leftovers

I've been working a lot lately. Really Really a lot. So I've been really bad about finding time to work on stuff for this blog. I'm exhausted. My back hurts. No, make that my whole body hurts. I'm emotionally stretched very thin right now as well. And I may very well be hung over right now.

And there is no end in site.

I really hope to have a day to work on blog stuff and catch up on household chores soon. Right now it looks like I'll get a day off on March 15th. I do have loads of stuff planned though so please stay tuned.

These are some old pictures. I think just after I cut my hair. And my hair already feels like it needs a trim. So sometime last month. Whenever I had a day off to play around because there was two feet of snow outside.

I'm wearing my comfy wide leg high waist jeans with a black and white striped top. The top has kind of a funnel neck and is layered under a vintage green shell, worn as a sweater vest. Silver flats. During my layering phase...


I need to get ready and go to work now. See you soon!

Wardrobe Round Up

I haven't been posting many of my "daily" outfits because I want to take some of the focus off of myself in this blog. But this blog is in part about style, particularly in clothing so I do feel I should post some of what I wear. These were taken on three separate days in February and are kind of all over the place in terms of style. I'm trying to find patterns in the things I wear but the only thing these have in common is there are no pants!

In order that I wore them.......

This is the most formal of the three. I wore it to the Theater to see a local production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child.

I was going for a kind of posh thrift store lady look. I guess I accomplished it because I got a lot of compliments that day. I'm wearing a vintage pink dress that's really light and airy with pale dove grey tights, an aqua and gold brocade jacket and gold maryjanes.

And just a face shot that sort of shows my makeup. I was still rocking the bright pink lips.


This is my sassy little french girl look. I didn't do anything in particular on that day. Just went to a diner for breakfast and did some vintage shopping later. Spent most of the day on some early Spring cleaning. Still loads more to do on that front.


I'm wearing a plain white t-shirt with a red and whit stripe skirt and black tights. I love the little pockets and the way the skirt flares out. My favorite of the three outfits in this post.

The only picture where my shoes came out. My standby red flats with the little white buckle! This is my bedroom by the way. You don't get to see it much on this blog.

This is the sexiest outfit! I had to work at the vintage shop that day. I intended to go out afterward and see some bands play but I've been so extremely sleep deprived and stressed about some stuff that I just couldn't make it. I don't like to dress sexy anyway.

The shop cat was very curious about what I was doing! I usually wear a lot of bright colors and patterns and with this outfit I was trying to focus more on the shape of things and the structure. So I used a simple palette of red, white, and black. I wore this with a structured tuxedo style jacket, black, with satin lapels. It didn't make it into any pictures.


And a close up of my peep toe spectator heels. Adorable but very uncomfortable.

So anything in common? Nothing really across all three but some common threads seem to be: dresses, maryjane heels, red, and black tights. I guess I can live with that.

Shop Girl

I recently had to spend the whole weekend working at the vintage shop. This, in addition to my regular weekday job. I'm not complaining I just want to explain why I took time to play at work. I'm obviously not taking pictures of myself while I have customers in the store!

I love the reflection of everything in the glass case, the light bouncing off all those rhinestones!

I love this dress, vintage and bought where I stand of course. The belt isn't original to it, that one is missing. But this ties into the bit of red on the neckline and the little red buttons on the sleeve cuffs.


And then here's another mismatchy look. I'm sitting in this massive throne. If there's every a strikingly unusual chair in my pictures it's because they are made by a local artist, Greg Karkowski. I'm positive I'm spelling his last name wrong. I'm terrible at that.

I'm wearing a Kensie sundress over a stripe top and purple tights. This picture is kinda old. I'm moving away from the grunge, layered, Holly Hobby look. These pictures were all taken before I chopped my hair off.

See you soon!

Style Inspiration: 70's career wear

A while back I found a vintage green and white suit comprised of a skirt and vest. At first I considered doing a Bonnie and Clyde take on it, in honor of one of my favorite bloggers at Sally Jane Vintage. You probably already know her, but if not go read her blog right now. She has perfect style with pencil skirts and berets, and beautiful sunset hair.

But in the end I decided to go with a more literal translation of the suit.

I always style the button up in a a similar way, librarian chic. The brown pattern on the top lends itself to wearing brown tights and my brown Holly Hobby style chunky maryjanes.

I took these pictures in the little vintage shop again. The owner is working on a website so hopefully soon I can share more of my little life with you.

I know I haven't been posting outfits as much but I think it's just not very fun for me. I don't photograph well and I really want to put more focus on other people in this blog. I still need to get my profiles of redhead together. And I'm also thinking of doing a henna dye to brighten my hair up. What do you think?

Hair inspiration

A couple of weekends ago when we were all under two feet, at least, of snow, I killed some time by watching a really cool movie. It's called Paris, Texas and if you haven't seen it please do. But I warn you: it's a slow burn.

I found this girl so beautiful and intriguing.

I loved her pale skin with bright pink lips. I loved her pink fuzzy (backless!) sweater. And I really love that blonde bob with the slight wave. I was captivated.

And then I remember seeing an article in Lucky about girls faking a bob on the Spring runways which made sense because I feel like I saw some bloggers doing that recently.

And then I remembered how I tried pinning my hair underneath last spring to fake a bob.

It looks pretty short here. This was during my flapper posts. I really loved the makeup. I even had those bright pink lips (ha!).

So then I just gave in and cut my hair off. Six inches.


It's a little longer than the girl in the film. I have a round face and can't have hair stop right at my chin. And I didn't intentionally wear that bright pink lipstick. I guess it's something I keep being drawn to?

So how do you decided when to change your hair? Celebrity trends? Online inspiration? Cabin fever?

what not to wear

First in a series as I continue making many many mistakes in dressing myself.

As was pointed out to me recently, I'm not fat. It had been one of those days (weeks) and yes I did need that pointed out to me. So yes while my weight is within the normal healthy range, it doesn't mean that my clothes fit the same way they did when I was 21 (or even 25). And I do what I can to be healthy but genetics do have a say in things and as it stands I'm what they like to call pear shaped.



This means that my hips/thighs are disproportionately larger than my waist/chest. So getting dressed/buying clothes can be a struggle. Just because something is cute, doesn't mean that it is cute on me.

So, if you are bottom heavy like me..



Rule #1: Don't wear shirts that draw attention to your lower half. Shirts are supposed to be the friend of the small on top girl. Layer wisely.

This outfit doesn't work because my shirt ends right where my thighs are largest. It is ruffled and patterned and draws the eye right where I don't want it. Especially since I have a cardigan covering the rest of it. It also doesn't help that I'm wearing skinny pants that emphasize the difference between my thighs and my ankles.



outfit details: grey skinny pants (urban outfitters), ruffle bottom shirt (american rag); tangerine cardigan(H&M), silver flats (payless, of course)

I think I need a change.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about whether or not I want to continue doing this blog. It is kinda fun and I enjoy having a hobby albeit one I don't talk about in my real life. Most people I know have no idea about this and even those who do, like my sweet husband, don't really hang out here. I like being able to connect with the girls (mostly) behind the blogs I read. Having a blog makes me look like less of an obsessive stalker and more of a colleague. I hope.



But I also don't want this blog to just become an exercise in narcissism. Truly, I'm not that confident or vain to think that people just want to look at pictures of me and my constantly under construction home. So what do I want this blog to be about? Well, vintage stuff, mostly. That's my passion. So while I do have lots of vintage dresses I could photograph myself in, I'd like to do more photo stories of other vintage bloggers and actual vintage photography. And since my rehab house is often a subject here, I'd like to do more with vintage and retro design and decor. And makeup being my first love, I can't leave that behind but perhaps I'll do more how-tos instead of show offs and focus more on retro/ or even runway looks.



And in order to set myself apart from other bloggers, I need to ask myself, what, if anything makes me special or different from them. As a redhead, I find myself fascinated and drawn to other red haired bloggers, models, and actresses. I want to do features in that area. And though I wouldn't exactly call myself a full figured gal, I'm often a far cry from the girls in blogs I read who have such petite frames. I have such a struggle finding clothes that fit, let alone flatter. If even one girl comes here for tips and advice to help them dress around an oversize ass or above 125 pound frame, I'll know I done good, as my dear friend Jenny would say.



But what would you like to see here? I welcome all tips and advice as I'm really still so new to all of this.



outfit details: grey skinny pants (Urban outfitters); white ruffle cardigan (Kensie); pink and grey floral blouse (Kensie); silver flats (payless, of course!)

100th post? Woo Hoo!

I know some bloggers post every day (and those are some of my favorite blogs) but I never thought I'd make it to one hundred posts, even if it has taken me three seasons to do so. I'm starting to wonder why I stick with it on some days. I'm really not confident or vain; I don't like having my picture taken. I don't think I'll ever be famous with ten thousand views a day and invitations to exclusive events. Ultimately doing this has to be just for me, cause there's no guarantee of even continuing the 25 views a day I do get. I wonder what people would even like to see in this space, should they come to look? Perhaps I should seek out newer bloggers and befriend them a bit so they won't feel so overwhelmed. Do bloggers even feel overwhelmed? haha who knows. Here some typical pictures of me, in bright colors, being silly at home to tide you over while I think things over.

This is what happens to my hair if I do not brush it immediately after washing.

I think I have the oddest shaped face in history and not in a good way.

Not sexy, just silly.

Outfit details: seafoam dress (Kensie); tangerine cardigan (H&M); dove grey hights (Hue); taupe ankle boots (payless, of course).

A Tale of Two Sundays

I think in general people tend to be down on sundays, thinking of them only as a boring bumper to the dreaded Monday morning and back to work for most. They don't have the party allure of friday or saturday nights. Lots of smaller shops close but the malls are full of the after church crowd elbowing their way back to the sale rack. But I like Sundays. Sometimes my husband or I have to work over the weekend but usually we get to spend it together.



And saturday tends to be so busy! There are chores to do and errands to run. And recreation leans toward the stressful side of things because shopping can be so tiring. It just feels as busy as a work day. It's even more complicated when you have plans for the evening. You never get a break!



But sundays can be so blissfully relaxing and rejuvenating. We almost always go to a lazy brunch at our favorite little place where we can indulge in sweet crepes or french toast or savory omelets and quiches. Sometimes we skip this if we did it on saturday, like when mom comes to visit. And then we barely get out of bed!



It's nice to laze about and lurk around on the internet. Or reading books or watching movie after movie. Sometimes we'll bake or make a more time consuming but delicious meal for dinner. If only Morrissey were right about everyday being like sunday!

The first outfit is from the birthday brunch I mentioned from a couple weeks ago. The second is a bit older and was a day spent blissfully in bed!

outfit details: #1 black zip up leggings (macy's); Crosshatch dress (kensie); white short sleeve cardigan (Kensie); #2 grey pants (urban outfitters); yellow cashmere sweater (thrifted); stripe floral vest (scrapbook)

Grey Days

I took some pictures next to my partially renovated kitchen wall because it's this lovely aqua blue and I wanted to punk up the blue tones in my clothes. I wish I had someplace interesting to take photos. Half my house is in shambles all the time because I'm working on one project or another and I live in a kind of depressed urban area. The best bit of nature is a cemetery and I feel really weird about hauling my tripod up their for vanity shots amongst people's dear dead loved ones. Pittsburgh is an exceedingly gloomy gray town anyway. I really can't wait until spring.




My life is all rather routine. Is yours? I have a work schedule and a chores schedule and I go to the same place for brunch every weekend. I have a couple thrift stores I frequent, a couple of places I order take out from. I watch a lot of movies on Netflix. I guess it's partly the weather, I tend not to want to do much when it's grey and cold. But I can't but feel that there isn't much to do anyway. What am I missing? It's hard to know if I'm bored or just boring.





Somebody send me some excitement! I guess I'll clean out my closet and get rid of anything that doesn't fit or I just don't care for anymore. I wish I had someone to give them to. I think that would be more enjoyable, to see someone love them, than to just drop them off at a charity shop.



I'm still feeling preppy casual these days. It's a nice break from dresses all the time.

outfit details: (wide leg jeans-Macys; argyle sweater vest-thrifted; blue stripe top-thrifted; and silver flats-payless of course)

Birthday party frock

My birthday was last weekend! I usually dread my birthday, holidays in general make me depressed but this year I managed to have some fun. My actual birthday was on Sunday but I did most of my celebrating on Saturday. My mom came to visit me and we went to Brunch and did some shopping and hung out a bit.



And then I went to an estate sale with my boss at the vintage store and bought some kitchen wares. They had a ton of vintage clothes but were not my size. It was still really fun to look though and there was a ton of vintage home wares and furniture and art of all varieties. The only downside was that I fell down the stairs. HARD. (I was hurting for days, badly. I still have a bruised bum but at least my left arm works again).



My super sweet husband took me to my most favorite fancy pants restaurant for course after course of sushi. Melt in your mouth delicious and world's better quality than I've ever gotten anywhere else. Afterward, we went to a bar near our house to meet up with friends for a dance party called Fight: soul vs funk vs mod rock vs disco vs power pop. I love dancing but couldn't do much because of my fall. It was still lots of fun. I didn't stay too late and so I got to avoid the disco. Not really my thing. But no matter what you can't say anything against soul music. Everyone seems to gravitate to it. It's fun!



On Sunday, birthday proper, I went to a brunch with friends and it was lovely yummy vegan food. And my dear husband bought me a tripod so I can stop precariously balancing my camera on shelf edges and boulders. I had mentioned wanting to learn to knit or crochet and so he took me to the store where I got a beginners crochet book and some hooks of various sizes and some yarn. I want to make myself a scarf but right now I'm having some difficulty getting started. I have a difficulty learning from reading manuals and looking at diagrams. I really wish I had someone who could sit down with me for half an hour and just show me how to do it. I'm trying not to get too discouraged.

Jumper Dress and Leggings--3 ways

When I thrifted a plain black little jumper dress a couple months back I had no idea how much use I would get out of it. At first I wore it proper slipping dainty little blouses underneath. But as it got colder, I craved thicker fabrics and had to start wearing my tops on the outside. Coupled with the leggings I bought, despite hating the trend (I guess I needed to try them to understand), I can keep wearing this poor dress all year long.

First I tried it in the grungy rock and roll way I've been reclaiming.

I have a snug black and blue check button up and my faithful houndstooth flats (also receiving much wear)

Then I tried to make it preppy.

I wore a black and white striped button up. I like how the cuffs upturn to reveal some pink and yellow stripes.

And then the third is my favorite. A cute and sassy look.

I love my new bubblegum pink sweater!

What do you think? Is there an article of clothing that you can't stop remixing?

Daily Wear: I wear this every time she comes over

Sometimes I feel like the world's oldest, well, I don't even want to call myself a style blogger, but you get the picture. If you're like me and you follow an ever expanding list of style/fashion/beauty/vintage blogs, then you will have noticed that most of these girls are so delicate and young and almost unnervingly lovely.

Self-esteem, meet floor.

And admittedly, I'm participating in what can be a rather shallow endeavor. I don't really think that clothes make the woman.

But I'm certainly not critiquing the lovely blogs I read or the many many wonderful ones I don't even know about yet. It's just sometimes I get embarassed that my hobby is actually posting pictures of myself online, that I awkwardly take myself. And they aren't even the sexy kind! haha

Well, if you haven't guessed it by now, my birthday is coming up and it's all too much with my seasonal blahs. I don't want to be older. And admitting that I care can also be received as shallowness.

And since I'm always so upfront about my insecurities and flaws and never photoshop a thing.....

I have lots of grey hairs. And looking at that picture, all I can think is that I wish I would have put on makeup before taking that picture.

Anyway, rant over. These are just a couple of pictures of my navy sweater dress again, that I posted about when I was being a grunge princess. I guess I'm having that phase. Again.


I wore a red button up with tiny white pinstripes, twisted up brown tights and my brown maryjanes. I guess this is my business casual grunge look.


My hair is usually as flat as a young girls chest. It's a bit bigger in these picks because I started using Lush's veganese conditioner. Now it has more body and it has more of it's own shine so I don't need a serum. Still grey though.

Daily Wear: Aqua and brown

Aqua and brown is such a comforting Martha Stewart color combination. I think I used lots of this at my wedding for some reason. I think it started when I wanted blue pop flowers on the invitations. I posted about this skirt before when I showed it mixed with a polka dotted blouse. In that post I highlighted the brown aspects of the skirt but here I focus on the Aqua tones.

I wore this Christmas day, all dressed up even though I never left my house. I think my husband stayed in his p.j.s all day. I'm not sure how I feel about these aqua pantyhose, yes not tights. They are so sheer and I don't think it's a good look for the leg, kinda ashen and dead. You can see my bruises through them.


A fellow blogger, you might know her, is running a contest where you can win a really pretty bow headband that she made. Go here and be her friend and I hope you win!

I'm actually going to be doing a post where I take inspiration from a fellow blogger instead of a typical fashion icon. I can't say who because she reads this from time to time and I hope she'll be flattered and not annoyed or weirded out.


Outfit details: Aqua/brown floral skirt (thrifted); aqua blouse (H&M); aqua tights (hue); tall brown boots (oh, I forget, but I wore them on this thing before. too lazy to go look for them but they are one of the rare pairs not from payless!)