You Gotta Get With My Friends

(Yesterday I recorded the MTV morning show “AMTV” in hopes that I would catch the crazy new Lady Gaga video to show Nathan, and you know what they played? They played Wannabe, by The Spice Girls. I am now recording that show on a daily basis in hopes of more such anomalies.)

So here is the deal with this outfit. I know it hides my figure. I’m aware. I just don’t care. All of the color and pattern makes me feel happy and light.



The insurance guy called yesterday to tell me they are totaling the car. It’s disappointing and it’s defeating, and I am not really going to deal with it right now. I know I will have to at some point, but for now, I choose to forget about it.



Life has been hard this year, I won’t lie. But I have my health. I have a good job, and I have a wonderful husband. So I’m going to focus on that. PLUS my Alannah girl is coming TOMORROW to visit and we are going to sit on the couch and watch Girls Aloud DVDs and eat cake balls and talk and it will be awesome.



I have 3 days of vacation and I am looking forward to every minute. I am going to spend the rest of the week and weekend with Alannah and then Monday I am going to go in the middle of the day, alone, to see New Moon.



I’m still wearing these. I hope you like them or else this might get really boring for you for a bit, you know how I tend to fixate on pieces and wear them over and over!



Jacket, Bona Drag
Sweater, Urban Outfitters
Dress, Forever XXI
Tights, Target
Shoes, Target
Diamond necklace, gift, ages ago
Bat Skull necklace, mrd74 at Etsy
Earrings, Prairie Oats at Etsy
Bag, TJ Maxx (Abro leather)

I Can’t Stand That Song

(I’m so sorry I forgot to leave the outfit details yesterday. I have added them. Thank you so much for all the kind words.)

I am loving this chilly weather! I delight in layers. And scarves. And boots. And jackets…



I was discussing boots with a co-worker yesterday, She was saying she wanted to get a pair, but just one, and she didn’t know if she should go with black or brown. I said “Cognac!” Cognac goes with everything in my book. It matches brown and pops against black. So of course I went with an all black look today to prove it.



That scarf is an American Apparel circle scarf, cut in half. I found the original size to be just really, really overwhelming. This is perfect, plus I got to share it with a friend. Now…anyone want to split a grey one?

And the gloves? Yeah, you are seeing that right, they are in fact, black leather elbow length gloves. Kelly and I have been looking for black leather elbow length gloves for what feels like ages. I needed them to make up the distance between where normal gloves end and the slightly shorter sleeve on my Bona Drag biker jacket begins. I looked and looked and don’t get me wrong, I found some, but they were so expensive!~ I think before these the cheapest I found was $60.00, and I am sure some of you are thinking that is nothing for nice gloves….but I lose gloves. Anyway. Found these at Target, of course. I called Kelly right away. I scared the crap out of her because it was the middle of a work day and she thought someone had died. But no, I just found the gloves we wanted, in our size (small, natch), for $18.00. It was an exciting day. It was also a couple of months ago, so you know, I’ve been dying to break them out.

You know how every holiday season the diamond people come up with some new design and we are supposed to want that? I saw a commercial for this years “must have” and remarked to Nathan that it was not as horrible as years past, but I still didn’t like it. In fact, the last time I remember liking what they were selling was the year we got married. That was the year of the little floating solitare necklace. I still love it. It’s classic and understated.



But you know, I can’t wear JUST understated…



OH MY GOSH. How amazing are these?



They are just perfect. Little gun shells filled with crystals. I have seen this look done a lot on Etsy and Bona Drag, but I think this is the best execution I’ve seen as far as earrings go. I just adore them.


Dress,mark
Tights, Target
Boots, Matisse
Diamond necklace, gift, ages ago
Earrings, Prairie Oats at Etsy
Bat skull necklace, mrd74 at Etsy
Bird skull necklace, mrd74 at Etsy
Bag, Banana Republic, Thrifted by Nathan
Gloves, Target
Scarf, AA, Altered by me

Life Has Been A Drag

Just a couple quick pics today. I basically spend all day every day calling either the insurance company or the collision repair place. I get a different story every time. No one has any real answers. I have no idea what to do anymore, but I’m pretty much at my breaking point. I woke up at 3:00 AM this morning and just laid in bed and wondered what I am supposed to do if they total my car*

I wish I had something less moody and sad to share, but that’s where I’m at, kids.


Oh hey. It is actually cold-ish out! I better add a scarf and actually put these glove ON.


That’s better.

*When they total your car they give you a check for what the car is “worth”. For instance, my car was “worth” about $3000. Now to ME it was worth a lot more than that. It was paid off, and reliable and had a good 2 years left in it. But the money they will give me will pay for at best, a semi-reliable used car with a lot of miles on it. I can’t afford to by a new car right now, since Nathan has been out of work since last December.

Jacket, Bona DragDress,
Gloves, Tights and Heels, Target
Bat skull necklace, mrd74 at Etsy
Bird skull necklace, mrd74 at Etsy
Bag, Steve Madden
Scarf, AA, Altered by me

I Found Out I Often Disagree

(My face is totally white washed by the sun in a kind of creepy way in all my pictures today. Happy Friday the 13th!~)

This entire outfit was styled around my desire to carry my new handbag. My husband thrifted it yesterday for $2.00 and it is Banana Republic. I have lusted after BR’s bags for a while now, but they are really expensive and the larger ones never seem to go on sale. So this was a really exciting thrift gift for me.



It’s smaller than I normally carry so I had to really edit down my bag, but it is so pretty. The leather needs conditioning but is amazingly soft and I love that extra long fringe zipper pull. And also? $2.00!~



I really like this outfit. It has a more boho vibe tan I normally wear, less rock and roll I think. But it’s dressy and casual all at once and just as perfect for Fridays at my office as it is for going out tonight. I love knowing I won’t have to change before going out on Friday nights, but I find those kinds of outfits to be really elusive for me, because if it’s tame enough for the office, it never feels fun enough to go out in.



And the leather of the bag perfectly matches the leather on these Matisse boots. The pebble texture of the leather is even the same.



Invest in a good boot when you can! I got these when we were both working and they were on the pricy side, but they still look great and I expect to get at least a couple more years wear out of them, which in the end, will make them cheaper than anything I might have picked up at Payless or Target.



I topped it off with a few necklaces. My bone necklace…



A beaded necklace of unknown origin and a garnet necklace. I actually made the garnet necklace for my mom, and last year she asked me to deconstruct it and make it into something else. I do this to my own stuff all the time, because I get bored. But I just cannot do it to this piece. It took too long to find the right beads, and to decide on a pattern and to actually make. And it’s such a heavy decadent piece, all semi precious stone and no filler, and the thought of taking it apart just….eh. I don’t want to. I still have some of the beads left from the order and so I can use those to make her something else.



And of course my bat skull. The seller actually sells two different bat skulls. This one is considered the “cute” one. Which is totally true, because I think it’s adorable, but also really funny because what kind of a creep calls a bat skull “cute”?*



*this kind obviously!~ It is ADORABLE.

Jacket, Forever XXI
Blouse, Wal-Mart
Pull on jeans, Forever XXI
Boots, Matisse
Bag, Banana Republic, Thrifted
Bag charm, self made
Garner necklace, Self made
Bone necklace, Love Erin Designs
Bat skull necklace, mrd74 at Etsy
Fuchsia bead necklace, unknown

Listen to Iron Maiden, Maybe, With Me.

Oh hi!~ Remember these denim leggings? I used to wear them like every other day? I still love them, but they have faded and a trip to the RIT dye bath at Tina’s house helped, but not enough. I am sad. I wear them less often now not because I no longer love them, but in an effort to prolong their little lives.



I’m finding some of my favorite Summer blouses a little hard to jacket, are you? I have tons of blouses, and they all looked great with my Stevie sweater, but that is far too thin for Fall, and I am really having to try on lots of jackets before I find the right jacket for the right blouse lately. But I am not buying all new blouses for Fall, not in Dallas. Right now it’s in the 50s in the morning and after the sun sets. Whoop-a-dee-do. Am I right? Not that big of a deal. (Dear Fall, try harder. XOXO, EJ)



I have a pair of wicked awesome Doc Martin ankle boots and I have been trying for a YEAR or so now to break them in and cannot. I think it might be a flaw in the shoes. The left shoes rubs the inside of my foot raw where the zipper hits, and the right rubs my heel. I tried them on again today and am conflicted as to what to do. They don’t seem to want to give in to being comfortable. But I’m not sure I feel right selling them to Buffalo Exchange, where they will trick some other girl into thinking she can tame them. Thoughts?



You can’t even see my feet anyway, because of all the leaves. My landlord is not big on raking them and to be honest I don’t so much care. I don’t really get leaves. I mean, you can use a blower, and then blow them into the street, where they will blow into your neighbor’s yard or even back into your own. You can bag them , in plastic bags which just does NOT make sense to me because then you have these leaves, which will be back to being dirt before you know it, but they are in plastic bags, which will be dirt….never. In SOME places I guess you can burn them, which is divine because, yay!, fire, and they smell amazing. But other than that, none of the common ways I’ve seen people deal with them makes sense. / tangent.



Jacket, Forever XXI
Blouse, Target
Pants, Target
Booties, Blowfish via Zappos
Bag, STEVE by Steve Madden
Talon Necklace, Talonalia
Turquoise necklace, self made
Earrings, deconstructed from a pair of Forever XXI earrings.

I Can't Help Drink You Up Cause You're My Happy Hour.

I know it’s slightly off topic, but my copy of Cheryl Cole’s (Girls Aloud) solos CD “3 Words” finally came last week, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I love it. I had read mixed reviews and the glowing reviews were mostly from hard core Aloud fans. But I really love it.



It’s a really solid album. Not quite R&B, not quite pop. It’s Pop & B. ha!~

Anywhoodle. I got dressed. Again.



I like this outfit a LOT, but I would (will) like it better if (when) I had my grey jacket. I ordered this same jacket in grey from Target.com about 2 weeks ago, but it’s on backordered. I cannot wait to get it. I had Pilalex get the same jacket and my hope is that we will show up in them on the same day soon. Because that always amuses me.



I still fold the waist band of this skirt over pretty much every time I wear it to shorten it several inches, but it works so well, and is so easy I am not going to bother having it tailored for now. I’ve been saying “for now” for about a year, by the way, so I’m pretty sure “by now” means “ever”.



The wearing the belt backwards for more impact was a trick that a couple of the girls at the swap showed me. I was trying to make a too-sweet for me dress work (it just really didn’t) and they had me try this. It may not have worked for that dress, but I did tuck the trick away for later use. And it looked great in pictures, and would have worked for a club, but I have to admit that I changed belts before I left. These looked good but felt restrictive when I sat down, and I sit pretty much all day, so I changed into something with elastic.



I put my little bat skull on a longer chain last night, so it is almost the same length as the bird skull. I love having a jewelry kit and the skills to make changes, because I get bored pretty fast. And because change is fun! And I can always change it back.



Jacket, One Star by Converse
Blouse, Forever XXI
Skirt, Target
Tights, Target
Belts, swap and Target
Ankle boots, Payless
Handbag, Reby C at Etsy
Necklaces, mrd74 at Etsy

Ugh, Good Morning, Sunshine.

Taking pictures in the AM is hard. I am obviously one of those people who sleeps until the last couple of minutes, throws some slap on my face, brushes (maybe) my hair and gets dressed in 15 minutes. It’s how I do. It just doesn’t go well with AM pictures. But I managed OK today.



I feel like I wore this outfit last week maybe, but I am not going to check my blog before I post. I am becoming more and more aware of how often I choose NOT to wear something because I feel like I “just wore it on the blog”. I don’t really want to censor myself that way. I want the blog to document, not dictate. I want your blogs to inspire not change. So I am going to try and wear what I want to wear, regardless of if I just wore it or not.



I don’t have a slip that works with this tunic, so I go with a black fitted tank and leggings instead. And as a result, I feel as if I could audition for a musical at any moment. Just let me know. *jazz hands*



I’m still loving this handbag, and I still check her store for updates to make sure she is still making it. She is. And if you are looking for a nice everyday type bag, I cannot recommend it enough. I would only say that if she has a waterproof leather option available when you order, go with that. I find myself not carrying this one when there is the slightest chance of rain because I love it so much. Is there a treatment you can put on bags made of uncoated leather? Like the spray they make for suede? I feel like there must be. Maybe even the same spray?



I’ve got my little bag charm on it as well. I suppose I might be a tad too old for this sort of thing, but I suppose I also don’t care.



I’m still wearing my talon and my bat skull on a pretty regular basis.



I had a friend ask me the other day where I got all my little skull jewelry and I was telling her and I said “I find them very wearable for everyday.” And then after I said it I laughed. Because really, a bat skull is not considered “everyday wear” by most people. But most people are not me.

Jacket, Forever XXI
Dress, Target
Leggings, Target
Boots, Steve Madden via Zappos
Bag, Reby C at etsy
Talon necklace, Talonalia
Bat skull necklace, mrd74 at Etsy
Bag charm, self made

Hideous

You guys, I got my first random nasty comment*.



It was the best kind too. Anonymous, of course, and short, sweet and to the point.

I have arrived, world. I'm pretty proud of it. I have to admit, I showed it to everyone in the room when I got the e-mail and I laughed so hard I cried.

*I think. It’s possible I’ve gotten one before I guess and it’s just been a while.

I Won’t Fall Out Of Love, I Won’t Fall Out Of…

Last night a company that my husband does occasional contract work for hosted an outdoor dinner and concert. I have only been to one before and when I did the typical girl thing where I asked how the girls tended to dress, Nathan told me they did not dress up. Well, last time he was wrong. There were a lot of girls dressed up. And I felt a bit out of place and underdressed in my jeans and flats. But this time I had one of those “I so do not care” moments and wore what I wanted, and it turned out the crowd was mostly casual. Go figure.



At first I was worried because it was a little chillier than the weather app on my Blackberry had indicated it would be, and my leggings were pretty thin, but in the end, once the lawn filled out with the crowd, it was fine.



I had a good time, but I stayed out a little too late for my old body (10 PM on a weeknight, scandalous!) and I am pretty tired today. No worries, I plan on a lot of after work Diet Red Bulls to get me through tonight. The plans? Crash a party. Should be fun. Have a great weekend!

Jacket, Forever XXI
Tee, American Apparel
Shorts, Old Navy
Leggings, Target
Boots Steve Madden via Zappos
Handbag, Thrifted by husband
Talon necklace, Talonalia
Skull lariat, self made

Anything That's Worth Having, Sure Enough Is Worth Fighting For

I’m having an unblogtastic week. The car accident, the time change and the crappy lighting in my house are all conspiring against me. It's dark when I leave the office now. I didn't see that coming. My indoor photos just never work out.



I can’t stand the way pictures of myself taken with a flash look because of my glasses, and I don’t want to take my glasses off. But without it, indoor pictures come out really yellow. I have a really cheap point and shoot, so there is not a lot of adjusting I can do to it as far as I know. (I own an older Rebel, but I can’t afford a lens right now.) I have come to the conclusion that I really need to just get up 20 minutes earlier during the Fall and Winter to take my photos before I go to work. But knowing that and doing that are two different things. I am one of those people that hit the snooze button as many times as I possibly can.

Anyway. I’ve been keeping busy. I’ve spent the past couple of day on the phone with the other drivers insurance, trying to get them to take responsibility. They finally agreed to yesterday afternoon, and I am picking up a rental car today at lunch and then someone is coming by the house Friday AM to assess the damage and hopefully cut us a check so we can get it repaired. It’s been unpleasant, and it’s been a hassle, but to be honest, this year has been just one disappointment after another and by now it just seems par for the course. Death to 2009, Viva 2010.

I got my hand piece remade the other night. I will not be listing these in the store when I reopen it, because it has to be fitted to each hand pretty specifically (like, I made one for my left hand, and it didn't fit my right hand!), but it is not difficult, just time consuming, and anyone can do it. All you need is a pair of pliers, some chain, and a clasp and jump ring. You can get that stuff at any craft store.





1. Make a loose ring out of chain for your middle finger.
2. Make a piece that fits around the middle of your hand
3. Make a bracelet for your wrist (make it a bit looser than normal, so that it can be pulled toward the center in a "V" shape).
4. Connect the ring and the middle piece.
5. Connect the middle piece and bracelet.

I promise it is not difficult. You may need to practice opening and closing the chain links a few times if you are new to that, but once you get than hang of it, it is just trial and error getting the lengths of each piece right. I am sure I will get better at it as I go, and right now, I can make them for people who can physically sit with me while I construct it around their hand, and some day maybe I’ll figure out the math, but for now…not so much.

I leave you with a rare glimpse of me at the office. I am big on a personalized cube, and I have been lucky enough to work at places that allow me to do that. I decorate mine with Girls Aloud posters, pictures of my husband, my BFF Alannah and my dog, cards and my Spice Girls mouse pad. That mouse pad is on its last leg, it’s been with me for years and I will be so sad to see it go, because I love it so.




(first pic)
Jacket, One Star by Converse at Target
Blouse, Target
Pants, Wal-Mart
Shoes, Target