day three hundred hundred forty-five.

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 thirty-five.

Day Three Hundred Thirty-five Friday 7/30/10

Dress:  Grey Ruffled Shirt Dress

Purchased From:  Conway

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $7.00 (clearance baby!)

Accessories:  Black handmade handkerchief with Porno Smiles ironed on to it since Steve and I were team porno smiles. It's a inside joke that probably wouldn't translate very well and would lose its funny. Also navy blue knee socks with green poofs, black boots, giant sunglasses
Hair and Makeup:  Down and unbrushed, usual makeup with some silver and grey eyeshadows- all applied in the car on the way 

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Lots of people commented on this here bloggy blog. Thanks all! 

Oh man, when Orsborn woke us up at 5:45 on Friday morning I thought it was a joke.  The room was pitch black and my body felt dead.  We groggily woke up and repacked our coolers and got dressed.  We headed out the door, stopped at Wawa for coffee and ice and then met up with everyone in the parking lot of Hoss's.  I felt wrecked but I was super excited.  Mike and Jess, the mama and papa of the trip arrived with their giant van and we loaded it up with at least fifteen coolers and other camping gear.  Finally we hit the road, headed for Chamberlain Canoes.  I was in Orsborn's car, which held a canoe on top.  This put us a little behind in schedule since we had to stop and adjust the shifting beast.  

We stopped again when we got lost thanks to google maps and then again at the welcome center for the boys to make poops.  I had a cappuccino from a machine for $0.90 that was surprisingly quite tasty. 

I also took a picture of Orsborn with his canoe but it didn't come out so great. 

We finally arrived at our destination of Chamberlain Canoes and unloaded all of our stuff into a giant trailer and then loaded ourselves into vans.  There were eighteen of us with two to come the following day.  Steve and I loaded our canoe with a bit of trepidation since we hadn't canoed in a total of thirty years between us.  I totally nerded it out and wore my life jacket only to be made fun of by everyone.  I didn't realize it until about an hour later when I looked around and saw no one else was wearing theirs.  D'oh.  At least I provided a good laugh for everyone.  Steve and I were not so hot at canoeing and I had no clue that I was to steer since I was in the back.  We went in many circles, we got a little scared, me more than him, and we certainly tacked back and forth across the river way more than we needed to.  After a few hours of being stupid and a few tips from our fellow canoers we got it down, enough.  No tipping was the most important aspect of the day for me though, I like my stuff dry.  Here are some photo highlights of the first day: 

We arrived at our destination only to find it was riddled with poison ivy.  Boo. We unloaded and set up camp and then went rubbed mud on our possible poison ivy areas and went swimming.  I got super cold because my body is silly so I got out and cooked dinner. It was bangin.  I made bbq seitan, corn on the cob and baked potatoes.  The potatoes were precooked but the rest was campfire cooking.  I fed the drunk Orsborn and Michael and Steve and I ate too.  Despite our drinking efforts on the river we did not get as drunk as Michael and Orsborn.  Despite the fact that I drank a 24oz Sparks I was tired and went to bed around 9:30.  Crazy.  It was cold and my hair was wet so I didn't sleep well, shivery sleep is my least favorite and stupidhead husband was too drunk to snuggle.  I was none too happy when the alarm went off at 6:40 the next morning.  

day three hundred hundred thirty.

Day Three Hundred Thirty Sunday  7/25/10

Dress:  Grey V-neck Cotton Dress

Purchased From:  Super Thrift/Thrift Fair

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $3.95

Accessories:  black flats, squirrel and bird locket

Hair and Makeup:  Pulled back into a low bun with a weird little bang loop/twist, usual makeup with extra silver and grey eyeshadows 

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: I think Michael liked the dress

Sunday was interesting.  I woke up late, got dressed, did a cat job, went to the grocery store and then came home and made veggie hoagies and watched Me and You and Everyone We Know.  It was good.  

Michael busted out my sewing machine and we learned to thread the bobbin and the machine.  I haven't done that since seventh grade.  It's way easier than I thought! 

He worked on constructing his sail for the canoe trip and I watched videos on youtube about how to make dresses from t-shirts since I have several t-shirts I'd like to convert to dresses.  My attempt was a failed one but it won't be my last.  I was fine at using the sewing machine, just not fine at following the video instructions.  

Michael was quite successful with his sail.  Pictures to come in future blogs.  Yup.

day three hundred twenty-five.

Day Three Hundred Twenty-five Tuesday  7/20/10

Dress:  Black, White and Grey Dress

Purchased From:  Thrift Fair

Year or Era Purchased: Summer 2010
Price: $4.95
Accessories:  Green flats 

Hair and Makeup:  Pulled back into a side bun, usual makeup with silver and black eyeshadows

Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  An eye makeup compliment from the Nanny at one of my jobs, Michael liked the dress, the one desk guy at a building I work with likes to call me "99" now.  I definitely enjoy that. 

AAAAAAHHHHH Finally feeling better on Tuesday, though the bruises just keep changing color and growing.  Gross.  I love this dress.  It's a really awesome thrift store find and it made me feel a little fancy on a Tuesday.  I did my eye makeup to match the dress using the Alice palette and MAC eyeshadows- greys, silvers, blacks.  I am a big fan of too much eye makeup. I liked the contrast of the green flats with the greys and blacks but really those are just my favorite shoes.   I had a busy, busy day.  I spent the morning working on my character assignment for class and researching for the class discussion then worked all day.  Around 4:45 I headed to school to finish the writing piece.  I just barely finished and not with enough time for a real proper revision.  Oh bother. I enjoy walking away from a piece for a nice chunk of time so I can revisit it and rework it, but we barely had time to write it.  Class went well and our class discussion was pretty awesome.  One of my classmates, Darryl, was my partner in leading the discussion.  He's quite good at researching literature and discussing it so we made a good team.  After class I came home and made dinner of veggie lemon chicken with tzatziki and caprese salad on flat bread with a side of tabouli.  It was quite lovely.  I am absolutely addicted to dinners involving flat breads, tortillas and taco shells at the moment.  Nom, nom, nom. 

day three hundred twenty-three.

this is what a hangover looks like

Day Three Hundred Twenty-two Sunday  7/18/10

Dress:  Grey and Black Vintage Dress

Purchased From:  Circle Thrift Clothing Swap

Year or Era Purchased: Spring 2010
Price: $FREE
Accessories:  giant black sunglasses, green flats

Hair and Makeup:  Pulled back into a bun, no makeup

Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  none regarding my outfit, several regarding my pride

Ass, complete ass.  That's how I felt.  I had to rush out of the house to go work with the mother, no the grandmother, of all hangovers.  I hate this dress because it's huge, unflattering, itchy and hot.  It was free though.  I thought about trying to rework it and hem it and take it in and then I thought, nah, it's not worth the effort.  So I just threw on this sack of a dress knowing I'd take it right back off later in the day. 

Dear Vodka and Grain Alcohol, 

We are so over.  

No Love, Abby

I did my jobs, tried desperately not to throw up at any of my client's houses and came home and got right back into bed.  I attempted to eat a bagel but only got maybe a quarter of it into my system before giving up.   My bed and I were very close friends on Sunday.  I had to go back out later in the day to do more cat jobs- dumb.  Somehow I got through it and then came home and settled into our pillow top mattress with Michael's laptop and watched and slept through many episodes of Law and Order Criminal Intent on Netflix instant play.  God bless Netflix.  Finally my stomach stopped flippity-flopping and I got really, really hungry.  I ate a wrap of veggie turkey and lots of greens and some other random stuff along with some leftover mac n' cheese.  More bed, more Law and Order, more water.  Later I had another wrap and watched some True Blood.  Sunday was such a waste.  

day three hundred twenty.

Day Three Hundred Twenty Thursday  7/15/10

Dress:  Grey Jacked inspired Dress

Purchased From:  MOLLY DELANEY

Year or Era Purchased: Spring 2010
Price: $FREE
Accessories:  Green flats, flower hair clip

Hair and Makeup:  Double buns and bangs pinned to the side, usual makeup

Comments/Compliments/Complaints:  One of the desk guys at a building I work in called me "99" from Get Smart since I look different all the time and he calls me a spy. That's pretty cool. 

This dress is cute and it has pockets so I liked it even more.  I've totally gained about three pounds back of my recent weight loss so it's  teensy bit tighter than when Molly first gave it to me.  I need to get on that.  I like to eat way too much and this new affinity for beers is not helping.  Quitting the gym and not working out is also not helping.  I either need to actually join the gym or start going to the one at my school.  I spent the day working, went to class and handed in some small pieces, came home and made dinner.  We had smart dogs, corn on the cob with lime herb butter and potato salad.  So yeah, didn't really get on that diet train so much on Thursday.  Such is life. 

day three hundred ten

Day Three Hundred Ten Monday  7/5/10 

Dress:  Grey Tank Dress with Buttons

Purchased From:  Rainbow

Year or Era Purchased: Spring 2010
Price: $5
Accessories:  Black short sleeved jacket sometimes, green flats sometimes and blue sandals others, a black flower hair clip

Hair and Makeup: Pulled pack for some of the day since it was crazy hot and then Down and wavy, usual makeup 

Comments/Compliments/Complaints: Michael likes to call this dress my Sgt. Pepper dress

Monday was the start of  our vacation.  We woke up and packed and got the house ready and took off for Atlantic City.  I wore this dress because it was stupid hot and I thought the hoochie factor worked well with my destination. Generally I'm not super into this style dress for various reasons.  We made it to AC fast, checked into to our awesome hotel, The Chelsea, and immediately settled in to our fun, fancy room.  

I painted my toe nails and we watched the documentary Gasland,  not super vacationy but it was quite intriguing so despite the somber subject we left it on and watched the whole thing.  After a few hours and a little yelp help we decided to head to Tony's Baltimore Grill for some pizza and drinks.  It's the most amazing dive bar/restaurant.  Our waitress was made of red leather and had short, bleached spiky hair.  Perfect. We ordered a white pizza, a beer for Michael and a glass of $3.50 chardonnay for me.  I was prompted by the waitress to go for a full bottle for $11 at 5pm.  Nice.  I declined.  The pizza was delicious and we soaked in the dive bar atmosphere while we savored the pizza's cheesy goodness.  My favorite aspect of the place besides its insanely dark interior was this section of wall:  

It prompted me to finally download the hipstamatic app so I could photograph it.  After dinner we ventured back to our room for a nap and a viewing of half of Kung Fu Panda, because that is what vacation is all about- naps and weird movie choices.  I also became obsessed with the hipstamatic app and took way too many pictures with it.  

We woke up late and a little hungry so we headed out onto the boardwalk in search of food and libations.  We remembered that our roommate, Steve, had suggested we try the Irish Pub right off of the boardwalk.  It was another fabulous dive bar.  Hearts.  We were serenaded by drunk girls singing along with classic rock juke box selections.

We got salads and split an order of cheese fries, when in Jerz.  The salads were ginormous and lovely.  We had beers and ate a trough of lettuce, cheese and croutons.  We obsessed over the photograph that adorned our booth, a 1923 Beauty Pageant group photograph.  The girls were awesome looking, with amazing style and hair.  I decided I'd maybe prefer the 20's to the 50's if I ever got access to a time machine with only one trip allowance.  The pictures I attempted didn't work but you can get the idea of the awesomeness of this particular girl and her crazy blur: 

Completely stuffed we walked back dodging the array of pedicabs/push carts/or whatever the hell you call them soliciting our asses.  These things: 

I told Michael the only way I'd ever ride in one is if I planned to kill myself in it at the end of the ride because riding in one would signify I've given up on life.  He got a big kick out of that.  Clearly I'd never do this but then I decided I should write a short story based on that idea.  I love vacation.