Stripes | Mascara or Motoroil

birthdays galore

Maybe it’s due to the fact that my birthday is in August, but I feel like it’s non-stop birthday month! The trend of me being a total summer slacker continues; I am just now posting the pics from my birthday which was August 5. Not that I’m behind or anything.

This year my birthday fell on a Thursday, and I was crazy busy and stressed getting ready for the fashion show we were participating in that weekend. So the Monday of my birthday week, my boy and I took a mini road trip to Indiana and spent the day driving around in the country. When I was first out of high school I joined my brother and some of our friends working at a summer camp out there for a few years, so it is kind of like going home for me. Although I only worked there for 3 years and it’s just a summer program, I feel like I’m home when I go back. It’s definitely the same kind of rolling countryside that I grew up in too. It makes me so happy to finally get out to those wooded areas where you can feel the temperature drop 5 degrees automatically; I can just feel my whole body relax.

Fun side story: my boy and I thoroughly enjoy driving around listening to music, and this trip is definitely no exception. Unfortunately, someone ripped the stereo out of his car about a week before. Surprisingly, we didn’t have a boombox around the house so we were starting to get really bummed about not having tunes all day. That’s when my MacGyver of a boyfriend fashioned this!

One cell phone, one camera tripod, and one gaping hole

What a man! :) AND since his phone has a navigation function, it also served us very well as a GPS! Anyway, back to our trip…

Hope you weren't in a hurry, cause you're not going anywhere soon!

Look at that gorgeous corn! We spent a few hours just driving aimlessly around looking at the countryside and stopping at little shops. I could spend days doing just that.

One of my absolute favorite things ever are abandoned buildings, especially houses like these. There are so many out in the country too.

One of many Amish homes in that area; it reminded me how amazing sun-dried sheets smell. I swear, there’s nothing in the world like it.

At some point during the day I absolutely had to be in a creek at some point during the day. Originally we had planned to go to a swimming hole that I used to know about, but we never did find it.

Ahhhhhh….

Our next big stop was in Madison, this cute little river town in southeastern Indiana.

I’m a total sucker for old movie theaters, I wish there was one around me that played classic movies.

This is what I really came to Madison for. Hinkle’s is a must if you are ever near there!

They have the best milkshakes there too, and everything is supercheap. What more could anyone ask for?

After we gorged ourselves on mini burgers and milkshakes, we decided to walk around the town a little. It was just getting to be sunset so it was perfect for a stroll.

We walked down to the river and sat on this pier for a while, just chillaxin’.

I shall hide.

We’d been gone for 7 or 8 hours by then and it was getting late, so we hopped it the car and headed home to let our pups out.

Almost home!

More very soon!

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sabertooth goofball

I don’t know if most of my readers live in the area or not, but if not, then you are lucky! It’s been in the high 90′s and 100′s almost everyday for pretty much the whole summer. The heat has finally broken in the last week or so and is now bearable, thank god. Although it is that hot in many other parts of the country, we here in Ohio live in humidity central. I’ve never lived anywhere else so all I know is humid, humid summers.

Stylistically, the big bummer about this is that you just can’t wear any clothes. Every little piece of clothing just feels like a wool blanket, and I’m not even out in the heat for extended periods of time. I really give props to anyone who has to work outside, I think I’d die. In a lot of past summers I worked at summer camps and such, but I don’t know how I did it in heat like this!

Anyway, here’s a little simple something that I wore to work the other day. I got the skirt from a friend and chopped about 6 inches off, now it’s perfect. Black and white stripes like that get me every time!

Yeah, I’m really shy. That’s why I do stuff like this.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

That's what 'special' dinosaurs look like.

Yeah, I had fun doing this post. :)

WHAT: blue mini dress (as shirt), forever 21

tooth necklace, chicken lays an egg

black patent belt, rainbow

stripe skirt, from stacey

black rubber flats, target

WHERE: work at chicken

WHEN: wedensday, august 11

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stopped (for now)

I just heard that BP has finally sealed off the leak (we’ll see how well it works) and I am skeptical but very hopeful. Coincidentally the outfit I’m wearing seems surprisingly nautical outfit for a sweaty day in the Midwest.

I love my little jointed fishie.

Like perfect little sand dollars

Although I thought this dress was adorable when I saw it on their site, I must say I was a bit apprehensive about wearing something with a dropped waist. I just usually don’t like how they fit, and with this being jersey I figured it would be way too clingy in all the wrong spots. I was very pleasantly surprised though when I saw how it looked on! It’s super comfy and light too so I’ve been wearing the crap out of it lately. Shabby Apple also donates a portion of their proceeds to Unitus to help women throughout the world get micro-loans, which is a nice perk to buying a cute dress.

I was pretty tickled to see that Tieka from Selective Potential picked out the same dress in red!

WHAT: Baja dress, courtsey of Shabby Apple

floppy fish necklace, chicken lays an egg

sand dollar belt, chicken lays an egg

high heel cowboy boots, thrift

WHERE: work at the shop, findlay market, running errards

WHEN: thursday, july 15

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all aboard for summer!

Thanks to the naturally cool temperature of our apartment, I had no idea how incredibly humid it was outside today and opted for pants. Not one of my best calls; I was sweating everywhere. Luckily we just got a new A/C unit for the shop so at least I got to be nice and cool while I was working. I’m hoping that it will cool off a little by 8, as I’m planning on going to a concert on Fountain Square tonight (in downtown Cincinnati) as part of the MidPoint Music Festival. If you’re in the area make sure to catch The Minor Leagues!

I borrowed this cool piece of Indian costume jewelry from my roommate and business partner Maya today that I was really excited to wear and was happy it went well with the conductor stripe jeans! As you can see I have worn my new shoes every day since I got them. That’s not just for my posts either, I actually haven’t worn any other shoes- except maybe some flip flops to take the pups out.

I absolutely love the little ruffle on the clutch and the carved bangles!

You know you'll be seeing a lot of them!

WHAT: navy post earrings, chicken lays an egg

indian necklace, borrowed from maya

mustard t, rainbow

carved bangles, my gramma

clutch, chicken lays an egg

navy belt, chicken lays an egg

striped jeans, forever 21

wedges, aldo

WHERE: work at chicken and midpoint music festival

WHEN: friday, june 11

Thanks for reading! Have a good weekend!

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now in technicolor

Since I have been sewing like a machine, I have made a lot of progress on cool pieces that I’ve had forever. This skirt is of course one of those things- I shortened it about 5 inches and made the waist just the tiniest bit bigger. It automatically caught my eye because of the colors, but I have been really lazy about my personal alterations so I’ve had it for ages. Anyway, today I thought I’d go for a contrasting stripes look with my accessories!

I got these amazing beauties at a yard sale for 50 cents! And it's no mystery to me why our store is painted in awesome color schemes like this.

Right behind the cash register

WHAT: yellow sunglasses, chicken lays an egg

yellow and stripe earrings, yard sale

green t, rainbow

white belt, chicken lays an egg

i love you ring, forever 21

black and white bracelet, thrift

rainbow skirt, chicken lays an egg

diamond shoes, chicken lays an egg

WHERE: work at chicken and bike riding with the boy

WHEN: tuesday, june 1

I forgot to wear them today, but I’m really excited about the new shorts I got for wearing under all of my dresses when I ride my bike! I’m not about to start wearing pants all the time- besides, I very rarely sacrifice fashion for function and I don’t see why this would be any different. I promise they’ll make an appearance very soon!!

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sail a ship on my ocean

Although I don’t shop there too much, I recently made a stop at my local Urban Outfitters since it was on my way home (after I walked a block out of the way). I was very pleased to see lots and lots of sale stuff- my favorite! I allowed myself to get one thing, and at $10 this striped bodysuit won! I am a little annoyed with myself for not trying it on because I always forget to account for my longer torso, so it is a bit small for me. It’s still wearable though and I was very happy about how well it matched this skirt. In an effort to avoid being too red, white, and blue though I went with tan accessories. Ideally I would have been wearing these shoes, but there’s some rule about paying for things before you receive them or something. Weak.

Just use your imagination and pretend I’m wearing those, it’s much cuter. And as usual, sorry for the blur.

I made these little guys out of vintage buttons from my Gramma.

WHAT: sheer scarf (of course), thrift

button earrings, diy by me

gold necklace, thrift

stripe bodysuit, urban outfitters

tube skirt, h&m

tan sandals, borrowed from maya

WHERE: work at the shop

WHEN: tuesday, may 24

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stripes galore

Confession time: I’ve been really dragging my feet about posting and even reading other style blogs lately, and I’ve trying to figure out why. I think part of it is sheer laziness, but there is definitely something else going on too. I get frustrated sometimes reading other blogs because I don’t think mine is up to the standards of my peers, and then I get discouraged. I also start to think that I am not being creative enough in my outfits. Anyway, I guess basically my own neurosis is getting to me. I do want to try experiment more with texture and more complicated outfits though.

Also since we expanded the page, I’m playing with making my pictures wider! AND I found what is now my new favorite place to take pictures – the back door at the shop!

My awesome men's Swatch watch!

WHAT: knit hat, stolen from the boy

glasses, forever 21

swatch watch, gift from friend

geometric dress, forever 21

fish necklace, thrift

stripe tights, h&m

wedge boots, forever 21

WHERE: work at the shop and lots of playing outside

WHEN: wednesday, march 31

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fascinators and funky poses

I have to say that I have the best friends. They have just all been so great in helping with the store! If they’re not just giving me things to sell, they’re telling everyone they know to shop with us. In that vein, I have to thank Leah Fleischer for hooking me up with Andria. Andria, along with quite a few of my friends (and now my brother!!) is going to Korea to teach English. If you have lots of student debt and would like to travel, you should look into this. They give you a housing stipend and pay you almost $1000 a month! Make sure you do it Seoul though, otherwise they stick you out in the boonies where there’s nothing going on. Anyway, best of luck to Andria and thank you for selling me all your stuff!

Since I bought a ton of clothes this week I spent most of my day at the store pricing and steaming and I’m still nowhere near done. I did also redress all the mannequins though. I’ll make a post of that in a few.

Everything I wore today except the tights and feather hairpiece were pieces I got from Andria. She has incredible taste!

WHAT: pheasant feather headband, homemade

off white oval earrings, thrift

off center button dress, chicken lays an egg

navy belt, chicken lays an egg

navy tights, target

brown booties, chicken lays an egg

WHERE: work at chicken

WHEN: wednesday january 6

Oh, I also finally made a Facebook page for my blog, so please search Mascara or Motoroil and become a fan! I’ll make sure to update that when I put up new stuff here too.

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candystriper?

I was feeling desperate to rock my new saddles today, so I just grabbed the first dress I thought might go. I was in a bit of a hurry this morning so I snagged one of my favorite puffy sleeved shirts and threw it all on. I think this outfit is honestly a little boring for me, but it was kind of a blah day anyway.

candystriper