I quit

Whelp, it's been FIVE YEARS since I started this blog. Crazy! And I'm ready to commit to something I should have long ago... I'm done with new clothes. I've always been a thrifter and garage saler and always avoided even secondhand things from Forever 21, Charlotte Russe, H&M, Zara etc... Buuuut I'd pick up new jeans or tees here and there (usually Target, Gap, or J.Crew). Or buy a new dress to attend a wedding, or buy a fancy designer item to reward myself once in a while, whatever. But I've got a big enough wardrobe, and take good enough care of it, and good enough care of myself so it continues to fit that I think I can do it. I can still thrift and there are certain things (like running shoes, tights, underwear, etc.) that just have to be new. But otherwise, I'm done. I just can't justify slave labor, child labor, unsafe working conditions, and loss of life for a $10 shirt. And it's exhausting sending myself into an existencial crisis every time I set foot in a store. So no more brand new things. I don't want to contribute to the endless cycle of consumption and trends at such a high cost to the environment and people's lives. So I'm done. FOREVER. Well, I hope! 

Some faves of the past year... and watch me slowly age...

And of course, my favorite day of all... Halloween...

Discs

I can't call these "studded shoulders" as they're not studs, they're discs. "Disced shoulders?" I'm making it a thing.

Shirt - some boutique in Seoul, Korea

Scarf - Target

Watch - Michael Kors

Cropped pants - Target

Shoes - Ralph Lauren

OMG, I had to go buy black pants and black tennis shoes for my new summer job yesterday (yeah, I didn't own black pants. Haven't for years.) I'll thrift a couple more pairs of pants when I have time but I wanted to just go find a pair with no long search because I've got to start work tomorrow. So I went to Old Navy. I have not been in a "mall-type" store in YEARS. It was depressing. It smelled like plastic and there were just rows and rows and rows of the same shit in every size and every color and it just made me think of how all this crap is gonna be in a landfill. Buy your polka dot jeans today, for tomorrow we die.

I bought my stupid $20 pants any way but it reminded me of why I pretty much only shop at thrift stores (yeah, and the occasional basics like jeans and tees from Target or J.Crew). You could really outfit an army of trend monsters in that store and made me want to stop shopping for new things all together. It wouldn't be hard, 90% of what I own is thrifted anyway, it's just so hard to find pants and shoes at thrift shops, especially when you need them today, so I get lazy! 

Oh the irony. Nothing I'm wearing is thrifted today, for the first time probably ever.

But it's one of those things that is easy to make excuses for... I bought this shirt on vacation, so it gets a pass. This scarf was $6 and I'll wear it forever. This watch was my reward for getting my dream job! I needed black shoes for the photo booth because my last pair (which were my sister's hand-me-downs from 14 years ago fell apart finally!) Sigh, one day I'll stop with the excuses and stop buying things new. Just not today, I guess.

P.S. Being hard on myself for no reason is one of my favorite hobbies, apparently.

Bitch, please

A bitchy shirt, to go with my bitchy dress... the collection is slowly growing. I'll be a full-fledged bitch before you know it.

Necklace - thrifted vintage

Blouse - thrifted Hilfiger

Skirt - thrifted vintage (no tags)

Tights - Target

Shoes - Bakers

Detail shot so you can appreciate the bitchy print and my necklace, made of the finest gold. Ok, so it's not gold. It's vintage so it's probably made of plastic that's now known to cause cancer.

It's good I look like a bitch today, I need it! Work has been crazy lately. My only co-worker (who only works part time anyway) is on bed rest for six weeks because she's pregnant. And she's taking six months off after the baby comes. She's already been gone for 2.5 weeks and it's starting to wear on me. Doing two people's work while still getting paid the same sad, sad public school salary (I make less than a teacher - thus all my extra jobs) is frustrating. Plus I basically am not allowed to get sick or take a day off because no one else who works here is qualified to do my job and it's near impossible to get a substitute for this position without a few weeks notice. Hopefully they are hiring someone soooooooon and until then, I'll be chained to my desk, occasionally lightly hitting my head against the wall in frustration.

P.S. Aaaaaaand just as I was rereading this post to make sure it doesn't have any glaring errors, one of my autistic students came in because she needed a break. And to talk about a little neighbor boy she hung out with dying in a car accident last week. She showed me his favorite Yu-Gi-Oh card, that his mom gave her after he died and that she now wears around her neck in an i.d. pouch. And I realized I can't complain. I love my job. Shitty pay and all. And that we're all just lucky to be alive today. 

Damnit, this post started out funny about how bitchy I look and my potentially toxic necklace and it reaaaaaaally took a turn there. Sorry! This is my life. I've always said, if my office floor didn't have a drain in it, I'd have drown in the tears of children long ago. 

Welcome, this is a farmhouse.

Today...

Sweater - thrifted vintage Kentfield Classics

Jeans - Gap

Shoes - Plenty by Tracy Reese

Whenever I look at this sweater all I see is Hershel's farm and clearly that's a zombie sitting by the tree. If you watched season two of The Walking Dead, that sentence would kinda make sense.

More 30 day Post-It Note drawings...

Day four, draw your favorite place. I picked my kitchen because that where I screenprint t-shirts and cook! My two favorite things!

Day five, draw your best friends. I kinda cheated on this one because I didn't feel like drawing people, so I drew some inside jokes and nicknames.

Day six, draw your favorite book. This one was hard. I'm not a "favorites" kinda person, I'm too fickle! But Vonnegut is my favorite author for sure, and this was the first book of his that I read. I'm not sure it's my favorite but I do looooooove it. Also the book has nothing to do with cats or cradles but it is called Cat's Cradle. 

On a personal/political note, MN voted on an amendment yesterday that would have put a ban on gay marriage in our state constitution. I am thrilled to say it was not passed! We don't have gay marriage yet but that was a step in the right direction! Aaaaaaand as a result, I might have been woo-hooing down an alley with a gay friend and two lesbian neighbors. Sorry if we woke you. :) One of my good friends is the director of a non-profit that was fighting the amendment and he also happens to be gay. Last Tuesday, his mom, who lives out of state, had a heart attack. As he was trying to figure out travel to go see her, she called and said "don't come, you've got work to do. Because as much as I'd love to see you now, I'd rather get to see you get married one day." Annnnnnd let's all cry now. P.S. His mother is out of the hospital now and doing fine! And now that the amendment is denied, he can go visit! Woo-hoo indeed.

Knee high hiking boots

Just as one of the first and surest signs of fall is an instagrammed photo of a pumpkin latte on every other blog, the annual appearance of my crazy Timberland boots means fall is here. I'll continue to bring my own black coffee to work, thankyouverymuch. I've only been to Starbucks maybe 3 times? ever in my life. And I got crappy black coffee then too. I know what I like and it sure isn't a "coffee" that has more in common with a milkshake. I honestly do enjoy bad coffee. Greasy diners, oil change places, gas stations. Terrible, terrible coffee. So good.

Cardigan - thrifted Target sample

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

Necklace - thrifted

Skirt - American Apparel

Boots - Timberland

I got my flu shot at work yesterday afternoon, so I tried to take it easy after work. I went to the post office to mail some etsy stuff (which was crazy, I forgot it was Columbus day so the automated computer postal mailer thing was just overflowing with packages!), and then Nate and I watched some Curb your Enthusiasm. Larry David always makes me feel better about the fact that I'm such a curmudgeon (see earlier fancy coffee hate-rant.) I'm a grouchy old man at heart (speaking of which - Grumpy Old Men - such a goooooood movie. Nate and I watch it all the time! I love all the Minnesota jokes and anything involving Walter Matthau.)

Green, green grass

Since I'll be hiding indoors (or at least away from all crowds) for St. Patrick's Day, which has been kidnapped and turned into the douchiest of all holidays, I figured I'd bust out the bright green a bit early today!

Glasses - thrifted vintage, lenses replaced
Jean jacket - thrifted Gap Kids, over-bleached by me
Dress - thrifted vintage handmade
Bangles - thrifted, garage sales, flea markets, etc
Shoes - thrifted Nine West

It's "Pi Day" (3.14) so I guess you're supposed to eat pie today to celebrate... Unfortunately I don't like pie. I don't consider myself a picky eater, but I am VERY particular about fruit. I love fruit, when it's fruit. Plain, raw fruit. I do not want you to bake it or puree it with sugar to make a jelly or jam or sauce or swirl it into ice cream. I never have, even as a kid I hated jelly and fruit Pop Tarts and pies. Even smoothies (which I make every weekday) are not allowed to have anything but fruit, juice, veggies, and ice. No yogurt or milk or whatever. Just fruit, veggies and ice. 

I don't know what it is, it's the one weird eating habit from childhood that I can't get over. If I'm at someone's house and they make a pie, I will eat it. I will hate it but I will eat it so that I'm not rude (except for my very best friends who know about my weird fruit thing and would never expect me to eat it). The only thing I like involving fruit, other than raw fruit is banana bread. No idea why. Anyone else have odd rules about fruit? Sorry, that was a helluva Pi Day tangent...