Black Oxfords | Mascara or Motoroil

the moon’s teeth marks are on the sky

Following the lead of many of my favorite blogger gals, I’ve been using song lyrics in the absence of good post titles. This one is from my favorite Tom Waits song, Ninth & Hennepin a spoken word poem about a the saddest, grittiest dive bar. Classic Tom Waits. The piano I posed with in this post reminded me of the broken lilting piano part in Ninth & Hennepin. I was really excited to find this piano in an alley we were walking through on the way to the bar, it made the perfect backdrop!

I really love the texture of this wrap sweater. It's actually made to be a bolero-style front tie sweater for a lady much larger than me, so it wraps all the way around me!

WHAT: purple dot earrings, chicken lays an egg

owl necklace, chicken lays an egg

blue tank, rainbow

wrap sweater, chicken lays an egg

rose ring, pangaea

floral skirt, h&m

purple tights, forever 21

black oxfords, payless

WHERE: art opening at Fabricate , The Lion’s Rampant CD release party, and lots of drinks

WHEN: saturday, march 13

pass it along!

vests are best!

While I haven’t been holding up my end of the blogging lately, I’ve been surprising myself with the ease I’ve been choosing outfits. I was really glad to finally get to wear this vest that my mom gave me for Christmas. I love how fitted it is, and it goes so well with the extra flowy sleeves on my new shirt! And even better, the little metallic flecks woven into it are both gold and silver.

I love how huge these sleeves are!

WHAT: gravevine button earrings, made by me!

lavender top, lion’s thrift (nashville)

vest, from my mom

patent leather belt, chicken lays an egg

blackbird ring, forever 21

high-waisted jeans, urban outfitters

patent leather oxfords, payless

gold bag, pre to post modern (nashville)

WHERE: work at the library

WHEN: monday, february 22

pass it along!

like marbles on a mirror

I have say as much as I dig this shirt, I really hate these pictures. I had to take them just this once in my totally unappealing kitchen. I feel odd because I don’t really have anything to say about this outfit. Just a little something I threw on to go out for a drink with some friends.

WHAT: blue scarf, thrift

paisley shirt, chicken lays an egg

blue bangle, rag-o-rama

blackbird ring, forever 21

jeans, forever 21

patent leather oxfords, payless

WHERE: drinks at the northside tavern

WHEN: friday, january 29

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poor puppy

Unfortunately I awoke this morning to find that my dog Chopper had gotten a scratch on her eye from the puppy. She looked so sad and pathetic, her eye was all weepy and blinking. So I spent a good portion of the day and a bunch of money getting her eye all straightened out. The good news is the vet said she should be fine by Thursday though! Whew! They gave her one of those plastic cones so she wouldn’t itch the medicine out, and it just breaks my heart to look at her.

Since the first thing I did this morning was take her to the vet I’ve just been kinda slumming it today in t-shirt and Chucks. So I hope you enjoy my pseudo-conservative Christmas outfit! (I always have to kind of tone it down for my extended family.)

WHAT: teal church dress, chicken lays an egg

giant cameo, gift from jeni

patent belt, chicken lays an egg

stripe tights, gabriel brothers

black oxfords, payless

WHERE: christmas with my dad’s family

WHEN: saturday, december 25

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bows abound

Well, Christmas is over already somehow. It always sneaks up on me, but it really got me this time! The Holiday Soiree at the store went fabulously, and I’ll have the photo booth pictures up in the next few days. They turned out phenomenal, our friend Scott really did an incredible job.

My Christmas turned out pretty great, I actually got a bunch of stuff I wanted! Thankfully I got lots of grocery gift cards; I’m so glad my family finally realized that the best present you can get for poor kids is food! I also got a bunch of board games from my mom and a Dremel from my Dad, which was exactly what I wanted. Honestly though the best part of Christmas for me was just having some free time to spend on the couch cuddling with my boy and our puppy brigade. I’ve been running around so much in the last week or so that I’ve barely had time to do that.

Since I have quite a few outfits from the last week, I guess I’ll just do a few each day. This one is from last Wednesday at the shop. I just got this dress and hat from the store and I was dying to wear them. I just love the giant bow on this hat! Actually, everything I was wearing that day is from the store except for my tights and shoes!

WHAT: velvet bow hat, chicken lays an egg

white oval earrings, thrift

bow and pearl necklace, gift from my friend jeni

blue pleated dress, chicken lays an egg

stretchy black and white belt, chicken lays an egg

bird ring (as always), forever 21

yellow tights, target

black oxfords, payless

WHERE: work at the store

WHEN: wednesday, december 16

Just a little moment of awesomeness from my Christmas: these are gay pride Christmas bears that my straight ex-marine cousin made. Her mom told her she was ruining Christmas, and she said, “What mom? Gay people have Christmas too!” This was all while my biker aunt and uncle got sloshed on PBR, and everyone there continuously screamed over each other to be heard. That’s how every holiday is. I love my family.

pass it along!

it’s been a good day : )

Well, as much as I distance myself from people who create drama and try very hard not to let the stress get to me, it does occasionally happen. Luckily this is the end of it for me, my drama resolved itself. I try to live a life full of good karma. It’s the closest thing I’ll ever have to a religion, and I think it helps me out of these situations. Be good and good things will happen in return. So here’s to more good karma!

I also got an email back from the always lovely Julie at Orchid Grey, and she has graciously put up a link on her page too! I’m loving these blogger ladies, they’re a bunch of sweethearts!

I am way jealous of her frames!

I think I’ve also been feeling better because I finally whipped out my needle and did some long-overdue stitching! I made this really cute set of felt breakfast ornaments (includes toast, fried egg, and of course bacon) to sell at the store. The boy snapped a few of me elbow deep in some felt bacon.

stitchin' away

I'll have some more pictures once I finish them all up!

new dress!

I wish you could see the back panel in these! There's a cute little pleat right down the middle on the top.

purple smokiness

I borrowed these little lovelies from the store, via Maya. I love that they look like little candies your Gramma would've had on the coffee table.

I borrowed these little lovelies from the store, via Maya. I love that they look like little candies your Gramma would've had on her coffee table.

peter pan

king of buttons

WHAT: candy earrings, chicken lays an egg (These are currently for sale for $4)

amazing shirtdress, chicken lays an egg

blackbird ring, forever 21

gray tights, dollar store

black oxfords, payless

WHERE: work at the library, sewing at home

WHEN: monday, decemeber 14

I was feeling cheeky.

When I was a kid I used to always love when my Dad did this because I could never figure out how he did it.

If you’re going to be in Cincinnati at all next Saturday the 19th, the ladies of Chicken Lays An Egg will be having a little holiday soiree! Check out the details here. Bring your friends, we’ll have booze!

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emerald green is the color of the day

Winter has finally, angrily hit us here in Ohio, and I was not prepared for it today. I may have looked cute, but I thought I was going to die every time I stepped outside. I was really stoked to rock these pieces though, most of them I’ve never worn!

check out all those dresses behind me!

love this scarf!

makeup again?!

coolest scarf brooch ever!

playing with my camera

ring things

green legs

stayin' warm!

WHAT: leopard scarf, my gramma

scarf brooch, on loan from maya

lemon shift dress, thrift

green tights, forever 21

patent oxfords, payless

WHERE: work at the store

WHEN: december 10

Stay warm!

pass it along!

RETROactive posting- part 4

I honestly cannot remember when I wore this outfit last. I really like it, but it’s a bit restrictive. Also, I try not to dress too cute when I work at the library due to the amount of creepy dudes who stare at me when I do. It’s just the kind of staring that you can feel and it gets a bit disruptive when you’re trying to work. I especially love this tie; it’s a silk one from about the 1930′s. newspaper editor

best tie ever

black patents

WHAT: white button up, forever 21

silk tie, gift from my brother

gray pencil skirt, forever 21

black belt, came with skirt

black patent oxfords, payless

WHERE: work at the library

WHEN: who knows!

Have a good day!

pass it along!

friendsgiving

Last year I started a new tradition in my group of friends by deciding I wanted to do Thanksgiving in a way that would be more fun. So I told my family I wasn’t coming, and cooked dinner for a bunch of my friends. I was really happy that the tradition continued again this year, and even more people came!

While everyone was eating I started looking around the room and I noticed how totally cute all my ladies looked, so after dinner I asked if they’d pose for some pictures. I wish I’d have thought to get individual shots too. Oh well, next time! So here are some of my favorite ladies and myself!

definitely my favorite

Maya, Amy & I

WHAT: cream brocade dress, chicken lays an egg

pocket watch necklace, chicken lays an egg

rose bracelet, yard sale

gold bangle, my gramma

black tights, h&m

black oxfords, payless

WHERE: black friday at the store and friendsgiving

WHEN: friday, november 28

pass it along!

thanksgiving and waffle house go hand in hand

Wednesday Addams pretty much summed up my feelings about Thanksgiving,

“You have taken the land which is rightfully ours. Years from now my people will be forced to live in mobile homes on reservations. Your people will wear cardigans, and drink highballs. My people will have pain and degradation. Your people will have stick shifts. And for all these reasons I have decided to scalp you and burn your village to the ground.”

Not that I don’t love it when people give me hot, free, delicious food, especially since my diet consists mostly of cereal. I just hate all the running around. This year the boy and I had 5 Thanksgivings to attend, including one we threw for our friends, but it was all a lot of fun. It was really nice to meet the boy’s extended family too. For exactly that reason, I chose a pretty plain outfit by my standards so as not to completely weird them out on our first meeting. Also of course went for comfort with my jersey knit tent dress. No tight pants here! And my new tiny gold pocket watch, which I have worn everyday since I got it. Without further ado…

sooo full!

handmade feather headband

pocketwatch

faux fur lined coat

WHAT: feather headband, homemade

white t, rainbow

navy tent dress, gift from my friend nancy

gray scarf, target

teeny pocket watch, chicken lays an egg

brown oxfords, macy’s

leather saddle bag purse, thrift

feather scarf, chicken lays an egg

tan coat, gift from karma

WHERE: all the food fests

WHEN: thursday, november 26

Then, at about 2:30 in the morning, my brother and I decided that Waffle House was in order. So we drove over the bridge to Kentucky, land of Waffle House, cheap cigs, and smoking INSIDE! I opted for a little more casual outfit for that.