Wishlist -- Monkeystore.se

 

1. Skull Flower White • 2. U.S. Pockets • 3. Shabby Heart • 4. U.S. Blues • 5. Leather Bag • 6. Waves Sunny

Oh, this? This is just my little list of favourite amazing things from Monkeystore.se. I am endlessly in love with the skull flower shirt -- it's definitely my favourite piece. I can see me wearing it with my black wet look pants, klunky studded boots, and bone-carved bracelet. I also really really love the US Blues shorts and the leather bag. I could also definitely pair the Shabby Heart shirt with a long-sleeved grey lace shirt I have and some light blue jeans, I think.

Their stuff is super adorable, so I really recommend you check them out. (I had to use Google translate to view the page, but not initially, and managed to get through the store without a translation at first. It's very easy to navigate.) I hear new stuff is being added to their store, which is holding true: some new tops were added since I first found their site. ♥

Friday I'm in Love -- 7/29

I know, I totally slacked off on this last week and am almost late this week. I kind of excused my string of Lita Fab posts as that week's equivalent to this little series. What cripples my ability to maintain these posts is the fact that I work Fridays. I will try harder from now on!

1. Fishtail skirts

 

I'm actually bidding on a bell-sleeved fishtail dress in hopes to wear it to this fall's Renaissance faire and to be able to wear it everyday...because I have no shame, apparently!

2. Batwing/oversized (preferably cropped-length) sweaters

 

I'm itching to get to the Salvation Army so I can acquire a couple of these, even if through the means of DIY.

3. Doc Martens

I am aching for some black Docs. My gosh. ♥

...You know what? I think I just accidentally assembled the most awesome 90s grunge outfit ever. In the words of Captain Picard, "make it so" -- stay tuned.

41; Grandma's Couch

Top: Catworld Fashionshop • Tights: I've had them so long, I can't remember • Earrings: Antique shop • Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell via ShopAKIRA

I'd love to make a super long post, but I'm in such a weird, braindead mood lately! I'm not entirely sure what it is. (Probably the weather imitating fall. What the heck, Massachusetts?) As you can tell, I finally got to enjoy my new Litas; last night we headed out to the mall with the intention of buying me a pet fish, but it didn't end up happening. I had a 1.7 gallon tank intended to hold a betta, but found out that there wasn't a heater in the store that would service a tank smaller than two gallons. So instead of buying a betta, I bought a new tank. (It's recommended to cycle a tank's water for three days before adding the fish.) Instead, Kathryn and I shopped around. We hit Starbucks, Godiva, and discovered that a Teavana and a quaint little eastern Indian/Hindu shop had been added since our last visit. I was psyched.

I got loads of compliments on these shoes, as well. (One from a very openly gay man not too much older than I, which was all sorts of amazing. I love getting the seal of approval from men who are more fabulous than I am.) I will probably buy some cushion-y inserts for them though, as I've developed an odd blister on the bottom of one foot, and I'm not entirely sure why. I suspect it's the slippery lining of the shoe and something to do with its relationship with socks, actually. Doesn't hurt too much, though, and I still adore these things. It's fun being tall!

If you'll excuse me, I have an espresso machine waiting for me in the kitchen. This cold weather makes me want to curl up with Kathryn, drink a latte, and watch a movie. ♥

It's as if these shoes were made with me in mind.

I am just so ridiculously giddy right now -- both over the shoes and the adorable faux cat ad in the box. How freaking adorable is that! I insist you click on the image to enlarge it, so that you may be able to read the hilarious little blurbs. I'm going to cut it out and find a place for it on a wall in this room.

Trying them on, I was about as tall as Kathryn -- and she's 5'6"! (Yeah, that's a big deal to me.) I know exactly what I want to wear these with, but it's a pretty fitted black dress, and I've been feeling loathing toward my stomach lately. (I've brought it upon myself, I'm sure. I've been eating s'mores religiously lately. I think it's a summer thing.) That, and I'm not sure where I'd go to justify what I'd be wearing, so give me a bit to figure out when to wear them -- though I may just crack and wear them with something else. Gah, I can't decide!

In the meantime, I'm just going to curl up in bed, clutch these to my chest, and watch some Mythbusters to pass the time before I have to go to work. ♥

40; Biker Bum Meets the Beach

 

Jacket and top: thrifted • Fringed shorts: Forever21 • Boots and belt: Etsy • Jewelery: thrifted, DIY, antique, and/or flea market.

My hair is so crazy in these pictures. It sort of happened over the course of the whole day, between not having touched up my hair since 4.30 in the morning and driving around for a good four or more hours in total with the windows of the car rolled down. As you can tell, I kind of just let my hair embrace this chaos. I was too laid back to really worry about it -- and that says a lot. (Also, I really expected to feel very exposed while wearing nothing but a nude coloured bra and a see-through lace shirt. It sort of happened the other way around; even without the jacket, I kept forgetting I was more or less not wearing much of a shirt.)

Yesterday, I was back in Cape Cod for another day trip with Kathryn and Sarah, but this time we were with Sarah's boyfriend Robbie and our mutual friend Molly. The day was mostly spent with Sarah and Robbie being cute and cuddly; Kathryn, Molly and I loitering around the beach for sea shells; Molly pointing out birds and identifying every single one of them by name (she's practically a walking encyclopedia); and me taking photos of flowers. (Lots of flowers.) I didn't bring a swimsuit, but I did get to walk in the ocean a bit, and we ran into all sorts of things like crabs, snails, weird small white pseudo-lobster things in the water (we're convinced they're alien lifeforms), and at least five little wild bunnies.

We ate breakfast in the front yard of the cottage, then Kathryn, Molly and I went sea shell hunting. We spotted an Osprey flying overhead carrying a live fish at one point. We came back, got ice cream and potato chips, lounged in the cottage for a while, and eventually drove down to Hyannis (with Sarah and Robbie). I bought some native American jewelery (including the feather carved earrings you see me wearing) and resources for making necklaces, a terrifying amount of Pez and peanut brittle, and a book of German prose for students learning the language. We also ran into a guy with a parrot sitting on his shoulder, and I asked to take pictures, as I'm a very creepy person. Once I'd spent every cent on my person, we went back to the beach (this time with Sarah and Robbie) -- where Kathryn took these pictures of me -- and we stayed there a while picking up more shells and watching Kathryn and Robbie swim in the ocean, before going for dinner and driving home. I'm fairly sure I enjoyed this trip more than last week's, possibly because I got to see Molly for such an extended period of time, which I never get to do.

I'm still dead exhausted from yesterday, too. Kathryn and I both, really; we hoped to use the day to clean our room and have instead managed to make it slightly more messy. Thus, I'm going to cut this post off here, as I'm feeling particularly brain dead and need to eat something for dinner. However, I'll leave you with some photos from yesterday. (Click to enlarge.)

When We Was Fab

 

I do love any excuse to make George Harrison reference.

I did some research. I'm well under the impression that the Lita Fab Tapestry shoes were released last November, after reading it twice on two seperate sites (though I wish I had the links to double-check), and the last time any site restocked them, it was between May and June on a website that no longer has the black in stock. I downloaded a .pdf of Jeffrey Campbell's fall lookbook, suggesting there won't be more of the black tapestry in the future.

I found one site, ShopAKIRA, that had two pairs of the black tapestry in size seven. It's taken me since June 6th to save up about $80 in my tip money, which is how I was hoping to pay for a pair of Litas, if you recall. However, that is well over a month of time, and that was when I was working more than two days a week, so if I wanted to have any chance at buying a pair of these shoes, I was going to have to buy them soon, and probably not with the tip money that I won't have for a very long time.

So...I bought them!

I waited until Kathryn got home from work and when she read my ramble on Livejournal about me simply explaining these points and scrambling around for what to do, and asked her what she thought.

"Well, it's your money... I mean, so long as you're okay with me spending $130 on a new fish tank?"

"Psh, of course!"

With that, I jumped for the computer and went through checkout as fast as my fingers' relationship with the keyboard could allow. By just nine dollars and ninety cents, even qualified for free shipping.

Here's hoping ShopAKIRA is a good, trusty site (they look like it) and I'll let you guys know the moment they arrive in the mail. (Hey, do you suppose they'll look any good with the black American Apparel double U-neck dress? I just bought one recently and am eager to wear it with something amazing.)

Reduced to Hysterics (a Jeffrey Campbell appreciation post)

 So I have this dinky two-liter soda bottle that I dump my tip money into when I get home from work (save the dollar bills, as I usually just lug the thing to the grocery store to drop into the CoinStar), and I designate at points what I'm going to do with the money. It's about 3/5 full and last I counted, it was at $77. Last time it was to help buy my new camera. This time, I'm saving up for my tattoo. (God knows how much that will cost.)

Already, I'm planning on what I'll want to save up for next. Kathryn likes to plan far ahead and I'm sure she'd rather that I just throw it all in my savings, which is reserved for when we move out (we estimate about a year from now) and have to pay our own way. I am always conscious of how precious money is in a situation like that, and I've been stocking cash away for when that day will come, but I'm also in the mindset that in the present, we have a secure place to stay and the most we pay for is our luxuries, our own pet food, and the regular $20 towards groceries when Kathryn's mom goes out. If any time is a good time to save up for a big splurge, it's probably now.

Right now, I'm really dying for a pair of Jeffrey Campbell Litas. My fallback choice will probably be black, in whatever material that is available -- mainly because I can't decide between the default leather, suede, or velvet.

I recalled Annika mentioning a website that I visited immediately at the time that I used as a reference point in my first Friday/Love post. After hitting Nasty Gal for Lita options, I tried there -- Solestruck.com.

Oh my good lord, I had no idea Litas came in so many breathtaking flavours.

Unfortunately, I read a review that the Cosmic Litas are poorly made; the screened image is cheap and the customer said they were returning them immediately. What a letdown.

I, however, go weak in the knees at the sight of some nice antique style furniture upholstry material...

...so it's fortunate for me that I'm sitting at the computer as I type this post.

I can barely wrap my mind around what I'm seeing. I can't even begin to figure out which one I love the most! Though it hardly matters, as the first two are sold out of most sizes, and the latter is completely out of stock. Granted, this is only on Solestruck, so these beautiful things might still be elsewhere online. I am under the impression that Solestruck will be restocking eventually, or else they 1. wouldn't continue to show these designs on their site, and 2. wouldn't give me the option to get an email the moment they restock my size. (Which I did for all three of these designs. Don't judge me.)

I can't decide what would be a better move. It seems that plain black Litas are a staple piece, and are always available. Would it be wiser to buy one of the three designs above to secure having them, despite the fact that they won't go with everything by any means, or buy a pair that is assured to go with most of anything that I wear? Or buy the more unique of my desires first, and dare to buy a pair of plain black sometime later? (I think Kathryn would kill me, though.)

I have time to consider my options, at least. One way or another, I'll be getting a pair someday...though at the rate that I'm working (two days a week at a total of nine hours, during the shifts where tips are pretty pathetic), I'll probably have to donate portions of my paychecks if I ever want to see a pair of Litas on my feet before I die of old age. Note to self: new job ASAP.

Friday I'm in Love -- another fashionably late installment

1. Chloe Ting

Gah, this girl is freaking adorable, and has the best sense of fashion -- and she's super sweet, to boot!
If you haven't seen her around before, then rectify that as soon as possible:
Chictopia • Lookbook • Blog

2. Hivennn by Hivenj

I'm following Hivenn's blog here on blogspot, and she mentioned that she has an Etsy shop. Of course, I'm all over that, so I checked it out, and her stuff's so cute! I grabbed one of her crystal rings once I'd swept through her whole store. They have that antique store charm while being fresh and unique. Check her out! (And you might want to skim through her blog before you buy... ♥)

Hivennn @ Etsy

3. Open cape ponchos

 

I've actually been trying to find one in the same Mexican-blanket style as Madeline's, but to no avail. I'm not giving up, though! I love the open cape kind, as they vaguely resemble kimonos, making them perfect for wrapping.

4. Insane fringe vests

I just... ♥