what's in my bag

If I ever lost my purse, whoever found it would definitely be able to deduct three things about me: I really love the color pink, Hello Kitty, and cats. ;)

Right now I'm toting around this super awesome cat-shaped bag from OASAP. The pouch on the back is just big enough to carry everything I need -- my wallet (from the Sanrio store in NYC) my sunglasses (from Sweet and Lovely) my glasses case (from Epcot Japan) with my pink glasses inside (from Coastal) Trident gum, hot pink Baby Lips lip balm and my iphone (Hello Kitty case also from Epcot Japan!)

peachy pink

Sorry for the terrible mirror photo! We've been having a really dreary, overcast week so when the sun decided to show itself for a few minutes I hurried and took a quick picture of my new hair color!

In real life I think it's a little bit more muted than it looks here (or maybe that's just because I've been seeing it in rainy-day-lighting all week) but I really do like it! I used Clairol Light Red-Neutral Blonde (8RN) mixed with 20vol developer for the base color. And then the next day I used Special Effects Cupcake Pink mixed with a smidgen of Manic Panic Wildfire Red, and a decent amount of conditioner (to dilute the color) and left that on for a few hours. So it's like a peachy, muted pink instead of being really bright.

If I can maintain this color I think it will be perfect. With a less saturated shade of pink, I feel like I'll attract less attention in public (which is a huge plus for a wallflower like me) and I won't feel compelled to match my outfits to my hair, which I always do when my hair is bright pink. But my hair will still be PINK! I think it's a happy medium :)

pink!

Well, I have pink hair again! I've been thinking about it for a while (basically ever since I stopped having pink hair. If you've ever dyed your hair a fun color you probably know exactly what I mean!) But I've been seriously debating it for the last couple of weeks. It got to the point on Monday where I was just sick of thinking about it so much! I swear every single time I looked in the mirror, saw the tips of my bangs out of the corner of my eye, glanced at my blog (I think you get the point) I considered pink. So I just dashed over to Sally's, got my supplies and did it before I had a chance to reconsider.

I really love the pink SO much. I think it looks more natural on me than any other color, and I feel so much more like ME! I just hate touching up my dark brown roots, and being a super introverted person, I really don't like that it sparks so many conversations with strangers when I'm out. But in the end I think those last two points are outweighed by how much I love it. Love, love, love, love, love it!!

Dress - modcloth | Cardigan - h&m | Collar - luminia | Shoes - from my grandmom

posh frock friday

dress - modcloth

lace cardigan - forever 21

shoes - modcloth

hair bow - honeybean

Yup, it's pink again... I'm seriously the queen of indecisiveness ;p I feel so much more comfortable and confident with pink hair, though... it's odd but somehow I feel more like "me" again.

Anyway, how amazing is this cardigan thingy?! I picked it up while I was shopping for Christmas presents last month, and I've had it hanging in front of my window ever since (I'm obsessed with how pretty lace looks when it's backlit by sunlight!) so I can just gawk at it all the time. Recently I've really grown fond of delicate clothing, and I find myself gravitating towards it more and more.

making it up as I go along

top - urban outfitters

skirt - h&m

belt - old navy

bag - h&m (win one here!)

shoes - modcloth

hair bow - hive & honey

Yesterday I touched up my roots, and tried a new shade of pink! It's my own creation, a mix of Manic Panic cotton candy with about 1-2 tablespoons of wildfire red mixed in. I wanted it to be more of a carnation pink than fuchsia, and I think this totally did the trick! I'm so happy with it! :D I think I might eventually have to cave in and get the bleach done professionally, though. I'm so terrible at it, it's pathetic! I missed so much new growth, even after I thoroughly checked to make sure I had it all covered.

While I was blow drying my hair last night & noticing all the patches of brown I missed with the bleach, I realized I totally wing it with everything. My life is one big long "winging it." Everything is done on a whim, and once I start I never have any clue what the heck I'm doing. Dying my hair, cooking, even starting my own business and blogging.. I'm making it all up as I go along.

By the by, this purse in my photos is the same one (well not the exact same.. I bought one for you, and one for me!) that I'm giving away! If you want to enter to win it, here's the link!

Style Idol - Shirley MacLaine

// image links back to the source

I cannot deny that this was definitely an inspiration when I was deciding what color to dye my hair ;) I wish I could get this exact shade, it's so perfect! Mine has more of a blue tone in it, like a magenta-ish pink, and I would love a more coral-like shade of pink! Maybe mixing the cotton candy pink with some red dye might work? hmm!

Giveaway Time!

dress - h&m

shoes - blowfish

belt - forever 21

cardigan - tj maxx

headband - c/o softspoken

necklace - handmade by me

Three exciting news-ish things! First, my hair is pink again and is probably going to stay that way for a while now :) Well, at least longer than a week this time, lol! I had dyed it back to red on a whim, but regretted it as soon as the dye hit my hair. I'm an emotional hair-dyer so I have that problem a lot. But I'm thrilled with how it came out (albeit a bit uneven.. my hair refuses to take dye evenly anymore) and I'm pretty sure I'll stay pink for at least a couple of months ;)

Second, I updated my header! I've wanted to change it for a while, and somehow I got it in my head to do it last night and stayed up until 7am working on it (it's 7am right now as I'm typing this) ugh! After about 30 different drafts, I finally went with something simple. I'm a huge fan of midcentury children's book illustration, so I tried combining that style with my flappers for the portrait. I'm really excited with how it came out! :D Now I just have to update my flapper doodle blog header to match later, after some much needed rest!

And last but not least, I have a giveaway today! :D YAY!! Rachael from Softspoken is offering one of her gorgeous daisy chain headbands to one lucky girl! I absolutely LOVE mine. It's beautiful and so summery!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post letting me know that you're entering! You must be a follower to enter (Please don't follow just to enter and then leave later.. that's not polite!) and you must leave some way for me to get in touch with you.. e-mail, blog, twitter.. whatever floats your boat!

For extra entries:

1. Follow Rachael's blog

2. Like Softspoken on facebook

Giveaway ends on Monday August 15th at 12:01AM EST! Giveaway is now closed!

pink champagne

dress - boohoo

tights - urban outfitters

shoes - charlotte russe

bow - michaels

wig - wighall

I love happy accidents. While I was picking out my outfit, I looked in the mirror and realized that -- in a spell of laziness -- I hadn't blown my bangs dry after I showered. They were sloppily pulled to the side with a bobby pin, calling way too much attention to my dark roots and shamefully reminiscent of my adolescent years, in which I had no idea what to do with my hair. Then out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my wig! I haven't worn it since last year, actually, and I forgot how much I love it! It ended up being the perfect accessory, adding a nice pop of color to my black & white outfit!

Oh, and I finally figured out how to take bigger pictures! yay! Although, now that I'm able to do it, I realize how much I've gotten attached to the little collages I make for my outfit posts (like the one at the top here) So I think I'll format them the way I did in this post -- my ramblings sandwiched between a collage at the top and large photos at the bottom :)

outtakes

I've been taking pictures of a lot of my outfits, but only posting my favorites. I was just cleaning out my photobooth folder tonight and thought I'd post some of the outtakes that weren't too bad :) Oh, and the last photo is my new pink wig! I've been waiting for this one to come in the mail for a month or so -- it's from Japan -- and the long pink wig I wore a few weeks ago was ordered while I was waiting. I like that one too, but this one is just exactly what I had in mind. I think the shorter length suits me better, and the cut is fabulous!

The outfit details, clockwise -- 1. coat - f21 / hat - f21 / scarf - old navy / jeans - old navy 2. sweater -old navy / scarf - old navy / jeans - old navy / hat - f21 3. hat - target / scarf - NYC street vendor / coat - diane von furstenberg / bag - modcloth / stockings - asos 4. dress - vintage / belt - old navy 5 & 6 - dress - f21 / pearls - grandmother's (it's a candy cigarette..)

cotton candy pink

hat - handmade by Casey!
hair - Miss Violet Lace
Dress - Modcloth

My new pink wig came in the mail today, and it is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! I've been looking for a good one for almost a year now, and when I saw this post on Little Chief Honeybee I knew I'd found what I was looking for! It's a light pink, with darker and lighter pink highlights. I'm glad I went the wig route instead of deciding to dye it, just because I really do love my red hair, and I think pink is a more of a "put it on in the morning, take it off at night" color for me! :) But YAY! I'm kind of hooked now.. I think I might be back in her shop soon buying another color!

3-23-11: *UPDATE!* It turns out that Miss Violet Lace was actually a reseller! They were buying cheap wigs, and saying they were "handmade" to jack up the price. If you bought a wig from them, you can get a partial refund by convoing them on etsy. Since the wigs are actually only like $20 on ebay (or even less -- Kaelah from Little Chief Honeybee found one for fifty cents!!!) she owes all of her customers the balance, in my opinion. I'm really upset that people use etsy to sell mass produced items under the guise of "handmade" in order to get more money. I actually do make my items handmade, and I feel guilty charging what they're actually worth. For instance, my planners take me hours and hours to put together, and yet I feel awful charging any more than $40 (which even then I feel is still too much) which means I earn less than minimum wage for my time. But someone who orders a fifty cent wig can charge $50 by saying it's handmade?! I don't know how you can have a clear conscience doing that :(

a perfect little universe

Can you believe these were made out of cereal boxes?! The images are from A Field Journal, where the author has created what I think is a completely perfect universe made from vellum, cardboard and paint. Pink trees, pink houses, glittery snow... sigh... as long as the family in the yellow house doesn't have a noisy lawnmower, can I move in immediately? ;-D

$5 fun

$5 pink wig from Target :)

I've actually wanted to dye my hair pink for a really long time, so when I saw this in the Halloween section I thought I'd get it and try the color on for size. I like it, but I think it might be TOO hot pink for me. If I dye it, I'll want a lighter shade of pink. In the mean time -- while I'm on the subject of hair color -- I'm quite unhappy with my current hue (mix of red and brown that's kind of splotchy) sooo I'm bleaching it next week. No, I'm not going blonde again, just prepping it for a lighter red color :)

itchin' for a kitchen

Somehow I stumbled upon a boat-load of pink kitchen appliances on Amazon, and now I'm itchin' for a kitchen of my own.

Actually, I've been itching for a kitchen (I can only drop a 'g' so many times in one post before my inner grammarian gets angry) for eons now. I already picked out my table set, and I'm debating whether or not to buy it now and keep it in storage, or just keep my fingers crossed that IKEA is still selling it in a couple of years. Wanna see?!?!

Now I'm picturing it in a little kitchenette with lovely pink appliances and.. hmm... baby blue/teal walls? Ooh! With classic film posters on the walls for movies like Breakfast for Two (1937), Dinner at Eight(1933), The Man Who Came to Dinner(1942) and Our Daily Bread (1934)!