bad to the bone

ooh, who is excited it was cold last night and got to wear her new (thrifted) bad-ass motorcycle boots? me!

who ACCIDENTALLY kicked a goose in the neck in these boots this morning? me again... there was a flock of geese blocking the driveway this morning and I couldn't get my car through, and I was literally stuck in the middle of the road, mid turn... I honked and honked. They did not move. So I got out of the car and starting flailing and yelling at them and most of them moved away but one came at me while I was being nuts, and I accidentally kicked it in the neck!!! Not very hard, and it seemed fine but I'm expecting it to be hiding in my car's backseat with a boxcutter tonight... anyway...

aaaah!

Putting up loads of fall and winter stuff on my etsy today... but why oh why do I want to keep everything I thrift?!?! Thank goodness for the things that don't fit... the only thing I may keep for real is the 70's pink dress and possibly the red knit fedora (although I never wear hats, and in fact have a bit of a theory that women who wear hats on a regular basis are crazy.)







Hmm... nothing else to say for now. Creepiest theme party ever tomorrow... we're throwing a wake for my friend Jim. He gets all snippy when people make fun of him, you know, dishes it out but can't take it. On Monday he stormed out of the fantasy football draft saying he didn't want to be friends with like four of the people there anymore. So, he is dead to us apparently. We're throwing a wake, featuring photos and stories about him, everyone all in black. It's morbid, but it will get Jim some love and he will forgive everyone for giving him a hard time about being a sci-fi loving, skinny nerd. But that's why I love him! I'm even making sandwich trays and cakes. We're terrible.

just a quickie

I'll post the Augustache birthday party mustache photos soon, I just need to get them off Ryan and Matt's cameras... I can tell you that I wore this (sans mustache for this photo but you better believe I was rocking a hairy black one later).

I had an awesome birthday weekend. Unfortunately I had to bartend 14 hours straight on Friday, which was okay anyway cause I made appox. one million dollars... then Saturday I went sailing all day, showered, picked up the keg, made a bunch of mustaches, and watched the hilarity ensue. Sunday was baseball and Monday I got to make my final rounds as a Beer Cart girl at the country club... then off to the real job on Tuesday!

The kids will start on Tuesday, but I started meetings and trainings this week on Tuesday (my birthday, boo for meetings). The RN is awesome, the school is awesome, the teachers are amazing. I am SO excited! I met a few kids and families at the open house yesterday, and I am in love! Here is my outfit for that day...

And the next day...

And today...

I know, I think I've worn this before, but I'm all thrown off on my mornings since working later all summer, and I don't want to scare the staff or kids by dressing too nuts for a week or two. Also, I am thinking about being the last one on board for Wardrobe Remix starting on Tuesday, since I'll be wearing real clothes every day... we'll see!

Also, to celebrate my new job, I bought myself three pairs of shoes... I know, I know, so pathetically girly. This was perhaps not the wisest decision as my closet is beginning to overflow out of the walk-in closet and into my bedroom... I figure if they are pretty enough to make feet look cute, they can be decoration too??? Sure, whatever.

M.I.A. me

Sorry I have been a terrible blogger and disappeared for ALMOST A WEEK! I will have many photos for you tomorrow to make up for it. I had much planning for the mustache party, worked several 12 hour days, and then left the plug-in for my laptop at Ryan's for a few days... Also, Ryan's house was robbed last week. Luckily him and his roommate own nothing of value... what did the thieves get for their work? A $30 DVD player from Target, an old Playstation 2 my old roommate gave to Ryan last month, Ryan's roommate's old laptop that no longer worked and he was just looking for a place to recycle it. And... my bike. My 1970's men's Peugeot that took months to find in a small enough frame size (my life would be easier if I just got a "girl" bike, but what can I say, I'm a snob). It was disturbing though. All the drawers were dumped out and closets ripped up. I was especially mad because they didn't take Ryan's bike because he had popped a tire and then went out of town for a few days, so hadn't fixed it yet. However, my bike was also broken, it just looks OK. It has this old French gear system that I blew the weld on when going up a big hill, I've been looking for a replacement part (in a half-assed way) for a few weeks. So, I don't think they realized it didn't work when they took it, which was frustrating. I was at work and thought I should look on Craigslist to see if they ditched it somewhere when they tried to pedal it and realized my gears weren't connected to the crank. And what was there? MY BIKE! A girl found a vintage Peugeot outside the Kowalski's and put it up wanting a description to see if it was yours... I emailed her and it was mine! I got it back on Sunday! This NEVER happens! Stolen bikes are just gone. Soo, whoo to the nice teenage girl. Boo on you crime. Please figure out that Ryan and his roommate own nothing of value and leave us alone. thank you.

new banner!

So, I finally made a decent etsy banner... the first one I made in like five minutes the day I decided to put a bunch of stuff on etsy. Now I have a proper one. Go me!

am I SLEEP THRIFTING?

So, trying to do a clean out of the walk in closet, the three sliding panel closets, and various dressers that house my massive wardrobe (congratulations Salvation Army in the warehouse district, you are getting a trunkful)... but upon doing so I discovered this...

I seriously don't remember buying this. It must have been some time in the spring when it was out of season. I've never worn it, as it still has the $4.95 price tag on it. So, whoo, go me. I now own 3 sack-like huge cowl necked dresses (I still may get rid of these two on my etsy...








we'll see). I have not been looking forward to winter until today. Now I say, bring it on! I've got enough coccoon dresses to get me through to March! Seriously, only like one week left and I'll stop having to bartend and wear uniforms! Whoo! So, get ready for daily outfit shots instead of only like three a week. Go real clothes!

many prayers for the cutest mother EVER

Does anyone else read the NieNie Dialogues? and imagine living that cute of a life, all the time? She is adorable, her husband is adorable, her kids? cute overload. Their life seems so rich and perfect. Perfect it is not, she was in a plane crash and both her and her husband are pretty severly burned (the pilot died). I'm pretty pathetically sad considering I don't know her in real life.

PHD in excavation and digging

I finally bit the bullet and took full advantage of my only day off this week (including TWO doubles, blegh!) and went to the Goodwill Outlet store. You basically dig through piles and piles of stuff on tables, and the workers push out new stuff in bins and when they say, OK go ahead, you go dig in the bins of "new" stuff. Then they dump the bins on the piles on the tables, and fill the bins again. At first I was discouraged for like 10 minutes. I did a lot of digging and found nothing remotely interesting except one cute Oilily sweater. Then I hit a huge patch of small wool blazers. Then I found a few skirts. Man, those old ladies in there can be vicious. One tried to take the yellow skirt from this photo out of my cart and I got all ghetto on her "Oh no you did not just take that out of my cart!" and snatched it back. Can you see why???

 Anyway, I only spent about 40 minutes there. Two sweaters, four wool blazers, and four skirts later... my total was $9.40 (you pay by the pound). Holy crap! I'll be sure to go back again. I'm trying to get some fall stuff in my etsy for back to school and whatnot, but MAN is it too hot today. I finally had to turn on the a/c for the first time this summer cause trying on wool blazers in August is too cruel. Anyway, now I need to just buckle down and measure this stuff. I love shopping for my etsy. I don't mind photographing the stuff, both on me and layed out flat. But do I ever hate measuring everything. I don't know why. I need an intern. Anyway, here is some of the loot from today...

Seriously it works out to like $1 each. Ok, enough bragging about my thrifting talents. Bye!

too much a/c

Bartending in the blasting a/c all day makes me cold. I am seeking refuge in my stripy Le Tigre dress that I got for $8 at TJ Maxx two years ago. I usually look crappy in baby pink, but the dark brown makes me look okay. Laterz, it's gonna be a long weekend but I have Monday off! Yay!

Dress - Le Tigre

Belt - Fiorucci for Target

Wedges - Charles David

P.S. Who else is peeing their pants!! for realzies over Take Back Labor Day? Holy buckets is that an awesome line-up and only $10?!?!? I know what I'm doing that day...

I deserve a medal for this

I've been thrifting and I don't know if I should keep this purple and teal somewhat avant-garde sweater dress? I may have to keep it until it's cold, wear it once and then decide.

And this...

Same thing with this.

Looking at these photos has convinced me of two things...
1. I NEED to keep that green and yellow reindeer sweater.
2. I think I have a thrifting problem. A serious one.

I love me a theme party

And luckily so do my friends! I know, everyone loves Halloween and dressing up, so we have done it A LOT more than just on Oct 31! However, to get us started, here is Halloween last year... an American Gladiator and a "chick magnet" then a geisha, the Operation man (I sewed the whole thing for mike!) and me as the Blind Melon bee girl from their video for No Rain (anyone remember that?)



















Unfortunately due to Ryan's computer being stolen, there are no more photos of the "middle school dance" party or the "fort" party (where we turned the whole house into a fort with tunnels and whatnot, all made of blankets and pillows... it was a pain to clean up but SO fun), no photos of when Joel was feeling anxious about being the oldest one and turning 30 so we threw him an Edward Fortyhands party (if you don't know what that is, I'm not going to be the one to tell you... it's a terrible idea). I'm sure there are a few more I'm forgetting now...

But at least there are photos of the elaborate "wedding" party.



















Jim seriously taught himself to play the wedding march on Mike's accordion in like an hour. It was amazing. Oh and also, these two... not dating. Not even close. Jason owns a house with his real girlfriend. She was actually okay with the whole thing and thought it was rather funny.








There was also the "gangsters through the ages" party (from 1920's to present day thugs, again, awesome)

This year, during Fashion Week in Minneapolis, we threw a fashion party (can I preface this by saying I have VERY unfashionable friends. They constantly mock my outfits and think it's silly that I care about clothes.) Anyway, they were willing to attempt fashion for me... and no, I am not wearing pants. I am wearing a series of tights, underwear, and socks and ran around all night telling everyone "pants are so last season."

I don't think Doyle quite got it, but love him for trying...















Mike and Jim decided that "this season is all about wristbands and temporary barbed wire tattoos."












I also made very fashionable orange jello shots (in real orange rinds!)

So what is the point of this post, other than to brag about how cool my friends are...it's my birthday in less than two weeks and next Saturday will be my party. What is the theme? AUGUSTACHE! What is that? August + Mustache = Augustache! All my guy friends (like 12 of them at least) are growing beards as we speak. Next Saturday there will be much shaving and shaping and everyone will have a mustache! In the mean time, I am making fake 'staches for the ladies (um, all like 3 of them). Anyway, I am pretty excited. If this photo of Mike's last day-long mustache is any indication, we are all in for a treat...

I'm sure I'll let you know how it goes! and P.S. Augustache is very different than Septembeard, Octobeard, Novembeard, and Decembeard...

O'Doyle rules?

No, I do. Who got the best job ever? ME! I am now officially the assistant nurse at a downtown school in Minneapolis. I love the school's philosophy (very well rounded, diverse education achieved by putting students from 11 different schools together, partnering with businesses downtown for unique experiences, K-12 in one school, uniforms {I know, I know, very anti-self expression, but I like that it takes out the have vs. have-not mentality of kids, they're all so spoiled and judge each-other on who has what label on...the 8 year old poor girl from Chicago in me is still wounded by what kids said about my appearance, so I like that the lower SES kids can walk with their helds held high, they're wearing the same unflattering navy and khaki number as everyone else.} they have no after school sports but have other better after school clubs and activities, I could go on and on...) Plus the architecture is so modern and thoughtfully designed (not like all the 1950's boxed schools I attended). Anyway, go me! and in that spirit I will wear whatever I feel like to watch the Yankees get killed by the Twins (again!) Oh, Michael Kors, how I love your shoes. They are almost as fab as you and your snide remarks during Project Runway. Also, thank you DSW for your big discounts and birthday gift certificates for allowing me to own these Kors made Beetlejuice-esq shoes. So here I go, off to conquer the world, one stomach ache and scrape at a time!

P.S. I wore a similar outfit on Sat, only not so monochromatic. I think I like this one better, but wanted to wear my new Kors in a garish manner...

not a golfer...

...but I do enjoy Caddyshack. After 7 years of waitressing, bartending, and being a beverage cart girl, I am picking up the sticks and playing a round of golf today. It is the employee golf outing and party today. We're playing a round of golf, then swimming while the members grill steaks and chicken for us. My boss is bringing beer and soda for all of us. This is surely the most excited I have ever been for impending and inevitable embarrassment. I borrowed some clubs from my sister and I'm off. Here's hoping I don't like it... who has time for such a time consuming hobby... FOUR HOURS per game?!? geez. I got better stuff to do (like read fashion blogs). Anyway, I hate to say it, but, FORE!

P.S. this is the first shirt I ever screenprinted on my own... I drew it by looking at my little seahorse coin necklace. It rocks. I ought to sell them in the shop... maybe I will...

small post, small collar

I found this crocheted collar at a thrift store for 70 cents! I finally wore it yesterday... I think it looks pretty awesome. I also found a yellow fabric one that is trimmed in lace, I am now motivated to find something to put it on with. Laterz off to be a grown up and shop for a yellow! bridesmaid dress...

four eyes

Ok, I wear contacts, have since 7th grade. I have TERRIBLE vision. I got glasses at the beginning of first grade and they were pretty thick. I remember my mom yelling at me at the eye doctor saying "Christine! Why didn't you tell me you couldn't see?" And there I was, crying and yelling back "I thought that was the way things looked!" Anyway, I had glasses until the summer before seventh grade when an eye doctor suggested that I get contacts to hopefully slow down my rapidly degenerating eyesight. It was such a strain for my eye to see from where it was (you know, in my face) to where the glasses lens was (you know, a whole inch away), that he thought my sight was getting worse due to eye fatigue. So, 15 or so years later, I still wear contacts. I have glasses and I wear them at night and in the morning for a few minutes, but wearing them for any extended amount of time gives me headaches and my eyes hurt. I do, however, miss wearing glasses. They are fun. I am considering getting just clear glass put in some frames I have (until I magically have a few grand laying around for Lasik.) And, I know, I know... glasses are so trendy right now, even American Apparel is making fake glasses.





Pair #1 does not have lenses in them. They were given to me by a friend who works for a reading glasses company. I like them, they are small and brown and great.

















Pair #2 has lenses in them from when they belonged to my friend James. He is in the Air Force and these are US military issued glasses. They are not the right prescription for him anymore and when I went to visit him in Florida, I wore these around to bars for no reason. When I left, he insisted I take them.











So? Which ones should I get glass put in? Or both? I'm thinking it'll be pretty cheap to just put fake lenses in, so maybe both?

P.S. My job interview today went great! I'm hoping I get it! The school and the job are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!

Long day of tending bar

These long bartending shifts are exhausting. I wasn't built to pretty much stand in one place all day long. I went nuts cleaning to pass the time and cut my wrist on an old piece of glass that was left in the bottom of a shelf. Ouch! Anyway, I am feeling lazy, thus the lazy outfit. Whateves.

Dress - Free People

Tank under it - little boys Fruit of the Loom

Sandals - crazy $2 outlet store

I have tomorrow off (aside from The Interview and my client.) Have I mentioned that before? On Thursday nights I have a disabled client whom I have worked with for 6+ years. He is adorable and so much fun. Anyway, then I also have Friday off to go wedding shopping with my friend Megan who is in town from Boston! Yeah! I am going to be in her wedding next summer (and they're getting married on a Caribbean cruise! Whoo-pee!) Anyway, I must go convince Ryan to watch Project Runway, since I don't have cable...