Disco's not dead.

It's no secret I love the 70's (although I wasn't even alive, I just know it was an awesome decade - I mean, come on, LED ZEPPELIN).  It's also no secret I could spend all of my free time in a thrift store and not get tired of it.  So when I find treasures so awesome, it just makes thrifting and sifting through millions of ugly stained sweaters and dresses worth it.  When I found this navy blue 70's maxi dress I nearly died.  First, it was nay blue, and I love that color.  Second, it's in perfect, unworn condition.  Third, IT FITS ME!!!!!  I can't wait to wear it, and I thought it would be fun to put together an outfit for my night at the disco including this dress...

Find these beauties here: fur coat, bangles, platforms, bag

So that's it for now, but I'm sure I'll be singing a disco song or two all day.  I'm running behind this morning because I had to finish making and packaging every single last order to get shipped today so people will have their items in time for Christmas.  It's been busy, I've been a little insane, but I always remind myself how lucky I am to be able to do what I love.  I hope you guys have a great Monday!

non-sweaty layers

i have one problem with a southern summer, and it's this: i can't wear layers like i want because it's too hot and humid!  honestly, if i'm not wearing layers i feel kind of naked, so i try to find the lightest weight clothes i can.  sometimes though, i'm still not so sure about the outcome...

tank: vintage, thrifted // dress: vintage, thrifted // necklace: vintage, thrifted // sandals: aldo

i love loose-fitting tanks, but it can be difficult finding them small enough to fit me, so i was beyond ecstatic when i found this one!  it's sheer, it's small, and it's so lightweight i don't know i'm wearing it - the definition of the perfect tank.

also, after i posted my last moody rant, i felt really bad and almost deleted it, because i don't want to be known as a negative and angry person.  but, because i personally don't like blogs whose authors never have a bad day, and argument, bad hair, or pms, i felt like it was okay to be upset for a day.  i have good news: our house aired out sunday night and through the day on monday so we couldn't smell the skunk anymore, and kona was bathed enough so that, while i can still smell the bitterness if i put my nose to him, i can it beside him and rub him without dying or smelling like skunk myself!

last, if you are in or around the lynchburg, va area, i wanted to invite you to join me and a few hundred others for the 2nd annual rachael's paws & purrs 5k & 10k benefit run!  chris and i ran in the first one and had so much fun, and i'll be there again this year (he may or may not thanks to a bad knee).  if you didn't read my blog back in april of 2011, i blogged about rachael (the run's namesake, and chris' second cousin) and her husband aaron being killed in an apartment fire.  i still think about them and the tragedy on a near-daily basis, but am happy that, because of so many people and their generosity, rachael's legacy and love for animals lives on.  to find out more about the race, the fund, and rachael, visit their site!  and let me know if you're planning to race on september 22!

rain or shine?

we were so lucky last week.  it rained (a lot) AND temperatures were only in the 80's!  i was so excited to be able to wear sleeves again that i didn't even know how to act.  the only problem: which sleeved items do i love and miss wearing the most?  easy.  this yellow sweater...

sweater: thrifted // dress: c/o oasap.com // sandals: kork ease via ebay // necklace: vintage, thrifted

do you ever wear an outfit that you never want to take off because you just love everything about it so much?  this is that outfit for me.  i can't say enough about that dress from oasap.  the color is perfect and matches with everything, the fabric is so soft you almost can't feel you're wearing it, and the back has the prettiest sheer and button detail (which i'll show you later this week).  also, i'm a kork ease lover for life.  i've heard people talk about how comfortable the sandals are, but now i'm a believer.  so i have a feeling you'll be seeing A LOT more of those shoes!  and the necklace i think is gaudy in the best way.  it's so bold and gaudy that i think it's the perfect necklace for plain clothes.  all in all, i plan to wear this outfit a lot.  a whole lot.

so how was your weekend?  and what did you do?

feeling manly

sleep eluded me last night, which means this morning i feel like a zombie.  so i have a feeling this post will be riddled with mistakes (because no, i do not proofread my posts before i publish them) that i won't find until later when i'm so embarrassed that anyone saw.  having said that, good morning!  i decided to wear shorts the other day, and although i'm over those years of refusing to wear them no matter how hot it is, i still feel funny in them...

silk blouse: vintage, thrifted // shorts: i've had them for so long i can't remember // shoes: payless // ring: c/o oasap

i've never liked my thighs.  side note:  someone chris knows once cooked for his grandma and labeled each container saying what the food in it was.  one container was labeled "CHICKEN THIGS" and ever since then, we've been saying thig instead of thigh.  it makes things funnier, and it also makes it hard to type thigh then i'm thinking thig!  anyway, i've always wanted skinny thighs, but genetics says otherwise, so although i no longer refuse to wear shorts, i still feel funny about my THIGS.  wouldn't it be nice if we all loved and accepted all the parts of our body?

i don't usually wear tailored or masculine clothes as i'm a dress girl through and through, but i just felt like wearing something different.  it probably won't happen often  because i felt sort of masculine, but at least i didn't have to think about sitting ladylike.

a little jackson pollock

i've been thinking for a few months now that to sort of do something a little different with outfit posts, maybe i'd try to wear outfits that were inspired by certain works of art.  i have yet to put together a collection of inspiration pictures, but just so you know, that's what i've been thinking!  although this outfit wasn't inspired by an artist or an artist's work, the only thing i can think when i look at this skirt is, "jackson pollock."

shirt: h&m // skirt: vintage via trade with your friendly grocery // shoes: aldo // necklace: vintage, thrifted // bracelets: vintage and SF street vendor // kona: humane society of amherst county

so how was your weekend?  fun and relaxing, i hope!  mine was great.  i worked on some new art that i'll share later this week, i got to experience rain again (finally), and i made a quiche.  i actually hate quiche, although this one wasn't so awfully bad, but chris loves it, and that's what i call love.

we match

when i decided to wear this outfit the other day, i didn't really intend to imitate flojo, but once i took the pictures with her, i realized we were wearing the same colors!  i guess i really do think about her all the time, and now that's just filtering down to my outfit choices...

crop top: thrifted // skirt: target // shoes: aldo // parrot bracelet: vintage, little tree vintage

i have to tell you, i am so happy to be blogging now, you can't even imagine.  virginia was hit hard with a freak weather phenomenon called a derecho on friday.  one minute things we fine, and the next, trees were falling, lightning was striking, and just about everything was being damaged by wind gusts of almost 90 miles per hour.  we're without power and probably will be for another week, according to the latest predictions.  we're lucky enough to have a small camper and a generator we can hook to it and run for a few hours at a time, but there's nothing like home (which, luckily is all in one piece with no trees through the roof or walls), and having this small piece of normalcy - blogging - is such a treat right now!

i'm not sure if there was damage to a phone tower, or if there are just so many people on their cell phones, but signal is spotty at best, so i'll cross my fingers and hope that i'm able to blog some more this week and read your posts as well!  but i'd actually just prefer to have electricity and get back to real life...

that time i looked like i was going to woodstock...

do you ever wish that you would have been a certain age during a certain era or decade?  i do.  my pop and i have talked many times about how we wish we could have been about 25 in 1969 in bethel, new york.  woodstock.  i didn't intend to dress like i was headed there, but i think it looks like i'm ready to see joan baez.

dress: vintage, thrifted // headband: i made it // clogs: vintage, from nicole // bracelets: vintage and SF street vendor

i found this dress at a thrift store about 5 or 6 years ago and knew i had struck gold.  i'll never let this go, and i'm just sad i haven't found others in the same style that fit perfectly with no alterations needed!  maybe this dress has been to woodstock so in a round about way i can say i was there... sort of.  what era do you wish you could have lived through or enjoyed, or just go back to and visit for a little while?

ditsy?

sometimes i see words or phrases on the internet and, although i may know what they're associated with, i have no idea what they actually mean.  it makes me feel so old and out of touch.  for example: ditsy.  and to think all this time i've just thought my dresses had a floral print...

dress: vintage, thrifted // belt: came with another dress // shoes: aldo // sunglasses: tumbleweeds // bracelets: vintage and san francisco street vendor // ditsy flowers: courtesy of my husband

i wasn't sure about this dress when i first saw it because it was made to be the jumper type that you wear over a shirt, and i don't think i've done that since 4th grade when my turtlenecks were printed with teddy bears.  but, i like the pattern, the fabric is soft, it fit, and i knew that it would be a simple alteration that wouldn't take more than 20 minutes.  i still can't believe what i'm about to tell you, but i actually had the dress fixed and ready to wear less than a week after i got it.  i know, it's insane, but i swear i'm not lying.

so how was your weekend?  mine was so nice but went by WAY too quickly!  i got a painting almost finished, i got a new tattoo, and we went riding by the creek and through the woods (and had more encounters with nature than ever before) because several of you guys said you wanted to see more of the farm - and what my friends want, my friends get.  so i'll show you soon!

my diy

when it comes to diy - and the internet seems to have an unlimited supply - i swear i have good intentions, but like my stack of to-be-altered thrift store finds, i often don't ever get around to doing them.  but sometimes i see one so awesome i know it would make angels cry to ignore it, and no one want to be responsible for angel tears.

a couple weeks ago i saw a tie dye denim diy on honestly... wtf and knew that if i could find a chambray shirt, IT. WAS. ON.  i kid you not, i've been searching thrift stores for nearly a year for a chambray shirt that fit and didn't have old lady embroidery with absolutely no luck.  so imagine my surprise when the day after i saw the diy i managed to find a chambray shirt that fit for only $3.50!  i couldn't believe it.  i was pretty nervous to bleach it seeing as how i really liked it just as it was and i'd been looking forever, but i knew i didn't want to forget about this diy.

as long as you have rubber bands, a shirt, and some bleach, the diy is basically just common sense.  but i always seem to forget just how fast bleach can, well, bleach, once it starts to work.  the diy says to keep your shirt in bleach for 15-20 minutes, but from my experience bleaching fabric for bags, i knew that anything close to 10 would mean it would go from blue to white to tan with bleach-eaten holes.  my shirt stayed submerged for about 3 minutes, and i already had water waiting in the washing machine to stop the bleach, but i didn't take into account how long it would take me to remove the 8 million rubber bands, so it ended up a little lighter than i'd hoped, but i still love it!  i can see it now with a lace skirt and wedges...  i'm hoping maybe, fingers crossed, i'll be able to find another chambray shirt to bleach, only this time i'll remember how long the rubber bands take to come off!

the pictures where i'm wearing it make it look a lot lighter than it actually is, but i promise it's awesome, and i'm pretty sure after that bleach bath it's cleaner than any other clothes in my closet!  have you been working on any diy's lately?  if so, what are they?  whenever i see a good diy online, i'm always curious about other people's results!

also, be sure to enter the $75 gift card giveaway from shabby apple because it ends tomorrow!  and for dinosaur toes readers, shabby apple is kind enough to give you 10% off of your purchases with the discount code dinosaurtoes10off

twirls.

first, this skirt is my favorite.  second, i'm so glad i own and am able to operate a sewing machine.  i thrifted this baby last year because i think it's impossible to have too much chiffon in my life, and because it's my favorite color.  the only problem was that i could have fit two of me in it, so i actually considered not getting it because i've finally been honest with myself in these situations and realized that the chances of me actually making the necessary alterations are slim to none.  but i promised myself i would alter this one (and i actually did it pretty quickly!) and now i can't imagine not having it!

top: banana republic // belt: forever 21 // skirt: vintage, thrifted // shoes: aldo // bag: vintage, thrifted

in other news, because my toes are still broken (i'm one of those people who thinks things can just immediately heal because i want them to, but unfortunately it's never worked) i'm still not able to run, and i'm about to go crazy.  BUT, since i feel like there is no other exercise like running and i'll go up at least 8 sizes without doing it, i've really been trying hard to eat healthier (and less) since about the only thing i can do that doesn't hurt is ride a bike.  so my point is, i gave up coca-cola almost three weeks ago.  it's a feat i never in a million years thought i'd tackle, BUT I DID!  and i'm not even jonesing!  now if only my willpower could heal my toes...

how was your weekend?  also, don't forget to enter the giveaway for a $75 gift card from shabby apple!

mismatched midi

do you have trouble thrifting things only to let them sit in a drawer or in your closet for years?  i'll admit it, i have quite a few vintage thrifted finds that i can't part with, but i can't seem to figure out how to wear either!  i've had this skirt for at least five years now, i kid you not.  vintage hoarder?  probably.  midis have always scared me, but i've decided to face my fear (with skirts at least; the snake fear may never be faced).  also, chris took my pictures, so that's why i look kind of goofy... sorry!

jacket: american eagle (really old) // shirt: vintage, thrifted // skirt: vintage, thrifted // belt: forever 21 // sandals: aldo

here are a few things of note: i almost just wore a white shirt but thought that would be too boring, so i decided to add another pattern to the skirt (the embroidery on the shirt) because who doesn't like an added dose of crazy?  my toes were freshly broken and not buddy wrapped and i could only hop on my right foot, so chris had to get the crutches out of the garage, and now that i think about it, i feel extra pathetic.  last, do not wear these shoes with broken toes; they will make you cry.