Eye on Madison

Saturday was my first full day in Madison and it definitely felt like fall. The chill made it so refreshing to walk around all day. I met up with my friends Brian and Alex and we headed to the farmer's market. The farmer's market runs every Saturday through November. Brian and Alex made sure we stopped by Graze for some delicious pastries before going to the market. I had a raspberry apple crumb pastry. It was the right way to start off my day.  

The market was so nice to stroll around. If I lived there I would love the spend my Saturdays just as we did. Most of the produce was either local or organic. All of the fall goodies like pumpkins, apple cider, dried flowers, and gourds were there. About halfway through the market we decided to head down State Street towards the University of Wisconsin campus. With the chilly fall weather and the college campus surrounding I couldn't help but flash back to my own college experience and miss it a little. In that second I only thought of the good moments though, the ideal times in college that really made it such a unique experience. We walked back up State Street and through the rest of the market and then I headed to Brian and Alex's house to relax for a little while Merl was busy getting things ready for our shoot later in the day. 

 
  

I was reunited with Merl that afternoon. We set up shop in her bathroom and got to work on my face and hair. I wish I had someone to do my hair and makeup everyday. She added some curl to my natural mini wave, and some fake lashes to my lids. We had to stop by Merl's studio to grab the effects for the shoot and took some quick shots of my personal outfit for the day outside on the train tracks. Then we headed into the woods and other secluded areas around Madison for the pictures for the lookbook. Unfortunately Merl has put a gag order on me and I can't say anything else. 

After all the pictures were done, we grabbed some wine and went back to her apartment to review them. We stared at the pictures for a while and then decided it was time to get ready for dinner. I went to freshen up and immediately saw that my eye had swollen. This has never happened to me before. I had never had anything swell up so suddenly like that, let alone my eye! We decided to wait it out. Merl and I grabbed a quick bite. When we got back and both realized that it hadn't gotten any better but had actually gotten much worse we headed to the ER. 

I figured it could be an allergic reaction or a bug bite, we had been crawling through some pretty heavy brush for the pictures. After waiting at the ER for about an hour I left without any answers at all. The doctor told me to get Benadryl and if that didn't work he gave me a prescription for some antibiotics to try the following day. I came out to the waiting room and Merl was sitting surrounded by people with swine flu masks on. What a trooper. 

Wool Scarf from Scotland, Old Sweater, Gap Chambray Shirt, Alexa Chung for Madewell Billie Velvet Shorts

Madewell Over the Knee Socks, Navy Tights from Duane Reade, Old Riding Boots

That was my Saturday in Wisconsin! This is more or less the outfit I mentioned last week that I wore but wasn't happy with the pictures. I had to add a few pieces because it was quite cold. Merl did a much better job than the tripod. 

Another sneak peak of the lookbook was posted on Clyde's Rebirth facebook page. You can check it out here.