Bike Style // Basket Love

Is it just me, or are bike baskets having a moment?  How could they not, though.  They're cute and functional.  The best of both worlds!  It's halfway through summer and I still haven't got a basket for my bike.  A basket is a perfect place to stow a bag, groceries, or even a tiny pup!  These lovely ladies are all sporting some pretty snazzy baskets, as well as super cute outfits. I'm always lugging around my big bag when I ride, so it'd be nice to get a basket to take a bit of the load off.

Yesterday I was riding my bike through an intersection and was nearly run off the road by a car as one of the passengers screamed in my face "GET OFF DA ROAD, BITCH."  Usually I don't find that motorists are too rude to us cyclists here in Tacoma, but it sucks when it happens.  Perhaps it's just that people aren't informed that cycling on the road is legal.  Especially here in Tacoma, riding on sidewalks is a terrible option.  Not only is it difficult and unsafe to try and weave through pedestrians, but most sidewalks don't have the ramps up and down at curbs, which makes sidewalk riding pretty obnoxious and much less efficient than the road, where we're allowed to ride anyway.  It's pretty crazy that someone could hate a person so much for just riding a bike.  I literally could feel her hatred like heat coming off a fire, kind of a bizarre sensation that I'm not sure I've felt before.  But I digress.  Be nice to cyclists!  We're just getting around town, just like you!  Have any of you ever had a frightening experience with a motorist?

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7

Some of you have expressed annoyance that bike style posts don't feature many looks with helmets.  Consider, though, that this is a bike style feature, not a bike safety feature.  I don't take my outfit photos featuring my bike wearing a helmet, and I honestly would probably never do so because, frankly, most helmets are kind of ugly.  A helmet is worn for safety, not something one styles an outfit around, in most cases. 

Four Years

Four years ago today I created a profile on blogger and started Delightfully Tacky.  I was home from college for the summer, had just discovered fashion blogs, and thought that it would be a fun and creative hobby.  Four years later and here I am, still plugging away at Delightfully Tacky!  It's been so fun to have a sort of digital scrapbook chronicling the last four years.  Through college, break-ups, graduations (both mine and my brothers'), having black and red and cotton candy colored hair, living in three different cities and six different houses as well as a Winnebago, crossing the country in said Winne, getting married, and beyond.  Thousands of blog posts. 

I feel like this space is about much more than outfits, but they've been the most consistent part of my blog.  When I see these old outfits I remember something about that day.  Where I was going.  What I did.  So here are some of my favorite outfits from the last four years.

 2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

It's been a crazy journey.  If I'm still here in four more years I can't even begin to imagine where I'll be. I'm so thankful for all the wonderful friends I've made through this blog, and all the readers who take the time to come visit and read. Even if I'm no longer running this blog in four more years, it will still be fun to look back at this time in my life as chronicled through Delightfully Tacky.  

Lulu's + DT // Salvation Mt.

When I was in Springfield visiting Elsie and Emma at Red Velvet I was talking about my travel plans (or lack thereof), and Emma suggested I make my way to Salvation Mountain on my way back up the west coast.  I had never heard of Salvation Mt. before so I googled it and determined that yes indeed, I must visit. 

Salvation Mountain is one elderly man's life's work.  Leonard Knight started following Jesus at the age of 35 and felt that he must tell the world about this life changing faith.  He had an enthusiasm for the Lord that was misunderstood by most, and eventually decided that the way to get through to people was to put his message on a hot air balloon and fly around with his balloon proclaiming the good news.  He began crafting a patchwork balloon spelling out words and various symbols, but unfortunately he was never able to make the balloon function properly to get it airborne.   After 14 years of trying to make his balloon fly, he gave up.  He decided to try another method of proclaiming his faith.  This time he started constructing a colorful "mountain" out of cement and paint.  He built up his Salvation Mountain and emblazoned it with splashes of vibrant color, positive messages, and Bible passages.  After four years of work, his mountain collapsed due to the weight of the cement and the lack of structural integrity.  Unfazed, Leonard started over, this time utilizing a method he'd been experimenting with – native adobe clay.  He rebuilt the mountain using adobe and straw, adding on until it became what it is today.  He's now moved on to build a cave-like domed structure with criss-crossing logs and various nooks, also filled with bright colors and messages of love.  At the time I visited Salvation Mountain in December of 2011, Leonard was still there working away and I got the chance to meet him and chat briefly, but according to Wikipedia he was placed in a long-term care facility later that month for dementia.  

Blockie Talkie Color Block Dress + Motorella Black Lace Motorcycle Jacket + 

Qupid Color Block Wedges / courtesy of Lulu's.com :: photos by Dan

Here in Tacoma we don't have anything quite as intense as the one-of-a-kind Salvation Mt. but the downtown graffiti garages have a similar colorful and vibrant vibe.  I suspect the cryptic messages aren't the same as Leonard's, but both boast beautiful shapes and forms, rendered in striking bright colors.  I've only taken blog photos here once before, but I'd really love to come down more frequently as it's a really fun place!  The Garages are a pretty cool project the city has started to create a space to legally create graffiti art, giving graffiti artists a canvas for their medium.  I have always thought graffiti was beautiful, and even got the chance to study under José Parlá for a few weeks when he came to my school's art department for a brief residency.  Man, I would kill to have one of his pieces hanging on my wall.  So incredibly gorgeous.  Maybe someday...

Check out my previous posts in this series here and here!

La Posh Giveaway!

Happy Monday, folks!  Today I'm giving away a $30 gift certificate to La Posh Style!  If you're looking to punch up the fun in your summer wardrobe, La Posh is the perfect place to do so!  They've got tons of really cute and brightly colored summer sundresses and long flowing maxi dresses.  If you're lucky, you'll win $30 to spend at La Posh and bring your summer outfit dreams to life!

To Enter:

Head over to La Posh Style and pick out your favorite item.  Come back here and leave a comment on this post letting me know what your favorite item is!  Make sure to leave your email address or another way to contact you in case you're the winner.

For a bonus entry, like La Posh on Facebook!  If you do this, make sure to come back here and leave an additional comment on this post letting me know you've done so!

The giveaway will be open for entries until 9pm PST on Saturday, July 21st.

*fyi, my intensedebate commenting failed, so if you commented before with intensedebate, don't worry!  I've got your entry!*

The Grass is Greener

My parents invited Dan & I to come hang out with them on Friday and Saturday, so I decided to take the time to do a mini technology-fast and just enjoy the quality time with my favorite humans.  Unplugging really is the best sometimes.  I feel like I'm entering this time when I'm becoming friends with my parents.  Not that we were never friends/friendly.  I've always had a pretty solid relationship with them, with a few notable hormone-induced periods of time in high school.  But when you're a teen or college kid, parents are still trying to keep you from doing stupid things, or at least attempting to get some advice through your thick young skull.  Though I'm not a parent, I suspect being friends and being a parent isn't an easy line to walk, if it even is possible.  Now that I'm out of the house and married and embarking on my own adventure, it's been really fun to interact with my parents on a more adult-to-adult playing field.  I mean, I'm always going to be their kid and that relationship will never go away, but I really like enjoying my parents as cool people instead of cool parents.  

dress/modcloth :: jacket/courtesy of lulu's :: shoes/kensiegirl :: belt/Calico,CA souvenir

For some reason whenever I wear this dress I want to style it in a quasi-cowgirl kind of way.  I'm pretty sure I almost always wear these suede booties with it and some sort of brown belt.  Predictable, perhaps, but it's a winner in terms of summer outfits and I find myself gravitating towards it each summer.  I don't wear this dress too much.  It's super light and airy, so I never wear it in the winter and it sits there lonely, but I can't bear to get rid of it because of those summer days it's perfect for.

I haven't been to this location since winter, but it's one of my favorite quiet little spots to take outfit photos.  I got tired of being freezing cold/wet for outfit photos during winter so I ended up taking most of them in my back alley, but now that it's warm and pleasant outside during the evenings, the little walk to this location is quite nice.  I get really stiff and awkward when I'm taking outfit photos in an alley and someone walks by, and even when I'm alone my ears are always pricked to hear when someone's about to happen upon my odd behavior.  It's been difficult finding locations in town where I feel totally free to be creative and have fun with outfit photos.  Most of those more solitary locations seem to require a car drive, which is usually more planning/forethought than I typically have.