100 Days of Dresses

day three hundred hundred sixty-five.

2010-09-09T00:40:00.002-04:00

Day Three Hundred Sixty-five Sunday 8/29/10 THE FINAL DAY!

Dress: White/Cream/Pinkish Fairy Princess Dress

Purchased From: Hand-me-down from Ms. Mishel, aka Violet Temper, of the Philly Roller Girls, and host of a clothing swap I attended.

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010

Price: $FREE

Accessories: Silver ballet slipper flats, two flower hair clips, pink slip, heart locket and lock necklace

Hair and Makeup: Front poof and the rest curled (this dress begged for a fancy hair do) and lots of black eye shadow plus the usual makeup

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Lots of dress compliments, blog compliments, questions about what I'd wear the next day, etc.

It's taken me over a week to write this final day. I think it's because of several factors. One of which being that I'm not totally ready to end this whole thing. Don't get me wrong, it's over like a cancelled TV show, one that I was really, really fond of. I've already worn shorts, a skirt, jeans, and even reworn a few dresses from the past year, number one hundred ninety-six, number one hundred ninety-four and number two hundred forty-seven to be exact. But all good things must end, right? Right. That doesn't mean I have to be totally comfortable with it. I guess I'll start off this blog just like any other. I'll tell you about my dress and my day- both of which were pretty damn special.

I woke up and felt a little blah. It had been my original intention to wear my wedding dress on my last day of dresses and maybe go to the grocery store or around the corner to a bar buuuuutttt, my fat ass wouldn't fit into it. Okay, actually my ass fit into it just fine but my boobs and back fat refused to budge and I was not trying to wreck its zipper in any way. I love that dress and I'll spend the next year getting these ten pounds off so I can fit into it again. I still had about five dresses to choose from since I'm crazy and actually own about 375 dresses. I went with this beautiful fairy/princess inspired dress. I got it at the last clothing swap I attended when my friend Mishel dug through her stuff and produced it, saying she'd never wear it again. Man, I'm a lucky girl cause this dress is gorgeous! I felt all kinds of like Baby from Dirty Dancing in it. Since the dress was a little over the top for every day wear I decided to make my hair and makeup match. I teased and sprayed and created a big poof and pinned it up and curled the rest. I went with lots of black eyeshadow and lots of blush. The combination of lots of hair, makeup and a super dressy dress made me feel a little bit better.

Michael tried to work on the Element but to no avail since he couldn't reach what he needed to, so he drove me to my jobs. He was all about us eating something before we left and forced half an english muffin on me. Around this time is when I should've realized something was up. He drove me to my jobs, was patient, stalled even, and then suggested we go to 700 for a record swap since he talked to our friend Bob and he was there. I was all, I'm hungry dummy, why would I want to go to a record swap without records to swap?!? He was all, we're stopping by so shut it. I pouted a bit, dreamed of an avocado, tomato and veggie turkey sandwich and sucked it up. We parked and went in and I saw my friends, Georgia and Rica and didn't think anything of it. We headed upstairs to the record swap. When I first walked up the stairs I saw my friend, Spano, and thought, okay that makes sense, he's really into records so of course he'd be at a record swap. When I turned the corner and saw the rest of my friends and then heard surprise I was like, huh? what? and I was met with a room full of giant ass posters of me on the walls, stars with pictures of me hanging all around, a huge banner, food, books consisting of all of my blog entries and people yelling surprise. I was so shocked I was borderline mortified. Have you ever walked into a room with giant poster sized images of you all over a wall? Try it some time! Despite my embarrassment, which is not like me usually- I generally dig the whole center of attention thing-I was so honored and touched to have such awesome friends and family and such an amazing husband. He decided the last day of the blog needed a party and got lots of people involved to help. Again, I felt like such a brat because really, let's be honest here, what did I actually do? I wore clothing, took my picture and wrote about it- can you be anymore narcissistic? But since I have so many awesome people in my life they helped and joined in for a celebration of my commitment to narcissism. Thanks everyone!

Sue and Rica were the decorating committee and Sue made chocolate oreo cupcakes and chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. Nicole made strawberry lemonade cupcakes and her and her man friend picked up a pretzel tray while my mother-in-law made fruit tarts in a variety of flavors. Yum. Spano made a playlist and he and Jody picked up the hoagie trays, and did I mention giant posters of me all over the walls that Michael printed at work? Creepy. Kristin made a banner and my mother-in-law made me two beautiful books of my entire blog. Jake bartended an open bar, and lots of people took time out of their Sunday afternoons to show up. Wow. Despite the embarrassment I was beyond flattered, I felt amazingly special. I tried to hang out with everyone, but barely drank since I was still not feeling one hundred percent from Friday. I think the most asked question of the day was "what are you going to wear tomorrow?" to which I replied I didn't know yet but maybe probably a dress. Teehee. I actually did wear a dress, a black cotton one that was not featured in this blog, but was obtained at Mishel's clothing swap. I couldn't help it; it was 95 degrees and dresses are ust the best option for it. Here are some photos of the lovely event:

We left a little after seven and Michael's Mom came over to help us drop off stuff and grab season one of True Blood and I totally made myself a tomato and avocado sandwich because I just couldn't get it out of my head. We watched True Blood and entourage and headed to bed, exhausted from the day. I felt a little sad knowing it was all over but to be honest a little relieved too.

I spent the last week thinking a lot and also doing a few calculations. Turns out I spent a total of $2843.46 on all 367 dresses (there were two days in which I wore two dresses). My average price per dress was $7.75. How rad is that!?! Thrift stores, clothing swaps, vintage stores, buying dresses on the street, bargain shopping all pay off apparently. I hope I helped to show some people that you don't have to spend a ton of money to put together a cute outfit. And if you don't think my outfits are cute, well then, I think you're dumb.

This whole experience has been absolutely amazing. I'm so thrilled to have a year of my life recorded and expressed through writing and fashion. So many things have happened this year and it flew by at warp speed. I found out my best friend was pregnant on day two and now she has a four month old baby. I went to France (and Italy for a few hours) for my proper honeymoon and got beaten up by the Mediterranean Sea. I went to my first of several clothing swaps and relearned how to thread a bobbin and a sewing machine. I decided to go back to school and am now in my third semester at CCP on my way to completing a certificate in creative writing. I got my first of many Brazilian waxes. I pooped outside. I lost fifteen pounds and then gained back a few. I made a giant paper mache head and a dress and some other components to be Moishe for Halloween. I put my kitty lady Easter to sleep, which was the first time I've ever had to do something like that, and now in her honor I'm fostering a little black kitty lady. Michael and I finally moved on to our third floor, our master bedroom with bath, and I've taken many baths in our amazing claw foot tub. I don't know if it was because I wanted more to write about or because I was just feeling good about life due to this project but I definitely felt more motivated and generally happy. Thanks so much to everyone who read along with my narcissistic journey. I plan to do something else in the future but I'm still crafting it in my brain so stay tuned I'll post future endeavors here as they come.

Now it's time for me to concentrate on my Fall classes, and finally clean our guest room/my new closet. I will be purging a lot of the dresses that didn't work for me as to make room for new ones in the future. If this blog did nothing else it certainly fueled my addiction for a good (and cheap!) dress. I hope to also maybe finally become an organized and fabulous adult lady with an amazing guest room/closet. Ha!

I've found several other blogs the readers of this blog may be interested in so please follow and support them as well. I know I will be using them to cope with my own withdrawals.
New Dress A Day This lovely lady is spending $1 per day on her dresses and altering them to fit her frame. I dig her alterations and style. I bet you will too.
The Uniform Project This is that amazing same dress every day for a year blog but beyond. People can now apply to be part of it and wear one dress for a month and raise money for charity. That's awesome and super stylin'.
The Great American Apparel Diet No clothes shopping for one year! Oh dear. This one would be insanely hard for me. I think clothing swaps are okay so I might just have to become a professional clothing swapper if I ever tried this.
What I Wore Just a cute daily outfit fashion site that my friend Sue sent me. Love it.

And here are a few fun street fashion blogs I dig on:
Street Teeth
Click/Clash
And... There's a HUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEE clothing swap soon in Philly. I am beyond excited for it! Check it out HERE. Check back here sometime after October 3rd. I may update with a clothing swap blog and details on any new or upcoming ventures. Until then, thanks so much for coming along on this journey with me. It's been swell!

day three hundred hundred sixty-four.

2010-09-01T12:25:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Sixty-four Saturday 8/28/10

Dress: White Striped Vintage Dress

Purchased From: Country Gift and Thrift Shoppe

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010

Price: $1.50

Accessories: Grey slip, black Payless pumps, vintage floral locket
Hair and Makeup: Usual makeup with some extra blush, hair pinned into a bun with swooped and swirled bangs.

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: I swear I got more compliments on this dress than anything I've worn all year. Michael liked it and made fun of the sleeves at the same time, the ladies of one of my favorite stores, Omoi, liked it and my hair color, Georgia and Rica liked it, a random Fishtown resident liked it and I think that's it if I remember correctly.

Oh Saturday. I was sooooo very hungover from drinking too, too much whiskey and too many high alcohol beers. I woke up at 8:30 with a full on headache and nausea. I realized I was still in my dress from the day before, potato chip crumbs littered the floor and I had no clue how I got to bed or what may have happened the last hour or so of the night. I also had a burn on my arm, several bruises and quite a large scratch (or gash) on my leg. Ugh. And I thought it was just vodka that did it. Apparently I should just be a grown up and stop drinking so damn much. Ha! I'm sure that'll happen. I took some ibuprofen and drank a pint of water and went back to sleep for four hours. I got up and made crazy people hangover breakfast food: leftover flatbread goat cheese pizza, an english muffin, veggie bacon and sausage, hash browns with scrambled eggs and cheese mixed in and a bowl of rice krispies. Overeating always makes me feel better when I'm hungover. After breakfast, which was really around late lunch, I got back into bed and read a bit and then took a nap. I finally got ready and headed out to do some jobs and grab a gift for my friend Georgia since it was her birthday last week. I love this dress, and even more so since it was $1.50!!! It was the tag color on sale at the thrift store by my parent's house. That meant it was half of its regular asking price of $3. I paired it with a slip since it's sheer and then thought a bun would go well with it, to really show off those puffy sleeves. Since it was Saturday and I was happy to pair it with some cute black non-leather pumps from Payless. This whole outfit cost me something like $25, including the shoes and jewelry. Word.

I stopped at one of my favorite stores, Omoi, and drooled over awesome stuff I wanted before settling on a cocktail infusion set for her. On the way to my jobs the Element started acting like a jerk on me, with the check engine light on and a lovely lurching, stalling motion. I really enjoyed driving it like that, no really. I stopped at a gas station to get oil as the two times the Element has acted up in this way before it was due to a need for an oil top off. Weird, since I just had an oil change. Ugh. So I couldn't get the damn oil cap off and this nice gentleman helped me do so. He struggled a bit too so I didn't feel super terrible about it. He then lectured me about not adding too much oil and blah, blah and had no interest in what I had to say of the car's previous shenanigans. I just wanted to get out of there. Finally he let me go and I headed home, calling Michael to lament on how annoyed I was with the situation.

Once home he drove me to, the new to Northern Liberties, Dmitri's to meet up with Georgia and Rica for dinner. It's really lovely there and for a seafood restaurant I was able to eat a ton of stuff. They have pasta, small Greek plates, etc. I opted for the Plum Tomato Pasta and the Feta and Olives plate. Holy feta batman! I had to take some home, sooo much cheese! The food came out super, duper fast and we ate and gabbed liked hens. It was quite a lovely lady/birthday dinner. We stayed after our food to finish a bottle white wine, well I had one glass since I was still feeling pretty ick, but managed to consume an insane amount of water. Afterwards we got gelato and sat in the Piazza and gabbed some more. We walked back to Georgia's so she could get her bike and then we headed to Kraftwork and met up with Georgia's man friend Bob, my man friend Michael and Georgia's coworker, Karen for a night cap. Unfortunately they had changed the keg of the one beer Michael and I were craving, that amazingly sour Russian River Consecration. Ugh. I need to get back there and get a goblet of that goodness. I nursed my goblet of Victory Baltic Porter for quite some time; my body was not feeling it at all. We headed home and I got right back into bed to kill my hangover for good!

day three hundred hundred sixty-three.

2010-08-30T12:16:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Sixty-three Friday 8/27/10

Dress: Green and Blue Floral Vintage Fancypants Dress

Purchased From: Circle Thrift Clothing Swap

Year or Era Purchased: Spring 2010

Price: $FREE!

Accessories: Feather hair clip, green flats, blue rose ring
Hair and Makeup: Big puff with a feather hair clip (from Art Star), teased bangs, the rest curled, tons of black eye makeup and usual makeup

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael liked the outfit, Jody liked the hair clip, one of my clients asked where I was going and said I looked adorable. I told her nowhere in particular, I just felt like being fancy.

Sometimes a girls just got to get fancified for no good reason, because it's Friday, because this dress begs to be combined with this feather hair clip, because it's the third to the last blog in the year of dresses, because I got an A in my second summer class, because, because, because. It felt silly to walk around all day like this and walk dogs. I got a lot of weird looks but I'm used to that so I just laughed. I spent my day working and then came home and freshened up before heading to Kraftwork for dinner and drinks with friends Spano, Jody, Sean and Marie. Stupidly I hadn't eaten anything all day because it took way longer to get fancy than I'd expected and because the box of nutri grain cereal bars in the cabinet was an empty box. D'oh. So yeah, I got a little drunky on Friday. I had a flight of okay beers (the Victory Baltic Porter was the yummiest, the rest were blah) and then a wicked yummy goblet of Russian River Consecration Wild Ale. That one, in retrospect, is probably the one that knocked me on my ass since it's a ten percenter. I also enjoyed a goat cheese and summer veg flatbread pizza. Delicious!

After Kraftwork we headed home to pick up Steve and then went to Kung Fu Necktie for a show. Our friend's band, Live Not on Evil, was playing. There I switched to Powers and ginger ale and continued on my drunken merry way. The show was really good, but really short and so after we headed to the M Room for a few drinks for a night cap. I think it was something like 10:30 at this point. Steve and I decided to get specials (a pbr and shot of whiskey) and then we did more shots of Powers. This is where the night gets hazy. I apparently punched my friend Chad in the back of his neck, breaking my awesome rose ring and somehow I got a ton of bruises and a huge gash on my leg. I also remember hanging out with a cat on Girard Ave, he was super sweet and let me hold him. Once home I apparently made sandwiches, burned myself on the toaster oven, took my sandwich to bed but passed out before I could eat it and then woke up startled and put my hand in my sandwich. Good times. I guess maybe getting fancy wasn't the best idea after all!

day three hundred hundred sixty-two.

2010-08-29T11:28:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Sixty-two Thursday 8/26/10

Dress: Pink Lace Vintage Grandma Dress

Purchased From: Country Gift and Thrift Shoppe

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010

Price: $4

Accessories: Black flats
Hair and Makeup: Down and curled a bit with pinned back bangs

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael liked the dress

This dress is from one of my favorite thrift stores ever. I used to shop there in high school and they even sell "plain clothes" so you know I went through a phase of wearing Amish girl dresses and combat boots. They have the cutest stuff here, both clothing and household goods and man oh man, they are wicked cheap compared to Philly thrift prices. They're wicked cheap compared to any thrift prices really. I don't really want to share this secret place but I guess I shouldn't be greedy. It's here, so happy thrifting if you wander there! The dress itself is lovely, though got a little itchy as the day went on since it's lace. Thursday was a pretty good day. I spent the day working and then headed to school to pick up my portfolio. My professor told me I had the most organized portfolio of the whole class, that I got an A and that she looked forward to hearing me read my work someday. That was pretty cool. I headed over Chic Petique to buy cat litter and food for the little foster lady and then to Yappy Hour, in Liberties walk. I saw a cute wiener dog and drank a little sangria and hung out for a bit with my friends Chad and Lindsay. I then headed to the liquor store and bought a bottle of red wine, Arrogant Frog Pinot Noir- maybe the best wine name ever. I then drove into center city to pick up mr. flat bike tire husband man from work. We came home and I made us veggie meatloaf with tater tots and homemade cheese sauce and tri-color beans sauteed with almonds and sesame seeds. We ate and drank red wine and watched The Informant. I'd say Thursday was a pretty amazing day.

day three hundred hundred sixty-one.

2010-08-27T12:13:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Sixty-one Wednesday 8/25/10

Dress: Green Cotton Pinup inspired Dress

Purchased From: Circle Thrift

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010

Price: $5

Accessories: Brown knee socks, bird/swirl pattern boots, leopard print cardigan
Hair and Makeup: Two buns and bangs twisted and pulled back, usual makeup with green eyeshadow, yellow and clear sunglasses

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Some dude asked (from a moving van) if I needed any help "walking those dogs" when I was walking two large dogs.

This dress is actually longer than knee length, but I wanted to wear boots since the weather was so delicious so I pinned it up on both sides to change the length and shape of it a bit. I dig the boob area of this dress quite a bit, it's flattering for the larger chested ladies. Man alive it was awesome to wear knee highs, boots and a cardigan. I wish it could always be seventy-something degrees.

Wednesday was a pretty good day. I spent the morning dorking out on the computer, got ready and headed out to work. After work I hung out with Sue and Lemon and we took a trip to Whole Foods. My friend Kristin had mentioned she'd eaten an avocado, bacon and tomato sandwich the night before so I was craving one something fierce, veggie though, of course. Sue and I had a nice shopping time and Lemon dug the sites and sounds of a bustling Whole Foods, cute. I came home and made avocado, veggie turkey and bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches on 12 seed sourdough. DELICIOUS! Michael and I watched Louie and then I watched Whip It. Cute, but it was more of a coming of age story with some derby peppered in.

Oh and this little lady (NOT the fat one, he's mine) needs a home so if you're interested leave me a comment! I'll make a serious flyer for her very soon. She's wicked sweet!

day three hundred hundred sixty.

2010-08-26T12:18:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Sixty Tuesday 8/24/10

Dress: Denim with Red Piping Vintage Inspired Dress

Purchased From: Morgantown Reuzit Shoppe

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010

Price: $5

Accessories: Hunter wellies, two red barrettes, new cardigan from Target ($9.98!)
Hair and Makeup: Two low buns, bangs parted, usual makeup

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: A few dress compliments, my professor loved my portfolio, pictured above.

That's my new cardigan. I love it! I got the dress on Saturday and the cardigan on Sunday and the weather was beyond gorgeous on Tuesday so it sort of felt like when you're young and you get to wear your fresh back to school clothes. I know it's still Summer but it felt like Fall and ooooooh man do I love me some Fall!!! How cute is that dress?!? I scored it thrift shopping with my Mom and the tag says faded glory so you know what that means right? It's from Walmart originally! Crazy. My hair was a little gross still from the hairspray incident of Monday so I just brushed it and threw it into two buns and added red barrettes to match the piping. Because it was a tad rainy I also got to wear my favorite Wellies. I am in need of some new Fall boots since I had to throw away my favorite faux suede black ones late Spring, as the entire back was blown out and the bottoms had holes. Now my newer black sweater top boots are falling apart from the inside out and my favorite funny bird/swirl pattern boots have a huge hole/are ripped from the heel seam in the back of one of them. Blargh! Guess I need to make a trip to Payless or Bare Feet Shoes right quick!

Anyway, enough rambling about boots. I spent my morning working on final revisions of two of my stories and then headed out to work. I came home for more final revisions and then headed to school to drop it off. My professor was all about my actual portfolio- pictured above. I got it for $10 at Target. I am quite fond of it myself and added a cute embellishment to it- a name tag made from card stock, a Martha Stewart address label sticker, patterned craft scissors and a hole punch. I hope she likes the stuff inside just as much.

I came home and cleaned for awhile and then made gnocchi, pesto sauce, pesto cream sauce, red sauce, garlic bread and small salads for dinner. Michael's cousin Michele came over with her son, Cash, and we hung out with them for a bit before eating and watching a dvr'd episode of Weeds.

day three hundred hundred fifty-nine.

2010-08-26T12:05:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Fifty-nine Monday 8/23/10

Dress: White with Black and Red circle Vintage Dress

Purchased From: Circle Thrift

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010

Price: $2.50 (color of the week half off)

Accessories: Red knee socks, black flats and then later I changed into my Hunter Wellies, one white butterfly barrette
Hair and Makeup: Down and curled and those bitches fell out quick, usual makeup

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael liked the dress/whole ensemble, a few other compliments I think. I can't remember.

I love this dress! Imagine my excitement when I picked it up off the rack and saw that the tag color matched that of the half-off color of the week at Circle Thrift. I was even more excited when I tried it on and it fit quite nicely. I guess I should stop buying dresses at this point but they're like my crack. I need to organize and bag a boatload of clothing. My friend Rica just told me about a giant clothing swap in the Naval Yard in October so I'm going to have to get my stuff in order for maximum swappage. This one sounds amazing with Buffalo Exchange and Urban Outfitters participating. I can't wait!

Monday was stupid humid. I curled my hair and even used hair spray but it was nasty and ratty within an hour. Good thing I took my pic for the day pretty early on! I didn't realize they were calling for rain so I wore flats but came home mid-day to change into my wellies and work on school work a bit. I spent the day working, did some work on my final project for school and then headed to class. Ugh, another day where we didn't do what she had planned. It was supposed to be a final workshop but we were only to bring an excerpt of our story and all of us would read it and then discuss. This didn't make much sense to me as reading aloud and only an excerpt does not a workshop make, but, at least it was going to be something. Wrong! She let three people read their entire piece and then we were out of time. I so didn't get any constructive criticism out of this class and I discovered in my last class that I kind of thrive on it and it's a huge freaking help. We were also told that we had no actual class Tuesday or Thursday- that we could just drop off the final portfolio on Tuesday and pick it up Thursday. So I totally got robbed of an entire week of class since she had cancelled the previous Thursday class. I am such a nerd, but seriously, that's like two weeks of a regular semester. I left school annoyed, came home and said Bye to Michael as he and some boys were watching motorcycle something or other- isle of man is that something? Yeah, let's go with that, at 700. That left me to make myself some pasta with mushroom alfredo sauce and watch dvr'd episodes of Jersey Shore and Top Chef before spending the next four hours putting my final portfolio together. I guess it was a pretty good night actually.

day three hundred hundred fifty-eight.

2010-08-26T10:51:00.002-04:00

Day Three Hundred Fifty-eight Sunday 8/22/10

Dress: Black Floral/Paisley Silky Dress

Purchased From: Mishel's Clothing Swap

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010

Price: $FREE

Accessories: Blue sandals, black tank top
Hair and Makeup: Two high buns, usual makeup with some turquoise eyeshadow and no eyeliner

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Rica liked the dress, Michael said "you have some weird dresses left huh?"

I'm not totally in love with this dress since I can't wear it in its pure form. I am not the type of lady that can go braless. This dress is perfect for that type of lady. So I threw on a black tank top underneath and that sort of killed the cute factor of this dress. I tried knotting it to change the length but I wasn't thrilled with that either. Plus, the tank top kept riding up and bunching. It wasn't a pleasant experience. I wish I'd gone with something different. It didn't help that I had to hurriedly dress since I had a morning job. I probably would've changed a few times had I taken two seconds to reevaluate this mess. Oh well. I spent the morning working, went to the grocery store and then came home and made bangin' omelets and hung out with Michael.

Later I did more jobs and went to Target with Rica. I got lots of house stuff that I didn't really want to buy but needed, such as a shower curtain, (I went with solid grey) an aqua shower curtain liner, rings to hang said shower curtains, a hanging closet/shelf organizer thinger, lots of toiletries, is this list boring yet?, a portfolio for my final project, food stuffs, an awesome clearance cardigan, and an awesome clearance t-shirt. Rock. Oh, and I bought some black nail polish. Word. I came home and made leftover mashed potatoes for dinner and some bbq tofu for Michael. I had a salad to accompany my taters because one of my foodstuffs purchases was ice cream. Nom nom nom. We took a bath and then ate ice cream and watched True Blood and Entourage before retiring to bed. I should've worked on my final portfolio all day but I didn't. Oh well. Such is life.

day three hundred hundred fifty-seven.

2010-08-24T12:37:00.001-04:00

Day Three Hundred Fifty-seven Saturday 8/21/10

Dress: Gold long sleeveless dress

Purchased From: Morgantown Goodwill

Year or Era Purchased: Fall 2005

Price: $3-5

Accessories: Blue sandals
Hair and Makeup: Down and curled but as usual these days it got gross and tangly, usual makeup

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: A woman asked if I had been in a wedding, to which I replied, "No, I just felt like being fancy." My Mom remembered that it was a dress I bought when we were thrift shopping/a Halloween costume, and she liked my sandals. Also when I was leaving a cat job on Saturday evening two older men told me to be careful, in a nice way. It was sort of funny. They had no idea I was just going home.

I like to think of this as my Golden Girls dress since it actually came with another long sleeveless vest type thing that you see the ladies of the Golden Girls rocking. I originally bought it and wore it for the Trojan Horse costume we built. I added some gold ribbon trim and I think cut off some sleeveage but I honestly can't remember. I've been dreading wearing this dress because it's a little odd, in a bad way, for my usual tastes. It was great for the costume but I also had a sweet hairpiece and lots of other people in costume to look dorky with. Plus I was something like twenty pounds tinier. Ugh. Oh well I have pictures.

Sorry for the walk down memory lane. It was necessary. That's why I've kept the dress all these years. The Trojan Horse halloween year was by far my favorite. Nothing will top it.

Ok, back to present day. Michael and I woke up early and got ready and headed to the burbs to spend the day with my Mom for her birthday, which was Thursday the 19th. Everything prevented us from leaving the house- a kitten, the coffee maker overflowing, etc. We got there and gave her cupcakes and presents and then headed out for some thrift store shopping and yard sales, followed by lunch at the White Horse Tavern, where we all got cheese hoagies. Yum. I was the only one who scored big in the shopping department. I got four dresses (for $16.25, three of them vintage), a vintage aqua pitcher, a vintage log planter and a cat paint by numbers set. Nice. When we left lunch we saw this:

Because my parents live near Lancaster County and people apparently drive their tractors to the tavern. Amazing.

Michael got grey thread and my Mom got a little cottage planter. We had quite a lovely day. On the way back to the city we dropped off a wheelchair at my sister-in-laws and then made a quick coffee pit stop. Once home I headed out to do a few jobs and then Michael, Steve and I watched lots of television, including some of the new Kids in the Hall Death Comes to Town episodes while Steve snuggled with Soda. She's a cutie. Seriously- adopt her!

day three hundred hundred fifty-six.

2010-08-23T12:21:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Fifty-six Friday 8/20/10

Dress: Strapless Black and Pink Polka Dot Dress

Purchased From: Ms. Molly Delaney

Year or Era Purchased: Spring 2010

Price: $Free

Accessories: Black, white and pink striped socks, black chucks,
Hair and Makeup: usual makeup with some green shadow on my eyes, hair down and brushed and curled a tiny bit with a big barrel curling iron

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Lots of dress compliments but since I'm a slacker and haven't updated properly I can't really remember.

Although this dress is not the most flattering in the gut area I love it. It had straps but I cut them off and made it strapless. It also has crinoline underneath the skirt so I felt fancy and funny all day. I tried to play it down with knee socks and sneakers but I'm not sure that worked. I spent the day working and then came home for some kitten snuggles. Michael came home from skating and we headed to El Camino to meet up with Kristin and her lady friend Maura and our friend Rica. We enjoyed happy hour margarita pitchers and yummy food. Tipsy and full we decided it was necessary to shove gelato on top of the alcohol and food. We forced ourselves to walk around a little bit and then tasted lots of flavors of amazing gelato. I got cream cheese and chocolate peanut butter. It was super yummy.

We came home and played with Soda Pop for a while. She's such a cutie. Rica came over to meet her and Steve loves her so he hung out too. We all watched dumb tv shows. It was a lovely, low key, kitten filled Friday night. Awesome.

day three hundred hundred fifty-five.

2010-08-22T11:49:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Fifty-five Thursday 8/19/10

Dress: Green Plaid Dress

Purchased From: Mishel's clothing swap

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010

Price: $Free

Accessories: Green flats
Hair and Makeup: usual makeup with some green shadow on my eyes, hair down and brushed and curled a tiny bit with a big barrel curling iron

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael liked my dress

Thursday was really lovely. I can't help but think the fact that I love this dress contributed to my good day. This is one of my favorite scores from the clothing swap. I have such a boner for green lately and I'll always love plaid. To complete my dork transaction I added green shoes and green eyeshadow to my ensemble. Yay.

I spent the day working and since class was cancelled I spent the time picking up our new foster baby:

So far her names have been Monster, Boxcar and Soda Pop. Check out the disdain in Flea's eyes.

My friend, Krista, rescued her from a wheel well on Tuesday. Michael has agreed to let me foster her. She's about five weeks old and needs a forever home. Please let me know if you're interested. She's wicked sweet, but contains no high fructose corn syrup, she's 100% pure all natural kitty goodness. I'd really like to succeed at this whole foster thing so I can continue to do it. Flea was a foster, and that was seven years ago...get it? Adopt her!

After work and kitty time Michael and I headed to dinner with with our friends Ramona and Matt. We went to Honey's and sat outside since it was such a beautiful night. After a lovely dinner we walked to the Piazza for gelato. Nom, nom, nom. I opted for nutella and hazelnut. So, so, so good. We sat at one of the tables and enjoyed the lovely evening.

On the way back to our cars we stopped and had some swingset time. That ruled. Once back home Michael and I played with Doctor Girlfriend Kitten. She's so cute. Seriously, adopt her!

day three hundred hundred fifty-four.

2010-08-19T12:19:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Fifty-four Wednesday 8/18/10

Dress: Orange Dress

Purchased From: Stolen from Rica's bag for Mishel's Clothing Swap and it's from Conway originally because I was there when she bought it :)

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $Free

Accessories: Green wellies
Hair and Makeup: usual makeup with some shades of gold and browns on my eyes, hair down and brushed and curled a tiny bit with a big barrel curling iron

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: A stranger complimented my boots, one of my clients (a female) told me I looked sexy and red was my color. I didn't try to explain that the dress was actually orange.

I think I own this dress is black and maybe some other colors. It was easy to wear and it they were calling for rain so I knew I'd be wearing my wellies and I'm a huge fan of orange and green. I spent the day working and was quite happy that it barely rained. I had to take a dog to get groomed and wait for him to be done so I hung out at Good Karma coffee shop and read a bit. That felt pretty cool. I also stopped at a farmer's market and picked up some lovely produce of portobello mushrooms, tricolor beans, multi colored pear tomatoes, a cucumber, two bags of parsley and a bag of dill, and some delicious cheese bread, all for $15. Nice.

After work I came home and made an awesome dinner of veggie chicken in a wine/lemon/garlic sauce, mashed potatoes, corn off the cob with lime herb butter sauce and kale chips. We also chowed down on the cheese rolls and had most of a bottle of Malbec while we watched an episode of Louie and then Jennifer's Body since Michael hadn't watched it yet and I loved it so much. It was quite a lovely evening I must say.

Big news! I got Michael to agree to fostering a little kitten!!!! More to come, with plenty of pictures :) Super excited!

day three hundred hundred fifty-three.

2010-08-18T12:19:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Fifty-three Tuesday 8/17/10

Dress: Pink Sundress

Purchased From: Stolen from Rica's bag for Mishel's Clothing Swap

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $Free

Accessories: Black flats, blue ribbon
Hair and Makeup: usual makeup with, pigtails with blue ribbon

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Lots- a guy on the street said "you look good" simple and to the point. ha. A guy in my class said I look nice in pink and Michael said pretty in pink.

So yeah, it's funny how people reacted to me wearing pink because it's not like I haven't worn it before or sort of a lot when it was my favorite color and it's been tagged as a color in twenty-seven other entries. I guess it must have been something about this particular shade of pink, or maybe it was the combination of pigtails and pink. Who knows. I do know that I snagged this dress from my friend Rica's bag of clothing swap stuff before the swap and that I snagged the hair idea from a little girl I saw on the street on Monday. I mean, I've totally worn pigtails before, and during the last year. I have internet proof so she probably shouldn't think she's so special. I did steal the idea of the ribbons from her though. They were probably her mom's idea though, so again she shouldn't feel so special. It was really gross and humid again so the dress was like the cheese; it stood alone. I had no patience for accessories that would stick to my already gross skin and I had no desire for anything extraneous to touch my skin. I wasn't event thrilled about wearing shoes and I had meant to wear sandals but forgot. Oh bother. I'm over you summer.

The day was fine, way less grumpy than Sunday and Monday. I worked and headed to class where we discussed Jamaica Kincaid's Girl and wrote a tone piece. I got out early and came home and made a yummy dinner of veggie bacon cheeseburgers and corn on the cob with lime herb butter (Lime Butter Sauce this but with a bunch of random herbs mixed in with it) and we watched the season premiere of Weeds. I spent the rest of the night reading my Sookie book and am almost done. Then I promise to move on to real literature for a little while. I have a huge stack by my bed that I must tackle.

day three hundred hundred fifty-two.

2010-08-17T12:10:00.000-04:00

I don't know why I look like I'm about to charge the camera.

Day Three Hundred Fifty-two Monday 8/16/10

Dress: Yellow Plaid Daisy Sraps Benetton Dress

Purchased From: Mishel's Clothing Swap

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $Free

Accessories: Green Ribbon Belt, green flats, yellow head scarf
Hair and Makeup: usual makeup, hair pulled back in a bun with a head scarf

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: n/a

So I got this dress at the swap and I like it but it might not be great for my body type. I added a piece of ribbon to it as a belt and I think that helped. I wanted to redo my pictures for the day since I didn't take much time on them and they were weird and busted but I kind of forgot to redo them. Oops. Hence, we get a weird stance scrunchy eyed poorly lit picture. Ugh. I guess it was just that kind of day.

It wasn't the dress's fault but I felt all sorts of ick on Monday. I had to wear a slip under the dress since it was a tiny bit see through. I couldn't find my small half slip so I got stuck with a longer full slip and it kept bunching and sticking to me in the humidity. Fuck humidity. I'm over it. My hair was sweaty and the scarf kept slipping out, I felt like I was a gooey sidewalk puddle all day. Ick. I guess my Sunday grumps flowed over into Monday. Blech. I made it through the day- worked and then headed to school early to finish the first draft of my final project. I did it and I'm three quarters happy with it. I have a problem with length and editing myself so I feel like it could be better with some more time, description and development. I guess I'll work on it more for my own personal portfolio when class is over. I got to class only to find out that the first draft was not due. What the fuck? I totally confirmed this during the conference I had on Thursday. It's also clearly written on the syllabus, not that she's stuck to the syllabus once for assignment due dates but still. Apparently the first draft is due next Monday, August 23 and the final draft is due Tuesday, August 24. Huh? How does that leave time for editing and feedback? She plans to have us read an excerpt aloud to the class on Monday for a workshop. Yeah, that's not going to help me. I have to say so far this class has been a bit of a disappointment. I like my professor as a person and I've enjoyed her reading assignments but I need organization in my life and I need someone to encourage this of me, not discourage it and eff me up even more. Ugh. I handed mine in anyway and hopefully she'll give it back to me before the final draft is due. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Class did not help my sour mood and when I left the building I saw darkness through the window. This pissed me off and I thought, it's still August, why is it getting dark so early. About that time I realized the darkness was from the rain clouds, not nighttime creeping into my summer evenings. Oops. I hurriedly went to the grocery store and grabbed a few items for dinner and came home. I beat the rain but saw this as I was driving:

I came home and made tofu teriyaki with jasmine rice, steamed broccoli and cashews. It was super, duper yummy. We watched G Force, which sort of helped my mood a bit and Michael fell asleep. Apparently talking guinea pigs aren't enough to keep his eyes open. I then painted my nails and toenails, which usually perks me up; it did. I watched two episodes of Scream Queens because reality television contests and horror are two of my favorite things. When did I become this monster? I then read forty pages in the fourth installment of the Sookie Stackhouse series before finally forcing myself to go to sleep. All better.

day three hundred hundred fifty-one.

2010-08-16T11:16:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Fifty-one Sunday 8/15/10

Dress: Black Sweater Dress

Purchased From: Mishel's clothing swap

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $Free

Accessories: Black and white striped socks, hunter wellies
Hair and Makeup: Mostly no makeup and then a tiny bit of face stuff later, down and dried naturally

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael commented on how short the "dress" was.

So in retrospect I'm thinking this bad boy is simply a long sweater. Oops. I was in a really weird, saddish, mood all day so when I put this on I was simply thinking, it's cooler outside today and this is sweater material. I did the math and pulled it over my head. I only left the house twice and one of the times my coat covered me so it worked out just fine but I swear somehow this thing shrunk as the day progressed. It was a little rainy so when I left the house I wore it with my wellies. Mostly I just sat on the couch like a giant waste of space all day. Again, I don't know what was wrong with me. I just felt eh, blah, blech. Michael went on a motorcycle ride and I made myself a fancy omelet of asparagus, mushrooms, artichokes, tomatoes and asiago and swiss cheese. I ate it with rye toast and tofurky sausage and immediately felt disgusting. I think that added to my couchiness. He came home and we walked to Primo so he could get a hoagie. We came home and I sat on the couch more. I had planned to go to Copa to see friends and drink drinks but I just couldn't get myself to go. Dumb and weird. The day dragged on and I accomplished nothing. At one point Michael and I both decided we wanted dessert and I found a gelato place opened in the Piazza, near our house. Yay! This made me happy. We tried several flavors and were both enamored with the sea salt flavor. Michael paired his with the chocolate peanut butter flavor and I fat kidded it up with three flavors of chocolate, hazelnut and sea salt. It was amazing. I'm beyond excited that a gelato place has opened near our house. I just wish that new gym would hurry up and open so I can counteract the gelato madness. We came home and I forced myself to work on my final project for school and then we watched True Blood and Entourage and went to bed. What a waste of a day. I suck sometimes.

day three hundred hundred fifty.

2010-08-15T00:15:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Fifty Saturday 8/14/10

Dress: Pink Cat Rose T-shirt Dres

Purchased From: Atlantic City Boardwalk T-shirt Shop

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $7.99

Accessories: Black flats
Hair and Makeup: Usual makeup with some blue eyeshadow, down and curled a bit

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael, Jody and Mike commented on my dress- mostly with stuff like "oh my god"

So yeah. I wore this dress because Jody and I had big plans to go see Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. Yes, we are both thirty-two years old and enjoy talking animal movies. Shut it. I bought this dress in Atlantic City a few weeks ago. I guess it's really a super duper oversized t-shirt but this morning I got my sewing machine out and altered it a bit to make it more "cute dress" friendly. I just flipped it inside out, pinned it and then sewed along both sides to take it in. I don't really suggest doing this as it didn't work super well and made some weird side/hip pleats. I tucked the bottom up into the top a bit and threw two safety pins into it for maximum tuckage. That probably doesn't make any sense. Whatever, I was wearing a fucking Atlantic City cat/rose t-shirt dress so why would you expect me to make any sense? Exactly. Jody came over and we made rum cocktails for the movie. We were going to make gin cocktails of the Pink Pussycat (pineapple juice, cherry brandy and gin) and Salty Dogs (with gin, salt and grapefruit juice to be festive), but instead we made up our own drink, The Kitty Galore.

The Kitty Galore:

Mix equal parts Key Lime Rum and Coconut Rum

Top with Fresh Squeezed Orange juice (or from concentrate if you're poor), pineapple juice and grapefruit juice.

Shake and pour or put it in travel containers and take it to the movie theater if you want to be super awesome.

We got to the theater and Jody decided to make our drinks into a drinking game- drink every time they say kitty galore in the movie, which is kind of a lot. I didn't make the drinks super strong so we were fine, happy and full of vitamin c. The movie was actually pretty funny. We laughed a lot, and way more than the four children in the theater. Sorry to their parents. After the movie Jody went with me to a cat job, which wasn't nearly as exciting since the cat doesn't talk. We headed to Kraftwork for lunch and beers with our boys. It was nice and I had a cherry beer by Founder's. I came home and totally took a really long nap because day drinking is not so much for me I guess. I woke up late and with a headache. I ate a sandwich, watched Jennifer's Body, which fucking ruled, and now I guess I'll attempt some homework. I kind of want to take a bath. Decisions, decisions.

Oh, and here's Ipacac getting down with his kitty blunt. He's not into revenge, just lovin.

day three hundred hundred forty-nine.

2010-08-14T23:42:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Forty-nine Friday 8/13/10

Dress: Brownish Pink Sweater Dress

Purchased From: Becky's from the clothing swap

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $FREE

Accessories: Red flats,Kurt Halsey bird necklace
Hair and Makeup: Pulled back into a bun for some of the day, top in a bun and the rest curled for the evening, usual makeup with lots of grey eyesshadow

Comments/Compliments/Complaints:

Holy nice day Batman! I took advantage of it and wore this sweater fabric dress. My friend Becky brought it to the clothing swap and thought I'd like it. She was right. I woke up late and meandered around, did some dishes and got ready to go work. My hair is wicked dirty right now so I just put it up in a bun to avoid it. I slapped on some makeup and headed out to work. I had a slow day so I used the late afternoon to take myself on a little used bookstore/thrift store tour. I went to Brickbat Books, Headhouse Books, (which is apparently not a used bookstore) Germ Books, Circle Thrift and Super Thrift. It was a real whirlwind. Ok, not really. I was kind of super disappointed in the bookstores. I got a copy of The Great Gatsby at Brickbat since I've never read it. I know, blasphemous. I'm on it. Germ was awesome but it's definitely more for the sci-fi/conspiracy theory nerds of the world. I think the Fairmount used bookstore remains my favorite. I'll have to make a visit this week. I did score two dresses at Circle Thrift, and two scarves and a retro picnic basket at Super Thrift. Nice. After my crazy little tour I came home and read a little, the fourth book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. It's summer damn it. I've been reading lots of real literature short stories for class so I don't feel that bad for indulging. I took a mini nap and then Michael and I headed to Bar Ferdinand for some tapas and drinks. We totally over ordered and got our leftovers wrapped up. Unfortunately I left them on the table and in the two minutes it took me to come to this realization they had thrown them away. D'oh. They were very sweet and offered to remake the food. Since I'm not a total asshole I declined and we headed home. The meal was lovely so I really can't complain too much. I love date nights.

day three hundred hundred forty-eight.

2010-08-13T00:34:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Forty-eight Thursday 8/12/10

Dress: Black and Purple Houndstooth Dress

Purchased From: Rica's bag of clothing swap stuff

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $FREE

Accessories: Black knee highs, Hunter wellies, black belt, black lace headband
Hair and Makeup: Pulled back and with a black headband, usual makeup

Comments/Compliments/Complaints:

I am a tired little bunny so this is probably going to be a crap entry. Sorry. It was a boring day anyway. I woke up early and took Michael to the El since it was overcast and the internets said it would rain. I knew it would be cooler so I opted for this dress that I stole from the bag Rica sent to the clothing swap. I added a belt, and of course wore my wellies since when it rains, it's wellie time!

I came home and somehow started cleaning the refrigerator. Apparently a bottle of Soyaki spilled underneath the drawers. Also apparently I am disgusting and never clean my fridge. It is now spankin' spotless and organized.

The gross stuff like processed cheese singles and bologna belongs to my roommate, Steve. I really feel like I need to add that disclaimer. The whole thing took me freaking forever, like almost two hours and I so of course I was running late. I hurriedly got ready and spent the day working. I headed to school for a one on one conference with my professor, which went well I guess. I came home and made bbq seitan and a mix of sauteed asparagus, mushrooms, artichokes and tomatoes. It was yum. Michael fell asleep on me while I watched bad tv. See, boring. Sorry.

day three hundred hundred forty-seven.

2010-08-11T23:03:00.003-04:00

Day Three Hundred Forty-seven Wednesday 8/11/10

Dress: White Floral Dress with Fancy Crocheted Back

Purchased From: Mishel's clothing swap

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $FREE

Accessories: Green flats
Hair and Makeup: During the day two low side buns and barrettes, in the evening the side pinned up and the other side in a bun, usual makeup with tons of green and blue MAC eyeshadows.

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael, Sue and Rica liked my dress

I love this dress. It's so pretty I can just stare at it and it makes me happy. The back is pretty fabulous and fancy too. I snagged it at the clothing swap and will probably hand it down to my friend Becky next since her friend thought she'd like it. I told her I'd wear it and give it to her because we all know I don't need any more dresses in my house.

I got up early today and took the newly fixed Element to get inspected. Ugh. Next up on the agenda is a new clutch. I am such a bad person when it comes to cars. I have successfully murdered a Toyota Tercel via a thrown engine rod, a Honda Civic via a transmission but then some asshole fell asleep at the wheel and totaled it so that sort of worked in my favor, a BMW 318is via too many issues to list but one of them included a new clutch too and now the Element. I need a fucking tank. I drive like an asshole, and often. So I dropped it off and continued to use Rica's car, thanks Rica! I came home and tore my house apart looking for something I got for Sue's birthday back in June. Apparently planning ahead is not a good idea for pack rats. The gift has jumped ship. I did start on the cleanup of our middle room, the wood stove room. It was torn apart during third floor bathroom construction, as we needed to run pipes to the basement. This resulted in me losing a built in bookshelf, no good. All of the things that called the bookshelf home were boxed or bagged and placed on the futon. It is piled high and looks awful. I moved most of the books to our bedroom but so many other random things still reside on the futon graveyard. The floor was also becoming inundated with junk, including the camping gear that needed to work its way to the basement. I got a good bit done but there are miles to go before it's clean. I did work some magic with the one piece of the oven that Michael salvaged when he got rid of his garage and two old ovens. It now calls the top of the cabinets home. Please ignore the awful wallpaper and cabinet colors. We'll get to those eventually.

After two hours of cleanup I still did not find the damn Sue jawn. Ugh. I'll track it down someday I'm sure. Maybe in time for Christmas. I realized how late it was and got my ass in gear, slapping on some makeup and making a veggie turkey wrap. I spent the day working and then headed home for a quick hair change and freshening. I picked up Rica, then picked up the Element- $450 later it's inspected and we got a $992 clutch replacement estimate. Blargh. It never ends. I left the shop and started walking to Sue's, right around the corner, then realized that I had to walk back and get the Element. After two weeks of not having it I guess I got used to it. Ha. I picked up Sue and Rica and we headed to Horizon's for dinner. Nom, nom,nom. We all split a pitcher of sangria and Sue and I split the bbq seitan app and two entrees- the pan seared tofu and the grilled seitan. It was delicious but I think we were both under the impression that splitting entrees means you should eat both of your halves in entirety. We were quite full. Our plans to head to Govinda's for vegan ice cream were foiled by our inability to stop eating. After dinner we headed back to Sue's so I could load up her itunes with lullaby renditions of awesome music. I had no idea this existed, it's really beautiful. I gave her The Cure, Radiohead, Bjork, Journey, Nirvana, and The Ramones. Lemon will be the coolest baby ever.

I came home and snuggled with Michael and now I guess I should do some homework. Yup, I'll do that.

day three hundred hundred forty-six.

2010-08-11T00:16:00.001-04:00

Day Three Hundred Forty-six Tuesday 8/10/10

Dress: Brown Multi Colored Daisy Dress

Purchased From: Super Thrift

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $3.95

Accessories: Brown knee highs, black on black chucks, turquoise bird barrette
Hair and Makeup: Two mini buns and the rest down and curled a bit, usual makeup with a "gorgeous gold" MAC eyeshadow

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael liked my dress, a friend of mine from class liked my shoes

I love this dress. I'm a sucker for daisies and it's super easy and comfortable. It was again hot as nards today, well four degrees cooler than yesterday's nards, but still hot. Days like these I wish I didn't have so much hair. Even pulling it back is gross and sweaty. Woe is me. I'm not cutting it or anything, I'm still super into the length and versatility. I just like to complain. I found my chucks when I was cleaning the other day so I'm currently crushing on them combined with knee socks. Speaking of footwear I've been noticing that combat boots are in style for this coming season. This means I'm officially old because styles that were popular when I was a teenager are once again in style. Blargh. I guess that makes me happy and I'll be able to replenish my boot supply to wear for the next several years, after fashion has moved on. I'll always be a sucker for boots. I guess I'm hanging out with a tangent right now. Sorry.

On to the day then. It's my friend Sue's birthday and because of school and work I was unable to see her. Boo. We managed an hour long conversation and will have dinner tomorrow night but still. I had to start my day early, doing homework. I had to complete a dialogue piece that was assigned yesterday. Again, my professor is all about assigning stuff on a Monday when the syllabus says everything will be due on a Monday, with a weekend to work on it. Ugh. I feel like I'm regressing severely in this class from last class. I love my professor as a person but I'm having a lot of trouble advancing as a writer. We have conferences on Thursday so I'll have to discuss it with her, among other things.

After finishing, late, I started work and worked all day. I ate a peach only since I was running so late and thought I'd pass out if I didn't get food before class so I stopped at Essene for some hot bar food. They're really disappointing me as of late. The food is bleh and the prices are redunkulous. Five dollars for four mushrooms, four small pieces of seitan, a quarter cup of rice and one piece of broccoli. I'm over it. I got to class early and ate in the classroom while I did my reading. Class was okay. I got annoyed but I won't go into it. After class I came home and made pierogies, veggie kielbasa, beans and sliced tomato for dinner. It was yum.

Again I have to end this with sad doggie news. I found out today that one of my clients, Henry the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, passed away suddenly of a heart attack. I've been walking him for something like four or five years now and am heartbroken to hear this. He recently started coughing, a symptom of heart disease. Penn misdiagnosed him with allergies or a lung issue. This saddens me so much because his owner was proactive and extremely mindful of her animals, giving them the best possible care. You will be missed greatly HenHen.

day three hundred hundred forty-five.

2010-08-10T01:48:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Forty-five Monday 8/9/10

Dress: Off White and Grey Polka Dot Dress

Purchased From: Clothing Swap/Rica hand me down since I had first dibs on her bag

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $FREE

Accessories: Black flats, squirrel bottle cap ring
Hair and Makeup: I stole this hair style from my friend Kelly- one side up and then the rest pulled over to the side. She did a ponytail but it was hot so I opted for a side bun and twisted bangs. Usual makeup with some grey eyeshadow and red lips.

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Rica commented that I took her dress, Michael said something nice but I can't remember what.

I snagged this dress from my friend Rica's bag that she asked us to take to the clothing swap for her since she was out of town for a weeding. It was a little big and showed my bra so I used a piece of ribbon to connect the two straps in the back and one safety pin to make it more fitted. I liked the romantic, classic feel of the dress so I went with some romantic hair and makeup. I took a few pics of the hair/makeup but I was already sweating profusely so they are beyond not cute in the sweaty forehead department.

It was so, so hot today. Lots of people said no, it's nice, there's a breeze. I whole heartedly disagree. I drank something like forty ounces of water by 3 pm. I peed and sweated a lot. Dumb. I spent my morning working on my Cinderella revision and I think I have some ideas to fix it. I'll keep working on it. I headed out to work in the heat and then went to school early and worked more on the story. The revision wasn't due today so that's good, I need to speak with my Professor about it before I hand it a fully revised story. Class was short because our Professor's husband had visited the hospital and been released earlier in the day and was waiting for her at home. I went to Whole Foods and then came home and made dinner of sour cream mashed potatoes Quorn veggie gruyere chicken cutlets, and a small spinach salad. Michael and I watched some of Pineapple Express until he fell asleep and I headed out to the airport to retrieve Rica, Albert and Keith. I got home and did some more tv therapy when I should've been doing homework. Blargh.

Before I go I need to mention that my Mom had to put our final dachshund to sleep today. He was the last of five that spanned twenty-four years. I remember when he was born and when my now roommate Steve came to meet him and maybe take him home. I was not happy about that situation and had no clue we'd become great friends and one day live together. Luckily Chewy stayed with us and I bonded with him something fierce. He will be sorely missed, as will the rest of those fabulous wiener dogs. Rest in Peace little doggies.

day three hundred hundred forty-four.

2010-08-08T22:09:00.001-04:00

Day Three Hundred Forty-four Sunday 8/8/10

Dress: Black Sailor Jerry Butterfly Dress

Purchased From: Clothing Swap

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $FREE

Accessories: Black Chucks, black knee highs, yellow hair kerchief
Hair and Makeup: Down, unbrushed with a hair kerchief, usual makeup with yellow and black eyeshadows

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: One of my clients liked that my eyeshadow matched my headband, Michael liked the dress and made some stupid butterfly comment

I like this dress. It's super comfortable and fun. The fact that it was free doesn't hurt either. I saw the headband on the floor so I went with it and then decided to wear some yellow eyeshadow to match. I'm dorky like that.

Today flew by even though I barely did anything. We woke up late, tenish, and got a slow start. I updated some blogs, walked the doggie that was staying with us and then took him home. I tried to help my friend Chad move but the truck was unloaded by the time I got back. Whoops. I came home and made giant omelets for Michael and I and we finished watching The Men Who Stare at Goats. It was good but I'm glad I didn't see it in the theater. We cleaned up the living room a bit and our friends Katy and Drew came to see our bathtub, as they are renovating their bathroom and choosing between a modern square tub and a claw foot.

I had a bloody maria with brunch and it kind of screwed me up for the rest of the day. The fact that my Aunt Flo is visiting at the moment didn't help either. I tried to read but took a mini nap instead. I cleaned and organized in our bedroom for a bit and then continued updating blogs, finally finishing now and I'm all up to date! Only twenty-one days left! I can't believe it. I'll have to stay on top of it and go back to actual daily entries. Now I have to figure out to revise that stupid Cinderella story but first TRUE BLOOD!

Oh and here's a picture of my cat being awesome and zombified:

day three hundred hundred forty-three.

2010-08-08T21:46:00.001-04:00

Day Three Hundred Forty-three Saturday 8/7/10

Dress: Black Slutty Dress w/ Frederick's of Hollywood tag so it's authentically slutty!

Purchased From: Super Thrift

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $5.95

Accessories: Crazy pattern boots,
Hair and Makeup: Down and curled a bit, usual makeup with a ton of blue eyeshadow

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: When I was walking a dog in Fishtown some kid said "I like black cars, they're sexy, I like girls that wear black too" but not to me, to his friend as I was walking by. Ok?

Holy shit this dress is slutty to the max and I love it. It has these weird puffy sleeves and really shows off the ladies. I knew I needed to "slut it down" a little bit so I paired it with some fun weird boots. It felt really weird to walk around in this dress while the sun was out. I think this sort of dress should be reserved for night time. Oh well, it had to be worn at some point. I figured a Saturday was the best time. I guess so because Saturday ruled.

We woke up early and proceeded to have a lovely day. I had some coffee, did some dishes, walked the dog that was staying here, made breakfast and did a cat job. We headed to King of Prussia to see Inception and hit traffic so we missed the IMAX showing but still made it to a regular movie. It was beyond incredible, with every possible movie element involved, yet it wasn't too much. I can't wait to see it again. Also a plus not a single person made a peep, answered a phone, texted, etc. I think we might have to drive to King of Prussia for movies from now on. After the movie we headed to Station Taproom for dinner. I suggest you do the same, immediately! My good god the food was amazing. They also had a Cantillon Gueuze on tap so it double ruled. I had an artichoke and asparagus salad and the mac n' cheese. Both were glorious but I am still thinking about that damn mac n' cheese. It had whole kalamata olives in it, and I don't mean a few peppered in there for good measure, I mean like a handful of those bad boys! The salty, hot olives melted perfectly with the fontina cheese and macaroni. Seriously, I can't wait to eat that again.

Michael had the Thai red curry and vegetables and it too was delicious. We left super happy and stuffed. I knew I'd want the sweetness later so we stopped at Wawa and I got some ice cream. We came home, watched most of The Men Who Stare at Goats and ate ice cream. Michael fell asleep so I turned off the movie and we were in bed by midnight. We really know how to party!

day three hundred hundred forty-two.

2010-08-08T20:40:00.000-04:00

Me and Charlie, he's misunderstood.

Day Three Hundred Forty-two Friday 8/6/10

Dress: Navy Blue with White Piping Express Waitress Dress

Purchased From: Super Thrift

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $7.95

Accessories: Green flats,
Hair and Makeup: Down, clean and dried naturally, no makeup for the first part of the day, usual makeup heavy on the eyeballs later in the day

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: A girl at the clothing swap made a coffee joke but I think she thought I was trying on an outfit and not wearing what I wore there. D'oh. Michael loved the dress, a few shoe compliments, Becky said I'm like a paper doll and you can dress me up in anything- I liked that. A woman in an elevator said she liked that my dress matched the dog I was walking, weird...

I really love this dress, it was a great thrift store find. I was running late on Friday (surprise, surprise) so I just let my hair dry naturally and didn't wear any make up for the first half of the day. I felt weird and naked but since I'm a little tan and wore giant sunglasses for a large chunk of the day I didn't feel completely gross in the face area.

Friday was chock full of fun stuff. I spent the day working, made a quick trip to Whole Foods and the liquor store, came home and made some veggie turkey and vegan cream cheese tortilla roll-ups and headed to a clothing swap at my friend Mishel's house. I brought two giant bags of stuff and left with one. I scored several dresses, two tube tops, a pair of cowboy boots and some brown knee high boots, as well as many other awesome items of clothing, two purses, and a pink sequined scarf. Clearly my priorities are in order. I always feel guilty going to clothing swaps because I am such a clothes horse. While people are socializing I am stocking up on the goods.

After the swap I headed home and Michael and I went to Kraftwork for a late dinner and some beers. I had a flight that included two stouts, a cider and a witbier. Good stuff. I also got their special grilled veggie pizza with parmesan cream. It was beyond amazing. I originally ordered this gnocchi special but it was sold out so I ordered the pizza and got the last one. Score. The food gods were clearly watching out for me. I went to sleep pretty quickly after we got home. Beer makes me sleepy.

day three hundred hundred forty-one.

2010-08-08T20:39:00.000-04:00

Day Three Hundred Forty-one Thursday 8/5/10

Dress: Orange Sundress

Purchased From: Super Thrift

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $4.95

Accessories: Black flats, squirrel necklace
Hair and Makeup: Two high buns with braided bangs, usual makeup with some gold shades of eyeshadow

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: I don't remember any.

Boring day- work, school, home, dinner, bed. I like the dress, it's easy and comfortable and flattering enough. My hair was gross and it was hot so I just threw it up into my trusty old double bun style. I did add a little braid to the front part but it didn't really photograph.

Class was annoying. I got my midterm back and got an A. Apparently I only had to answer two of the three questions but didn't know it so I answered all three but ran out of time on the third one. Good thing I did well enough on the first two. I also got my Cinderella story back and got a B on it. Honestly, considering I wrote it in less than two hours and hated every second of it, including the finished product, that's a pretty good grade. However, I am crazy and prefer A's, all the time. We're allowed to revise it and hand it back in but I have one problem. My professor was confused that the my main character was under anesthesia during the entire story, while really she was in a mental hospital. I titled it The Lithium Prince and made allusion after allusion to doctors, hospitals, meds, etc. and ended it with her waking up and seeing doctors, nurses, etc. Now I'm not saying I did a great job because I am fully aware that the story sucked and again, hated doing it. I didn't find any inspiration in it and felt like I was as far away from my voice and style as I could get. That being said I've been taught to assume my reader is intelligent. I've been warned not to over explain or assume they are dumb. I'm not sure how it is then my fault that my professor thinks lithium is a drug used to anesthetize someone. Blargh. Now I'm stuck trying to figure out how to edit it and make it more "me" while also getting my original point across. Should be fun. After class I came home and made tacos and watched a boatload of television to ease my anxiety. It worked.

day three hundred hundred forty.

2010-08-08T18:04:00.001-04:00

Day Three Hundred Forty Wednesday 8/4/10

Dress: Purple V-neck Dress

Purchased From: Super Thrift

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $4.95

Accessories: Green flats
Hair and Makeup: Pulled back into a bun, usual makeup

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: The Nanny at one of my jobs liked the green shoe/purple dress combo

I kept the button, the one that's unbuttoned in the photo above, buttoned for most of the day because I wasn't trying to be boobs all out but the button was stretched to capacity- it was thrifted and obvious that the previous owner had my same dilemma. When I was on the canoe trip I heard ladies complaining about their lack of boobs. I have to say that most of the time I like mine but it is beyond frustrating to find anything involving buttons that fits properly and doesn't gape between buttons, looking like a sloppy mess. End rant. This dress is much cuter when you first put it on but it wrinkles like crazy and rides up in the crotch when I walk. No good. I think it will go as quickly as it came. I suppose maybe I should start walking in dresses when I try them on the way I do with shoes.

Wednesday was nice. I worked and had the night off from school so Michael and I went out for a sushi date. It was yummy in my tummy. I can't remember anything else remarkable about the day so I'll leave it at that- popping boob buttons, crotches swallowing dresses and sushi- that ought to do it.

day three hundred hundred thirty-nine.

2010-08-08T17:53:00.002-04:00

Day Three Hundred Thirty-nine Tuesday 8/3/10

Dress: Purplish/Reddish/Mauveish Cotton Dress

Purchased From: Super Thrift

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $3.95

Accessories: Black flats
Hair and Makeup: Pulled back into a bun, usual makeup with some purple eyeshadow

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Hmmm,yeah I can't remember.

I completely forgot to write about how I got poison ivy on my ass while camping. It must have happened when peeing at some point on poison ivy island. I was so good about wearing boots and knee socks when walking around and I guess I just forgot to consider potty time. It's not like I rub my ass all over the ground when I pee though so the whole thing's a little perplexing. I realized it when I took a bath on Sunday night. No good. Apparently I'm not allergic to it though so that's a good thing to realize I suppose.

So yeah, I also completely forgot to take more than one picture on Tuesday so I'm left with this one crappy photo that really doesn't show the color so much. Oops. It's a dark purpley pink color. It was comfy but I felt like my boobs were on a shelf for display all day. I used the feeling to write a story in class about a guy leering at a girl's boobs. I think it worked nicely. I spent the day working and then went to school, came home and made spaghetti, vodka sauce and broccoli rabe for dinner and watched some Master Chef and Hell's Kitchen. Aaaah Gordon Ramsay, how do I love thee, let me count your shows.

day three hundred hundred thirty-eight.

2010-08-07T11:19:00.001-04:00

Day Three Hundred Thirty-eight Monday 8/2/10

Dress: White and Red Floral Sundress

Purchased From: Conway

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $8.99

Accessories: Black flats
Hair and Makeup: Brushed, usual makeup

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: One of my clients complimented my dress

I like the dress better on the hanger. It fits sort of weird and the ruching is not so much flattering. My boobs are a bit unfortunate in it at certain angles and it doesn't offer up much support. Oh well. I put very minimal effort into anything beauty related on Monday because I was exhausted and had a full plate.

I woke up early and started my homework. I knew I had an insanely busy day that included homework, work, picking up a dog who is staying here, midterm, school, and eventually home. I had to rewrite Cinderella, which I found extremely boring and uninspiring. I suppose it's my own fault. Now I know what all of those stupid reality show contestants mean when they say it's hard to show themselves in challenges. Ugh, did I just commiserate with reality show contestants? I find that in this particular class we have a lot of small writing assignments and I'm having trouble fitting my style and voice into the assignments. I need to fix that asap. I made my Cinderella story a figment of my main character's imagination, as she is a patient in a mental institution. I did not do it very well. It's supposed to have a twist type ending, though I sincerely don't love those so I'm not sure what business I have employing them. See what I mean, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Stupid Cinderella. I pumped that story out in two hours, started work and worked all day, got to school at 5 to take the midterm I missed on Thursday then went to class. Phew. That's a lot of running around in one day. By the time I came home I was exhausted. I made sandwiches for dinner and Michael and I watched True Blood, which was a great way to end the busy day.