We're here because we're here: 10/10/10

Last weekend we took an impromptu road trip to Chicago to attend Amy Krouse Rosenthal's The Beckoning of Lovely. And it was.. well, lovely.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a performance artist and children's book author who started The Beckoning of Lovely on 8/8/08 at the Bean in Chicago. I first heard about her through John Green's videos, and although I was in Chicago on 8/8/08 (two days before we were to be married at the Harry Potter con!) I wasn't at that first gathering. Last week, my friend told me that he was roadtripping to Chicago for the 10/10/10 event and after watching the videos, I knew I had to go.

The Beckoning of Lovely is a project in which people come together to share a series of moments. It was short and sweet and I'll always remember that night-- it was one of those things that you just have to be a part of at one time or another, one of those important moments that encourages you to have fun and do something good with your life. This video explains it very well:

Everyone wore white t-shirts with our first names on them and we jumped for joy, met new friends, sent a red balloon into the sky, and received letters from the World's Smallest Postal Service (inside, they say: "Make the most of your time here"). And because my friend Quinn had a prominent part in the 8/8/08 gathering (he gives flowers to a stranger on the street), he was told that he would receive flowers on October 10th for the next ten years.

And of course, John Green was there. I've mentioned him many times on the blog and by now I'm sure everyone knows what a big inspiration he is to me, so seeing him in person was a bit surreal. I was too shy to meet him, but it's okay, I'm not very good at meeting people I admire. I tweeted later that he was like the pied piper of nerds, and it was true-- his part in the gathering was to give away orange candy, and it ended with him leading us all out of the park as we were kicked out by an angry little security guard on a segway.

But anyway, enough of that! We took a few pictures, because the light was so perfect at dusk, but keep in mind that this outfit is really more roadtrip-friendly and not outfit-photos-in-Chicago-amazing. Before the gathering we walked around, met one of our favorite vloggers (wheezywaiter!) and got obnoxiously small (and delicious) macchiatos at Intelligentsia.

My "I just met wheezywaiter and embarrassed myself a lot" face.


I'm pretty sure that the Bean is actually a void ship containing an army of Daleks. I just don't understand and it makes me uneasy to look at it. #nerdjokes

Two girls actually recognized the patch on my bag as the logo from The Mighty Boosh! I made that thing years ago and no one ever recognizes it.

<3

Target tank

random department store cardigan
Urban Outfitters scribble skirt & red flats
Forever 21 tights
thrifted bag
red bow, knit by me

You can watch the 10/10/10 gathering in four parts here. The final, professional video should be up in about a month!