live every week like it's shark week

Yesterday I saw Jaws for the first time! It was on my 30 before 30 watchlist, and it's the 3rd film from that list that I got to see on the big screen (the others were Blade Runner and City Lights.) The Garden in Princeton was showing it as part of their Hollywood Summer Nights series, and slyly scheduled it the same week as Shark Week. My mom came with me, and it was her first time seeing it since it was first released 41 years ago. She actually saw it at The Garden in 1975! I thought that symmetry was kind of cool :)

I have no idea how this movie stayed off my radar for so long. I went into this completely naive -- I had no idea how it ended, who was in it, nothing. I knew it was about sharks, and that was about it. I wasn't actually expecting to like it as much as I did! I just wanted to see it so I could finally get the cultural references and because it seems like the kind of movie you really SHOULD see if you're going to call yourself a movie buff. But I was pleasantly surprised, I enjoyed it so much that it made it into my favorite new-to-me movies of 2016. It was the kind of experience where you really get wrapped up in the plot and are able to detach yourself from pesky thoughts for a couple hours. I think that's the best kind of movie -- give me escapism or give me death!

Anyway, here is a little shark-themed outfit to go with Jaws and Shark Week! The patch features a quote from 30 Rock (Tracy Jordan gives Kenneth the Page the advice, "live every week like it's shark week") but even if you're not a fan of the show, I think the advice should still apply ;) The patch is available in my shop right here.

jean jacket - asos | shirt - forever 21 | skirt - shop mallory

shoes - bait footwear | patch - my shop | purple rug - amazon

that went well

I took these outfit posts a couple weeks ago and then there was a combination of not remembering to post them and then not liking them enough to want to share them and then feeling like I really SHOULD share them because it was part of my remix challenge.

So anyway, here it is! To be honest, even though I clearly didn't keep up with the challenge for a full 30 days, I'm pretty happy with what I did accomplish. I think I posted almost as many outfits in the month of June as I did all year so far. And it really did help get me out of my getting-dressed rut. I think as soon as I have an uneventful month (July and August are looking super busy at the moment!) I'll try it again, and next time hopefully I'll at least follow through for more than 12 days lol

dress - american apparel | cardigan - f21 | shoes - bait footwear

cat collar shirt - miss patina | purple rug - amazon

golden ticket

TCM is re-releasing Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory in theaters this week! I went to one of yesterday's showings, and it's going to be playing again this coming Wednesday. You can check here to see if it'll be playing in a theater near you :)

Saturday night just as I was about to fall asleep I suddenly realized that I had (or at least was 99% sure that I had) a purple velvet dress. I turned on the light, hopped out of bed, and went over to my closet to rummage through my dresses.(If you're not familiar with the movie, you can see why my desire for purple velvet was so urgent right here.) I hadn't had an opportunity to wear this pretty vintage number yet, mainly because it's little big in the shoulders on me, but I had to wear it anyway. It just screams Willy Wonka!

There are certain movies you watch as a kid, only to revisit them and think "maybe I should have left that one in my childhood." But Willy Wonka only gets better each time I see it. I notice quotes I had previously missed, subtle messages or brilliant set-pieces. This time I was acutely aware of how much I enjoyed Gene Wilder's performance as the titular eccentric chocolatier. It might just be one of my favorite movie roles of all time.

dress - vintage | shoes - bait footwear

purple rug - amazon

jungle red

I think this is my favorite (I overuse the word favorite, but I can't find a satisfactory replacement!) from my remix challenge so far. I LOVE the way this top looks over my dress, but I was really puzzled when it came to the shoes. I didn't really feel like the red matched the outfit at first but I also didn't want to add any red accessories because I didn't want to mess with the simplicity. Then it dawned on me -- match my lipstick to my shoes! haha! I need to remember this more often. I mean, it only really works if I need to match something red or pink (and with pink my hair kind of takes care of that) but I think it's such a perfectly subtle way of tying everything together without adding any accessories.

dress - modcloth | top - asos

shoes - bait footwear | purple rug - amazon

it it's not broke

Remember a month or two ago when Instagram first announced that they were ditching chronological timelines and everyone frantically asked their followers to turn on notifications? I can't stand the idea of algorithm-based feeds, and I've watched with sadness as the move away from recency ruined facebook and etsy. I still change my search to "most recent" whenever I search on etsy (especially when searching vintage. relevant constantly yields very un-relevant results, in my opinion) and I switch from "top stories" to "most recent" on facebook constantly. Neither site offers the option to actually change your settings permanently, but at least I can toggle it whenever I need to.

Personally I thought the notifications idea wasn't the best way to handle the instagram change -- that is, until I got the new timeline a couple weeks ago. Now I'm missing out on posts from my friends constantly. I ended up unfollowing a bunch of accounts that I don't like *quite* as much, just so that my chances of seeing my favorite accounts would increase. And even then I still see the same couple posts repeating at the top of my feed when new, relevant, interesting content that I WANT to see is hidden dozens of posts down. I feel like a creeper but I keep manually checking my friends' accounts to see what they're up to, because their photos aren't showing up in my timeline anymore. I was doing that last night (being a creeper) when I realized that this is what the notifications are for. This is why everyone had that idea. I'm turning on notifications for my friends today. It feels so stupid to me, but it honestly seems like the only way that I can still enjoy instagram without unfollowing everyone but like my 8 closest friends and family members.

Anyway, I think the whole reason all this bothers me is the larger picture that companies like facebook (who owns instagram) can make stupid changes that literally NOBODY wanted, and there's just nothing you can do about it. Sometimes it feels like every week one of the websites that I rely on for either amusement (like, say, twitter) or business (like shopify or etsy) or both (like instagram) makes some massive change that was wholly unnecessary, that nobody wants, that messes things up for the people who actually use the site. It's like nobody in the business/tech world has ever heard the phrase "if it's not broke, don't fix it!"

dress - le bomb shop | cardigan - old navy

shoes - bait footwear | purple rug - amazon

little black skirt

This skirt is my all-time favorite skirt EVER. I got it during the winter and I loved it so much that I bought two more just to be on the safe side (which was a wise decision since it's only left in size 2 now, which would MAYBE fit around my ankles but definitely not my hips or waist.) I'm planning on wearing this until it's threadbare so it doesn't hurt to have backups. I've wanted a simple black mini skirt for so long, but I've always had a hard time finding one that fit me perfectly. I wanted it to be thick fabric, fitted at the waist, and flared out slightly at the hips. This one checks off all of those boxes PLUS... it has pockets, the holy grail of women's apparel.

shirt - vintage | skirt - urban outfitters | necklace - f21

shoes - bait footwear | purple rug - amazon

vacation wishlist

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

My trip to Paris and Rome is only 38 days away now (!!!) so it's time to start thinking about what I'm going to wear. If I haven't traveled in a while sometimes I start planning outlandish outfits and decide that THIS TIME I'll wear heels every. single. day. I'm glad that I had my trip to Hollywood last month because it reminded me that when it comes to travel, simple + comfortable wins every time. I ended up buying jeans at H&M and slumming it for most of my trip because I had packed so many uncomfortable, fussy things.

So my plan for Europe is to wear dresses that work on their own without accessories (except maybe a belt), and no layering except for a light jacket or something if it gets chilly at night. Comfortable, low heeled or flat closed-toe sandals, and probably a pair of sneakers. One bag, one pair of sunglasses. Simple, simple, simple!

fun stuff

Hi again! I'm feeling a lot better today (knock on wood!) I went to the doctor yesterday and she thinks my system is just out of balance due to stress and not eating too great lately (sooo much Snapple.) so I just have to eat bland foods and take probiotics for a while to get things back on track. She did, however, find something weird going on with my heart while I was in for the stomach issue so now I have to have an ultrasound and wear a heart monitor as soon as my insurance gives the go-ahead. FUN STUFF!

So obviously this whole 30-for-30 thing is not happening entirely during the month of June now, lol. I still want to complete it, though, so I'm just going to carry it on through July. And I don't really think it's cheating if I chose sweatpants and pajamas the last four days instead of sticking with my allotted 30 piece wardrobe, haha!

And because I totally, definitely, 100% learned my lesson about what happens when you eat a lot of crap... as soon as I feel back to normal I'm celebrating with pizza ;)

dress - modcloth | shoes - swedish hasbeens | purple rug - amazon

cardigan - I don't remember, it's old

incoherent

Week one of my 30 for 30 remix is wrapped up and if anything I feel like the real challenge is coming up with something to say every day. I can't believe I used to do this every day for YEARS. Seven days later and I'm already drawing a complete blank.

To be honest I haven't been feeling so hot this week (as soon as I make my post office run this afternoon I'm hitting the couch and watching comfort-food movies, for sure) and that usually does a number on my cognition. Somehow stomachaches seriously impair my ability to string words together or even form coherent thoughts before they exit my mouth/fingers. I guess that's how it is for everybody (except my mom, who somehow powers through sickness like Wonder Woman, making me wonder how she birthed such an inferior weakling.) So hopefully as soon as whatever's kicking around in my stomach finally settles down this whole post-writing thing might come a little easier.

Oh, also, totally unrelated to anything I just wrote, but whenever I post outfit pictures on instagram basically every comment is about my purple rug (I honestly feel like I could start an account entirely for my rug and it would get more followers than me) so I started linking to it in my outfit details thingamajig below.

dress - modcloth | shirt - forever 21

shoes - bait footwear | purple rug - amazon

for whom the bell tolls

This has to be the best bell-sleeve item in my collection. Putting aside the fact that this has two layers of fluttery bell sleeves (!!) I love the sheer fabric and unique square polka dot pattern (I don't know if it's obvious enough in the photos but the dots are, indeed, square) Eventually I want to do a little photo shoot with all of my favorite bell sleeved pieces. I've been accumulating them for so long now that I've amassed quite a collection!

Also, a little plug for my shop! Today is National Best Friend Day so all of my BFF goodies are 15% off with code "BFF4EVER." And for anyone whose best buddy is also their cat (cough.. me .. cough) my pendant set for you and your cat is included in the sale, too! ;)

dress - asos | shirt - vintage | shoes - bait footwear
brooch - vintage | purple rug - amazon

primary colors

New Jersey is FINALLY getting to vote in the primaries today and I managed to cobble together a patriotic outfit using the only red white and blue pieces in my remix wardrobe. I'm not going to get political, but I am kind of bummed out that both parties are basically wrapped up at this point and my state (and a handful of others) don't really get a say in the process. I'm still going to vote but my vote doesn't feel as crucial and important as it did in 2008 when I voted in my first Presidential primary.

Even if my vote doesn't affect the outcome, I'm still pretty enthusiastic about it nonetheless. I couldn't WAIT to vote when I was younger. I missed voting in the 2004 election because I turned 18 two weeks after the election. It really bothered me! I actually wrote a letter to every single sitting US Senator at the time, suggesting that people turning 18 in the last few weeks of the year should be able to participate in elections. Especially considering the fact that Election Day is a kind of arbitrary date (the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November) it's really hit or miss each year who will be old enough to vote, and who will be slightly too young. It just makes more sense for it to be based on the calendar year.

I guess you could say I was kind of passionate about it, lol. But anyway, after wanting to vote for so long and being 2 weeks of shy of participating in 2004, I never miss an election. School board, primaries, special elections, I'm there. So even if I feel like this vote is for naught today, you bet your buttons I'll be pulling a lever anyway. And if you're in any of the states voting today -- New Jersey, California, New Mexico, Montana, South Dakota and North Dakota -- I hope you'll do the same :)

shirt - modcloth | skirt - francesca's closet
shoes - bait footwear | purple rug - amazon

cat collar

This shirt is one of the only items in my 30 for 30 selection where I'm not really envisioning a bunch of ways to remix it. It was a recent purchase and I just had to include it because I couldn't imagine waiting a whole 30 days before I could wear it, lol!

I've really cut back on my spending in the last month or so, so this shirt was a bit of a splurge for me. In order to save money and pay off some bills I'm limiting myself to one dress, one book, and one DVD per month. And if I do good each week I'm letting myself order pizza each Friday. Right now DVDs are the most tempting thing for me to buy, so I decided I'm going to try to watch everything that I already own. From like 2007-2011 I used to record movies off TCM religiously (I have almost 1200 discs recorded with at least 2-3 movies on each disc!) so that's way more than enough to keep me going for a while.



That being said, I already have my June and July DVD purchases picked out, lol! Criterion is releasing Here Comes Mr. Jordan next week. It's one of the movies that I recorded from TCM ages ago, but this is a restored version with a bunch of extras that I can't wait to watch, including an interview with Elizabeth Montgomery about her dad (even if you're not a movie buff you probably know Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stevens from Bewitched!) I haven't seen Here Comes Mr. Jordan in ages but it used to be one of my favorite films when I was a teenager. For a while I had planned on my first tattoo being a quote from the movie!

My July purchase is going to be Despair, a 1978 Fassbinder film starring one of my favorite actors, Dirk Bogarde, and based on a novel by one of my favorite authors, Vladimir Nabokov. I own this one already, too, but my copy is SO BAD. I bought it before the movie got an official release and I think it was taped off tv in the 1980's. The sound cuts out constantly so I missed like 1/4 of the dialogue. I can't wait to watch the restored version on blu-ray! It's actually a little exciting to be rationing my purchases because it's giving me something to look forward to at the end of each month :)

shirt - miss patina | skirt - urban outfitters | shoes - bait footwear
purple rug - amazon | cat door - my shop

black and white and red all over (too cliche?) + a shop my closet update

It's just too easy to give a post that title when you're wearing black and white with red accents...

I'll be listing some coats and jackets in my instagram closet sale later tonight around 6pm EST. Sizes include Small, Medium, Large, US6, US8 and US10 (and one Kid's XL raincoat from Target that fits like a S/M) This sale is going to be US only because of the shipping costs that come with shipping heavier items, but the next sale (accessories and shoes) will be open internationally again. If you're interested just follow the sale account at @scathinglybrilliantcloset

dress worn as a top - le bomb shop | cardigan - oasap

skirt - francesca's closet | shoes - bait footwear | purple rug - amazon

homebody

I have tickets to see Chris Hardwick tonight in Atlantic City (hence the reason I originally thought it would be a good day for hanging out at the beach) but now that I'm actually faced with the prospect of a 1+ hour drive there and back I just don't know if I want to go. I swear, ever since I got back from California I've been skipping out on almost all of my plans. They're all solitary plans, so maybe that makes it easier to skip them since I'm not letting anyone down but myself.

But once it gets time to GO I just can't bring myself to do it. I don't know if it's like MAJOR jet lag or just a mental block but I've skipped 11 movies that I had already bought tickets for and if I hadn't been treating my parents to see City Lights with me last month I probably would have skipped that too. You'd think that typing this out would make me be like "you know what, I really need to go to Atlantic City tonight and get over this" but if anything it's just making me want to stay home more? BLERG!

dress - modcloth | cardigan - f21
 shoes - bait footwear | purple rug - amazon

early to bed, early to rise

I've been going to sleep really early (well, early for me, anyway) lately and I keep forgetting when the sleepies start setting in that going to bed early also means getting up early. And I *really* don't like getting up early, no matter how much sleep I got the previous night. I usually get more done at night, my brain just works better in the dark for some reason. When I'm up and fully awake before 10am I'm just like "what am I supposed to DO with all of this daytime ahead of me?????"

I guess one answer to that question is "get dressed." because here we are on day 2 of my 30 day remix challenge and I'm still managing to get a post up. I guess that counts for something! :) I was planning on skipping tomorrow (or just getting dressed and then changing in the afternoon) because I fully intended on spending the day at the beach (and nothing I picked out for my 30/30 is particularly sand and ocean friendly) but it looks like the weather isn't going to cooperate. We've had an incredibly beautiful summery week in New Jersey, with the air conditioner struggling to keep up with the rising temperatures.. it seemed like the perfect time for a day at the shore. But tomorrow it's supposed to be raining with scattered thunderstorms all day long. Looks like the beach will just have to wait another week!

dress - asos | shirt - vintage
 shoes - swedish hasbeens | purple rug - amazon

here we go!

Day 1 of my 30 day remix challenge! If you missed my post about which 30 pieces I picked out for the challenge you can see them right here. Sidenote -- I actually had an unusually fun time shooting photos of my clothes and then editing them for that post. It's probably an incredibly stupid and time-consuming idea but I kind of want to shoot my entire wardrobe and have like a little digital closet where I can assemble outfits on my computer. And if I decide to do a shop my closet sale I'd already have the photos ready to go. Maybe when I have some free time I'll tackle it...

June 1st is pretty exciting for me because it means I can officially say that NEXT MONTH I'll be going to Paris and Rome! AHH! It feels like just yesterday I was writing up my "30 before 30" to-do list and daydreaming about going to Europe before my 30th birthday. I didn't think I'd actually have the courage (yes, courage!) to go alone but in 52 days I'll be on my way. EEK!

Speaking of my 30 before 30 list, I think I'm going to update it a little bit now that I've hit the halfway point. I have about six months left of being 29 and a lot of the things I dreamed up on my to-do list last year just don't interest me anymore, or I don't feel compelled to complete them. I might even sub something out for this 30 day remix challenge, since, well, THIRTY THIRTY THIRTY THIRTY, right?!

dress - le bomb shop | shoes - bait footwear | striped top - forever 21
purple shirt - modcloth | purple rug - amazon