for wish making!) it seems unfair that it gets classified as a weed, but so things go. Apparently, the dandelion is rich in culinary uses. I've been eager to try dandelion wine ever since reading the novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury some years ago. Needless to say, I haven't had the opportunity yet. Have any of you had it before? How about sauteed dandelions or dandelion tempura? Might be good!

Shirt: Shaun White 4 Target, Jeans: Levi's Relaxed Boot Cut 550, Minnetonka moccasins

A certain sweetness

Spring is such a magnificent and delicious time of year. The correlation to a time of rebirth -- of youth, when things are new and fresh, surpasses the becoming qualities of all the other seasons combined. Or so it's nice to think. This spring, perhaps to appease once again the fancies of my thirteen year old self, I have been rereading a favorite series of books from childhood. There's no doubt my musings on this blog make it easy to detect my admiration for the stories of Lucy Maud Montgomery. Like happy carefree memories of girlhood, they make me feel safe in those moments when my eyes hungrily read from one page to the next. In the midst of this feverish reading, I came across a line in Emily Climbs that leaped off the page to be nestled snugly into my collection of favorite quotes henceforth: "For spring is just around the corner and I have forgotten everything but gladness."


How beautiful this semblance of words is to me! I marveled briefly over how I hadn't remembered this little morsel these last 12 some-odd years. Yet, delighted all the same in the thought that it remained on my bookshelf all this time waiting for me to rediscover and appreciate its sentiment. To be perfectly honest, a part of me cannot wait until next winter when I can dwell on these words and dream. But for now, spring is here and I am glad.

A welcome rustling breeze

Regular posting will likely resume here at Resplendent Tranquility. I feel as though my break from blogging has been long and healthy enough. It has run its course. With that said, hello again!

What's new in the world of Emily, you ask? Not too much. Just regular everyday life sort of things. However, it is that time of year when tax returns arrive in the mailbox. And so, I've been mulling over how to spend mine. A portion of it has already been designated for new tires for my car. I have it in mind to buy a much needed new pair of Levi's and try out a pair of TOMS. Saving some is a must, but before that I did treat myself to a new digital camera. Would you know that this blog, outfit posts and all, has relied solely on borrowed digital cameras? Yep, it's true. Mine broke long before this blog ever existed. I was in a pinch for a while and couldn't replace it right away. When I was finally able to afford one I often felt guilty about dropping that amount of money on myself. Thanks to that nice check in the mail with my name on it those days are gone and so... bye bye guilt!

Dress and cardigan: vintage, Belt: thrifted, Shoes: Aldo

Bull's eye

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I have a love/hate relationship with the color red. My reason? I worked at Target (you know, the land of the mandatory red + khaki uniform) for 3 1/2 years. Day after day I donned my red t-shirts, red cardigans, red polos and ended up developing a thorough distaste for the color. Well, it's been a few years and I've found I'm willing to let red back into my life. In small doses, that is. I thought it might be fun to add a solid red dress to my wardrobe (a few red patterned dresses have crept in of late), so I've been keeping my eyes open for just the right one. Here I've decided to style up a simple red dress using items similar to what I already own. As I began playing around with this Polyvore set, it became apparent that a sleeveless red dress would fit right in with my closet staples, especially considering how much I like to layer with t-shirts and cardigans.

Incorporating A Red Dress by TranquilEmily featuring French Connection dresses

Tell me, is there a certain color (or pattern, perhaps) that you've never been too keen on wearing?

Walking on sunshine

Hello! How are you? Are you shocked to see an outfit post? Me too! I recently found this lovely specimen of a dress at the Salvation Army and couldn't pass it up. I was really excited to wear it and did so on Easter Sunday. I should have posed with a rabbit of some sort so I could have cleverly (or not so cleverly) titled this post ''The Velveteen Rabbit." Darn those afterthoughts.

Cardigan: Target (girls' department), Dress: thrifted Laura Ashley
Shoes: Zara, Sunglasses: TJ Maxx, Vintage necklace

I had to share a detail shot of this vintage necklace. Green is my favorite color, so naturally I zeroed in on this beauty while browsing at a yard sale several years back. I also picked up a similar one in yellow that day and get this, they each cost me a quarter. Yes, 25 cents apiece!

Tell me, what was your best yard/tag sale purchase?

Tomorrow I'll know by the rubies in your voice

It's been quiet around here as of late. Almost silent. I feel as if these words are tip-toeing across the screen. While my hiatus from blogging began unintentionally, it has been refreshing. I have missed the frequent connection with all of you, but I may stay away a bit longer. I'll be careful today not to disrupt the calm that has settled here, but know that I'll be back soon with words to say and things to share.

Before I go, I'll tell you that my days have been filled with reading books off my current ''to-read" list, wearing pretty new floral dresses now that Spring is finally here, unearthing fabulous finds at my favorite treasure trove thrift store, and laughing over episodes of Freaks and Geeks and Flight of the Conchords.

The most memorable thing I've done to pass my time recently involved the enjoyment of live music. The best kind of music, wouldn't you agree? This past Thursday night a friend and I drove out to Northampton, Massachusetts to see Basia Bulat. I had been looking forward to the opportunity to see her play live for a few years and couldn't let this one pass me by. I have no photos or video to revisit the performance with. Just perfect memories. Accompanied by guitar, autoharp and hammered harp, Basia played a delightful array of songs from her two albums. Her brother, Bobby, provided pulsating percussion rhythms and friend, Allison Stewart, played beautifully on viola. When the evening came to an unfortunate end, I shook Basia's hand and thanked her for a wonderful performance. Walking down the sidewalk after leaving the venue, I turned to my friend and said "I am so happy right now."

Here is the music video that first introduced me to Basia Bulat. And yes, she played this song during her set just like I hoped she would.

Basia Bulat - The Pilgriming Vine



Video from Myspace Music Videos

'S' is for Snapshot

Today I took my camera with me while running some errands in Albany. I was in one of those photo-taking moods, but didn't see anything that intrigued me enough to have a second look, either on foot or while driving, until I was back in my hometown around sunset. On a moment's notice, I pulled my car into an old cemetery intent on capturing the burning orange light sinking behind the treeline and the shadows cast by the weathered headstones. The latter didn't happen as I had planned as the light was fading too quickly. Within the short time frame it took me to get out of my car and take the lens cap off the camera the whole scene differed greatly from what I had seen from the road. Maybe I'll get there a little earlier tomorrow to try again.

While I'm on the subject of taking photos, here are a couple more from some rolls of film developed this past autumn.


Camera: Nikon FM 10
Lenses: Vivitar Soft II 52mm, Vivitar 52 mm Cross Screen VI
Film: Fujicolor Superia X-tra 400
Click photos for an enlarged view