A Visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Hi everyone,       
      Hope you've been doing well! I am currently on "spring break" although it feels more like winter still here in Massachusetts! This past Monday a couple of my friends and I visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. I had never been and one of my friends said she enjoyed it when she visited before so we decided to check it out! It is actually very close to The Museum of Fine Arts which I found surprising and so it was very easy to get to especially with the T!

      The price of admission is also very reasonable, the regular adult price is $15, there is a senior discount, and people under the age of 18 get in free. For college students it is $5 with a valid school i.d. However, I embarrassingly somehow forgot to bring my school i.d. with me even though I knew I needed it! I guess I thought it was in my wallet but it turns out it was not. I was annoyed with myself about that but there wasn't anything I could do. When my friends and I went to the counter to buy our tickets before heading in the museum I decided to explain that I forgot my i.d. and the museum worker was very nice and let me pay the student price because my friends could vouch for me!

This is a painting of Isabella Stewart Gardner herself, there are a couple throughout the museum!

      Once we dropped our coats at the coat check (which is complementary) we headed into the new wing of the museum first. It is a fairly recent addition and has more contemporary art and pieces in it. The current exhibit was one on sound. There was one wall with some photographs of cats and then a recording of each one's purr. Cats are one of my friend's favorite animals and she definitely enjoyed that piece. There was also a large room that had a lot of windows and natural light and there were 50 small speakers covering the walls, each playing one note from a classical  piano song but simultaneously. So instead of hearing the melody and recognizing it we could only hear all the notes at one time. It was very interesting. They also had different sounds playing in the other part of the museum as part of the exhibit, although the noises being played did not really go with the rooms which I felt was a bit distracting.

A section of one of the rooms in the old wing

     Now on to the main part of the museum, the "old wing" or original section of the museum. This part houses the pieces that Isabella Stewart Gardner collected throughout her life and travels. There is art from all over the world and from all different eras as well. There were many painting and other artifacts, especially from Europe. This wing is also known as the Palace, and for good reason too. It is very ornate and beautiful. Many of the rooms are very large and have tiled floors and fire places. It is not set up like a regular museum. There are no labels next to the pieces and the rooms are set up to look like regular rooms that would be in, for lack of a better term, a Palace.  The rooms do have information cards in a holder and these are very helpful for explaining who painted or made each piece, when and where.

There are also many beautiful stained glass windows

Here is an example of one of the numerous fireplaces.

 You can see how regal the rooms look and how the chairs and other objects are reminiscent of a medieval castle.

    One of my favorite parts of the whole museum and what makes it really unique is the courtyard.  It is a beautiful area in the middle of the building. Filled with luscious green plants and flowers. There are fountains, statues, and benches surrounding it as well. It is so gorgeous and peaceful! There is a glass roof enclosing it but it is extremely high up and it is not very noticeable. You feel as though you are outside in an amazing courtyard in Italy!

     I believe that most of "the Palace" was actually transported from Italy, reconstructed, and turned into the museum. However I am not 100% sure so don't quote me on that!
      When looking at some of the paintings I noticed something that looked familiar.  I picked up one of the information cards to check out one of the paintings. I had thought I recognized a building from Venice and it turns out I had! I then went through the camera roll on my phone and found a picture I had taken in October while on my trip to Italy and it matched the painting I was looking at! That was a very surreal and I'll admit, pretty cool moment!

The painting on the top is the one I am referring to.

      It's crazy that the same buildings are still there and in remarkably good shape! I also find it pretty cool when my friends and I notice paintings or items similar to things we've seen in textbooks or when we are able to pull on knowledge from different courses such as Art or Fashion History and point things out in artwork!

     I definitely recommend checking out this museum if you have the chance! It is not very large and so it should not take too long to get through, one afternoon should be sufficient. My friend who had visited it before did point out though that it is a place that one would definitely notice new things in each time they visit! My mom had not been too thrilled at first when I mentioned that I was visiting the Gardner Museum because surprisingly she had not enjoyed her time there. She felt as though it was too dark inside and she could not see the paintings and other items well. I agree that it is pretty dim especially compared to other museum but they keep the lights low to preserve the pieces. Daylight coming in through the windows made it very easy for me to see everything but my mom had gone on a cloudy day. So "pro tip", visit when there is a good amount of daylight! It would not be fun to visit and not be able to get the full experience due to not being able to see!
     Here is the museum's website if you are interested in more information: http://www.gardnermuseum.org/home/

Do you have a favorite museum?

Thanks for reading!
Emily

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Top Current Trends I'm Loving

      This summer there have been some trends that I have really been loving, as you can tell by the title of this post! I really like the chill vibe that I've been seeing a lot lately. What I mean by this is that that simple and basic pieces are really in right now. But I also love that most have a unique twist such as cut-outs or cool necklines. I have also been seeing a lot of solid colored pieces or items with bold stripes. I decided to share my favorite types of pieces below!

Bomber jackets:

- Although it is summer and that means that temperatures are usually higher it does cool down a bit at night and so I think that having some good layering pieces is necessary. Bomber jackets are very in right now. They give an effortless cool vibe to an outfit. Also I like that depending on the material and cut of the jacket it can drastically change your whole look. Leather gives a completely different aesthetic to an outfit than satin or corduroy. I really just love layering and jackets in general and am glad they are having their moment!

Lace up flats:

- I also think that lace up flats are very pretty. The concept of them is pretty simple and minimalistic but they just add so much to an outfit. I also love how versatile they are. These shoes can be worn with skinny jeans, boyfriend jeans, a casual dress, or with a more formal outfit and still look great with whatever they're paired with.

Tee shirt dresses:

- Tee shirt dresses are so simple as well yet look so cute. They are so easy to just throw on and still make you look put together. And again are another very versatile item that can be dressed up or down depending on what accessories or other pieces you wear it with. I prefer these dresses in a solid color or any combination of black, white, and or navy stripes. (Stripes in this color palette give me such a nautical vibe and remind me of the beach and summertime).

"Basic" shirts:

- Not so basic, basic shirts. What I mean by this are shirts that would be basic but are not because of their necklines or "details". Shirts with lacing or ties are a huge trend right now. These can cut down pretty low but don't show too much which I like. You could also wear a cool bandeau or bralette underneath. I also like that they do come in varying levels of "showiness" and so everyone can find something they are comfortable with. 

Denim & button up skirts:

- Denim and front buttoning skirts (or a combo of the two) are another trend I am really liking. Who would have thought that denim skirts would be in again? I did not think it would happen and I'm sure a lot of other people didn't either but I'm glad I was wrong. In my opinion they are pretty cute and just have a great summer vibe to them but can definitely transition into fall as well just as the bomber jacket can. I also like that button up skirts come in so many fabrics as well and that can help them be multi-seasonal as well. Corduroy ones would look great with riding boots in the fall. 

What are some of your favorite summer trends?

Thanks for reading!
-Emily

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Castle Island Adventure

Hi guys, I hope you are having a great summer!

      I finally made it to the beach! My mom recently mentioned that she had wanted to visit Castle Island which is located in South Boston. None of us had ever been there before so we were excited to go. There is a fort, Fort Independence, a restaurant known for its sea food of course, a couple beaches, a playground and walking trails. 
     We took the T and a bus and arrived at one of the beaches. My mom and I went in the water a little as we walked along from one end of the island to get to the restaurant located on the other end. As we were walking we saw some shells, sea glass, and horse shoe prints. The latter was definitely a surprise. I guess that the rangers patrol on horses, a not so nice surprise was that we passed some other evidence left by the horses which we made sure to avoid getting too close to.  

Pic of my mom and sister featuring a plane

       On the walk over to the restaurant we saw a lot of low flying planes and assumed we were close to the airport. We also saw some large machines that my sister was very intrigued by and wanted to know what they were. As we got closer and closer to the restaurant we also got closer and closer to the machines and were able to determine that they were for taking large cargo containers off of ships and putting them on the land. We finally made it to Sullivan's to have lunch. It is similar to Kelly's if you are familiar with the MA area. We got fish and chips and it was really good. My mom, sister, and I split two meals between the three of us, it was very filling.       

The little building in the back there is Sullivan's

     Since we were so full and wanted to walk it off we made our way past another beach, the playground, saw some statues and made it to the fort. Only to the find out that visitors can only enter on Saturdays and Sundays and it was a Friday (probably one of the only times I will be annoyed that it was a Friday lol). We couldn't complain too much though because we still had a beautiful view of Boston and the harbor, were surround by the ocean, and had great weather. Oh and don't forget, we figured out what those machines were for! So it was still a successful journey.

The boardwalk

Hope you enjoyed reading!
-Emily  

p.s. I think I took a picture of those random machines that my sister was fascinated by, I'll try to find one and update the post when I do!

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