boots, OOTD, payless, target, thrift

Winter break

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Dress: Thrifted Leggings: Target Boots: Payless

I wore this dress a few days ago when it was warm enough to break from my usual winter pants situation.  Unfortunately right after 10 or so inches of snow were dumped on the city and we’re now gearing up for our third polar vortex. I hate winter. Anyway, I really love this dress although it’s a bit short. It may actually be more of a tunic type situation if I was average height, but at 5’1 it’s still long enough on me to wear as a dress. I’ve been dying to find more shirt dresses since finding this one, I haven’t had much luck but they’re definitely on my to find list.

OOTD, target, thrift, Urban Outfitters, wedding

Wedding Reception Style

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Top & Skirt: Thrift  Tights: Target  Shoes: Urban Outfitters
          A former supervisor of mine got married a couple weeks ago  and a bunch of my co-workers and I were invited to the wedding/reception.  Even though I have a ton of clothes whenever I have some special event to go to I feel like I have nothing to wear and should buy something new. I felt like that for the wedding and almost bought a new dress, but decided last minute that I could probably put together a great outfit with pieces already in my wardrobe. And What do you know I did! I thrifted this skirt  a million years ago but have never worn it, mostly because it’s a little dressy and I don’t really go to many “dressy” events. So when I was going through my closet to find something I decided to dust it off and give it a fine debut. I had no idea what to wear with the skirt top wise, as many of the tops either didn’t go with it or just didn’t give off the vibe I was going for. So what’s a girl to do? go to pinterest of course! after searching “tulle skirt outfit” in pinterest I came upon a bunch of outfits and saw one with a lace top and thought aww a lace top would be perfect I wish I … Oh wait I totally have one! Thankfully the top and skirt turned out to be a match made in closet heaven. I got a few compliments on my “dress”, so I think it was a success. And I was proud that I stuck to my guns and used things I already owned instead of buying something new.

70's, Halloween, halloween costumes, OOTD, rhoda, thrift

Halloween 2013: Rhoda Fabulous/ 70’s mob wife / 70’s fortune teller

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Everything Thrifted
           So this post is oh say three weeks late, I’ve decided to blame daylight savings time and the lack of sun for this. As you can see I went with the “Rhoda Fabulous” look for the Halloween party. When it was all put together I think I looked more like a 70’s mob wife or 70’s fortune teller than Rhoda but I still really like it. The best thing about this costume is the only thing I bought specifically for it was the necklace, which I got at Savers. Everything else I had in my closet. When Halloween rolls around it really pays off to be an avid thrifter. Ever since I began really getting into thrifting I haven’t really had to worry too much about Halloween costumes, I’ve always got something that I can fashion into a costume. The only downside of this costume was at the end of the night I realized the seams weren’t the strongest. There was a little unraveling in the dress when I first got it but had plans to chop it up (make it into a maxi skirt) so it didn’t bother me. I totally for got about the loose seams the night of the party and ended up with seam splits along the sleeves at the end of the night. I sewed them up just in case I decided to wear the costume again but I think I’ll end up cutting the threads and going with my original plan to detach the skirt and make it into a maxi skirt. The top is ok but it’s polyester and it’s really hot. Not so much fun. Anyway I had a great time at the party and  I hope you all had a great Halloween!

ASOS, interview, OOTD, target, thrift

Interview style gone right

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Blazer: Thrift  Pants: ASOS Top & Shoes: Target

            I’ve gone on a variety of interviews since starting this blog but have never actually blogged the outfits. I have a hard time, like i’m sure many people do, dressing for interviews. I want to look professional and mature but also look myself. This is especailly hard since most interview appropriate clothing are things I don’t wear regularly (blazers, suits, etc.). So every time I get an interview I comb my wardrobe for pieces, determine I have nothing to wear, buy something and think it looks ok, then I take outfit photos and realize just how awkward I really look. It’s a struggle. I always feel like a kid playing Business woman instead of professional highly qualified candidate that you should totally hire.
             Anyway I recently had another interview and was determined to find a professional outfit that I looked and felt good in and didn’t make me feel like I was playing dress up. So after work one day I went wondering around the mall to find interview appropriate clothing that would look good, but still make me feel like me. Of course I didn’t end up finding ANYTHING. I also found out why i’m not a big blazer fan, it is so incredibly hard to find a blazer that fits well. Since I’m short a lot of blazers are too long and just look too boxy, it’s a lot harder than you would think to find a blazer that is fitted, not too boxy and fits. Anyway after finding nothing at the mall  I headed to the thrifts and ended up finding the above blazer. When I found the blazer I thought a cute blouse and a nice pair of black pants would pair swimmingly with it. So I headed over to target and found this blouse, I also bought some black dress pants but couldn’t find a sewing kit to hem them in time so just ended up wearing an older pair of black dress pants that I wear for work. In the end I think this is the first interview outfit I actually really like. I felt like myself just more professional, which is always my goal. Oh and if your wondering I just straightened my hair to see how it looked. I hadn’t straightened it for three years and was a little bored with my hair and curious what it would look like so I did. I’m keeping it for a week just to change it up, but I’ll be back to curly next week.

buffet, ceramic french bulldog, fiestaware, gondola, haeger, haul, head vase, lotus bowl, made in japan, metal crate, mid century modern, pitcher, planter, thrift, thrift haul, thrift store, tiki, vintage

Thrift Haul’n

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 1. Ceramic French Bulldog.

I mean isn’t he cute?

2. 50’s Lady head vase. 

 I saw this amazing episode of the Antonio Treatment on HGTV a million years ago (or at least before it was cancelled, was it cancelled?). Anyway it was this cool family that lived in a 50’s house and the wife was obsessed with all things 50’s. She had some of the coolest collections ever, one of which was of head vases and they were soo cool.  Video for proof:

I knew after the episode that I wanted to collect them, but haven’t really pulled the trigger on any until now. This one was $30, which isn’t too bad, so I figured i’d get it. I found it at the cottage house, a local vintage occasional sale place. I like the cottage house but a lot of the people that sell there tend to like the shabby chic look. So i’ll find a piece of furniture I like but it’ll be shittly painted green and distressed, which really isn’t my style. I like wood, I wish people would just leave wood alone.


3. Made in Japan red lotus dish

  I first saw these bowls on A living space and thought they looked really cool. I’ve found a lot of remakes of them that are a lot bigger and generally white or black, which are cool but not the vintage ones I was looking for. Then I found a mint one at Value Village and recently this red. I just think they’re cute.

 4. Mid century buffet/credenza

After helping my friend run some errands and visiting one Savers with her I decided after dropping her off to go to Bloomington and check out that savers as they were having their pre-fourth of July sale for Savers club card members. I figured if I went Sunday I could focus on going to other Savers I don’t frequent as often on Monday when it was 50% off for everyone. So while browsing the furniture, I have a set route I take at thrift stores that some day I’ll write about, I came across this cool mid-century buffet. A lady was looking at it when I first spotted it and I immediately hoped she was just checking it out. Thankfully she was. I looked at it, took a picture of it, then went and looked at dresses and shoes to mull it over. Soon I came back and one of the employees came up and started talking to me. After a little bit I thought it was worth the $25.00 price tag and I’d probably regret it if I didn’t get it. I mean look at those sexy legs! I think the guy kinda liked me because he gave me half off the thing even though I’m pretty sure furniture was excluded from the sale, but I’m not one to fuck up a discount. I was worried it wouldn’t fit in my tiny little car but luckily it kinda sorta did. I did though have to drive home with my back door ajar and tied to my car with an Ethernet cord, kinda sketch but it worked out. I’ve been looking for a similar mid-century piece to use as storage for awhile so it was one of those come to Jesus moments when you find something you’ve been wanting for a long time. I have these two plastic organizers full of papers in my room that I’ve been dying to get rid of, so I plan to purge some of the paper and put the rest in the new buffet. The buffet isn’t in mint condition, it has a chip on one of the sliding doors and one of it’s corners but for $16.00 bucks you really can’t complain too much.

5. Metal Crate

I’ve always liked the look of milk crates, maybe it’s my love of dairy or maybe just that cool industrial look. When I saw this one at the thrift store it I knew I had to get it. It reminded me of a similar one I pinned ever so long ago from Urban Outfitters (for 40 bucks). Luckily this one is a real milk crate and was a cool 2 dollars. I’d call that a bargain. I’m gonna use it for cool industrial looking storage, maybe for books maybe not, we’ll see.

6. Tiki Mugs GALORE!

I picked up all of these at a local Savers on their 4th of July Sale day. Since I already went to my usual Savers for the Savers club pre-sale the day before I was free to go to two of my favorite thrifts that I don’t visit as often because they’re not as convenient. Anyway I always search the housewares section during sale days, especially at Savers stores since their discount generally only applies to clothes, shoes, and accessories. So while everyone is looking through the stuff that’s on sale you can scoop up some really cool things, that are still pretty cheap, in the section that isn’t on sale. I found these beauts while checking the section for a second time. I think only one of the cups is actually vintage but I love a tiki mug and don’t really care if it’s vintage or not. One is actually from a local tiki restaurant, Psycho Suzi’s that makes you put down a deposit if you order a drink with a fancy mug and if you decided to keep it $5 is added to your bill, if not they don’t charge you.  I guess people were walking away with the mugs, but can you blame them?  Anyway I was glad I got to grow my tiki collection, it’s really shaping up nicely.

7. Fiestaware Yellow Pitcher

This is really for my mom. I love fiestaware but she’s invested in a whole dinner set of fiesta and is always on the lookout for more. So whenever I see fiestaware on a thrift excursion I usually pick it up for her. We already have a similar pitcher in red but I love the pitchers and I think the fun of Fiestaware is the ability to mix and match, so the more options, the more colors the better. The pitcher was a little pricey for a thrift store at $25.00 but It’s fiestaware and pretty much everyone knows it’s collectable so they price it accordingly. Plus I looked online and it was still cheaper than the similar pitchers I found (even the ones on sale), plus it’s for my mom.

8.  Green Haeger Gondola Planter

I try not to buy a ton of planters, unless they’re really cool, as I don’t have much of a green thumb and nothing really ever gets planted in them. But this little gondola guy was just too cool to pass up.

As always I’m linking up with A Living Space, Apron Thrift Girl, Remnant and Sir Thrift-A-Lot so go check out  everyone’s cool thrift finds!

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.

things i didn't buy at the thrift store, thrift, what i left behind

Things I didn’t buy at the Thrift Store

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1.  Mid century dresser

 2.  Random Japanese plate. After going to the “Japan” section of Epcot at Disney world and seeing all the cool Japanese pottery they had I’m kind of into Japanese pottery. This plate was nice but not quite nice enough to get.

4.  More dressers


5.   Ugly/cool pendant light

6.  Green Asian-y lamp. This lamp was pretty cool but I figured I don’t really need anymore lamps unless I can’t live without them. 

7.  Sunrise in America 80’s dolls. I almost got these but the last thing I need is dolls collecting dust in my room, so I passed.

8.  Nightstand.

9. Cow Creamer Dispenser. I’m kind of into these creamer dispensers that are shaped like cows. But I don’t really need it so I passed.

10.  Arts and Crafts Style couch.

11. Barbra Streisand Superman record. I only look through the records occasionally, but this record was kind of cool. Go on Babs with yo’ bad self.

12. Vintage Pink Chair. The last thing we need is more chairs, but this one was very tempting.

13.  Random mug.

 14. Fancy-ish china. I looked on the bottom of this and it looked like it was fancy china, but I don’t know much about china. Even though it was cute I just don’t need it and don’t really have anywhere to put it.

15. Vintage Snack Sets. Some of these were cool and in their original packaging which was cool, but I already have one set of snack sets and I don’t use them.

     a. Hawaiian Leaf Snack Set

b. Avocado snack set

c. “Vintage” Snack set

d. other random snack set

ASOS, cats, DV by Dolce Vita, florida, hemingway, key west, OOTD, target, thrift, vacation 2013

A Sweet Escape

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      So a couple weeks ago (Valentines Day week to be exact) I packed up and went to Florida for the week. My mom got a few weeks off and wanted to go somewhere and when I was able to get a week off so we decided we should go somewhere warm, so we went to Florida.  We kind of went all over Florida, we landed in Fort Lauderdale and drove to our hotel in Islamadora, Fl (one of the Florida Keys), then we spent the next day in Key West and drove (8hrs) to Orlando. In Orlando we did the usual, Disney World and Universal Studios for 3 days (which really isn’t a lot of time, people usually spend a week doing just that) and then we went to Tampa where we went on a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings at Florida Southern University and a tour of (mostly) Mid Century modern houses in Sarasota, Fl. All in all it was an incredibly busy but fun vay-cay. Whenever I go back I’ll probably do less and spend more time on the beach, but it was a really nice trip and a nice break from winter.
        I did take pictures, but there are so many I think i’ll break them up into three posts. I also have a couple outfit posts from the trip so i’ll include those when appropriate. I don’t have as many outfit posts, as a lot of the Orlando time my outfits were more functional than fashion-y, it also was a tad cold (like 50/60 degrees but with rain) some of the days so a lot of the pictures of me during those days are of me in a hoodie, which isn’t real exciting.
         I figured I’d  get the outfit post out of the way first. I wore this the first full day we spent in Florida. I like it but i’m not in love with it, not really sure why.

The patio of our hotel room.

Top (actually a dress): Thirfted  Skirt: Asos  Belt: Target  Shoes: DV by Dolce Vita

 
Now onto the (many) Florida Keys Photos:

Palm trees

view from our room’s patio

the beach around our hotel

I guess Islamadora is known for it’s good fishing so our hotel had lots of docks for boats and fishing,

cool bird

These little cabins were also part of our hotel. Aren’t they cute?

 Key West.

When we finally got to Key West we had to find parking, it was really packed when we got there, and we went immediately to Ernest Hemingway’s house, one of our must see sites on the trip.

The Hemingway House

The house had some really cool light fixtures:

Hemingway was a cat person and was really fond of these extra-toed cats. Now the decendents of these cats occupy the house and grounds, it’s really cute.

just a cat on Hemingways bed, nbd.

the house had some amazing bathrooms

You know just hanging out on the display thing

I’m obsessed with this bathroom, isn’t it amazing? I want it!
Look at that funky tile. momma like.

view down from the veranda

I told you i liked that bathroom

The ground were really beautiful too, though the ground smelled a bit like cat pee…

Hemingway’s carridge house/ study. I love the way this room is decorated.

The cats really do run this house

Urinal turned cat watering hole. Hemingway took it from his favorite bar Sloppy Joe’s (see below) when they moved to a new location. His then wife added the water fixture and tile to pretty it up.

We found a cat that looked like my Olive man so I had to take a few pictures of it.
shortly after this the cat on the left pounced on the cat on the right, it was pretty cute.

Oliver? no, but still cute

All cats love boxes

Cat houses made to look like mini versions of the big house

cat cemetery

the house was right across the street from a light house

On the streets in Key West:

The Southernmost Point of the USA:

The marker that i didn’t take a picture in front of because there was literally a line for it. I wasn’t waiting in line for that.

Hemingway’s favorite bar

campaign, chairs, cookie jar, dresser, drexel, faragamo, mid century, pottery, red wing, shoes, thrift, thrift haul, vintage, what i didn't buy at the thrift store, what i left behind

What I didn’t buy at the thrift store

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 Hey everybody and welcome to another addition of Things I didn’t buy at the thrift store. I have actually been buying some stuff at the thrifts but most of it has been clothes and I’m not sure if you guys want to see that or if I should just wait and post them in outfit posts, I’m leaning towards the latter. Anyway here are some things I’ve passed up on my recent thrifting trips

1. Groovy cookie jar. This cookie jar is so ugly it’s kinda cute, but it wasn’t ugly/cute enough for me to put it in my cart.

2. Red Wing Pot. I liked this pot but I don’t really need another pot so I passed it up.

3. Campaign style dresser. I’ve been wanting a campaign style dresser like this for awhile, ever since I saw this picture on pinterest. This dresser would have been perfect since it wasn’t in great shape so I wouldn’t feel bad about painting it green and it was only $25.00. It wasn’t too big but I don’t think it would have fit in my tiny little car, so I passed it up. I seriously need a friend with an SVU or truck that likes to thrift and wouldn’t mind helping a sister move thrift furniture to her house. A girl can dream right? I do have a family friend that has a large van, but he lives a little farther away and it’s really only worth the hassle of calling him if I really love the piece.


3. Campaign style desk. The dresser had a matching desk that was also pretty cute and cheap, but obviously if I can’t move one I definitely can’t move two.

4.  Rock star Nutcracker. Ok I would have never actually have bought this but it was kind of funny to see. I used to be really into Nutcrackers when I was like 8 and saw the Nutcracker movie, but I never really understood them. They’re festive though.

5. Framed Cross Stiched sad children. I’m always looking for cute or quirky art at the thrift store, but these weren’t quirky enough to bother with. I still think they’re kind of fun though.

6. Aldo faux berkin. I liked this bag but when I inspected it further the shoulder strap was ripped and it wasn’t really worth it.

7. Livestorng bracelets. Remember when these were big? Remember when Lance Armstrong had won 7 tour de France titles and we thought it was not due to steroids? Oh the good ol’ days. Now Lance and apparently his bracelets are hung out on the .99 cent shelf at the thrift store.

8. Chairs. I thought these were pretty nice chairs. My favorite is the dark wood one on the left, but I don’t need any chairs so I passed them up.

9. Drexel Mid century Dresser. This was a nice dresser, only missing a few nobs, but I wasn’t in love with it and I don’t need another dresser.

10.  Vintage Faragamo Shoes. These shoes are ok but after looking them over I realized the only reason I would buy them is because they’re designer shoes and that’s not a great reason to buy. They’re cute but not quite cute enough, although for five bucks maybe I should have taken the plunge.

bauble bar, gifted, necklace, old navy, OOTD, thrift

Warm and Cozy

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Sweater and Denim top : Thrifted  Jeans: Old Navy  Boots: Gifted  Necklace: Bauble Bar
        Sorry for the lack of outfit posts lately. It’s been pretty freezing out lately and for the most part when I go out I’ve been reaching for essentially the same outfit every time. Anyway I went out to dinner the other day and decided I should probably wear something else, so I put this together. I was cold that day so I wanted something warm and had been looking through a J.Crew look book earlier that day, this outfit is the result. J.Crew is always good at layering and mixing and matching, they’re generally a little preppier than I like to go but I still find inspiration in the ways they put outfits together. This outfit is also a little preppier than I would usually go but overall I like it. The necklace I got as a Christmas present to myself. I like it but with the curlycue on the end I think it look more like Zorak than Zorah, but I digress. Either way I can’t return it and I like it enough to still wear it.  I’ll try and post more in February, hopefully the temps will be warmer and I’ll try and put together more interesting “blog worthy” outfits when I go out.