o8; These are a few of my favourite things.

I really love sandstone. I mean, really love it, both orange and blue versions of it. If I could, I'd just cover myself in it all the time on sunny days so I could walk outside and look like a burnt-orange discotheque lurker or a dark galaxy on legs, just constantly glimmering all day. I was so thrilled to discover that my sandstone bracelet is still in my possession. I have a sandstone ring I used to wear with it, but I've lost a good fifteen pounds since buying it (at sixteen), and I guess some of that weight came out of my hands, because it's too big. I also had a blue sandstone necklace, but it's in Arizona with most of my things. Not sure if I'll be getting that back.

And with that latter thought I had yesterday, I went onto Etsy to see if there was anything interesting involving sandstone jewelery. To my surprise, I found some really great pieces. I have my eye on a certain ring that I may go for this week or next week. (All depends on what this week's check looks like.)

Earrings:

Price: $0.20 - pleasurearts

Price: $5.00 - rodgeranddelilaplace

Price: $18.00 (free shipping in the US) - MandyMadeIt

Price: $20.00 - LoveMyLuxe

Bracelets:

Price: $11.00 (free shipping in the US) - SundustStudio

Price: $14.95 - xpressionsbysw

Rings:

Price: $30.00 - ecesema

I am so floored by this ring. If I had the money, I'd buy it so fast, the seller wouldn't know what hit them. It looks like a cluster of stars smushed into one gorgeous piece of stone. I may even save up for this thing. I just can't get over how beautiful it is.

Price: $10.00 - PaupersBounty
This is the ring I want to get this week or next. The listing says 'one available' but when I messaged the shop owner, she said that she had multiple, so she'll relist this item whenever it's bought. Another great thing about this listing: you can order any size between sizes 5 and 10. I have super thin fingers, and a size six is too big for me, so this is a great perk.

Pendants:

Price: $13.00 (free shipping in N. America) - alienlabel

Price: $35.00 - emking

Isn't this amazing? The shop owner makes these same pendants with other stones, as well. I adore this one specifically because it looks like a tree in autumn, and the sandstone and copper tones go so well together.

Price: $12.00 ($1 shipping in the US) - TwistedandStitched

Necklaces:

Price: £12.00 (GBP; approx. $19.69) - clairemumford

Price: $25.00 - gottaspoilemgems

Price: $9.48 - 1AStones

(Dammit, I forgot an image to add when I uploaded all of these pictures, and Blogger won't let me add it after uploading a ton, so you get a link instead: Clearance Polished Brown Natural Sandstone Bead Necklace; $8.45 - emelgoza123)

Can you see why I love this stone so much? ♥


EDIT: I'm so thrilled, the dress I bought from Disarming Darling arrived today. How did she manage that? She shipped it on Friday, I think, and we're on opposite edges of the whole country!

Unfortunately, I think I measured incorrectly, because I thought I'd be just tall enough for the dress, but it drags significantly. No problem though, I'll just hem the bottom. (And now I know how long a 52" dress really is, for future reference!) I may need to hem up the straps as well, as my bra pokes out of the 'armholes', but again, no big issue. Otherwise it's absolutely amazing. My arrowhead ear cuff arrived as well (no shocker, and it was shipped from CT) and I definitely plan to wear them together. I'm considering wearing it to work today, actually, but I'm not sure yet. I'm just concerned about losing it.

o7; On the step outside you stand, with your flowers in your hand, my apple scruffs.

Jacket: Maurices | Denim shirt: thrifted | White netted sweater: thrifted | Red tank: thrifted | Jeans: Paris Blues | Boots: Etsy | Belt: Delia's | Jewelery: various (boutiques, vintage, my mother, Lucky Brand; engagement ring from Kay's)
[On Lookbook]

This is the most extensive shoot I've done to date. I think it's because I had enough practice on Friday, as it was just as windy and just as cold as it was today. (Wind chill made the temp feel ten degrees colder than it really was. Very invigorating.) I'm both happy with how this came out, and a bit uncomfortable. Some of the looks on my faces are really weird, but I liked the poses. (I also stepped out of my comfort zone in that last picture to feature my face, as I never normally show my teeth. I have an overbite and crowding on the top, but I've grown to hate how wrinkly my chin looks when I keep my mouth shut in pictures, so I thought 'oh forget it, so I'm tired of being so paranoid about them.' However I think I look a little Asian in that shot. And way younger than twenty, but that's okay.)

I also took Madeline's advice to do a 'raccoon' effect with eyeshadow. Unfortunately, you can only see the orange underneath my eyes, really. I still love how it turns out, and I wear it often these days.

I really missed these woods. I think I'm going to make an effort to walk out there at least a couple of times a week, because I'm not in the same shape that I was last summer, and I miss feeling (and looking) as good as I did back then. I'll at least be doing most of my looks out there from now on, if I can help it.

Maybe I'll run into a raccoon again, or something. ♥

o6; I can't get no satisfaction.

Today was a bit windier than I anticipated, making the 40 degree weather feel ten degrees colder. Thus my photos were rushed and at one point on my way to the spot where I wanted to take my pictures, I was met with a raccoon. At first it was surprising, but became terrifying when my mind raced with questions like, 'Am I in its territory? Did I wake it up? Does it have rabies? Is it walking exactly in my direction because it can smell the food in my bag?' And thus, I began a slow and cautious beeline off the trail, but the crunchy leaves I was stepping on got its attention, and it spotted me. We both stopped, stared, and simultaneously ran off in opposite directions.

When I came back to the trail, I could still hear it shuffing through the tall grass, but spotted it at about twenty feet from the trail as it was obviously trying to make its way around me to get to where it was going. I have been jumpy ever since.

So my pictures are half-assed, and I look pretty annoyed in the shots I kept. I'm just going to try again on Sunday. (The weather will be warmer and it's estimated to be sunny, which will help.)

Ah, well. The pants I chose to wear looked pretty silly on my anyway. (They didn't look so frumpy when I checked the full-length mirror. Maybe I'll just cut off the legs. That'll teach them to make me look fat when I'm not.)

o5; Ear cuffs, and the things that go in them.

Pictures didn't happen yesterday. I have the whole day free today and it's just me, so I'll probably hike out to the woods and do it myself. Going to wait until it's about 1pm before I do, as that'll be the warmest part of the day. (A whole 40 degrees! My god, I remember when I lived in Arizona and 40 degrees was the coldest part of the night. Ugh.)

Speaking of the southwest: I had done some heavy research into Native American-style ear cuffs yesterday. (My last post inspired me.) This morning I caved and bought this one, for five bucks. I'm also bidding on this gorgeous guy and I'm really hoping no one else will butt in, because I hate bid-wars, and I just really adore this. I don't have any of my Native American jewlery anymore, as I left all of it in Arizona in a storage unit that my mother's barely able to make payments on. Since she's living in California at the moment, she's not there to dig my things out for me. I'm hoping she'll get back to it soon; I had some amazing things in there. Hell, I'd even go myself and pick my things out, but being in Massachusetts makes that a little difficult.

Anyway! Searching for that specific of a jewelery piece on Ebay and Etsy only lasted so long, and I eventually started searching for any style that came up. Some of these ear cuffs are just really beautiful. I'm not sure what it is about ear cuffs that interest me. I usually prefer if they're chained to an earring, but some are made so beautifully that one can't help but admire. I found some great pieces on Ebay and Etsy that should definitely be shared.

Now that I have my morning Earl Grey all made up, lets get the show on the road:

On Ebay;


Current bid: $10.61 - eecoin
This is just perfect. It really is. However, it's a bid, and doesn't end for two days, so I'm skipping out. I'm already bidding on another cuff, anyway.


Buy it now: $36.95 (free shipping) - TarasTreasureHouse505
I'd buy this for myself, but I can't really justify spending that much, even if there's free shipping involved. Maybe if no one picks it up in a couple of weeks or something. Because damn, this is pretty.


Buy it now: $22.50 - Mr48Now
Again, I'd buy this too, but can't afford it. I'm so in love with this. Maybe I'll get it, or maybe someone else will find it a good, loving home. ♥


Buy it now: $9.00 (free shipping) - JujuBeadsJewelery
Something very simple and very affordable, and I imagine it would look very awesome in use, with its simplicity.


Buy it now: $14.95 - JMD.70


Buy it now: $14.87 - JMD.70


Buy it now: $9.99 - Aradani-com


Etsy;


Price: $18.00 - BethNOUVEAU


Price: $32.00 - Georgeaccessories


Price: $11.00 - Jynzsbox


Price: $22.00 - Ladydeluna
Isn't this gorgeous? I had no idea this was a type of turquoise, either.


Price: $18.00 - prettylittlepiecess


Price: $20.00 - suazospecialties


Price: $30.00 - RingRingRing
I adore just about everything in this person's Etsy shop. They have a nymph cuff that I have my eye on and really want to spring for in a week or two. ♥

o4; Thrift stores, and Free People.

So I tried to make this post yesterday, and essentially did, except something wrong went on with some html and the whole thing died on me. Managed to copy the coding into Notepad so I have all the links I need, it's just a matter of digging through the messy wall of coding to extract what I need. I have a feeling that remaking this post will take me a little bit of time...lets hope I don't give up. (But considering the fact that my very possessive cat has parked herself down in my lap and looks like she intends to hang out for a while, I won't be leaving the computer any time soon...)

Last night I was going to mention that I went thrift shopping on Tuesday and bought some great stuff. However, I don't have pictures yet and was hoping to do that today. Not sure if that's going to happen, but I suppose we'll see. It all depends if we can work it in today. (Kathryn's working hard on studying for a final exam tomorrow, see.) We'll see what happens.

In the meantime, I found this really cool store by accident online called Free People. Their prices are pretty steep for some things, but their jewelry prices aren't too horrible, and they do have a sale section. ♥ Some of their stuff is simply amazing. (It's both a blessing and a curse to find a shop with prices out of my range, because I can window shop without running the risk of spending my money, but I then also find stuff I absolutely love and face the painful knowledge of never having enough money. It's a love-hate relationship.)

Definitely worth checking out. Maybe it's a site worth hitting up when it's bonus or tax-return time, at least.

Some examples (photos are linked back to their respective pages):


$48; Perfect with a maxi dress, am I right?


$98


$88


$148; Oh my lord, I need a shirt like this in my life.


$108; Scrap that last bit, I need a shirt like this in my life!


$128; Makes me think of ABBA. ♥


$428; This bag is perfection.


$98


$138


$38


$28


$28


$28; For that price, I'm giving some serious thought to buying this in a couple of weeks or so.


$28


$38


$128; HELLO, RING OF MY DREAMS. WHY SO EXPENSIVE?


$28; Giving this some consideration as well. (Though I may just hit up ebay and see what else I can find in this style.)


$28


And that's not even considering the sale section, either. ♥