Blue, blue windows behind the stars

This is the sort of thing I wear to church on Sundays. Don't worry, my church doesn't require long skirts for women, or anything wack-a-doodle like that. But this pretty skirt is so long that if I wear it to work, I tend to roll my chair over it, and I would prefer not to tear it up just yet. As a concession to the cold, I wore leggings underneath, rather than tights. It turned out to be a good thing that I went with my Skechers shoes with the thick tread rather than heels. The church parking lot had big streaks of ice all over it, but I was able to keep upright AND keep my tiny mama up too. My mom has a lot of nicknames (from me): Tiny Mama, Little Mama, Little Pessimist, etc. She's not exceptionally small, just 5'1", but she's smaller than me and tends to take a pessimistic view on most things, even though she's not a bitter person. Except about Republicans. My mom curses at the screen when former prez Bush (the younger) is on the screen and tends to say he's going to hell for what he got this country into. Wow, that was a long diversion. Anywhooo, if you've noticed (as I'm sure you haven't) my hair underwent a bit of a change. I have extremely thick hair. My sister thinned it out a few weeks ago, and now it's only as thick as a normal person's hair. I think. She also added lots of random layers all over. So now I still have all the volume I had before with what Jen called my obese hair, but it's mostly controllable and fluffy around my head in a pretty way. I also think it looks sort of like a lion's mane, which fits since my sign is a Leo!




Sweater - Nicole
Skirt - Bila
Shoes - Skechers
Necklace - Self-made

Bonechilling

Okay, it's still super cold. And maybe I got a little cold yesterday. Maybe. So today I'm wearing layers. The undershirt (not really an undershirt, durr) is Mossimo. The shirt on top is Merona. The jeans are thrifted Old Navy. I'm wearing some old boot socks and Crocs. Yes, Crocs. Stop shaking your fashion blogger heads at me. I have wide feet, and I'm on them a good portion of the day. And if you're short (like me) and have on boot cut jeans, it's really not that obvious. Particularly if you're sitting behind a desk the portions of the day that you're not on your feet. So stop your sneering! (I may possibly be too sensitive about this.) This is me with wet hair and no makeup, and a tired mother taking the picture. I have a pretty simple camera, but my mom can make just about anything look blurry, so we have to take several pics when she's shooting. She's also still unclear about the fact that yes, I want my entire outfit in the picture, not just my face. "Mom, they don't need to see my face. It's a fashion blog, they need to see my outfit!" Tired reply: "Hmmm...Smile, darling!"

The new windy city...

It's approximately negative a billion degrees here with windchill. I think. It seems to me. It's so very cold that I'm in black and white! And also a little blurry...



Of course, it's normal people temperature at work, so I didn't dress in furs and insulated coveralls. Instead, I'm mildly freezing outside in my coat and scarves. This dress is too short for my peace of mind, hence the leggings. I'm just happier knowing that my ass will always be covered, even if my dress rides up a bit.



Dress - Starina
Leggings - White Stag
Necklace - Self-made

words CAN bring me down

So, byhillary had a post today that was Words can't bring me down. Dude, she so does not have my life! I just got confirmation that I didn't get the job I interviewed for. I still have my part-time job of course, so it's not like I'm going to the poor-house. And this job would not have filled me with incandescent joy. But still. I want a full-time job! (angry breathing...) I have a freaking MLS. I've worked in libraries for 10 years (yes, I started as an undergrad). And what I need are some damn benefits. My insurance rates are hella expensive, due to my epilepsy ($702 a month). I don't need a job with a huge salary, just a little decent one. I just want some frigging help with this insurance. My father, a very sweet man, was on the phone with me when I read the email that I wasn't being called back for another interview. And he cursed! True, he only said "that's shit", but my dad never curses. Never. My mom, she's got a mouth on her, especially in traffic, but not my dad. So, not only am I depressed by the news, so is my whole family. And to top it off, I get to go in to work tomorrow!



(Angry Face doll from here)

Videos I love!

Obviously, if you watch all this videos in one sitting it would take you about 20 minutes. So if you want to dip in and out, or just watch one, that's cool with me. It's not like I can stop you, anyway. That's why I've provided handy teensy summaries for you!

The Cat Came Back This is a Canadian animated short that I remember watching in school (or maybe at home?) when I was little. I thought it was hysterical then and I still like it now, even if it is slightly macabre.



Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Version By now, I'm sure you've heard/seen the "literal" music videos that replace the original lyrics with ones about what's actually going on in the video. This is one of the best, I think, and one of the funniest.



Love Me Dead I LOVE LOVE LOVE Ludo. And this video is like a freaky funny literal video combined with an actual song combined with a great band. And how can you not love the lead singer, with his Buster Poindexter look and crazy eyes!



Laughing With I'm a Christian. I'll get that out of the way before I get any possible mean responses. But I think Regina Spektor (yes, another of my favorites!) addresses one of the most pressing issues in Christianity in this lovely, sad, beautiful, and funny song. Dude, it's okay to laugh at and with God. Who do you think made our sense of humor?

Is it sleepytime?

I like this jacket, because it makes me feel sort of beachy, but official. It looks sort of like seersucker, but it's not, it's just a very narrow stripe. This is what I wore to church today, so it's a more structured look.



The white shirt underneath is so old that the label is worn off. Some plain black jersey pants make the outfit comfy, and comfy is pretty much my byword. If you've been reading my blog, you'll recognize the shoes from earlier entries.




Jacket - A.n.a.
Pants - White Stag
Shoes - Earth Spirit
Usual Jewelry!

And as for the post title, do you nap on Sunday afternoons? I ALWAYS do. Usually for at least an hour. What can I say; I'm dedicated!

I am a lady from Mars, and I can unscrew the stars

This is the outfit I mentioned on my twitter as making me feel supercute. I've been looking for a sweater-dress/long tunic ALL FREAKIN' WINTER and I finally found one. Luckily, here in VA it appears that winter is never going to end. Everywhere I looked I found sweater-dresses and tunics galore...but. But, they nipped in at the bottom! A curvy girl like me wants something with a little flare at the bottom, not something to point out my thighs! But wonder of all wonders, I found this on a Wal-mart sale rack. Sadly, black was the only decent color, or I would have a rainbow of these dresses. And this outfit is as comfy as pajamas!

I also change shoes at work. While at work, I usually wear these little slippers that were my shoes for my modern dance shoes back in undergrad back in 2003! You can see the wear, but they've lasted a very long time for little leather split-sole shoes. Particularly since I don't take any care of them.




And these are the shoes that I wear outside of work. Vaguely workman like, but sort of cute.




Dress - George
Leggings - Faded Glory
Slippers - Capezio
Shoes - People Movers
Teapot Necklace: made by me! and fantastic spoon ring!


Question: who are some of your favorite singers that make you think?
I love Regina Spektor, Ingrid Michaelson, and the group Ludo. They all have crazy weird lyrics that take your mind to really neat, sometimes creepy, all together new places.

...when the doctor calls after some routine tests

Emily Kennedy asked a very good question in a comment after my peanut butter pie post. After a very nice compliment, she asked why I live with my dad. Good question, Emily. And one that I usually address with people pretty quickly. But I got so interested in the fashion part that I forgot to do this part. First off, I technically live with my mom and dad, who are super duper cute.



But my dad is the one who takes my pictures so he gets mentioned more. My mom manages to take pictures that look like she's been partying with the Rolling Stones. I mean, I'm 28. I have a part-time job plus my etsy shop. Shouldn't I be on my own, not one of those kids in our generation that move back home? It's a two fold answer. 1. When I moved back to VA from KS, I had a HARD time getting a job. I had a great full-time job at a public library in KS (where I lived with my sister and her husband and kids) but here in VA, library positions were really, really hard to come by. So I was out of work for over half a year. But the real reason is 2. I'm an epileptic. It's mostly controlled by medication, so I haven't had a seizure in several months. But my whole family is VERY overprotective. I could, you know, drown if I had a seizure in a shower or bath, so I only shower when someone is home. (I have actually had a seizure in the shower and been dragged out by my sister and brother-in-law. Embarrassing!) I can't drive, due to a very bad accident I had in KS while having a seizure. Of course, I never really liked driving anyway, I'm pretty lazy. And once this happens to your leg, you tend to lose interest.



Walking with a cane for a few months is not as fun as House makes it look on TV. However, making shirts with my sister that say in superheroine letters Seizure Girl on the front and on the back Have you hugged an epileptic today? is in fact, super fun. But the shirt will get you strange looks in public. Except from other epileptics, who all want to know where you got it. So, I live with my parents and carpool to work with my mom. Handy, huh? My dad, mom, and sister all call me at least once a day when I'm at the house alone, just to make sure I'm still upright, because they all worry a lot (and care a lot). And I do my best to avoid setting off my seizure triggers. So, uh, have a cookie. I'm going to go make muffins, do laundry, and get ready for an interview tomorrow.

Peanut Butter Pie

My dad can't eat chocolate. He's allergic, to the point of throat-swelling-up-and-imminent-death allergic. So, for a late Valentine's treat, I made him this pie which he loves. And so does everyone who gets a taste of it. I first made it this past Thanksgiving, and I've made it several times since because not only is it tasty, it's super simple. The recipe I use is from allrecipes.com, only I don't use walnuts. I even took pictures like a food blogger! Admittedly, they're not very beautiful, but they go step by step.

PEANUT BUTTER PIE 2000
(seriously, that's what the recipe is called. Don't give me grief, I didn't name it.)

Ingredients
* 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust (you want a really deep crust. This makes a ton of filling.)
* 4 ounces cream cheese, softened (it totally works to use 1/3 fat cream cheese/Neufchatel cheese
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (you can NOT use natural peanut butter, or honey peanut butter in this. It'll completely screw up the recipe.
* 1/2 cup milk (2%, natch)
* 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed (this can also be low-fat)

1. First, you get out a large bowl to mix all this junk in. Then you're supposed to "whip cream cheese until soft and fluffy".

I don't know about soft and fluffy. This guy probably uses a mixer. I just use a fork, and for the sake of writing convenience, so will you! So whip it until it's not a block anymore and is sort of creamy.

2. Next, beat in the confectioner's sugar and the peanut butter. You want to do this very slowly, so you don't end up with (a) a mess and (b) carpal tunnel syndrome. I do the sugar first, and I do it in rough fourths. It will look completely gross while you're working it all worked in, like icky watery pudding. Okay, I heard that dirty joke, and you are not funny. Even though I think that every single time too. See:

Nasty, right? Anywhooooooo, next the peanut butter. It'll still look pretty non-yummy at this stage and it'll also be a big clump up around your fork.


3. Now, you add the milk. Just a half cup, but it makes all the pretty difference in the world. It's hard to mix in, so go slow, adding just a bit of milk at a time and whipping it in with your fork. But look, so pretty! You can practically taste the peanut buttery flavor!


4. Now, add the Cool Whip. Oops, frozen whipped topping, thawed. Once again, add slowly, don't just dump the whole carton in at once. But what's this? It's totally changed color! Your luscious peanut butter pie filling now looks pale and wan.


Surely the taste has weenied out as well! Stick a finger in...yeah, that's it. That color fooled you, didn't it? Just like me, fantastic things CAN come in uber pale colors!

5. Pour that filling into your graham cracker crust and pop it into the freezer. You want to make this plenty ahead of time, so it can firm up in the freezer. But don't let it turn into a brick! Friends don't let friends break teeth on dessert!


There you are, delicious pie with no baking, just a few ingredients and some mixing! The crust WILL break apart as you serve it, but when people take their first bites, they'll completely forget. Besides, who manages to serve pie nicely, anyhow?

I'd ride in your pocket all day...

It's still horribly cold here, so layers are the word of the day whenever I go outside my house. Today was a black/white/red day. I feel both proud and dorky that it's hard to tell where my black shirt ends and my arm warmers begin. I feel strictly proud that my socks and arm warmers match. But I have no idea what store the socks came from, I've had them for years and years. I ended up liking this outfit a lot. It was very comfortable, since the pants are jersey. Here's a full shot of my outfit:



It's late, though, and the Olympics are on. And I'm starting to look like this. Time to just Tivo tonight and watch it tomorrow.



And here is a picture of my photographer, my every-suffering Daddy. But he looks this tired all the time.




Arm Warmers - Sock Dreams
White Shirt - Faded Glory
Black Shirt - Mossimo
Black Pants - White Stag
Jewelry - Self-made

Dessert!

I love dessert. I know that you're nodding your head, but you don't understand. I LOVE DESSERT. You can see that I have a long list of food blogs on here that I follow, so you might think that I cook a lot. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Not really. I just love to look at pictures of desserts and read about them. I do bake on occasion, and I would rather make desserts than cook regular food. But I'm just as likely to use a mix as to make something from scratch. But these people aren't:

Not So Humble Pie is a SAHM and scientist who makes the best looking geeky foods. She's posted recipes to make atom cookies, gingerbread men in containment suits, as well as tons of macarons, and some bitter conversation hearts for Valentine's Day.


Delicious Delicious Delicious is the man who came up with the "Reinvent the Lamington" contest. He's got a great sense of humor (just look at the picture of his Christmas Cake!) and
the man definitely knows his way around the kitchen. He's also a guy who'll post a recipe for marmalade that actually makes it sound appetizing to me!


As for Cakespy, well, the site bills themselves as a "Dessert Detective Agency". They post reviews of bakeries, recipes, and most importantly (to me) they have the Cakespy shop. Jessie Oleson is the artist who designed "Cuppie", the mascot of the site, and who paints the original artwork you can buy. Like this one that I love so much if anyone is so inclined...


So what's your favorite dessert? Do you like fancy stuff or junk food? I love anything with chocolate and peanut butter. Or are you one of those sad sad people that actually DON'T like sweets?

Diamonds are a girl's best friend...

Slight lie with the title, I actually see no point in diamonds. Give me something with some color to it, not just a rock that looks like a hunk of glass! Anywhoooo, for Christmas, my sister and brother-in-law made me the ultimate jewelry non-box. I wanted to be able to SEE my necklaces, especially the ones that I slaved over myself, instead of having to root through a jewelry box to find what I'm looking for. It took me forever to get it up, because I am not to be trusted with a big hammer, so today my dad put it up for me and you can start weeping with jealousy.



I looked on Etsy, and found this. I showed it to Jen and David, and they made me one that matches my room, and several of my sheet sets! It has 11 little hooks, and I managed to fit 25 necklaces and my beloved spoon ring on there. Now I can pick out my necklace to match my outfit first thing in the morning! Aren't you longing for something this cool?! Here's a close-up:

What's in YOUR purse?

The purse that I use is a leather purse, passed down from my mom. It's this gorgeous reddish brown, and since it's old, it's got that nicely aged patina. The way I organize my purse is a fantastic way that I unabashedly stole from another Erin. Little bags inside the purse! All you do is separate out your stuff by category, then pop it in little bags, and stuff them into your purse.

First we have my lip bag over my makeup bag. I have tons of lip gloss, chapstick, and even a few lipsticks.


Next are my two grab bags. The top one has lotions, hand sanitizer, bandaids, and the like. The bottom one has "things that go in my mouth": mints, medicine, etcetera.


Next, my ipod and headphones bag, and my wallet. Pretty self explanatory.


And last, my time of the month bag and my keys.


I keep a lot more in there, like a book, juice, my cell phone (in an outside pocket), but this helps me find what I'm looking for much quicker than I used to! How do you organize your purse? Or do you not even try?

Eatin' and sleepin' and turnin' pages...

I visited my Nana today with my parents. I don't care how cute your grandmother is, mine is cuter and sweeter by far. Before we saw Nana, my parents wanted to get new cell phones. I had less than no interest in waiting around with them, so I went to the stores nearby.


Frustrated by the shoe store's lack of boots to fit my calves (bizarrely muscular), I went to the Dollar Tree. And lo and behold, these two cute purses, each just a buck! They are much smaller than the ones I usually carry, but I can carry them on special-ish occasions.



It's still pretty cold for Virginia, and the snow is piled up in huge drifts around the roads and my house. But my Nana's house is always nice and toasty, so I wore something in the middle that I could pull a nice big coat over.


Cardigan - Mossimo
Shirt - Old Navy
Skirt - Thrifted
Leggings - Faded Glory
Shoes - No Boundaries
Teapot Necklace - self-made


As for jewelry, I only had on my teapot necklace, but I got a great closeup picture of it. Unfortunately, without my constant spoon ring, my finger felt naked all day long!


Do you have a certain something that you have to wear every day or your day just feels off? A piece of jewelry, a pair of shoes, a hair clip? Tell the Library Girl so she can catalog it!

Perfume Love

My sister has a perfume that she loves and has worn for over half her life now, although it's been discontinued for almost as long. She has tiny tester bottles stocked up in her basement that she's bought off eBay. She's just started to incorporate a new perfume into her life, after going through a lengthy sniffing/testing process in stores. Me, on the other hand, I've used tons of different perfumes. You could call me a perfume slut, if you want to be catty about it. I use cheap perfumes (ooh, horrible me!) because if I just don't care that much about perfume to pay a ton for it. But I wear perfume every day and I have for years, unlike makeup...yes, I just noticed the weird flaw in my plan there. I guess the truth is that I'm just cheap! I've used lots of lavender scented perfumes, light men's colognes (this drove my mom CRAZY), "hippie" type scents (NOT patchouli, yuck), you get the idea. Basically I don't like floral smells, or very heavy/musky smells. I like a light perfume. There are three companies that I've been using: Bodycology, The Healing Gardens, and Skin Below The Chin. With Bodycology, I've used Vanilla Cupcake and Vanilla Buttercream. For The Healing Gardens, I've used plenty, but right now I have Lavender and Green Tea. But my favorite at the moment is Skin Below The Chin's Lime Basil with Anjou Pear and Citrus. This is a random little body mist that I found at Wal-Mart, and it smells delicious.




Do you have a favorite perfume, or do you switch around like I do? Let me know.

Personal Loves

I love making jewelry. I had reconciled myself to not being a crafty person at all until last year. I have issues sewing, I can't draw or paint, I can't knit/crochet/cross-stitch...you get the idea. So it was just totally weird to learn that I have a talent for making jewelry. I opened an Etsy store with my sister (and my brother-in-law has since joined us) where I've started selling my jewelry. I've sold jewelry to people in San Francisco, Russia, and all over the USA. I make earrings, rings, necklaces, keychains, and even children's jewelry. I save the most fun pieces for myself of course!




My jewelry can be found at http://www.etsy.com/shop/birnamgrove, and if you ever have a craving for anything I wear on here, just let me know, and if possible I can make a copy for you.

work makes me look tired

Once again it is threatening humongous weekend snow here in VA. It's cold, and I need a new razor, so I'm wearing my Old Navy jeans today. You get snapshots of my outfit today, instead of a cohesive whole, since I took the pictures at work in my cubicle during my lunch break. My shoes are Skechers, bought in a thrift store.


The black turtleneck is one that I stole from my father long ago, after he declared that turtlenecks made his head look even more like a pumpkin (very true). The necklace is self-made.


I decided to go with a daring, semi-Veronica Lake hairdo today. One side sweeps over my eyes, and the other side is caught back in a clippy thing. I have no idea what those things are technically called.

Odd Love Films

I seem to specialize in being the person in my family to rent movies that make everyone else ask "Where on earth did you find that?" So, for Love Month, here are a few of my recent favorites, all of which you can get from Netflix. Also, mild spoiler, they all end relatively happily, no matter what happens during the movie.

1. Howl's Moving Castle
This is the only animated movie on the list. It's a Miyazaki film (loosely) based on the Diana Wynne Jones book. Beautiful, with evil witches, sorcerers, and semi-living scarecrows, it tells the tale of Sophie, who has been turned into an old woman by a witch and how the wizard Howl falls in love with her because he sees her for who she really is.


2. Lars and the Real Girl
This movie got a lot of press when it came out, and it's excellent. Definitely strange, but good. Ryan Gosling stars as Lars, the man who buys a sex doll and treats it like a real person that he's in a real relationship with, and soon the whole town is going along with him.



3. Good Dick
This movie is really, really offbeat. Not one for watching with your parents/children, in case the title didn't tip you off. A true indie movie, this was written and directed by the main woman, Marianna Palka. A tale about an introvert who only leaves the house to rent porn and the rental guy who ends up following her home and levering his way into her life. Caution, she is HORRIBLE to him for a great deal of the movie due to some problems of her own.



4. Latter Days
The sweetest gay movie I've seen recently. A party boy makes a bet, and ends up falling in love with one of the Mormons that moves next door. Includes the most amusing quoting of "Psycho" that I've seen in a movie.



6. Penelope
This is the love story for families and fashion bloggers alike. The title character was born with the nose of a pig, due to a family curse. Christina Ricci is Penelope, and her outfits are gorgeous! Most of all the wedding dress, which is pictured below. Everyone else has rockin' outfits too, including Reese Witherspoon's little turn.