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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!


Happy Halloween, everyone! This is what our dining room table looked like, at least until the pumpkins got all moldy and collapsed onto themselves five days after we carved them. Every year I buy a few more decorations to add to my collection - this year I picked up the spiderweb tablecloth, which I love. My Halloween decorations are nowhere near as awesome as Emily's, but maybe someday they will be. (A skull is definitely on my wish list.)


I thought I'd do a quick run-down of how I put together the Katy Perry costume I wore to our party on Sunday, because I love it when bloggers share their DIY experiences.

This was my inspiration...


First off, here are the things I already owned:

-The pink wig
-The pink cardigan
-The heels

Altogether, this costume only cost about $10 and took two hours of work. And I have to give almost all the credit to Josh here: even though I came up with the idea, he actually made almost everything. I sewed the skirt and cut out the green and yellow shapes, and he did everything else. Yes, my husband is awesome.

My grandma gave me the box I used as the hat, and Josh just glued some cheap yellow fabric onto it, and stuck a headband through it to hold it on my head.

I cut the green and yellow shapes on my chest out of felt and just pinned them together.

For the heels, Josh wrapped blue painter's tape around the bottom, and taped yellow ribbon around the top.

The skirt was the trickiest bit. Because I decided on this costume kind of last-minute, I didn't have time to search for a black pencil skirt at a thrift store. That would have been the easier option. Instead, I bought some fabric and a 99-cent pattern at Joann Fabrics. I opened the pattern at 10 p.m. the night before the party, and spent twenty minutes staring at it, trying to understand it. Eventually I gave up on that idea. I may know the basics of sewing, but apparently I don't know how to read a pattern. So instead, I just sewed two pieces of fabric together, added elastic at the top and a hem at the bottom, and Josh glued the white felt shapes all over it.

As my niece Emily pointed out, when you looked at the skirt close up it kind of looked like a Project Runway piece gone bad, but from far away it looked reasonably similar to the inspiration photo. Overall, I was pleased with the way my costume turned out, although next year I may go for something easier.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Blue gingham


Lately I've been trying to veer a bit more towards office appropriate outfits, just so I can get some practice for the job I will hopefully be starting in January. I think I'd wear the top and skirt to a business casual office. I'd probably wear different shoes - I'm not sure if you're allowed to wear boots even in a business casual setting. I think I'll probably need to do some research before I start this job (and quiz my fellow female employees) just so I don't show up to work in anything totally inappropriate. In case you can't tell, it's been a long time since I've worked in an office.



Blue gingham top: J. Crew
Brown leather skirt: thrifted from Goodwill (Target brand)
Beige boots: Jeffrey Campbell (Rumble boots) from Urban Outfitters
Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx
Scarf: thrifted
Bracelet: gift, from Italy

Also, wow....


Sometimes I can't believe I get to live in such a beautiful place.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Costume party


Yesterday was our second annual costume party! (See last year's photos here.) It was super rainy out, but nearly everyone was willing to go up to the roof and take some photos anyway.

I was Katy Perry (in case the pink hair and cube hat didn't make it obvious)...


Josh was inspired by Arrested Development...


My niece Emily was Kaylee from Firefly (check out the awesome sandals)...


My niece Maggie was a lazy, chain smoking housewife (with "cigarettes" that she made herself out of paper!)...


Okay, I'll be honest, I'm not sure what my sister-in-law Lizzie was supposed to be, but she was adorable...


My sister-in-law Joanna was a character from The Sims (because it was the only thing she could think of to make the night before the party)...


My niece Mary was the Tooth Fairy (check out the tooth earrings)...



And my mother-in-law Molly decided to be sensible and dress as a nurse, and we were all immensely jealous of how comfortable she was by the end of the night...


Josh's dad came wearing his normal clothes, with a post-it note stuck to his shirt that said "crotchety old fart," which eventually fell off onto the floor and was eaten by Onyx. We didn't mind too much - it's hard to be mad at such an adorable dog who likes to fall asleep on top of warm laundry...


Friday, October 26, 2012

Broken record


Sometimes I feel like a broken record, wearing the same things over and over again. Like these boots - I wore them in yesterday's post as well, also while posing in this alley. And in my two earlier posts this week, I wore the same black sweater both times. I guess I just have my favorites. I'm trying to get over my irrational fear of wearing the same item of clothing (or shoes) two days in a row. When I lived in China I noticed that all my students and all the other teachers at my college wore the exact same outfit for three or four days in a row, so eventually I started doing that too. If you love what you're wearing, why not wear it over and over again? But then I came back to America, where everyone feels compelled to wear something different every day. That's not a bad thing - I certainly like being creative with my outfits and trying to find new combinations, especially since I photograph what I wear for this blog. But every now and then, it's nice to wear a favorite piece a few times in a row.




Lace dress: H&M
White button-up shirt: free from my aunt
Brown coat: Marks and Spencer
Brown boots: Jessica Simpson from Macy's
Red necklace: B. Lee Designs
Brown braided belt: thrifted
Embroidered bracelet: thrifted from Village Merchants

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Repeat


The outfit in these photos is the twin of this outfit I wore earlier in the year. (Maybe the fraternal twin, since they're not exactly the same.) I like the current version much better - it looks nicer, and it was more comfortable. Josh said it was one of his favorites out of my recent outfits, and I loved it, too. Sometimes the things I wear just feel "meh," and other times I hit upon a combination that really makes me happy. I think a lot of people underestimate the power of a great outfit. When I wear something that I feel good in, it usually improves my mood and my confidence.


Beige sweater: Target
Gray vest: free from my aunt
Brown belt: thrifted
Jeans: Levi's
Brown boots: Jessica Simpson from Macy's
Hat: free from my dad
Earrings: free from my aunt
Necklace: purchased in Florence, Italy

Here are a couple pictures from a walk I took the other day...Portland is so gorgeous in the fall.



Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Claudia and Stacey


I don't have anything to say about this outfit other than it was cute, functional, and super comfy. (Hello, stretchy waistband...)

Now moving on to much more interesting things...I found this awesome website yesterday called What Claudia Wore, based on the style of Claudia Kishi from The Babysitters Club books. I don't know about you guys, but I was obsessed with those books as a kid. (Especially since one of the characters was named Stacey. I even tried writing hearts over all my "i"s just like her, until I realized that it took way to long to write anything that way.) Some of my favorite parts of those books were the descriptions of Claudia's wacky outfits. (I also loved hearing about her secret stashes of junk food.) Were any of you into those books?


Black sweater: Target
Green skirt: Anthropologie
Black suede boots: Urban Outfitters
Blue necklace: made by my aunt
Green bracelet: thrifted from Village Merchants

Monday, October 22, 2012

Have a seat


I'm a sucker for a quirky print. I love that this skirt looks like faded, retro curtains that someone sewed into a piece of clothing.

It's officially tights weather. I think 70-degree days are gone for good, and I feel so sad about that. But looking on the bright side, it's Halloween next week, and I'm going to dress up as Katy Perry, so that should be awesome.


Black sweater: Target
Chair skirt: Anthropologie
Black tights: American Apparel
Yellow shoes: Urban Outfitters
Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx
Green necklace: purchased in Hong Kong

I'm linking up this post to Monday Mingle!
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