Liquid Sunshine Giveaway & Blog Party is on!

All done! Click here for winners!

Clarification: Guys, please do NOT comment to enter! I've had like ten people already try that; I'm sorry, your comments were not published. This is a blog party; you answer the questions in a post on your blog (or tumblr or vlog or whatever) and then add the link to the Linky tool in THIS POST, then the winners are selected from the Linky! Guess that wasn't clear enough.

Anyway, the party is on! What's it all about, what are the questions, and what are the magnificent prizes? Click here to find out and enter away using the Linky at the bottom of this post!

Here're mine:

Favorite season, and why?
Fall, because I love how the air smells, and how it's chilly but not freezing. Anything above 80º and I start wilting. Like a delicate flower. A delicate flower that sweats.

How would you describe your personal style? 
Vintage chic with a modern twist. I like experimenting with different styles, and 90% of my clothes are either high-end from Goodwill or vintage from my basement. I guess you could call me "cheap chic"; does that exist?


What's one weird thing you can do? (The stranger the better!)
If my hands are tied/handcuffed together, I can step right over them. For some reason this weirds people out. I think it's a useful skill in case I'm ever kidnapped, arrested, or otherwise trying to escape from something.

Rain or shine?
My answer is found in the lyrics of the Beatles song Rain. I don't really mind. Probably more of shine because my hair doesn't like the rain. My mind does, though.

Confession time... what's a flaw of yours?
I can be over-confident. A lot. For some people this equals "vain and narcissistic". Personally, I think it's better to have a too-high self-esteem than a too-low one. I mean, if you stand in front of a mirror looking awful and are able to say "I look great", then walk to school with your head held high, nobody's going to say you look awful. They're going to say "hmm that must be some new trend" and go about their business.

Favorite music?
Honestly, on my iPod Eminem and Enya are right next to each other. It's very varied. I like Rihanna and Owl City, the Beatles and the Gorillaz, Space vs Speed (hi dad) and Ke$ha, Regina Spektor and Paramore. Right now my favorite weird-music song is this chunk of amazingness.

Have you ever made a decision you instantly regretted? What was it?
Yup, I've made lots. Perhaps the most humorous was when I decided (at age four) it would be a great idea to stick my head through the back of a chair. It took me what seemed like hours to get out.

Who do you admire/look up to?
Huge Audrey Hepburn girl right here. Classy, fashionable, full of words of wisdom like "I believe in pink." Because that is the best quote ever. I also love Michelle Obama.

You've just won an unlimited lifetime supply of... what?
Clothes. All sorts of clothes, whatever clothes I wanted. I'd pretty much die of happiness. (Is that materialistic?)

If you were an animal, what would you be?
A sparrow! It's taken my ages to come up with the perfect answer, and I finally figured it out. Sparrow, sparrow, sparrow. Think about it: sparrows are brown and quick and never stay still and are talkative and like being the center of attention. And they're spunky. I consider myself pretty spunky. So me = sparrow.

If you knew you were going to die in a year, what would you do with your time?
I'd spend my year visiting every city and remote island I could across the entire world and giving away all my stuff in the final month. Anyone want the birdcage? (Kidding. I'm keeping my birdcage. I'm not dying. Sorry.)

You're now a gazillionaire... where do you go to spend your money?
Three guesses what my answer is, y'all... clothes and shoe and makeup stores, of course. Like, a million of them. « wow. that sounds really shallow. true, though.

Classical music: love it or hate it?
I used to truly despise it and the entire radio station of NPR. Since I discovered This American Life I tolerate NPR. For some reason that's linked in my mind to classical music, so I tolerate it, I suppose.

Phobias?
Lakes. Lakes, ponds, rivers, brooks, streams, and any fresh water that doesn't have a healthy dose of chlorine in it. I can't explain it; I love the ocean and would much prefer to swim in an ocean over a pool. But it takes a great deal of coaxing/pulling/kidnapping to get me into even Sebago Lake, which is probably the cleanest and clearest lake in Maine.

Hop on a plane and go live somewhere for a year... where is it, and why?
London. Because I've never been, and I think it would be awesome. (I would say Paris, but at the moment I do not speak French. Sad sad sad.)

Are you an extrovert or an introvert?
Extrovert. Do you want a hug or a handshake?

Would you/do you perform on stage?
Yuppers. I act, I've sung, I've played an instrument, I've played an instrument and sung and acted at the same time.


Okay everyone, let's see your answers! Be sure to LINK BACK HERE in your post so people can join the fun, or grab this handy button:





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And don't forget to add your link to the list, k?
xoxo!

Dude. I'm, like, popular. (aka the party-planning post)

We're exactly 12 10 Followers away from 500, people. Twelve Ten! (I woke up this morning, having drafted this post last night, to find two more friends had joined us.) That is a small number. A very small number. Wow. In mid-January just about 350 people followed horsefeathers. That's about a 150 increase in less than two months. That is crazy-amazing. You have no idea how warm and fuzzy that makes me feel inside.

So we have to start planning a party, no? I'm thinking a blog hop of epic proportions. And five (or so) random winners to be drawn from that blog hop to win prizes of epic proportions.

Therefore I am looking for people — Etsy shops, clothing stores, jewelry makers, anyone who's interested in donating a gift certificate or item worth about $20 or more — to make this blog hop great. I'm thinking maybe five sponsors, one for each winner. In return? Two months of free advertising (we're getting about 30,000 pageviews a month now!) for a prize $20-$30, three months if you donate something worth $40-$50, and five months for $50 and beyond!

*pants* Okay. Enough of my carnival-barker voice. Back to planning the party.

Would you guys be interested? It would be a getting-to-know you type thing encompassing fashion, photography, the works.

Eeee. This is so exciting. I remember when horsefeathers was a dinky little thing with the Ms. Moto theme and three followers (counting myself) and my first post was about learning to ski and falling over. We've come a long way, little blog.

So I'd love to hear your ideas for blog hop questions, your opinion on the idea itself, and any possible sponsors can email me if you're interested!

Thank you, lovelies, each and every one of you. xoxo.

(and because I feel bad not posting a photo, here's an amazing galaxy cupcake. you're welcome.)

via

PS: Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who's voted for me for the I Heart Design Best Photographer awards! She's made the poll private to build up suspense, but you can still go VOTE HERE every day until Saturday, the 12th. Thanks bunches, lovelies!

Hmmmm.

I need everyone's opinion on this one, okay?

So here's the deal. I've found myself becoming more and more interested in fashion — stark change from about two years ago when some bell-bottoms and an old tee shirt would do just fine. This blog just celebrated its second birthday on the thirteenth (well, not this exact URL... you may recall that Horsefeathers was deleted and only recently brought back to life), and I'm a very different person.

Thus, I got to thinking about it. (I can hear the chorus now: oh no, Olivia is thinking. Heaven help us all.)

I'd like you to look at this post from last July.
Now imagine a couple self-portraits of what I wore on those days.
Maybe a little ranting about the amazing heaven that is Goodwill.
The photos would still be there. That's important. I am still a photographer and there is simply no way to change that. (For proof, I felt guilty leaving this post photoless so I dragged myself out of bed and snapped a shot of the first thing I saw.)

Lately my posts have been all-fashion or all-photo. I want a nice blend. I am definitely leaning more towards fashion, but outfit posts everysingleday isn't any fun (even if the outfit is). And yes, I'll even confess that some days I wear sweatpants to school. (No outfit posts on those days!)

But my dilemma is this. I love the fashion blogger world and want to be a part of it. I need your advice, all  of you, especially my fashion blogger readers.

Does a blog full of hybrid fashion-and-photography posts disqualify me from being an official fashion blogger?

I'm biting my nails in anticipation of your response...

example of photos + outfits

ps- had a little mini freakout just now when I realized that the above outfit was top favorited today on Chictopia! Check it out before it goes away. If you missed it, I am on the far right of that middle row in the screenshot below. *squeal* I just started out, this makes me so happy...

"Remember Breathing? OK, Do That Now."

These words were said to me by a dear friend when I started hyperventilating today. No, I did not have a nervous breakdown — though if it is possible to have a happiness breakdown I think I might have done that. No, I was freaking out because the results of the auditions for our spring play, Antigone, were posted today and I got in. The only freshman. Just me. I am in the role of Chorus — and if you are familiar with Greek tragedies, you'll know that the Chorus does not sing and dance; they are rather the narrators and reactionaries to the play. It's actually a really big role, and I was completely flipping out with excitement and disbelief.

I was hugging people and texting people excitedly and chattering away a million miles a minute when my friend caught my arm and, a bemused smile on her face, said, "Olivia, remember breathing? OK, do that now. In, out. Repeat. Stop hyperventilating."

She was kidding, but thinking about it later and smiling to myself I realized why her words stuck with me. Remember my one word for 2011? That's right:  b r e a t h e .   My friend had no idea about my One Word, which makes this seem all the more like some sort of sign.

Remember breathing? OK, do that now.

I've been rushing around like mad these past few weeks. Between midterm exams (gah), auditions for the play (tremble), the start of a new semester (eep), and the unusually cold weather we've been having (shiver), I've been feeling pretty worn out. Lately I've just been wearing sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a nice warm hat all day when I don't need to go to school.

this is a serious crime of fashion, but I'm not particularly caring at the moment.

This week will be no exception. Tonight my mom and I have to attend a meeting for freshman interested in the IB program which lasts for two long hours. And then rehearsals for the play start on Thursday. Between that and schoolwork and managing my Etsy shop, I'm swamped.

So I was thinking about what I can do to make my life a little less hectic. I've started up yoga again, doing a 10-minute bedtime routine to unwind. (Did you know sleep actually makes you get in better shape? Never knew that. Thanks, free iTunes yoga video.) I'm reading this amazing book instead of surfing the internet, and trying to remember to turn off all my electronics before going to sleep (I read that it makes you sleep deeper and better). I'm continuing with my Spa Day Saturdays and that's a nice little release. (I got a volcanic mud facial mask... divine!)

And another thing I want to cut back on is screen time — yes, that means blogging. I know, IknowIknowIknow. How many times have I said, "I'm going to cut back on blogging"? Countless times. Really. But this time I truly do mean it. I have a ruler to slap myself on the palm with if I get too lax. (Kidding. Kind of.)

Anyway. I'm not going to disappear, I just might be a little more absent than usual. Will you guys still love me if I periodically abandon you for a few days at a time? I hope so. It's just too much stress for this little blogger to be constantly wondering "hmm, I wonder if my new post got any comments? Gah, I'll have to go check" and thinking "oooh this will make a great post on my blog" whenever I do something cool.

You know, it's weird. Some people decide to take blogging breaks or cut down because they can't find enough inspiration. I've got plenty of inspiration; I have a million and a half photos and experiences and thoughts just begging to be made into posts. My challenge is to squish them like little ants and actually do something productive.

I even installed the new look a couple days early so I could get that off my chest. Orange is supposed to be energizing, you know. I could use that.

This has turned into a very long post, and if you read all the way through, I salute you. If you haven't, just know this: I won't be blogging every day. I still love you guys. I just love the rest of my life as well, and it's been feeling a bit neglected lately.

PS- right after writing this post I looked at my dashboard and saw this post by carlotta. Whoops! carlotta, dear, I assure you I am not copying off your post — I dearly hate when people do that — I was just thinking the same things you were, I suppose.