Sorry Cath and I have slowed down this week. Civic duty abounds in the AsianCajun household: Cath has been working late hours (Strategic Planning for the City of Decatur- woohoo) and I’ve had jury duty!

In between sitting through voir dires and thinking about a vision for Decatur in the next ten years, I’ve been reading about central Asia. My bf and I plan to hit up at least Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan next year, so I’m trying to brush up on my central Asia history (when I say “brush up,” I mean “learn from scratch”- apart from some Genghis Khan references in high school, I knew very little about The Stans and Mongolia).

Here’s where the abbreviated art history lesson comes in! Guess how old this photo is:

Here’s a hint: this man is the last emir of Bukhara (in what is now Uzbekistan). I know! That wouldn’t have helped me either!

It’s taken in 1911. 1911!!! The most amazing thing is that this photo was not doctored in Photoshop or even tinted back in the day by the original photographer. Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky received permission from the (last) czar, Nicholas II, to document the Russian Empire. Not only did Prokudin-Gorsky take over 3500 photographs (about half have survived and are housed at the Library of Congress), he also found a way to kinda/sorta take/create colored photographs while traveling around an exhaustive empire. He actually had a dark room built in a train car. Pretty spiffy, non?

I think black and white photography is beautiful, informative, and sometimes haunting, but there is something about seeing a subject in color that makes them seem more present and alive.

Here are a few more examples of Prokudin-Gorsky’s work to delight your workweek-wearied eyes:

These photos also capture the diversity in the Russian Empire/current central Asia.

We hope you guys have a lovely weekend! We’re off to Baltimore (and then to the beach for Cath) for a friend’s wedding- ’tis the season! What do you guys have planned?

ps- You can see a complete visual listing of photographs here. For larger images, enter the number in the LOC search bar.

For some reason people always assume Lar and I are vegetarian (do we look extra pale for our AsianCajun heritage?!), but we’re pretty far from it and we were stoked when Farm Burger opened up this week in downtown Decatur. They serve amazing burgers made from grassfed beef and locally sourced produce.

We had to wait in line for about 40 minutes before ordering, but it was well worth it. I loved my burger. The homemade pickle was perfection – not too vinegary or too sweet.

Boater hat from Nasty Gal, Bitten button-up, American Apparel skirt, Dolce Vita shoes.

I thought my straw boater and denim shirt were appropriate “farm” restaurant wear. Is it sad that I dress according to the theme of a restaurant? Either way, the piggies in the photo on the wall seemed to like my hat.

I think Lar’s bf Matt also had a great outfit for the restaurant too, although I’m pretty sure he didn’t plan it out like I did. Matt built an amazing burger: swiss cheese, roasted garlic, caramelized onions, mushrooms and spinach. Delicious.

Needless to say, I think Lar and I will be coming back soon – at the very least to try the adult floats like vanilla porter with root beer, nom, nom, nom.

Hope you all had a great weekend! Did any of you Atlantans head over to the Inman Park Festival today? Our friend George had an awesome party at his Inman Park house today and you couldn’t have asked for better weather after such a rainy Saturday.

Blue Stocking- is an educated,intellectual woman. Such women are stereotyped as being frumpy and the reference to blue stockings refers to the time when woolen worsted stockings were informal dress, as compared with formal, fashionable black silk stockings

Growing up I was always under the impression that being a blue stocking was a good thing. That could be because 1) my mom only told me the first part of the definition (educated? intellectual? I like that) and 2) I imagined smart women wearing bright blue (probably silk) stockings that looked rebellious under tweed skirts.

Actually, I think being a blue stocking is a good thing. I don’t care about the “frump,” and the word “worsted” is a little off-putting (do they make worsted stockings anymore?), but I like a lady or gent that has a large library. This library could be a double storied room with ladders, or the public library down the road. I just really like people who like books. If they wear literal or metaphorical blue stockings, all the better.

Instead of actual blue stockings, I opted for a blue dress (Rodarte for Target)- it’s already way too hot for stockings in the ATL. All of these photos are taken in my parents’ library. Oh, and you know how Cath and I like to color coordinate our bookshelves. Look who we got it from:

Our mom is actually covering the unseemly paperbacks with recycled paper (the hardbacks are color-coded, if deemed worthy of being…  disrobed de-jacked).

We definitely get our book-worminess from our mom. See that book in the photo above that looks like it’s been placed there to look like someone’s reading it? Our mom actually is!

Our dad’s job in the library? He outfitted the bookshelves. They used to be drab Ikea things, but he refaced them with a wooden veneer and copious amounts of molding and paint.

Speaking of book nerdiness, what are you guys reading now? I usually have about 5 books in rotation at once (usually I finish about half of them). My current favorite is by far Just Kids (the Patti Smith book I mentioned here).

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Thank you so much to all of you for the lovely anniversary/birthday wishes for AsianCajuns! Your comments always make our day/week/year(s)! xoxo, Lar & Cath

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DIY ruffle t-shirt, Target cardi, J. Crew necklace, H&M belt, American Apparel skirt, BCBG pumps.

Lar and I both are always inspired by all the fashion and style diy bloggers, but we rarely try to copy any of the projects. I have no explanation for this. Laziness? Dreading the mess that comes with crafting? Lack of sewing skills? It’s probably a mix of all three.

Luckily, I have some very crafty friends that can get me motivated every once in a while. A few weekends ago Julia, of Squirrel and Fox blog and Heliotrope, hosted a craft day. She’s been playing around with some diy projects she found on Made By Lex and invited a group of us over for some sewing and mimosa drinking.

Julia guiding Ali’s fabric cutting. She used the zebra pattern as the ruffle on her black shirt.

I used an old light pink shirt to get fabric for my ruffle on top of a darker pink v-neck Lar picked up for me at Rag-o-Rama in Little Five Points for $10.

Lar and I took a beginners sewing class one summer when we both thought we might want to go into fashion design. We learned quite a bit in that class; like how to thread  a sewing machine, how to adjust the tension, how to make a pillow case and a pair of boxer shorts. We also learned that we weren’t too fond of sewing and that fashion design was probably better left to those who do.

Here’s a close-up of my shirt. It’s pretty sloppy, but layering it with a cardi and dressing it up for work seemed to hide a lot of the flaws.

Thanks to Julia for getting me inspired for the day! Maybe I’ll be up for another DIY project in a few months.

Dear Readers,

Cath and I just realized that around this time three years ago, we  started AsianCajuns: April 26, 2007 to be exact.

We started AsianCajuns because we wanted a creative outlet that would act as a foil to our 9-5s. We didn’t expect anyone to read it. We had no intention of just writing about fashion (we talked about Edith Wharton and mint juleps). We were inspired by Susie Bubble and Agatha from Style Bytes (two of the three blogs we read at the time). This was before outfit aggregators took off and eveyone started documenting their outfits through fashion blogs.

Looking back on our posts from three years ago we realize we had a bit more variety. We do love fashion and style, but Cath and I agree that the old posts we are less interested in are the ones just about an outfit or a piece of clothing we’ve bought. So, from here on out we’ll try to stick to our varigated roots a little better. That said, we do like seeing how our styles have evolved from our 23 year old selves to now (the shoes are definitely taller):

For those of you that can stand a little more navel-gazing and reflection we’d love to know how long you’ve been reading AsianCajuns and what keeps bringing you back. We would continue AsianCajuns even if our mom was still our only reader, but the wonderful fellow-bloggers we have “met” and local readers we run into have made this experience deeply satisfying. I think most long-term bloggers have felt the desire to throw in the towel at some point (especially when things begin to feel more like a chore and less like a creative outlet). What keeps us going is you guys- so, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Cath and I are making plans as we move out of our toddler years. We hope to expand into video, highlight more of the glories of Atlanta/Decatur, and keep the posts varied and inspiring. A redesign is also under way… so stay tuned!

Thank you for three awesome and wonderfully fulfilling years on the internets, readers!

Much Love,

Cath & Lar
The AsianCajuns

There’s nothing new about combining yellow and gray. I think the yellow and gray combination in clothes reached its peak two winters ago with the ubiquitous yellow and gray striped cardigan that every store in the mall sold. For some reason it wasn’t until I saw Sandra Bullock wearing the outfit below in The Proposal that I thought I’d give the color combo a try myself.

Image courtesy of AllMoviePhoto.com.

I have no idea why I was inspired by a kind of run-of-the-mill romcom and a kind of ho-hum outfit. Bullock actually wears some gorgeously tailored suits in the film (accessorized with Prada, Louboutin and Hermes), but I suppose those seem so out of reach for me. So the yellow and gray outfit must have stuck out in my mind for its practicality. I already had all the pieces to incorporate the color combination into a work-appropriate outfit:

I de-preppified the look with the lacy Rodarte for Target cardi and my new chandelier necklace from Rockit. The white tissue tee is from Urban Outfitters, Proenza Schouler for Target skirt (hand-me-down from Lar) and nude pumps from the now defunct Eviva shoe store in Decatur.

I think it took me so long to jump on the yellow and gray bandwagon because I was worried the mustard yellow would make my mixed-Asian skin look a little sickly, but somehow it works. Maybe I have just enough Cajun in me to make it a complimentary color.

Okay, I know the Outfits of the Week have been a little music-centric lately, but I’ve been trying to update my stale playlists and there are just some amazingly inspiring chantreuses. I really like how Janelle Monae, like Patti Smith, has a very calculated and streamlined look. In fact, I’d go so far as to call Monae’s “look” a uniform: tuxedo shirt, oxfords/saddle shoes, tuxedo pants, coifed hair.

View the full Polyvore set here. That tuxedo shirt is a K by Karl Laggerfield for under $100 (as is everything in the set)! I’m a little unsure if Monae would actually where these Kenneth Jay Lane earrings, but they are black and white and add a nice texture to the crisp tuxedo pants and shirt.

Cath and I have a soft spot for Monae not just because she is talented and creative, but her artistic birth happened in Atlanta, and she’s a shortie like us. She’s a five foot powerhouse, and featured in the April 2010 shape issue of American Vogue (see below).

Now, I promise this video of Monae’s latest single will totally make your Monday. And if you get a chance to see her in concert, you should (Big Boi joined her on stage to perform “Tightrope”)! We saw her uber theatrical performance last Tuesday. The best $14 I’ve ever spent.

Let me know what you guys think! And happy Monday!!!!

Congrats to our talented writing friends Tom and Jamie for their new boutique editing and writing partnership Chronicle. And thanks for the uh, flattering pic and AC shoutout on the company’s homepage – woot! We think Chronicle is the start of great things to come for these guys.

• Young Blood Gallery & Boutique’s Jolene makes us wish we had a cat of our own.
• Lar and I are determined to make it over to the Civic Center at some point this month for the Diana: A Celebration exhibit. In conjunction with the exhibit there will be a cocktail hour every Friday in April from 5-8 p.m. Visitors can sip martinis while looking at family heirlooms, mementos, paintings and photos of the people’s princess.
• We’re completely addicted to Kate Bingaman-Burt’s Obsessive Consumption blog – ink drawings of her daily purchases and now available in book form.
• Lar and I couldn’t stop laughing after being introduced to these Sassy Gay Friend videos. I mean seriously, Juliet would not have killed herself if she had a sassy gay friend. H/t: Nate, our sassy gay friend.
• I love the library setting of Shopbop’s Marc by Marc Jacobs spread – it makes me want to dress up in patterned dresses, wide headbands and chunky platforms and head over to my local library for some good spring break reading.
• Folk artist Butch Anthony is inspirational in every way. Just to name a few things: he has a discipline dress code (denim overalls), is a self-taught artist, built his own house/cabin, and is the founder of Doo Nanny, an annual alt/folk art micro festival in Seale, Alabama.
• Props to the First Lady for wearing a $60 Talbots blouse the other day!

My two year search for a boater hat is finally over!  Ever since the boater hat trend came about I’ve wanted to get my hands on one. Unfortunately two years ago my only options where real, $100+, haberdasher versions on ebay that I couldn’t afford or cheesy, costume emporium gondola plastic hats.

Bitten by SJP button up, H&M denim trousers, Nine West boots, and straw boater (see below).

I didn’t give up because I knew sooner or later Urban Outfiters et. al. would come out with more affordable, hipster versions and they didn’t disappoint! Enter Nasty Gal’s Straw Boater:

At $18 it fits nicely into my monthly fashion budget, which currently is pretty much non-existent.

As the weather continues to warm up I plan on wearing my lovely new boater with almost everything – shorts, skirts, dresses. I wore it to a Braves game the other day and got enough confused stares to make me think the purchase was more than worth it.