That’s Like Hypnotizing Chickens

Lollerskates. I am clearly facing directly into the noon day sun in these pictures. I was trying so hard not to squint, I swear, but despite my best efforts you are being treated to the Squinty McGee series today.

Oh Hai thur Squinty McGee.


Suz asked what this jacket looks likes zipped up (minus a bulky hoodie as before) so this is for her. Also I might wear this jacket every day this week. Don’t put it past me. We’ll see.




A question for all the other ladies who scored these boots. I’m actually having a problem with them. The right boots seems to have something weird going on under the foot bed. Like arch support, but smack in the middle of the shoe. It’s painful, and it’s weird. I tried prying the insole out but was unable. Anyone else experience this? Do you think a shoe repair place could help or are they a lost cause? I will be SO SAD if they are a lost cause and might very well replace them. They are perfect otherwise.

*Squint squint*

It’s almost balmy outside today, it’s really nice. But fate is making up for it. The heat is broken in my office and instead of heating, it’s blowing cold air. It is downright frigid.

Jacket, Forever XXI
Dress, Ruche
Tights, hand me down from Lara
Boots, Target
Necklace, Love Erin Designs
Handbag, Lucky

She’s Got Both Hands In Her Pocket

This outfit is really similar to something I wore last week. The outfit last week got a comment from a John R. Tate I thought was…interesting. I am going to break it up into parts. John will be in quotes.

“No, just no. Hoodies make a grand light when burned together at night after few shots of Jack. Douse 'em with a few shots as well for a big poof!“

They are also very warm when it’s 30 degrees F outside. And comfy. And cozy. And super functional.

“At some point you'll reach the age when you DEFINITELY cannot revisit youth, then you'll burn the hoodies for sure.“

I doubt it. My father –in-law and mother-in-law as well as my aunt, who are all over 50, still rock the hoodie on cold days. A hoodie is not an age limited garment as far as I can tell. And if at some point I decide they are not for me anymore, as is my right as a woman, I will likely give them to friends or donate them to a charity.

“Lose the skirt as well or go all out and drape yourself with it. I can’t decide if you’re a motorcycle chick or a fem. The outfit needs a little lace and a V-neck. The hair could go as well, but the behind-the-times boyfriend or husband will likely raise a stink. Bangs and a short crop turns this third grader into a first rate hotty.”

I’m sorry…but what? I think you might be missing the whole point. I am neither a motorcycle chick OR a fem. I am me. One of the great things about the modern world (besides DVRs, iPods and eye shadow primer) is that we are not forced to choose to be one thing or another. We get to be whatever we want, wear whatever suits our mood that day. My hair is amazing as is, and I look good in that skirt.

And with that said, another skirt, hoodie and biker jacket combo…



I pretty much always have a book. Normally they fit in my bag, but I’ve got this one crammed pretty full right now. You can only see “Cheryl” but I also have “The Prophesy of the Sisters”. I just got “Cheryl “ yesterday and I’m super excited to start reading it.



You can’t really see from the pictures, but this hoodie is the same as the grey one from Old Navy and has the tuxedo shirt style ruffling on the front. I LOVE this style. I think the ruffles are so cheeky on a hoodie.



I know that bag doesn’t really match so much today, but I decided it was close enough and it’s so rare I get a chance to work it into an outfit I thought I’d just push it and carry it for one more day.



I just wanted you to see the waist on this skirt. It is odd and totally unflattering, which is why I always wear a jacket or untucked shirt with it. It’s a little roomy in the waist and yet it sits super high. It’s very strange.

Hoodie, Old Navy
Tee, Target
Jacket, old
Skirt, Target
Leggings, Target
Boots, Vintage
Bag, vintage
Earrings, Love Erin Designs
Ear muffs, stolen from husband
Gloves, Target
Books, Cheryl by Sean Smith and Prophesy of The Sisters by Michelle Zink

Every Friday Just About Midnight, All My Problems Seem to Disappear

I spent all last night helping Kelly finish her cake balls. Things we learned include:

1. You must use oil based food coloring in almond bark, or really weird things happen.

2. Milk chocolate chips do not work as a cake ball coating. They don’t melt right and they take forever to harden. (You can make a passable milk chocolate by adding semi sweet chips to almond bark though!)

3. Cake Balls are more fun to make with someone else.

We got them all done though, and then when it was time to clean up, I managed to get myself out of it by getting a puncture wound. Nathan got me some tees at the thrift store, and I was taking the staples out and…you get the picture. It hurt, but the worst part was when the blood spurted out and arced across the bathroom. I was not prepared for that. The site of your own blood shooting away from your body is always a little alarming. But I lived.



The cold weather gives me a new appreciation for Casual Fridays. I don’t like pants, but I do love jeans. And they are so warm and cozy. A nice tee shirt, a Hoodie and a pair of jeans is just about all I want right now.



Still loving the ANA jeggings. If you have a JCPenny nearby, I encourage you to go have a peek, I know some of you already have. Did you find them? Do you love them? Nathan mentioned how nice they were this morning, and I still agree. I’ve worn them a few times now and they are SO comfortable, and a nice aspect right now is that they ARE slim fit, but also lose enough to layer under if need be. I did that for ART CON and it looked great.



Yes, ladies and gentleman, that’s another bag recently Thrifted by my gorgeous and talented husband. No one has thrifting mojo like he does. It is dark brown leather, has cute side tassels and a bit of a Google tells me that brand is carried at Dillard’s and Amazon and runs around $100.00 - $250. I looked at the Dillard’s site, and there are some really great designs, and I can attest to the quality, the leather is really nice, as are the hardware and details. He does also work in PVC, so there is something for everyone.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I’ve got a Tamale party tonight I’m really looking forward to! I love to eat!~

Tee, The Black Angels concert
Hoodie, American Apparel
Jacket, Forever XXI
Jeggings, ANA at JCPenny
Boots, Matisse
Bag, Antonio Melani, Thrifted
Bone necklace, Love Erin Designs
Bat skull necklace, mrd74 at Etsy
Band-Aid, Cabo

Je Ne Parle Pas Francais

New Moon was good. It was my least favorite of the books, because every last one of the main characters acts like a jerk for an extended period of time. Also I could not stop laughing every time one of the children took their shirts off. I know it was supposed to be “hot” but it was just really ridiculous. If I were Bella, I would start carrying a spare men’s tee in my back pack.



I have no idea why it has been so long since I’ve worn this dress, it’s one of my favorites. I also love that hoodie. I got it at Old Navy a while ago and I love the tuxedo like ruffles on the front.





I’m having my first socially over-busy week in a really long time. I have something every night this week. When we were both working, it was like this all the time. But since we don’t have a lot of spare money, we go out a lot less. It’s nice. The week goes by so much faster this way. But its only Wednesday and I am SO TIRED. So old.




Jacket, really really old
Hoodie, Old Navy
Dress, Target
Leggings and socks, Target
Boots, Steve Madden
Green button necklace, hand made by Lara
Bird Necklace (Love Erin Designs)

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

For Leina

The Swap went really well, I think. More on that later. But for now, I have some pictures of the sparkle butt leggings. I decided to style them with the vintage Spice Girls tee, because Leina loves them as well.





I loved this look. A bit Glam, a bit Casual.



The tee is not really as faded out as it looks, but it is pretty faded. I cut the neck and arms to give it a bit more edge.



These leggings are so thick I was totally comfortable wearing them as pants. They do get a tiny bit baggy over the course of the night but not horribly so.





This is one of my all time favorite Spice Girls promo shots.



I’m still crazy for the Talon necklace. It just seems perfect with everything.




I added all these spike to this clutch. It took forever, FOREVER and it gave me blisters, but I love the way it came out.



You can just about get a house key, a drivers license, a credit card, a gloss and a blackberry in there. Bare minimum for me, but I can handle it.

Spice Girls Tee, Vintage
Hoodies, American Apparel
Jacket, Forever XXI
Leggings, H&M (gift)
Boots, Steve Madden via Zappos
Handbag, craft fair, embellished by me
Bone Bead Necklace, Love Erin Designs
Talon Necklace, Talonalia

Sometimes Coming Up With a Title Just Takes Too Long.

Just a quick couple of pictures today. It was so nasty outside when I was trying to take pictures that I had to wipe the fog off the lens between takes, which is why everything is so fuzzy. Plus, my husband had to be somewhere an hour after I got home, which gave me an hour to make dinner and get him fed*!~





I'm going to see The September Issue tonight, and I am super excited!

*not because the lady has to cook. It’s just in my house, I do. It’s not a gender thing. It’s a he can’t cook thing and an I hate to do dishes thing.

Gimme to the beat, all night dont roll

I had a traumatic Dr’s visit today. I’m not sick. But I had to do something I didn’t want to do. And I hate my insurance company.

Anyway, I wanted to look pretty, because looking pretty makes me feel better. So I went full-on girly.



I’m pretty stunning right? Loved this. As did my husband and co-workers.

As is typical, I was standing outside, taking pictures of myself minding my own business.



When Nathan walked out. I turned to him, mid-shot, as I almost always do.



“Come take a picture with me, baby”, I said. “No, I don’t look good”, he claimed. We went back a forth for a while, but he refused as he always does, and offered instead to operate the camera. By which he meant “take pictures of the faces you make between shots without telling you".



Thanks, babe. No, really. Thanks. Punk.





After my Dr’s visit I stopped and got some more DRY* soda.


It’s addictive. I got Lavender, Rhubarb and Lemongrass this time. If you can find it, you should try it. It’s not overly sweet and it's low in calories for a soda. I actually found a bottle of vodka in the freezer** and added a splash to the Rhubarb and it was perfection.

*Oh my gosh, last time I wrote about them they e-mailed me!~ Isn’t that awesome? So, if you are reading again, DRY PR department, Hello!~ And I love your soda!

**I had forgotten we had it, as we don’t normally keep liquor. Nathan picked it up once a few months ago for a party, as it is the polite thing to do to bring something to a party, but I was like “Dude, we are too poor to be giving people that bottle of vodka right now” and stuck it in the back of the freezer. I am not as good of a party guest when I am poor, I guess.

Dress, Old Navy
Sweater, Victoria’s Secret
Belt, Target
Tights, Target
Shoes, Payless
Necklace, Love Erin Designs

Guerilla Style

Last night I met Tina for happy hour to discuss the Dallas Swap (we have set a date! October 24th) and eat fried things and drink sangria. It was nice. I really enjoy Tina, the internet is a magical thing, kids.

At around 7:20 we realized we better call it a night if we were going to make it home for outfit shots outside, and we hustled back to our cars. I thought it was fine but as I drove I realized…maybe not, the light was fading fast and the sun was no longer on the horizen. So I parked the car, climbed the stairs to an apartment complex rooftop patio and set up my tripod, guerilla style.



It was both fun and nervous-making!



I got this dress shortly after I started the blog and I always think of it as a “blog dress”. A lot of the things I have acquired over the past couple of years are things I was influenced to shop for by fashion blogs.



I felt really good in this. I love the dress, but it has a weird blousey bit right under the boobs, and putting a jacket on and buttoning it up totally covered that bit up.



Obviously I got over my nerves. Since I clearly took a ton of photos.



So glad to be back in boots!~ Now I can shave just that bit between my boot and dress. I’m a lazy lazy girl, y’all.



I love these earrings. They ended up being a lot more versatile than I would have imagined.



Jacket and Skirt, Target
Boots, Zappos
Earrings and bone necklace, Love Erin Designs
Bracelet, Urban Outfitters
Skull necklace, self made

Where does it go from here? Is it down to the lake I fear?

I find it the most difficult to get dressed when I have no idea what I am getting dressed for. You know, the casual “let’s get together” type plans, where you might end up sitting at home or you might go dancing. More often than not, I default to denim leggings, a plain shirt and all the jewelry I can get on.



It works for me. I almost never end up feeling under or over dressed with this combination.



In this instance we ended up grabbing a quick bite and then everyone just came back to ours for drinks and conversation.



This bag is a pretty good size for going out…



I can get my Blackberry, a couple glosses, gum, keys, ID, CC and cash in there no problem. I will say that I have tiny hands and I have a hard time getting my hand in the bow the way it is advertised on the Etsy site. It can be done, but I doubt anyone with hands larger than mine could do it. I made the bag charm myself. I have always loved a bag charm. I think they are too young for me and slightly tacky. But I don’t care, and I had fun making this one, which can be transferred from bag to bag pretty easily.

These are Doc Martens and so comfy. I love them because they have a heel, but are comfortable enough to wear to places you might end up standing, like dancing or to see a band play.



Also, they remind me of a character in NANA, which is my second all time favorite Manga. (Paradise Kiss is my favorite).



Nana O wears Vivienne Westwood’s Rocking Horse shoes. They have a cut out in the back of the platform, which is a little more extreme, but they have sort of the same feeling to me because of the detailing on the Docs heel.

I finished with my signature bird necklace and my new skull necklace, which I have worn several days in a row!



And these earrings, which used to be a part of a MASSIVE, too big for even me pair at Forever XXI. I liked the parts, so I’ve made 2 pairs of earrings, one large and one small with them.




Blouse, Target,
Denim Leggings, Target
Shoes, Doc Martins
Turquoise Necklace, Love Erin Designs
Skull necklaces, self made
Earrings, Forever XXI (altered by me)
Bracelets and rings, various
Bag, hoakonhelga.etsy.com
bag charm, self made