Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Art, Boys and Champange

The ABC's of a good weeknight.

Last night, CJ and I attended Oil Paintings at El Dorado- a silent art auction to benefit the Nation Wildlife Foundations clean-up effort in the Gulf. Good cause, great venue and what I saw as my one and only chance to ever afford a Mike Maxwell piece. Oh, so yes yes!

MM organized the whole event and it was a really fantastic night. There was a good turn out and at the end of it all, they were able to raise $2500.  A few of my friends had work in the auction, which ranged from paintings to jewelry to photographs. All local artists and all around amazing.

So, did I bid?
Yes, I did.
So, did I win?
Yes, I did.

But just what will have to wait for later- I've got a whole artsy/craftsy post to do in a few days. To tide you over, sample some of our shameless photos.




 Miss CJ sporting her Greenpeace shirt

 
  

Less lovely then it was supposed to be



Champagne and Leaving Tijuana






Adventures in getting gas-

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Red Light and Respite

In Vino Vetiras.
In wine, there is truth. A phrase coined by from the Romans to describe the Germanic practice of drinking wine while holding councils. Since a man can't lie when he's drunk.
Oh, how very apt. But in the case of last night, it was more along the lines of  In vodka and whiskey, there is truth. 
And laughter. 
And blather, instability, increased nicotine cravings, poor judgment and good times.
Oh, yeah- also many shameless photos.





 







 




Thursday, June 24, 2010

Monday, June 21, 2010

Two Days- One Post

Sunday: Threw on "Who needs friends when you have an awesome dress?" and spent the afternoon with CJ in Balboa Park. Saw some ferns, took some photos, ate lunch in the grass and played cards. Very very.

Today: Decided it was too pretty a day to go home after work. Stopped at Bluestocking Books and picked up Geek Love and my favorite play Marisol. Went to check out the new shop that took over Wear It Again Sam's space. Amazingly disappointing. It's tauted as a vintage clothing store but all I found was the same nondescript  Hillcrest gunk. Recovered from disappointment with blood orange iced tea at Krakatoa.
Oy- time for photos!







 



 



  







Saturday, June 19, 2010

I know that I promised fun and interesting posts this weekend. But my camera has been acting up and eating batteries, so it's been grounded. Thus, I have no photos to share.

Plus, the fun events I had planned all fell through so I don't even have any stories to share.

Well, we did go out to the bar last night to celebrate the birth of the incomparable DS. I caught up with a friend whom I hadn't seen in about three years. That was nice.
I ended up wearing both of my new Trashy Diva dresses yesterday. They are really fantastic and well made, especially the Country Club dress which I named "Who needs friends when you've got an amazing dress?"
A bit wordy, yes but so true.

Speaking of purchases, I am on day 11 of my self-imposed shopping lent. I've been very good and haven't spent any money on any clothes so far. But just for fun, here's a little taste of what I would be buying.
(yeah, I'm a bit of a shopping masochist)


 A little pretty from What Katie Did


 
Long-line corset in teal raw silk? yes please


These smashing 30's style heels from Sofft



Oh, green!


Another TD dress. Ugh, they're like crack to me. Pretty, pretty rayon crack.


Ok, I feel a little better now.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Spreading the addiction

Took me almost a week to get around to this but better late then never I suppose. Last Sunday, I spent the day with ML, turning her into a vintage princess. And funny enough, it wasn't even my idea. (Although I was totally for it.) 
She mentioned a few months ago that she wanted to get together and dress up and have a "shameless photo" day. Yes yes. But in standard fashion for us, we kept putting it off. Such procrastinators.
It was a lot of fun, really. I did her hair and put her in my green mums Trashy Diva dress. Then, we ran around town, taking photos and getting funny looks from tourists. (Few people are more confused by someone wearing vintage then tourists.) Shameless photos ahoy!





 
 

 

 


 





 

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Regarding hair, vacations and other fun things

Yesterday was a hair day. First off, after work when I took my hair down, I spotted something shiny. Further investigation concluded that- yes at the ripe old age of 26-  I am going grey! 
Well going white to be more accurate. It was sparkly and pretty and made me very excited. I've always looked forward to going grey.  Personally, I think I'll look smashing with white hair.


And what better way to celebrate then with a haircut. I finally pinned down KJ and convinced her that I needed a cut. My hair's been getting a bit scraggly lately and I decided that I ought to go short again. For summer and all.

Sooo- dun da da da!



I now have amazing and awesome bobbed hair. It's very 'Zelda Fitzgerald for Summer'. The perfect hair (and a passable segway) for....

my Vegas vacation. It's not til mid July but I'm so looking forward to spending the long weekend with ML and co. I plan to sleep late, drink many free cocktails while playing the penny slots and lounge by the pool (under a shade of course) in my newly purchased and recently delivered 60's swimsuit.

The suit (and photo) is from FabGabs on etsy.com Excellent seller with adorable finds.

That's all for now but don't worry, more fun things are to come this weekend.

Monday, June 14, 2010

When the late night gets at you-

there is often a fine line between self indulgence and self pity. At the moment, I'm trying to figure which side I'm walking. Here's a little travelin' music.



Sunday, June 13, 2010

Shameless Saturday Night Photos

It's a rarity to have nothing going on for a Saturday night. There is always a show or a party or a bar that requires my attention, drains my money and steals my sobriety.
Last night was the exception. Not a thing to do and no a one to do it with. Well, not nothing and not no one.
KJ  gave me a ring, with something about the Z boys and The Fancy playing an acoustic happy hour downtown. Well, yes yes and a quick wardrobe change later, we were at sbucks, playing cards and killing time.
Turns out, the set was canceled and every attempt to hunt up a Plan B was foiled.
So, we moved our card game to the park, set up in poorly lit alcove and took shameless photos of ourselves.
Seems like you're never without a backup plan when you've got a friend and a deck of purple bicycle cards.



 


 


 

 
 




(Thought I would point out I'm wearing two perfects here- the perfect heels in red and my perfect cropped sweater)

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Whaddaya know- it worked!

Oh, yes. Friday took a turn for the much much better when dear friend CJ announced that we would be hitting the town that night.
It was a bit of a mad dash as I found out 30 minutes before we were going to leave. So, the hair was not so very very, make-up was a little sloppy. But I wore my Stop Staring plaid dress, which hasn't seen the outside of my closet for quite some time. It used to fit too loose to really look good but with my gradual weight gain over the past year, it now fits decidedly ka-pow.
Drank three glasses of champagne, saw my oh so yum bartender, found a possible contact to get the banned and much missed Djarum Vanillas. Does it get any better?



I have a thing for pretty mirrors in bathrooms.


Doing shots with MM - another yum bartender.








I feel so "RockaBetty" in this dress.


End night music- SS Come on, Feel the Illinoise!




Friday, June 11, 2010

When you're at the end of a rather rough week,

sometimes it's best to put on some pretty music, your best cheery dress and insist upon a better mood.
Which is just what I've decided to do today. Fridays are usually my favorite, what with the work week over and fun things to come.
But this week has had too many occasions where I'm left feeling silly and sad. 
And my Friday has been resultantly blue so far.

I find that unacceptable so I am going to will myself into happiness. I plan to hunt up a friend or two, get some coffee and make a better weekend then the week that spawned it.

My feel better supplies: Sufjan Stevens Illinois and my "Pollyanna" dress.
Because how can you feel down when you look like a milkmaid?





And sometimes, vanilla bean sugar cupcakes help too.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Money Matters

This might be a bit heavy for 10pm but I have to say http://www.mint.com/ is the best and worst thing in my life right now.

It's a free program to help you budget your finances that KJ's boy turned me onto. It syncs with your bank account to track when you spend your money and where.

"Oh, how very very!" thought I. 
I love new and clever ways to organize the chaos that is my life so I ran right home to jump online and see just where my money goes to.

Well, shock and surprise- it all goes to shopping! 

I'm already over my budget for this month and it's only the 8th. Last month I spent a mind-boggling $755 on clothes. $755!!! 
I can sort of justify that with the prom, KJ's birthday and TSC show all being last month. But sweet moses, still! When you see it all together- it's a bit embarrassing. Definitely time for a vintage shopping fast. 
40 days- no clothes.*


On a side note, I'm having a very late dinner which consists of strawberries with cottage cheese and grapefruit juice. Not only do I dress like I'm 50 years old, I eat like it too!





* Does not include the two Trashy Diva dresses I already bought this morning. Too divine to pass up and on sale. That makes it better....right?

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Quick Bit while the Laundry Cycles

Today is dedicated to strong black coffee, tackling the mountain of laundry I've accumulated over the week and organizing photos. All set to the folky goodness of The Silent Comedy's newest album Common Faults.  Here's a little collage from yesterdays shenanigans.



Now, while the coffee is tasty and the smell of clean clothes is comforting, they just aren't enough to cheer me out of my blue mood over missing the boys big big show tonight. Damn my procrastination.
Oh, well. I'll leave off with one of my favorite songs of theirs. I think it really just begs to be used for a burlesque routine. Someday.




PS- any advancement I make towards un-fancying The Fancy is all shot to hell when I hear him play that harmonica. Oh my!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Coffee and Cards with Friends

This weekend was supposed to be all about projects. I had big big plans to start work on my headboard, maybe browse for fabric, hit Ikea for the really perfect (and cheap) bed frame I found. But one by one, my plans are falling through. I really have so little desire to do work on the weekends.

Yesterday, I planned on stopping off at Yardage Town after work in the hopes of finding some awesome blue satin to upholster my headboard in. That plan quickly changed when I walked out the door and was hit by 80 degrees of hot, gross demotivation. And to think, just a few weeks ago I said I was excited about the summer :(
Now, had it just been the very warm day, I might have still attempted my shopping trip. But when you add to that the fact that, while walking through the parking lot, I tripped and fell over one of those parking bumps- well, going straight home sounds more and more appealing. Especially seeing as how my graceless tumble just happened to be right in front of the really cute tech guy as he was walking into work. Slick.

So, shopping was replaced with getting coffee with the J's. I taught then how to play gin and ratscrew and we made too many stupid jokes and basically made me feel loads better about not getting a single thing done that day. Oh, those good time girls.