it was a texas kinda night, y'all

how are you this morning?  i'm running a few hours behind schedule thanks to a late but amazing night last night!  chris and i finally woke up and got out of bed at 9:45 this morning, which is unheard of, and it made me think of my marine dad and when i lived with him; on the weekends or over summer break - the days a teenager wants to sleep in - he'd be in my room somewhere between 0800 and 0900 hours with my wake up call, "GET ON YOUR FEET, PRIVATE!"  i'm just surprised he didn't end it with a "HOORAH!"  anyway, my point is, i could have used pop's military alarm clock this morning because i'm not a fan of sleeping in!

our friend haley is in town from venice, ca, and since we all like the boobylicious gun-toting texans of GCB, she decided to plan a little GCB party and dinner at sharon's house (which sharon didn't know about until haley invited her to the event on facebook!) where we had to show up dressed as a character!  unfortunately my camera ended up staying in my bag (like it usually does), so i'm waiting for kerri to post her pictures of all the yee-hawing, butt squeezing, booby grabbing, and hugs so that i can steal them and share them here!  chris and i did take a couple pictures before we left though - him as pastor john, and me as gigi - so at least we have those to laugh at for now!

i hope you had a good weekend, and i wanted to remind you, a winner will be announced tomorrow for the girl + parrot custom watercolor portrait GIVEAWAY, so be sure to go enter if you haven't already!

the animals wanted in on it...

you know the good thing about only working away from home two or three days a week?  when you buy new clothes on a husband-suggested shopping spree, you get to wear something new for several weeks which kind of makes me feel like paris hilton.  or not.  this is one of my new dresses...

jacket: american eagle // scarf: gap (gift a few years ago) // dress: forever 21 // belt: forever 21 // clogs: lotta from stockholm // necklace: gift from beca

also, guys, i seriously can't handle this new blogger.  it's not just me being resistant to change, but my pictures are showing up in the wrong place, blogger is telling me the picture's URL is incorrect when it's not, it isn't allowing me to edit my html and then display it properly (and i know html, so they can suck it), and sometimes it won't even let me type anything in a post!  if my blog was newer and i didn't really have followers, you can bet i'd switch to typepad in a heartbeat.  no, faster than a heartbeat.  blogger should be punched in the face and stoned.  the old fashioned stoned, not the thirty-year-old-unemployed-living-in-his-mom's-basement-apartment stoned.

in happier news, sometimes flojo and kona just want to get in on the pictures, and of course that's fine by me, because i'd rather show you their faces than my own!  AND, WOW, i can't believe the response i've gotten to the giveaway!  thank you all for your kind words and support, and keep the entries coming!

some news... AND A GIVEAWAY! (now closed)

after going back and forth on how i felt about it, and not being sure i was confident enough to do it (because i really can't handle criticism or rejection AT ALL), one of my best pals, beca, finally gave me the push i needed to go ahead and open an etsy shop for my watercolor portraits.  i won't lie, i'm still super nervous, but it feels good to have a friend (and a few other friends, i won't forget about them!) who believes in you and encourages you every step of the way!  so the news is, here's the shop, and the exciting part is, here's the giveaway:

you won't receive a painting of beca's family, but you will receive a custom watercolor painting of any ONE person or animal you choose on 9x12 watercolor paper.  here's how to enter (please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry):

-leave me a comment telling me who you'd like to have painted. (mandatory entry)
-visit my new shop and add it to your favorites (1 extra entry)
-follow this blog (1 extra entry)
-blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me a link (1 extra entry)

please leave your email address with your entry or a way i can get in touch with you if you're the winner.  good luck!

hooray for friday!

i hope you're as happy about it being friday as i am!  i need to finish a painting, edit some pictures, update my website, and so many other things that can't be done when you know you have work hanging over your head, so this afternoon starts my FREEDOM!  i wanted to show you a few of my favorite birthday presents (and i also want to thank you all for your birthday wishes on monday), but guess who forgot about taking pictures until it was dark last night?  yep, i do it all the time.  but i do have something pretty funny to share with you, and i think if this ever happened at the book club i'm in i'd die laughing...




one more thing, have you guys been switched to this new blogger layout for posting and your dashboard?  i know i'm the last person to ever accept change, and i realize i need to give things a chance, but i don't think i like this.  it's too weird.  why can't things stay the same?!  anyway, i hope you have a great weekend!

sparkle, sparkle

i don't remember where exactly i heard that liking shiny, sparkly things was because of one's german-ness, but whether it's that, or that i'm part magpie, i can't deny my love of anything gold and sparkly. and that's why i had to have this belt (which i knew i was wearing before i had my clothes picked out)...

sweater: target // dress: forever 21 (it's one of my new dresses from our little shopping trip!) //belt: tj maxx // shoes: payless // flojo: aratinga solstitialis

can you believe i'm not wearing anything vintage or thrifted in this outfit? neither can i. i almost feel a little high maintenance about it, but then i remember i only paid $2 for that leather belt and all is well. also, i've decided i'm way too shy to have chris take my pictures anymore, so when the camera's taking a picture and chris is walking by, i instinctively make some weird face. case in point, photo number 3.

thirty, flirty, and thriving

i hope you had a nice weekend and that this monday finds you well! my weekend was a lot of fun and ended with me adding two new books to my collection and a 2 liter of coke that i'm guilt drinking because i have an addiction. but the biggest thing to report is that i went to bed on sunday night looking like this...

...and i woke up this morning looking like this. it's scary what going from 29 to 30 can do to you. so i think the things i now have to look forward to include: more wrinkles, an AARP membership, tripping over my boobs, and wearing a girdle to hold it all together. oh boy!

i kid! i really don't worry so much about age, especially since thirty has such a fun saying thanks to one of my favorite movies, 13 going on 30, i'm now thirty, flirty, and thriving!

do you ever feel like you have to sort of come off a weekend high and get back to reality? i didn't do anything crazy this weekend, but on saturday, my pop, stepmom, grandma and i all headed downtown and spent part of the day there at a charity shoe sale, browsing through antique stores, and eating philippino for lunch. it was one of those days you really enjoy and want more of, and luckily i remembered to bring one of my vintage film cameras to take some pictures of it! what did you do?

the day my life was put on hold: an outfit post

after a lack of blogging, i'm back. one of the world's greatest evils, malware, downloaded what can only be described as the worst VD of the internet onto my laptop, completely took over and made this machine its bitch. since then i feel like i've been almost completely lost as far as blogs go (and if you've noticed i haven't commented, it doesn't mean i don't think you're awesome, it means i was crying in a corner thinking of all i was missing), including mine. i always notice when i skip several days or even a week of blogging, i will always, without a doubt lose followers. i had the "yes you should/no you shouldn't" battle in my head this morning about posting today or any day, because i'll be honest, when people are fickle, for whatever reason, i take it personally. there, i said it. BUT, i decided that i was going to be honest with myself, i can't go without the interactions i have with you guys, even though i don't really know you, and that alone makes me keep on blogging, quality posts or not!

denim jacket: american eagle // striped sweater: halston/thrifted // skirt: vintage/thrifted // shoes: payless // bag & scarf: vintage/thrifted

about this outfit: this was one of those outfits you kind of throw together when you really don't have time to think about what you're wearing, and even if you did, you don't really want to think about what you're wearing. i like the way it came together (even though hiding my waist with that jacket makes my hips look 8 feet wide), so maybe i should try it more often, but, you know, have a backup outfit planned just in case.

also, chris pretty much threatened my life if i posted this picture of him, but i think humor is more important than safety, don't you? sometimes he likes to pick on me when it comes time for pictures, so while i walked away for a second, he got in front of the camera with my bag and said, "ooohhh, looks, it matches my shirt." that can't not be shared.

shopping spree day

well, last saturday was it - the day i'd been looking forward to for several weeks - shopping spree day. and believe it or not, it was chris's idea! the mission: find clothes that fit in stores we don't have around here, so i'll stop whining about things being too big. we headed south to raleigh, nc and shopped until we felt like we'd collapse. after shopping we wanted to go downtown since it's so pretty... and free. we used one of our film cameras, and i just got the pictures developed yesterday!

there seemed to be a whole lot of horses downtown on saturday, which i don't remember seeing other times i've been, but i love horses, so it was definitely a treat! we spent most of our time around the capitol building as the flowers a so colorful, the sidewalks are shaded, there are lots of birds, and the nearby architecture is so pretty. i think my favorite thing from our time downtown was walking up on these little sparrows in the 7th picture that would sort of hover by this one monument, and although you can't see it as well in the picture i've added since i had to resize it, the bird that had just flown off has it's wings sort of spread and curved so in the picture you can see each little feather! i think my heart exploded. i'll be sure to show you what all i bought later this week!

solid: an outfit post

here's one of my first world problems: i like solid colored clothes, but i tend to have a harder time finding them than i do finding patterned clothes. and sometimes, i'm so used to wearing patterns that i actually forget about some of my solid colored things! this blouse is an example of my sometimes-unreliable memory...

blouse: vintage, thrifted // skirt: vintage, thrifted // bag: vintage // clogs: lotta from stockholm // sunnies: tumbleweeds

i'm actually really glad i suddenly remembered i had this blouse because it's lightweight, super soft silk, and as far as clothing goes, it doesn't get much better than that. i actually didn't buy it intending to wear it regularly, though. when my pop, stepmom, sister, sister's boyfriend, and husband went to the thrift store shortly before christmas to get our tacky christmas outfits, i picked it out only because it would clash with my red and black furry sweater and my hideous wool plaid pants. it's been washed and patiently waiting wear on a hanger in flojo's room ever since, only i never thought about it; but when i suddenly remembered i had it, it was one of those lightbulb moments. now i can't wait to wear it more often! one more thing, the next time i wear this skirt, i'm getting pictures BEFORE i leave the house so i can prove to you it looks and fits better before all the wrinkles and stretching out!

i've been MIA for a few days trying to get some things accomplished and tending to life's demands, so how have you been doing? how was your weekend, and did you do anything for easter? i ate too much, but hey, what's new?

gimme, gimme

my birthday is a short 13 days away (the big birthday - 30!!!), so naturally i've been thinking about the hundreds of things i'd like to have. okay, i honestly start thinking about it in february. it's ridiculous. anyway, i've been constantly adding to my mental wish list, and i think i should stop before i mentally spend more money than i'll ever make in a lifetime. a few of my top favorites on said mental wish list are these...

where to find these beauties: elk chandelier // vintage folding basket // vintage shift dress // vintage pleated skirt // witching hour necklace // alligator tie rack // vintage silk skirt // wood side table // gold leaf poster // vintage skirt

you know, on second thought, with such a large wish list, maybe i should just take up playing the lottery. yes, maybe i will. when you have a birthday coming up, how far ahead do you start making your list? or do you make a list? i guess being an adult and paying bills and doing adult things can be sort of meh sometimes, so that's why birthdays and christmas are still so fun, because those are days you can still celebrate and get excited no matter your age!

parrots are annoying: an outfit post

i feel like such a bad bird mom for saying that, but guys, that girl could win awards for driving me crazy the last few days. from chewing my clothes up (which all parrots do, but usually she stops when i ask her to), to ruining my leather belts, to screaming at me for no reason, to just being a bully, i think she's got parrot pms.

shirt: vintage/thrifted, skirt: express, clogs: torpatoffeln/lotta from stockholm, bag: vintage/thrifted, bracelets: dinosaur toes

there's not much to say about this outfit other than: I'M GETTING DESPERATE! a few weeks a go i told you that a lot of my clothes were too big for me since i've been running and jumping on the trampoline more in the last few months than i usually do, and since this isn't something i plan on changing, that means my clothes have to change. since i have a hard time finding clothes in my size, and the store around here aren't the best for small people, chris was sweet enough to say that he'd take me to north carolina (since we aren't too far north of the border) to get some new and well-fitting clothes! i only have a week left before we go, so until then i'm trying my best to wear things that fit and don't look ridiculous!

i have an addiction to vintage hippie tops, and i was so excited when i found this one because it wasn't 80 sizes to big, and because whoever embroidered it put a bird on it. but, as much as i love my hippie shirts, i can't wear them every day because i feel like i have to be in the right mindset, and that is: peace, love, and getting high. i kid. well, i'm not going to get high, but i feel like when i wear this (or the others) it wouldn't surprise people to see me toting around a bong.