Saturday, September 29, 2018

un deux trois



I'm bringing back another dormant blog series today! In 2011 and 2012 I used to have a series of outfit remix posts called Un Deux Trois and I thought it would be fun to bring it back! I used to do daily outfit photos, so I had a massive archive of pictures to pick from for these remix posts, but since I don't do quite as many outfit posts these days I'm just taking all three photos at once and then choosing one of the outfits to wear for the day! Can you guess which one was my favorite? I'll write it below, but guess first ;)



Remixed item: Leopard print dress from ASOS

Skirt: Urban Outfitters (old)
Tights : Target
Shoes : ASOS (old)

Here I wore my dress as a shirt, and paired it with a cute mustard cord skirt. I do this a lot (wearing dresses as shirts) and have a particular way of tucking the dress up so it doesn't dip out under the skirt. I think I might do a little video or gif showing how I do that soon!



Remixed item: Leopard print dress from ASOS

Cardigan: Old Navy (old)
Belt: ASOS (old)
Shoes : Bait Footwear

I love love love pairing leopard print with lilac! I've done it a couple times on my blog before, and I just think it's such a unique but perfect color combination. I stuck with all lilac accessories here, but I also love adding a pop of red to this combo, too!



Remixed item: Leopard print dress from ASOS

Velvet crop top: Forever 21 (old)
Collar: Thread and Wonder
Shoes : Bait Footwear

I'm so excited that it's fall so I can break out my favorite boots again. As soon as I got this dress I thought "I need to wear them with my sock boots!!" I feel like leopard print and thigh high boots definitely has a Fran Fine vibe to it, right?

Did you guess which one was my favorite?? It was outfit #1! :D


Friday, September 28, 2018

blurry vision



My camera decided not to focus, and I didn't notice until I opened the photos on my computer. Oh well! I guess it's like having a soft flattering filter on my picture, lol!

Anyway. I am so glad it's hat season now. Since I wear a wig it can be tricky sometimes to style in it in such a way that it looks natural, but as soon as hat season hits I wear a beanie or beret pretty much every time I leave the house. I usually wear either this wig or a long dark blonde wig that I bought for my Paris trip last October. I'm *still* growing out my pixie (13 months now!) and I'm hoping that by the end of hat season I might finally have enough length that I'll be happy with it. I can't wait to do milkmaid braids again!! *crying emoji*

And, on a way less frivolous note, if you haven't registered to vote yet, you can do it right here. If you're still too young to vote, you can participate in the proxy project. 💕


dress worn as a shirt - asos | skirt - asos (old)
shoes - aldo | hat - forever 21 (old)

Thursday, September 27, 2018

meet my plants!



This year I've gotten into growing plants, and I thought I'd share my little plant family with you! This year a lot of things in my life have felt crazy and out of control, so it's been really nice to have these plants (and my cat, obviously!) to take care of, and fuss over. It's rewarding to see them getting bigger and flourishing as I learn the best way to take care of them. I've been opening my blinds in the afternoon so the light-hungry ones can get some much needed rays. I rotate them around my room so everyone has a chance to soak up the sun, and my grandmom has been helping me learn the exact amount of water to give them since I had a bit of an overwatering habit at first (oops!)

All but one of these plants are pet-friendly. Arrietty is a really well-behaved cat and doesn't get into them anyway, but it's nice to know that even if she does decide to munch on one of the leaves when I'm not looking, she'll be just fine. I bought most of my plants from The Sill, and they have a section specifically for pet-friendly plants so I've been ordering from that section exclusively. You can also check out the ASPCA list of toxic and non-toxic plants if you're ordering from a greenhouse that doesn't specify which plants are pet-friendly.



This is a Peperomia Green plant, and it's one of the ones that I've had the best luck with so far. It's grown SO MUCH since I first got it (I think it's going to need an even bigger pot soon!) and I haven't had any leaves drop. The planter is vintage. I'm a sucker for creepy/cute cat planters :)



This one is a Calathea Freddie. It was a little itty bitty plant when I first got it and it's getting so big! The leaves kind of droop and close up at night and then perk up during the day when they're soaking up sunlight. It's so neat when you can really see that your plants are living (if that makes sense?)



This is a Bird’s Nest Fern, and it's really thriving, too! It's so nice to know this one is pet-friendly because its tentacles are starting to droop down to cat height and I'm pretty sure that even though she's not usually interested in plants, Arrietty is definitely going to start getting curious. I have this one in an IKEA canister right now but I think this one is going to need a larger pot soon, too.



I think this one is called a Peperomia Ripple, and it's been one of my trickiest plants. Some days it looks so healthy, like in this photo you can see how well the stems are holding up, but some days it just looks kind of droopy. Maybe it depends on how sunny it is out. I think this is my most delicate plant, so I'm especially happy to see that it's surviving, lol! The vase is vintage, but there are a TON of lady head vases on etsy and I. want. all. of. them.



This is another Peperomia Green plant, and it is also doing really well! I don't know if they are especially hearty plants or if they're just really well suited to the particular lighting and atmosphere of my room, but whenever I decide I want to add to my plant family I'm definitely going to be buying more of these. The flamingo planter is from At Home.



This one is a Staghorn Fern and it's doing so-so. It seems to be holding up well, the leaves aren't very droopy or anything, but the ends got crispy the first week I had it (I probably didn't water it enough) and it's just kind of stayed that way. My grandmom said that eventually those leaves will fall off and new ones that aren't crispy will take their place, but in the mean time it just looks a little sad.. The planter is one of my all-time favorite vintage buys.



Another Peperomia Green! haha! This one is from the Horti pet-friendly subscription plan. Each month you get a pet-friendly plant and a pot and a very awesome disc of soil that expands with water (I am definitely recording that for my IG stories when I get my next shipment!) This was my first shipment on the plan and I was super happy with it. I ended up using a different pot, that I decorated with Danielle Thompson's happy face decals.



This one is a Parlor Palm (and I'm just now realizing I have another one of these that I forgot to photograph for the post!) and it's doing pretty well considering UPS totally smashed the box it was shipped in, and all of the leaves were totally bent. It's recovering nicely and I'm just making sure it gets lots of light and the correct amount of water so it gets over that little hump in its development. I have this one in a tin that I got at Michaels.



This is my one single not-pet-friendly plant. It's hanging in a place that Arrietty can't get to (for anyone who's worried, trust me, she literally cannot get there, I would never take chances) so I feel safe with it being there. It's not the sunniest area, so I needed a plant that would thrive in low light and the Pothos Jade met my requirements. It's growing kind of wonky (it's supposed to have trailing vines but mine are all sitting straight with their shoulders back, lol!) but hopefully eventually it'll start looking the way it's supposed to. The blue planter is from Target, and the white hanging plant holder is from Amazon.



This is a Peperomia Marble hanging out in a super cute mug that I got as a gift from Casey. Even though this and my favorite plant are both called Peperomia, this variety is my least favorite plant that I own. I just can't get it to thrive. I had two of these (I gave one to my brother) and they are stubborn little guys! Every time I thought it was doing well, the leaves would fall off. This one is finally looking a little bit healthier, but considering the luck I've had with two of them I don't think I'll be getting any more of this variety.



Another Parlor Palm hanging out on my vanity. This is my favorite area of my bedroom, and it just makes me so happy to see my little plant now when I'm putting on my makeup in the morning. This one is also living in a canister from Michaels, but it's definitely going to need a transplant to a larger pot soon. I have a feeling these could get really tall!



Finally, I snipped off a little piece of one of my Peperomia Marble plants (I know, I know, I just said I don't like them, lol) and I'm trying to see if it will grow roots in water. I probably picked the worst plant to try this with, but it's been a few weeks now and I'm like 5% sure that there's a little hint of a root starting on the right edge of the stem. Do you see it? I'll definitely post updates if this actually turns into a real plant :)

And that wraps up my little plant tour! I'd love to do a follow up to this post a few months from now to see how much they've grown (assuming I manage to keep them all alive, haha!)

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Style Idol - Claudia Cardinale



I'm bringing back another one of my favorite blog series! I don't think I've done a Style Idol post in over five years (yikes!) but when I saw this photo of Claudia Cardinale in the most fabulous pink feather dress/robe I've ever laid eyes on, I just had to share it with you guys. Keep your eyes peeled for new Style Idol posts every Tuesday! :D

Monday, September 24, 2018

ginger spice



Happy fall! I'm trying to avoid sugar right now (I'm on an anti-inflammation diet in an attempt to convince my doctor that I can heal my body with diet instead of procedures and pills. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!) so no Starbucks pumpkin spice flavored goodies for me. I've been having ginger lemon tea every morning though, and it's *chef's kiss* so good! I'm just using a lemon ginger tea bag and then adding some extra grated ginger and a little bit of honey. It has a nice kick to it that helps wake me up, it feels very autumnal, and it miraculously seems to stave off hunger until lunchtime.

I used to be so snacky, constantly hungry and in need of munchies all day long, but since I reduced my sugar intake I'm not living in a constant state of starvation. Even if my diet plan doesn't fix my health issues I think I'm still sticking with it just because it makes me feel so much better. And I've lost a little weight on this diet, too, which was very welcome. I've been testing the limits of my dress zippers as of late, but this week I was able to easily fit into one of my favorites that had been unwearable all summer. Hooray!! :D


dress - asos | sweater - h&m (old) | socks - amazon
shoes - old | necklace - vintage

Friday, September 21, 2018

clever girl



On Wednesday I went to see Jurassic Park at the movies with my parents and it was SO MUCH FUN! They actually forgot to start the movie, and somebody had to go get help, but in the mean time some of the audience started humming the theme song in unison. One girl said "maybe they just assume we all have it memorized by now and they don't need to even play it!" You could tell the whole room was packed with hardcore Jurassic Park fans, and it just felt so amazing to be sharing that experience with so many other fans. Once the movie started, everybody laughed at the funny parts and stayed totally quiet during the scary, exciting parts. I didn't see a single cell phone light the whole time. And everyone applauded at the end! I don't think I've seen that outside of the TCM Film Festival. It was just a total blast!

And naturally I had to dress on theme. Of course!! :D I wore this kind of subtle dinosaur print dress (I think it almost looks like an abstract pattern until you really look closely and see all of the dinosaurs, right?) and a handful of Jurassic Park themed pins from my shop. I normally pull from the neutral tones in the dress when I've worn it in the past but I decided to play up the blue of the water this time and I think it adds a little fun color to the whole outfit, don't you think?




dress - modcloth | sweater - forever 21 (old)
shoes - bait footwear | jurassic park lapel pins - my shop

Monday, September 17, 2018

the cat's meow



I remember several years ago I used to buy literally every single cat-print item I found because I thought at the time that it was going to be a passing fad, and I wanted to stock up while I could. But now, years later, cat print items are still available everywhere! Since I can afford to be finicky about which items I add to my collection I've gotten a lot more selective. I tend to go for items where the cats aren't too cartoony-looking, and items where the cat detail is more subtle. And of course, I love statement pieces like this skirt. I am 100% wearing this skirt when I do volunteer gift wrapping for my local animal shelter this winter!

And I also have to mention these socks. They are the first over-the-knee socks I've found that don't cut into my thighs. I've been obsessed with getting tall socks this year and I ordered and returned about 5 different styles before finding these. I fold them over once at the top, and they fit perfectly. I feel like it's hard to size things like this online because some people will leave reviews saying they fit over larger thighs, but they have an athletic build. I'm squishy and plagued with cellulite so something that fits nicely on a large firm thigh doesn't necessarily look so great on my equally large soft flab, lol! Anyway. If you also have doughy legs and your thighs are somewhere around 18"-20" I highly recommend these!


neck tie - amazon | shoes - old

Friday, September 14, 2018

here today



This dress is made out of *sweatshirt* fabric!! I've only found one other sweatshirt dress before (worn here) and it's just the best. The epitome of comfort, but it still looks chic! This particular dress sold out on ASOS pretty quick so I set up a restock alert and snagged it as soon as it was available again in my size. This is not sponsored (I don't get sponsored, like ever, so I have no idea why I always feel like I need to put in that disclaimer all the time lol) but just FYI if you aren't using shoptagr and you're a shopaholic like myself, you best set up an account! I use it for restock alerts and for price changes, so if I really love something but want to wait for it to be marked down I can set up an alert for that as well. I currently have a price alert set up for this coat since I clearly NEED to own it (it's pink with hearts on it!!) but honestly I would probably only ever wear it on Valentine's Day once a year, lol!

Honestly though I wish that more clothing companies would offer the same items for longer periods of time, rather than constantly produce small batches of clothes that sell out too quick. All of my favorite companies do daily shop updates, which is a very fun part of my morning computer routine, but not so fun if you aren't able to purchase something that you love immediately. Before you know it, it's sold out and they will literally never bring it back. I mean, I have this sweater in my closet that says "sweater weather" that I bought at Modcloth two years ago and I wear it religiously in the fall now, but I feel bad wearing it in outfit posts knowing that if you guys really love it you won't be able to get one yourself. I wish they'd bring it back, even if it was like a PSL and they just brought it back once a year lol!



Monday, September 10, 2018

something different



On the first of September I always expect it to suddenly feel like fall outside, but instead it's usually the beginning of the *hottest* days of summer. Where I live, it climbed up to 100 last week, and our air conditioner broke. I feel such a cognitive dissonance between the intense heat I was feeling all last week with 100+ temperatures and no a/c, and the pleasant autumn weather we have today. It probably wouldn't have seemed so extreme to me if I'd been living a cool 68' life inside all last week, to suddenly wake up to a chill in the air and the need for cozy socks and sweaters today.

But today is overcast, a little rainy, and delightfully chilly, and I'm lapping it up. I hadn't planned on taking an outfit picture today because I thought I'd be too hot and sweaty (I've literally been living in boxer shorts and oversized t-shirts for the last week) but instead it was too dark and dreary inside, lol! So I thought I'd do something a little different today. This photo is going to bug the heck out of me when I post it on instagram and it messes up my perfectly pastel feed (I need to stop caring about stuff like that, seriously!) but it just feels so warm and cozy and fall-like, I couldn't resist! :)


dress - asos | socks - forever 21 (old) | sweater - h&m (old)
book - the fever (it's so good so far!) | blankets - society6

Friday, September 7, 2018

blue moon



My art show last weekend was an unexpected success! One of my paintings won Third Place at the show, and I actually sold quite a few paintings! And a little girl told me I was an amazing artist, which made my whole weekend. It was so cute I couldn't stop smiling!

Before this show, I'd only really painted a couple times in the last few years and usually they were gifts for people, not building towards a portfolio or anything. After I got really sick last December, my dad gave me two blank canvases for Christmas and asked me to start painting again. It was a really emotional Christmas since I didn't even think I'd be out of the hospital in time to spend it at home, and everything was making me cry, but that made me bawl. And I took it seriously -- even though I was still sick a lot this year, too (I was even in the hospital again just three days before my art show last week!) I completed a lot of paintings and developed a new style using a wood burning technique that I'm SO excited about! You guys know I'm usually very hard on myself but I'm actually feeling a little proud of myself right now. I really worked hard, and I'm happy with the pieces I've created and the fact that I've painted anything at all after taking such a long break from my brushes.