Commenced "Operation Mermaid Tips" on Sunday.  I'm liking the blonde, but we must keep our eyes on the prize, people.  Will report again after my victory.

workin it for tupperware

so tomorrow i'm attending my first tupperware party. actually, it's my first anything sales-related party. i'm a sales-party virgin! in almost 33 years i've managed to not have attend any social functions where stuff was shoved at you and payment requested. my co-worker who's throwing the party though is very chill and she's not too concerned with whether people buy anything. apparently there's going to be an opportunity to win stuff via an auction and we can earn points by doing stuff, like by bringing a piece of your own tupperware? well sirs, this is my lucky day because i happen to own a piece of your fine goods. it might have been my grandmothers and it might be the only piece of plastic storage i own that did not come with "disposable" on the label. it's that ugly 70s orange color and it's bulky and i love it.  and tomorrow it's going to get me 500 points biotches and then we'll see who leaves with the most tupperware!  (hint: me.)

via

since tomorrow is going to be eaten up by a) sleeping, b) lunch with mark, c) tupperware, and d) driving home from bfe where tupperware lives, i should be a productive beaver tonight doing all the things i won't get a chance to tomorrow. things like cleaning and laundry and mending. instead i'm rewatching "new girl" episodes and painting my toenails and straightening my hair. because i gots to look good for the lady partay! apparently. why are we women the way we are? why can't i roll up straight out of bed and throw on a tshirt like a man i ask you? and also deciding what to wear is the worst. that's why i'll probably throw this "outfit" on that i took photos of a gazillion days ago and never posted. i say "outfit" because as i might have mentioned i don't fashion things and i don't style them. i throw things on and off until the majority of my bedroom floor is covered in clothes and that is when i know my "outfit" is ready. but look at my cute floral shirt you guys!  i'm in love with it, as well as these shoes.  i wish i had bought another pair because they are flimsy and suede-y and they can only last but so long.

i'm a Rock 'N' Roll star...

princess mombi chose this librarian's head for me that day.

 

top:  bisou bisou  |  jeans: old navy  |  shoes:  mossimo supply co. ring: j.c. penney (sold out online) similar

i'm working on working it. it's kind of hard when your photographer is an iphone propped on a stick-branch. it's also pretty cool how i edited all those photos to be different sizes, huh? i'll have to get checked, but i think i might be some sort of post-editing savant.  who can confirm this for me?  i'll be out tomorrow and sunday, but you can get me after work on monday.

say "NO" to the muskrat way!

my gentleman friend has his birthday tomorrow, and according to the polyvore set i made, this is what i'm getting him:


(by the way, that's just some good advice i threw in, courtesy of a birthday card mark once got me.  i say "no" to the muskrat way at least once a week (the muskrat way being mainly defined as just "bad stuff" because where else would you go with that - muskrats not celebrating birthdays is their way=bad=anything bad is the muskrat way).  it's a very useful term with which to convey your emotions when something you don't like goes down at the office.  i also say "you're killing me, larry!" - mostly to my computer - but that's a tale for another time.)

if you know me at all, and since we are probably strangers and i haven't done too many posts yet you don't, but if you did know me, you'd know i like pink floyd and house of love.  so picking from mark's amazon list wasn't too complicated because i just got him stuff i want to gank from him later on.  isn't that convenient?

the PF are books and the HOL are albums (he likes a tangible album with cover art, what can i say?  half of his cd/vinyl purchases are things he already owns digitally.  that boy...) mark turned me on to both of these bands and i must say they have put out some fine, fine music.  i never really liked pink floyd as a youth - i bought into the druggie band stereotype and never gave them a chance (i was so mad when "the wall" beat out "abbey road" in a top 100 classic album contest on the radio station back home, but it turns out they *weren't* a druggie band (aside from poor syd barrett who fried his brain and had to leave the band early on), and their music is amazing.  house of love is late 80s/early 90s dreamy brit pop and they have many moments of brilliance in their well-crafted tunes.

the monkey is a mini glass figurine from pier 1 and it cost two dollars.  mark and i don't, and actually have never (except if one of us needs the other in a public situation), called each other by our first names.  we exclusively use nicknames (mostly anything that pops into our heads at the moment) and monkey is just one habitual names i call him.  (they didn't have a poodle, but that would have been sweet.)

we're meeting for lunch tomorrow at panera, and i'll give him the monkey then.  (that sounded sexual!)  like a man, he didn't give me his list until yesterday, so we have to wait 80 gagillion days for them to ship.  no presents for you!  and, since we are high-rollers and love to really get out there on the town and throw caution to the wind, we'll probably get chipotle takeout, come home, and watch "kitchen nightmares" or "man vs. wild."  we'll top the night off with some early 90s "wings" and that, my friend, is the making of an epic, epic birthday.  honestly kids, don't even try to replicate this at home because you might injure yourself if you aren't cool enough, ok?  i'm only thinking of your safety.

happy birthday, spatula-head!

coming out

so...

happy out of the closet to me.  blog-related.  i had been slowly (sloooowly) building a backlog of posts before i went public so if anyone actually came to this here blog they would have more than like, 5 things to look at.  however, kelsi over at brighter sides offered up some fancy free ad space to lucky first responders on her twitter and i mean, that was just too good to pass up.  (thanks, kelsi!)

so here i am, world.  warts and all.  i had wanted to spruce up before anyone came over, maybe (definitely) do a little (a lot of) blog refreshing.  but i am learning and growing and someday soon i hope things will settle down in here.  i mean, it would be nice to have more than one tab up there.

also, and just so you know, my spirit animal is the sloth, so what i just said may never actually happen.  it's the thought that counts, amirite?

what i am *really* saying is that it is kelsi's fault that my unpolished blog is already public. ;)  (sloths also don't take responsibility for their actions, did you know?)  i take no responsibility for my actions!

........

in other news, and because honestly this is what blogs are for (no one wants to hear what you ate for dinner, is what i am learning) i have a handy tip for you.  omg i'm so crafty and resourceful, you guys!

so the other day i got into my car to go to wendy's for some luncheon (that's it about the food part, i promise), and it was all hot and groggy out.  what to do with my hair?  put it up, of course.  so i scrounge and scrounge and come up with nary a hair clip or band.  you guys, i couldn't even find a pen to do that twisty stick thing, and honestly, when an adult woman person doesn't even have a pen in her purse for pen needs, that woman has done a fail.  (and by the way, where are all my hair restrainers?  i buy them, i use them, they disappear, and then i have to buy more.  what *is* that?  is it just me?  are they escaping from me?)  so, back to the car and my hair.  a-ha! i spy a cylinder of glow stick necklaces on the passenger seat floor.  (these are the types of things i have in my car that i don't even notice anymore until my day of need).  i think i can maybe fashion something out of one, and i do.  behold:

use it like you would use a pen for pen hair, and then bend it into a circle, securing it with one of the necklace holders.  (if you don't know pen hair:  take one stick of necklace, pull your hair into a pony, wrap your hair once or twice around the necklace starting at the base of your pony, twist the necklace until your hair gets into a tight messy ball, jab one of the points into your scalp hair (or both points if it's still loose), and then bend it into a circle, etc.)

my car is kind of turning into a hoopty, so i will call this the Hoopty-Do.  awww, whaaaaat?

and... i have just given you my first style post.  and now that you understand what i have going on here and what the future most likely holds for this space...

you are welcome.

Summerfest 2013

when i picked up my shampoo tonight there was goo all over, and at first i thought it was leaking but then i realized i had left my shower gel top down and *it* had leaked almost all out.. oh noes! but, it's actually perfect timing because it was almost all gone anyway, and it's in perfect time for...

summer solstice 2013 "bring on the sunsheeeeeyine!" summerfest party and festival!

(which consists of me doing all the summery things that i deny myself the rest of the year, strictly in order that i may have summery things)

some seasonal things are forced on you, like egg nog, eggo's pumpkin spice waffles, girl scout cookies (and why are all my examples food?). i like that though; those things wouldn't be as special if you could just have them any old time. (sidebar: apparently egg nog used to also be a summer thing? people would have it as a treaty respite from working in the fields. well, at least the family in "Farmer Boy" did, as written by Laura Ingalls, from whom I get most of my late 19th century american historical information.) i love sniffing a certain shower gel or listening to a summery song and having it envelope me in that summer feeling. for me the feeling is nostalgic and bittersweet, for things i had and things i never had. but it's all wrapped up together and i keep it in it's summer place through sheer willpower.

here's are some of some things i have been saving for the summer:

fyi, the shows are all on netflix, and i highly recommend them for light summertime viewing. "Legend of the Seeker" is pure silly fun, with a side of butt-kicking and surprisingly well-done fight sequences. "H2O: Just Add Water" and "Blue Water High" are teen/tween shows that aired in Australia; the former is about three girls who become mermaids (yes, please!) and the second is about a teen surfing academy. They're both light and relatively drama-free, and the scenery is absolutely fantastic. There's nothing like watching down-under wave action to get you in the summer mood.  [edit:  the only show left on netflix at the moment is "H2O."  soooo disappoint, netflix!  why you play me like that, bro?]

are there things you keep strictly as seasonal delights? what do you do to bring out the flavor in summer?

home improvements

i love a good sale. and you can't get much more sale than 90%. i found a bunch of succulents on sale at, who'd have guessed it, cvs. i've been into succulents this spring, trying to bring a little life and color into the house. i did a display of some fake ones i picked up (that i did photograph and should probably put on here now that i've been blogging again), and i also did a few plantings of some little ones - of which two are, if not dead, on their last legs.  i also *finally* transplanted the aloes and jade i brought from california. i've pretty much ignored them - mark and i sporadically watering them - so i'm not sure how they survived. i guess they like being ignored.

anyway, here is a collage of the plants i picked up. all $3.57 worth of them.

i have them above my sink right now.  i was planning to create a couple of "garden style" pots, but they may stay up there for awhile.

in other news i am super sore.  i won't say i had a busy weekend, but it was productive.  the bath has needed recaulking since we moved in and i finally got the energy up to tackle it.  it helped that i got a coupon for lowe's in friday's mail.  so saturday morning i picked up the supplies (and some for grout touching up as well as cabinet painting - upcoming projects) and then after mark went to work i commenced the recaulking.  which was mostly scraping the old caulk off.  crouching, bending, stooping, balacing, grasping.  the caulking gun was a nightmare.  my everything hurts.  my thighs are still on fire when i move and my hands ache, among other things.  but it's done.. i won't say how well, but it's done.

and just because this is what one does when one is on a blog, a photo:

 

i clearly have some rust-removing to do, as well as the aforementioned regrouting touchups.  i don't even own this house, guys!  but ah, to have a nice tub in which to take my baths.  a mermaid needs her baths. 

i wore some stuff

my first outfit post.  i am not really fashionable.  i don't "style" things, i put them on.  i frequently slap my hair up, throw on unwashed jeans and a tank, and head out for some arby's.  i used to try to be cute for shows when we lived in la, and i sort of had my own style then, but not too much anymore.  i don't go out that often, so i don't usually worry too much about what i'm wearing.  and even when i find something i like, i usually wear it in a simple, similar way every time.  i don't do mix and match every time.  every so often, though, i feel like putting something together, and this is the first time i'm documenting that in the standard blogging way.  unless i change my mind, which i am definitely apt to do, i will call these posts, "i wore some stuff."

i got this dress awhile ago at target (obviously, as i live there) but this was my first wearing.  when i first saw it i really liked the style, but wasn't sure if i liked the color/pattern enough.  i saw it on someone else later on and decided i wanted it, so i picked it up when it went on clearance.  plus, pockets!  anyway, i put it on to enjoy the sunny day last saturday, and decided to make an actual outfit.  and then to take photos.  you guys, i am really bad at this.. haha.  please excuse my wonk and bad poses.  i think my problem is i am just too gorgeous for the camera - 2d just can't take it all.  yeah, that's it.

and so...

 shiny!

jean shirt:  gap | dress:  xhilaration

ankle boots:  mossimo supply co.  |  tights:  xhilaration

anchor bracelet:  clementine  |  triangle earrings:  clementine

heart necklace:  jamaican souvenier  |  sunglasses:  target