everything's coming up clover

dress- ruche

cardigan - modcloth

shoes - asos

The post in which I make the transition from cat lady to cah-razy cat lady...

This St. Patrick's Day was the most fun I've had in years! I've been nuts about this holiday since I was a kid-- I used to slip green dye into everything (I mean, everything. My parents weren't fond of the green milk, green rice or green potatoes..) Even though my mom is Irish, we never really celebrated much aside from my food dye craze. But this year she must have been feeling her roots something awful because she went all out! For dinner we had homemade Irish soda bread, colcannon, boxty and burgers (or as my mom insisted we call them, "St. Paddy's day patties" lol)

For dessert we had shamrock shaped cookies -- dyed green of course!! ;D We usually watch The Quiet Man every St. Patrick's Day, not just because it's a household favorite but because John Wayne really reminds my mom of her late Irish father. (He was my grandfather's favorite actor and I swear they looked like twins!) This year, though, I thought I'd introduce my little brother to The Gnome-Mobile, one of my childhood favorites that somehow eluded him growing up. It's not *technically* an Irish movie, but the lead character, DJ Mulrooney, is Irish and the gnomes are mighty similar to Leprechauns! ;D If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend giving it a shot! The stars are the kids from Mary Poppins!

All in all I had a fantastic St. Patrick's Day! Did you do anything fun to celebrate? :)

blog anniversary giveaway!

This week is my 2 year blogaversary!! To celebrate I thought it would be fun to have a special giveaway with some of my most favorite things in the whole wide world! One winner will receive:

+ "Crafting with Cat Hair" book

+ 1 pack of neapolitan astronaut ice cream

+ Sunday in New York DVD (my favorite movie!)

+ a mixtape with 15 of my favorite songs

+ My favorite nail polish (Essie "tart deco")

+ Pink and white hair bows

+ Pink grapefruit tic tacs

+ My favorite black liquid eyeliner

+ 1 Cadbury flake (best chocolate EVER!)

+ three little dinosaur figurines

+ Burt's Bees grapefruit lip balm (not pictured)

To enter: simply leave a comment letting me know that you're entering, and some way to contact you (email, twitter, blog, whatever floats your boat!) You must be a follower to enter (and, please, none of this follow-and-leave as soon as the giveaway is over jazz.. that's super rude!) This giveaway is open to everyone on planet earth.

For additional entries: (leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Tweet this "Just entered to win a super fun assortment of goodies from @kategabrielle http://www.scathingly-brilliant.blogspot.com" (Only counts if you use that exact tweet.)

2. Follow me on facebook
3. Follow me on bloglovin

Giveaway ends on April 19th at 12:01AM EST.

the awkward call for sponsors

I thought I'd start posting some awkward outtakes to go with these posts. In this one I think I must have been whistling at one of my cats when the timer went off, which accounts for the funny face ;p

Anyway! I'm now accepting sponsors for April, and if you buy a spot before March 25th you can take 10% off with the code APRIL10. Also, there's a little bonus for sponsoring in April this year. I'm taking one week off from blogging/email/twitter... basically everything besides my etsy shop next month, so to make up for my blog being quiet for a quarter of your sponsorship, I'm extending all April sponsorships for the full month of May* Long story short: if you buy a spot for April, it will stay up until the end of May.

If you're interested, you can view my stats and traffic and all that stuff here, or you can go ahead and purchase ad space in my shop here.

And now here is a funny cat gif to make up for the awkwardness! Enjoy!

*If you purchase a 3 month package, it will last for 4 months.

instagram

1. my outfit from sunday + a sneak peek of my new closet!
2. kale ice cream! surprisingly delicious.
3. pi chocolate to celebrate Pi Day in Princeton
4. My little Hypatia ♥
5. Planning things for my blogaversary next week
6. Me (well, my feet) and Hypatia
7. St. Patricks Day shopping & a new claddagh ring
8. Comforting Hypatia the day we got Hubble, 1 month ago
9. Mr. Hubble celebrated his 1 month anniversary this week!
10. I am now officially a spectacles-wearing girl!

posh frock friday

dress - c/o modcloth

lace cardigan - h&m

necklace - handmade

shoes - modcloth

I stuck my thumb straight through these stockings when I was taking them off, of course. They were my only back-seamed pair, too! I never seem to get little runs that can be fixed with clear nail polish, they're always gaping holes that expand to the entire length of the stocking within seconds.

Also, I need to touch up my roots badly, but my favorite dye (Special Effects cupcake pink) seems to be sold out *everywhere* online and my local supply store only carries Manic Panic. So... my conundrum is this: should I use Manic Panic pink to get me through until Special Effects is back in stock (hopefully soon) or should I take a gamble on another color?! Maybe light purple? It isn't permanent, so I could always go right back to pink when it's back in stock, right? Hair color decisions shouldn't be this hard when you're dealing with semi-permanent color! lol :)

ps. Have you seen this Diablo Cody interview with Mindy Kaling? Favorite thing ever!!

matchy matchy

tie - c/o flapper girl

shirt - old navy
belt - from another dress

shoes - modcloth

skirt - c/o francescas

I'm not really hep to the rules of fashion but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to match all of your accessories nowadays, right? Like shoes/belt/tie/purse all the same color?? Heaven forbid! But I really love matching. I even like matching my outfits to my hair color sometimes. Maybe I've watched a few too many Doris Day movies, but I just really adore it when an outfit looks like everything was made to be worn together.

So when I got this super cute lady tie in the mail, I immediately skimmed my closet looking for a hue match, and found it in this belt and these shoes. There's something so satisfying about seeing a new item that goes perfectly with something you already owned, and then wearing them together all matchy-matchy.

psst! I also like wearing white after Labor Day! shocking!

The Perfect Apple Pie!

In my family, pi day isn't just a day to celebrate a mathematical constant -- it's a day to celebrate PIE. Specifically, my mom's apple pie. I'm might be biased, but it's just SO good. Like, I'm pretty sure world peace could be achieved if everyone tasted this pie. They'd all be like "OMG this pie is so good! Why were we arguing again? I don't even remember... Goodness, this crust is so light and flaky!"

For the pie crust you'll need:

1-3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup oil

3 tbsp. water

Mix the flour, salt and oil and then add the water and roll out. Sometimes my mom will use a frozen crust like Oronoque Orchards, and that's still fantastic, but this really is the best! Now, for the rest of the pie you'll need:

6-8 tart apples (my mom recommends Empire)

1 cup white sugar

2 tbsp. all purpose flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

dash of ground nutmeg

2 tbsp. butter

Pare and core the apples, and then slice them VERY thin. Part of what makes this pie so mouth-wateringly delicious is the finely sliced apples. This way they cook all the way through and pretty much melt in your mouth! Combine the sugar, flour and spices and then mix with the apples. Line a 9" pie plate with one half of the crust, and fill with the apple mixture. Cut the butter into little pieces and sprinkle it on top of the filling. Add the top crust, and then cut slits for steam. I think today it would be fitting to arrange those slits in the shape of the pi symbol, yes? ;)

Sprinkle some sugar on top, and then bake at 400' for 50 minutes. I personally prefer the pie cold, so I put my share in the fridge overnight -- but only because my dad and brother know that I will tear them to shreds if they take so much as one bite. If you like hot pie, or if you can't trust your family members, let it cool for about 30 minutes after it's out of the oven and then dive in!

Pi Day Playlist

I put together a little playlist using the first nine digits of pi! Enjoy!

1. Honey Pie // The Beatles

2. We THREE // Frank Sinatra

3. Number ONE // Goldfrapp

4. FOUR Strong Winds // Marianne Faithfull

5. Just ONE of Those Things // Bryan Ferry

6. FIVE Minutes More // Frank Sinatra

7. Beethoven's NINTH (Ode to Joy) // Jingle Cats

8. Takes TWO to Tango // Annette Funicello

9. SIX to Go // The Pogues

10. FIVE // Joan Jett

You can listen to the playlist on 8tracks, here!

Free Pi Day Printable!

Happy Pi Day! I have a lot of fun things planned for today, but first up is this little card that you can print and hand out to celebrate! If it looks familiar, it's because I stole the illustration from my printable valentines that I posted last month lol. But I thought it was just way too appropriate to pass up sharing it again today! The PDF includes two cards per sheet -- print it out on regular letter sized paper (or card stock), cut it down the middle and fold each card in half. Voila! You can download them here! (just right click on the link & save)

Style Idol - Sharon Tate

// image links back to where I found it

Super exciting collaboration!!

This is a paper doll poster I designed for a Red Velvet package Elsie put together for Sucre! I was SO excited when she asked me to do it, and it's honestly the most fun I've ever had working! Especially when I was doing the dresses, but you probably already guessed that, lol ;D

I am just so honored and thrilled to have been a part of this. The poster is available for pre-order here! And if you haven't yet, you need to hear the song they released from their upcoming album. I'm soo hooked on it, I've been playing it on repeat for a week!

(top image is from A Beautiful Mess)

my five favorite outfits

My two year blog anniversary is coming up next week (I have LOTS of fun stuff planned to celebrate! hooray!!) and I've been spending more time than usual perusing my archives. So I thought it would be fun this week to highlight some of my favorite posts! First up, my top 5 favorite outfits! I left out any from when I used to take my outfit pictures with my webcam since they're so teeny tiny! My oh my, have things changed since then! Now I take the photos with my super fancy... iphone ;)

1. This was from a DIY post on how to do gold-leaf accents on shoes. I love those green tights and that vintage 60's velvet dress is one of my all time favorites! // original post

2. This is just from 2 weeks ago, but I love the colors and I felt so happy wearing it! It's my favorite outfit I've posted since I started fashion blogging almost 2 years ago! // original post

3. Annndd this is from last week lol! But I just loved it so much! Definitely something different from what I'm used to, and so fun! // original post

4. This outfit ended up getting paired with a really emotional personal post, but I still love the pairing of the summer dress & white pussybow blouse. // original post

5. Put simply: my all time favorite dress and my favorite vintage score. I would wear that dress every single day of my life if I could! // original post

Vintage brooch giveaway! [closed]

Beatnik Gal Vintage is offering one lucky winner this super cute pink enamel vintage 60's brooch! I'm sort of obsessed with enamel brooches right now and this is definitely one of the prettier ones I've seen during my constant searches on etsy. It's so fun and vibrant, and perfect for spring!!

To enter simply leave a comment with a link to your favorite item from Beatnik Gal Vintage, and some way to contact you (email, twitter, blog, whatever floats your boat!) Also, you must be a follower to enter! This is mandatory! (And, please, none of this follow-and-leave as soon as the giveaway is over jazz.. that's super rude!)

For additional entries: (leave a separate comment for each entry)

1. Tweet this "Just entered to win a vintage brooch giveaway from beatnikgalvintage.etsy.com on @kategabrielle's blog! http://www.scathingly-brilliant.blogspot.com" (Only counts if you use that exact tweet.)
2. Follow Beatnik Gal Vintage's tumblr

3. Reblog the giveaway on tumblr

By the way, if something catches your eye when you're browsing Beatnik Gal Vintage, you can use coupon code BRILLIANTBEATNIK10 to snag 10% off your whole order! :D

This giveaway ends on March 19th at 12AM EST. Giveaway ended.

Winner: Comment #56

instagram

1. outfit photo that came out blurry (but I kind of like it!)

2. girl's day at IKEA with my mom & grandmom last sunday

3. "Maybe if I hide behind this lamp he won't see me"

4. Wore my postage stamp dress to the post office Tuesday

5. Mr. Hubble looking right at the camera again

6. Finally found the perfect shade of light blue polish!

7. A little doodle I did of my cats

8. The whole brood at the vet yesterday (they're all fine!)