Note to self - must pack leather chaps?

Alright kids, I'm outta here! I'm heading off on a 10+ hour road trip to Rapid City, South Dakota. After over two years of dating (and two years of friendship before that) it's time to meet the Ryan's dad. and step-dad. So I'll be back with a massive photo update, but in the mean time, just picture me in the following places...

Staying on a ranch for part of the trip! Me! Riding horses!

Hiking! Cliff diving! (neither of these things will occur on Devil's Tower, which this is a picture of, but you know, I'll SEE the tower.)

Not actually going to the Harley Davidson annual rally in Sturgis, but it's going on right now and it's right by Rapid City so I imagine I will see (and HEAR) an awful lot of motorcycles this trip.

Presidential!

And in these picures, perhaps I'll be rocking the following belt once or twice. Which was SO easy but took FOREVER to do (how long is forever? Half a season of Pushing Daisies, followed by Pleasantville then The Darjeeling Limited. Perhaps it would have gone faster had I picked less visually arresting DVDs. Hmmm...)

Want to make one of your very own??? Follow these complicated DIY instructions:

1. Find stretchy elastic belt (I got mine at Goodwill for a buck and it is by Simply Vera - not so simple now, is it Vera? IN YOUR FACE!)

2. Pick a color scheme and stitch in a crapload of buttons.

3. Whoo-hoo! You're done (10 hours later). Now go reward yourself with a smoothie and some band-aids on your multiple needle stab wounds.

Got all that? I must go finish the packing (dread) in mustard yellow hardshell vintage suitcase (yesss!) See yous on Tues? ish?

Party Girl

My friend Jim is going away to law school in California. On Saturday was his going away party/band's last performance.  Yes, I rocked this giant '80s pajama shirt as a dress. Surprisingly everyone LOVED it (well, except the boy. He hates when I dress tacky.)

Blazer - thrifted

Belt - thrifted

Dress - thrifted pajamas (Toast and Jammies brand -score!)

Shoes - Charles David

American Blood and Treasure... (and David Bowie making a cameo)

My boys. Can you guess which one is going to law school? Perhaps the smartest band on the planet - the others are a neuroscience researcher, a middle school math teacher, an educational psychologist, and a lab assistant. Geez!

The audience.

On a completely unrelated note, I found an old typewriter for $4. Yesss! Now I just need to buy some ribbons.

Yeah, if you look, you can see I typed "Christine" then "typewriter" then "holy crap"... train of thought.

Ok, I gotta go. Working 35 hours in 4 days in order to get time off this weekend to go to South Dakota to finally meet that boy's dad. So excited for the 10 hour road trip!

60s shoes and chambray

Monday, I found the best '60 deadstock shoes on the face of the earth... cheap too!

Sweater - Michael Kors (why is it so cold that I am wearing cashmere sweaters in JULY?!?)

Black tank - little boys Fruit of the Loom undershirt

Skirt - made by me

Tights - Target?

Shoes - Jabot's Boutique

Tuesday, I'm filling in for a school nurse for a few days, starting today. And what greeted me not a half hour into my day? Car crash victims. JAWS. Luckily all three children in the van were in the back and buckled and escaped with only bruised chests and necks from the seatbelts. The mom was pretty rough - the impact was in the front drivers side and she got pretty banged up by the dashboard, steering wheel, and airbags. Everyone will be okay though, thank goodness. Hopefully the rest of the week will be boring by comparison!

Hair band - fabric scrap I threw in my hair while helping make a disco party costume for a friend, have worn it for years since then!

Dress -thrifted

Shoes - thrifted

Otherwise, life has been busy and fun! I have two friends coming to visit this weekend, one of whom is staying with me, so I'll try to bust out the camera and document all our adventures. Next week, I'm off to South Dakota to finally meet the boy's dad! 10 hour road trip with the boy and his best friend Peter who is in town from New York for two weeks! I'm really excited - I love Pete and was so sad when he moved away to go to grad school last year. So I won't be around much the next two weeks, but I'll try to take as many pictures as I can (I'm so bad at it - I just forget all the time!) Bye kids!

skirts and dresses

I've been trying to remember to take outfit shots every day. You'd think I'd be used to doing it by now, but I just forget when I wear my summer work uniform so much! I really only wear the outfits for about 5 hours in the evenings!

Monday, I was feeling very '90s, very 90210:

Vest - thrifted

T-shirt - Target

Watch - Michael Kors

Skirt - thrifted GAP

Shoes - thrifted

Tuesday,I found two meticulously sewn handmade dresses at the thrift store. I feel bad that someone made them for a girl and she never wore them and gave them to Goodwill. On the upside, they both fit!

Dress - thrifted

Shoes - Madeline

Wednesday, I have a grandmother who I have always referred to as "purple grandma" because she seriously wears nothing but purple, teal, and gold. My entire life. I think that was why I was drawn to this dress, even though it's totally not my style.

Dress - JC Penny clearance $6
Shoes - Unlisted by Kenneth Cole
Glasses - Prada

Thursday, my boss told me as I was leaving today that I looked like "the cutest little clown." Hmm, I'll take it!

Tank - Target (bow added by me)

Bangles - slowly accumulated from thrift store... I think they are reproducing in my bracelet drawer

Watch - Michael Kors

Skirt - thrifted (hello ruffles and polka dots and pockets!!!)

Shoes - Report

Tomorrow will be waitressing then sailing! Saturday will be bartending then making myself some porch cocktails! Sunday = baseball, baseball, baseball, pizza. Whoooo!

everything is hilarious

My weekend involved...
Friday - 13 hours on the beverage cart at work... it was the men's guest day, they all got pretty drunk, and were all very silly and funny. I was exhausted but rich by the end of the day.

Saturday - bartended in the morning, watched the Twins game, then went to Al Franken's victory party at a schmansy hotel in St Paul.


(In case you weren't aware, Minnesota's senate race has been locked up in recounts and all sorts of legal limbo since the Novemeber voting day... Al Franken, yes from Saturday Night Live, finally won and I am oh so excited. In the picture he is drawing a crazy accurate map of the US from memory... watch him do it here if you want!)

Sunday - watched the Twins game and then went sailing with Ryan, Jrod, Matt, Chris and Kai (yes, nearly all my friends are dudes.) So the boy has a sailboat. He does not have a car. These things make sense when you know him. So, how do we get the boat from his driveway to the lake? We push it.

You can't get much "greener" than pushing a sailboat, though!



What is that we are holding on to as a handle? One of our wooden baseball bats that shattered during a game... nothing but class for us, right?



My life is so ridiculous sometimes.

cute things vs. shallow guilt

Tuesday, Hmm, was going to put this up on my etsy, but I think I'll hang on to it for a while. I enjoy being confused with a picnic blanket.

Dress - thrifted

Shoes - thrifted Deegow Boutique

Wednesday, an old lady at Kowalski's asked me where I got these shorts and then told me I looked very "Hollywood"... erm, what can I say? I like to look glamorous while buying nectarines? Personally it makes me feel like a child. on a farm. 

T-shirt - thrifted and I don't know if you can tell but there is awesome crochet detailing around the neckline and sleeves

Overall shorts thingies - thrifted

Shoes - thrifted

Ok, for those of you who just came for the cuteness portion, class dismissed. Time for a rant n' rave...

Hi, my name is Christine and I'm a guiltaholic. Seriously, I am a Good Person. I am honest, I am trustworthy, I will help you if you need it, etc! But I am plagued by guilt. Every day. Over nothing. I am watching CNN and things OTHER PEOPLE did are making me feel guilty. I had four beers while watching the Twins game last night = guilty today. I no longer have time to volunteer = guilt. I finally have a day off (well, except for my disabled client Daniel tonight) and I am blogging and fooling around instead of getting to my to-do list. Guilt. I don't know what it is... I just feel like I ought to be doing more. better. And I know, I do, that I am only 27. And have a fabulous job that is helping kids live and learn better. And I have owned my condo for four years. That I have two degrees. That I improved the lives of disabled teens and their families for years. That I have volunteered in impoverished countries. That I am an upstanding young adult (and not a drug addict, or a racist, or a thief, or an alcoholic, or a violent person, etc). Still, guilt guilt.

Whew, I am hoping that writing that out helps me feel better... I'm in no way a perfectionist, far from it. I'm pretty meh - good enough... it might be a genetic thing... my mom is a total worrier and my sister has been on anxiety medication for years... sometimes I think (and this is going to sound really pretentious) that I'm too smart for my own good. I read too many books. Know too much about what is going on in the world. Seen too many things working in 3rd world countries. Know I need to live my life to it's fullest potential because of all the people I know who don't have a working body. or mind. or the ability to put those things to work. Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I will persevere and continue running around looking for cute little things, I just needed to get a little bit of that out.

Thanks dudes.

Baseball, baseball, and oh yeah, baseball

Had myself a fabulous holiday weekend! Friday I waitressed then went immediately to the Metrodome to watch the Twins game... which lasted 16 innings and over FIVE hours! And they lost!

Friday:

Necklace - thrifted

T-shirt - Target

Skirt - thrifted (shortened by me, then i added the two rose doilies too!)

Shoes - thrifted Nine West

Saturday was the boy's 28th birthday... lots of baseball. Lots of grilling. Lots of beer. I'm pretty proud I wore this white dress all day and did not get ketchup on it! Note the bit of red, white, and blue for the 4th of July.

Necklace - thrifted

Dress - thrifted at Fake Target (it's an Isaac Mizrahi for Target sample dress)

Shoes - Nicole (inherited from my friend Megan)

Spent Sunday watching more baseball, playing a baseball game and playing two home-run derbys. So excellent. Have the day off today... doing really exciting things like renewing my driver's license, steam cleaning my upstairs carpet, and finally going to Target (seriously empty fridge problems). How was your weekend?

I Glove MJ, Blanche, and possibly inappropriate use of leggings

Well, looks like this only posting once a week thing may be a permanent thing until school starts again, which I am fine with. It's a good thing when you're too busy living your life to stop and write about it, right?

Thursday...

They announced the death of Michael Jackson on the radio on my way home from work. When I got home I put on my old "I glove MJ" shirt... the glove is sparkly and amazing... I haven't worn this shirt in like 5 years!

Shirt - Alex Aranovich for 2k shirts

Skirt - thrifted

Shoes - Charles David

Regardless of his personal life, he will always have a special place in my heart. I grew up listening to him (on RECORDS no less), torturing my sister with the opening laugh and creaking doors on Thriller, dancing and trying to learn to moonwalk, and crying every time I saw the Man in the Mirror video... plus I've heard Billy Jean while waitressing weddings, every Saturday for the last ten years of my life. That's a lot of Billy Jean. And you know what? Still like it. Still move a little quicker around the dining room busing glasses when it's on.

Tuesday... The boy told me I looked like Blanche from The Golden Girls in this... a bit true.

White necklace - thrifted

Shirt - thrifted

Skirt - thrifted

Sandals - thrifted

Today... Hrm... pushing my personal boundaries on what is an acceptable top to wear with leggings... this one is pretty short, but oh well!

Matchstick belt (worn as necklace) - from a Free People dress

Tunic - thrifted

Leggings - I Heart Ronson

Sandals - London Underground

I have TWO days off next week, so you may get a post on Monday AND Thursday. Otherwise, I'm excited for the weekend. The boy's 28th birthday is on the 4th of July! Not sure what we're doing yet but I'll bet it involves a combination of sailing, grilling, and playing baseball in the park. And beers. Lots of beers.

Maybe a midnight dance party or two... (this was Friday night)

And maybe some porch sitting for the finest people watching in town... (this was Saturday night, after I finally finished bartending around 1am)

Have a great holiday weekend, Americans! Have a great regular weekend to everyone else!