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

Swaptastic Tunic

This outfit is my favorite from the swap.


(I normally crop, but the dog looked so sweet, I didn’t)

That tunic is amazing. It’s a silk cotton blend and I just love it. It had a tiny button and a little thread loop button closure, but it was never going to close over my boobs, so I cut them out.



That little jacket is not something I ever would have picked out at a store but I tried it on on a whim and loved it. A black tank and black leggings with my black riding boots completed the look. I knew as soon as I saw Connie try it on how I would wear it. I could not believe my luck when she put it back!



I didn’t get any jewelry shots. Last night was not a great night. On the way home I was sitting at a stop sign when someone turned left, into my car, head on. I know that doesn’t make sense, and that she should have turned around my car into the other lane, but she didn’t. Anyway. I was wearing my bat skull, my bird skull and an awesome hand piece I made from chain that was sort of like the piece I made for Halloween but toned down. And it broke in the accident. Bummer. I’ll make a new one tonight hopefully. I loved it.

Tunic, swap
tank and leggings
Boots, Steve Madden via Zappos
Bat skull necklace, mrd74 at Etsy
Bird skull necklace, mrd74 at Etsy

Budget Halloween

Normally I’m kind of a big spender at Halloween. I love dressing up and I love making costumes. This year I had very little money to work with, and to be honest, my spirits are kind of low as well, so my creative juices are running low. But despite all that, I ended up with a pretty awesome costume.

I’ve been reading a lot of Melissa Marr fairy books*, and as such, that was in the forefront of my mind. That said, I went to the Halloween super store one evening with no real plan in mind. I just knew that NOT dressing up is LAME and I wanted to spend very little.

These wings were so pretty, and only $11.00. So I took them home and figured I’d go from there.



I added:
1. A formal dress I have passed over for re-wearing at least a dozen times now. It had a buble hem and I just didn’t care for it anymore. So I hacked off the end, which worked really well as there were three layers of fabric, all different textures under there which looked really nice.

2. A petticoat from last year 50’s day costume, I took about 2 tiers off, by ripping them

3. A sweater I used to love, but that had holes and had seen better days. I cut off the bottom, and made all the edges raw. I added slits in the back to insert the straps on the wings into so that they were not visible, since I felt that look kind of weird.

4. Black tights

5. Ankle boots

6. A ton of bird/bat skull jewelry and such that I already owned.



I managed the wings OK both night I wore them. They got caught in doorways and I had to fold myself into the car pretty carefully but it was not so bad overall.

The necklaces included this awesome bat skull but the same maker as my tiny bird skulls...




It’s little jaw is hinged and moveable.



As a finishing touch, I made this awesome hand piece to wear a fourth skull I just couldn’t make work with the three already around my neck.





*I’m not normally a fairy person. At all. But MM makes them dark and urban and real.

Almost like PJs

I really liked this outfit. It was comfortable and cute and I will wear it again. It almost felt like pajamas and slippers!



That moto jacket has to be my favorite so far. It’s very plush and soft and warm. The Forever XXI ones are nice as far as looks and style but they don’t offer the warmth or comfort this one does.



And it has been a while since I gave you a close up of my talon…



I feel almost silly for pimping something so hard that I didn’t make, but I’ve just really fallen for it. And it was so affordable. I am saving up to buy the sparrow claw as well.



I had a look yesterday and you can get this in necklace form from the seller. If you have someone to split the earrings with and you have chain and a clasp available, it’s cheaper to do that, but the necklace version is certainly affordable as well, and it’s very high quality.



Dress, American Apparel
Jacket, Converse One Star for Target
Leggings, Target
Boots, Vintage
Talon necklace, Talonalia
Bird skull necklace, cast skull by mrd74 at Etsy, restrung from earrings by me