Two Things.

This post is to show you two things.

1. I DO sometimes wear just jeans and a tee. And I like it.
2. I am not doing such a great job with the viewfinder on my hand-me-down Rebel just yet.


I’ll start with number 2. Maybe someone has some advice? The viewfinder…lies. I line up a shot…I think I’m good…I’m not. For now, I am trying to take a couple test shots and see what actually ends up in frame, but when you are shooting outdoors, it’s hard to stay in the lines, and for some reason, the lines are MUCH less forgiving than my point and shoot was. And some of these shots would have been really cute if I had been in frame!



Argh!~ Seriously. I did not get s SINGLE head to toe shot where I was all in frame. I’ll learn I’m sure.



And now for number one...this tee is actually 12 years old. Nathan got it at an outlet mall when we were dating, and for some reason he didn’t love it, but I did. And I’ve loved it ever since. It’s super soft, it doesn’t pill or fray. I love the super casual drape on it. And I love the color. And because it’s 12 years old, and a TEE SHIRT, I’m calling it vintage.



This jacket used to be a better fit. I still like it, but I don’t love it now. I’ve had it since I was a size 14. It’s one of maybe 2 things I’ve kept.

I love this necklace, and the geode was super cheap.





I wanted one for a while, but they are really popular right now and as a result, the nicer ones are overpriced. So I made my own. Necklace. Not Geode. The Geode is nature-made. :)


Blazer, vintage and thrifted
Tee, Calvin Klein, vintage
Jeans, Seven, thrifted
Boots, Neiman Marcus, thrifted and vintage
Necklace, Love Erin Designs

Chain Chain Chain

I’ve been wearing a lot of black lately. And I won’t lie and say it’s not because of my mood. It might very well be. For a while I was wearing very bright colors, and feeling…OK. But I have to admit that getting near the end of my third month of unemployment, and Nathan’s second…is discouraging. I am starting to lose my confidence.

But I digress.



This is what I wore to church Sunday. I’m not sure how many of you attend church, but the dress code has changed. When I was a child, it was “Sunday Best”, but now, really anything goes. And I’m OK with that. I’m OK with you wearing jeans and a tee shirt. But I really like getting dressed up, and for now, I’m sticking with the old dress code. I might change my tune again when I get back to a nine to five groove. Trust me.



Saturday I woke up from an afternoon nap aware that later we were going to go out and meet up with friends. And I was having one of those days where I just wanted to wear an American Apparel deep v and some jeans. I did not want to get dressed up. And I thought how can I get away with that? My Bona Drag jacket and some sort of chunky necklace? But I didn’t really HAVE a chunky necklace. So I went though the drawer I keep full of old jewelry I don’t really wear anymore and found a couple of Target base metal necklaces and went to work. It took a couple hours, but I deconstructed the necklaces and made myself a chunky multi chain necklace.



My favorite part is the little tassel I added down the back…


I felt like it was a really nice touch.

Jacket, Bona Drag
Dress, Jovovich Hawke for Target
Leggings, Target
Boots, Matisse
Earrings, Wal-Mart
Necklace, Love Erin Designs

Queen for a Day

We went to a benefit show for the Dallas Soupmobile last night. The band was a Queen cover band called “Queen for a Day” and they were really fun. We danced and sang and had a great time.

Here is a photo of my gorgeous husband, showing off his superior “sprinkler” skills and fabulous bright pink Club Monaco sweater:



Seriously, SKILLS.

I loved this outfit. It was comfortable and I felt really stylish in it.



That Bona Drag jacket is one of the smartest purchases I’ve ever made. It goes with anything, it’s really well made, super thick leather, and I get tons of compliments on it. People ask where I got it all the time, so I really hope that Bona Drag has sold a few for me.



I haven’t worn this skirt before but it was really comfortable and a really close approximation of an American Apparel skirt that I wanted but was too expensive.

The blouse pattern for inquiring minds…


I wore the same necklace set I wore the other day, and I felt like it looked really nice with the blouse. I didn’t take a picture but you can see the earrings and necklaces pretty well in this shot of me and Erin H from Haute Hardware. (Erin H is also wearing a necklace from her own line)



And I also wore my Target snake bracelet, which I think looks like it came from somewhere much nicer than Target!


Jacket, Bona Drag
Handbag, Thrifted and Vintage
Blouse, Target
Skirt, Target
Leggings, Target
Leather Obi Belt, Fosuism Boutique at Etsy
Boots, Arturo Chang
Earrings and Bird necklace, Love Erin Designs at Etsy.com
Multi chain necklace Haute Hardware at Etsy.com
Bracelet, Target

Love Erin Designs

P.S. kids, I've got some new stuff up in the store, and some of the necklaces are available in your choice of gold filled or silver AND you can customize the length.

What's In My Bag?

I do have one more set of outfit pics I could blog about today, but I think I’d rather deviate from my normal posts and have a little fun.

One of my favorite internet “games” is “What’s in Your Bag?”. So today, I’m going to do a “What’s in My Bag post”.

I have more handbags than I care to count. I thought about maybe unshelving them all for a group picture, but I don’t have all day. OK, maybe it wouldn’t take all day, but it would take a WHILE. I just love handbags.

I often get asked how it is that I have time to change bags on an almost daily basis. The answer is bags. I keep my bag organized by keeping almost everything in it in smaller bags. I even have a special box on the handbag shelves full of these small bags and I change them out too!~

So let’s start with my bag:


It’s a sort of elephant color leather bag from the GAP, and it comes with a story. When I first saw this bag…I adored it. I would check the GAP site almost everyday, just to look at it. I viewed it as art. And I loved it. But it was $150. And I didn’t HAVE $150 at the time for a bag. So I didn’t order it. I did visit it at the GAP store though, seriously. I’d go in and pick it up. Smell it. Feel the leather. And then put it back.

And then in December I went to sell some clothes at Buffalo Exchange. And they had one. And it was $30. I made $20 off the things I sold. So I bought it. FOR 10 DOLLARS! I was so excited. But the story doesn’t end there. I spent the next couple days telling EVERYONE about the deal I got on this bag, this bag that I had LOVED. And when I told my old friend Summer, she said that she wanted the bag to be FREE, so she offered me $10. AND I TOOK IT.



So here is a view of the bags in the handbag



And here they are, all labled for you


When I have to downsize, I ditch the snack bag, and use a smaller cosmetics bag. For evening bags and clutches I just pull what I need out of each bag and replace it when I return.

The snack bag is a great bag to have.


The Granola is you know, in case I get hungry. As are the fruit snacks. Everything else is just for fun really. I really only chew Five gum at this point (“New Five Gum, it warms as you chew”) and I have been ADICTTED to those Peach Tea mints ever since Dan introduced me to them. People either LOVE them or HATE them and I have never seen anyone react in between. The Cacao nubs are dark chocolate cacao nubs that Nathan got me as a “just because” gift the other day and they are SO GOOD. Also, I love anything in a tiny tin.

Here is what's in that Tokidoki cosmetic pouch.
I love lip products.


Those L’Oreal HIP Jelly Balms and the Cover Girl Lipstains are my FAVORITES. The lipstains are bright pink, plum, and red. The red one? Is serious business. Honestly. It does not play around. I like to use the Sonia Kashuk balm over that. They are the only two red lip colors I have ever owned that I felt good in at ALL. And the Pink and Plum stains coordinate with the HIP Jelly Balms like they were made for each other. The stains work just as well if not better than any high end stain I’ve ever tried and the Jelly Balms are heaven. So soft, enough color to use alone, and yet sheer enough you can just slap them on without a mirror. Love them.

Anyway. So that’s what’s in my bag today. I know some of you that have known me for a while are shocked at the lack of manga and a book... since I’ve been unemployed I have had less need of them on a day to day away from home basis, but just so you know, I have a novel called “Skinned”, Nana volume 14 and the Buffy Omnibus volume 2 on my bedside right now, so I’m still a book nerd. Rest assured.

Uniform

So this is basically my uniform. Some form of tee shirt by American Apparel, Alternative Apparel or Target, jeans, and boots or loafers.





I try and keep it from being boring by adding interesting jewelry and a great bag.

I really like the way these two necklaces fit together. The bird is by Love Erin Designs (should have a couple in the store very soon!) and the multi-chain is by Haute Hardware.



The bird is an almost every day wear for me, and I love that the Haute Hardware piece has both gold and silver chains in it, I can wear it with anything!



Erin over at Haute Hardware made the bag for me. I love it. I was crazy for the tapestry version of the Gucci Hysteria bag and this is a great tribute. I still have to add buttons to the handles, and I picked those up today. I am going to go with a cluster versus the one BIG button on the original bag.



The fabric is upholstery fabric I picked up at JoAnnes. I had to order it. And then Erin drew the pattern for the bags and whipped them up. I really love it.

So that’s my basic day to day right now. It’s not super exciting. But I’m jazzing it up the best I can. I’d love to just wear some of my great dresses, but my dog, who I AODRE, sheds, like nothing I’ve ever seen, and he would ruin them with cuddles. So I don’t!

Tee, Target
Jeans, Steve and Barrys
Boots, GAP kids
Bag, handmade by Erin Hanrahan
Bird necklace, Love Erin Designs @ etsy.com
Multi chain necklace, Haute Hardware @ etsy.com

Happy New Year

We went to a really great house party this New Years. It was a ton of fun. The hosts had everyone tell them their favorite song of 08 for a playlist, which meant that everyone got to hear at least one of their favorite songs. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I am not the only grown up who still loves pop music. The playlist was totally danceable and everyone danced all night long. I only knew a couple of people before we got there but everyone was so friendly and open and I had a fabulous time.

I went with a plain black strapless dress from Forever XXI that I got for a Mardi Gras party last year. I actually wore it a lot this summer with some Jeffery Campbell ankle wrap sandals and a grey tank. I wore it like that so often I almost forgot it worked as a cocktail dress!~

I went for simple, with the focus on my jewelry:








I felt really good. I admit I spent all night tugging the dress up, as is pretty much always the case with a strapless dress, and my shoes were killing me…but I felt pretty. I felt good. And I had fun. It was wonderful.

Down

Hey there.

I’ve missed you. I’ve missed blogging. I’ve missed reading your blogs. And OH how I’ve missed getting dressed.

It’s been a rough time for me. As you know, I got laid off in November. My husband got laid off in December. It was, it IS rough. Since we don’t work, we stay home. And since we are both unemployed, there is not a lot of money for going out. The reasons to get dressed just get further and farther apart. So I don’t. I mean, I am DRESSED, I’m just in the same jeans and various American Apparel tees basically every day. I got lots of new dresses for Christmas, and I would just really like a job, so I have somewhere to wear them.

Lately, Nathan has been doing some consulting work from home, which means that I have not really had an access to the laptop. But today he’s gone into the office he’s been consulting for, so I thought I’d grab this opportunity to say hello, and maybe get up an outfit post, edit some photos…ect.

On the bright side, I’ve done some new things for the store that I am really proud of, like the necklace of pink and green Tourmaline. It’s unfinished in the photo, I’ve since added gold crimp bead covers to hide those crimp beads. It’s very delicate and not really like anything I’ve done before.




I am hoping to get the new items photographed and uploaded to the store in the next few days.

I’ve also been keeping up with my 365 blog. I don’t POST every day but I do still get a picture every day. Lately they have felt really boring and uninspired, but I feel like I’d rather keep going, even uninspired, than quit. Inspiration will hit again. And every once in a while, I do still get one I like, like these…






Last week, I colored my hair. Red.


I’m down. But I’m not out. It’s a slump, but I’m not going to quit.