Haul it all off

 I got inspired by Cakespy's post about Chronicle Books and their "Celebrate the Haul-idays" contest.  What you have to do is: Post a list of Chronicle Books valued at up to $500 that you’d like to haul in, and you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing to WIN your list of books! And, one of your readers who comments on the post will win the list too!  Dude, how cool is that?  I NEED more books.  So I spent some time picking out the perfect list of stuff.  Leave a comment!  If I win, you could win!

Cookbooks:

Whoopie Pies

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth

Pretty Pantry Gifts 

Milk & Cookies

Big Fat Cookies

Home:

Let's Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful, Curious, and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By

Handmade Nation

 Manufractured:The Conspicuous Transformation of Everyday Objects

Apartment Therapy Presents: Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Real Design Solutions 

Self:

DIY Fashion

Like I Give a Frock 

Mastering the Art of Beading

Witch Craft

Children:

Ramayana

Olive, the Other Reindeer

Other:

mental_floss presents Big Fat Lies!

Books Are My Bag Tote Bag 

Sukie Mix & Match Gift Bags 

Journals:

XLarge Ruled Soft Cover Moleskine Notebook  

Large Ruled Moleskine Volant Notebook/ Purple

Land + Air + Water: Triptych Journal Collection 

Pyromaniac Journal  

Calendars and Stationary:

Anne Taintor 2011 Engagement Calendar

Anne Taintor 2011 Wall Calendar 

Dumpling Dynasty Mix and Match Stationery 

This only took me up to roughly $487!  Remember, you only win if I win!  Which book/other item would you like the most?

Thanksgiving 2

YUM!  Thanksgiving at Jen's house was yummy, and we have tons of leftovers in the fridge now.  I went for extreme comfort with this dress over leggings.  (All the better to eat turkey with, my dear!)  My niece did me one better in comfort and wore a leotard!  It's time to watch a movie, and veg out until an early bed.  I work tomorrow, so sadly I can't sleep in.

I didn't (and never have), but did any of you go "Black Friday" shopping?

Dress and leggings from Walmart, shoes are my knockoff Crocs.

Thanksgiving 1

This is how my mom LOVES my hair.  (And I have to admit that I like it, too.)   Down and super wavy, with errant curls.  But my problem hair has decided that it will only do this in the best of conditions.  And if I swing my head around too much (like if I am busy doing actual WORK) it will POOF up and frizz.  So, the magic conditions are: wash hair - do not condition - work through some Softee Indian Hemp Scalp and Hair Treatment (yes, this is for African-American hair) - and let it air dry.  I don't know about you, but I usually don't have time to let my hair air dry.  I have a 45 minute trip to work, but since I carpool with my mom, I usually sleep then.  Sleeping does not equal amazing air dried hair.  It tends to get a little flat in the back!

This is what I wore yesterday for Thanksgiving 1.  AKA Thanksgiving at my brother-in-laws parent's house.  It was good, but of course Thanksgiving 2 today (AKA ours at Jen's) will be better!!!  (And not just because I'm fixing part of it.)  But you wanted to see my jewelry?  Including that new necklace?  I couldn't deny you on 2nd Thanksgiving!

Isn't it awesome!  The pendant is made of plastic, not an animal tooth, but I still feel very fashionably up-to-the-minute (and very much like Love Erin).

Top - Avenue
Cardi - Mossimo
Pants - White Stag
Shoes - old knockoff Crocs

Yesterday's LONG day

Yesterday was a mixture of a morning at work and an afternoon of shopping, followed by a choir practice.  I needed something relatively comfy for my super-long day.

Top - Avenue
Vest - Torrid
Pants - Denim 24/7
Shoes - Crocs

You must go where I can not

I saw HP7 last night!  It was wonderful - dark, but wonderful.  "Don't look at me, Bill.  I'm hideous."

I'm doing so well with my Christmas shopping!  I have over half of my list done.  I usually end up buying it all in a frenzy a week before  Christmas.  I've done almost all of it online, which really helped, considering how little I go shopping in real life.

Sweater - Avenue
Pants - Denim 24/7
Shoes - Mossimo

Tonight's gonna be a good good night

Let's play catch-up!  The reason is that I've been too tired the last two days to post my pictures.  Next week, I'll have PLENTY of time to sleep in.  But unless you all want to see posed pictures of me in my jammies, you're out of luck.  The world is so unfair to those of us who need lots of sleep.

Thursday, 11-18

I love these earrings so much, even though I didn't make them.  They come almost down to my shoulders, and are so super dangly and fun.

Yesterday was my niece's birthday!  She was 5, and super excited about presents.  Her party is actually today, but I'll be working during it.  So she got her present from Auntie last night.  Have you ever seen a child shriek with excitement over a unicorn pillow pet?  I have now.  It's utterly adorable and really funny.

Friday, 11-19

I wanted to belt this dress, but I didn't want to have a belt pressing on my tummy.  So I pulled out the actual little cloth sash/belt that it came with and used that, as well as a sort of blousing effect.  (Yes, the black and the brown versions of this dress have them, too.  If something works for me, I keep on using it.)  By the end of the day it wasn't quite as chic as it had been in the morning, but it still points out that I have a waist.  And tonight?  Tonight we see the new Harry Potter!

So tired...where is my bed?

Yesterday night

Just so you know, my day wasn't even finished when this picture was snapped yesterday.  Jen took it at the gym, and I had about 3 more hours before I was able to fall into bed.  Isn't that the saddest thing ever?  I love this shirt, but looking at it in this photo it looks bizarrely like it might be a representation of Jesus.  No.  This is what it looks like really.

Buy here

See, random boho girl.  Not Jesus on the chest of a very very tired girl. Once again, the shirt and pants are both from OneStopPlus, aka Erin's addictive website and the place that all her money has started to go.

Wrap myself up in furs

No, of course it's not real fur.  I have no real moral dilemna to wearing fur (that comes from an animal not on the brink of extinction, of course).  But I don't have anywhere near the money for that!  This cape was $30 at the local TJ Maxx.  That's my kind of fake fur.  It really feels more like super-plush velor, actually.  The ultimate in comfort. 

Yesterday was a black and white day.  White shirt, black skirt and leggings, black and white arm warmers. A study in contrasts like this totally deserves a fudge sundae with lunch...guess what I had?  (Guess whose jumpy eyebrows made a return for this post as well?!)   In other news I have 3 Christmas presents bought so far and 1 idea for another.  This is BIG for a procrastinator.  Do any of you usually leave it to the week before?

No Conditioner for me, thanks.

Hair hidden by scarf

As usual, this post will talk about something completely unrelated to the pictures.  I didn't have time to wash and style my hair before these pictures, but my hair is precisely the subject of the post.  (Big smile.)  I have wavy hair.  Not actual curly hair, just wavy hair.  And it's picky about when it wants to be really wavy.  My hair is super thick, to the point that my loving sister calls it "obese hair".  I tend to have bushy, sort of fly-away hair, so I used to use tons of conditioner.  This past week it got sort of limp, like it sometimes does from an excess of product to calm down the frizz while bringing out the wave.  So I just used shampoo.  Twice.  No conditioner, only shampoo.  And I got out of the shower, a little worried that my hair would look like straw.  But POOF!  It looked really good.  Nice and wavy, and just a little product calmed down the frizz.  "Maybe it's a one-day thing," I thought.  But I tried it again, and again, all week in fact.  I conditioned my hair once.  The products I use most do have conditioning agents in them, so my hair is staying soft.  It's crazy.  This is just the opposite of all the recommendations for curly-haired girls (ie condition every day, don't shampoo frequently).  My hair just had to be different.  Do you have something that is odd like this about you?  Something COMPLETELY against all beauty rules that works perfectly for you?

Shopping with Jen

Late Late Late

What do I wear when you don't see me?  Irrelevant question since you are seeing these pictures.  The above picture is what I wore last Friday, and was hastily cobbled together in the morning after I discovered that my planned outfit DID NOT WORK AT ALL.  I hate that so much, when I have it all laid out and ready, and then I put it on and the proportions are completely wacky, or something doesn't fit the way my head thought it did.  So I end up in a PEACH shirt to match my skirt, brown shoes and socks, and feel discombobulated all day.  And get lots of compliments.  Life is so strange.  On Saturday, I wore my new steampunky shirt (first worn last Sunday, 11-7).  I tried a different look this time, and I like it more, but it's not quite perfect in my head yet.  My hair's getting long enough to do a modified Veronica Lake 'do again.  I like it, but I'm never quite sure what other people think.  It does look a little different with my glasses.  Today (11-15) is my sister's birthday!!  So we're off to go shopping and eat out and have happy fun sister time.  Yay!

Fake Work Pants

So.  I have a job, an outside the house job.  I work at a circulation desk in a college library, and while this does lend itself somewhat to wearing jeans to work, I am not the most happy person while wearing jeans.  So I've worn skirts/dresses with leggings, and my few pairs of nice pants.  The thing is, I have a fairly deep hatred of "dressy" pants.  They do not fit me properly.  No, not even petites.  I am willing to acknowledge that there might be the perfect pant out there, but I have yet to find it.  The rise is always too long, resulting either in pants belted right under my chest or a crotch several inches below my own.  So, on to the fake work pants.  I like pants that are as comfy as pajamas (obviously this means either an elastic waistband or a drawstring).  Ponte knit boot cut pants by Denim 24/7 are my new fake work pants of choice.  Oddly, the gray pants are not as soft as the black pants, even after washing.  These pants do require a tunic top to cover the elastic waist.