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.)  

The Complimentmeter

The complimentmeter is a measuring tool I have in my mind that tells me how good I should feel about my outfits. Simply put, the complimentmeter measures how many compliments people give you on your outfits. One compliment equals one point, essentially. But I also factor in other things. For example, if it is an "off" day of the week (i.e. a Monday), if it is rainy, gray, or all-around dreary, if I felt a little ill, etc., and I still get compliments on clothing or an outfit, the compliments are worth more. It's like each compliment is doubled. If I were in a setting where it's unnatural for people to talk to each other, and I got compliments from complete strangers, the compliments are worth a LOT more points, tripled even. They don't know how little your clothes cost, and what an amazing deal they were! If I were at a street festival, browsing jewelry booths, and I got a compliment, it's still a compliment, but it's not as good as someone telling you they love your dress and shoes at the end of a long work day when it is just you and them, alone in an elevator, in the parking garage of your building. That could also be creepy, but not for me. I immediately tell them where I bought everything I am wearing and how much it cost. I don't even really care if they're interested, but I assume that they are, and that they are impressed if something cost only $5. They should be impressed.

Anyways, today I went to an outdoor festival and brought my dog. Big mistake if you want to tip the complimentmeter in your favor. She's a chubby corgi. All I had was a cool hat. I heard about 25 compliments get thrown, and they were all for my dog. Look how smug she is. She doesn't even want to be in the same picture as me.

You have to look disaffected if you want to pull off fedoras.

Hat: Anthropologie, $10
T-shirt: Alternative Apparel via Lucky Exchange, $7
Skirt: Missoni for Target, $40
Boots: Plato's Closet, $10
Dog: www.cardigancorgis.com

Later tonight I am going to see the Real Housewives live show. What this show will entail, I have no idea, other than being amazing. If Melissa from Jersey does not perform her song, I'll break something. To take this outfit from daytime festival to Real Housewives evening, I added a (faux) fur coat.

Do I look rich?

I'm clutching this fur so Teresa doesn't steal it.

I Forgot to Title This Post

I have been so insanely busy and crazed this week that when I get home from work, if I don't put on sweatpants immediately, bad things will happen. Significant others will get irrationally angry answers to innocent questions like "what do you think we should eat for dinner?" and "do you know where my iPod is?" These are the days of our lives, the days when even comfort and sweatpants and cookies and couches and TV don't keep the crazies away. There's something that always helps, though: packages in the mail. Packages of shoes. I'm going to get to some shoes, but I have to begin at the beginning.

As you can tell, I wasn't exactly put together when the day started. My sweater is barely pulled down to cover my belly (I feel weird about using the word belly. But I just can't bring myself to use the word "midriff," even if the word belly might sound kind of gross, gross like I am about to tell you one of my aches and pains as opposed to clothing.)

Before:

The most disappointing part of my day was discovering that this well-matched necklace snags on my Missoni for Target sweater and creates tiny little pills that are now imperceptible to others but known to me. It is terrible if you are as in love with this sweater as I am and have slight OCD like I do. Why this necklace wasn't higher quality, being so cheap and from Forever 21 and all, I will never know.

Put a jean jacket on it.

Cardigan: Missoni for Target, $50
Cords: Madewell, $14
Patent Boots: Desu Couture, $20
Jean Jacket: Old Navy, $20
Necklace: Forever 21, $6


I kind of love the phrase "at the end of the day," or "the thing is, is..." When somebody says one of those things, you know that's what about to follow is going to be a) brutally honest and b) probably pretty gossipy, because saying "the thing is" before you say something pretty rough and tumble doesn't make it suddenly analytical. I feel like L.C. said it a lot on Laguna Beach/The Hills when she was psychologically analyzing her terrible friends and other people she didn't like. Lo liked to say it a lot too when she was agreeing with whatever Lauren said. 

Don't get me wrong, at the end of the day, as long as I get some shoes, there is a good chance I will return to work tomorrow.  The thing is, online impulse ordering and then desperately trying not to track your package so that it shows up like a present once you've forgotten about it is the best thing ever.

After:

I'm not really awake, but I own these shoes. At the end of the day, that's all I care about.

One Girl's Trade-in

Have you ever wondered why people give up the amazing things* that are for sale at thrift and consignment stores? This weekend I found a leopard faux fur coat, an item I have wanted badly for AGES and AGES. So much so, that I almost considered throwing away $90 on one. Luckily another girl decided to throw hers in the trade-in bin on the way to Rag-o-Rama, and I grabbed it right up without even trying it on. It even had burgundy lining. Enough said, right? I could barely even talk when I took it to the register. The sales girl said, "this coat, like, takes it to a whole new level." I widened my eyes and nodded emphatically. Very emphatically. I wonder what type of social anxiety disorder she thought I had. I stared at the coat from counter to bag without blinking to make sure it was in there. To make the situation more awkward dramatic, I waited until I was walking away to say, "you cannot imagine how long I have wanted a coat like this." Then she nodded emphatically. We were on the same page. Everything was cool.

I also got this amazing purse. I have wanted one like this for awhile. This is a common rationalization I like to use to make purchases. Some examples: "I've wanted this ever since I was 12!" "I saw this at Target 2 years ago and then it was gone but now this is JUST LIKE IT, and I have to have it!" "This has a cat on it!" This means it has accrued sufficient emotional net worth that outvalues any financial cost attached to the item and demands that in order to balance my emotional checkbook I purchase it. This purse was one of those items. It reminds me of my Grandma, of The Sound of Music, and at the same time of the current floral trend and my favorite fall color palette. I could add a crossbody strap, and it has the texture of curtains (see, The Sound of Music).

In honor of the purse, I dressed a little bit like an old person.

These guys were made for each other.

Shirt: Fossil, $28
Sweater: Old Navy, $14
Corduroys: Old Navy, $20
Necklace, Dakota J's, $14
Boots: Fossil via Finder's Keepers, $40
Purse: Rag-o-Rama, $12


*Some other time I will tell you about all the other incredible things I have found at thrift stores. Or I will slowly reveal them one by one. To force you to read my blog.

Ready to Ride

When I was about 10 years old, my Mom got me the second best gift next to a pony: a summer-long pass to horseback riding camp. I loved it all: from the trip to a specialty store to get jodhpurs, to learning the fine art of horse grooming, to the smell of hay. One weekend we actually rode horses miles and miles through fields of wildflowers to a grassy clearing, camped there overnight, and rode them back in the morning. If Harry Potter were to look at that memory in a pensieve, it would be clouded in a heavenly gold haze. There were 2 different horses that I rode that summer, one named Peaches, and one named C.J. Splash. I loved them both equally. C.J. was a tall, powerful, and fast paint horse; he was extremely sensitive and responsive to touch. As I was learning the different between asking a horse to trot and asking a horse to canter, I accidentally asked C.J. to canter a lot. I am afraid I may have peed my pants while riding him several times. Peaches was the other horse. I shouldn't say she was a horse, she was technically a pony, and she was basically the pony you see at a children's party. She had very cute horse bangs and was very lazy. I was allowed to feed her Smarties and orange soda from my hand, which I am pretty sure was a large part of her diet considering she was pretty fat. You can easily ascertain that she was also pretty slow. I loved her dearly. She was extremely easy to ride. She was the type of horse that you would want to ride if you wanted to ride a horse through a drive-thru (this is one of my hopes and dreams in life).

My Mom, I think, felt sad I grew up without my own horse. She had a horse named Daisy for a large part of her childhood, that once saved her life (for real), but she sacrificed lots of things to make sure I didn't have to part with Peaches or C.J. when the summer was over and could keep riding. I have a picture of myself all saddled up laying down on C.J. giving him a hug. It has cooled down in Atlanta and today would be such nice riding weather. Sadly, the only animal I own is a corgi. She doesn't have a saddle.

Shirt: Blue Bird, $28
Leggings: Target, $5
Boots: Plato's Closet, $10
Brown Cuff: Boogaloos, $25

Black and Yellow Black and Yellow

Black stripe, yellow paint. I can't really give you the next line of the song that inspired this post because it may not be appropriate for this blog. All you need to know is, Wiz has love for the Steelers and the ladies, and I love to look like a bumblebee.

Reppin' my town when you see me

You know everything

Black and yellow, Black and yellow

Black and yellow, Black and yellow

Reeeeeemix.

I kept my cuff and earrings. I moved the leopard to the bottom and added turquoise to the top. 

Then I put the leopard back in and exchanged platforms for cowboy boots. I also fell asleep. Remixing is extremely tiring.

I went back to my original shoes and added a black and brown necklace.

Sweater: Vintage via Rag-o-Rama, $9
Jeggings: Target: $20
Brown Cuff (it buckles on like a "wrist belt"): Boogaloos, $25 
Earrings: Anthropologie, $20

Shoes (left to right): Charlotte Russe via Plato's Closet, $10, Bakers via Desu Couture, $20, Go Jane, $28
Necklaces (left to right): Lucky Exchange, $8, Barse via RueLaLa, gift


Yeah, uh huh, you know what it is. Watch here.

You Should Get Out More Often

This is the theme of a conversation that happens between me and the shoes in my closet. I have plenty of ways of rationalize the fact that I live with someone and I don't share my closet(s) of clothes and shoes. If you ask me about it, the volume of my voice will go up and I will tell you all my very rational reasons IMMEDIATELY.

1. The collective value of my clothing is not that high. I have bought most of it during its second lifetime. So it's okay to have a totally unreasonable amount of it, requiring me to have a separate closet for my jackets and underbed storage containers for winter coats, scarves, tights, gloves, and hats. We don't need to discuss the fact that my shoes don't all fit in a closet or even a general area right now. This isn't the time or the place. The time is 1 a.m. The place: a bar. The scene: a yelling match between myself and my significant other about our personal needs for space.

2. Our apartment was born in the 1920s. At that time, my grandmother, who was born in 1905, would have been about 15. She had both the terrible challenge and wonderful privilege of growing up without such concepts as "Target" or "Forever 21," whereby she would have amassed ridiculous amounts of moderately to barely necessary clothing that require a closet wider than her body to fit in (that is truly how wide the closets in our apartment are; they mostly only fit skeletons).

3. Most of the time, I work really hard. I like to go into my closet and look at my less practical shoes and have a heart-to-heart with them, and say things like "you ought to get out more often," and "you deserve love," and "you should have as many drinks as you want!"

I should have worn a belt. This picture is a bit tilted. Blame it on the alcohol.

Top: H & M, $13
Jeggings: Target, $20
Shoes: Bronx via Desu Couture, $26
Necklace: Stone & Honey via Young Blood, gift

How Do You Succeed in Business Without Really Trying?

I am pretty sure these shoes are the answer. Although it does depend what kind of business you're in.

I used so much photo brightener editing this photo. I wanted these shoes glowing.

 Shoes: $29, Go Jane

I have to thank the world of online fashion blogs for solving all of my most pressing problems. I got fixated on the Steve Madden Sarina leopard platform pumps that look like these shoes and cost quadruple the dollars. Luckily, after frantically searching the Internet for only a few sleepless nights, I saw Kansas Couture wearing the affordable version for real people with real jobs and real life concerns about money. I ordered them right away and finally got a chance to wear them to dinner tonight with my friend.

Top: Target, $20
Jeggings: Target, $20
Bracelet: My Grandmother's via my MOM
Ring: Plato's Closet, $4
Engagement Ring: Gift from my Fiance, c/o our lasting engagement