I See In Different Lights

I got this romper at Buffalo the other day (via Trade, of course!) and since I was meeting the girls (Katie, Tina, Julie and Elissa)after work, I knew I had to bring it in and show it to Elissa. Because Elissa loves me, but she hates rompers, and I love to tease her about it. She thought it was super cute, when she thought it was a dress. When she discovered it was a romper she rolled her eyes at me and gave up on trying to talk sense into me. I'm not easy to talk sense into.



I wore it three days in a row. No lie. Friday, Saturday and then to work on Sunday. I suppose I'll have it dry cleaned now, but there's a dry cleaner next to work, so it's not even really a bother. And three days wallowing about in silk and nothing else is worth a little dry cleaning bill if you ask me.



Elissa, you can borrow it whenever you want. <3



Silk romper, Eliot via Buffalo Exchange
Cardigan, American Apparel
Shoes, Collin Stuart for Victoria's Secret
Leather bag, Thrifted by Nathan
Ring and cuff, Moon Raven Designs at Etsy.
Sunglasses Forever XXI about 3 years ago. Maybe 4...

But trust me on the sunscreen…

I've love the sunshine, but the sunshine doesn't always love me. When I was younger, I did not really understand how important sunscreen was and I got a couple of really bad sunburns. I'm much more aware now, I never burn anymore. It's just a matter of remembering to reapply and being in charge of your own skin. In the words of the great Baz Luhrmann...

"If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists..."

Seriously. WEAR SUNSCREEN.

My t-shirt agrees, although it has a less serious way of saying it...







Tee, Nathan's
Shorts, Thrifted
Shoes, Worishofer
Bag, Buffalo Exchange

Don't You Call Anybody Else Baby

This outfit was perfect for me.



I loved all the patterns and how they echoed each other. Swirls and swirls of blues and blacks and purples and greys.



When Nathan brought home this blazer from the thrift store I really never envisioned it with something so casual, but I love it.



When I wear a jacket at work, I have to be really careful about when and where I take it off on the floor. Because we are a second hand store, our clothes can be any brand or style. More than once my jacket has ended up in the bin where we place the items that have lost price tags in transit from the buy counter to the rack. I can always dig it out, but one of these days, if I'm not careful, it will end up priced and on the floor and maybe even sold before I notice! When I wore this jacket, I was so concerned I put hold a hold ticket on it that said "Erin's, please do not run*!" Ha! Did the trick though.



I've been so busy lately! Is it just me or has Spring got everyone going a million miles a minute? I have had so much to do. I'm all turned around about what day it is too! I check about a million times a day but always manage to forget and have to check again. I'm tired but I'm a good kind of tired.



*run = price, tag and place on the floor for sale.

Jacket, Nanette Lepore
Tank, Urban Outfitters
Jeans, Target
Boots, Buffalo Exchange
Bag, vintage Coach via Buffalo Exchange
Bangles, Buffalo Exchange
Gold Hummingbird Skull necklace, Moon Raven Designs at Etsy

Rules are For Fools, And Fool's Paradise is Hard to Find

Shortly before the TxSCC, Jentine challenged herself to thrift me a sequined top. I hear she tiptoed dangerously close to the deadline, but she totally came through!



And I, of course wore it to work. With cutoffs. Because I'm classy. In fact I was working at the buy counter that day and I had a wonderful seller come in with some fun sequins and lace and even a Betsy Johnson dress (new! with tags!) and she talked about how she loved all her sequins and lace and fun things, but where could she wear them? And I just pointed at my top. "The grocery store" I said. And she laughed, but I think I may have planted a seed. Sure there are "appropriate" times and places to wear your fancy duds...but who wants to wait?



I can't wait to style it up different ways as well. Skinny jeans, a body con black skirt, who knows? Black sequins are my new neutral.



I also wore dark blue boots with it. Because they were new to me and I wanted to and rules are for fools. I have been trying on every single pair of these little fringe boots that have come in since I started working at Buffalo Exchange and these fit really well.



Nathan said he noticed them all over Austin and the thing was to wear them with cutoff shorts and super ripped up pattern tights. Have you seen this trend? Austin ladies? Was it a SXSW thing? I mean, I'll try anything once, but that sounds strange...

I wore my geode slice earrings...



And this beautiful new pyrite and sterling silver ring I got from My Own Little Universe.* I love Katie. She's so talented and she is also beautiful, and smart and really genuine. I love love love knowing a little bit about the artists I buy my jewelry from!



(I got al little carried away with the editing trying to obscure my dry winter hands! Sorry about that kids...)



I love pyrite. And I love the color contrast of the pyrite against the darkened silver. She has another similar ring in the shop right now, so if you love it, hop on over and grab one for yourself!

Blouse, gift from My Edit (blog)
Shorts, Wal-Mart
Tights, Target
Boots, Buffalo Exchange
Earrings, self made
Ring, My Own Little Universe
Watch, Swatch

* I purchased this ring on my own, it was not a gift, and I was not compensated to promote MOLU. I just like Katie's work.

Mannequin, Yeah, I Did It Again and Again

The level of ridiculous I can get away with in my everyday life has skyrocketed. Because I can wear whatever I want...I wear whatever I want. This skirt was picked up at the swap by Elissa, but she decided to pass it on to me. It is much sparkly-er in real life than it comes across online.



When she handed it to me I wasn't sure what to wear it with, but my motto is "when in doubt, wear a band tee" and that pretty much always works out for me.





My other motto is something about washing my hair almost never.



So...I dressed my first mannequins at work the other day. I choose "floral" from the options Stephanie had put together and here is what I did...



Stephanie tweaked a couple things, but overall my original concept was kept in tact. Not bad for a first try! I'm pretty proud of them!

Keep On Dancin' Till The World Ends

Just a couple days ago, Elissa talked about her feeling on the romper trend (not good) and Vanessa recently wrote about the rules of flattery and how some days, we just don't care. Today, I'm not only wearing a romper, but I suspect it's not the most flattering thing I've ever worn and I DO NOT CARE.



It's fun, and I got a lot of compliments on it! Plus it defines my waist and showcases my legs.



I felt fun and flirty and it showed. Sometimes the actual fit of a garment doesn't matter as much as how it makes you feel. For every fashion and fit rule, there is an exception. The trick is knowing when you have found one, and for me this romper is absolutely a rule breaker.



Besides being amazingly fun to wear, it holds special meaning to me. I bought it from Jessie the day we met. It's from her shop, The Spice Rack, and when I look at it, it brings back memories of meeting her and getting to know her. I love that I got a chance to support her at the pop up shop Saturday night of TxSCC, but more than that, I love that I made a new friend.



But let's be honest, I'd have bought this from anyone. Ha! My favorite thing? The shorts are long enough for me. I don't love short shorts on me unless I can wear tights with them, and that's not going to fly in the summer. But these are short enough to still be cute, but long enough I feel covered.

I'm also wearing these amazing boots from Buffalo Exchange.



I was on one of my first shadowing training sessions at the buy counter when they came in and I thought they were amazing. But they were a size 8, and I'm a size 6. The next day I decided to try them on anyway and by some strange twist of fate...they fit. I was so excited I bought them (I had a gift card from Elissa for my birthday, so technically, SHE bought them!) that night and I have worn them several times a week since then.

AND, speaking of new friends and great shops, pop over to Clyde's Rebirth and vote for your favorite blogger in her harness contest. Everyone looks amazing so it's not an easy choice!

My take?



Romper, The Spice Rack
Belt, Thrifted by Nathan
Boots, Buffalo Exchange
Bag, Vintage Coach via Buffalo Exchange
Earrings, Ebay
Bag charms, various, Kid Robot

The Tattoo Ink Never Runs Dry

Did you guys watch Portlandia? I didn't think the promos looked very funny to be honest but we had free IFC* long enough to catch the entire run and it was super funny. It basically makes fun of everyone I know, including myself.




Anyways! I had my first day at Buffalo Exchange yesterday and it went really well. I think the transition of going from both working in an office with a dress code and the restrictions of 30x30 to being able to literally wear anything I want at any time, is sort of overwhelming. So even though I felt like my outfit was super-crazy-I-can't-believe-I-can-wear-shorts-happy-fun-time it was still one of the most conservative outfits on the floor.



I still love it though!



I've had those shorts for a while now but never wore them. They just didn't look right with anything I tried but that's because they need to be worn with something either fitted (no thanks) or tucked in, and I never tucked anything in. Something I learned during the 30x30 is that I CAN and SHOULD tuck blouses in sometimes. I had it in my head it's unflattering on me but...

A. Who cares? and
B. It's not.



As a little "Congratulations on your new job" gift Nathan went to The Shining boutique again, and he got me a new Moon Raven Designs piece (how cool is it that they carry one of my my favorite jewelry designers?).



This piece is both a ring and a pendant and it is cast from a lizard skull and yes, it makes me cooler than everyone else as long as I am wearing it. (Just kidding. Kind of.)



I love it as a ring most but I also love that I can still wear it as a pendant, because it's more everyday versatile that way!

*Dish Network gives us a few free channels every month, I know it's meant to entice us into upgrading our package, but it doesn't. We like free stuff too much. It's more fun the way it is.

Cardigan, AA
Tank, Target
Sports Bra, Forever XXI
Shorts, Forever XXI
Tights, Target
Boots, Docs, thrifted by Nathan
Necklace/ring, Moon Raven Designs via The Shining

Interview Interlude

I interrupt this edition of 30x30 to bring you my interview outfit. I did not wear 30x30 items to my interview the other day. One of the skills that is required for the job I was applying for is a sense of style and a working knowledge of fashion and trends, so I needed to really let my personal style shine.



I went with a thrifted red leather pencil skirt, black tights and boots and a satiny top. I'm not sure the detail come through in the shots, but the pattern on that top is actually a print of sequins. I thought it was so clever (and so did Elissa, she got the same one!)



I also went with almost all DIY jewelry because I think the jewlery I make for myself really showcases my personal style.



I felt stylish, confident, classy and just sexy enough to be appropriate.



For my second interview I went with this:





I'm a big fan of a mixing casual with dressy so this combination of a band tee and blazer worked really well.



AND...I got a job offer, which I totally accepted. I start Wednesday. I'll be working as an entry level buyer at Buffalo Exchange, a clothing and accessories store where you can buy, sell and trade. Basically it recycles within the community. It's a concept I really believe in and I've been a longtime seller and shopper and am really excited to be starting as a buyer. I'll be getting paid to be around clothes and people all day and stay up to date on fashion trends, which as you may have noticed, I really enjoy doing.


Outfit #1
Blouse, Forever XXI
Skirt, thrifted
Tights, We Love Colors
Boots, Docs
Necklace, DIY
cuff, Target
Bag, LUSH

Outfit #2
Blazer, Forever XXI
Tee, Hot Topic
Skirt, Forever XXI
Tights, We Love Colors
Boots, Docs
Earrings Forever XXI

Day 21 (29 + 10 + 20)

+ + =



I have had a great day. And just to be fair, this is not what I was wearing. This is what I was wearing yesterday, but my day has been so great, I want to talk about today, today!



I met Elissa for breakfast and shopping. And had a wonderful morning with her. Relaxing and fun and happy. And then I came home and prepped for an interview this afternoon, which, as fair as I can tell? Went really really well. Dream job stuff. So. I feel good. I feel happy. And I hope you had a great day, too.



OK, fess up. Who did I see do this? It was chunkier copper pipes. Not these smaller gold ones, but it was the same concept. And I filed it away in my memory, and when we were in Home Depot this weekend and I saw these, I just had to copy you. So speak up and take credit! And thank you for the inspiration!



Jacket, thrifted by Nathan
Dress, Target
Tights, We Love Colors
Necklace, self made
Boots, Docs

Day 12 (4 + 12 + 22)

+ + =



Happy Saturday! We started out ours with brunch with friends. Then we hit Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart fills Nathan with discontent as soon as his feet hit the pavement of the parking lot so we got out of there as fast as we could and stopped at the record store on the way home to cheer him back up. Now he's out in the living room with his guitar and his borrowed bass and his microphone and computer writing music. I won't know what kind until he plays it for me. It might be pop, or drone or metal. There is no telling. He's prolific and mysterious. I love him.





I totally failed to guess today's gift...



I'll give you a hint though...


Can you guess?












Seriously, that was an amazing hint. I just wasn't pop culture savvy enough to get it.

Sweater and Dress, Target
Tights, We Love Colors
Boots, Sperry Topsider (giveaway)
Bag, Vintage, thrifted