It’s a great feeling knowing that you’ve moved past the point where other people’s opinions and judgments affect your decisions.  It feels like freedom; blissful, pleasant freedom…

…it also feels a lot colder than you’re used to.  You’d be surprised at how much insulation hair provides.

Free.
A Love Supreme 2.0 (FINALLY).
Dopeness.

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Free.
Open Bar.
Do you really need a third reason?

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$10.
MORE than worth it.
Trust me.

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This week is already shaping up to be a lively one…

Saw them at the Roxy on Wednesday, too.  Miss Jack Davey and Brook D’Leau put on an AMAZING show.  Musically they’re a blend of a few influences: I’d call it part punk, part hippie, part electro, and a whole lot of fun.  By the end of the night, half of the audience was on stage.  Seriously.

I’m really digging the LA music scene right now.  REALLY.

Download their latest EP, Boudoir Synema, here.  Find more info at www.jdaveybaby.com.

“Still Love”

Saw this band on Wednesday night at the Roxy.  They’re awesome.  Think high school marching band misfits who had the last laugh because they make some really freakin’ sweet music.  It works.  Well.

www.Pollyn.com

If you’re looking for crazy bright, heavily pigmented eye makeup, might I suggest Sugarpill?  They’re relatively new on the block (you know how I love indie businesses), and how can you deny this packaging???

Thank you to my favorite Cosmonomad/artist/all around badass Zoetica Ebb for the tipoff.

Magpie

Tako & Love

I’ll leave the real reviews to the beauty bloggers, but this stuff is nothing short of amazing.  The color reads just as brightly on brown skin (YAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSS!!!), goes on smoothly and blends really well.  Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

I find myself more and more attracted to rectangular knee-length dresses.  Pretty soon, I’ll have one in every color in my preferred palette (I shouldn’t be typing that, but there is something on ebay that needs to become one with my closet).  I’m grateful to have finally figured out the silhouette that suits me because my jeans are getting tired.  T-I-R-E-D.

wearing:  thrifted vintage dress, F21 cardi, hat from Target, Talonalia & Instant Vintage necklaces, vintage shoes

This lil’ green vintage number (which makes me feel like a rouge Girl Scout) was found in Goodwill (of course).  I maintain that it is THE best place to find decently and predictably priced vintage clothing.  Sure, you have to dig, but it’s there.  It’s always there.

The shoes I found on etsy a couple of months ago.  James Rowland has some great shoes in that shop.  I was looking for a non-heel in a universal color (brown) and more “dressed up” than my Chucks.  The topstitching was a bonus.

The mini grenade necklace and hawk talon necklace are my own and can be purchased here and here, respectively.

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In other news, I’ve been seriously thinking about cutting my hair.  You guys know I can’t stay with one thing for too long.  I get antsy.  I crave change.  Right now, I’m getting up the gumption thanks to Solange Knowles who is rocking the hell out of her TWA…and I still want this head decoration…which would look fantastic on top of my closely cropped head.

I have no idea when I’m going to do it, so try to act surprised when I do.  

via Ivan Amezcua’s Flickr

I admit that I didn’t really do this dress justice when it first showed up on the blog.  I also admit that I have a problem when it comes to wearing dresses in general.  For some reason, I know they’re easier and faster to put on when I’m pressed for time, but force of habit has me reaching for a pair of jeans almost every morning.  This has to change.

wearing: DIY dress & harness, Kill City jacket, F21 scarf, Emporio Armani shoes

I made a point to make my ideal dress; a one-piece wonder I could throw on in seconds that made me feel confident, comfortable, and fully clothed.  Now that I’ve made it, the least I can do is wear it.  Actually, wear them.  I cranked out another one in a thick jersey the color of chocolate milk (they grey wool one I’d initially planned on got put on the back burner).  Hopefully, since it feels more like a long t-shirt, it’ll get more mileage than this one.  Hopefully.

The balance of the outfit (save for the jacket and scarf) is a testament to my neglectful ways:

The harness I made AGES ago.  I would like to see this get more wear too, but you can imagine the odd remarks and stares I get at work.  It’s a pretty liberal place when it comes to dress code (read: don’t come naked), but the leather-daddy look doesn’t exactly scream “day job.”

As for the nude (as soon as I get back out in the sun) mary janes…*sigh*  I don’t even know what to say.  How does someone not wear a pair of nude shoes?  The leg lengthening aspect alone should place these in heavy rotation.  Instead, they sit in the back of the brown shoe shelf until I remember that they’re adorable and need to see daylight every once in a while.

It’s a damn shame.

Is there anything you have that you both love and neglect? SPILL IT!!

*…hypocrisy, party of one…*

Actually, it isn’t because I balanced the scales with a deposit at Hoodwill that more than made up for it, but that isn’t the point of this story.  Please, indulge me.

As I’m sure you all have seen, clogs have made their grand re-entrance on to the world’s fashion stage.  I’ve seen them everywhere: runways, blogs, more blogs, a few magazines, etc.  I never have understood their appeal.  Honestly, I think they’re one of the most tragic looking shoes to ever be cobbled.  Ever.

That said, if I see anything enough times, I will become intrigued by it (see my Chloe Doc obsession of yesteryear).  If I’m intrigued enough, I’ll consider buying it just to see what all the hullabaloo is about.  It doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen.

In the case of the unfortunate-looking clog, this intrigue was met with some fierce opposition.  Ever since I first learned to walk in shoes other than sneakers, I’ve cultivated a (possibly irrational) fear of mules.  I mean, it’s half of a shoe.  HALF of a shoe.  I grew up playing a fair amount of sports and ankle support was considered paramount.  There is no ankle support in a mule.  A mule doesn’t really support anything.  It’s a toe shield with a heel.  Now, add that to having the great misfortune of seeing several ashy, cracked heels flopping up and down, unlucky women walking out of their mules, and unluckier ones twisting their poor, unsupported ankles because they were left elevated and naked unto the world.

Scary, scary stuff.

For weeks, I’ve seen pictures of Chanel clogs, pictures of Jeffrey Campbell clogs, pictures of chicks wearing newly purchased Jeffrey Campbell clogs because they can’t get Chanel clogs, and my mind always wandered to the place where I couldn’t understand why people were so obsessed with these strange-looking shoes that led to pain and suffering.

And then I went to Hoodwill.

A while back, I made a pact with myself that if I wanted to try out something trendy or strange and found it in a Goodwill, I could purchase it practically guilt free.  It’s saved me a ton of money from not having to pay retail for something that I’m probably not going to be wearing for a long time and I’m supporting the whole Goodwill jobs mission.  Everybody wins!

While I was browsing the racks, I saw them.  I saw a pair of clogs.  BONGO clogs.  I haven’t seen a Bongo item of clothing since I was in junior high school.  And Bongo was here.  In clog form.  In my size.

“This HAS to be the universe fucking with me,” I thought.

I showed dudeguy.

“Meh,” he shrugged.

I left them on the rack and instead bought a 70’s knit cardigan and some vintage glasses that are currently being fitted with lenses.  Dudeguy got a gray wool D Squared trench coat.  I’m still wondering who dropped off that coat.  If you knew where I lived, you’d understand.

We went home and I was still perturbed by what I’d found.

“Dude…they had CLOOOOOOGS.   Why do I even want these shoes?  They’re ugly.”

“You’re going back tomorrow, aren’t you?”

“You know I am!”

I went the next morning and the clogs were still unclaimed.   I picked them up and walked over to the cashier.  He told me they were 25% off.  I gave him $6 and was on my way.

I don’t know why I have them; I don’t know what I’m going to wear them with; I don’t know if I’ll wear them at all, but damn if it doesn’t feel good to spend $6 instead of $125 on an experimental piece of clothing.

Even better, I didn’t fall out of them when I wore them around the house.  Not once.

The moral of this story: if you’re iffy on something you want to buy, NEVER pay the retail price.  It is thriftable.  I promise.

Other moral of this story: everything you thought was true in 7th grade probably isn’t anymore.

Thankfully, I’ve seen quite a few things on the internet that are reaffirming my quest to have and do less.  And since this is a sharing place, here they are for your perusal:

• Makeunder: How and Why
• Letting Go of Desires 
• Email Sanity: How to Clear Your Inbox When You’re Drowning
• this video because if we used only the words essential to what we are trying to say, language could reach its full potential as a tool for communication instead of passing time…like, you know? (found @ Coilhouse)

Typography from Ronnie Bruce 

 Is anyone else down for a little life simplification?