mini-break holiday!

Went camping over the weekend, which was pretty fun. 15 friends (including two who flew in for the occasion) and I went up to Lake Mille Lacs (about 2 hours away) to have a camping/wedding/sailing weekend! There were many campfires, cocktails, and croquet:

and a wedding:

and sailing:

and very little sleep! Sooo much fun! My friends who got married have been together for 10 years and are moving to North Carolina so he can do autism research with his newly earned PhD in August. So basically, they needed to finally get married for insurance purposes while she looks for a job out there. But, they also wanted to and were ready to and have already owned a house together for years, the move just gave them the final push to make it official. It was pretty adorable.  I've only been in MPLS for like 2 days this whole summer, but tonight I am going to a Twins vs. Tigers game, so I'm excited! I'll probably change first, since I don't think I'll wear this to the game:

Shirt - Bitten by SJP

Fish pendant - thrifted

Skirt - thrifted Petite Sophisticate

Shoes - DSW

Bye kids! I'll be back with more to report soon! Then I'll start working summer school and can finally catch up on reading and commenting on all your blogs again... all my mini-vacations are fun, but I do  miss you blog-o-sphere!

(mis)adventures: the good, the bad, and the ugly

I'm alive. Here's proof:

Shirt - eBay

Skirt - thrifted 

Socks - Target

Shoes - Chinese Laundry

This shirt is my little homage to Miu Miu... I was pretty excited when I found it on eBay for $20! It was my end-of-the-school-year gift to myself!

Well, I went to go visit the parental units in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for a week and a half. It was really nice to be there for so long. Usually I'm home for Thanksgiving or Christmas and it's just this whirlwind of relatives and I'm so busy the whole time. It was nice to be able to actually spend time with my family for once. I got to hang out with Tory, my brudder...

Oh yeah, look at him rocking one of my t-shirts... he also helped to remind me why I never, ever, under any circumstances do shots. Guh, it has been years since I did a shot, and I will hopefully never do another one.

I also got to work with my mom!

She's a second grade teacher (actually she just retired this year!!), but in the summers she has a concession stand at the local ball field. It was so fun and cute to work there, selling snacks and drinks to the tee-ball and baseball kids. I went to my aunt's birthday party so I got to see some of the extended fam too.

My great-aunt said she had some stuff she wanted to give me, since she knows I like vintage and antiques. She said she had a winter coat I could have, that used to belong to my grandma, but she doesn't wear it so I could have it. She pulled out a grey and black Victorian style coat for me to try on and as I grabbed the collar to try it on, I saw it...

That's right. Comme des Garçons.  This coat has been worn by not one, but two octogenarians. Hilarious. I'll show you pictures of the coat itself this winter, I left it at my parents for now since I'll see them again before it gets cold. My great aunt also gave me this rug, which was made by her grandmother's sisters in Norway. So my great-great-great aunts sheared the sheep, spun the yarn, dyed the yarn using natural dyes, and then wove it on a loom.

Isn't is amazing?? Well, I also did a bunch of thrifting and went to a few flea markets and antique stores. I came back yesterday, so I could go to my book club meeting (we read Parrot and Olivier in America and it was SO good!) In hour four of my six hour drive, I was screaming singing along to the music and suddenly I heard this crazy loud scraping noise! I pulled over to the shoulder and was faced with this:

As semi trucks screamed past me on the highway, I called my dad to let him know the "doo-hickey jobber thing" that holds up my muffler broke. I had no choice but to drive to the next exit and try to get it fixed or strapped up. Since I was in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin, the next exit was in NINE miles.  Nine embarrassing miles of dragging later, and two car repair shops later, I found a sweet mechanic who agreed to fix it.

So I should be back to semi-regular posting and commenting, I'm so behind! But I will also be doing more traveling (South Dakota and Washington D.C.) and wandering this summer, so it will be sporadic. This weekend 18 of my friends and I are going camping! And two of them are getting married while we're there, but shhh! It's a secret!

Taking "Old school" to a whole 'nother level

One of my high school students said to me "Miss Christine, what ARE you wearing?" to which I replied "Yeah, I got a little old school style today."  He informed me "You taking that to a whole 'nother level, old school?!?  More like one-room-school-house style. Little house on the prairie style." This is also one of my students who is constantly asking me to take him shopping, cause in his words "Girlie got styles for miles." Oh my, I'm gonna miss these kids this summer...

Dress - thrifted
Bow tie - thrifted
Socks - Target
Shoes - Bakers, like 10 years ago

It is the last day of school! Huzzah! I love this job, but after the past nine months, my patience is running thin. After seeing 4,500ish students this year, I just can't muster up any more sympathy for your paper cut. It's me time. Time to get selfish. Time to fall asleep by the pool mid-day and sip beers watching baseball at night. Bring it on, summer.

Step right up, folks!

I feel like a carny today (or ringmaster)... which usually happens when I wear this jacket...

Jacket - thrifted Luella for Target
Dress - thrifted Converse sample
Shoes - L.A.M.B

I assure you that the dress is NAVY, not black, but that still might be kinda cheating in Sal's Black Out Week. However, the jacket just looked double crazy with a cream or red dress.

Originally marked $365, I got these L.A.M.B. wedges at Off Sak's Fifth Avenue on super-clearance this winter for $40... it's sad that they were almost 90% off and I still thought they were pricey!

Last night I spent like 3 hours taking 122 pictures of myself for an etsy update... I also put some stuff that's been in the shop a while on sale. It took so long to do the pictures that I didn't have time to list anything yet! Coming soon (and more!)...

Boot-scoot itchy

With the ridiculous three outfit posting yesterday, I totally forgot to post that I'm doing Sal's Summer Black-Out this week. Which is easy for me, since I don't wear much black, especially in the summer. I am not as gung-ho as Sal is though, I can't commit to it for the whole summer!

Not gonna lie, I totally wore cowboy boots today to hide the approx. 4,000 mosquito bites on my ankles....

Dress - thrifted and shortened
Boots - eBay
Bracelet - somewhere in Jamaica

This was sooooooo a mid-1990s stay-at-home-mom kinda dress... I hacked a ton of length off the bottom because I liked it's little collar and pleating. I think I'm gonna shorten it a few more inches but guh, I don't feel like blind-hemming it again. BUT! Only two more days of school and I'll have plenty of time for sewing projects. Hooray summer!

Casual, Fancy, Ahoy!

I try to only do one outfit per post, but since blogger was being a biatch on Sunday night until yesterday afternoon, I've got three for you!

Monday:

Blouse - thrifted
Skirt - thrifted Ralph Lauren
Sandals - Old Navy

Monday night I had to go to a fake wedding photo shoot for some friends who own a Traveling Photo Booth company. Here is my fake wedding attire, which was the dress I wore on New Year's Eve:

Dress - Donna Ricco (got it 80% off at the crazy outlet store by my house!)
Necklace - thrifted
Shoes - Tracy Reese via Gilt

And today! Where I got a little nautical on this rainy, rainy day...

Necklace - thrifted

Cardigan - thrifted Ann Taylor LOFT
White tank - little boys Fruit of the Loom

Pins - anchor is thrifted, other two from eBay

Skirt - vintage via www.pangs.etsy.com

Shoes - thrifted 9 West Brazil

The little buddies:

Ok, that is all because that was too many pictures for one post! Have a fabu day kids!

Questions Tag

from La Fille D'or

1.What shoe size are you?

7.5

2.Where do you work?

In the nurse's office of a K-12 public arts school... it pretty much rules.

3.Favorite piece of clothing you own

I would have to pick my Alexander McQueen skirt, he was my favorite designer, and I totally cried when he died. :(

4.Your favorite blog?

All the blogs on my blog roll... I read all of them every day.

5.Do you have any pets?

Nope, unless you count the spiders that live in my car?

6.How many siblings do you have?

Two - an older sister, Kim, and a younger brother, Tory. I totally have middle child syndrome.

7.If you could live anywhere where would it be?

The Dominican Republic - the time I spent there volunteering in an orphanage there was so awesome. The people were amazing, the weather was perfect (although it wasn't hurricane season when I was there), the country is beautiful and I love speaking Spanish!

8.What were you doing before this?

Watching 30 Rock while sewing a skirt.

9.Your favorite food?

Good bread. I'm carb crazy.

10.Do you have a middle name?

Lee

11.Your favorite websites?

http://chairwhore.blogspot.com

I just really like chairs. I'm constantly dragging thrifted ones over to the boys house.

12.Who do you tag?

Your mom.

Ummm, if you guys have any other pressing questions, feel free to add them in the comments and I'll reply!

Farewell Blanche...

Dorothy: Wait, Blanche, honey, aren't you forgetting something?
Blanche: Oh, no, I never wear underwear.
............................................................................................................................
Blanche: I do love the rain so. It reminds me of my first kiss...
Dorothy: Ah, your first kiss was in the rain?
Blanche: No, it was in the shower.
...........................................................................................................................
Blanche: What do you think of my new dress? Is it me?
Sophia:  It's too tight, it's too short and shows too much cleavage for a woman your age.
Dorothy: Yes, Blanche. It's you!

The Golden Girls was one of my favorite shows growing up, and I still watch it almost every night while going to bed. I remember getting to see the house when I was in Florida in 6th grade as a part of Disney's Hollywood Studios. Anyway, today I decided to throw on my best '80s dress and act like I'm on the lanai...

Dress - thrifted Joy Gordon, shortened by me (just like Blanche would do! Make it shorter!)
Belt - thrifted
Shoes - Charles David

(Yes, I had to take a picture at work again due to the construction dudes in my condo)

I am excited for a relaxing weekend! Last weekend was fun but it was still a lot of running around getting stuff for different parties and BBQs and whatnot. This weekend I am doing nothing but biking, baseball, and hanging out by the pool (I hope!) Only one week of school left! I found a job - the nurse who was supposed to work summer school isn't doing it anymore, so I'll be there from 8am to 12pm! That's it! EVERY summer I have worked like 40 hours a week waitressing and bartending, so this will be such a relaxing summer. I'll pick up some extra hours with my special needs buddy, but otherwise I'll be putting all my energy into my etsy! Yay!

Gimme your hilarious anecdotes

I'm always torn on how personal to get on this blog. I don't want to throw every little thing out there, but some days, like today, something big and sad happens to someone I love and it's all I can think about. Something very sad happened to a very little peanut, and while it wasn't my peanut, I was planning on stealing the peanut often for the rest of my life and teaching it about The Rolling Stones and Nirvana, the wonder that is breakfast for dinner, and why I love Back to the Future so much. Farewell, peanut.

Blouse - thrifted, Quatre-Franc brand
Belt - thrifted
Skirt - vintage via www.pangs.etsy.com

Shoes - Frye

Gaa! Adorable sailor style mystery shirt, you bother me so! I've Googled the brand and I can't find anything out! Where and when are you from and why did you have such massive shoulderpads??

So let's focus on fun and silly things, because there is nothing you can do about the sad things that have already happened. Funny thing #1:

This duck couple, skinny dipping in my pool at 6am. Get outta there you pervs, no pooping in the pool!

So please, tell me something funny that has happened to you recently! Pretty please, I hate being sad!

One grey day

 Dress - thrifted Isaac Mizrahi for Target Sample
Leggings - ??? some department store?
Shoes - MIA

This exceptionally tired-faced look is courtesy of two inconvieniences...

#1 Construction dude pounding on my door as I was taking this photo to inform me that although it was supposed to be finished last Friday, they need to come in to my condo and readjust my balcony door again today. Which is fine, except they said they were finishing it on Friday, so I finally moved all my crap back into place over the weekend... I only took one photo this morning and spent the next 10 minutes moving a dresser and rearranging my bedroom yet again. Assholes. If you didn't finish on Friday, like your note said you were going to, then WRITE ANOTHER NOTE TELLING ME YOU DIDN'T FINISH. Guh.

#2 Last night I was having a dream about a bug. I woke up and there was a beetle like an inch from my face on the bed! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Not even like a little Japanese beetle or ladybug or whatever, a BIG crunchy beetle. So I destroyed him and then spent the rest of the night feeling itchy all over and having dreams about bedbugs, spiders and their HATCHING EGGSACKS and other disturbing things. I love bugs, but not in my bed at 3am.

I haven't worn this dress since last summer, when I decided it was The Cutest Dress Ever. It is however, too short for work so I broke down and threw on some leggings... I can't wait to wear this with a tan and bare legs though...

P.S. Slowly but surely, I am continually updating the etsy.

Like orange jello

My brain feels like pudding today... which means I had way too much fun this weekend. Saturday my friend Chris turned 30, which involved a really sweet monster truck cake and sitting around having cocktails on the porch until 4am. It was fun but also sad because he is moving to New York in three weeks. He is the boy's roommate and one of my best friends so it's depressing that he is leaving (along with my friend Brittany who is leaving in August to go to nursing school in Maryland and my friend Jason who is leaving in August to go do autism research in North Carolina now that he finished his PhD.) Crazy! Oh well, at least I have plenty of places to visit and stay on the east coast now. Sunday the boy and I went for a long bike ride, sat by the pool for a bit, and then went to a BBQ/bonfire. Yesterday was more biking, another BBQ, and watching the movie "Moon", which was weird but good.

Sweater - TJ Maxx?

Shirt - Target

Necklace - thrifted

Skirt - thrifted

Shoes - thrifted Talbots