Stepping into Fantasy: July 2011

Blush

{Shop: Blouse, Similar Shorts, Similar Wedges}
Two things are working against me today: my computer might be possessed (the cursor is going crazy and it deletes my words as I write them. Dang. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, please tell me the only solution was not to buy a new computer.) And I have a slight case of writer's block. (No worries, I'll take two glasses of wine and try again tomorrow.) Of course this is only worsened by the fact that I write a sentence and my computer deletes for me. I don't know maybe that's not a bad thing, that last sentence wasn't even that great. Nor was that one. Gosh, it's like having a built-in editor....that absolutely hates everything I write.
So I'll make this quick: it's Friday. Can I get a collective sigh of relief?

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Words to Live By

{Shop: Similar Clutch, Belt, Similar Wedges, Necklaces 1, 2}

You are probably thinking "is this girl a hoarder?" since I've been on thrift overload since my 30 for 30. But actually...yes I might be a hoarder. I thrift pretty things and then I keep them in a pile in my living room until my next trip to see my parents so my mom can hem dresses or pants. It's not that I can't sew them myself -- wait yes it is. I've tried to sew before but I'll be honest: I'm not good with my hands. You can quote me on that, if you'd like.

Other things you can quote me on:

"I am a toddler."
"I had a pint of frozen yogurt and a beer last night."
"I'm starting to suspect that someone lives in my car."
"I only painted the fingernails on one of my hands."

This makes me proud and ashamed all at the same time.

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Win $200 Gift Card to Karen Kane!

This week you have a chance to win a $200 gift card to Karen Kane! All you have to do is:

1. Visit Karen Kane's shop and pick out your favorite item.

2. Leave a comment below and let me know your pick!

Karen Kane is also offering readers 25% off their entire purchase from 7/27/11 to 8/3/11, just use the code"KENDI".

Giveaway open until July 31st at 10 p.m. One comment per reader, please. :)

__________________________________________________________________

Winner of last week's giveaway is...

Congrats, Kathleen B! Email me :)

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Granny Bottom

{Shop: Similar Top, Similar Pants, Similar Wedges, Bracelet, Necklace 1, 2}
So after seeing this girl's pants redo I became a woman obsessed. I had snagged these pants for fiddy cents (that's right half a dollar. Not for a trade in of the talented rap star.) and I took them to my mom. She sewed them right up and voila! I have new blue pants that give me a fine granny booty. I am going to be a hit up in the club. Of course the only club around these parts is a bridge club. Again, I'll be a hit but probably because some old lady will recognize her pants and want them back.
I feel like it's only a matter of time before rap songs start talking about granny bottom pants. I know what America wants -- a high waisted bottom with an plastic animal print belt? Yes, please.

*also, please excuse the awkward half rolled up cuff. I didn't realize what it looked like until it was too late, meaning I had already taken my pants off.

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Laid Back Weekend

{Shop: Tank, Skirt, Similar Shoes, Watch (c/o Fossil), Purse}
This weekend we decided to take a road trip and be hot somewhere else in Texas. 100+ degrees is always more fun when you aren't at home, right?
Now I may be 26 years old (is that okay to share on the internet? did you want my address too?) but going home to see my parents never gets old. I never mind the 5 hour road trip to go see my momma. Plus she likes to hem crazy grandma pants I thrift so that they fit me perfectly. And she likes frozen yogurt. Those are my two requirements of a best friend: a talent for sewing and a penchant for fro-yo.

In fact, I've always been a fan of my mom. This video is just a glimpse of what my high school years may or may not have looked like, even if she didn't want to go to the prom with me.

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Summer Nights

{Shop: Blouse, Similar Jorts, Heels Watch (c/o Fossil), Necklace 1, 2}
I wore this out the other night to a little town close-by that we like to sneak away to every once in a while. For one, they have better pizza than in our town and two, this little alley way looks like Europe. (At least it does in my head.) You know it's funny, other parts of the country dress for the weather. But I feel like in Texas we just dress around the weather. Sure it's hot, but I still have to wear clothes right? I mean really in this heat naked would be the best option. But I've been kicked out of too many places to try that option again.
As I'm trying to type out this post, I can't finish because annoying 6th grade Kendi is in my head and keeps yelling "JORTS!" when I try to make complete sentences. You don't remember 6th grade Kendi? How could you forget?
I give up. Jorts win.

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Thrifted

{Shop: Heels, Belt, Bracelet, Earrings (c/o Coquese)}
My friend Jentine is hosting a special Everybody, Everywear this week on thrifted items. Which is perfect timing since my dress and my necklace are both thrifted items. And since I'm going to use the word 'thrift' about 30 times during this post, I'll go ahead and give a definition:
thrift (v.): buying second-hand, or previously loved items from a thrift or second-hand store or perhaps a garage sale. Also, I completely made this definition up. Who knows if it's right?
I asked Jentine if I could wear something I got from Gap that was ridiculously cheap. She said only if I donated it to Goodwill, then went in a purchased it again. After much thought and debate, I decide that was too much effort. So instead I went for this dress. Technically this wouldn't have been anything I would have ever picked up in a retail store. But in a thrift store, all my inhibitions are out the door. Plus I saw Rachel Zoe wear a maxi with sleeves so I was automatically drawn to this dress when I saw it. But there were a few issues. For starters, this dress is about 5x too big for me. Another issue was that it's completely sheer. Then there is a pretty big hole in the seam of the arm on one sleeve. And lastly it was marked at $12, which in Thriftland is quite pricey, especially for a non-designer item. So I went through my mental checklist: can I belt this dress to make it fit? Yes. Do I have a slip that will work as a dress underneath to cover my ladyparts? Yes. Is the hole in the arm fixable? Yes. And then... I sniffed it. It passed the sniff test -- the most important test of all.
Then, as if I wasn't already convinced to purchase, I saw a sign from above: All women's clothing 50% off. $6? Done deal. Now all I need is a baby with sunnies to be just like Rachel -- which are super hard to come by in thrift stores, by the way.

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Polka Stripes

{Shop: Polka Dot Top, Similar Dress, Similar Wedges}
It's usually a bit overwhelming to go back to my whole closet after I've limited myself to 30 pieces. The first thing I did was hug my shoes. I held each and every pair for 10 minutes and told them how much I missed them. No favorites here, I'm a good mother like that. All shoes are equal in this family.
Like a kid in a candy store, I went straight for one of my favorite dresses and a top I've had for a while, but haven't worn on the blog. Although I pinned up one of the layers, it normally doesn't quite cover my stomach, which I typically prefer in shirts. But I slipped it over this dress and it worked perfectly. I feel very Chuck from Pushing Daisies. I'm pretty sure that's her name -- I'll be honest, I only watched that show for the outfits. Other shows I only watch just for the outfits? Judge Judy and Swamp People.

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Win a $50 Gift Card to Shop Ruche!

This week you have the chance to win a $50 gift card to Shop Ruche! All you have to do is:

1. Visit Shop Ruche and pick out your favorite items from pretty new lookbook.

2. Leave a comment below and let me know your picks!

Giveaway open until Sunday, July 24th at 10 pm. One entry per reader, please. :)

_____________________________________________________________

The winner of last week's Shop Kempt giveaway is....

Congrats, Melissa! Email me for details.

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Thirty Looks

You know when I started this crazy thing, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. There was no scientific equation to the idea of 30 items. (For the last time, I am not a scientist!) It simply came from the idea that one month is about 30 days, so you would wear (give or take, of course) 30 outfits right? I liked the idea of a matching number, so 30 items into 30 outfits just stuck.

After braving this challenge five times now, I've come to realize that numbers do not matter when it comes to your closet. I have a lot of clothes because as it would turn out I just really liked getting dressed. To some, 30 pieces is a lot. To others, it's a fraction of their closet. In my mind this idea of being a minimalist, perhaps the complete opposite of who I am, was who I thought I needed to be. If I shop too much, then becoming opposite of that would help me, is what I thought. I would peer into my friends' closets and see half of what I owned and would be ashamed of the amount of items I had. So I decided to look at my closet in a different way and what I saw was not that I wanted less, but that I could do more.

More than anything I've accepted who I am. My life doesn't have to look like someone else's to be right and vice versa. I will always be a shopper; a hunter of sales, bargains and discounted fine goods as I like to call myself. But it's what I do with what I purchase or what I already have that matters. That's what I'm starting to figure out. I now see my closet as a well-curated collection of infinite possibilities. The number could be 10 things, or 30, but I see now that whatever your number is or my number is -- they don't have to match. There is no wrong way or right way to find your style. It just has to make sense for you. Finding your style is an experiment anyways, we might as well have fun with it, right?

Enough talk right? More pictures. All 30 outfits in one post: