headsmack

I fail at stuff. Right on the heels of my I'm-taking-a-break-cause-I-kind-of-suck-like-that post, I have a post where I explain that once again, I will be EVEN MORE behind on my 30x30 because of a camera issue wherein all the outfit photos I'd taken over the Thanksgiving holiday and since then have been deleted. The issue is that I am an idiot and accidentally deleted them. I'm going to try and catch up with recreating those outfits I can remember and those I can't, well... I'm just going to pick up right where I'd left off. That'll be fun.
I think a few of you have wrapped up your 30 already. Congrats!! I'll get there, really, I will....

The zoo

My guy is in Florida for a little while and because his dog hasn't been doing so well, I've moved into his place to care for the dog while the guy is away. My own dog gets along well with China but I didn't want to drive back and forth between our places every day to care for my cat as well as the two dogs so I moved the cat in here, too. It's taken a couple of days for everyone to get used to each other but now it seems good. China the Pit Bull ignores Ferris the Cat, who likes to tackle Dr. Evil the Maltipoo, who enjoys wrestling with China the Pit Bull. Sitting on the couch, I can look down the hallway and watch the animals zip back and forth from room to room, like those old movies. First, there's a quick gray flash (Ferris) moving from the guest room to the master bedroom. Seconds later, a slightly fuzzier flash of white (Dr. Evil) follows. There's a smacking sound, sometimes a muffled yelp, then the fuzzy white flash comes barreling out of the master bedroom, followed closely by the quick gray flash and both disappear into the guest room. There is more smacking and yelping and the gray flash is rushing in and out of the hallway again, the white flash just behind him. This happens over and over and is always hilarious, especially when Dr. Evil tries to make a quick turn and ends up skidding along the hardwood floors and crashing into the walls. China does not play the Hallway Game. She waits in the living room until Dr Evil comes rushing past, all giddy with excitement, and then with one swipe of her massive head, she takes him out. Once he's down, China stands over him as he's lying on his back, limbs in the air, and she sort of gums him to death (she's pretty old) while he bats ineffectually at her with his tiny lamb legs. Again, hilarious.
The house is noisy but it's certainly not lonely.

Dr. Evil got a haircut today and he lost about seven inches of girth. He's got a puff of a tail, a puff of a head, and a stick of a body between. My dog is a Q-Tip. When I picked him up from the groomers, I started laughing as soon as I saw him - I wish I could get a picture that really shows just how ridiculous and adorable he looks - and throughout the day, whether I'm walking him or watching him play with (get mauled by) the other animals, I keep laughing at him. He's gonna end up with a complex.

So, like, I was... Erm...

I took a day off, I admit it right away. Thursday, I wasn't working, I had nowhere to go, nothing to do, didn't want to waste an entire outfit, wore jeans and a t-shirt and played video games. It was nice and I got pretty far along on my current quest (those Super-Mutants are not so easy to kill. I'm having troubles with dose guys.). Friday, I was back on board, put together my outfit, took pictures (ok, one picture but still, I took it), Saturday, still going strong... Forgot to take pictures. So here's the thing: I've got nothing to prove to anyone but myself but I'm so competitive that even when I'm competing with myself, I freak out if I mess up. I'm actually annoyed right now that I put together a challenge outfit and forgot to photograph it. That's kind of sad, isn't it? I really shouldn't worry this much about these things. It may take a little of the fun out of it.
That's it, really. A sort of explanation/confession.
I'll put the photos of the Friday outfit and maybe a drawing of the yesterday outfit up later - I've got to make dinner now and I want to have time to look through the blogs of a few of the other challengers. I love seeing what you guys are doing with your thirty - it's so inspirational!

I covet these things

I love me some sparklies. Much like a crow, I am drawn to whatever glitters, be it sequins, diamonds, or glitter. I don't have nearly enough sparkle in my wardrobe and I decided that my Christmas gift to myself is going to be a sequined dress.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to get this one:Pretty, right? It's sparkly but the sequins are covered with a mesh overlay so it isn't obnoxious. It covers most of my tattoos and with black tights, my conservative family will have nothing to be scandalized about while I can wear it out and about after the holidays and be all Legs McTinyskirt.
Still, I wanted to make sure all my bases were covered so when I found out about Boutiques.com, Googles new shopping site, I created an account, entered my style preferences, did a search for 'sequin', from $0 - $200 (I'm poor but willing to splurge for my very own Christmas gift), and fainted from joy. This is what I got back. All that sparkle!! All that nearly affordableness!! My personal boutique needs some refining (I keep having to remind it that I DO NOT LIKE THONGED SANDALS and it seems to think I really, really love Calvin Klein) but for the most part, the system is pretty awesome. Pencil dresses, vivid colors, my favorite designers (Oh, Marc Jacobs... Let me be your BFF/muse), it's got them all neatly lined up for my covetous perusal. The only really bad thing is that I keep forgetting to block off the more expensive items and I'll find myself falling in love with the most perfect jacket I've ever seen, only to look at the info and discover that it's $1,495.
If any of you create a boutique of your own, share the link in the comments and I'll follow you!

Nineninenineninenine

I'm all the way to nine! I'm even posting before the day is done!! It's a whole new me!!

I've got my brown velvet jacket (22 [day 5]), red t-shirt (12 [day4]), brown shorts ( 10 [day 2]) and brown knee-high boots (30)

Added black tights and earrings I would never have purchased. Modcloth sent them as a free gift with a purchase and I'm so glad they did - it turns out that I kind of love them.



A very sweet boy I met at lunch today told me he loved my outfit as we air-kissed, L.A. style, goodbye. He's a stylist on photoshoots. OUTFIT WIN!!!!

Day 5

Today was a long day, work, drinks with some girlfriends, grocery shopping, and making a tasty dinner for me and the guy. By the time I got home with the groceries, it was too dark to take pictures outside and my apartment is too small to use my favorite lens and get a full-body shot. Instead, I've got these grainy, discolored and slightly-out-of-focus pictures featuring my Wall Of Art and the computer monitor I need to replace. Hooray!

I've got on my red tube dress (19), brown velvet military-style jacket (22), and brown riding boots (29). I love those riding boots. I found them on Ebay for a cool 75 dollars and I've worn them constantly since they arrived. They're the perfect go-with-anything boot but my affection for them is starting to tell: They need to be resoled and I'm not sure what to do about the peeling on the toes. Anybody have any suggestions?
I wore a wide brown belt I found in a bag full of giveaways and because the top of the dress is fairly complex, what with the buttons and the pleats, a simple pendant. A necklace any more ornate would have been a Whole Lot Of Look Up Top, I think.
That being said, I'm jealous of the girls who can pile on fifty necklaces or a hundred bracelets and look fantastic. I never quite figured out the trick to that. Every time I try, I look like an escaped Christmas tree.

Day 4

The pictures are not so good, but here's yesterday's outfit, day 4:
I wore my skinny jeans (7), a red v-neck top (12), a black blazer (23), and black moto boots (26). Those boots are from Target and were less than fifty dollars. They're not my dream moto boots but for the price, they're pretty fantastic.
I also had a red bandanna in my hair, a grommet belt, the necklace I'd worn the day before, and a maltipoo.

Already?

I've fallen behind. It took all of three days - but in my defense, I was super busy yesterday. I did a whole bunch of not much, took my 30 for 30 photos, did some more nothing, then went downtown to take pictures with a friend. We'd both forgotten that the Downtown ArtWalk was happening last night so it was a happy surprise to stumble into it after the shoot. We spent a happy three hours wandering the streets, drinking (wine for her, bourbon for me) and admiring the arts. This is relevant to my style blog because when we decided to visit the ArtWalk after the shoot, I had a minute to be grateful that because I'm taking pictures of the clothes I'm wearing every day and putting those pictures on the internet, I'm putting a little more effort into dressing up and wearing makeup. The ArtWalk is packed with all kinda stylish folk and I would have been a little self-conscious if I'd wandered in looking like poop.
This is Amber, demonstrating what Poop might look like if it were spectacularly gorgeous.There was a little stall selling those hoods and patches and they were irresistible.

On to the outfit:I've got my Purple Plaid Ruffle Dress (18 - it says 'brown' on my list and in my defense, I honestly thought was brown, even after multiple wearing and have only realized it was purple after seeing these photos [This is, maybe, the sort of thing I should not admit]) and black motorcycle boots (26). I added the black tights and my Guy's studded belt with the Red Sox belt buckle. I will pretend that I had it upside down on purpose, so as to be ironic.The jewelry I'm wearing is pretty basic: Some bangles, a few of which were gifted to me by my mother,and a necklace with a couple of pendants. The heart locket was a gift from an ex and I still haven't found what I want to put inside it and the penguin is from a souvenir shop in Australia. I'd gone to see the fairy penguins do their waddle from the beach to the nests on Philip Island but wasn't allowed to photograph their adorableness. I made up for it with cheap but adorable jewelry.

Day 2! I win at things!!

I've made it to day 2 of the Thirty for Thirty! I am so proud of myself because during this morning's shower, I tried to talk myself out of sticking to it - the second day of the challenge, I was wimping out. I'd convinced myself that I didn't actually need to follow any dumb rules, I could just not buy stuff for thirty days and that would be practically the same thing. Five minutes later, I'm staring into my closet, thinking that I want to wear the shorts that happened to be on The List but I have no top that matches them. I needed to go shopping RIGHT NOW.. Then I punched myself in the brain and decided to stick to the challenge, after all.My Guy took the picture and given that he's much more into punk rock than fashion, I was surprised at how willing he was to play along. Then again, this is day 2. I'll see how happy he is to be my cameraman in two weeks.

I'm wearing the brown shorts (10), green sweater (13), and my big boots (30). I kept it pretty simple, no accessories except for the stuff I usually wear: The bangles my mom gave me,and the ring and pendant that were gifted to me years ago by an ex-boyfriend.
Action shot!We are dancers.

The List (in progress)

I'd been making a list in my little notebook when I remembered that I have a blog, what which I am supposed to be using for just this purpose. Therefore, I give you
THE LIST.
It's not finished but I'm doing laundry tomorrow and will have it all wrapped up by tomorrow night. Tomorrow's outfit is already included in The List and I am very busy congratulating myself for my Foresight and Extreme Thoughtfulness.

Skirts:
1. Vintage denim skirt - I'm already thinking that this one's going to be a problem. See, I don't really like it very much but it seems awfully versatile. Maybe I'll like it more once I'm forced to wear it a bunch.
2. Vintage gray pencil skirt
3. Black mini skirt
4. Purple H&M pencil skirt
5. Red and blue ethnic skirt
6. Black pencil skirt

Pants:
7. F21 skinny jeans
8. Grey pinstripe Old Man Trousers
9. Black corduroy vintage flares
10. Brown shorts - from Pull My Daisy Boutique

Tops:
11. Purple American Apparel sweatshirt
12. Red V-neck top
13. Teal off-shoulder sweater - from Native Boutique
14. Black and white striped long-sleeve blouse
15. Grey long-sleeve graphic top
16. Black ruched short-sleeve top
17. Navy and white striped short sleeve knit top

Dresses:
18. Brown plaid ruffle dress
19. Red vintage tube dress
20. Green H&M A-line dress

Coats and Jackets:
21. Big black winter coat
22. Brown velvet vintage military jacket
23. Black blazer
24. Black cat-eared hoodie

Shoes
25. Leopard print flats
26. Black motorcycle boots
27. Black oxford pumps
28. Chucks
29. Brown vintage riding boots
30. Madden Girl knee-high brown boots - from ModCloth

It's funny but now that the list is done, very few of these things are my "go-to" favorite things, the things I throw on when I want to look good but don't have time to think about it. Instead, these are things rarely worn, like the purple pencil skirt, that I'm hoping are more versatile that my usual wardrobe, that I can mix and match for a month. One item (the knee-high boots) I'm only adding out of stubbornness. I got them in August when it was too hot to wear them and I'll be damned if I'm going to put them out to pasture for another month when it's finally cooled down enough to be comfortable in them.

Either way, it's done and hopefully I'm not so spoiled and vain that I can't last a month with these thirty items, even if it doesn't prove a thing to anyone but myself.