Merry Christmas Eve

For me, this outfit says Christmas. Sneaking away to take pictures of yourself in the extra bedroom, finding old clothes you didn't know you had from high school and and wearing them, etc.

Shirt: Anthropologie, $20
Sweater Vest: Gap, High school years
Shearling Vest: Old Navy, High school years
Leggings: Victoria's Secret (most comfortable leggings): $14
Boots: Bronx via Finders Keeper's, $40

It's cool that stuff from high school fits me, although very short-waisted. I can't remember if everything was cropped or if I somehow got taller.  If the posts are sporadic, I apologize. I am trying to squeeze seeing as many people as I know as possible.

Almost Christmas

This is what I wore this weekend to do more Christmas shopping and gift-wrapping. My favorite part of Christmas shopping is not the buying of the gifts themselves but the trip to Paper Source to buy all the stuff to wrap them in. It's become more than a hobby. I would do it as a full-time career.

TOP
Sweater Coat: Second Life Upscale Resale, $6
Jeggings and Scarf: Target: $20 and $13

BOTTOM
Dress: Audrey 3+1 via Cherry Bomb, $36

BOTH
Boots: Biviel, $40

Two for One

As much as I love to shop, and I do love to shop, I have never been that into two-for-one sales. I just want items to be cheap so that I can leave with armfuls of jewels and clothing, each thing unique and different. Although, I take it back, I do get sucked into two-for-one sales at Old Navy.

 

Anyways, today, you get two pics, one post. Because the pictures are kind of low quality.

Just pretend it's Instagram.

Just focus on the colors.

TOP
Sweater: Old Navy: $14
Denim Shirt: Target, $14
Skirt, Rag-o-Rama, $8
Shoes: Anthropologie, $40


BOTTOM
Blouse: Second Life Upscale Resale (new FAVORITE store), $6
Pants: Anthropologie, gift via my Mom
Shoes: Desu Couture, $20
Necklace: Vera Wang for Kohl's, $3

Regrets

I woke up today thinking, today's the day for really chunky platforms. I knew I was only working a half-day and then going to a doctor's appointment. I needed to get a CT scan done, which I didn't think was going to be a very big deal. If I had known what a very big deal it was going to be, I would have dressed in a track suit.

Sweater: Old Navy, $14
Dress (as skirt): Rachel Pally via Desu Couture: $25
Boots: MIA, $58

So when I arrived at my appointment, I waited the standard hour they use to make sure you don't feel too self-important. While waiting, they played the Food Network, just to take you down another peg after not being able to eat before your exam. Then when I finally got back there, they started tying my arm up for the IV I didn't know I was getting. She put it in and said "take a look!" I am still kind of confused as to why the nurse did this. But I looked and then I mumbled lots of things and woke up to nurses in my face. They had to put me on a stretcher and I was EXTREMELY confused, except for one fact. My shoes were too heavy. I kept asking if someone could take them off. When you first wake up from passing out, usually your limbs are pretty heavy, and then they also hooked me up to fluid, which makes your limbs even heavier. The shoes basically became concrete rocks on my feet. When they got me back up, they had me hang my feet over the edge of the bed, and the weight of them almost took me down entirely. I asked about them again, but they insisted I had to wear my shoes in the hallway to the trip to the scanning room. Rules are rules, I guess.

Even Kinsey Loves This Skirt

This skirt was so awesome Kinsey decided to gaze longingly at it for my photo. It wasn't because she was starving, waiting to eat breakfast, while I was taking an outfit photo.

Have I shared with you that Kinsey is a major creeper?

Shirt: Target, $14
Necklace and Skirt: Lucky Exchange, $7 and $16
Jacket: Thrifted, $7
Boots: Biviel, $40


I don't know what I would do most days if I didn't have Kinsey to save me from myself. Her need for walks and food help me to forget about other petty concerns about who said what and did what and why it bothered me so much. By the time I have gone outside with Kinsey and she has incited a mini dog riot at the park by getting the other dogs so riled up they just start barking into space (she has this special way she jumps and postures that really makes dogs go off the chain), I forget things. Things that don't matter nearly as much as when Kinsey eats. Which, if you ask Kinsey, is the only thing that matters. I basically agree. I mean, about my own eating. It's a big deal.

My Perfect Job

When people ask me what I would do if I never had to think about money (besides work at Entertainment 720 with Jean Ralphio and Tom) I would open a store that sells pastries and other baked goods, clothing (new and vintage), and puppies. I found a new thrift store in Atlanta that does two of three, called Second Life Upscale Resale. The thrift store they run sells clothing and home goods in order to raise money to foster and adopt out puppies and kittens (and also dogs and cats)! They have amazing finds, and I like that they do the classic thrift store thing where all sweaters, shirts, skirts, formal dresses, etc. are the same price. So, when you find something awesome, it is extra awesome compared to all the like-priced items. This is where I found this coat, which I was able to buy successfully without offering myself up as a full-time volunteer who would work there for free. Although I really wanted to. Truth be told, I could never have an actual non-profit that deals w/ animals, especially puppies, because I would a) take all of them or b) never let anyone else take them.

Sweater Coat: $5
Shirt: Anthropologie, $20
Leggings: Target, $5
Shoes: Biviel, $40

Birthday Thursday

It was my birthday this Thursday. I turned 28. Mentally, I still feel "early 20s." John and I went out to dinner at Cakes and Ale, probably one of, if not my favorite, restaurants in Atlanta. We had oysters, spicy chicken ravioli, and I had steak with baby sweet potatoes, greens, and balsamic vinegar. We had brioche donuts with squash ice cream and pumpkin brittle for dessert. That was what really took the meal from plate cleaning to having to physically restrain ourselves from picking up the bowls and plates and licking them in the middle of the restaurant. It might have been worth it.

I didn't wear this out to dinner but on my actual birthday. My Mom got me this sweater, and yes, she's pretty good at picking out clothes. Obviously, since 28 years ago this week, she gave birth to me.

Sweather: Anthropologie, gift via my Mom
Jeggings and Necklace: Target, $20 and $10
Boots: We Who See via Rag-o-Rama, $14
Jacket: Charlotte Russe via Plato's Closet, $6

Classy

I feel like this is a classy outfit. Today was not a classy day, though. Here are a few examples:

1. My co-workers celebrated my birthday early. They brought a wonderful gift and cupcakes into my office around 9:30 a.m. They kind of giggled and were like "want to eat some cake now?" I immediately opened the box of cupcakes and started picking out the one I wanted and eating it and getting icing and cake all over my desk.  Everyone else was like, um, I guess we can split cupcakes? And then I got a sugar headache.

2. I waited too long to eat lunch and got starved right before we had to go look at some office space. I felt like I needed to bring my sandwich along and was holding it in my right hand but then someone was actually there I needed to meet and I needed to switch my sandwich to the other hand--a pretty visible operation--to shake hands. They knew they were shaking my sandwich-holding hand.

I guess that sometimes even the best-planned outfit can't trump worst-planned behavior.

Sweater: Anthropologie, $20
Skirt: Isaac Mizrahi for Target via Last Chance Thrift Store, $5
Boots: Target, $20
Necklace: Plato's Closet, $6 

I also managed to also develop an extreme case of hiccups, wherein my hiccups sounded a lot more like burps than hiccups, during not one, but two meetings, one with an important professor with whom I am trying to develop a partnership for my organization. All in all, it could have been worse. Although, it could have been a lot better. 

Middle Schooler

John has told me not once, but twice this week that I look like a middle schooler. It's only because I am wearing black jeans, and it is a well-known fact that I loved myself some black jeans in middle school. Only back then, I wore them with a black mockneck and a big necklace made out clay that I baked myself.

I made sure my necklace was still big, as an homage.

Jean Shirt and Sweater: Target, $13 and $8
Jeans: BCBG via Loehmann's, $12
Boots: We Who See via Rag-o-Rama, $15
Necklace: Anthropologie, $18

Let me make a plug for this necklace: The Collector's Necklace from Anthropologie. It is my grown-up version of Beanie Babies. It is a strand that comes with charms that are easy to take on and off without need for jewelry pliers (they either clip on or have a big ring that slides over the clasp of the chain). Right now I have the horn and the agate, but of course, I need way more charms. If you're my real friend, you'll give me charms for Christmas.

Cornucopia

I have been away for far too long, due to an unforeseen monsoon at work, being too full to blog during the Thanksgiving holiday, and getting sucked into some pretty extreme holiday gift guide reading to find the penultimate gifts. I was gutted to find that teaspoons made out of glitter lucite (see here) were already out of stock. Perfect, beautiful, unnecessary items are my favorite things to give.

Anyways, I saved a few outfit photos from the break. I went to Spring Lake, Michigan for Thanksgiving. It is lovely, and not just called "Spring Lake," but really on a lake,  and near another little downtown of shopping and a pier in Grand Haven. I took these photos in the guest bedroom of my fiance's parents' house. Sketchy of me, I know.

Tank and Scarf: Target, $20 and $13
Sweater and Cargo Khakis: Anthopologie, Gifts
Boots: Bronx via Finder's Keepers, $40
 

This is how my dog cocks her head when she is confused or very excited about a treat. As you can see, it also makes humans look silly.

Dress: Tulle via Sole, $27 (w/ Scoutmob)
Top: LA Made via Ross, $5
Necklace: Target, $10

I also took a photo on Thanksgiving. If it looks wide, it's because it was after I ate.

I wore leggings very much on purpose. Strategic move.

Sweater: Anthropologie, $40
Leggings: Target, $5
Belt: Last Chance Thrift Store, $3
Watch: Fossil via Von Maur, $40
Bracelets: Linea Pelle for Target, $12

It's not so bad, though, check out my fiance. Can you find the fat roll?

Just looking at this picture makes me feel bloated and terrible.

The best part of Thanksgiving was waiting until John was sick from overeating, sick at the mention of food, and then taking a dried sausage and stuffing it into his face as soon as he was almost asleep. I was fairly worried he would throw up when I saw the look on his face when real food actually got that close to him. His sister went back for round two of sausage wars, and he was too tired to fight and just took a couple bites of the sausage and then went into deep convulsions and severe food trauma.

John's aunt's cats also worked their way onto the camera by being the cutest cats in the world. I like how the bigger cat totally engulfs cuddles the littler cat.

I can haz your wallet and all your monnays?

The brown cat is a grown up, yet it looks like a kitten compared to the orange cat.

Hope you had a good holiday. Posting will get regular again, I promise!

Pretty Serious Case of Mondays

Thank God Monday is when Gossip Girl happens. It's a good distraction. I looked up some tutorials the other day on "how to dress like Blair Waldorf." I'll keep working on that. Anyways, looking at these pictures from Sunday, I want to go back. To Sunday. When it was the weekend. I was able to write compound sentences then. Today I can't.

I just realized these pants have some fairly concerning crotch issues.

Unfortunately all these accessories did not distract thoroughly from the crotch fold.

 

 

Isn't this smile half-assed?

Denim Shirt: Target, $14
Red Skirt: Last Chance Thrift Store, $3
Shoes: Plato's Closet, $3
Weak Smile: Cost of being overworked already and it only being Monday

Groundhog Day

I wish I could wake up tomorrow and have it be Sunday all over again. Last night I saw Take Shelter. It's incredible. It also includes my new natural phenomenon obsession, murmurations of sparrows.It also takes place in Kentucky and references Ohio. They got all the slice of life details right too.

I feel lucky in the Atlanta winter because you can wear ridiculous "winter" things like sweater shorts that you can't wear in Ohio winter.

Sweater: Lucy, $20
Floral Tee: Rodarte for Target via Last Chance Thrift Store, $3
Necklace: Erica Weiner via Young Blood, $28
Sweater Shorts: Bill Hallman, $20
Boots: Bronx via Finder's Keepers, $40 

Shabby Chic

This is what I would wear to my job to clean houses, if I didn't really have to clean or bend over, and could just Febreze everything. Very comfy, except of course I still need platforms.

Sweatshirt: Michael Stars via Last Chance Thrift Store, $4
Tee: Target, $2
Red Jeans: T.J. Maxx, $14
Scarf: Lucky Exchange, $6
Shoes: Michael Antonio, $44

The Lonely Island

I have been so lonely without time to blog. As lonely as this tree, nearly whittled down to driftwood by the harsh sea winds of Jekyll Island, where I went with my Mom for a few days and was forced to deblogify myself as she repeatedly asked why I wanted to turn on my computer at night and check my sad blog stats instead of watching Masterpiece Theatre with her on PBS.

I am the tree. Just a shell without the Internet.

Parents just don't understand. I find that, no matter how old I get, I manage to create new generational gaps with my Mom. I spent a lot of this weekend trying to explain the concept of "real housewives" to my Mom. 

So, today, I went back to work, with preschoolers and college students, where I can really feel at home again. 

I really should have posed more like the tree. For effect. Are my eyes glassy enough to convey the angst?

Sweater and Top: Target, $18 each
Skirt: Tucker for Target, thrifted, $6
Boots: Biviel via Mitzi's Shoebox, $40
Necklace: Anthropologie, $28

"Semi-Professional"

This outfit is a little less professional, a little more fun. I like it more even than the one yesterday. I think I'd like it even more if I had added yesterday's pink sweater tights. And bigger jewelry.

Please, please, please, try not to look at my gross bangs.

Shirt and Sweater: Finder's Keepers, $10 and $20
Zebra Dress: Laundry via Last Chance, $34
White Tights: Ross, $3
Patent Pumps: Calvin Klein via Loehmann's, $17

I actually wore this with my black patent loafers, which was way cuter but I had to leave those shoes at work because they were strangely suffocating one of my toes. These patent pumps I got thinking, "I will wear these allll the time. They are an INVESTMENT. At 17 dollars." I have worn them like 2 other times and for this picture. I was totally mesmerized by the shiny black patent leather and could not properly assess if these shoes were event meant for feet when I put them on in the store. As you can tell, this is a common theme with me and patent leather in general. I love it, and it hurts me. These shoes ended up being a very tough call, but I bought them just in case, so they could sit in my closet and keep dust bunnies away from other, more special shoes. They seem to stay shiny regardless.

"Professional"

I really liked this outfit today because it is "professional" yet bright and colorful, and it lets people know you are at work yet not about to be all serious, like "I'm going to do my work today!" or "When is the meeting?" or "I'm already late to the meeting!?!"

Please don't be concerned about what I am pointing my finger at. I really don't know. It was probably me trying to subtly instruct my dog to stay out of the picture.

Cashmere Sweater: Finder's Keepers, $14
Skirt: Plato's Closet, $8
Tights: Missoni for Target, $10
Shoes: Faryl Robin via Plato's Closet, $15

My Own Personal Version of Christmas

Is Halloween. If I have disappeared, it is only because I have been thinking about making, making, thinking about putting on, or actually putting on a costume. The day of Halloween, or the day before I debut my costume, is like the night before Christmas when you can't sleep because you are thinking about your presents, except that for Halloween "can't sleep" is replaced with "can't sit still, be he happy, and do normal functions until you have a costume on." This year was extra special because actual Halloween wasn't until Monday, so it spread the festivities out from the weekend through trick or treat on Monday. That was enough holiday for two costumes: two for me and two for my dog. My fiance didn't get in the mix. I think my ferocity for Halloween is terrifying to him, but rather than being okay with it, I just become enraged that there is someone out there, someone who I live with, who is simply copacetic with Halloween, who will wear a costume but could also not dress up and be fine with that.  I am not fine with that. I am only fine with going totally, insanely, perfectly over the top on the one holiday when you are prized for doing exactly that. I also, being achievement-oriented, value the specificity and creativity of very good Halloween costumes. You have to be crafty to be good at Halloween (luckily I also practice consuming a lot of sugar so I don't crash after sugar highs) OR you can be any little kid and be great at it. There were some amazing kid costumes this year. One kid was in a pinstripe suit, white sunglasses, white shoes, white gun. He was a gangster, and he had a ton of attitude. He actually pretended to shoot my dog and then tipped down his sunglasses at me.  Straight up gangster. Luckily, my dog was so distracted by all the children dropping candy on the ground, her first thought when she saw the toy gun was not fear but, "will it shoot Skittles, toward my mouth?"

Anyways, my friend Jen and I went as workers from back in the day at Dairy Queen after we got off a long shift. She works the front counter, with a smile, and does the cones. I cook the burgers and I never want to be there. I also refuse to wear most of the uniform.

I've been drinking on the job.

Hat: Plato's Closet, $4
Leather Jacket: Gift via my Mom
Leather Dress: Etsy, $40

Kinsey also came from an easily recognizable chain, probably the most easily recognizable there is. Can you tell she is a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks? She's (it's) my favorite thing in the world.

She really wanted to eat the entire contents of her inedible lid just to ingest the edible cinnamon sprinkled on it.

Once that was over, it just wasn't enough. My friend had dressed up as Joan Jett, and I had some clothes I had no reason to wear (of course) so I did a quick Runaways costume. Secretly, or not so secretly, I just wanted to put on a lot of black eye makeup again. I look like Jackie here. To be Joan, I'd need to split my bangs in half. This was not a denim phase for The Runaways. This was a glam pantsuit phase. I actually found an article online about the costume designer for the movie, and that article was titled "Denim, Pantsuits, and Lurex." I like everything that title is telling me. The other sad part is that this photo doesn't show how good this pantsuit is in that it has lattice detailing all up and down the legs and sleeves, making it very Runaway-like.

Pantsuit: ONE DOLLAR via Lucky Exchange
Glitter Belt: Old Navy, $10
Necklace: Plato's Closet, $6
Patent Boots: Desu Couture, $20


Now I'm tired. Guess I'll go curl up in my cocoon.

My Favorite Outfit

Dear friends, this is my new favorite outfit for work. It is truly comfortable enough I could wear it to sleep, except for the boots. I do love boots enough to want to cuddle with them to keep them all safe while I am sleeping in case anyone breaks in to steal all my boots, but then there wouldn't be enough space in the bed for me, let alone another person too. I got a lot of boots.

I love that this wrap sweater is sweatshirt fabric, but it is very thin, so it goes well with dresses as a cardigan, and I ordered this dress online after wanting it when it was sold out and then it magically reappeared (the magic of people selling things online that you want and need) without even knowing  how amazingly comfortable it would be aside from loving the shape in theory and now in reality. I got the sweater, necklace, and boots at Target, but they were all on clearance, the final call-type clearance where it is 50% or more off, in the sweater's case, 75% off. The belt came from the thrift store, and it's elastic, thus it's comfortable as well. I swear this exact belt was at Anthropologie, but it wasn't elastic.

Sweater, Necklace, and Boots: Target, $8, 8, $20
Dress: Shop Ruche, $38
Belt: Last Chance Thrift Store, $3
 

Fate

The only time I really believe in fate is when I am having an especially good trip to the thrift store. Today was one of those days. It was like my identical twin separated at birth had left items at the store just for me, like this leather bag:

Can you believe this was only 4.99? I know. I think the strap that holds the flap to close the bag would be really cute studded, but it's so classic as is.

I also found a shearling vest and a red pencil skirt that fit perfectly. Since I started the blog, I have noticed that I buy a whole lot less and I make much better choices (read: less insanely impulsive decisions at Target when all I needed was toilet paper and lotion and didn't even need to be near the clothing section) about what to buy, already knowing what holes and gaps to fill in my closet. Because I like to buy clothes, and things in general, spending time on the blog and time thinking about getting dressed creatively leads to less time spent buying more things or thinking about getting more things. I'd like to say that means I think very little about things, but that's not true at all. I'm like Ariel in her grotto, looking at all her stuff and hoarding it up, swimming around secretly...or for me, not so secretly, as my fiance counts my pairs of shoes in shock and horror once he notices the fact that they are spilling out of the closet, when I normally tend to be very neat. I stand by my shoes, though. They're not going anywhere. My dog once chewed up 3 pairs, and she was temporarily estranged from the family and relegated to her crate for several hours. I did allow her to come out later, and she skulked back and has never chewed a shoe again. I don't know if I cried; I think she felt my pain and knew she had made a terrible mistake.

Anyways, today I am wearing one of those impulse buys I just could not avoid. Shoes, you know who you are.

 
Shirt: Seven via Finder's Keepers: $7
Sweater: Anthropologie, $40
Corduroys: J Brand via Loehmann's, $14
Necklace: Anthropologie, $28
Shoes: Michael Antonio via Amazon, $45

All the Colors of the Wind

Along with the feathers, Pocahontas, Southwestern, etc. theme, here's today's outfit:

Denim Shirt: Target, $10
Horn Necklace: Anthropologie, $28
Chevron Skirt: Last Chance Thrift Store, $3
Belt: Target, $8
White Boots: Plato's Closet, $30
Bag: Gap via Plato's Closet, $6

I Believe I Can Fly

I used to think that I could not go on
And life was nothing but an awful song
-- R. Kelly

I used to think that there was no way I would be able to get up and face the work week anymore until my friend Rorie got the idea to put feather extensions in her hair and request my help this Sunday. Rorie sent me this tutorial a while back, and we immediately became obsessed with feather extensions. I have always disliked most birds unless they are fat, cute birds, such as budgies or penguins, but I love the idea of feather extensions. And now I love them in reality. I was only going to put them in Rorie's hair but of course once I saw them gleaming in her hair, they ended up in my hair too. They were so easy; I can't wait to put more extensions in my hair.

Here are Rorie's; she is blessed with beautiful red hair ideal for feather extensions:

So pretty. It was incredibly difficult to stop putting them in our hair.

Here are mine:

 
I built this outfit around the concept of updated feathers, whatever that means "conceptually," in my mind. I wish my bag was more overtly navajo print. And by wish I mean I am probably going to order one online right now.

 

Shirt: J. Crew via Plato's Closet, $14
Necklace: Target, $9
Pants: Level 99, Gift via my Mom
Shoes: Anthropologie, $40
Bag: Gap via Plato's Closet, $6

Do These Hurt My Feet?

This is a question I ask myself and often cannot reasonably, sanely, and honestly answer when I find a pair of shoes I really love. I have found through a lot of research and shoe shopping with my friends that this is a real problem a lot of people (females) have. Although I have never done drugs, when I put a shoe on my foot that looks perfect and look at it in the mirror, I am sure it is just like being really high on hard drugs: impossible to make rational decisions, you immediately just need certain things immediately and without reason, and you stop feeling pain that might actually be very real and very acute. My friend and I had some pretty awesome shoes for the Thriller/Purple Rain show after the Little 5 Points Halloween Parade, and unfortunately I did not get a picture of my friend's metallic snakeskin platforms and also her amazing leather pants. The shoes also hurt our feet. A lot. But they were awesome. I felt high.

Why so skinny, heels?

Earrings: Target, $6
Top: Forever 21 via Finder's Keepers, $4 (And it has shoulderpads! In honor of MJ.)
Belt: H&M via Plato's Closet, $2
Jeans: Miss Sixty via Finder's Keepers, $7
White Leather Boots: Aldo via Plato's Closet, $30

I wanted to be low-key for the parade. As it turns out, I could have basically been in the parade in this outfit. I go big or go home for Halloween, so the parade was a letdown for me. Next year there should be less drinking and better costumes. Or more drinking and EVEN BETTER COSTUMES. That would be the best of all worlds.

I'm mixing 3 patterns. Put me in the Halloween parade.

Headband, Scarf, and Tee: Target c/o impulse shopping: $10, $14, $10
Jacket: Loehmann's, $20
Leans: Level 99 via Ross, $5
Shoes: Tretorn via Loehmann's, $14

 

Fridone

This week is over. The weekend is starting. Tomorrow I am going to see the Yacht Rock Revue play Thriller and Purple Rain in their entirety at the Variety. I hope you are doing something that fun. I am going to post plenty of pictures of all the leather and sequins, don't worry.

Scarf: $3 (and cashmere!) via Last Chance Thrift Store
Sweater and Jacket: Target, $20 each
Jeans: Level 99 via Ross, $5 (WOW)
Tank: $11 via Lucky Exchange
Boots: Nicole via Mitzi's Shoebox, $45

Scoolteacher

This is what you wear if you are a cool schoolteacher, a.k.a., a. scoolteacher. I like to call the smile I am wearing "the retard." It's not offensive if you say it the way Zach Galifinakis says it in The Hangover or in a Boston accent like Sully and Denise from that SNL sketch where they are a high school couple who fight all the time and then make up (you know, get ready for a mouthful of Jostens!)

Why weren't Sully and Denise ever in any of the classes I taught?! Unfair.

Cowlneck Tee: L.A. Made via Ross, $5
Pleather Jacket: Loehmann's, $20
Skirt: Forever 21, $17
Boots: Target, $20

I Have a Plan

I turned up the bottoms of my shoes while posing so that you could see I did have a plan when I was getting dressed this morning, when I decided to put on these yellow pants. My shoes have yellow bottoms! Today was one of those days where putting concealer under my eyes felt like putting on war paint. I don't care what you have in store for me, day, I have a plan, and you can't destroy me! My hair obviously didn't get the memo. I am going to put it up in a bun like Mulan, and then I will finally be ready. She did it to look like a man, though, so everyone would think she was a warrior. That wouldn't really be such a bad outcome for me.

When will my reflection show who I am inside? --Emo question/lyrics by Disney from Mulan

Sweater: Old Navy, $14
Cords: Madewell, $12
Shoes: Michael Antonio via Amazon, $44
Necklace: Anthropologie, $20 

Plaid Party

I have wanted a skirt in this exact bright, colorful, party-time pattern of plaid forever. So, for like 3 months. Anyways, I found one a few weeks ago and freaked out. By freaked out, I mean grabbed it and clutched it to my chest with glee and also fierce, desperate hope that the waist would not be too small since it was vintage. Size 10 in vintage basically means a size 10 in children's. I will still endure a lot of abdominal discomfort if the item is really adorable. I secretly think people were still wearing corsets as late as the 1970s judging by the sizing on some items I have tried on (and gotten stuck in).

I really wish you could see that these boots have green leather lining. Surprise party.

Shirt: Anthropologie, $20
Skirt: Lucky Exchange, $14
Boots: Anthropologie, $40 (This was a really good sale; I didn't even need to think about purchasing them.)
Earrings: Local Designer via Festival, $28 (I am going to scour the Internet and figure out who so I can post it, because I loved all her things and I remember talking with her about all the dogs she rescued. You should buy all her things.)