bad blogger

well guys, I guess I told a small fib when I said I'd show you the "innards" of my dressing room- oopse! time got away from me over the holiday and I never got around to it. I am aiming for tomorrow... but for now here's an outfit post of what I've worn on my last day of holiday to brunch and chill out. see you tomorrow when I'm back to "regular programming"!






this is my TJ Maxx necklace I like to pretend is a J.Crew baubble!


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welcome to my lair

last post you got a look at my (previously) UGLY downstairs/basement room and today is the mini reveal of the work in progress to the half of the room designated to my dressing area and clothes storage. though it's not magazine worthy yet... (or ever) it is my pride and joy. for the first time i can *see* and readily retrieve all of my clothing and accessories! for the first time ever i got ready quickly and arrived somewhere ON TIME! it's a miracle i tell ya!

here's what i have to thank for it:

TA- DAHHHH!

my "dressing room"

my vintage vanity with huge mirror provides quick and easy outfit critiques - now i can just hold things up and put together an outfit without having to run into the living room to check in the mirror there - this saves lots of time but doesn't burn as many calories running around like a chicken with my head cut off (that's such a gross saying) -it's a sacrifice i'll make!

*note - i'm not showing you the whole vanity because the mirror was super smudgy and gross and i didn't want you to see me in the reflection cause i was in my jammies*

yes, lois made the move and instead of sitting in the window of the guest room scaring off potential burglars -and my friends and neighbors- she is back to her rightful job of holding my necklaces (and sporting a new "blair waldorf inspired headband i just got at target!)

in this interesting nook by the vanity i keep my little deer collection.

i'm going to paint the inside a nice bright color - any suggestions? comment below!

the shoe closet which you saw in the previous post is seen in the bottom right corner of this pic

here is one of the compartments that i took the majority of the shelves out and instead installed a rod to hang my nicer shirts and vests (i have lots of vests for some reason!)

sweatshirts are stored on top

nice shirts hang

tees, tanks, sweaters, and cardigans are folded and stored in drawers below

in the compartment beside that are:

some bags (the kind you throw magazines in to go to the beach, or produce in at the market, or a blanket in for the park) and my "painting clothes"

skirts hang

yoga tops and bottoms, as well as jeans, pants and leggings

are folded and stored in drawers below

here is a view of those two compartments as well as the drawers i mentioned below them to give you a broader view and an idea of how the built-ins are... well, built.

there is a very small closet that is technically in the office side of the room

i can say "very small closet" now that i have an entire room dedicated to my clothes... but yes, this is the NORMAL sized closet that up until this point i lived with for years.

there i store my travelling bags, hang my dresses and put shoes that aren't pretty enough to go in the shoe closet (ie: tennis shoes, vans, and bummin' around oxfords)

in the two last compartments i kept the shelves in order to store my bags (purses).

i only photographed one side but you get the point....

oh, and in the basket on top are belts that don't hang well and in the drawers below are undies, bras, socks, tights and winter hats & scarves.

finally (whew!) we get to the rolling rack which divides the space and holds my jackets, blazers and hanging belts

i have stored my magazines (most of them anyway) in baskets under the rolling rack for easy reference. i should do a "tear book" so i don't have to keep all of the mags -just the pics i love- but i just love magazines as objects. i love flipping through them and seeing things in the context of the issue, of the month, and the year and time of year... not just isolated images.

i know i am completely spoiled here and i'm sure that once we start a family this whole thing will have to be re-done to make room for kids and their things but until then... i'm going to be selfish and indulge in having all of this space!

** tomorrow i'll show you how i've stored and organized my jewelry and makeup thus far (there's still more to do)

so STAY TUNED!**

I'm high as a kite right now!

high on the incredible joy of getting TONS of free beauty products from your generous and amazing best friend! my anonymous friend has worked VERY hard at her job this year and has earned every bit of the perks she gets in return... me? I'm just damn lucky she likes me so much and I therefore get to enjoy those perks as well!

bask in the glory of the "perks" I brought home after lunching at her work:



ROC products I currently use and love but was running low on.



a freakin' ZENO!!! I've been breaking out a lot lately and have been dying to try this baby out! neck cream (my mom will understand this) and "oxygen" eye masks.



ELNET! every beauty blogger on earth raves about this stuff but I didn't buy it because it was $16 a bottle. and morrocan oil that my hairdresser had previously given me to try -and I loved- but I couldn't justify the cost!



two perfumes- we'll see how they go with my odd body chemistry.....



and a beautiful Dior eyeshadow quad, two nail polishes, and a lovely shimmer powder that's perfect for the holidays!
PLUS a secret eye cream that's not out on the market yet (and therefore I have been told not to name) that my friend has tried and says will apparently change my life! or at least my developing crow's feet and dark circles ;)

THANK YOU ANONYMOUS BFF! xoxoxo!

lastly, here's a shoddy pic of my outfit today



and what I wore yesterday



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truth serum.

tonight i went to a surprise birthday party for one of my clients and there may or may not have been an open bar. i'm just sayin'...

regardless of the above statement i am about to tell you THE TRUTH.

it does not matter if you are a "looker".

it does not matter if he is a "looker".

it does not matter what you wear.

it does not matter what he wears.

it does not matter if everyone else has on jewels that maybe add up to the cost of your house... and you have on thrift store clothes.

it does not matter if you are "high society" (or just rich enough that you think you are).

it does not matter if you can dance.

it does not matter if he can dance.

THE BEST accessory to any outfit is confidence.

and beyond that, i HIGHLY recommend finding a man that will be willing to be the first one to dance a slow song when everyone else in the room is just looking on.

cause the truth is, all of those rich bitches will just *wish* they had a husband who looks at them the way yours looks at you and is willing to dance just because it makes you smile.

(and truth be told, all of those husbands will just *wish* they had a smiling happy, dancing, laughing wife like you instead of that ninny in the corner wishing she could have a bite of birthday cake but abstaining cause it might go to her hips!)

cheers!

come on now, show me what cha workin' with

so.... last post i gave you a sneak peek at my shoe closet. it's but a drop in the bucket as far as the makeover i'm DIYing on my downstairs basement room. A LOUSY DROP!

my hubs has been nice enough to give me full use of that nice big room to make half my dressing room and half my office/work room - SO NICE! well, i think before you can fully appreciate my hard work and compliment me on it (*wink*) you need to see the starting point.

please note three things:
1) these pics were taken with my iphone and are of sucky quality - forgive!
2) after our DIY wedding extravaganza i dumped anything and everything in this room and shut.the.door. until i had time to deal with it again... it's very messy but just look past all of my crap to see what i'm really trying to show you here.
3) i do not currently have photoshop or other cool tools that let you write on pics (that i know how to use... dumb) at my disposal so i'm going to get a bit wordy explaining things to you... feel free to just look at the pics.

alrighty! here we go!

so, i keep referring to the room in halves but that's not accurate. when you enter the room from unstairs there is a smaller side to the room on your left -this is the "half" i am turning into my dressing area - and a larger portion of the room lies to the right - this is the "half" i am turning into my office/work area. since i plan on using this post as a teaser for the mini reveal of my dressing room as the week goes on, i'll be focusing on that "half".

just so you can see it for now, this is the larger portion of the room which will be my office.

while it is larger, it only has the one wall of built-ins while my dressing area has two.

here you see it as if you were standing in the smaller portion of the room

THIS is the side i've made into my dressing area.

here you see it as if you were walking into the room after coming from the upstairs slash main living area of the house

here you see it as if you were standing in the larger (office) portion of the room

the door from the upstairs is to the left and the door into the garage/laundry room is to the right

**please note that behind that big chalk board leaning against the wall are the two doors that open into what is now my shoe closet - you can kind of see the doors if you look closely. the shoe closet is about chest height and about 3.5 feet deep. **

and this is just to show you the paint color and the fulgy outlets and outlet covers i've been working on replacing!

the man who had this house built in 1955 was a handy-man kind of guy himself and he apparently built this room in the basement himself... AND all of the awesome built-in shelves and drawers which now house my clothes. in all of the upper storage areas there were adjustable shelves and then below that super deep drawers... that smelled and looked like someone had been raising ferrets in them since the 1950's - vomit.

the first thing on my agenda was to clear out all of my crap and paint the walls white so that the room would be lighter and more airy... and to match the upstairs which i've painted white as well. (i'm having a prolonged scandinavian moment.)

then, i got to work on cleaning out those storage areas. i scrubbed and cursed and held my breath, but i finally got the drawers aired out and clean enough that i felt i could safely store my folding clothes in them without smelling like a homeless person. my jeans, pants, sweaters, tees, tights, socks and undergarments live there now!

in order to have hanging space for my other clothes i took out the shelves in two of the upper compartments and hung clothes rails. these now hold my shirts and skirts.

lastly, i cleaned and painted the inside of the small closet to hold my dresses and purchased a rolling rack to divide the space (dressing room designated from office) and to give me a bit more privacy when dressing.... although i'm the only one down there and no one can see in, it still feels weird to strip down in the middle of a (pretty much) big empty room. the rolling rack now holds my jackets and belts. (real coats are stored in the coat closet upstairs.... yes, i have enough jackets to fill a rolling rack... yes, it's crazy.)

i was unable to change out the sockets for white ones seeing as how i do not do electrical work but i plan on doing that sometime soon. until then, i just replaced all of the outlet covers with white ones to match the walls and blend in.

i've already drafted the post with the mini reveal of the dressing room so check back tomorrow to see :)

husband of the millenium

my husband (still so odd to say!) is a saint. he is giving and patient and just all around wonderful!
case in point: this last weekend he helped me MAKE A HOME FOR MY SHOES!!!!
behold the glory but don't stare too long or you might go blind with jealousy.



and not only that, but said shoe closet is in the downstairs basement room that he has so graciously given me full use of to make half my personal dressing room (!!!!!!! I'm so posh- expect the tour to be in In Style soon! okay maybe not...) and the other half will be my office.
I'm a lucky lucky wife!
sorry to rub it in.

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downtown girl... gossip girl

another outfit post to bore you with ;)
this one features a dress i made from a 70's pattern... it's HUGE and perfect for fat days and/or a brunch where you fully expect your belly to need mucho room to hold all of the goodness you are about to consume. (that was me) i'm ready for the weekend. how about you?

and on a TOE.TALL.EEE different note: how disappointed are we in serena van der woodsen?! i mean, 1: he's MARRIED and 2: he's not even cute.

let's take a look, shall we?

trip and his "congressman style" don't excite me.... serena's cleavage... well, maybe.

nate and his bed head? yes, please.

and dan in this get-up - I PAUSED IT ON MY DVR TO LAUGH OUT LOUD!

what do you think? if you *had* to choose one which would it be?

random outfit post

i wore this casual get-up out for drinks (at a bar that is largely outdoors) last weekend. nothing special - just thought i'd share.

acid rain flowers

so this is just a quick (and not so superb) outfit post featuring one of my new dresses from the vintage society etsy store (have you seen her Eddie Beale collection?!? brilliant!). this one has a crazy bright floral pattern and I chose to wear it with equally bright hot pink tights and my new shoes from F21. the lighting is poor but you get the idea ;) ... but believe me, the colors are much brighter than the pics would let on!












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reed books

I shopped in my favorite used book store and den of vintage treasures today, reed books, and got some super fun treats:

VINTAGE PATTERNS

*it's hard to see but this one is my favorite cause it's a wacky romper one piece that you put on the shorts and then pull the top through your legs from the back to the front and wrap it around your neck like a halter - see the small pic on the bottom left*

THIS AMAZING OLD ADVERTISEMENT

sorry the pics are all turned around funny - taking pics with my iphone and then posting them from the blogger app always causes trouble!

(click to enlarge so you can read - sideways, unfortunately - how to put on weight quickly with ease!!! i suggest donuts but whatever!)

VINTAGE LIFE MAGAZINES

can't wait to scan in images from these to share with you all!

here's one sneak peek:

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ida wanna go outside

translation: "i don't want to go outside"

tropical storm ida is currently dumping rain all over my head.... hard, steady, cold, miserable rain ALL. DAY. LONG. and so i cancelled my afternoon classes and am staying home to paint. riiiiight after i browse the internet for an hour or so and make this post... i'll be productive today, it just may take me a while to get there.

i did however make it out to a "gratitude drum circle" at lunch time (yes, i'm a hippie freak who says that kind of thing like it's just totally normal because i think it is...) and it put me in a *much* improved mood... well, that and like i said just being a diva and canceling the rest of my day so i could come home and stay inside away from the horribleness raining down on me.

anyhow, i don't feel that my sad flat hair would do me any favors in an outfit post so i'll just give you a quick run down of my most recent purchases. i feel a bit bad about it but here's the honest truth: even after pledging my allegiance to the thrift and only shopping in second hand stores (for the most part) i still find that sometimes the mall calls my name. not just a store mind you, but THE MALL. so sunday, after leaving an outdoor art festival with the hubs, i casually asked if he'd like to stop at the mall for a bit - not long - just a bit. and he agreed saying "well, it closes in an hour so how much harm can you do?"

here's the harm i did:

JCREW

- one embellished tee

- two headbands
- four pair of socks
- one card holder thingy (some people call this a "magic wallet" but i think that's weird.)

FOREVER 21 (i know... i know... for shame!)

- a utility/rain jacket that has saved me today - i don't have a pic of it and can't find one on the site but it's kind of a cross between these two:

(shop it here)

(shop it here)

- these shoes are so much more amazing than the pic shows. so much. they look GREAT with black tights and are surprisingly comfortable. the way they lace up makes them really hug your foot securely and the platform makes them not so torturous. love!


in the end it took me all of 20mins to shop and i didn't spend that much. every item i bought at jcrew was on super sale and F21 is always easy on the wallet. i guess in the end i have to agree with martinisordiapergenies (my new favorite blogger who speaks my language) and admit that sometimes a good trip to the mall is all you need :)