Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone is out having a fun Halloween. I'm just staying in, typing this on the couch and getting interrupted every few minutes by Trick-or-Treaters.

Chloe is a huge fan of Halloween, in the respect that she gets to bark at kids all night long. Not so much with my dressing her up. But she's just too darn cute in the little devil costume I've made her; so I make her suffer for a few hours once a year.

I must admit I'm excited for tomorrow in that I get to shop again. And I can think of a dozen ways in which I might spend all of my budget in one fell swoop. Specifically in the realm of shoes and boots... like oxfords, or leopard print pumps, or knee high cognac boots...

Or maybe this fur collar I saw in the thrift store. Assuming it's even still there; it was $15 and very much real fur. Which is where I'm conflicted. I just don't know how I feel about real fur, vintage or otherwise.
And then there is the idea that perhaps I don't need to add any more fur to my closet. I've got two coats, the vest, and the coat with the fur collar.

Do you ever find yourself going through accessory phases? When I got these knee high socks last year, I think I only wore them once.
But now I've worn them twice in a week. I might wear them again soon.

The Rundown

Dress, Cardigan, & Earrings Avon - Splendid sandals Jeffrey Campbell - Socks Target - Ring American Eagle - Belt Thrifted

Today I made truffle mice, I got the recipe from a blog called Flowers and Weeds.

I started making baby mice because my sister said "The fatter the mice are, the fatter you are."

Almost too cute to eat -- but too good not to!

Happy Halloween!

"Wear it again"

We've all got them. Dresses purchased for a certain event, which we wore once, and then shoved in the back of the closet, and never thought about again.

The other morning while suffering from Can't Get Dressed Syndrome, I decided to play dress-up for a little while. I suppose deep down, I'm still a five year old in love with the idea of digging through trunks of my Mother's old dresses in the attic.

Only this time I dove into the back of my closet -- the real, actual back. I have a second clothing rod behind the main one, that I use for storing costumes and dresses I don't wear but won't get rid of (like my prom gown) and then these little numbers.

So this is my attempt at remixing my semi-formal one hit wonders:

My cousin's wedding, 2003 - Silk brocade halter

See my matching shawl and bag? I made those. Why did I think that was a good idea?

 

The Rundown

Dress Macys - Cardigan Kohls - Necklace Avon - Shoes Thrifted Payless - Hat Kohls - Bracelet The cavernous jewelry box

Easter, 2006 - Strapless turquoise dress

Found out this doesn't fit my bust anymore, so if not wearing it four years wasn't enough of a reason to get rid of it...

The Rundown

Dress Liz Claiborne - Cardigan H&M - Shoes Madden Girl - Belt Gap - Necklaces Kohls and Etsy - Ring Express

Christmas Eve 2002 and 2005 - Strapless velvet embossed iridescent taffeta 

While searching for a photo, I found out I actually wore this twice. Both times on Christmas Eve, and I didn't have a decent shot of me in the dress in either year.

The Rundown

Dress Windsor - Blazer MaxMara - Shoes Simply Vera - Fedora Market in Italy - Necklace Made by Me - Belt Steve Madden

I'll admit, I had a lot of fun styling these dresses, but I still don't think I'll find an occasion to wear them.

Faux Fall

Today was unseasonably warm. Mid 70°s for the end of October? Okay by me!

Despite the warmth, I still wanted to dress in a fall color pallet.

 

Chloe and I went for a nice long walk. I wanted to take some photos. Well, it was sort of a nice walk. I got three cat calls (including one dude who pulled over to try and talk to me - gross!) and she got barked at by a bunch of other dogs.

 But I did get some nice colorful photos.

The Rundown

Dress Forever 21 - Cardigan TJMaxx - Boots Chinese Laundry - Belt TJMaxx - Socks Target - Necklace Windsor - Ring The Cavernous Jewelry Box - Bracelet Arabella

The combination of yellow dress and brown boots made me think of Selphie from Final Fantasy VIII.
Maybe I should wear one of my Final Fantasy costumes for Halloween. I haven't really put any thought into to what I might dress up as.

After seeing Suze playing in the leaves, I wanted to as well! But very carefully, since I'm terrified of finding bugs in them. I saw a suspicious looking twig and and jumped back.

My "Fence Friday"

Autumn leaves are falling, and there's nothing I can do

It looks like the after work photo taking party is over. Which is unfortunate, since I've been running late every morning since the sun stopped rising before 7 am. Oh how I hate the shortening of days!

The Rundown

Dress Avon - Blazer The Limited - Booties Madden Girl - Belt Nine West - Earrings Taken for Granite

I'd been waiting for the fall to wear this dress again, I love it layered with the purple.

I have a new color infatuation, seafoam green. I don't have much in the color; all I could find were these earrings. I took a head shot today, but it's awful, so here is one from June.

I haven't been seeing too much seafoam in stores; there is this ruffled cardigan in the Gap, which I tried on, and surprisingly hated.

It looks grey in the photo, but it's very much seafoam in reality.
Something about the combination of cotton ruffles on the knit, with buttons... it just felt awkward. And apparently I looked like a clown, according to my sister. (Not the first time she's told me that...)

But there are lots of other things in seafoam that are intriguing me. And I might be wanting to incorporate more of it into my closet. It's not really what I would consider an autumnal color, yet these looks really make work for fall.

Via

Other than the first image from Lucky Magazine, I'm once again a failure with the sources. If you know any let me know.
When you save things to your inspiration folders, do you rename them with where they are from? Because my folder is a mess of cryptic file names like "img6627qg" and more often than not, 10 minutes after I save it I've forgotten where I found it. Oops.

There's got to be an outfit in there somewhere...

I spent some time looking up guides to fall wardrobe essentials today, and discovered they were all pretty much the same. Black blazer, grey cardigan, camel coat, shift dress, white blouse. Put a big check over each one, I've got them.

So I went to look up the fall trends; leopard print, faux fur, military inspired, menswear, capes... Cross them off the list, they are in my closet!

It stands to reason, that I could stop shopping right now, and get through to the spring just fine. And it seems clear that I need to spend more time shopping my closet. Because there are a lot of things in there, and so many of them haven't been worn much.

The monochrome trend is one I have been wanting to try. This navy skirt last seen on mothers day and this navy top last seen in February felt like a good place to start.



My newly aquired silk scarf seemed like the perfect accent, in keeping with the navy theme, but adding a bit of pattern.
At this point, I would like to curse American Eagle, and the asshole who decided to sew a giant tag (including care instructions) directly into the hem of the scarf. When I put the scarf on, no matter how I tied it, the giant tag always ended up front and center. So I went to get the seam ripper to carefully remove it. But it was sewn into the hem. I didn't see an option other than cutting it off. And I was being so, so careful. But I cut the scarf. I am furious with American Eagle, because I really see this as more their fault than mine. It's a small cut. I put a drop of fabric glue on it so it wont get any worse and it's not noticeable. But that pretty much ruined my morning. Okay, rant over.

I was feeling a bit uncertain about the navy tights. Initially I was going to wear black, but I'm glad I stuck to the ideals of the monochrome look. The three slightly different shades next to one another actually work quite well.

And since the only navy shoes I own are eyelet flats, I decided to incorporate black into the look as well.

And finish with some antique looking accents.
With lots of texture and shine keep things from being stagnant.

What other looks can I shop my closet for this month?

The Rundown

Top Gap - Skirt Charlotte Russe - Tights Nine West - Scarf Aerie - Belt TJMaxx - Pumps Areosoles - Bag Taken for Granite - Ring The Cavernous Jewelry Box - Earrings TJMaxx

Turning straw into gold

Every so often, I am lucky enough to catch this perfect, golden light.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love it.

I take about 100 photos.

And break my cardinal rule, of editing the number of photos I post. I simply can't narrow it down, they are all so beautiful.

I wish I could be in this light forever.

They call it "The Golden Hour", but that is a lie; it's more like "The Golden 20 Minutes". It seems like as soon as it arrives, it's gone again.

 

The Rundown

Leopard Sweater Calvin Klein - Pants TJMaxx - Scarf Market in Italy - Boots Kohls