Yes, Virginia, I even thrift umbrellas

Rain, rain, tornado warnings... good thing my school just did a tornado drill the other day. Also a good thing to know that the preferred position is still to crouch on the floor behind another student in the library, cover your head with your hands, and make jokes about who farted.

 Shirt - Polo Ralph Lauren, inherited from aunt

Necklace - belt from a Free People dress

Bangles - thrifted

Skirt - ? Kohls maybe? It's super old.

Sandals - Old Navy

Umbrella - thrifted

Have a lover-ly weekend kids. I will be making more shirts (guh) for a softball team, watching and playing baseball, and going to the In The Heart of the Beast Puppet Theater's May Day Parade!

Chocolate Milk Hotel

Sorry, Jeff Mangum, I kid because I love.

 Cardigan - thrifted

Tank - little boys Fruit of the Loom

Necklaces - Target

Skirt - thrifted Banana Republic

Socks - Target

Shoes - Bakers (like 10 years ago!)

Striped socks! And they were on sale for $1.25!

Today is Dining Out for Life, so me and my special needs buddy Dan the Man will be going out for dinner at a Platinum Sponsor restaurant tonight! Unfortunately it's supposed  to be rainy because I wanted to eat outside, fortunately it's supposed to storm later in the evening, and I am generally pro-thunderstorm.

P.S. It has been 10 years since this interview with Dave Eggers, and I still read the addendum to this interview like once a month (skip to the part that says "Now the addendum") The very end just keeps building up until I'm so motivated to create and make and do that the energy from those passages can sustain me for days. It really is a good pick-me-up for days when you are feeling unmotivated or cynical... I encourage you to read it and share your thoughts!

Ring around the Roses

 Cardigan - Nine West

Dress - vintage via Kennedy Holmes

Necklace - somewhere in Korea

Wedges - Charles David

Details, details:

Ok, few more things here. Everyone has their little insecurities and quirks. I am insecure about my hands. Stupid, I know. And certainly not a crippling insecurity, I just wish they weren't so short and stubby (and it certainly doesn't help that I've bit my nails for 20 years... more on that in a bit). So I've kinda hated my hands my whole life (well, except I like that I can blame their stubby fingers for why I was rubbish at the piano as a kid instead of the fact that I didn't practice...)  All through high school and college I wore rings every day to try to pretty them up. When I started working with special needs teens, I stopped wearing them because I didn't want to accidentally scratch one of the kids. So for the past 6 years, I haven't worn rings. I decided it's time to bring the rings back, just because I never accessorize my outfits with much jewelry so I'll just wear rings all the time! The hands in question:

(I've been waiting to do this post until that huge burn on my left hand stopped looking like the chemical kiss burn from Fight Club, but well it's been 12 days and I figured it wasn't THAT gross looking anymore... I burnt it when I was heat-setting a million t-shirts for the museum gig)

So I've been wearing that silver square ring on my left hand (I made it in high school in art class) and the rose ring on my right hand (yes, I enjoy mixing silver and gold, it's a vintage Avon ring). Then about 6 weeks ago, Sarah from LuShae Jewelry emailed me to see if I would be interested in doing a jewelry review. She said, pick out a piece for free then good, bad, or ugly, just write your honest opinion on the store and the piece. They have super cute rings, pendants, bracelets, and earrings, but I went with a ring, a ring named "Christine's Peridot Ring"...  fate!

It's my name, it's my birthstone (though they have this design with many stones to choose from), and my birthstone is also my favorite color! It arrived super fast in a cute little box and I have to say, I LOVE IT! I have worn it for the past 6 weeks, banging it around the airport and Korea, while screenprinting and washing my hands 50 times a day at work and it still looks like the day I got it! Sparkly and new! So wahoo to them! Two thumbs up from this lady!

Anywhoodle, here's the plan: I am going to stop biting my nails. Day one. I've quit before, for up to 6 months at a time, but after 20 years it's so ingrained in me, I don't even notice when I'm doing it. So, wish me luck, I'll update you from time to time. But I REALLY need to stop it. Now.

Stealing J. Crew

Some days I am "inspired by" outfits, I'm thinking this one is pretty much a direct rip-off. Eh, sometimes I am just too tired to lay out an outfit the night before...

 Hold on lady, gimme that outfit:

Oxford - inherited from  aunt, Polo Ralph Lauren

T-shirt - Target

Necklace - thrifted

Belt - thrifted

Skirt - DKNY

Shoes - Jessica Simpson

Alright kids, send brave/bitchy vibes my way... I need to go work up the nerve to talk to one of the construction foremen by my house... I have FOUR cracks in my walls from them replacing my windows (and a slice mark from a saw in my drywall) and now there are SEVEN dents in my BRAND NEW, TWO WEEK OLD RED DOOR. I am going to be making additional monthly payments (in addition to my mortgage and association fee) for the next TEN YEARS on these improvements, and they are already ruined! I am beyond irritated, but sooooo not the type to complain. So wish me luck!

maximum representation

I had the funnest weekend ever and I now I am thoroughly beat-up but happy! Saturday was the Tweed Ride, which was awesome! Everyone dressed up in tweed and smoked pipes and sipped whiskey and generally had old-timey fun!

We biked about 16 miles and stopped at bars and scenic spots along the way! (Although, my friends and I biked about 30 miles total that day, since we also biked to the starting point and then had to bike home when it was all over.) 9 hours of whiskey drinking and I didn't fall off the bike once! Pretty impressive, no?  There was also a "Most Fetching Lady" and "Dapperest Gent" contest... and I won! I am the "Most Fetching Lady" which made me super embarrassed but I won a bottle of whiskey and a hand-made bike tool holder. My friends Tim and Thom (they are twins) had to duke it out for the boys title and Tim won, but both of them MADE THEIR ENTIRE OUTFITS! Look at these boys!  Tim is the one standing next to me - he even made the pants, gaiters, and his hat! Plus look at those cute skull details on his sleeves. Thom had matching skull elbow patches on his jacket. Talented fellows! The other two ladies are my friends Megan and Brittany.

I'll definitely be doing the October ride, and there is even talk of doing a madras/seersucker ride later this summer. Ooh, plus Rachel from Wild Bird Vintage was there, and while we only briefly talked, she seems super cute and nice! Plus, at the last stop of the night, I got "recognized" for the first time by a blog reader! She was super sweet and hopefully it wasn't TOO apparent to her that I had been drinking for 9 hours at that point... that is not my usual Saturday!

Sunday we biked down to see Gogol Bordello at First Avenue. While it will never live up to when I saw them outdoors on a beautiful day last May, it was still super fun! There's nothing like getting jostled around by gypsy punks for a few hours. Ridiculous fun!

Breaking the Law, Breaking the Law

Washing the Dog, Washing the Dog
Oh my, it is terrible that I will always have a soft spot for Beavis and Butt-head in my heart...

Anyway, I am "Breaking the Law" in non-Judas Priest approved fashion in several ways... white before Memorial Day, the stripes are vaguely inmate-ish, wearing brown with black, and there is some controversy at my school about shorts right now and I am wearing them today... accidentally on purpose.

Blazer - thrifted (used to be part of a little boys rental tux)

Shirt - thrifted

Belt - thrifted

Shorts - Old Navy

Shoes - thrifted vintage Candies

Have a fabu weekend, internetz. Assuming it doesn't rain all afternoon I will be going on the Tweed Ride tomorrow, and hopefully be able to bust out my 1940s velvet horse-riding helmet in an attempt to win "Most Fetching Lady". Sunday is GOGOL BORDELLO at First Ave, where hopefully I will not injure myself from excessive jumping and dancing... again.

Sleeping beauty

I have not slept hardly at all this week and I accidentally fell asleep on the couch watching last week's Glee around 6pm and woke up at 3am and was so confused! Oops? Hopefully I am all caught up on sleep now and will regain some brain function.

Cardigan - thrifted Old Navy

Dress - Rodarte for Target

Necklace - etsy (www.pangs.etsy.com)

Belt - from another dress

Shoes - Chinese Laundry

Guh, now I've just got to tackle that never-ending To Do List... it was nice putting everything off in favor of screenprinting every day for a while, but back to reality I go. Bills, deadlines, insurance paperwork, etc, here I come!

P.S. Project Runway finale tonight, although I don't particularly love any of the three remaining designers... I was all for Maya and Jay the whole season, and now they are both gone! I guess I am rooting for Seth Aaron, since Mila just seems so cold and I'm tired of her drab black and I can't ever forgive Emilio for this:

So, go Seth Aaron I guess, because you are another Jeffrey (who I loved!)

Buttoned-up pin-up

Hooray! Went to my first Twins game at their new outdoor stadium last night! And they won 5-1! And my favorite pitcher (Kevin Slowey, who gives me major lady-boners BTW) had an amazing game!

Kevin Slowey picture stolen from Typos in the Key of E from flickr (aka my friend Brooke)


It was super-dee-duper (yes, I totally just threw down a Barney reference, you wanna make somethin' of it?)

Didn't think so. Surf on.

Hair scarf - thrifted

Cardigan - the dawn of time itself (or 8th grade... if I had to guess I'd say it's from Pacific Sunwear?)

Dress - thrifted

Shoes - Juicy Couture

There is something about this (the hair scarf and polka dots?) that reminds me of old school pin-ups, just um, work appropriate.

On a totally unrelated note, people of the world, be nice to bikers. Share the road. Don't spit at them. When they are in the bike lane.  Yeah, it was a interesting bike ride back from the Twins game... go back to the 'burbs drunken dickholes.

Over the moon!

Sorry for the absence yesterday, I needed a day off because it was the craziest weekend! In the best possible way! On Friday night I was up until like 4am heat-setting shirts for my t-shirt sale at the Walker Art Center. I felt weird because earlier that day I finally got my windows replaced by the construction dudes but they hadn't replaced one window yet and still needed to do the screens, so I couldn't put up my blinds. So all my neighbors in my condo complex got a great view of me, ironing for six hours on a Friday night. I'm pretty sure they all think I'm crazy OCD about wrinkles now, but whateves. On Saturday I got up and dragged all my boxes down to the museum and set up shop. And... it went AWESOME! Better than I ever dared hope! I sold a ton of shirts, I ran out of over half my designs, everyone loved my business name and my hand-cut, hand-stamped business cards (apparently I'm really into hard, repetitive work?), and the woman who runs the museum's gift shop said that she will email me because they are interested in selling my designs on a permanent basis! Wa-hoooooooooo! I was looking forward to a little break from printing shirts, but I already have 12 shirts to print for orders that were placed when I started running out of stock. Oh well, it's a good problem to have!

So here is yesterday ( I took the picture upstairs because the window dudes were downstairs again)

Jean jacket - thrifted

Dress - thrifted Ann Taylor Loft

Belt - thrifted

Shoes - Pierre Hardy for GAP via Geometric Sleep

Today (if you look on my left hand you can see the big burn from where I accidentally touched myself with the iron around 1am on Friday):

T-shirt - Target

Necklace - vintage via Ruby Lane

Belt - thrifted

Jeans - Armani Exchange via consignment

Shoes - Madeline

Today's outfit is all about the gigantic articulated goldfish necklace:

So excited! Tonight I am going to my first MN Twins baseball game at the new outdoor Target Field! About 9 of us are riding bikes down to the stadium and my favorite pitcher is starting tonight! Yay!

eyelet and tweed and "If you can't say something nice... don't say nothing at all."

Ok, for the first time since I started taking outfit photos... I am not on my stairs! The siding, windows, and doors of my condo are finally being replaced today. My house is filled with construction dudes as of 7:20am... I figured they wouldn't arrive till 8:00, so I didn't have time to take a picture at home. So here's me at work (the nurse's office of a K-12 public arts school)

Blouse - thrifted

Vest - thrifted

Pins - mostly thrifted, the turqouise gun is from etsy

Belt - thrifted

Watch - Michael Kors

Jeans - Old Navy

Shoes - Frye

I am a big fan of the "too many pins" look... although I guess I've only done it once before and that was with a million boy/girl scout pins. I am considering wearing this, or a version of it,  to my t-shirt sale at the museum tomorrow... I still don't know what to wear! And I know I'll be up half the night heat-setting shirts, but the boy wants to come over and help, so that will make it faster and more fun!

Ooh, and P.S. I got my first nasty Anonymous commenter today! Hooray! A blogger's rite of passage and it took me nearly two years to get one! A random Anonymous posted on an outfit from last summer to inform me that "I'm sorry but all your costumes are awful!" Yeah, awfully awesome! Later hater! Thumper is disappointed in you.

Fine and Dandy - a very special shorts suit

Yesterday, on The Cohabitating Closet I was inspired by an outfit featuring an exceptionally rad shorts suit (and the photos of Angus Young just cemented the idea in my brain!) She said she was inspired by E. from Academichic who was discussing shorts suits. So, it's like a game of telephone, trickling down the internet! Want to play? Go put on a blazer and shorts! For my interpretation I put on a pretty voluminous silk top with silk roses at the neckline to make it a bit more feminine. I'm totally going to do this again though, and really play up the schoolboy aspect. I love the look!

 Blazer - thrifted little boys tux jacket from a rental place

Shirt - Cynthia Rowley (which I should have taken a detail shot of, guh...)

Shorts - thrifted The Limited

Bangles - all thrifted

Shoes - Jessica Simpson

A few days ago, reader Emily asked for a few shots of the photos going up my stairs. They were kinda hard to get pictures of, just because of the stairway, but here you go!

In college I took a photography class. No, not a digital photography class. A film and noxious chemicals photography class, and this was my final project. It is 25 photographs of circles, cut down into squares and mounted in black. It was originally displayed in the gallery so the images were arranged in a 5 x 5 square. The photos are of: the end of a railing with the anarchy symbol graffitied on, a fisheye mirror, a waffle iron, an ashtray full of cigarettes, a clothes dryer, a garbage can bottom, a basement grate, a cat's eye from a bar's logo, the head portion of a bike rack shaped like a person, a sign written in French telling you not to park blocking the door, a piece of wood patching a hole on an old door, a stripped mattress spring, a part of a gas line, the center of a sunflower, the speaker end of an old payphone, a round boombox, a bowl of cheerios, a decorative tin plate, a drainpipe full of dead leaves, a sink drain, a burner on a stove, the fan on a lawnmower, a record, and the top of a lantern.

I totally wish I had access to a dark room, developing photos is so rad.

God save the McQueen

Image courtesy of AlexanderMcQueen.com

I don't thrift the trends, the trends copy my thrift finds

I've had this dress all winter, but it just seemed like more of a spring kinda dress. Then I saw this new Dear Creatures dress all over the internet, and I figured it was time to bust this one out. I was considering cutting the sleeves off it, but decided it's going up for sale in my etsy later this week! Still need to earn some dough after that trip to Korea!

Dress - thrifted

Shoes - thrifted vintage Candies

P.S. I am totally wearing shorts that are the same length as the dress - it seemed too short to be working around children in!

Image courtesy of ModCloth

Not bad, eh? And I assure you, my dress cost waaaaaaaaaaay less than that $130 number... thrift the trends kids, especially since most of the trends this year are vintage inspired anyway!

EDIT: Ok, so I wound up wearing it tucked in most of the day... it still just felt like my dress was too short for work, so I turned it into a cute top!

Block party style

I feel like I belong in a photo from a late '70s block party in this outfit...

Cardigan - thrifted Ann Taylor Loft

Blouse - thrifted

Pants - Calvin Klein

Shoes - Jessica Simpson

Can I take a minute and give some props to these shoes? I bought them at DSW one day when I had a $20 coupon that was expiring the next day. After the coupon, they cost $6. And they are the most comfortable heels I own! I don't know if all her shoes are this good, but I'm willing to give a few more pairs a try after these ones!

So my entire living room is carpeted in t-shirts:

For the Walker Art Center's Local Artist T-shirt Mart!

It's good though. I did inventory on Friday and figured out what sizes of what shirts needed to be printed before this Saturday. I'm super nervous! It's going to be weird to be sitting there in an all white gallery, with a white table, and people will come browse through and be able to come and meet and talk to the artists and buy shirts. It's such a strange thing. I've never really thought of myself as "an artist", because art is not my career, more just a hobby. But, perhaps now that I've got a gig in a modern art museum, I am a "real artist"... IDK, it's a hard thing to pin down. Anyway, I am super nervous about the whole thing - it seems like a lot of the other artists are more "real" than me. Like their t-shirts are their profession. And I'm just a girl, eyeballing t-shirts on her kitchen table. Gaaaa! I don't think I'll be able to sleep at all on Friday and more importantly, what am I going to wear?!?!