The Star of the County Down

Photo by Me. This is the view from the top of Blarney Castle!

Is it weird that St. Patrick's Day is my favourite Holiday? Probably, but oh well, I just love it! It's been so fun to see people out and about sporting some sort of green clothing, or green accessory that is just ridiculous. I think that's why I like it so much, it's fun and people get silly (some more than others) and it allows me to talk all about my trip to Ireland, and people have to listen to me! And on top of that I get to blare Irish music and no one can say anything about it. Ha! Take that Universe.

Chelsea and I are doing our best to go all out this year. We're cooking Corn Beef, Colcannon, Guinness Cupcakes, and Bailey's Cupcakes. Plus we're making Irish Coffee and green Creme De Menthe Sodas. I will definitely have pictures tomorrow and let you know how the cupcakes turned out, maybe even post the recipe? Later tonight we're going to watch a Irish films (we haven't decided between Waking Ned Davine, Roan Inish, Darby O'Gill, or some Marion Davies film Chelsea recorded in which Marion Davies plays an Irish girl (I'm pushing for this one, I love Marion Davies!). What are your plans?

I hope your St. Patrick's Day is very festive and SAFE!

Poppies

Bow- Lulu Letty on Etsy
Dress- Vintage, Thrifted
Belt- Torrid many moons ago
Shoes-Payless

On Saturday Bri was working her second job at the Mission Inn Museum. I had a check to drop off for her and we were going to have lunch together, but plans didn't work out and we decided to go shopping after she got off instead. So I was waiting for her to get off work and decided to pop into my favourite thrift store. I never leave that store empty handed, but the last few times I've been in there, the clothing selection has not been all that great. Actually clothes-wise I've been having really bad luck with thrifting lately. By Saturday it had been a whole week since I'd done any thrifting and I hadn't been in my favourite shop for probably a month (they keep weird hours and my schedule and theirs never lines up). So in I treked and what did I find? Not one, not two, but three vintage dresses in my size that fit like a glove. I actually entered the dressing room (which is actually a curtain and a gate which is full of holes and not very private) with five items and walked out with four fitting (and the one that didn't fit was too big, so take that Universe!). The last thing is something I'll show you guys later next week (hopefully it cools down!), that I am totally in love with, and the other two dresses need a little TLC before I can show them off, including one that needs about three feet lopped off before I can wear it.

Anyways this dress was the last one that I found and ended up costing me $2 (everything in the store was half off. I know my luck is sometimes pretty great.). It was the last thing I tried on because it was just too perfect and I kept giving it a pep talk in the dressing room about how it was going to fit and had no options but to fit me and yes lady standing outside the dressing room I am talking to a dress, thankyouverymuch. Here's the thing about this dress, while I totally love it (anyone else pick up on the colour pallet? I told you I'm stuck!), it is almost garish. I mean the print is so big, and it's so bright, and if I ever needed to blend in or was sent on some secret spy mission, this is not the dress I'm going to wear. I've worn it twice since I bought it, and each time I feel like I stick out even more so than normal. No one has said anything, but I have certainly got a few strange looks. And yet all those looks end in a big grin. And not "the grin" (the "wow you are a freak in the way you dress and I am so much better than you for wearing my jeans/flip-flops/hoodies/uggs/mini skirt showing off the goods/sweat pants" grin. You know the one.), but a friendly, "wow that is a loud dress and yet I cannot help but be made happy by it's very exisitance" kind of grin. Which is kind of how I feel about it, like life is okay as long as this dress is around. It is just a happy dress and therefore is now my new favourite. Plus poppies are my favourite flower and so clearly this dress was made for me (and according to the second photo, brings out my inner flirt).

I don't usually show you guys the bad photos, but this one made me laugh!

Last night I "woke up" (as in became aware of, and then ignored as usual) to a 4.4 earthquake out of LA County. I actually forgot about the earthquake by the time I got up and only remembered it when I saw this on my news feeds this morning. Why is this news then? It is California. We have earthquakes. It's what we do. Why are we excited? Good Gosh this drives me crazy.

Oh! and one more thing! I found this Tumblr yesterday that is entirely dedicated to cupcakes. I know you can thank me now.

Monday Inspiration #34: Child Song Pt 3

In which I ramble on about the time change and have no clue what makes sense anymore.

I vote that from now on Daylight Savings happens on Friday night. That way we have all day Saturday and Sunday to get used to it before we have to be back at work. By the way, I can barely keep my eyes open and seriously have no idea what I'm saying so Merry Christmas. Wait what? I don't know. Here's some pictures. This book makes me want to dress like a 1960's Cheerleader and also makes my need for pinafore dresses even more prominant. I'm going to go find a corner to sleep in.

Seasons (and sneak peaks at things I have bought.)

In which I discuss the seasons and how my perception of them is warped, yet seem to make amends with California.

In April I will be heading off to Portland for a week to do some "scouting" for my impending move. I'm terribly, terribly excited by this. Ever since we picked a date for the trip I have been planning outfits in my head (and even on paper with my shoddy drawing skills). Today I have realized that I have no idea how to dress for spring, especially not the Oregon version of it. I blame this on my perception of the seasons. I grew up with the following Californian seasons: Summer, Fire Season, Santa Ana Winds Season (which comes towards the end of Fire Season and generally before the fires are put out which usually results in half the state burning down), and Storm Watch Season (where we get three inches of rain and half the state is flooded.). So the transition form this to living in a place that actually has proper seasons is going to be strange and I imagine will result in some silly clothing choices. I have accepted this.

However this does make packing for this trip incredibly difficult. I know it will be raining (it is April and this is Oregon afterall), but I don't actually know what spring weather is like. I mean it is March and currently it is 73 degrees outside. By Tuesday it is supposed to be 80. This is normal for California, but is this normal spring weather for everywhere else? I hear all the blogs of people who live in places with proper weather that it's been a "heavenly warm" 60 degrees. Our "Winter" is when it gets down to 60. When I was in Portland last (Summer 2008) we were there on the hottest day of the year (82, and windy) and I wore a sweater, granted I did have to change that sweater to a sun dress, but I get hot easily. So what do I pack? I know I have a little while to contemplate this, but I seriously just realized that I have no concept of how to dress properly for the different seasons. I'm a little ashamed of this.

Plus I have been trying to do a closet purge/put away all my "winter" things (y'know the six scarves and 20 sweaters, 10 coats and 8 pairs of gloves that I never wore), and now I'm freaking out that I am going to need all of this for my trip, and that basically I am going to freeze. Do people wear tightsin in the spring? Scarves? Do I need a wollen coat, or just a rain coat? Can I wear open toed shoes? Can I still wear polyester dresses or do I need to pack that away (it's waaaay too hot here to even think about polyester)?

I know I'm probably over thinking all this. I mean come on, it's me. I wore those ugly little sequined slides in the rain the whole time I was in Ireland and never thought about covering my feet. I went to New York in December 2005 and I wore flip-flops on the day it snowed and didn't get cold. and I got a second degree sunburn in Mexico in April and had to wear a thin long sleeved henley the rest of the trip and nearly died from heat exahustion (it was 80 and overcast btw). I like cold, I like rain, I think anything above 75 is just indecent. But that does not change the fact that I have no idea how to dress from a real proper spring.

And somehow through all this, something hit me. It's not that I hate California. I actually like the idea of a permanent summer vacation. The world needs a California. It needs a place of eternal sunshine and warm weather; a place where dreams are made. I just don't need California. Eternal Summers have no appeal to me, thus I just don't need it. Of course this doesn't actually solve my packing problem, but it's a work in progress.

Also, thanks to a certain someone, I have realized I have just three months left here. Gulp!

On that note, excuse me if I seem to prattle on about moving.

Hey wasn't it just January?

Things I'm loving

St. Patricks Day is coming up!! Corned Beef and Cabbage, Guinness, pipes, green clothes! I love St. Patrick's Day!

I want the view in yellow so bad!!! But the white is so pretty too! Found here

A Girl Scout Pin I found at last weekend's Rummage Sale. I'm going to try and get photos of the rest of my haul and post them tomorrow. But I love this silly little pin. I always wanted to be a girl scout when I was a kid but my dad said that the girl scouts turned out brainwashed drones harbouring feminist ideals and poisoning the minds of girls in the name of service and friendship. Or something like that. So I'm living vicariously through my ten cent pin.

An old lunch sack! It's got a thermos and sandwich bin, but it needs to be cleaned. Like, there are 50 year old molded/fossilized orange peels as well as what I think might have been a carton of BBQ sauce but is now a solid lump of something else. It's gross and I didn't know it was in there until after I bought it. I figure after a good bleach bath I can use it.

I don't know about you, but I am sure glad it is Friday. My weekend plans are as follows: Stay home, read, drink copious amounts of coffee, clean, sew, read, drink copious amounts of coffee, repeat. I refuse to do anything else. What are your plans? I hope they are incredibly relaxing!

Giddy-Giddy-Gumdrops!

Bow Headband- Disneyland!

Sweater-Vintage

Dress-Self Made

Necklace- F21

Shoes-Pinupgirlclothing.com

Have I told you lately that I love you? No really! I'm not quoting bad song lyrics, I really mean it! I love you guys! Seriously, completely love, love, love, love each and every single one of you! You are just the nicest bunch of beautiful people I this big old world. I mean it, I really do. I mean not only do you put up with my continuous ramblings everyday, but you guys actually like my ramblings. And some of you even think I got style (which must be said in a very Fosse-esqu way, "Jah-zz!), and some of you even think I am funny! Only my mom thinks I'm funny! So seriously you guys are just so flipping great! So welcome to all my new followers, and thanks to you all who've stuck around (which I'm assuming can only be for my good looks). Your comments totally make my day, and I promise to be better about replying/commenting myself. So in honor of your awesomness I give you all permission to eat a big giant cupcake today! Guilt free! I know. What can I say, I'm a giver.

Oh yeah, and if I can, I'd like to take this moment to say that my legs look stinking amazing in these photos. I don't know why, but they look like, actual legs and not nubby tree stumps! It's like I took miracle leg growing pills. Which are probably totally available in Asia. Somone send me some. Thanks!

I have a hard time with this bow. I think it both looks awesome, and ridiculous. So I guess that makes is Awesoulous? Or Ridicusome. I like that one better. I think the other problem with it is that everytime I wear it all I can think about is the fact that it's from the Princess Boutique in Disneyland and I'm so sure people are going to walk up to me and by all, "um why are you wearing Snow White's bow on your head." And then I'll have to be all "it's a free country thankyouverymuchIhavehadwaytoomuchcoffeetoday". No really I'm cup number 8.

This is my crooked smile. It shows off my droppy eyelid and the poor semmetry of my nose. I kind of like that.

How are you all? If you're new I'd love to know you better! Tell me about yourself!

Primary Problem

Sweater-Vintage

Blouse-Vintage

Skirt-Thrifted

Shoes- Pinupgirlclothing.com

Do you guys ever get stuck in a colour pallet? I never really thought I did until I was organizing photos and found the above pallet repeated over and over again. It makes sense considering red, mustard, and navy(yes the skirt is actually navy) are three of my favourite colours, but I think I might be over doing it. I've really only noticed that I've done this pattern since the end of December, and I think it's become my "go-to" combo. It helps that I own, like, five mustard-y cardigans, and a jillion pieces of red and navy clothing items, but I think I'm a bit over it. Actually come to think of it this is the same colour combo I used for my trip to San Francisco last summer. Okay, I officially need a new colour pallet. I'm thinking I need more florals and pastels. Maybe it's just spring fever (ha!), but I have been craving roses and pinks and soft yellows and blues. I have also been craving a picnic. And raspberries. Mmmm. Raspberries. With home made whipped cream. I'm going to stop now. Oh yeah and about this skirt, I wasn't crazy about the length when I bought it and was going to shorten it, but it's growing on me. What say you? To shorten, or not to shorten?

In other news I am going to Portland one month from today! We're going for Spring Break and I am so excited! Actually I'm going during Spring Break No. 3. Bri and Charissa have Spring Break at the end of March, and Sarah's is the week before Jessica's so we're (it's Bri, Jess, Chelsea and I) going over Jessica's Spring Break. I'm very excited, mostly because I love packing. And I'm packing a different colour pallet this time.

I'm going to try and get up a video tutorial tomorrow, but no promises, also I'm going to try and do a shop update tomorrow, but again, no promises.

This is becoming a weird post. I think my brain is lost somewhere in the piles of filing I've been trying to finish since Monday.