2013, Civil Rights Museum, Lorraine Motel, Martin Luther King Jr., Memphis, Mississippi road trip, road trip, travel

Mississippi Roadtrip: Memphis pt. 3 The Lorraine

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      Although we literally only spent one day in Memphis we knew we had to make a trip to the civil rights museum as well. The Civil Right museum is built in and around the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Unfortunately most of the museum was under construction (another reason to come back to Memphis in the future!), but the Martin Luther King Jr. part was open. The museum starts across the street in a building that was a boarding house and was the place where James Earl Ray stayed and later shot Dr. King from. The tour is long and has a step by step account of the two men up and around the time before and after the assassination, It’s fascinating stuff. You can even see what the room James Earl Ray stayed in looked like and the window he shot Dr. King from. You can also see into the room that Dr. King was staying in. There is a lot more to the museum that, unfortunately, we didn’t get to see (as it was under construction) but I definitely want to go back and see the whole museum, the construction should be done in the beginning of 2014. If you’re in or around Memphis this is definitely an important stop you should add to your itinerary.

Parts preserved of the boarding house James Earl Ray stayed in and assassinated Dr. King from:

The room (i think) where Jamel Earl Ray stayed

The Bathroom window where he took aim and killed Dr. King

View of the Lorraine Motel from the boardinghouse bathroom window

Another view of the Lorraine from inside the museum

a snip of the inside of the museum

The Lorraine Motel:

view of the boarding house from the balcony of Dr. Kings hotel room

The Room Dr. King was staying in before his death

As you can see they were also doing construction on the facade of the motel. You could see inside room 306 but I was not able to get a good picture of it. The museum was moving and I definitely learned a lot about Dr. King’s assassination.  Hopefully I’ll be able to make it back to Memphis soon and see the whole museum.

2013, Elvis, Graceland, Mississippi road trip, road trip, travel, vacation 2013

Mississippi Road Trip Memphis pt. 2 Graceland: All the rest

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Graceland is way more than just a house. After you tour the actual home there are several building on the property filled with memorabilia and then even more exhibits with cars, jumpsuits (oh the jumpsuits!), planes and more. It’s truly an experience. Anyway here’s a peek of all the stuff outside of the main house.

The Office: I believe Elvis’ dad was his manager and this building was sort of Elvis Inc.  for most of his life. You can see the old office set up and a lot of cool fan art.

Check out the awesome lamp that you can’t really see but was awesome.

Memorabilia Rooms:

This was the coolest display, I was salivating over all the cool Elvis memorabilia. How awesome would it be to come across some of that stuff! I wants it, I wants it all!

So. many. records.

Priscilla’s wedding dress

details of the dress

Elvis’ tux. Yes that is a paisley printed tux, how awesome is that!?!?

blurry details

  Den(ish) Room: 

Beginning of the Jumpsuits: 

Presley Family Graves:  Elvis, his father, grandmother, and mother are all buried here. There is also a small plaque in remembrance of  his twin brother who died soon after birth, he’s not actually buried there though. I had no idea Elvis was a twin. All the flower arrangements are sent in by fans and put around the graves.

The Cars: 

Though cool this thing was HUGE! I don’t understand how people parked in the 50’s and 60’s.

More Jumpsuits!!!

The Planes! Elvis had two private planes and both are amazing. Although I have to admit the smaller one with the colorful interior is my fave. On the headset it said one year for Christmas he and his family got on the plane and went somewhere (Colorado I think) so Lisa Marie could have fun in the snow and then flew back, sounds liked the perfect way to enjoy snow to me.

The Lisa Marie:

Yes all the furniture is covered in plastic like your grandma’s house. It’s to protect the furniture and actually kind of adds an extra kitschy element to the whole experience.

The Little Plane (I forgot it’s name): Aka the coolest plane ever!



After visiting Graceland I had a serious desire to buy a jumpsuit, I wonder why… That Man seriously loved a jumpsuit and they are pretty awesome. Anyway Graceland was sooo much fun. I’m not a huge Elvis fan but it was amazingly cool to see it, it’s the King in all his glory and it’s totally worth a trip. If you’re ever in or near Memphis you should put it on your list of must see places.

2013, 70's, costumes, Diana Ross, Halloween, halloween costumes, rhoda

Halloween Costume Ideas

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           I didn’t really have any plans to do anything for Halloween this year, maybe sit home watch a scary movie and hand out candy. But I got invited to a couple Halloween parties this weekend so it’s looking more and more likely that I’ll be going to at least one. Of course that also means I need a costume. I have a few costume ideas and some pieces in my wardrobe that I could fashion into some sort of costume. Although I have a good amount of items for a costume already in my wardrobe I plan to make a thrift trip anyway to see if I can find a piece for an even better costume or to add to the two I’m already considering. Assuming I don’t find anything mind blowing at the thrift store, here are some mood boards of the two biggest contenders for costumes that I could fashion out of things already in my wardrobe.

1. Rhoda Fabulous :

Rhoda Fabulous

           I recently picked up a 70’s maxi dress at goodwill that came with a matching scarf. When trying to figure out a good way to style it for a costume I thought of Rhoda, you know Mary’s bff from the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Rhoda was super funky and loved a good headscarf. Apparently headscarves were big in the 70’s.  For this look I’d utilize the maxi dress and matching scarf I already own, add a funky large gold necklace or large gold hoop earrings, and large 70’s style Jackie-O sunglasses. After pinteresting a bunch of 70’s maxi dresses and Rhoda inspired looks this one is definitely the front runner for my costume.

2. Diana Ross

Diana Ross

       When I say Diana Ross I’m thinking more 70’s Diana, post supremes. Ms. Ross is fabulous point blank period and a Diana Ross costume goes seamlessly with natural hair. A Good wrap dress, maybe a jumpsuit, sexy mini dress, or a long but sexy maxi style dress/ gown all work for this look. Add some long elbow length gloves,  a fabulous feather boa, Ms.Ross’s trademark curls and a some divalicious makeup with a red lip and boom, instant Diana.

2013, ASOS, DV by Dolce Vita, fourth of july, OOTD, target

Fourth O’ July style

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Top: target skirt: ASOS shoes: DV by dolce vita 
        This Fourth of July I was grateful for many things, but mostly that I didn’t feel like death. The day before I felt awful so it was soo nice to just be able to be out and about like a normal person. Anyway I worked for most of the fourth and didn’t really have concrete plans until after work at about 7pm.  My friend that I usually go see fireworks with was busy working so I went with a good friend from work. Luckily my friend lives really close to the (Mississippi) river, which is one of the places that has fireworks in/ around Minneapolis. So I parked at her house and we walked to the river. We watched fireworks from the stone arch bridge and then has some delicious food truck food. The weather was amazing  and it was a really fun night. 
        On to the outfit! I had a couple outfits in mind for this festive occasion but decided to go with this one after figuring out where I was going. Last year I went all red, white and blue and felt a little hokey. You can do patriotic really well and cool or you can do it badly and look like an elementary school teacher rocking a Fourth of July themed sweater vest. I had a tamed down outfit picked out that still had red, white, and blue but decided I just wasn’t in the mood for it. So I went with this asos skirt I recently purchased and a simple white scoop neck top. I like the outfit although in hindsight white wasn’t the best color for my food truck excursion. It could use a little more something but it was pretty hot out and it was a nice easy breezy outfit for the fourth.

2013, animals, como zoo, dress, hmong freedom celebration, OOTD, thrift

Hmong Freedom Celebration 2013

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          Last Saturday I went with a good friend from work to the Hmong Freedom Celebration. It’s an annual event held in Como Park in St. Paul. The main draw is a big Soccer tournament that they hold, but they also have a beauty and talent competitions as well as food and vendors selling all sorts of goodies. The parking was crazy, we ended up parking in the Como Zoo overflow lot and taking a shuttle to the zoo then walking to the festival. Anyway it was really fun, we didn’t really get to watch any of the soccer, as my friend had to work later that day. But we walked around ate and had a good time. We even went to the Zoo afterward for a while, which made us feel better about parking in the Zoo lot.

 

  

 

 We Also went to the Como Zoo:

Sloth!

Gorilla
This guy was laying on his back chillin’ by a view window. It was so cute.

Now onto the Outift:

                                           

Dress &Shoes: Thrift Sunnies: ASOS Belt: Target
         We’ve been having increadibly hot weather here in Minnesota lately, like 90 degrees hot and humid,  and saturday was no exception. I knew I wanted to wear something that would breathe and be comfortable in the crazy hot weather. When thinking about it I remembered this embroidered dress I thrifted years ago and still hadn’t worn.  I was kind of obsessed with this style of dress for months in 2010 and it wasn’t until November when I was combing the racks of post-halloween vintage markdowns at Value Village and I found it. It was a come to mama moment. It used to be a bit longer, like past my knees long, so I shortened it. I think I did a pretty good job. Anyway I really like this outfit and will definitely be wearing this dress more often.

2013, boots, OOTD, stripes

Go-To

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Top: Thrifted  Jeans: Old Navy  Shoes: Gifted Earrings: Designosaur Bracelet: Nasty Gal
           Every season I have a go-to outfit, you know the outfit you feel good in, is cute, and doesn’t take a lot of thought. This winter my go-to outfit has consisted mostly of striped shirts and skinny jeans. The current incarnation of the go-to includes this black and white nautical-ish striped top. I thrifted the top in January and have been kind of obsessed with it ever since. Black and white are big trends for the spring/summer 2013 season so i’ll definitely be looking for similar tops that are more summer friendly in the future. Anyway I wear this outfit a little too much but I just love it so. Do you have a go-to?