Shopping Haul

I know that this is the season for giving to others, but sometimes you need to give to yourself too. Especially when you don't have any seasonally appropriate clothing to wear. Apparently I don't love sweaters. Well, really sweaters don't love me. My body shape looks awful in most sweaters, but there are some that I can manage. I found some today which I'm including in the haul along with some other purchases from recent weeks. Here we go!

I fell in love with this dress as soon as I saw it! I've recently embraced the whole peplum trend and it is awesome. What I thought would draw attention is actually the perfect camouflage from my biggest trouble area. This Red Peplum Surplice Dress from Torrid has a lot going for it. First of all it's red, which I love. Then it has my new favorite thing, the peplum. It also has a fitted skirt and surplice neckline, which is also nice. Basically, it's pretty much amazing.

Jennifer Lopez Swirl Surplice Dress via Kohl's

This is only a shot of the back, but you can see how cute it is! Floral (aka red) and peplum, my favorites! Floral Print Peplum Top with Belt and Black Lace via Deb Shops

Sequin Shoulder Sweater via Deb Shops

Mint Lace Back Sweater via Dep Shops (can't find this one on their online site) also got this one in black but it did not photograph well.

I'm pretty happy with these purchases. Can't wait to wear these! And, while I'm on the topic of fashion I am really excited about finding a new store in my area that caters to plus sizes. It's called Fashion to Figure and they have stores in New Jersey, Maryland, and New York. There's one close enough that hopefully next weekend I'm going to check it out in person. The clothes on the website look amazing and the prices are awesome. Hopefully the quality is just as good. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Organization

I'm not very organized. At least not in the traditional sense. I can almost always find anything I'm looking for, but good luck to any one else searching through my stuff to find it. I try to be organized though. I spend a lot of money on closets and bins and baskets, drawer organizers, and cabinets but in the end it doesn't really matter. Because I am a messy person. Still I am always proud when I manage to organize anything to that it actually works (easier). I spent all of Sunday doing just that to my closet/clothing.

I had strep in October and whatever organization that had been left over from the summer died a horrible, horrible death once I got sick. Along with feeling like death, I let all of my laundry and laundry baskets pile up. And pile they did. They took over half my bedroom. I wish I had taken a before photo because it was a hot mess. Clothes falling out of the closet and out of baskets and multiplying on the floor. I finally tackled that mess though and I managed to triumph. My closet is now more organized, though there are still something I would like to change. But most importantly everything has a place and everything is in it's place. All my belts are hanging up and not willy nilly every where. My dresses are hanging, my skirts, my pants, my shirts.

These might seem a little OCD, but I often throw things in my closet where ever they fit. This will definitely help me keep things organized and make it easier to find what I'm looking for. Plus, things are less likely to get lost in the closet's black hole area since everything has a place and it's easy to find it now.

Belts/Accessories area. You can see some of these things are from quite a long while ago (based on the styles/colors).

The closet all organized and labeled.

I'm really loving the labels!

And this isn't really in my closet, but it's next to it! And it's organization! So it counts, right? One of my many shoe racks. I love shoes. I wish I had more in unconventional colors. I usually end up sticking to brown/tan and black just because those are colors that are in my wardrobe a lot already and are easy to coordinate.



I also sorted through my mostly unused drawers and did some organizing there too. I got rid of some of my 50 sets of pajamas, some of which I've had since nearly middle school. Don't even ask me why they are still around! They aren't any more. I have a ton of things to donate. I also went through the cloths sitting in the back of my closet and tossed or donated anything that didn't fit or that I will never wear. My donation pile is rather huge.

All of this organization and cleaning always makes me proud of myself. I just wish I didn't have to tackle this job every time the seasons change. But, I can accept myself as I am. I know I'm messy and at least I try to be somewhat organized. I'll never be perfect, but I'll keep working on it. Hopefully someday the big closet clean out won't have to happen four times a year.

Now, on to the craft room! (I weep at the thought.)

Fashion Shop Find

I just stumbled across a store via on pin on Pinterest.... Wholesale-Dress.Net. The quality of their service seems really hit or miss, as do a lot of wholesale China/Korean websites, but I think they have enough awesome stuff on the cheap that it's worth a risk to order from them at least once. These are the kind of things you find on eBay for pretty cheap... Only a fraction of the cost, obviously, since there's no reseller markup. Just please be wary of sizing especially - I know, for me, I would only be able to order accessories most likely. Can't even order shoes - damn my big feet! But still. A neat find, definitely worth a gander, imo.

Handmade Gifts

Lately, my pseudo-poverty (i.e., I have no money, but I still carry on as if "it's all good") has resulted in my craftiness and resourcefulness being escalated to terrifying new heights. Obnoxiously so, even. Coupled with the fact that I more or less have no kitchen to work with (2 stove top burners, a microwave and a standard small toaster oven), and consider myself an avid baker and a creative cook... Yeah. Things get interesting. So! Let's do a quick trip of my things I've done lately, and things yet to do.

Mini Pumpkin Pies, used with this pumpkin pie filling.

So, my mom tasked me with making pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, as I always do. Welp, no oven! Toaster oven. I have a small pie making machine, but (a), I haven't worked out all the kinks yet, and (b), it was tucked away who knows where in my storage unit. So, instead, I followed the above tutorial (vague as it is) to make the mini pies. I had my boyfriend slicing out the rounds (used a bowl, probably 3-4" in diameter" and popped the suckers in. They turned out great! The pie filling was so-so, but otherwise it was a hit. At least with me.

Pumpkin Marmalade in baby jars as Thanksgiving hostess gifts

I made these on kind of a lark... Saw it on Pinterest, decided whoop, why not. Bought the baby food jars, used some of the canned pumpkin puree I had stocked up on (they had regular sized cans at Dollar Tree! How could I not get four?), and appropriated some company materials (i.e. a piece of card stock and eight reinforcements). I added in cinnamon from the recipe, but it came out delish. It recommended it being used with cheese and bread, but spread out on bread by itself, especially an English muffin or scone, would be perfect. Surprisingly delicious, even though it kinda looks similar to the baby food it replaced.

Lavender Mint Bath Salts (picture forthcoming)
I made a batch or two of these, since my mother had given me an ungodly amount of dried lavender that she appropriated from a large lavender bush outside her work earlier in the year. (They were going to cut it back, since it was going nuts and reaching over the sidewalk, so she "helped".) UNGODLY. So I decided to make these bath salts for my boyfriend's mom, since she takes baths with epsom salts regularly. Thought it was a good idea...until said boyfriend pointed out that she hate anything that smells nice whatsoever. Sooo, making some for his grandmother it seems. Anyway, they turned out lovely! Instead of using a canning jar, I just used some glass screw-top jars from miscellaneous sauces and such - I always keep them around because they make handy containers for buttons, beads, etc. I believe I ended up using two jars that were formerly pesto. The mint ended up being a bit strong, since I didn't have a dropper, so I just kinda went for it. I got a tiny vial of the spearmint oil on eBay for $3 with free shipping. Epsom salts...$2 or something for a big carton. I had the lavender, sea salt, and jars on hand, so everything else was free. Yay cheap gifts. I had enough for two jars' worth, and still have plenty of the supplies, so I could definitely make more.

Pepper Jelly (no picture)
I have been tasked with making pepper jelly for my extended family on my father's side, since my grandmother isn't faring well lately, and she always puts together baskets of food every year for all her children. All of the family is chipping in to put these baskets together. So, since I did the marmalade, my mother suggested I do the pepper jelly - so I'm on the mission. However, my grandmother has a recipe of who knows where, and since she's developed Alzheimer's, there's pretty much no way to find out if she has it written down, or can remember it anyway. Leave it to Laura! I'm going to use this recipe and tweak it. To start, I don't like peppers or spicy food at all, so this is all kind of working blind. She never used jalapenos, just regular bell peppers of varying colors, so I will mostly stick with that and might put one jalapeno in for a tiny kick. It should be interesting, since I have never done any legitimate canning in my life, except assisting my friend making jams by hauling out the jars out of the boiling water.

52 Things I Love About You (no picture)
I put this together for my boyfriend, only with 50 cards, since I didn't have any jokers (he had taken them out already) and there were only the standard 52 to work with off the start... Since I needed a cover and back, I used two cards. So, 50 Things I Love About You. Easy and pretty adorable. I didn't use mod podge or rubber cement, just a regular glue stick and smooshed the heck out of the cards so they would stay. I had some trouble finding the right ring size, and finding them at all - I ended up having to get them from Staples, and it was $3.79 for twelve. Rip off! Anyway, it looks lovely. And it was really hard to think of 50 things to say, in truth. But I ended up with 50, and a few more that I had to cut. He loves doing card tricks and has more than a few decks of cards (which is how I nabbed this one), so I thought this would be a really sweet and easy Christmas present. And it was!

In addition to all this, I am also embroidering Christmas stockings for the boyfriends - my own as well as my sister's boyfriend. I will try and post pictures if they come out well! <3

Christmas Time Already

Has anyone else started decorating? I typically leave it to like a week before Christmas because I am super lazy (which is also why it tends to stay up until approximately March, but whatever) but this year I got a bit of a head start. I actually feel like I accomplished somethings this weekend. I started and finished my Christmas cards! Excellent. Photos of those and possibly a tutorial will be posted after I send them all out. I also started decorating for Christmas, so here are some pictures.

Zsa-zsa is helping me make Christmas cards by keeping my paper warm. This is completely necessary to the card making process.

One of two large snowflakes I made. I also made smaller ones which I painted gold. I don't like them as much.

This is my "gingerbread" village. I made this about 3 years ago, it's held up really, really well. It's quite cute. I think I might like to get model trees instead of using the paper ones it came with, but for now they'll do.

And this is where I'm putting the mini-tree this year. I think it looks cute with that little snow man and those two signs.


And, last but not least I will leave you with a view I had a few days ago while I was getting ready for work. This was actually a little terrifying to be honest. She was so sneaky!

A real ceiling cat. This is not the first time I've had a cat in the ceiling. Kujo is the one who knocked out and broke the light panel originally, Zsa is just following in his footsteps. ☹

Things I Love Tuesday

Things I love! There are always so many that it's hard to narrow it down to just a few, but I'm going to try!

Number 1: Little Chief Honeybee (Honeybee in the City)
This blog is so great! She talks candidly about all sorts of things and always, always, always has amazing pictures to share. She's a craft/business/lifestyle/fashion blog all rolled into one and she's amazing!



Number 2: This cute kitten!

Number 3: Half days at work
The last few days have been pretty stressful, but thankfully we have half days for parent conferences. Most of the time this wouldn't be something to exciting, but I really need the quiet time. My class this year has no volume control and even less self-control. I am always happy to get a little break from them.


Number 4:
I love pinterest! This is one of the best websites ever. If you haven't tried it yet, I would definitely recommend it. You can find links to recipes, crafts, cards/scrapbooking, DIY projects, tips on cleaning, health, fitness, clothes, and tons of other amazing things. The best part is that it's mainly done via images (or video) so you can see at a glance if something is worth checking into more or not. The only pitfall is that some people are not careful when they pin things and instead of pinning the specific blog entry they just pin the front page, which makes things kind of hard when you go searching for how to make something you pinned months later. But it is still worth completely worth it!


Number 5: My friends (for entertaining all of my crazy fashion questions)
For instance, do navy tights and nude shoes look ridiculous? The consensus seems to be no. Which is good, because I kind of like that outfit! Thank you all for putting up with my ridiculous questions. I appreciate it!

Holding Up the Girls

So, I'd like to post a quick review. Recently I had a boudoir-type photo shoot done of myself where I was having my shirt open. Clearly, I needed some type of support for the girls. I am a D cup, though bordering on DD sometimes. This makes things a bit more difficult, as there's a good deal of meat to hold up. So! I bought several things in hopes that I'd get it all squared away. So let me go on and review these things, in the event that you're ever looking for something like this in the future.

Fashion Forms Women's Backless Strapless U-Plunge Bra - Amazon item page
This was my first choice, and the biggest fail. Not only was it complicated to put on - lean forward, adjust boobs, not to mention adhesive inside the cups, in addition to the adhesive straps on the side - but the support was minimal, and my ladies were hardly contained. If it had been all of the cleavage, that would have been fine. But oh no, they were on the side and bottom and top and center and just... my cup overfloweth. Like I said, I run a D-cup, and bought the D-cup. No way. I would have needed a DD or E, an they don't make them that large. On the plus side, the adhesive sides, which seem the sketchiest aspect, work incredibly well. But if the rest is a fail... then it's not going to work out anyway.

Hollywood Fashion Tape Double-Stick Strips - Amazon item page
I knew that if I was wearing an open shirt, I would probably want it to stick on, lest I have a nip slip. For that aspect, this works fabulous. Granted, it was to a cotton white dress shirt, so it was probably the most ideal fabric you could adhere to. However, when it came to lifting the girls and adhering the clothing to them... The lift was pretty minimal. That isn't really an advertised use, but I was hopeful. It ended up working well, though, and I am glad to have these for the future. I will probably also end up using them for dress shirts that tend to have open gaps across the bust, instead of using safety pins.

Bare Lifts - Amazon item page
So, I kind of bought these as a "what the hell, why not" after the U-Plunge Bra failure. They had these at Dollar Tree. These actually worked great. I had my boyfriend help apply them, but they did a great job! For something that's an "As Seen on TV" and found in the dollar store... I was really pleased. It's not as super perky as seen in the before & after pictures, but that could be just because of my breast size.








In any case, I may post some of the pictures later, as a follow-up to this post. Plus, hopefully they will be nice looking, once I get them back, and will want to share them!

Things I Love Tuesday!

I don't know if anyone knows this about me, but I kind of love crafts. LOVE THEM. Crafts of all kinds, especially DIY artwork and card making. This weeks Things I Love Tuesday totally reflects once of those. Well, mostly anyway. This list definitely could have been way longer; I have pinterest boards dedicated to every one of these except the last one! But, I managed to whittle this list down to my favorites (this week anyway!). Next week I might show of my favorite card making tools, though I might want to wait until after Christmas! Anyway, on to this weeks Things I Love Tuesday! ♥


Number 1: Paper Chain Garland Backdrop

How easy and adorable is this? So simple! And the best part? It is so, so easy to adapt to any event. I'm thinking of using this for New Year's Eve decor.




Number 2: Map Art

I love art and I love maps, so this is a perfect combination. Plus, you can do it yourself! Even better. I'm looking forward to doing this after getting some great tips from that blog.




Number 3: Favorite Things Party

The Favorite Things Party is based originally on Oprah's Christmas special My Favorite Things. Now, it's a popular party idea that I really want to try! I just need to round up some friends to participate. Any volunteers?




Number 4: Gift Wrap

I love wrapping gifts and this website has so many ideas! I can't wait to use them.



Number 5: This beautiful black cat

I think black cats are the best. They're so adorable and one of my most memorable cats was a black cat, his name was Moon. I also just got two black kittens in April who are so adorable! I love them! ♥





Number 6: Popcorners

Nothing to do with crafts, but these are delicious! I was shopping and just randomly decided to pick these up. So glad I did! They are so yummy. If you like popcorn and/or chips I'd recommend them. They are the perfect combination of both. Try them!

App I Love

So, I have had a Droid for about a year and a half now. Recently I downloaded the app Pattrn. The base concept is that it is a repository of pattern wallpapers for your phone, that change daily. You can select different preferences, search by color code, etc.

It is not available for the iPhone at this point, but I'm curious - what do you think? Is having a different wallpaper a day a good or bad thing? Are you very attached to keeping one wallpaper?

What's In My Purse

So this is actually one of my favorite blog topics when I'm a reader. I thought it might be fun to do it myself! Of course, I realize I have a crazy amount of stuff in my purse. But, I'm my mother's daughter. She's always prepared for everything and I too am a girl scout in that respect. So without further ado, here's what's in my purse:

My beautiful Elle bag, Bath & Body Works Fresh Market Apple hand sanitizer, and my key chain complete with library and discount cards, house key, hair tie, and a Wildwood Dolphin charm.

Clockwise: My iphone, a necklace I bought Tuesday at Target, Rimmel London lip gloss in Captivate Me!, and medicated Blistex.

Top Row: Owl charms, Elle Pleated Wristlet, two flash drives, mini emery boards, camera case, 2 mini octoclips, sunglasses, ibuprofen
Middle Row: Tide-to-go pen, fine point sharpie, allergy medicine, NYC lip gloss in Rasp-berry Voice, mini medicine bag + neosporin (next picture is insides), hair ties, mini hair brush, microfiber cloth, note card from a student
Bottom Row: smarties, mini notepad, pay stub, hair clips, rubber band, bobby pin, reward cards

Inside the blue bag: hand lotion, mini deodorant (for preventing blisters), wet ones, pill case, sephora blotting papers, band-aids

I also usually carry a water bottle, but I'd finished it about 15 minutes before I decided to do this post, so no water bottle this time.

And I think that's it! Anyone want to share what they keep in their bag?

What's in my purse?

So, a part one of two I suppose - I'm going to do a quick post on what is in my bag.

I know, you're so ecstatic! So very ecstatic.

Left: It's my purse - from Nine West, picked up at a Goodwill. (Looked a lot better than my beat up spider tote bag I had been using for a purse at that point... Especially needed something nicer for going around NYC.) On top of said purse is my key fob with all my fobs for stores. They've migrated to their own ring entirely and clip onto the inside of one of those rings. Works out quite well, actually!

Center column: Ibuprofen (cause, seriously, who doesn't carry some sort of advil/tylenol/motrin/aleve/etc?), Kleenex, hand/body lotion (a sample from a best western...hey, it works!), an embroidered owl compact mirror from Fossil, Sally Girl lip gloss (given to me by the makeup artist for my friend's wedding), Burt's Bees lip balm, anxiety pills, thumb drive, and and two asthma inhalers.

Right column: Coupon organizer that I don't use regularly (coupons have such short expiration dates - tear, tear), my wallet, which is busting... A duplicate copy of a prescription for an allergy medication, a hot curler holding pin (nabbed from the b&b during the wedding to macguyver some stuff), a single bobby pin, a pair of tweezers, another thumb drive, three pens and a purple sharpie.

Oh, and that bottle at the top right corner? Ground cinnamon.

Yeaaah..... I have been taking to and from work because I keep meaning to print out a label to put on it, but I have been swamped with paperwork and catch-up from Hurricane Sandy. So, the bottle goes to work and home with me. It's a pretty adorable "vintage" glass bottle, with the hole shaker insert in it as well, but it doesn't fit in super snugly, so I have to be really careful I don't knock it over and dump cinnamon all over my purse... Thankfully, it's super high quality cinnamon. Hence the "decanting" and fancy bottle.

Not sure what kind of story that tells, other than "hobo"... But hopefully it was um...ecstatic-making for you all. <3

Things I Love Tuesday

Catbus Costume via jackloves I love My Neighbor Totoro!

This beautiful mask via weareyoung makes me want to get all dressed up and go to a fancy ball.

This cute cat via sologatos. Just look at that face, so cute!

And this ferris wheel via coeur-vacant makes me wish for summer again.

Being able to vote! Make sure you exercise your right to vote. Every vote does make a difference!

October Birchbox

So this post is really crazy late, but here is my October BirchBox. The only product that I really liked was the Jouer Lip Enhancer, which sadly I had to toss because I got strep throat while I was using it. And I really wish you could request no perfumes. I have really bad allergies so I can't wear even light fragrances as they end up giving me awful headaches. It's such a waste. :(


Anyway, this month's birch box included:
Jouer Lip Enhancer, theBalm® cosmetics Mary-Lou Manizer, Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy La Fleur, Vitivia Vitamin capsules, and a LUNA Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter bar.


As I said, the only thing I really spent time trying was the lip enhancer which I did like. I had the Luna bar too, which was ok. I won't use the Juicy Couture perfume, that will eventually make it's way to Laura because I know she actually wears perfume. And I plan to try the luminizer and vitamin capsules, but haven't yet. I'm especially interested in the vitamin capsules because I do have some hyperpigmentation from acne that I would like to lighten up, so I hope they work!

If you want to see more pictures of the October BirchBox, feel free to read more.

Halloween-Themed Nails

Let me start by saying I bite my nails. All my life. I've tried not to, believe you me. It...really never works. However, I did get a full acrylic set done in the past year, so I can appreciate what full nails are like. So I am always amazed wen I see some of the amazing things that people do with nails.

Amazing.

Below are some straight-up buys as well as tutorials for doing these yourself. A great way to stare in awe at your fingers all day long and really get in the Halloween spirit!

Black Nail Tips with Large 3D Spider Nail Art from blingup on Etsy

Pumpkin Fatale Nails from Nail Nerd

Red Roses & Sugar Skull Nail Art by Robin Moses

Autumn/Halloween Inspired Nail Art from LEGIONarts on Etsy

Halloween Orange & Black French Tip Water Marble & Tutorial,
from Colette at My Simple Pleasures

P.S. Can anyone say watermarks? I know why, but daaaamn!

Iphone 5 Covers

So, I took the plunge and decided to buy the Iphone 5 as I was do for an upgrade (like a year and half ago). I looked at the Samsung Galaxy 3s but that thing is huge! I didn't want to be carrying something so big around, that's for sure, so I decided on the Iphone. But, now comes the really hard part, picking a case. I've narrowed it down to 4 but I kind of want them all.

Pop! with Stand by Case•Mate in White/Marine Blue - $35

Jewelry Making

So what I've been up to - aside from lacking in posting - is jewelry making. I have been going hog-wild.. My main focus at the moment is leather earrings, but I'm branching out, slowly and surely. I've also been making upcycled cake plates. (Sounds kinda silly, but I kinda love them...)


In my love of crafting, and realizing that if I make a bunch of things and don't do anything with them, that I've become a hoarder.... In my love of crafting, I decided to open up an Etsy shop. So this is kind of a bit of blatant self-promotion here, but truly I am trying to get off the ground.

(I also recently applied to be a vendor at the Holiday Heap 2012 craft show in Baltimore, MD, organized by the Charm City Craft Mafia, but it is a juried craft show, so I have to be accepted. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I think it would be a great place to get my name out, make a lot of sales, etc.)

Anyway, my shop is "the wright girl" (the original title was going to be "fits the bill" but I think that's possibly even more dopey), at www.etsy.com/shop/raphaelsmuse.

(P.S. I'm sure my next post is either going to be about wedding stuff, since I'm a maid of honor in my friend's wedding in two weeks, or about Halloween and autumn. Most likely the latter. So my shameless self-promotion will probably end here.)