The big one

Today.

Is the day.

The day...

I turn 30!

I know, kinda a let-down after the build-up yesterday, as nothing is really changing with the blog. I'm just entering a new decade of life, no biggie. So when eShakti contacted me last week and offered to send me a dress, I immediately started browsing the site, looking for something festive enough for my birthday, but could be worn other days too!

Ding, ding, ding! This dress is the winner!

Dress - c/o eShakti

Bangles - thrifted

Watch - Michael Kors

Shoes - thrifted Candies

I ordered a custom size, and it fits... like a custom size! Perfect! Awesome! And let me tell you folks, these people know how to make a white dress. Ordering a white dress online is a bit of a gamble, a gamble involving slips, tank tops, and nude undergarments, but this bad boy is fully lined so I don't have to fool around with all that jazz! Double awesome! I WILL order from them again. It took less than a week from ordering for a CUSTOM dress to arrive on my doorstep. What am I up to now? Triple amazing? I am beyond impressed and I love that they let you not only customize the sizing of the dress, but you can actually change the neckline, sleeves, hem, etc to make the dress truly your own! So thanks a million, eShakti, you really are an amazing company!

Anyhoodle, I'm out of here. Mohawk Boy is taking me to dinner, then I'm heading off to a local dive bar to meet up with a few dozen friends. Whoopie for my birthday being on a Friday! Later kids! I gotta admit, I think I'm looking pretty good and young for 30 and I'm perfectly happy with where I am with my 30 year old life...

,

           Some old lady

Alive yet lost

Well, I didn't mean to disappear for a week! Over the weekend I went to Marshall, MN (about three hours west of Minneapolis) to meet Mohawk Boy's family. His cousin was getting married, so I accompanied him to the wedding. It was actually pretty fun and his family is really cool. 

Worn to take my disabled buddy Daniel to the arboretum, an annual excursion for us!

 Necklace - thrifted vintage
Dress - thrifted Target
Sandals - thrifted Candies

 Huge roots sculptures everywhere...

Every year, we get hopelessly lost in the hedge maze...

Worn to do nothing but sit around with Mohawk Boy...

Necklace - thrifted vintage

Oxford - hand-me-down from my aunt (Mark, Fore, & Strike brand)

Shorts - Lucca Couture

Shoes - thrifted Talbots

 

Jean jacket - thrifted GAP Kids (overbleached by me)

Polo - from when I was a bev cart girl at a golf course

Watch - Michael Kors

Skirt - thrifted Ralph Lauren

Sandals - Old Navy

Alright dudes, I'll be back tomorrow with some big news and a new dress, especially for the news!

Noooo! Summer! Don't leave me!

Only two more days of summer school left! Then I have two weeks off before the school year starts! While I'm usually ready to get back to a more "normal" schedule and certainly excited to have my regular paychecks again, I'm just not ready for summer to be over yet! Though I've done most of the things on my "summer to-do" list in terms of fun... I just need to hit up the drive-in and maybe another mini-golf place. But otherwise can't complain about a summer full of biking, pool parties, BBQs, baseball and weddings.

Worn to the Pizza Luce Block Party and my friend Matt's BBQ...

 Blouse - thrifted little boys Cherokee
Skirt - American Apparel
Sandals - Linea Paolo

The first graders in my summer "Global Cultures" class had a special guest today, our school's new teacher who just moved here from China! Fascinating!

Cardigan - Target
Dress - thrifted, handmade
Shoes - Madeline

Hot Pink Eyebrows (it happened)

Saturday I worked yet another wedding for the photo booth and decided to get a bit... creative? With my eyebrows?

 Lipstick + q-tip + eyebrow = awesome. In a very Cyndi Lauper way.

Glasses - Prada

Dress - thrifted, handmade

Brooch - thrifted

Sandals - Rampage, DIY by me

Sandal DIY inspired by those awesome Miu Miu glittery boots:

Before:

 Add glue:

 Dump on glitter:

 When dry, spray with clear gloss and then wear! So far the glitter has stuck!

Hooray for sparkles! And pink eyebrows!

and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!

Yes, that title is an old Simpson's Treehouse of Horror reference... from when Kang and Kodos body-snatch Bob Dole and Bill Clinton. I am awesome, FYI.

The twirlability factor of this skirt: high.

Ruffled blouse - thrifted
Bracelets - thrifted
Skirt - secondhand from The Garment District in Boston (elevensies brand)
Shoes - Naughty Monkey

On Thursday nights, after I drop off my special-needs buddy, I haul ass to The Eagle (a gay bar) to watch Project Runway as it should be watched... sitting in judgement with a cocktail while making bitchy comments and doing Michael Kors impressions with a bunch of hilarious gentlemen friends. And occasionally wearing shortalls:

 Tank - Alicia Lawhon
Bracelets - I made them obsessively in H.S.
Overalls - thrifted (sorry, no tags)
Sandals - thrifted vintage Candies

If I was Michael Kors and being a bitch, I would say that these shoulder doilies are one candy dish of lemon drops away from making me your grandma's end table:

 I have a JAR of these little beaded bracelets that I made in high school. Decided to bust some out:

O HAI 1997, I have missed you and your bracelets. Now let's go listen to some Spice Girls and Jewel songs.

I myself am strange and unusual.

It's summer. It's hot and I only work 4 hours a day... so while I will provide you with some "work" outfits, here is how I look most days. Standing in the pool, reading a book, with an mp3 player clipped in my turban. Hmm, now I know why I have a reputation among my neighbors that I am "mysterious"...

Some day when it was still approx. 1 million degrees:

Dress - Romeo & Juliet Couture ($2 from crazy outlet store)
Sandals - Target

My beloved plain black Charles David wedge sandals bit the dust after 12 years and many good times... here's hoping these are a sufficient replacement:

Looking like a box of BooBerry cereal:

Cardigan - Old Navy
Tank - little boys Fruit of the Loom
Skirt - thrifted vintage (Yes, THAT SKIRT)
Shoes - thrifted Nine West

My love for thin oxford shirts is deep. And undying.

 Blouse - thrifted Koret of California
Necklace - DIY (beads from Jo-Ann Fabrics)
Jeans - Old Navy
Shoes - thrifted Deegow Boutique

 Sorry kids, I spent the last hour swearing at Flickr, trying to edit out my constant red-eye in every photo and thus am out of time for today. Until tomorrow!

Zombies, Impressing parents, Pastels

Yes, I have Zombie Morning Face, deal with it.

Tank - Old Navy

Belt - thrifted

Skirt - thrifted

Sandals - thrifted Nine West

What I wore on the last day of summer school (well, the first session). The first graders from my "Global Cultures" class put on a program to show their families and other students what they learned... so I dressed extra conservative.

 Cardigan - Target
Tank - Old Navy
Skirt - thrifted in Florida 10 yrs ago
Sandals - Seychelles

Some really hot day... I generally only bust out the pastels when it reaches 100 or so...

Blouse - thrifted Tom Boy of California
Shorts - thrifted Riders
Sandals - Soda

I'm leaving today with my sister and her husband to go back to Wisconsin for the weekend. After 31 years and much consideration, my sister has decided to grow a wang. A tiny wang in her uterus. So off to the big family baby shower! Yay!

Heat Wave, Tennis, Not Halloween

Ok, I don't want to just drop a bunch of photos on you and run, so I'm gonna start posting a few days a week again. I'm working summer school at a different art school and it is the only 3 weeks of the year I drive to work. I love biking to work and taking the bus is better than fighting traffic to get downtown in rush hour, but I gotta admit, these three weeks are pretty sweet. I can sleep in later and still get there on time, so I should be better about posting for a few weeks now.

Ugh, some insanely hot and humid day:

Tank - Target

Necklaces - thrifted

Skirt - Old Navy

Sandals - Frye

If you've got the time machine, I've got a perfect '80s tennis dress, a racquet, and mediocre skillz:

Dress - thrifted R&R Sports

Sandals - Sketchers

I find it near impossible to wear orange anywhere near black, but this worked (especially awesome because it was yet another heat wave day and wearing a loose silk dress pretty much rocks):

Necklaces - one is thrifted, one from Kohl's

Dress - thrifted Nine West

Sandals - Chinese Laundry

Ok kids, I'll be back soon! In the mean time, know I am spending a lot of time at the pool, updating the etsy, and running around with Mohawk Boy!

Photo booth style files (13)

Another Saturday, another wedding... I do really love working weddings though! Everyone is so happy! Plus it's fun to see all the dresses and flowers and whatnot. 

Glasses - thrifted (lenses replaced)

Necklace - thrifted

Dress - Free People

Shoes - Nicole (hand-me-down from a friend)