New year, new favorite TV show: New Girl

I'm sure everyone is aware of how awesome New Girl is.  In fact, I'm positive I'm behind the times on the discovery of the show... but just in case there's others of you out there who lived on an island in the middle of the ocean for 2 months, here's a sneak peak. 

The show stars Zooey Deschanel as a kooky highschool teacher who moves in with 3 guys in downtown LA after breaking up with her long term boyfriend.  Although she is exasperatingly kooky, turns out her 3 guys roomies are equally as capricious, and they all end up friends in the end.  I'm sure many girls can relate to Jess (Zooey Deschanel) who sings normal sentences, wears crazy vintage outfits in inapproprate situations, and watches Dirty Dancing on repeat after a painful breakup.  No? Well, even if none of the above are your thing, I'm sure you will enjoy the show...Plus Jess's "nerdy/quirky teacher" style, designed by Debra McGuire, is amazing:

3 months absence... shameful!

Can't believe I haven't had time to sit down and write anything for 3 whole months!  It's been a jam packed new year!   I was up in northern New Zealand counting seabirds on some isolated islands, then I spent christmas with some good friends in Australia, then I spent the past month frantically preparing for a conference in Hawaii... which I am headed to as we speak (literally, I am at the airport with a ridiculous 12 hour layover in Sydney).  Thought I would write a quick update, brought to you from right next to the Sumo Salad and a magazine stand.  Nothing but excitement here!

So I give you 'a frantically busy 3 months in the life of a seabird biologist' - a photo diary. Enjoy.

1) Surprise beach camp-out 30th birthday party for the bf featuring: rock climbing, frisbee, camping in caves, bonfires, smores, lots of music, fire dancing, and a crap-load of fun!

2) Mapping seabird colonies on remote islands a few hours offshore of northern New Zealand (read: no showers, tents, 12 hours of hiking a day, rain, wind, mosquitos.... but a whole lot of seabirds and beautiful scenery!)

 

3) Trip to Australia to visit friends for Christmas.  Koalas, kangaroos, mango daiquiries, beaches, shopping, and of course: birds!

Sydney:

Beastman

Amazing vintage shopping in Newtown

The Blue Mountains

Gullah

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

 Brisbane:

 Best 16 dollars I have EVER spent!

NYE walk in the grass

Kookaburra

Marijuana museum in Nimbin

The kangaroos were completely uninterested in my kind snack offering

Aboriginal rock carvings

Rock Wallaby

Etsy sale

So, I was delighted to find out that there's a sale on at one of my favorite etsy shops Gadzina's Hamper.  Because my pocket book is feeling a bit sad lately, instead of buying everything (which is what I REALLY feel like doing), I made some collages of sweet outfits I would make with a collection of the items.

Awesome see-through dress (would be so cute with high-wasted granny panties and a bralette), perfect headscarf, adorable tweed purse, red oxfords, and rhinestone bracelet... all for under 130 bucks! 

This would be great with a pair of woolly grey tights or knee high socks for you northern hemisphere folks at the end of fall! 

Cowboy meets Asian silk? Too far?

Here's a spring outfit for us southern hemisphere folk.  Love love love those slouch boots!

70s bell bottoms with seafoam green bowling shoes?  Yes please!

Happy shopping!

Ghosts of Gone Birds - Su Blackwell

If you haven't checked out the artist collective (Ghosts of Gone Birds), I highly recommend doing so.  I may be a bit biased, since it is a collection of art pieces devoted to raising awareness about bird conservation. BUT, there are some incredible artists contributing some incredible art to the cause. Everything from watercolor to installations, from Margaret Atwood to Kai and Sunny.

Artists are raising money for Birdlife International's Preventing Extinction Programme: "we are raising a creative army for conservation through a series of multimedia exhibitions and events that will breathe artistic life back into extinct bird species"

Anyways... enough about bird conservation.  One of the members of the "creative conservation army" is Su Blackwell.  She makes art out of old books and dresses, and I think she's just great. Here's the piece she made for Ghosts of Gone Birds:

"A box of fading ghosts"

Here's some other gems from her website. Birds feature prominently, as do dresses. As you can imagine, I'm smitten.

Penguins can be stylish too

http://felt.co.nz/blog/2011/10/knitting-for-penguins-caught-in-rena-oil-spill/

A cheerful collection, for cheering up

Just came upon this gem of a designer 'Nadinoo' on the blog Fancy Fine. Not only do I love Ashley's post (frankly, playing vintage dress up before a night of kareoke with these two is my idea of a dream date), I LOVE Nadinoo's clothes.  I love the pastel colors, giant bows, and sailor collars.  The cute vintage inspired prints of sailboats and airplanes are exquisite... not to mention the 'bird a day print'.  This one just sent me over the top.  An ornithological themed dress?! Marry me?
Also, online, Nadinoo made up three fictional characters who go on made-up adventures in their clothes.  Super adorable.  And one last added bonus, all of Nadinoo's garments are hand made in England.  It's always nice to know where your clothes were made and who made them. Check it out: Nadinoo