wishful spring-ing

It seemed very spring-y yesterday so I went with a very spring-y outfit to match! Although I guess all of my outfits look at least slightly spring-y anyway since I still wear colorful outfits in the winter? Anyway, it felt fresh, bright, and floral.

If you've been following me for a while you know that I've flirted with going back to school like twenty times already, and I was at it again this week. I had considered going to school for visual merchandising when I was a teenager (basically I just really wanted to design store windows and in-store displays) and I came back to that idea recently. I was looking at a program in NYC and you need your high school transcripts, SAT results, and a letter from a teacher or advisor to apply. And I left high school in 2003. I don't think I realized before how difficult it must be for older students to return to college until now. It would be a nightmare getting my high school records, let alone for students who are in their 50's or 60's! I feel like there should be some alternate application process for returning students.

I don't think I'm determined enough to embark on an "unearthing Kate's records from 15 years ago!" expedition, so I'll probably pass on the application. I just think I'd be really good at window design. It's a weird thing to have as a calling, but I think I have a knack for it. Maybe I just related a little too much to Rhoda from Mary Tyler Moore as a kid, lol!

It's so weird to be 31 and still like "hmm.. what should I be when I grow up?" but that is definitely my life. I hope some of you guys out there feel the same way and maybe can relate a bit. I know personally it seems like everybody I know, even people way younger than me, totally have it together already, while I'm still trying to figure everything out.

dress - c/o sheinside (super old) | blouse - vintage from soft future

shoes - bait footwear | wig - keke wigs

le tote et moi

A couple weeks ago I saw an ad on Facebook for this subscription service called Le Tote where you get 4 clothing items that you rent, wear them as much as you want, then send them back for 4 different items. It was marketed as a solution to the problem of buying a ton of clothes that you never wear and saving money each month on clothes. I thought I'd give it a whirl for a month, and when the first box arrived I decided to do a little unboxing video!



After I was done filming (eek!) I tried everything on. The yellow dress was way too big and the Yumi dress was too snug on the hips (sad face!!) The mint green one fit well and it looked pretty cute. I LOVE the blue sweater (I'm wearing it in the photo above) and when I sent back my tote I decided to keep it.

I already paid for a whole month of the service so I'm going to order stuff, see if I like it, possibly wear it, and send it back as many times as possible before the month is up, and then I'll cancel. The selection isn't very extensive so it's harder for me to find enough stuff to fill up multiple boxes. Most of the clothes are very neutral, business-casual, and traditional. In other words, not really my style. I think if there was a fun Modcloth/ASOS/Unique Vintage version of this box I would be ALL IN. But for someone who doesn't really find much to love in most regular retail shops, the pickings in Le Tote are slim. I picked out four more items for the tote that's in the mail on its way to me now, but honestly unless they add more between now and the next time I'd be ordering another tote, there wasn't really anything left on the site that I'd want to try out.

Aside from the selection though, I do think this is a good idea and I'm glad I gave it a try. The package came in the mail really fast, and they send your new tote once the return is scanned in at the post office... they don't even wait until they receive it. So the time between totes is minimal.

My only real complaints are the selection (which shouldn't be an issue if you like the style they offer!) and that you can't view their catalog until you sign up for a paid account. Honestly my curiosity got the best of me and I paid the monthly fee before I even saw what they had to offer. If I had seen it first I definitely wouldn't have signed up.

I guess the real moral of the story here is that I'm horribly susceptible to facebook advertisements.

sweater - cece | pink pants - asos | shoes - bait footwear | wig - keke wigs

purple hearts

I feel like I've *mostly* mastered the controls on my DSLR so I can take semi-good quality photos even when the lighting is really crummy. It's a dreary rainy mess here right now (it's supposed to keep raining yesterday through Sunday!) but I don't think you can tell in the photo! Yay! I can't quite say the same about my handiness with recording video lol. It might partially be because I edit video in imovie whereas the photos are edited in Photoshop, but the lighting in my videos leaves a lot to be desired. I don't know if anyone is actually even watching them but if anyone out there is, I promise I'm working on improving the quality! :)

I actually recorded a video yesterday where I *speak* and it's so awkward lol. (And the lighting is even worse than the one below since I was in an even darker area of my house!) I'll be posting it on Monday I think, but I'm just going to put it out there and never rewatch it. I was so insanely nervous. It's not actually my voice that I'm self conscious about, I just make such exaggerated faces while I'm talking and I never realize I'm doing it until I see myself on video lol! Now that I pointed it out it's probably going to stand out even more if you watch it so I should just stop talking ;p I think it's just one of those things where we mention our own flaws because we want to beat someone else to it, you know? Anyway, here's a video where I'm blissfully silent and hugging cute little Arrietty:

dress - modcloth (old) | cardigan - amazon | tights - amazon

shoes - bait footwear | brooch set - my shop | wig - keke wigs

sheer madness

Putting aside the fact that I 100% wore the wrong bra with this outfit (hello, uniboob!) this is one of my favorite outfits of all time. I am OBSESSED with this dress. Bell sleeves? CHECK. Sheer polka dots? CHECK. Dramatic gigantic bow tie in the back? (you can see it in the video below) CHECK. It came with a black cami dress to wear underneath, but I felt like it diminished the overall polka dot effect a bit, so I paired it with a light pink cami dress instead. And I added this giant black bow belt because sometimes one enormous bow on a dress just is not enough.

Yesterday morning my computer froze when I tried to open photoshop, and I couldn't even force quit, so I had to power it off directly from the power button. It turned out that I did that exactly while some important system file was saving in the background, and subsequently my computer would not turn back on again. It would "ding" and then -- nothing. I made an emergency trip to the Apple store, toting my mac around like a little sick pet, and after the technician ran some diagnostics he was able to restore whatever file had gone missing when I shut it down. I got a little tiny lecture about having way too many apps open (he asked if I *really* needed all of the things open in my dock and I REALLY DO) and suggested that I turn off the computer once a week just to make sure things run smoothly. I also invested in a 4TB hard drive that I'm going to use for Time Machine now. Nothing like almost losing everything on your computer to make you want to seriously back up everything on your computer, haha!

I have no idea why I felt the need to share all of that, lol, but anyway. Maybe if you're someone who hasn't backed things up in a while you'll take my close-call as a sign to hit save and make sure your important files are all on external hard drives :)

Now onto the video! --

dress - asos | cami dress - forever 21 | belt - h&m (old)

shoes - vintage | wig - keke wigs

paw-sitively adorable

When I saw this adorable overall dress I was 99.9% sure that there was no way the skirt would fit over my hips but I bought it anyway and just figured there was a pretty good chance it would be a fun novelty piece I could keep in my closet as a "maybe someday" goal piece. But IT FITS. With some wiggle room, actually! And I'm carrying a few extra pounds right now (which always, without fail, pads my hips and my behind) so I'm seriously shocked that it fits.

And I have no idea what possessed me to decide to start doing this but I shot some video to go with this post. It's really short and I always look so goofy in video footage but I thought it might be fun to start doing some little videos to go with my outfit posts. So here it is!

overalls - forever 21 | shirt - forever 21 | tights - target

cat shoes - gift (similar) | wig - keke wigs

DIY heart shaped pin board

Like basically everyone else on instagram, I was really smitten with the heart-shaped pin board that Target had in their dollar spot last year. I was hoping I could snag a few more this year but when I couldn't find any at my local store I decided to DIY it and make my own! I actually like this even better since I got to pick my own fabric design, I used cork board that heals better (pins don't leave permanent holes in the cork, which tends to happen with thin cork boards that are backed with cardboard) and it's a little bigger so I can fill it up with more pins!



To make your own heart-shaped pin board you'll need:

- two 12" x 12" pieces of cork
- a wooden heart cut-out*
- fabric of your choice
- hot glue
- utility knife (I use this one)

*I got the 12" x 12" heart, but you could really do any shape using this tutorial, or use smaller heart shapes and hang them in a little cluster! Just make sure that your wooden shape is small enough to fit on your cork board.



Start by tracing your wooden heart onto two sheets of cork board. (Using two pieces means your pins will stick in the cork better!) Then use the utility knife to cut out the shapes. (Make sure you have something underneath the cork so that you don't cut your desk!) Use your hot glue gun to glue one sheet of cork onto the wooden heart shape. I just put some glue in the corners to make sure it doesn't shift around. Once they're attached, use the glue gun again to adhere the second piece of cork on top. So you should have two layers of cork, with a bottom base of wood.

Cut your fabric with about 2" of excess around the edge of the shape, and then cut small slits so that the fabric will easily conform to the shape of the wood. Use the hot glue gun to glue the fabric down, and then cut off any excess fabric. At this point you can choose how you want to hang the board. I decided to wire the back with picture frame wire and two tiny screws, but you could also attach ribbon (which would look more like the Target cork board) or a saw-tooth hanger.



And voila! A heart-shaped cork board! I love that this is so customizable -- you can use any fabric, customize the size, even customize the shape if you don't want a heart! Now the only thing left to do is fill it up with pins (might I suggest these? ;)

my funny valentine

Happy Valentine's Day! As a chronically single girl, Valentine's Day used to make me sad. I obviously loved all the pink and hearts everywhere (I'm not made of stone!) but there would always be a little pit of sadness in my stomach, and I'd fantasize about all the things I *could* be doing that day if only I had a special someone. But now that I'm in my 30's and totally accepting of my spinsterhood, it isn't bothering me quite as much anymore.

In fact I actually feel like I've become more of a romantic as I've gotten older and old-maid-er! As the years pass and further solidify my standing as a bachelor girl, I find myself even more drawn to movies about love and cute silly-rom-coms, and I find myself awwww-ing over goofy social media stories like guys who feed their girlfriends chicken nuggets while they get their nails done. I've become a big old softy! But it's all without any hope of living that kind of life myself. I think of it this way -- I would *love* to go to Mars, but that's not going to happen. That doesn't stop me from watching and enjoying The Martian. So I'm applying that same attitude to movies and stories about love.

So today I'll be watching some super sappy movies, cuddling with my #1 love (in true spinster fashion, I am totally talking about my cat) and eating candy. And feeling pretty happy.

dress - dolls kill | tights - amazon | shoes - aldo

heart hair clip - asos | wig - keke wigs

pink palace

This is probably super obvious and not some brilliant sartorial secret, but my cute feather trimmed jacket is actually a robe! I just thought it would be so perfect for days when I want to add a little luxe to my outfit. And I wear vintage bed jackets as "real" clothing all the time, so why not do the same with non-vintage bed wear, too? :)

I chalk this all up to my new rug. It just reminds me so much of Jayne Mansfield's house (here's a link if you're unfamiliar with it -- but be prepared to fall in love with the kitschy pink-ness of it all!!) It just makes me want to wear all the pink furry and feathery things and lay on heart-shaped furniture and eat bon-bons or something.

The only downside to this rug is that my shoes kind of disappear in them and you can't see them in outfit photos! Today I'm wearing these scallop-trimmed pink cutie pies from Bait Footwear (of course!) and it breaks my heart a bit that you can't really see them!

dress - asos | jacket - dolls kill | belt - amazon

shoes - bait footwear | wig - keke wigs

great balls of fire

I have too many Valentine's Day themed outfits to limit it to February 14th alone, guys. I've literally been wearing nothing but pink and red for the last few days and I can't stop.

Now that I'm feeling better and I have blood work that scientifically backs up that feeling, I'm just a giant ball of energy! I'm sure the novelty of having energy again, getting dressed, putting on makeup, eating normal food, it will all start to wear off and feel like normal daily life again soon but right now I just feel so invigorated doing mundane stuff. You have no idea how much I've enjoyed taking outfit photos this week! I've also been on an organization/decoration spree. I gave part of my studio a facelift (you can see a bit of it in the photos but I'll post a proper tour soon!) and invested in a ton of storage containers that function better than the hodgepodge of buckets and baskets I had been using previously. It feels good to freshen up my space a bit now that I'm feeling like a brand new me! :)

Oh! Also! I'll do a full post on this soon but I just wanted to mention that I'm selling t-shirts in my shop now! I had tried my hand at this several years ago and wasn't that happy with the designs or the shirt style I selected but I am in love with these. I have 11 designs available so far, right here.

dress - amazon | cardigan - forever 21 | shoes - aldo

belt - amazon | wig - keke wigs

heart happy

I am heart happy in so many ways right now! Valentine's Day is next week so I'm obsessed with wearing every single heart-shaped, heart-print, or heart-themed item that I own. But I'm also heart happy because my latest follow-up blood work came back normal!!

Since the last time I blogged about my health issues, I had lab work that showed my hemoglobin count had dropped even more since I was discharged from the hospital (hemoglobins are what transport the oxygen in your blood, so when they're low it means your heart has to work harder.) My doctor gave me two more weeks to see if I improved, and in the mean time I had to make an appointment with a hematologist (blood doctor) to get another iron infusion. I just got my lab results back from the second follow-up yesterday and hemoglobins are NORMAL! Just barely, but it counts! :D I still have to see the hematologist to make sure everything is on the right track and figure out how to maintain the progress I've made, but hopefully I won't have to get the iron iv (fingers crossed!)

And the best part of getting better? I got to eat pizza again last week!! FINALLY!! Okay, the best part of getting better is the "not being deathly ill" part, for sure, but pizza is soooo close ;)

dress - modcloth | collar clips - my shop | shoes - bait footwear

belt - old | wig - keke wigs

wallpapered printer DIY

I have a large format Canon printer that prints up to 13" x 19". It's a necessity for me, but a two foot hunk of black and silver plastic can be a bit of an eyesore in my candy-colored room! I've been trying to come up with a good solution for concealing the printer, and I think I finally found it! If you like blending your necessary (but ugly) appliances into their surroundings, read on for my DIY instructions :)



Here's the before picture. It sticks out like a sore thumb!



You only need a few things to do this project:

- A ruler
- Scissors
- Peel-and-stick repositionable wallpaper

I used this design from my spoonflower shop. It's cheaper to just buy swatches for this project rather than a whole roll of paper. I measured my printer before ordering and calculated that I'd need four swatches (they are 2' x 1' each) but I actually only ended up needing three! So that's a total of $21 for this whole project!



The easiest part is covering the pieces on the printer that are perfect rectangles, since they're really easy to measure and cut. For the curved pieces and for cutting out an opening for the buttons, I just used plain thin copy paper and traced the form of my printer, then I used that as a stencil to cut out pieces of wallpaper that would match. To be on the safe side and to make sure I didn't waste my precious swatches, I transferred my stencils onto scrap paper first and wrapped that around the printer to make sure everything lined up perfectly before I actually cut into my wallpaper.

To apply the pieces, carefully line up the wallpaper in one corner and then slowly smooth it out as you apply the whole piece. I can't say for sure whether all peel-and-stick wallpaper functions the same way as Spoonflower paper does, but this was very repositionable and whenever I messed up at placing it, it was easy to peel it up and try again.

Also, it goes without saying, but don't cover any of the functional pieces of the printer. You need the buttons to still be showing and you shouldn't cover the parts that come into contact with the paper.

I hope this helps if anyone out there is as obsessive about having matching decor as I am! haha! :)