It's a lot colder in Sun Valley than I expected

I brought a ton of cool stuff to Sun Valley because me and Mariel thought we'd wear it all and share our clothes and take really cool pictures with her really cool camera. So I brought all sorts of dresses and skirts and tights and I never wore them. My uniform was either my jeans or leggings and a t-shirt with a sweater and a coat. All week long.

Basically this:

That's us in the black and white coats.

It was a great great week. But now I've got to go finish up some homework for tomorrow! Sa-weet

EDIT: so close to finishing my shirt

Bag lady

I've been searching for the perfect bag for months now.
My requirements are:
1) Long strap to facilitate bike riding
2) Big enough to shove my Macbook in, for when necessary
3) Not black, but not a color I wear a lot

With that said, after much searching I am leaning towards the Rachel Nasvik Phoebe satchel. Before I indulge I was curious to see if anyone else had ideas for this quest? Please help!

While not a 'scavenged' deal, I think anything that holds my computer or camera should be a good quality investment..

Bises

Squaresville

A couple weeks ago I was at Squaresville (a great lil thrift shop in Los Feliz) and I stumbled upon the greatest treat for my feet. Because I couldn't decide on just one, I walked away with nude leather Cherokee wedges from the 70s, white Ferragamo sandals, and these great black wedges. All of this for just under a hundred. I definitely recommend hitting up this sweet spot, and when you go you don't have to buy out the whole store.


Sweeeeeeeeeet Cherokee

These are the sandals. (I accidentally deleted my other pictures )

rarrrrrrr for black


All lined up :)


(p.s. I don't know why my pictures are blurry, click on them for full detail/glory)
xx

I don't think I own anything

No joke, I think over half the clothes in my closet/that I wear daily aren't even mine.
For example:

Henri's cardigan, my mom's belt, Mariel's dress, Mariel's Hells Bells she gave to me last Thanksgiving. The only thing that's mine in this picture are the three rings, hair tie and the shirt underneath the dress that I bought at the Saturday Market with.......guess who? Mariel.

Even the white converse I was wearing were originally Mariel's but then again, I had to wear them in for her so I'm not so sure if she gets credit for them.

This was taken in the computer lab when I oh so patiently waited for my friend to print out her homework.

You can kind of see my shirt peeking out from under the dress.

Then, of course, my detail shots in the library......

I bought Papillon at Powell's a few years ago because the cover was cool and now since I'm almost done it's my newest favorite book. Whoever said don't judge a book by its cover doesn't know what they are talking about.

I can't believe I'm going to say this but I kind of miss being on the water:

*I bought black dye for a new DIY project. All I need to finish is a white tee-shirt and zippers

I am an ANIMAL

I finally got around to almost all things I promised yesterday: detail shots, shoe idea and almost-outfit post that are really more detail shots. I asked Henri to take a picture but he made my legs look way shorter than they already are so we're just going to have to wait until I can train him.

Here's the lace dress. It's more of a wiry mess now that I look at the close up but from far away it's lacey enough. I absolutely love it! Thanks Mariel.....

Remember the post where I cut up fabric for a headband? Well, I got bored and I decided to make a bracelet out of it to kind of keep some billowly sleeves under control.

Cool, non?

Thank God I took detail shots during lunch today of the skirt Mariel gave me for my birthday. When I first saw it I was a little disappointed. I didn't really know if I liked the suede material but, when I get a good picture of it so you can see what it really looks like, it has a bell shape. Very flattering on me. These pictures can also pass as a detail shot for my tights.

Lastly, my shoes. Not exactly what I expected but they'll do for now...

An old man laughed at me when I took that picture but I let it fly. I am such a good samaritan. Anyway....get the whole animal theme there? The bracelet, suede skirt, leather bag and shoes......rawr

*I got the Caramel Brulee latte. So dang good I kept drinking the samples after I finished mine. mmmmmmmmm

**I worked out yesterday for the first time since summer. I don't think I've ever experienced this level of soreness in my life. I hobbled all around school and the stairs nearly killed me.

If only I could do my detail shots.....

If you've ever visited the blog I did between July and a bit of October, you'd know that detail shots were one of my favorite types of pictures to post. I really don't know why I have such a fascination with them, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that either a) they were done on accident or b) I do them during break or free period or lunch or in my history class and I feel so weird doing them but they're too entertaining not to do.

Well, this whole thing is coming from the fact that I forgot my camera at school today and I can't post these great detail shots of my lace dress and I feel like I've been neglecting this blog too much and it's making me feel guilty for not posting more often. And to ease my pain I looked at these boots I've been lusting over:


They cost a little under $200 and kind of go against the whole 'scavenge' thing and there's no way I'd be able to find money like that, or even have that much at a time so I'm on a search (haha, scavenge) for a cheaper pair:





Those are still pricey for me and they are really not all that special. Hell, I don't even know where this cowboy theme is coming from, but who knows, inspiration is weird. I have black boots but since all my tights are basically black I need some sort of divider. The black boots were Mariel's from Urban Outfitters and I'm not going to do anything drastic with them but I just want to change it up a bit. I'm thinking just roll them down, make them a little shorter and expose the suede on the inside.

*expect detail shots of lace dress, outfit post and shoe idea tomorrow I PROMISE


bisesx

Juicy tomatoes

Before I spend the rest of night writing my minor application, I thought I quickly show off my new nails (gurrrrrrllllllll). The juiciest, sweetest red orange with gold hearts.



Seriously guys, try this out. It's too much fun for the minimal amount of effort.

Paper Beads

I started this project a while back. The process is simple, you might have even made these in fourth grade. To start, cut long thin triangles (isosceles) out of paper. The two longest sides are equal and then the base determines the width of the bead. Wrap this base around the handle of a pen and roll it up, attaching the last pointy inch or so with a glue stick. After I made as many beads as I could handle, I covered them in a thin mixture of Elmer's glue and water and waited for them to dry.

Later I found inspiration in this metal fence, and realized I wanted to contrast the crafty look of these beads with metal chains.

Double usage

Mariel gave me this dress at the beginning of the year but I have yet to wear it as a dress. I think it might be because it's an awkward length. I like wearing it as a skirt because when I roll it down it creates a comforting pillow around my waist and makes sitting in school desks much better.

The other way I wear it is underneath a t-shirt (it's a long sleeve). The skirt is pretty full and it creates this big knot. It was a little obnoxious at first until someone told me they liked the rose on my shirt so I've embraced it ever since.

A secret worth sharing

My glasses aren't really new, I got this summer in a flurry of preparation for Switzerland. However, I was only going to pull getting these babies if I could do it inexpensively. Thus started a ton of Yelp-ing, and now 3 months later I am still completely satisfied with my find.

I got the frames at this place in Pasadena, Old Focals. It's a bit hipster over the top, but I will say that the employees know their stuff. I was debating between two pairs in the end, the ones you see above and these masculine brown ones. The guy at the store pretty much refused to sell me those brown ones in favor of this feminine pair that 'fit my face'. A good pair of glasses is all about proportion with your features. Next I got the lenses done at Happy Eyes Optical in Glendale. They are skilled at putting lenses in vintage frames. The woman who owns the shop is friendly and efficient, and you should definitely trust them with your eye care needs.

But yes, I had to share these great finds with you because the best part is if in L.A. you can be equipped with chic eye-ware for less than $200.

Smile

all photos from my newest favorite blog

A splurge: too chic to pass up

My computer hard drive crashed two weeks ago, so on top of backing up, it's given me more incentive to put my life up online. Below are three magazine spread comps I did for my design class.

This magazine project was inspired by Opening Ceremony's collaborative line with Pendleton Woolen Mills. In Portland (and Oregon for that matter) Pendleton sums up PacNW with its great prints and bold colors. In the past, I think the clothing has been marketed towards an older audience, but that didn't stop me from snatching up this great coat..

So if you dig this look, you should check out this stuff. It's the same prints that I love, but done in younger silhouettes. In other words, Pendleton made young. Trop, trop cool.

In SF with my brother last Thanksgiving

More Cost Plus, World Market

Took a page from my sister's book and made a trip to Cost Plus. Not disappointed in the slightest, I scored two pairs of earrings for under five dollars each!









bises ma belle
oo

hope Halloween was grand

Regardless of whether or not you're a Halloween fan, themed manicures for all occasions are quite easy to achieve. For this look I simply painted my nails orange and then placed little nail tattoo-decals over them, before finishing the whole thing off with a top coat. Its a fun look that catches enough attention and the best part is you can do it at home for cheap. Sheets of decals are around 5 dollars.

Here I have birds on my thumb and ring finger. A camel on the other thumb, and the very blurry thing on my right ring finger is a unicorn. xx

Hardships of modifying a t-shirt

I finished the shirt on Monday actually but haven't posted it because I have this funny feeling inside that it's not completely finished but I don't want to do that classic mistake where you think it needs more and once you put more it just looks trashy and horrible.

So I gave myself a few options. I quickly finished braiding up the entire dress to sew onto the shirt and tried to figure out what to do with it. Here are my thoughts:

1. do i continue with the original plan: sew the braids on the bottom seam and the armholes

2. or do i just do the armholes. or just do the bottom seam

3. sew vertical braids all around

4. or do the hem where i cut upwards toward the side seam, kind of like a half circle

HELP give me advice because i don't want to ruin my hard work