Thursday, December 31, 2009

day one hundred twenty-five.

happy new year! I'll update with two dresses in the morning!

or I'll be so hungover I'll wait until 11 the next night.  Yup.





Day One Hundred Twenty-five 12/31/2009


Dress 1: Pink Cotton Dress 
Purchased From: Conway

Year or Era Purchased:  Spring 2009
Price: $7.99
Accessories: black cardigan, jeans, hunter boots

Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  Michael














Day One Hundred Twenty-five 12/31/2009


Dress 2: Black Satin BCBG Max Azria Strapless Dress 
Purchased From: Circle Thrift

Year or Era Purchased:  Fall 2009
Price: $5!!!!!!!!
Accessories: Silver shrug, champagne colored ruffly heels from Payless, fishentesque tights, russian netting head piece, studded waist belt

Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  Lots





Wednesday, December 30, 2009

day one hundred twenty-four.





Day One Hundred Twenty-four 12/30/2009
Dress: Blue Pattern Dress 
Purchased From:  Express
Year or Era Purchased:  2002ish
Price: $34.99-$39.99?
Accessories: Squirrel necklace, black tights, black snow boots, black glittery leg warmers, white cardigan

Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  A necklace compliment, and "you look cute" from a client



This dress used to be my something-classy dress.  I have worn it to dinner parties, showers, wine and cheese birthdays, etc.  I really got some mileage out of this baby.  It's pretty comfy too.  I like it. It has held up in style for several years and I think I'll keep it for many to come.  It was ridiculously cold today so I didn't go cute with the shoes and just put on my snow boots to stay warm.  I had one of those annoying days where I felt like the world was caving in on me and everyone was pulling at me even though no one really was.  I spent the day working and shopping/preparing for a New Year's Eve outfit and shindig.    It took way too much time.  Oh well.  I got some really great news from a friend of mine while I was out so that made everything better.  


I came home and made the last of the leftovers for an early dinner and watched some of Watchmen, lounged, and maybe threw a mini fit before going out to a coworker reunion for Michael that turned out to be more of a hide from the coworkers and hang out with two dudes you already see a lot that happened to work for your old company.  It was at Standard Tap and it was nice.  I drank two more new dark beers- a Sly Fox Dry Stout  (eh) and a Lancaster Porter (yum!).  While talking our friend Bob said something about the winter blues and all of a sudden I realized that was one of the reasons for my stupid weird depressing thoughts.  Dumb cold.  I'm sure the holidays and the huge change in routine is not helping.  Since when am I such a creature of habit?  Old.  


We came home and watched a few episodes of last season's Lost to get prepared.  And now bedtime.  Yay.  



Tuesday, December 29, 2009

day one hundred twenty-three.











Day One Hundred Twenty-three 12/29/2009
Dress: Blue and White Plaid Vintage Dress



Purchased From:  Port Richmond Super Thrift 
Year or Era Purchased:  Spring 2008
Price: $4
Accessories: Black tights, black boots, grey cardigan, giant white faux fur hat, black and white arm warmers, brown belt, squirrel necklace from Art Star
Hair and Makeup:  gross and dirty and a bunch of different styles but mostly under a hat, usual makeup with baby blue eyeshadow
Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  Michael like the dress, no doubt because it's insanely tight in the chest, an old lady loved my hat and asked if it was rabbit, she was shocked it was fake. 



I had an okay day.  I saw Avatar tonight and loved it.  We came home and saw friends and drank drinks and now I'm getting into bed with my soup and veggie bacon.  Yup.  Sorry for the lameness but I like my bed more right now. 



Monday, December 28, 2009

day one hundred twenty-two.







Day One Hundred Twenty-one 12/28/2009


Dress: 

Purchased From:  Clothing Swap
Year or Era Purchased:  Fall 2009
Price: Free!
Accessories: Black chevron tights, black knee socks, black boots, slip with pink frilly stuff sticking out, black cardigan, sunglasses, crocheted bow headband by Off The Chains Designs message her for details. 
Hair and Makeup:  double buns, usual makeup
Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  Michael





I've been thinking about this blog all day.  After one hundred and twenty-two days I have realized that I probably could've gone about this differently, added more human events and emotions and personal information and stories.  Later in the day a conflicting thought, the quote, "lighten up, it's just fashion" of Project Runway and Santino Rice fame ran through my head.  When I started this blog it was to prove a point and document it and maybe discover something along the way.  I suppose in the beginning I didn't really have a plan much past the formula of the dress, photo and daily dress information list.  I thought, hey if something is interesting that day I'll write about it, if not, no big deal. Life is often boring day to day and I wonder if a stranger would even care at all about what I had for dinner or watched on television.   I guess I'm trying to figure out where to go from here, what to do with so little left in my dress wardrobe.  There is of course still the terry cloth frog dress I've been putting off, and the lime green business suit reserved for job interviews among a few others but the list is really dwindling.  I have considered starting another blog, a spin-off if you will that is fashion related and not necessarily dresses, though clearly I have a soft spot, or maybe an addiction to dresses.  I spoke about it at length with my best friend today and she suggested I read other blogs about things I don't actually have an interest in to see if which writers/styles/topics/etc. hold my interest.  Maybe that will help me to improve on this and any other future writing endeavors I may attempt.  That is one thing this blog has definitely made me realize.  I want to write.  I want to do it for a living.   I also think I've realized I'm not that great it at.  I am not fishing for compliments here, I'm just having some self realizations and I personally think that's great.   I need to improve my vocabulary, improve my grammar skills and start reading better books to get back into different writing styles.  I also think I need to go back to school in some sort of capacity.  As I said before 2010 or '010 as my roommate likes to call it is going to be all about getting shit done.  I have a few unfinished stories and a mess of photocopied crap that I never fully put together and I will get it done.  I've also considered trying to have some sort of art show, not that I claim to be an artist, chronicling this bloggy experience.  I have no clue how to go about doing that though so if anyone out there in internet land has any insight please comment away! Ok I took two seconds to google some galleries/spaces and it looks like I have some writing to do in the self promoting sort of style.  Weeee.  Tips would still be great though!  Or suggestions on what to actually do to make this into a show.  I have some ideas but I could use some more.  


So the other thing I thought this blog might help with is my insane clothing and messiness affliction.  It has not. Frowny Face. This is my ridiculous room: 


 


This is a shared room but every ounce of crap you can see belongs to me.  Poor Michael. Somehow that whole being an adult thing has passed me by and I can't even shut a drawer let alone hang something up when I am done with it or decide not to wear it.  This is usually because I am late and lack time management skills.  I am such an amazing person.   I like to also blame this on space as I am lacking storage space.  This is partially true and I think my situation would improve with a proper closet set up but really who am I kidding? You have to hang things in a closet to make it work.   I watched two episodes of Hoarders tonight so now I have the burning desire to go shovel up my clothing piles and clean the crap out of the house.  


I suppose the best way to start this is to start going to bed earlier and waking up earlier and using my time wisely.  I guess it's bad that it's 12:51AM and I chose to put off writing this blog until I was ready for bed.  Too many times I let myself procrastinate this until it became my final task before bed, a job instead of a hobby.  I find those days to be  contrived and boring or descriptions of nothing.  Oh bother.  


The dress I wore today is from the clothing swap I attended a few weeks ago.  It's pretty boobilicious and I wasn't feeling like that today so it put me a little off.  It was saved by the amazing crocheted headband by Rachel Turanski of Off the Chains Designs.  It makes me feel young and fresh.  I also love my new sunglasses from Omoi on Pine Street.  They were my Christmas present to myself.  As I said before I am running out of dresses so instead of trying on a few different dresses I tried on a few different looks with this particular dress.  I tried both short and long sleeves underneath, different sweaters and accessories before finally deciding to add a ruffly slip underneath to add some color pop and go black for the rest of it.  I didn't work much today so it didn't matter that I didn't feel super comfortable.  I also felt like crap physically today as I will finally admit that I am sick, fully sick for the first time in almost two years.  Ugh.  Yuck.  I came home from working and grocery shopping and made a pretty awesome Cream of Broccoli Soup  that I tweaked a bit for my tastes into this: 




  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 3 cups (packed) grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
  • 2 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli, stems and florets separated and chopped into bite-size pieces
  • 1 10 ounce container of white mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 can of hearts of palm, chopped
  • 1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon or 1/2 teaspoon dried
  • 6 1/2 cups vegetable broth or stock
  • 2 cups whipping cream or half and half or combo

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add broccoli stems and onion; sauté until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and tarragon; sauté 1 minute. Add broccoli florets and stock; bring to boil. Simmer uncovered until broccoli is tender, about 15 minutes.
In a sauté pan melt one tablespoon of the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and sauté mushrooms until done.  Add remaining two tablespoons of butter and three tablespoons of flour to form a roux.  Add a little salt and pepper. Add two cups cream/half and half/milk a little at a time.  Once the cream has been added and the mixture thickens add the cheese in small batches until it has melted in.   Turn off heat.
Once broccoli/ broth mixture is done puree in small batches.  Once the broccoli mixture is pureed add it back to the large pot.  If you don't want mushroom/hearts of palm chunks puree the cream mixture in small batches as well. Add the cream mixture to the broccoli mixture.  Let soup simmer on low for 15-20 minutes for flavor mingling.


  • Anyway so I made soup and we ate it with crusty bread and leftover jalapeno dip from Christmas dinner.  It was really yummy.  I watched Gran Turino; it was good.  I napped and embraced my sickness.  I spent the rest of the night on the couch, a giant waste of space flipping between Hoarders and Cats 101 and playing words with friends on my phone.   So productive.  Yeah. I'm going to get on that.  I did wear my dress during the entire list of events above so there.  


Sunday, December 27, 2009

day one hundred twenty-one.







Day One Hundred Twenty-one 12/27/2009


Dress: Printed Flowy Dress
Purchased From:  Target
Year or Era Purchased:  Fall 2009
Price: $6.24
Accessories: Black tights, black knee socks, Hunter boots, squirrel necklace
Hair and Makeup:  bun and bangs, usual makeup
Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  MIchael



Today's dress photographs like crap.  I like it a lot though.  It's comfy and I like the weird print and colors.  The boots were a little overkill since the rain stopped and the sun was shining but I love them so and wanted to wear them.  


Today was weird and interesting and felt like something I've only ever watched in a movie.  I woke up and got ready and worked a little bit before coming home to meet up with a client picking up their pup/my houseguest, the beagle Rosie.  After that Michael's sister and Dad came over as we were to meet who I suppose is my half-sister-in-law for the first time.  I guess since I'm only part of the family by marriage (not that I feel at all like an outsider or not part of the family mind you) I wasn't too worried about the coming events.  I suppose I just feel less effected by possibilities and pasts than I might expect to were it my direct family.  I won't go into past details on the subject as I don't actually know much about it, nor do I feel the need comment on it publicly on the internet.  I will comment on the experience itself since I was directly involved.  The day proceeded with ease, not that I expected any issues.   We headed over to have coffee in Liberties Walk and talk and get to know each other a bit and then headed to Cantina for dinner.  Hours passed with little lulls in conversation and I think it all went quite well.   


Now I'm on the couch and in my jammies and I wish tomorrow wasn't Monday.  I don't have a ton of jobs this week so it won't be too terrible but I have a lot of catching up on life to do including massive amounts of cleaning and organizing the mess that Christmas threw up all over my house and life.  I am running out of dresses.  I think I might have ten or so left.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do next but I don't think I'm ready for this to end.  Guess I have some thrift shopping to do. 



Saturday, December 26, 2009

day one hundred twenty.







Day One Hundred Twenty 12/26/2009


Dress: Orangey/Brown Vintage Camel Print Dress
Purchased From:  Sazz Vintage
Year or Era Purchased:  Fall 2009
Price: $10.50 
Accessories: Green tights, HUNTER GREEN MATTE WELLIES, brown knee socks, neck warmer by Jody, brown belt
Hair and Makeup:  mini buns and the rest down, usual makeup with brown eyeshadow
Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  Spano said he thought it was a western print until I pointed out it was indeed a camel print, Michael told me my hair was soft and called me porceilan though I suppose that is not dress related.  


Day:


I woke up this morning around 9AM relieved that I didn't have the weight of Christmas on me.   Unfortunately I quickly realized what I had was a morning cat job that required me to exit my warm and lovely bed.  I dragged my tired body from my pillow top comfort and began to dresss.  I decided to wear my camel dress today because it has long sleeves and because I finally bought a brown belt to wear with it since it's a little big.  I'm just starting to embrace brown in my personal wardrobe.  I love it on other people but for some reason I never wear it much on my own.  The dress had belt loop holes but didn't come with a belt, or maybe it did but I lost it, I can't remember.  I found today's belt at Greene Street Consignment on 7th and South Street for $8.  Word.  I don't generally shop there because it's pretty expensive for used clothing.  Don't get me wrong, it's lovely and the clothes are designer and in great condition but I am too cheap to pay $32 for a used article of clothing thank you.   It was raining today so I wore my lovely Hunter boots :) Yay.  I probably would have worn them even if it wasn't raining.  They rule.  So I went and did my cat job, a cute little furry lady named Betty White and then headed over to Sue's and hung out with her chatting it up for quite some time.  It was really nice.  


I headed home and wandered about the house until I finally decided to hunker down on the couch with a giant plate of leftovers.  Michael and I watched The Legend of Billie Jean, a personal favorite from my childhood.  I napped for a few hours and then woke up and showered and got girly with hair and makeup before heading out to enjoy some beers at Memphis Taproom.  We met up with Spano but he had to leave so we stayed for another and a shared bowl of red pepper bisque soup.  It was lovely.  


I have to say I am so happy that Christmas is over.  I have been pmsing this week without realizing it and I believe that pushed me over the edge and straight into crazy town.  I put way too much pressure on it for no good reason.  I tend to that a lot with stuff in my life.  Oh well, something I need to work on.   Everything turned out fine even though the day itself was crazy and packed and whirlwind.  Christmas for Michael and I means cram in as much family as possible in as little hours as possible.  We started the day waking up at 7:30 AM because my sister-in-law, though twenty-six, regresses to six on Christmas morning.  I swear next year I might drug her. It doesn't help that her usual wake up time is 5:30AM and mine is around 9.  Michael and I stumbled to the coffee maker and opened our stockings, a tradition in the Lalonde household.  We then headed into the living room for some photographs and present opening.  Everyone takes turns opening presents and honestly I always feel guilty for the amount of bounty I receive.  It is always fun to give too even though I managed to tell Nicole, my sister-in-law what her gift was while she was opening it.  D'oh.  


After present opening we had breakfast and I started prepping my sides for dinner.  My contribution for dinner was to be Broccoli Gratin with Mustard Streusel, Horseradish Cheddar Mashed Potatoes, a Celebration Field Roast and Brussels Sprouts with Shallots.  Michael and I dressed and headed over to see my only living grandparent, my Mom-Mom Raytik.  She is 93 years old and lucid as anything.  I love hanging out with her.  We stayed for a while and then headed to see my Mom and Dad and have dinner with them.  Christmas means pierogies because my Mom is half Hungarian and half Ukrainian.  This makes my tummy really happy.  We opened presents and  hung out for a bit and I played with their kitties, Amos and Andy.  We then headed back to the Lalonde household for Christmas dinner.  I was disappointed in my broccoli gratin as it was not very creamy.  The flavor wasn't bad but I would make it different next time.  I was however thrilled with the mashed potatoes and will absolutely add them to my dinner arsenal.  After we ate like giant fat kids we cleaned up an packed up and headed home.  Now I have to work on getting my house back in order.  Woot! I can't belive it's almost the new year! This year is going to be all about getting shit done.  I'm sure I could find a way to say that with an elegant flare but elegant doesn't always work.  








Friday, December 25, 2009

day one hundred nineteen.











Day One Hundred Nineteen 12/25/2009 XMAS!
Dress: Vintage Plaid Overall Dress
Purchased From:  Sazz Vintage
Year or Era Purchased:  Fall 2009
Price: $10.50 but then I broke the zipper and that was $15 to replace.  
Accessories: Black tights, HUNTER GREEN MATTE WELLIES!, grey knee socks, my awesome new Norwegian squirrel coin necklace and an amazing bonnet crocheted by my Nana when I was little.  Good day. 
Hair and Makeup:  Pigtails, usual makeup with greenish eyeshadow
Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  I was called an elf, cute, christmasy, etc. etc. 
Day:

Yay for Christmas but what that usually means for me besides all the fun Christmas stuff is a lot of celebrating and eating and running around like a lunatic for 17 hours straight so I am EXHAUSTED beyond belief. 

How much do I love this dress though?!?! Yep a lot, like a lot a lot.  I would circle yes on a do you like me yes or no note if this dress passed me that note in study hall. 

Oh and hello to my three new favorite accessories! 

Thanks for all my awesome presents family! I will write a full report tomorrow when I am not ready to fall asleep on my keyboard! Merry Christmas! 

Thursday, December 24, 2009

day one hundred eighteen.





Day One Hundred Eighteen 12/24/2009 XMAS EVE!
Dress: White Shirt Dress
Purchased From:  NY&Co
Year or Era Purchased:  Winter 2007
Price: $15
Accessories: Pink tights, grey thigh highs, snow boots, grey cardigan, pink tie, pink hat
Hair and Makeup:  Sort of curly under a hat, usual makeup lots of pink lipstick
Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  Michael called me pretty hair and said he loves the tie
Day:

No time for love Dr. Jones it's Christmas eve! 


Wednesday, December 23, 2009

day one hundred seventeen.







Day One Hundred Seventeen 12/23/2009 

Dress: Black Dress with White and Black Polka Dot sleeves and Neckline

Purchased From:  Clothing Swap 

Year or Era Purchased:  Fall 2009

Price: Free!

Accessories: teal tights, black snow boots, black and white leg warmers, black and white striped belt

Hair and Makeup:  Still straight- some of the day with pigtails and some pulled back with a headband, usual makeup

Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  none

Day:


I am exhausted.  Sorry for another list day.  


Wake up
Coffee
El to Downtown
Brazilian Wax
Christmas Shopping
Work
Pickup Christmas Dress
Work
Grocery shop for Christmas Dinner Food
Christmas Shopping in Jerz
Mini Breakdown
Dinner at Memphis Taproom
Drank Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout
Home 
Second viewing of It's Always Sunny Christmas Special
Bed. 


Christmas is killing me this year.  I got my amazon.com order today, turns out I accidentally ordered two of the same thing. Yep, it's been like that.  Goodnight. 

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

day one hundred sixteen.





Day One Hundred Sixteen 12/22/2009 
Dress: Green Vintage Sheath Dress
Purchased From:  Circle Thrift
Year or Era Purchased:  2008? 
Price: I bet it was under $5
Accessories: gretights, black maroon leg warmers, black snow boots, lime mustardy greenish kerchief by Kristin neck warmer, black and white arm warmers, black cardigan
Hair and Makeup:  Freshly did with bangs, usual makeup, extra dark eyes
Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  lots of hair compliments
Day

I am exhausted.  Today was not what I thought it was going to be.  I thought I would get my hair done, work and then have the rest of the night to myself to work on Christmas stuff but those plans were foiled by visitors and changes of plans.  Oh well.  I need three more weeks to get ready for Christmas.  So much to do.  Blargh. 

The dress I wore today is probably going into the donate pile.  It's not super flattering and to be honest it's a little itchy.  I felt cute today because of my hair but I hated every photograph I took. Oh well, every day can not be perfect.  I think I'm also stupidly stressed over how much I have to get done.  Ugh.  I have to go write my grocery list for the stuff I'm bringing to Xmas dinner so I must cut this short.  Blame it on Christmas. 


Monday, December 21, 2009

day one hundred fifteen.






Day One Hundred Fifteen 12/21/2009 
Dress: Black and Red Polka Dot Dress

Purchased From:  ? Can't remember
Year or Era Purchased:  2002-4ish? 
Price: I bet it was under $20 but I'm not sure
Accessories: black tights, black sparkly leg warmers, black snow boots, black neck warmer, black long sleeve undershit, black and white arm warmers

Hair and Makeup:  rag curled and knotty as hell so pulled back, usual makeup, extra dark eyes
Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  Michael 

Day: 



I threw this outfit together in about five minutes and I loved it.  This dress is usually not in my rotation because it makes me feel gross and fat but today it worked for me.  Every dress has its day I suppose.  I accessorized with a tremendous amount of cold weather gear but either my cold weather blood is back or it wasn't that cold outside and even while taking today's pictures I was pretty much fine.  


I embraced the snow and even played with a border collie mix named Mayor at the park. 





I happened to have my camera out when a hawk flew overhead.  It was magical and badass.  I got a semi-okay picture of him.  I'll just pretend he wasn't hunting squirrels. 






Nothing worth talking about happened today, boring average Monday.  I worked, ran some errands including dropping a dress in need of a new zipper at the dry cleaners, grocery shopped and came home and made dinner.  I made kale with toasted walnuts,  pinwheels (crescent rolls with cream cheese, sharp cheese and diced green pepper), veggie bbq chicken cutlets and baked potatoes.  Yum.  Michael was gracious tonight and let me watch the last half of Beverly Hills Chihuahua as I have an unhealthy obsession with talking animal movies.   He fell asleep on the couch while I watched copious amounts of Criminal Minds and addressed Christmas cards.  So interesting.  Yep.  


  

Sunday, December 20, 2009

day one hundred fourteen.






Day One Hundred Fourteen 12/19/2009 
Dress: Red Street Sign Shirt Dress
Purchased From:  Goodwill in Thorndale maybe? 
Year or Era Purchased:  Late 1990s?
Price: $2(?)
Accessories: snowflake socks, blue leg warmers, ballet flats, black tights, blue undershirt

Hair and Makeup:  rag curled and knotty, no makeup
Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  none

Day: 




I pretty much knew I wasn't going to leave the house today so I wanted to be comfortable, hence this ridiculous weird shirt/smock/child's bathrobe thing that I like to wear as a dress.  It was comfy and warm but I didn't feel so completely gross like I had surrendered myself to a pitiful stained sweatpants existence. I think I bought this in high school and I think it might very well be a little boys bathrobe but I don't care, if it's long enough I will throw on some tights and call it a dress.  Don't think I won't. 


I woke up feeling like ass around 10am and took some ibuprofen and slept off my headache and hangover until after noon.  Somehow hours and hours went by and my only accomplishments involved watching television, cooking and baking.   Michael was even more hungover than me and succumbed to sweaty p's all day.  His are adorable matching plaid jammies completely lacking the pathetic stench of sweatpants, lucky for me.  


I decided we should make and eat pizza since I bought dough and pizza fixins at Trader Joe's last week. I prepped the food and made some sauce and eventually involved MIchael in the dough portion of the endeavor.  This is the one kitchen operation I have not stolen from him since he has worked in pizza shops and I am clueless.  We assembled our pizzas, his of green peppers, onions and veggie sausage and mine of mushrooms and hearts of palm, and hung out while they transformed into bubbly crusty masterpieces. We watched and episode of Numbers while we ate and then I perused on demand finally settling on Taken.   Since Michael was way more hungover than me and didn't leave the couch for more than the half hour the pizza required I left him in full remote control power.  He surrendered it to me at one point when he lacked the energy needed to channel surf, which is when I put on Taken, something mindless and violent, perfect for a hungover man in pajamas.  
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately I don't know, I slept through some of the movie.   After my short nap and movie I dragged my weary whisky soaked body back to the kitchen for the annual baking of the dog biscuits.  I cut out bone, squirrel and cat shapes.   I made a huge mess of the kitchen that I begrudgingly cleaned.  Michael and I then couched it up watching parts of Wall-E and Spiderman.  Days like these always cause inner turmoil.  I don't like not leaving the house.  At the same time I am not excited about working in the snow aftermath tomorrow.  Should be tons of fun! 

 
designed by suckmylolly.com