when skies are cloudy and grey

I've been having a major case of the "blahs" lately. I took outfit pictures almost every day this year and so far I've only been satisfied with (I think, I'm too lazy to double-check) four. It's like I forgot how to get dressed all of a sudden, nothing looks right (except those four(?) that I thought were half-decent enough to post) I'm also really not thrilled with my hair -- I had to touch up the dye since I missed a huge chunk and ended up accidentally dying it too dark again. blargh!

I'm also not thrilled with the cut. It looked great at the salon but I majorly suck at styling my own hair after I wash it. I try so hard and watch youtube tutorials and read tutorials but everything comes up FAIL. I think it's a combination of being super incompetent in the beauty department (still pretty sure I don't apply concealer correctly either) and having hair with a mind of its own. Each strand is programmed to go in a different direction and no matter how hard I try to blow it out straight, my waves come back with a vengeance. I miss being able to just whip it up into milkmaid braids and call it a day.

On a much brighter note, I'm meeting two of my best friends today and I'm so excited about it! We've been friends online for five years this month. We're all so close I feel like we're sisters, I'm not even nervous about meeting them in person, just super, incredibly excited :)

dress- modcloth | cardigan - c/o modcloth | tights - target | shoes - c/o oasap

january wishlist

1. envision success dress // modcloth
2. lace trim socks // topshop
3. glitter kitty collar clips // i love crafty
4. crushed velvet shorts // topshop
5. speakeasy does it heels // modcloth
6. cosmic ring set // forever 21
7. satchel bag with scalloped edge // asos
8. pink cat coin purse // asos
9. marlowe eyeglass frames // lookmatic
10. fancy bow belt // forever 21
11. excellent rapport dress // modcloth

here's an idea: indoor butterfly garden

Ok, not a *real* butterfly garden... those pretty insects wouldn't stand a chance in a house with two cats and I'm not really sure I'd want bugs (even beautiful ones) flying around my home, ever. But did you know that you can get fake paper butterflies at basically any craft store and they look amazingly, ridiculously real?

After I got sick last month I didn't end up going shopping for over three weeks (I was pretty sure my absence from Michaels was going to put them out of business) I finally went back to Michael's a few days ago and decided to just absorb all the craftiness for as long as I could.. I wandered around the aisles observing all the pretty new things that had shown up while I was gone, like spring flowers blooming all around me (literally, the new spring silk flowers are out now!)



I did have one goal in mind as I meandered around the store -- something to put on top of this bookcase that I'm using as a room divider. I had some Christmas decorations up there before but now that I took them down the top was way too barren.

AND THEN I SAW THE BUTTERFLIES. And all was right with the world.  I snatched up some fake potted plants and flowers (50% off all spring florals last week, yippee!) and then went home and got to work. I mixed them with some other fake plants I had already purchased at IKEA and then started adding my little insects.



One butterfly pack was enough to do my whole garden. They come pre-attached to long thin floral wires so you can strategically plant them in your display. I chose to make some really obvious, perched on the sides of pots, and some tucked deep in the middle so that you just catch them out of the corner of your eye. Would real butterflies only mingle on the edges where everyone could see them? Nope!

You could also do this with real plants, of course, I just wanted something that would be more permanent and require no maintenance. And if one of the cats (cough, Hubble) hops up there and knocks stuff over I don't have to worry about cleaning up tons of dirt from my carpet. (Honestly, living with Hubble I practically need to baby-proof my apartment.)

I love how fresh and spring-y it looks! Everything might be fake but it just adds so much life to my apartment.

try a little kindness #2

I'm really excited about this printable, I've been wanting to figure out how to do faux cross stitch in photoshop for a while and I can't wait to make more designs now that I learned how. I want to learn how to do physical cross stitch too, I just need to find the right pattern to start with (I'm thinking one from kitschy digitals will be perfect, though!)

If you'd like you can download an 8"x10" free printable version of this design right here (just right click and save!) It's also available in my society6 shop here.




Last week this Pennsylvania pizza shop owner offered to deliver food and medicine for free to any elderly residents in his town who were trapped in their homes because of the arctic vortex. I've read so many heartwarming stories about people helping out during the storm. There's also this story about a man who put his snowblower to good use and cleared the snow from his neighbors' driveways in below-freezing weather.



1- If you have netflix or hulu plus and pay $7.99 a month for those services, maybe consider signing up for a monthly charitable contribution in the same amount. I'm by no means rolling in money but I figured if I can find $8 every month for reruns of The Office I can find it for the ASPCA :)
2 - Put some of your spare change in a parking meter that's running low
3 - Let someone know how much you love their work. I tweeted an author today to say how much I loved his book. Hopefully he'll see it and smile :)
4 - If you follow me on twitter you know I'm not the biggest fan of USPS but I do admire the individual mailmen who have to battle this weather to deliver our mail. A little "thank you" note in the mailbox wouldn't be a bad idea!
5 - Go out of your way to say "hello," smile, and say "thank you" every time you're at a cash register (thank you to Mary for this one!)