#The Vintage Teacup Club

[dearly-academic]

Summer Dark Academia

already wishing for fall again, but thankful for the break from school

linen blouses and vintage shorts because layers simply are not working with the heat

studying everything you got too busy to look into during the school year, falling down rabbit holes on the subjects that piqued your interest

rereading all of your favorite books, completely ignoring your ever growing tbr list

long nights stargazing recalling their myths in your head

having a mini book club with your friends, all talking about how you perceive certain characters and meanings

texting cryptic messages in broken latin to your friends and 3am

steeping teas to enjoy the next day

drinking coffee late at night, it doesn’t taste the best, but at least it’s keeping you awake

losing track of the time as days mix together. wednesday? nonono i could’ve sworn it was tuesday…

classical during the day, rock at night

library visits almost daily, the workers knowing you by name at this point

writing little stories on slips of paper, hiding them for others to find

romanticizing the next school year, setting goals for it that you’ll probably forget about

ink stains on your hand

the smell of summer flowers clinging to you

cracking your window to better hear the night rains, candles illuminating your room, slowly putting you to rest

messy reminders hurriedly scribbled on your arms, a couple smeared no longe legible, yet you know what it says

card games and horror movies late at night

swimming in lakes so dark the night sky is envious

you’re tbr list is just getting longer and longer, yet you have no idea when you added them

eye bags that refuse to go away, no matter how little or how much sleep you get they’re still there

quoting inside jokes on late night phone calls

pirating books and sharing them with your friends because you are absolutely broke

binge watching dark academia shows over games of chess, some games played entirely with yourself

rewatching harry potter, cursing the author in your head

messy hair and dreamy eyes, your mind drifting far away into another dream

drinking everything from chipped teacups you thrifted

#chaotic academia #dark academia #dark academia aesthetic #light acadamia aesthetic #light academia #grey academia #romantic academia #academia aesthetic #classic academia #classical academia #dark academia tips #dark academia vibes #dark academia things

[petitelepus]

hi could i get a twisted wonderland match up? :)

i’m a bi afab gemini although i don’t care much for the constructs of gender. i am definitely a pretty quiet introvert (infp) and also autistic+adhd. i spend most of my time in my head thinking. i love to talk about my special interests and love to hear others talk about what they are passionate about so i can understand how they think but i can kinda shy or hesitant to make the first move romantically.

some of my special interests are the history of the horror genre and how women shaped it, women’s regency through edwardian era fashion, and tarot. i’d say my net of interests is wide and i like a lot of things. it’s that way for music as well but right now my favorite genres are classic folk/country and metal.

im about 5’4 and although i prefer partners taller im really fine with anything. i have long, curly, brown hair and green eyes. i enjoy baking, reading, researching things, sunbathing, going on walks with people, and observing the outside world. i have multiple vintage collections ranging from horror books to teacups to playing cards. i rarely use social media and when i do post i simply use it as a place to store my thoughts that aren’t private.

I match you with Malleus Draconia!

Truly, when Malleus first time met you, you were stuttering and shy but you didn't appear fearful towards him. No, you were genuinely unaware of his reputation and didn't know how to act around him. This was a nice change of pace for him and with Lilia cheering him on he happily asked if you would like to join him for tea sometimes?

Thanks to your Autism and introverted nature, you may have trouble starting conversations or relationships. This includes normal friendships to dating. You may or may not know what to say, and you might not be able to bring yourself to speak out loud and if you do, it might go South very quickly.

Malleus is just like you and maybe that is why the two of you get along so well. Both of you are rather bad with people, but not by choice.

You're a child of a man, but not necessarily a man or woman? My, how things have changed from the old times. This doesn't mean Malleus is old-fashioned, no, he embraces your choice to not follow gender expectations. Malleus is much, but he isn't shallow-minded.

Your interests are very intriguing to him and he would be honored to listen to you talk about them to him. In return, he happily tells you about horror he likes, as in gargoyles, and asks if you would like to join him sometimes to visit the haunted houses that he visits regularly?

Your taste in music also interests him and he has mailed you a real letter with a courier bird to ask you to join his guardian's, Lilia's, light music club's concert that they are holding? There would be many different genres and he thinks there should be at least one you like.

And oh my, what a pretty little human you are. So cute! Walking down the graveyard in the middle of the night with your hand in his would be so romantic, wouldn't you agree?

Your other interests also attract Malleus to you and he would be honored if you showed him your books, porcelain, or cards. He would love it if you read him his fortune with your Tarot cards while quietly murmuring how he wishes to see what your cards tell them about the two of you, together.

#goblinne-creeture #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland matchup #matchup #malleus draconia #twst #ENJOY! #Sorry you had to wait this long

[melissa-driggers-photography]

7 Unique Baby Shower Venues in DC to Celebrate New Arrivals

Few things in life are more worth celebrating than a new baby. Baby showers are a great way to get excited about an impending arrival and shower moms-to-be (and dads-to-be!) with love and perhaps set them up with some of the baby must-haves they’ll need to navigate the first year of parenthood. From a quaint backyard get-together to a lavish dinner party, a baby shower can basically be anything you imagine it to be. Here are some of the best and most unique baby shower venues in DC!   

The Best Baby Shower Venues in DC to Make the Moment Memorable

  Rose’s Luxury 717 8th St SE, Washington DC, 20003 If Mom-to-be is an enthusiastic foodie, then Rose’s Luxury is a fabulous option as a shower venue! This Michelin-starred restaurant is known for its extreme (well-deserved) popularity and delicious food. The private Barracks Room is a great option for celebrations of 13 - 20 guests. Alternatively, you can hop down a couple of blocks to Little Pearl, one of Rose’s Luxury sister restaurants with plenty of private space for events (albeit a slightly more casual ambiance.)    Patterson Mansion 15 Dupont Circle, NW, Washington DC 20036 The Patterson Mansion is a luxurious venue for showers, dinner parties, and other elite gatherings - including a stylish baby shower! This venue has been hosting presidents and pioneers for over a century, with its iconic architecture and convenient location in Dupont Circle. Several event spaces are available for rent, with the Ballroom being the largest, accommodating up to 60 guests.    Sun Room 327 S St NE, Washington, DC 20002 The Sun Room is a bright, cozy event space that serves as a beautiful blank canvas for any event. Clean white walls, natural wooden accents, and charming light fixtures make the Sun Room a cheerful, contemporary space that can either be kept in a neutral boho color palette or livened up with bold colors and a fun theme. Plus, you can bring in your vendors for décor, catering, and more at this baby shower venue in DC!   The Showroom 1099 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 The Showroom is a modern, industrial-inspired event space with tall ceilings, many windows, and plenty of contemporary fixtures and charm. Led by a team of event specialists, The Showroom has become one of DC’s most sought-after venues, offering a unique blank space for all kinds of events. With space for up to 800 standing guests (280 seated), you may not even have to edit the guest list!    The Whittemore House 1526 New Hampshire Ave, Washington DC 20036 There’s no better way to celebrate a strong and powerful mama-to-be than in a place full of rich history celebrating women. The Whittemore House is a gorgeous historic mansion in the heart of Dupont Circle that has hosted the Women’s National Democratic Club since 1927. It’s home to nine beautiful rooms of varying sizes, each unique in character and beautifully furnished with antiques and artwork.    Fathom Gallery 1351 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20007 Fathom Gallery is a bright, clean space with white walls and lighting perfect for a baby shower (or, you know, a gallery showcase.) This Georgetown venue is just waiting for you to bring your own unique touch to its contemporary aesthetic! There is also a beautiful courtyard at FAthom Gallery with a fountain, hanging lights, and plenty of lush greenery.  

Bring the Baby Shower Venue to You in DC!

  Vintage Glam Tea Party & Co. Vintage Glam Tea Party & Co. is a unique way to turn any venue into a fun, vintage, and funky party! While they don’t have an onsite venue space, they can bring a beautiful traveling tea party to you. Host in a home or a private rental space. Vintage Glam Tea Party & Co. will provide mismatched floral teacups, saucers, sugar bowls, teapots, and much more! Check out their website for all of their traveling party packages!  

Enjoy A Beautiful Celebration With These Baby Shower Venues in DC

  These baby shower venues in DC are the perfect places to throw an unforgettable baby shower that will leave new parents feeling totally spoiled and surrounded by love. Check them out to see if one inspires your baby shower vision!    During your pregnancy, you will want to freeze those moments when your body is working overtime, creating your precious little one. The best way to do this is through a maternity photo session with me, an award-winning Northern Virginia photographer. Visit my site to browse my galleries of different photo sessions to meet your photography goals. If you think we could be a good match, reach out for more information and the next steps on how to get started with your session.   For more motherhood content, check out these blog posts: - Kids Love To Learn and Grow with Classes at Buffa’s Dance Studio - Living Life Fully with Sunflowers Healing and Wellness Read the full article

[the-seven-deadly-demons]

;; Just gonna make a note here, since it relates to the 7DD %100, but also I need somewhere to write all this down so I don’t forget.

So, I have a tiktok channel for these guys, that.. well, it doesn’t really have any real 7DD content yet, but it is planned as a cosplay/rp channel. As such is the case, I do plan to make merch if the channel gets popular enough. Mostly t-shirts, but probably some figures and small stuff here and there too. Mostly, I’m making this post to write down my ideas for the t-shirts. Just because I think I came up with some good ones, and I don’t want to forget them. So yeah.

— General Group —

Tie-dye t-shirt full rainbow colors, large number 7 in the middle, text around it in a circle saying ‘shall we make a little deal?’

‘The Seven Demons Inn and Tavern, est. 1313’ tavern t-shirt

‘Deadly Sevens; Dealmaker Tour ‘77’, rock band tour t-shirt, cities and dates on the back

— Lux —

Red t-shirt with a fox on it, text above saying ‘Jealous?’, smaller text underneath saying ‘yeah, me too’

— Koa —

Orange t-shirt with an angry jackalope, text above and below saying ‘Don’t give jack sh*t’

Tie-dye orange shirt with a bunny

Orange shirt with a jackalope skull, text saying ‘Bunny Fight Club’

Orange shirt with an angry bunny wearing boxing gloves, text saying ‘I’ll show you ‘hunny bunny’!’

Orange tie-dye shirt with a jackalope lifting weights, text saying ‘ready to get jacked!!’

Orange tank top with a martial arts warrior bunny, text on the front saying ‘Round One: FIGHT!’, text on the back saying ‘Come back when you’re actually a threat.’, alternative text on the back: ‘too easy’, ‘was that really your best?’, ‘what a disappointment’, ‘over already?’, ‘well, that was embarrassing’, ‘not bad, now for round two!’

— Cyrus —

Yellow shirt with a monkey in a top hat, text saying ‘it’s showtime’

Yellow shirt with a teacup and a top hat, text saying ‘Classy’

Yellow tie-dye shirt with a top hat and cane, text saying ‘yes, I know I’m wonderful’

Yellow splatter tie-dye shirt with a fancy monkey, text saying ‘take pride in a little monkey business’

Yellow shirt with a violin and a wine bottle (with a monkey on the label), text saying ‘oh darling, please. It’s called vintage.’

Yellow shirt with a top hat and tea set, text saying ‘high class vintage’

— Rex —

Green shirt with a grinning dragon mouth and dragon claws, text saying ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’, dragon wings on the back

Green shirt with a dragon on a pillow hoard, text saying ‘no, I don’t share’

Green tie-dye shirt with a dragon ‘stealing’ the dye off the shirt

Green tie-dye shirt with a dragon reading a checklist, checklist on the back, text on list saying ‘that stuff, this stuff, his stuff, her stuff, their stuff, my stuff, your stuff’ and all are checked off with ‘mine’ except for ‘your stuff’ with a scribbled note next to it saying ‘soon’

Green shirt with a dragon sitting on piles of treasure, text above saying ‘oh this? no, this is mine’, text below saying ‘what do you mean ‘did I steal it?’ It’s mine!’

— Skye —

Blue shirt with a teddy bear, text saying ‘Sorry, but I can’t cancel on my date’

Blue tie-dye shirt with a sleeping bear, text saying ‘Shh! I’m hibernating’

Blue shirt with a grumpy bear, text saying ‘I cancelled my nap for this?’

Blue shirt with a bear passed out (only showing the butt) and a spilled coffee mug, text saying ‘no coffee, only sleep’

Blue tie-dye shirt with a sleepy bear holding a net, text saying ‘well, those z’s aren’t going to catch themselves’

Blue shirt with a bear wearing an eye mask, text saying ‘Nap Time’

— Nezza —

Indigo shirt with a coiled snake, text saying ‘you wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry’

Indigo shirt with a snake checking a watch, text below saying ‘what’s the time?’, checklist on back saying: breakfast, snack, second breakfast, snack again, brunch, also snack, lunch, more snack, luncheon, “linner”, another snack, tea time, dinner, supper, dessert, second dessert, second dinner, bedtime snack, midnight snack’

Indigo tie-dye shirt with a happy snake wearing a kerchief/bib and holding a fork, text saying ‘Soup’s on!’

— Bel —

Violet shirt with kisses, text saying ‘hey, sexy~’

Violet tie-dye shirt with a flirty purple eagle, text saying ‘don’t hate me, I’m just beautiful’

Violet shirt with a big purple kiss, text saying ‘kiss kiss, darling~!’

[theoldbookwormsnest]

Biscotti, dolcetti e una tazza di tè, Vanessa Greene

Scheda del libro

Titolo originale The Vintage Teacup Club

Titolo italiano Biscotti, dolcetti e una tazza di tè

Autore Vanessa Greene

1ª ed. originale 2013

Editore Newton Compton

Pagine 311

Genere Romanzo

Lingua originale Inglese

Sinossi Tre donne, tre storie, un incontro che cambia la vita Accomodatevi, siete invitate anche voi. Jenny ha ventisei anni, lavora nell’editoria e passa tutto il tempo che ha a disposizione a organizzare il matrimonio dei suoi sogni. Maggie gestisce un negozio di fiori e si è lasciata alle spalle un rapporto doloroso. Alison sembra avere una vita perfetta: ha sposato il suo primo amore e ha due splendide figlie. Jenny, Maggie ed Alison – tre donne in tre fasi della vita diverse eppure vicine – si ritrovano un giorno in un mercatino dell’antiquariato a contrattare per accaparrarsi lo stesso servizio da tè. Per uscire da quella strana situazione decidono di acquistarlo in società e condividerlo, e giorno dopo giorno, tazza di tè dopo tazza di tè, tra chiacchiere, pettegolezzi e piccoli segreti, finiranno per scoprire un’amicizia che cambierà le loro vite.

Dettagli

Inizio lettura: 20 marzo 2015

Fine lettura: 23 marzo 2015

Tempo di lettura: 6.8h, 213 p/m

Acquistato (quando, dove e perchè): ebook, Amazon. Sembrava interessante, poi amo il the.

Rating: ★★★★½

I say...

Questo libro è sembrato piovere dal cielo. Sono in un periodo un po’ così, cerco lavoro. O meglio, non solo cerco un lavoro, ma cerco cosa voglio fare da grande. Bene.

Alison è una donna creativa.

Maggie ha una laurea in lingue che non sfrutta, preferendo seguire la sua passione e vendere fiori.

Jenny lavora in una casa editrice, ma la sua passione è scrivere.

Tutte e tre hanno una passione smodata per il the e il vintage.

En plein.

Insomma, capirete che dubbi.

Mi è piaciuto tantissimo leggere di Maggie - sono una romanticona - e avrei preferito che la sua storia avesse un finale meno aperto, fortuna che esiste un sequel… anche se…

Comunque, l’ho adorato. Si legge bene, è scorrevole. Bello!

Certo, è un po’ assurdo che queste tre diventino amiche e si fidino ciecamente l’una dell’altra nel giro… di quanto? Due settimane? Ma i personaggi, sebbene tratteggiati un po’ frettolosamente, sono reali. Insomma, una casalinga che tenta di portare avanti una famiglia praticamente da sola, una quasi-sposa in preda a crisi isteriche ed incontri alla C’è posta per te (o, forse, Carramba, che sorpresa! - sgradita), una donna con una carriera sfavillante ma sentimentalmente disastrosa.

L’happy ending è scontato, poichè sovverte ogni logica creata fino ad allora. Uno su tutte: combattono tutte e tre con i loro problemi economici, e poi puff! ecco che il marito, il fidanzato e il quasi-marito hanno risolto il problema comprando tutto ciò di cui avevano bisogno.

C’è solo un contro. La traduzione fatta un po’ (tanto) alla cazzo di cane.

Note

L’autrice ha scritto un breve seguito, Tuesdays at the Teacup Club, che “““recensirò”““ a breve.

#The Vintage Teacup Club #Biscotti dolcetti e una tazza di tè #Vanessa Greene #2015 #My Review #Recensione #Recensione libro #Book Review #Letti da me #The M's Review of Books #Libro #Libri #Lettura #Leggere #Letture #Lettore #Reading

[yslkook]

BRIGHT (2)

mind of mine masterlist

summary: you and jungkook share a moment in a bookstore. pairing: “badboy” jk x “shy/reserved” oc warnings: cursing, excessive use of pet names…bc its me

“Oh, lighten up Jeon,” Yoongi rolls his eyes, “You look like someone told you that your cat died.”

“The only kitty he wants won’t give him the time of day,” Mina grins, earning herself a glare from Jungkook.

“More like I can't get her time of day because her stupid best friend has a stick up her ass,” Jungkook mutters.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this,” Mei observes, “Our baby tattoo artist pining over a girl…”

“If looks could kill, you’d be dead by now, Mei,” Yoongi says pointedly, “Now stop wasting time meddling in Jungkook’s love life, Jin will have all of our heads-”

“Love life? I don’t have a love life,” Jungkook protests, eyes adorably round.

“And that’s why you’re so broody today, honey,” Mina teases, “More so than usual at least.”

“I am not broody,” Jungkook grumbles, turning his back on his laughing coworkers and friends. He can’t help but smile at their teasing.

“Oh, lighten up, Kookie,” Mei says lightly, clapping his shoulder, “If it makes you feel any better, that girl couldn’t stop staring at you at Hobi’s birthday. And she definitely wants a piece of this.”

Jungkook ignores the raucous laughter of his friends (which only increases when Jin comes out from the backroom to add on to his suffering) and the reddening of his cheeks as he gets ready for his full day of tattoo consultations and appointments.

Jungkook’s day ends about an hour earlier than he had anticipated- his last client for the day had to reschedule due to a last minute conflict. That’s fine by him. It gives him time to stop by the bookstore a few blocks away from the tattoo parlor before it closes.

Jungkook tries his best to read at least one new book a month. He’s known the older shop owner, Jia and her young son, Jae-sung, for years now, as he had basically grown up with Jia from childhood.

He loves the quiet of the store and the immediate scent of vanilla and cedar that surrounds him as soon as he walks in. The bookstore itself has a vintage sort of feel, with dimmed lights, old shelves of mahogany and candles placed throughout the store.

Jungkook always brings croissants from the bakery nearby for Jia and little Jae-sung. Usually when he comes by, the bookstore is empty (or close to it).

Jae-sung screeches when he sees Jungkook walk in the door and immediately runs up to him, hugging his legs. Jungkook crouches, ruffling his hair fondly and Jae-sung is nearly bouncing off of the heels of his feet.

“Mommy say she have new book for you, Kookie!” Jae-sung beams, eyeing the box of croissants in Jungkook’s free hand.

“Does she?” Jungkook muses, “Your mommy always knows what kind of books I like.”

“Me too! Me too!”

“Hey, Jungkook,” Jia’s voice filters through the store as she approaches, “It’s been a while.”

“It took me a while to finish the last book. But so worth it,” He says apologetically, “I also brought croissants. Enjoy.”

“You spoil us,” Jia rolls her eyes, “The new arrivals are in the back, third aisle from the left. You know the drill.”

Jia has known Jungkook since he was a baby in diapers- she’s been his aunt’s close friend for years and years now. Jungkook likes to joke that he likes Jia more than his own aunt, and Jia always reprimands him (without really meaning it).

He thought the bookstore was empty, save for Jia and Jae-sung. But he’s clearly mistaken, when he sees a figure in an olive green sweater and black jeans perusing through the new arrivals with their bottom lip tucked between their teeth in concentration.

He recognizes them immediately and when the person raises their head in curiosity, he sees your wide eyes and a shy smile starting to pull across your lips.

You’re here, in his favorite bookstore where he feels like he’s at home. If he was looking for a sign, then this was it.

“Hi,” You say softly, waving your fingers at him, “So you like reading, huh?”

You visibly cringe and Jungkook chuckles. Your cheeks feel warm when you take him in, swirls and dots of his tattoos peeking out of his black leather jacket and beckoning you closer to him. The three hoops in his left ear glint with the light and the dangling earring on his right ear dangles with the movement of his head. His hair is tied back into a ponytail, accentuating the curve of his jaw and his soft dimples.

Your breath is stolen away when you meet his eyes, deep brown and murky, popping against the peach eyeshadow on his eyelids.

You nearly swoon on the spot before you get your bearings. Maybe he’d catch you if your knees buckled, you think dryly. How embarrassing.

“I try reading something new once a month,” Jungkook replies, pulling you out of your reverie, “And I just like the bookstore in general. Sometimes I like to just come here and hang out with Jia and Jae-sung.”

“Oh! Jia makes my favorite lavender chamomile tea. There’s nothing like it,” You say a little dreamily, “Jae-sung is a cutie. That boy can just look at you and you’d be putty in his hands. Kinda like you.”

The last bit slips out of your mouth without you meaning for it to.

“Kinda like me, huh,” Jungkook smirks, eyes glittering, “It would be fun to see if you’d be putty in my hands, wouldn’t it?”

“The world may never know,” You mumble sheepishly and avoid his eyes again, “What kind of book are you looking for?”

“The one you’re holding, baby,” Jungkook murmurs, looking past your shoulder for another copy of the same book.

“Are you looking for this book just because I’m reading it or because you’ve been genuinely eyeing it?” You ask boldly, a hint of a smile playing on your lips.

“Oh, you’re funny,” Jungkook snorts, walking past you to grab the book off of the shelf.

“So I’ve been told,” Your eyes flash, “We should do a boozy book club.”

“Is it a book club if it’s just the two of us?”

“It can be whatever we want it to be,” You shrug, “Besides, don’t you wanna hang out with me?” You tilt your head and Jungkook’s resolve weakens. His heart does something funny- is this how it’s supposed to be?

“Of course I wanna hang out with you, baby,” Jungkook murmurs smoothly, “C’mon, let’s go have some of Jia’s tea. And a croissant too, if Jae hasn’t eaten them already.”

Jungkook glares at Jia the entire time that she’s making tea for both of you. He knows her sly, curious eyes and was unable to keep the surprise off of her face when you had both walked down the stairs together.

She even had the audacity to wink at him. He hopes that the family groupchat doesn’t start blowing up when Jia inevitably informs his aunt and mother about this new development.

“Kookie,” Jae-sung whispers (loudly) when you step away to use the bathroom, “Is dat your girlfriend?”

“What?” Jungkook hisses, “Who told you that?”

“My mommy say I ask you! I not know!”

“No, Jae, that’s not my girlfriend,” Jungkook mumbles, shooting Jia another death glare. She only smiles smugly at him from her spot behind the counter.

Jia leaves him alone for the most part when you return and take your seat next to him. He can still feel her eyes on you both as she washes teacups, watching like a hawk.

“These croissants are so good,” You nearly moan, “Where’d you get them?”

“There’s a bakery near the tattoo parlor,” Jungkook says, “You should come by sometime.”

“The bakery or the parlor?”

“Both?”

“I’ve only been there a few times,” You muse, “I hear you’re the best tattoo artist there. From the mouth of Hobi and Jin themselves.”

“Don’t let Mina and Mei hear you say that,” Jungkook says weakly, rubbing the back of his neck. His cheeks are a little pink and you resist chuckling to yourself.

“I’ve always wanted to get a second piercing,” You trail off, “But never really committed to it.”

“What would you want to get? We do piercings, too,” Jungkook says.

“Cartilage? Industrial? I don’t know,” You shrug, sipping your tea.

“Mina usually has a good eye for that,” Jungkook admits, “Now you have more of a reason to stop by.”

“Oh, I already had a reason to stop by the parlor,” You say brazenly with a sweet smile.

“Is that so?” Jungkook says, quirking an eyebrow at you.

You hum and continue to sip your tea, wondering if he can somehow hear the loud rattling of your eager heart in your ribcage.

Conversation with him comes so easily and you don’t know when the last time you had spent this long with him was. Something always seems to interrupt you both when you eventually do find yourselves alone with each other during outings with friends. But this time, it’s just you and him tucked away in this bookstore.

The sun has long gone down and Jia was about to close the bookstore for the day. In fact, the only reason she kept it open for this long was because of you both. You apologize profusely with worried eyes when you realize the time and see Jae-sung fast asleep in his mother’s arms.

She waves you off, giving Jungkook a lingering look that you don’t understand.

“I’ll be back soon,” You promise Jia in a soft voice, so as to not wake Jae-sung, “Be well, Jia.”

She bids you both goodnight, and unbeknownst to you, she shoots Jungkook a simple text. It states: “keep her close, i like her”.

Jungkook ignores it in favor of focusing on you.

“How you getting home, baby?” Jungkook asks as you both walk up the block shoulder to shoulder.

“Hmm… I’m supposed to meet Sora for dinner but she said she’s stuck at work,” You murmur, wrapping your arms around yourself as you scroll on your phone, “But I was just on social media and it looks like she’s getting drinks with her other friends…”

You look at him with a frown tugging at your lips and your eyes wide. “Maybe it was a last minute thing,” You mumble to yourself.

“Or maybe she lied to you,” Jungkook says sharply. You only look at him in silence for a few moments with furrowed brows.

“Maybe there was a reason,” You shrug, “Why would she lie about that?”

Because she’s Sora, and she just would. But Jungkook stays silent. You don’t need to hear about how he dislikes your best friend, at least not yet. Not when you’re not ready to hear it.

“Forget about her,” Jungkook says easily, “Lemme take you home, baby.”

“I’m not riding that metal death contraption,” You say flatly, “You just got it! Like two weeks ago! You don’t even have an extra helmet, and forget a helmet, I need elbow pads and knee pads-”

“Will you relax,” Jungkook says, putting your books in the small basket he built into the front of the motorcycle.

“No, I will not relax, Jeon Jungkook!” You nearly screech, “This is so dangerous, we could both fall in the road and then what? Become roadkill for the next soccer mom van to run us both over? Death by soccer mom, what a way to go-”

“Are you done?” Jungkook says dryly.

“No, actually, I’m not done-”

“You trust me, baby?” Jungkook asks, hand on your shoulder. You can’t even properly appreciate the warmth of his large hand over your jacket.

“Of course I trust you, I don’t trust that,” You point at the motorcycle accusingly and Jungkook rolls his eyes. You can already feel your resolve weakening. He wordlessly places his own helmet over your own head and you glare at him, about to start your tirade again.

“You take mine,” Jungkook murmurs, “And hold on to me.”

“You can’t just give me your helmet, what if you fall? Or worse, get pulled over?”

“Or worse, get pulled over, are you joking-”

“Jungkook! Be serious!”

“I am being serious! You said you only live ten minutes from here, just relax. I won’t let anything happen to either of us,” Jungkook says, tongue poking the inside of his cheek.

“If anything happens, it’s your head on a platter and I’m bringing it to the tattoo parlor.”

“How can you do that if we both die?”

“Shut the fuck up,” You say, but a laugh escapes your lips. Jungkook sits on his bike and looks at you expectantly.

“C’mon, baby,” Jungkook coaxes you and you awkwardly sit behind him, making sure that your legs don’t touch his and your arms are safely away from him.

“If you sit like that, you’ll definitely fall off,” Jungkook snorts, “Wrap your arms around me.”

You hesitate, afraid of touching him like this for whatever reason. He unnerves you and you feel completely exposed like this. You’ve never really been this close to anyone, at least anyone who made you feel the way Jungkook makes you feel.

Biting the bullet, you tensely wrap your arms around his narrow waist loosely. “Good girl,” Jungkook murmurs, “Tighter, baby. I don’t bite, unless you want me to.”

Your stomach flips at his words, subconsciously wrapping your arms around his narrow waist even more tightly. Your fingers graze the hard press of his tummy over his jacket and you almost moan at how warm and strong he feels. He smells nice, like Sunday morning laundry.

“Ugh, you’re annoying-” And then you shriek as he pulls away from the road and shoots off into the night with you plastered against his backside.

“See that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Jungkook says, taking the helmet off of you. He’s met with a glare but you sigh in defeat.

“No, I guess it wasn’t. But I never want you driving this hunk of death without a helmet for yourself,” You say, poking his chest.

“You should be nicer to her,” Jungkook says, taking your finger in his large hand.

“You’re right, it’s you that I should be mean to,” You roll your eyes. You wonder if Jungkook could feel your heart slamming in your chest (in fear, adrenaline and excitement) as you hung tight to him. You had refused to look up, pressing your face into his back and squeezing your eyes shut the entire way. Jungkook had only chuckled.

The heat in your eyes melts away quickly once Jungkook helps you off of the motorcycle. “Thanks for taking me home, Jungkook,” You murmur, “I’m glad I ran into you at the bookstore.”

“Any time, baby,” Jungkook says. A strand of dark hair falls from his ponytail and into his face. You reach your fingers up to thread through his hair before pushing it back behind his ear for him.

“Get home safe,” You say, with stars in your eyes, “Can I hug you?” When he nods, and before you can change your mind or convince yourself out of it, you wrap your arms around him. And before he can properly return it, you dash into your apartment building while calling out “text me when you get home!”

Hours later, when he’s in the comfort of his home, he decides that he likes the way your spicy vanilla scented perfume clings to his leather jacket.

tags: @kookdbean @tiemeuptogoldenchains @boymeetsparadise @jungkooksseuphoria

#jungkook x reader #jungkook fluff #jeon jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook fluff #badboy jk #badboy jungkook

[jacksons-goddess-gaia]

High Tea Touching~ KARD BM Drabble

❖ Kard, BM x reader

❖ Drabble, fluff, hinted smut

❖ wc: 551

❖ Tag List: @atiny-piratequeen​ @queen-of-himbos​ @kimnamshiks​ @atiny-dazzlinglight​

❖ Masterlist ❖

. ⋅˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ ⋅˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Let me know what you think!

. ⋅˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ ⋅˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

If you had told his fans, they probably would have screamed and died of laughter or UwU's. If you had told his mother she would have snorted and told you it was a poor joke. Had you told his friends they would have been in disbelief then laughed themselves unconscious from lack of oxygen. But, if you had the chance to ask his members while he was out of earshot, that is to say, Somin specifically, she would have giggled and said isn't it sweet.

You though were struck wordless, seated across from the big bawdy man, at a tiny table. The white linen tablecloth covered in an assortment of small delicate china. Seeing him squeeze himself onto the tiny antique chair, lifting the vintage teacup to his lips, surrounded by doilies and velvet curtains was something you never would have imagined in a million years. High noon tea, royal style, in one of the nicest tea shops in Seoul, with the big rapper was truly a unique experience.

"Why are they so small?!" His incredulity as they brought over the tiered cake stand, filled with cucumber sandwiches, small scones, and macaroons the size of one of his fingers.

"They're supposed to be, they're finger food, small food for ladies." Your explanation made him nod, it did not stop him from eyeing the food dubiously, holding one of the small triangles in his fingers taking an attempt at a small bite, only for half of it to disappear.

"Thank you for this Matt, this was a nice change." You admitted, grateful for his attempt at a sweet date night, a contrast from your usual athletic style outings, club romps, or Netflix and chill.  The rapper grinned lopsidedly happy at your praise.

"Hey, I said you'd be my queen forever and always. I just wanted to treat you like it."

The sunlight streaming in through the window paled in comparison to the warmth within your chest, and the joyful glow radiating from your every pore. The extravagant walls of the high royal tea room falling away as you set aside your cup, leaning across the table to bring your lips to his in a sweet tea flavored kiss.

"I love you." You murmured pulling away. Only for Matthews much larger hands to cup your cheeks as he unceremoniously caught your lips in a deep heated kiss.

"AHEM." But you ignored the wide eyes, and indignant looking waitresses eyes as returned the kiss with equal passion. After a bit, you both giggled opting to finish your food. However as he slipped into the chair beside you, your third cup of tea was soon forgotten as his long fingers slipped beneath your clothes under the pretense of wrapping his arm around you. Another kiss drawing whines from your throat as he shamelessly palmed your covered chest chuckling at your shocked squeal.

Needless to say, the members loved to tell the story of how "BM got kicked out and banned from a tea place. A FANCY tea place! Because of titties!"

Despite the temporary embarrassment you felt at being kicked out for inappropriate behavior, the adorable photos and the sweet memory of his stab at a new kind of romance was one of your favorite things to think of while he was away on tour.

#Jacksons-goddess-gaia #kdiarynet #kard #kard drabble #kard bm #bm smut #bm x reader #kard bm x you #kard bm x reader smut #bm x female reader #bm kard #kard x reader #kard x female reader #kard x you #kpop x reader #reader insert #kard oneshot #bm x reader drabble #kpop fluff #kpop smut #kpop writing

[darkmacademia]

dark academia things you can do that don’t require a $400 tweed blazer and a private school

because not everyone lives near a national museum

get a penpal to write letters to and enclose personalised gifts

take advantage of local libraries

thrift old porcelain teacups, wine glasses, engraved silverware

make paper - technically not dark academia but writing cute love letters onto handmade paper and doodling hearts on it is god tier

start a book club with friends and pick a book/short story to read and discuss together

take your time going through the book section at thrift stores to find old, worn copies of classics

find a park and journal at sunset until the light fades

use postcards of your favorite paintings as bookmarks

speaking of bookmarks, use scrap paper to write out lyrics, poems, quotes from authors, words in other languages, and turn them into bookmarks or scrapbook pages

if you drink coffee, make your own cold brew or flavored coffee and drink it from the fanciest glass you own

if you’re a tea drinker, you could thrift a cheap but cute vintage looking teacup and saucer along with a little spoon to keep you company while you study

replace some phone time with a book, e.g. on public transport, waiting rooms, before bed

go to a cafe with a book and spend some alone time reading and annotating

go for a walk and pick flowers and leaves to take home and press between a book

take said pressed flowers and glue them onto a handmade birthday card or wall decoration, complete with a quote

if you have long hair, tie a ribbon around your wrist along with your hair tie and let the ends dangle down

if you’re at a campus or park that has a grassy area, take your notes and study there on a warm day

have a dark academia inspired picnic

#dark academia #dark academia tips #dark academia aesthetic #light academia #grey academia

[witchyfashion]

The ultimate vintage teacup subscription!

Vintage teacup and saucer set, paired with tea and biscuits. Enjoy with afternoon reading or during teatime with friends and family. Start your collection today or gift it to someone special, like a sweet girlfriend, mom or grandma! Surprise vintage teacup and saucer sets made in Europe, USA, Japan and more.

Tea bags and biscuits included in each box so you can enjoy your first cup of tea on us :)

Unique gifts for the lovely women in your life

Treat yourself and someone special to an in-person or virtual tea time

Scroll down to see more options from Vintage Teacup Club

https://shrsl.com/36owl

#vintage #teacup #vintage teacup #subscriptionbox

[hauntedwine]

Tag Yourself - Cracker Barrel

Ceramic Angels - cross-stitch patterns, produce fresh from the garden out back, drying paint brushes, gentle laughter, floral apron, fresh cut flowers in old coffee cans, long warm hugs, sketchbooks full of flowers and spotted animals

Middle-Aged Christian Lady Peasant Tops - roller skates, craft beer, crystals, every windowsill full of plants, homemade bug repellant, expressive hands, short fingernails, closet full of vintage clothes, zero waste, dreams of converting a school bus and traveling the country

Road Snacks from the 1800s - history podcasts and audiobooks, nice camera, closet full of backpacking equipment, adventurous pet, bike rack, state fairs and local festivals, great storyteller, knows a secret place in every town, worn-out library card, charming smile, travel journals, a distinct childhood memory of bonding with a grandparent over an atlas or on a family trip

State Football Paraphernalia - expensive running shoes, dog leashes by the door, NPR in the mornings, water bottle, morning stretches, knows exactly how fast their mile is, protest signs, pretty eyes, big appetite, club sports, planning a trip to go sky-diving, poll worker or phone banker, competitive, willing to put in the time and effort to reach any goal

Garden Fountains Shaped Like Frogs Playing Banjos - guitar case covered in stickers, chapstick, rain boots, stacks of books by the bed, can’t cook but tries their best, observation notebooks, meaningful compliments, sheet music, moves worms off the sidewalk into the dirt, fairytales, ponds, apps to identify plants or bird calls, an unquenchable curiosity about the world and how it works

The Largest Collection of Yankee Candles Outside an Actual Yankee Candle - flour-covered hands, favorite teacup, fresh cut flowers, decorations for every season and holiday, will always pick up the phone or answer a text, charcuterie boards, farmer’s market, leaves fresh cookies on friends’ doorsteps, best gifts, hosts every night-in, stacks of filled journals, makes friends with strangers in line at the grocery store

A Line of Haunted Rocking Chairs - books on the floors, the shelves, and any other available surface, candles, dried flowers, warm sweaters, knows what phase the moon is in, well-worn boots, long walks, obscure facts, knows exactly what you need to hear to feel better, family heirlooms, cozy blankets, romantic, trust in the universe

#tag yourself #tagafriend #tag #types of people #types of guys #types of girls #cracker barrel #road trip

[nour-h]

hey, now I joined the 20nies club

I got a vintage teacup and the ' it ends with us' book by colleen hoover as gifts, I'm so HAPPY and GRATEFULL

#birthday #happpiness #hey #colleen hoover #bookworm #20 years #teacup #me Nour

[acrazyworldofdreams]

Favourite books - a list

* Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo *Slaves of the Mastery - William Nicholson * The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman * When She Woke - Hillary Jordan * Fangirl/Carry On - Rainbow Rowell * Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston * Locked Inside - Nancy Werlin * Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling * Kensuke’s Kingdom - Michael Morpurgo * Inventing Elliot - Graham Gardner * Starcrossed - Josephine Angelini * City of Masks - Mary Hoffman * Babyshoes - Dawn Garisch * Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer * The Vintage Teacup Club - Vanessa Greene 

#book #book recommendations #favourite books #books from childhood #happiness #reader #reading obsessed #rwrb #hp #starcrossed #artemis fowl #fangirl #carry on #carry on rainbow rowell #rainbow rowell #philip pullman #six of crows #leigh bardugo #slaves of the mastery #william nicholson #josephine angelini #mary hoffman #city of masks #red white and royal blue #casey mcquiston

[eduardorivera]

i took a trip into town and ran into CLEMENTINE GLASS at the general store. isn’t that the POLYMATH you told me about last week? the one who is TWENTY FIVE, as well as CURIOUS and INTRUSIVE? well, we didn’t chat for long because they had to get back to their job as a MINER, so i can’t say for sure, but i think you might be onto something…they even mentioned they want to BECOME A RECOGNIZED NATURALIST like you said.

name: clementine glass pronouns: she/her birthday: may 14 (taurus, babey) orientation: bi af occupation: miner

traits: curious, intrusive, talkative, cheerful, stubborn, loudmouthed, introspective to a fault.

likes: artifacts and gemstones, seashells, fresh-picked berries, teacups and other bric-a-brac, getting caught in the cold rain of early spring, loud floral prints, diy projects that usually go unfinished, l.m. montgomery books. dislikes: large gatherings, having to sit still for any period of time, bigots, pickles, freezing weather.

background

- clementine was raised outside of the valley but spent every summer and long weekends there with her grandparents, a miner and a homesteader who loved having a rambunctious kid around - even when clem would skip out on her chores at the farmhouse in favor of exploring tidal pools and caves. most of clem's favorite childhood memories are of summers in the valley. - the summer she turned fifteen, clementine spent a lot of time in the local library with a pen and paper, looking for the perfect old-fashioned name in baby name books and literary romances. by the end of that summer, she'd scrawled the initials " c.j.g. " on all of her belongings. her grandparents were more encouraging about her transitioning than her mother was, though she demonstrated her support in subtler ways. - after high school, clementine went back to the valley for one last summer, not yet ready to let go of childhood. in the end, she didn't have to. she got a job at her grandfather's mines, a place in town where she'd still be close enough to check in on her widowed grandfather with regularity, and a dog (named Francis). - she's taken some science and history courses at a nearby college, mostly commuting for night classes or enrolling in their online courses. she hasn't officially declared a major and has taken time off from school yet again, to the chagrin of her mother. clementine has always known she's clever, but lately she has a growing anxiety that maybe her procrastination has something to do with feelings of inadequacy and impending responsibility, rather than poor time management on her part. (spoiler alert: it does) - she loves nature. when not at the mines, she's exploring the caves in search of ancient artifacts or knee-deep in the ponds and lakes of the valley, cataloging local flora and fauna. - on trips to the city to visit her mom, clem visits thrift shops not only to satiate her love of vintage things, but to buy lots of clothing to donate to organizations helping trans youth.

wanted connections + a childhood friend! someone who was right there by clem's side, collecting sand dollars on the beach and flattening pennies on the railroad tracks. maybe they became pen pals and would write letters during the rest of the year when clementine left the valley? maybe they invented their own terabithia-esque fantasy land? or maybe they were part of a group of tight-knit friends ( like trc or on the jellicoe road)

+ disgruntled neighbors

+ close encounters - a fellow commuter taking the bus to the city fairly often with clementine, or frequents the same ponds and creeks

+ informal book club - they share the same taste in books or films or tabletop games and have fallen into the routine of lending each other their copies of said media, or swapping recommendations.

+ a bellwether - someone whose presence is a reassuring one for clementine in social situations. she knows she comes off as too loud and has trouble being a casual sort of person, so it helps to have a friend who laughs at her jokes when no one does or introduces her to new people when she’d rather keep to herself.

+ former flame. maybe something similar to the childhood friend? a whirlwind summer romance during their teenage years that made the valley even more special to clementine. their relationship now could be awkwardly polite, or warm and familiar, or even hostile.

i'll try to think of more but hmu if you'd like to plot!

#dewintro #hi ! will update this when i have more ideas for connections but for now meet clem

[bedfordcottageteahouse]

I’m deep in the midst of planning for my next tea party, which I am really excited about and should be really fun. When I was at my local bookstore the other day, @village_books , I happened upon this book that is relevant to my theme. It was on deep clearance at $1.99, so I didn’t even hesitate to pull it off the shelf. Don't you love it when the universe just perfectly aligns for you like that? Hopefully the rest of the party throwing process proceeds with the same good fortune. The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel: a fascinating look at the women of the space age. Their personal, marital, and social struggles are offered up as a time capsule of the American dream of the late 50s- 60s. I would definitely recommend it; I learned a lot from this book and read every single page of all the extra material, including the acknowledgements! #tea #teatime #teatimemagazine @teatimemagazine #teatable #astronautwivesclub @lilykoppelauthor #deviledeggs #teaset #teacup #cupandsaucer #vintage #mcm #midcenturymodern #royalstuartspencerstevenson #porcelain #teaandbooks #booksandtea #nonfiction #supportyourlocalbookstore (at Blaine, Washington) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8HdT3ego5f/?igshid=18p5hrk4x17td

#tea #teatime #teatimemagazine #teatable #astronautwivesclub #deviledeggs #teaset #teacup #cupandsaucer #vintage #mcm #midcenturymodern #royalstuartspencerstevenson #porcelain #teaandbooks #booksandtea #nonfiction #supportyourlocalbookstore

[cleofox-blog1]

☁☼☁ ( indya moore. trans female. 24 ). welcome back to your summer paradise, CLEO FOX we were wondering when you’d finally show up! the town’s really missed how WHIMSICAL you are, even if you can be a bit SPITEFUL at times. we hear back home they call you the BON VIVANT, makes sense considering you remind everyone of SIPPING PERFECTLY-AGED WHISKEY FROM A TEACUP, RIPPED STOCKINGS UNDER SILK DRESSES, POSING ON THE HOOD OF SOMEONE ELSE’S MASERATI, PUTTING ON SHAKESPEARE PLAYS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. ☁☼☁

hello hello! below is some info about my lil beeb cleo fox!

[ trigger warnings for drugs; ]

history:

The lovechild of a whiskey distillery heir and former Playboy playmate of the month, Cleo was born in Nashville, Tennesse and spent the majority of her formative years in the American South. After her birth, Cleo’s parents regularly got together, then broke up, and got together again, effectively creating a pretty dysfunctional early family for the first ten years of her life. While her father sought refuge in the arms of other women, Cleo’s mother found it in drugs — nothing too hard, really, but enough to regularly leave her in a daze. As a result, Cleo pursued the arts early on as a means of stability, finding that it was one of the only school subjects that ever really stuck. She excelled in writing short stories, putting on plays, and playing the piano, and became a darling in the eyes of her father’s Southern high society friends.

Around the age of fifteen, Cleo transitioned. (She’d always known this was her truth, and knew that she would transition regardless of her parents’ feelings.) Her mother was supportive, but far too faded to really object or vehemently support her. Cleo’s father, however, refused to support her publicly, which meant cutting off her ties to his high society friends and sending her off to live with his somewhat estranged mother in New York City.

Her grandmother, a retired Tony-winning actress, was entirely supportive of Cleo, and brought her along to all the awards show parties, fashion shows, to demonstrate her support. She even helped the young girl pick out her new name, and made sure this new chapter of Cleo’s life was as easy and happy as possible. Her grandmother also instilled in her a taste for the finer things in life, as well as the confidence to ask for exactly what she wanted — with a pretty smile on her face, of course.

After graduating from a prestigious high school in NYC, Cleo declined opportunities to go on to learn in the Ivy Leagues like all her friends did, and instead toured around Europe with her grandmother. While her social media painted the perfect picture of croissants and lattes, museums and gardens, nightly parties and luxury suites, the truth was far from it; her grandmother was growing sicker by the day, and chose to spend her remaining time with her beloved granddaughter.

A few months after she turned twenty-two, her grandmother passed away, and left all of her possessions and properties to Cleo, including a NYC brownstone, a house in the Hamptons, and thousands in jewels and clothes — not to mention a hefty trust fund and a 1/5 stake in the family’s distillery company. 

With more money than she’s ever known what to do with, and a stake in a company she’d veritably been banished from, Cleo enrolled in Columbia University at the age of twenty-three and is in the process of getting a Bachelor’s in Business, with a minor in Theatre Arts. She has no passion for business, but anticipates that there are many money-related fights ahead when she shows up to her father’s next quarterly meeting. Simply put, she just wants to be prepared. Secretly, she wishes she could be pursuing Theatre and English, and write the sort of plays her grandmother would have been proud of. 

personality:

+ traits: whimsical, generous, extravagant, artistic, eccentric

- traits: vindictive, spoiled, flighty, pretentious, eccentric

facts:

age: 24

sexuality: bisexual

gender: trans female

pronouns: she/her 

occupation: business major @ columbia university

written by: daisy / she/her / est

wanted plots / relationships / connections:

One of my headcanons for Cleo is that she’s turned her grandmother’s Hamptons house (somewhat stunted in vintage glamour from grandmother’s days of glory) into a new arts collective — a place for people to put on plays, debate philosophies, throw fashion shows, and converse about art and culture, etc. More times than not, however, it’s used as a wine and cheese gossip club, but Cleo still puts on at least one play towards summer’s end out of tradition. So please give me members of Cleo’s arts collective / gossip crew !!!! (This would also definitely be open to people trying to mooch off of the free food and champagne, which I think would also be a fun dichotomy to play around with.)

Cleo’s an extravagant sort — her grandmother shaped her to be, and in some ways, she chooses this as a means of keeping her grandmother alive. Still, extravagance also comes with its own sense of wastefulness and eccentricity; give me people willing to go along with her flights of fancy, who wear ball gowns and tuxedos just to sit in the cheap seats at baseball games and glittering jewels to McDonald’s at 3am.

Somewhat uncomfortable with being alone, Cleo is almost always seen with a friend or two on her arm. These are the people who know everything about her, who maybe attended the same high school, or at least were in the same tight-knip social group in NYC due to their shared social statuses. Give me the best friends! (Part of me honestly wants at least one of these friends to be more of a frenemy, but we can sort that out later or have that naturally develop.)

The friends with benefits that are so secure in being both friends and lovers that they flirt endlessly in that casual, easy, somewhat ironic way where they talk about marrying each other while not meaning a word of it.

Anyone who doesn’t like her because she’s pretentious, spends too much money, goes through weird, arts and literature-inspired phases, is too flighty, etc. There’s a lot of reasons to be a hater. 

Cleo’s not a bad girl, per se, but it’s not impossible to see her committing some petty crimes for the sake of art, hunger, love, etc., — she’s pretty easily swayed by passions, and could be convinced to do most things if they tug on her heartstrings enough. (I could definitely see her doing something like this.) Give me the artistic partners in crime, or for something similar but darker, look to the next connection!

With a childhood spent around Southern debutante balls, and later teen years in the audience of Broadway shows and jazz clubs, Cleo has sort of lived in a rosy bubble of pretty and pleasant things. As such, she hasn't quite gotten to see the seedier clubs of NYC or experienced the darker side of the city — or even life, really. Give me a bad boy-type who  shatters her perfect little bubble.

#ooc: i'll hopefully add more plots to my wanted soon !! #palms:intro

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/lifestyle/the-chic-octogenarian-behind-barbies-best-looks/

The Chic Octogenarian Behind Barbie’s Best Looks

LOS ANGELES — Carol Spencer, 86, may be the most influential fashion designer you’ve never heard of.

In the mid-1960s, she made a red pencil skirt with a white sleeveless blouse that had red stitching and three red buttons down the front. Short white gloves came with it. Thousands sold.

In the 1970s, well aware that the counterculture’s loosening dress code and mores had made it to the mainstream, Ms. Spencer designed a red bandanna halter maxi-dress and a matching leisure shirt for men. Those designs were popular, too.

In the Nancy Reagan 1980s, Ms. Spencer aimed for high-end appeal, making a one-shouldered ball gown in blue jacquard with an organza flower at the nipped-in waist and a cape. One of Mrs. Reagan’s go-to couturiers personally approved the gown to be sold under his name: “Oscar de la Renta for Barbie.”

Ms. Spencer has made wedding dresses, saris, go-go boots and caftans. All in miniature. From 1963 to 1999, she was Barbie’s fashion designer, a career celebrated in her new book, “Dressing Barbie” (HarperDesign).

Ms. Spencer also made her own clothes, and had an easy time working with the doll’s famously unusual proportions, she said, because they weren’t so far from her own. “I have shrunk but in those days, I was tall and skinny,” she said. “I had a 16-inch waist and something on top, too, I sure did, but Barbie’s legs were better than mine.”

She was sitting in her dining room, wearing a blouse in a shade that can only be described as Barbie pink, with a Barbie brooch and a Barbie digital watch that legions of girls probably begged to get for Christmas in the 1990s.

It was a different body part that was most important for her job, Ms. Spencer said: “I have small hands.” She set down the Barbie teacup filled with lemonade she had been clasping to show her fingers. They are small and jut out at angles from the joint, a disfiguration likely caused by years of grasping little needles and bottles of glue.

In creating a wardrobe for Barbie and the entourage (Skipper, Ken, Midge, Big Jim, Baby Sister Kelly, Cara, Stacey, Christie, P.J., Steffie and Miss America), Ms. Spencer was part of a team that has inspired the work of designers including Bob Mackie, Nicole Miller, Jeremy Scott and Jason Wu, who once said he played with Barbie dolls when he was a child.

For a Moschino fashion show in Milan in 2014, Mr. Scott had a Barbie waiting on front-row chairs and sent models down the runway in blond bouffants and pink skirt suits.

Last month, to celebrate the doll’s 60th birthday, Mattel hosted a profusely pink Barbie bacchanal in New York City with Instagram-friendly Dream House backdrops, intended to draw in a new generation of fans who are too young to know that Barbie was the original influencer.

1. Ms. Spencer designed Ski Party Pink for Barbie in 1982. The sweater had Dolman sleeves and a cowl neck. In her ankle-strap high-heels, she was ready to hit the bars, not the slopes.

2. Released in 1979, this City Sophisticate outfit had a faux-fur-trimmed coat and skirt accented by a yellow soutache braid.

3. A Mattel employee accidentally ordered 2,500 yards of gold-and-white striped fabric, instead of 250 yards. Ms. Spencer’s 1965 Country Club Dance fashions made use of the excess.

4. The 1992 Totally Hair Barbie was one of Mattel’s best sellers. Ms. Spencer designed a Pucci-inspired mini.

5. Ms. Spencer wanted to create an “evening pajama” look for Barbie after Barbra Streisand wore a Scaasi version when accepting an Academy Award in 1969. Ms. Streisand’s outfit was see-through, so Ms. Spencer made Barbie special panties.

Saving the Dune Buggy

Even since her retirement, Ms. Spencer has devoted her time to Barbie. Inducted in 2017 into the Women in Toys, Licensing & Entertainment Hall of Fame, she has spent her golden years attending Barbie collectors events, doing research and amassing artifacts.

For years she has worked on “Dressing Barbie,” which is sized for a coffee table and subtitled “A Celebration of the Clothes That Made America’s Favorite Fashion Doll, and the Incredible Woman Behind Them.” Laurie Brookins, a writer and stylist, helped Ms. Spencer with the project.

The book combines styled vintage fashion photography with memoir. Born in 1932 and raised in Minneapolis, Ms. Spencer rejected the wife-and-mother path that prevailed in the American midcentury and instead made a career for herself. “I truly fell in love with Barbie the first moment I created her clothes and accessories,” she writes in the book.

Barbie has been a go-to emblem of all that has ill-served girls and young women in American culture. Living in a world that is almost exclusively white, the doll has breasts that are disproportionately large compared with her hips, and her feet are contorted into a permanent “floint” (short for flexing your toes back as you point the rest of your foot).

Her hair seems to be bleached blond, never with dark (or gray) roots. At times she dressed the part of a doctor or politician but has seemed unable to hold down a job. And there’s the place in Malibu. Does it come from a trust fund or Ken?

But Ms. Spencer would like to counterpunch the Barbie bashing. She points out the doll’s humble origins, with her proportions modeled after paper dolls cut from newspapers. She also defends Barbie as a healthy alternative to video games; an engine of imagination for girls and boys, who can project onto a Barbie doll whoever they may wish to become.

“It’s wholesome play,” she said, as she pulled from a case one of the many hundreds of dolls in her home. This one was wearing a yellow chiffon-like pleated tunic with see-through pajama pants, inspired by the Arnold Scaasi transparent ensemble Barbra Streisand wore to the 1969 Oscars when she won a best actress award for “Funny Girl.”

Ms. Spencer’s house is filled with books like “Barbie: Her Life and Times” and “Dream Doll: the Ruth Handler Story,” about Ms. Handler, who, with her husband, Elliot, and Harold Matson, founded Mattel in 1945. The Barbie fashion doll was released in 1959.

Over a cluttered desk are posters of Barbie, like one showing the same image of the original 1959 doll, displayed against four different bright backgrounds, à la Warhol. (It was made to celebrate Mattel’s 35th Anniversary Barbie Festival, in 1994.)

Ms. Spencer is a scavenger for treasures in a toss-everything world. One day at the Mattel offices, then located in Hawthorne, Calif., she noticed someone was about to throw away an important piece of Barbie memorabilia.

“It was the prototype for Barbie’s dune buggy,” she said. “They were tossing it, and I said, ‘Would you toss it my way?’”

She learned thrift as a child. “During World War II, things were scarce and I remember the family would get the Sunday paper,” Ms Spencer said. “When they’d get through with it, they’d hand me the comic pages so that I could cut out the paper dolls.”

She began to create paper fashion for these paper dolls. Soon she was making her own clothes. But being a fashion designer didn’t seem like a realistic goal in those days, she recalled. “You could be a teacher, nurse, secretary or clerk,” she said. “But wife and mother were the big ones.”

She was engaged to a medical student but when she realized she was expected to work to help pay for education before quitting to be a “doctor’s wife,” she broke the engagement. Then she enrolled at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where she got a bachelor of fine arts with a focus on fashion design.

In May 1955, as she was about to graduate, she received a telegram from New York letting her know that her application for a “guest editor” slot at Mademoiselle magazine had been approved. Instead of sticking around for her commencement ceremony, Ms. Spencer took her first plane trip and moved in to the Barbizon Hotel for Women, for a month.

During her time in New York, she attended a reception at the home of the cosmetics entrepreneur Helena Rubinstein, visited the recently opened United Nations, danced with West Point cadets at the St. Regis hotel and interviewed the designer Pauline Trigère in her studio.

Ms. Spencer was in the same class of Mademoiselle guest editors as Joan Didion. “It was about as far from Minneapolis as you could get,” she writes.

She returned to her hometown to work, designing children’s wear for Wonderalls Company and then moved to Milwaukee to become a “misses” sportswear designer.

In late 1962, Ms. Spencer spotted an advertisement in Women’s Wear Daily. “A national manufacturer who leads its industry with annual sales in excess of $50 million seeks a cost-conscious fashion designer-stylist for its suburban Los Angeles facility.”

She sent a résumé and heard nothing back. Still, sensing this mysterious job was her destiny, she and her aunt packed up their 1959 Ford Fairlane and drove across the country to California.

In April 1963, she saw an ad in the California Apparel News for the same job, and this time her application got a response. It was from Mattel, the toymaker already known for the postwar bombshell: Barbie.

Ms. Spencer went to the company headquarters for an interview and was asked to make a suite of outfits for this creature. She made a halter-top-and-boy-short bikini, a one-piece in the same shade of orange-pink. There was a cover-up and a wrap skirt. She got the job.

Pink Pills Nixed

At that time, Mattel made about 125 different outfits a year for Barbie, and the fashion department, run by Charlotte Johnson, could be cutthroat.

“Charlotte had a theory,” Ms. Spencer said. “If you have four designers, you put them in four corners. And it was always competitive and you were pitching your product. Sometimes the competition was kind of dirty.”

How so? She wouldn’t say. “I’m out of it, I’m retired, I’m enjoying life, I’ll put it that way,” she said, and she took a sip of lemonade from her Barbie teacup.

Some of her early successes, all of which she has cataloged, included Country Club Dance (a white and gold striped gown), From Nine to Five (a midcalf blue dress with an embroidered vest and hair scarf) and Debutante Ball (an aqua satin gown with a fur stole).

Ms. Spencer took her cue from the culture around her. As the Jane Fonda aerobics craze of the 1980s took off, Barbie got a purple leotard and leg warmers. When NASA’s space shuttle exploration was in full tilt, Barbie became an astronaut (albeit one in thigh-high boots and silver capes).

And there was inspiration from her own life as well. When she needed a biopsy on her breast, Ms. Spencer was transfixed by the white coats doctors wore. The biopsy was negative, but the fashion was positive. Guess who became, however briefly, a surgeon?

There were missteps too, like when she gave Dr. Barbie a case of pink pills without knowing that at that time pink pills were known to be methamphetamines. “Let me tell you, that caused quite a stir,” she said. (Her faux pas was caught before Meth-Head Barbie made its way to children’s dollhouses.)

There are hundreds and hundreds of designs that are Carol Spencer originals, with only a small portion bearing her name. Until the mid-1990s, Mattel didn’t put designer names on Barbie’s packaging.

But Ms. Spencer remembers each of her creations, and many of them are in her home, which her sister, Margaret, 88, will be moving into soon. But even though Ms. Spencer gets out less these days, and relies on a walker to take more than a few steps, she said she feels surrounded by good company.

“You’re never alone when you have dinner at my house,” she said. “Barbie is always with you.”

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