so technically i’ve been back home for a few days, but today marks the day when i have to admit that while i still have a few weeks before the new semester at school starts, i no longer have any excuses to slack on the blog. which is unfortunate, considering that i slept for like 11 hours last night and woke up in a strange fog, having dreamt of an almost full day of productivity: i had written and prepared several posts for the blog in clear detail while sleeping. you can imagine my disappointment when i hobbled over to the computer to discover that none of these things had happened in reality.

so while i continue to recover from this cold that just doesn’t seem to want to quit, and from the weekend of partying despite my condition, i bring you some silly photos of me at a bar on the first day of my vacation. i thought it might be fun to post these here because i’ve really only ever posted outfit shots. so this is what i look like having a grand old time at mr. bings after modeling at a photo shoot for shannon at indie industries with jennie of going west and joey de ruy. (more on that later…)

the photos were shot by natalia becker.

well, it’s the last day of the year, and it looks like a little countdown is in order! these are my top ten favorite outfits of 2009. i tried to keep them generally in chronological order so i could see the progression from when i first started posting my outfits through now. to be fair, i don’t think i actually started blogging my outfits until sometime in the early summer, but i did post daily outfits on chictopia starting in february. i had a fun time browsing through my first images taken with my little point and shoot on my back porch, reminiscing about what was happening in my life during those times.

aw shucks. i guess i’m getting a little sentimental here. i have to say i’m really glad that i stuck with blogging and that i have met so many awesome people, both friends and acquaintances. i’ve been inspired in different ways by each and every one of my readers, whether from a nice comment, from browsing your blogs, or just knowing that you’re out there, taking the time to stop by. it’s helped me to grow in many ways and i’m truly excited to see where else it will take me in the new year!

alright, now wipe your eyes and go enjoy the holiday! i’m ready for more.

alright you guys. dress up day two! i was just too excited not to try out the other dress i got. this one is definitely going to be my birthday dress, which is exactly one month from today. (weee!) anyway, i could have shown you my real outfit for today, but i’m not actually going to be wearing one! no, i’m not going to be naked, i’m going to san francisco to do a photo shoot for indie industries. so maybe technically, i’ll be wearing so many outfits, i couldn’t post them all here. but i will most definitely show you where to find them once they’re up! and then tomorrow i’m leaving for my vacation! so sadly, this might be my last outfit post for the next 8 or 9 days. i will continue to do blog posts, and if everything goes as planned, i’m also going to be doing one of those silly countdowns where i show you my top favorite outfits of 2009.

but for now, i really must be going.

i have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of these pieces on the web pretty soon here. i just so happened to stop in at my local target yesterday and discovered the entire collection in all it’s glory just waiting on the racks for me. so yeah, i went for it and purchased this black tulle dress, the baby blue swiss dot dress, and the striped boat neck shirt. i wanted the mustard lace cardigan, but they didn’t have it there.

and of course, i saw the tavi video where i learned that the collection was inspired by bonnie and clyde, rosemary’s baby, and harold and maude. but honestly, this tulle dress speaks to my inner lydia deetz. i was obsessed with tim burton in high school (frankenweenie, beetlejuice and the nightmare before christmas) and even went through a (very) brief faze in which i wore white face makeup. and well, i never got a dress like this back then, so i think i must be making up for it now.

anyway, i got it to wear for new years but i had to play dress up and figure out how to style it. i asked my boyfriend for help and he said he prefers the black lace tights, even though it’s pretty literal this way. i also tried it with nude lace tights and leopard tights. the leopard was too much.

well well, looks like someone has recently discovered the color orange and that someone is me! right on the heels of two very neutral outfits, i decided to change it up a bit and play with some color. i never really wore orange before i got this sweater, and now it’s opening up a whole world of possibilities. isn’t orange notoriously difficult to wear? meh, the more i play with color, the more i realize that it’s the tans and taupes and olive greens that are scary. at least for me. for instance, there’s this particular shade of sage green that makes me look like death. but orange, well…

knock knock
who’s there?
banana
banana who?
knock knock
who’s there?
banana
banana who?!
knock knock
who’s there??!!
orange
orange who?
orange you glad i didn’t say banana?

wearing:
vintage rust sweater, thrifted
vintage orange plaid scarf, thrifted
vintage belt, thrifted
vintage navy coach purse, thrifted
custom high rise skinny jeans, courtesy of indidenim
star ling woven platform sandals, nordstrom

…and play dress up! today it is cold and rainy again and i just wasn’t in the mood to go outside. so, i put on extra makeup and did my best olivia newton-john impression. actually, that was not the intended outcome at all, but while my boyfriend was shooting these photos, he kept singing that song, “you’re the one that i want ooh ooh ooh honey…” so if i don’t look very tough, it’s because these were the shots we got in-between laughter. wow, i just took the glamour right outta that one, didn’t i?

anyway, i was just going for something that i wouldn’t normally wear, while still plucking all of the items right from my own closet. it’s not a complete 180 or anything, but my boyfriend brought up a good point: since i always dress really sweet and cute, then i will always look like a good girl trying to be bad when i change it up a bit. the only funny part about that is that i think i might surprise you if you were to know me in real life!

oh my! bare legs in winter? thanks to the gray and cloudy weather in between rainstorms, it’s actually surprisingly not cold. i wouldn’t say it’s warm, but it’s totally bearable. anyway, after feeling a little inspired to dress up and get pretty today, i decided to try out a few new things. this is the first time i’ve scrunched up socks and worn them with my ankle boots: i owe that to the j.crew catalogs that show up in my mailbox every week. and i am wearing a necklace! and not just a necklace, but a necklace with sequins! i don’t think i’ve ever actually worn sequins before. and for that, i can thank glitzer on etsy.

i’ve been meaning to incorporate jewelry into my wardrobe for a while now, but i just didn’t know where to start. i didn’t want to go buy cheapy stuff from f21, but i wasn’t willing to run to a real jeweler and throw down $100 for a simple necklace. so i’ve found the perfect solution: bib necklaces. they’re like training wheels for adults who want to be more fancy. and well, that’s that.

oh and one last thing. i wear silly smartwool socks like these almost every day. they’re very warm and practical, but today was fun because i actually incorporated them into an outfit. i like that they created a little ombrÁ© effect with my booties. i guess you can’t tell, but they’re charcoal and gray. details, details.

this series of family photos is neverending, so i hope you all are enjoying them ok. this time i’m focusing on some fun shots of my grandmother and her brothers and sisters. this photo up top is one of my absolute favorites. they’re all having a little barbeque in the park.