longing for home

I did a photo shoot of this outfit yesterday and it went terribly.  My hair was being stupid, the photos weren't turning out how I wanted them, and on top of that, as I took my pictures, some weirdo drove by and took pictures of me with his iPhone.  So bizarre.  So today I decided that I would try-try-again because I really loved the outfit and wanted to do it justice, rather than sharing photos that I felt were mediocre.  I ended up really liking this second set, even though it's the same location.  Sometimes having a good hair day and no weirdos can totally change things!  Anyway, photo shoot drama aside, this is really one of my favorite dresses currently.  I might hem it because it's a bit long, even with heels, but I adore the bohemian, natural ombre dye.  It's just so earthy and organic.  Pairing it with a worn-in leather belt and one of Moorea's quartz necklaces was only natural.  

 

dress + shoes/courtesy of modcloth :: necklace/courtesy of moorea seal :: belt/thrifted watch/courtesy of la mer
My best friend gets into town tonight and it's going to be so weird having her here in person!  It will be interesting having a best friend to hang out with again.  It'll also be interesting to see how we interact as adults, rather than teens.  I feel like our friendship hasn't changed much since high school, but we've both definitely changed a bunch since we were 18.  It's nice being able to help her start over though.  Having lived in Tacoma for a few years now I feel like I'll be able to help her transition to the new city.  I was certainly glad for Dan when I moved to town.  I was immediately drawn in to his group of friends and he knew cool places to hang out, so the transition was pretty painless, despite the natural sensation of homesickness now and then.  
I still get homesick for Anchorage sometimes.  I miss the midnight sun and the smell of the air.  Every once in a while a small plane will fly over Tacoma and I'll miss how frequent that sound was back home in Anchorage.  I miss flying with my Dad and landing on Prince William sound.  Scoping out glaciers and spying on seals sunning themselves on icebergs.  It's a singular place.  I think I'll always get homesick for Anchorage, regardless of how old I get or how long I've lived in another town.  Tacoma feels like home, but there's still something about the place you grew up.  Memories tug on my heartstrings and I long for a trip back.  It's been a while since I was there during summer.  We've gone to Anchorage for Christmas the last couple years, but I love me some Anchorage summers like whoa.  

 

shopping for prom!

With TxSC only a couple weeks away (ack!) I've realized that I need to start thinking about what I'm going to wear to prom!  When it comes to dress-up events I'm always torn between different types of styles to go with.  Vintage?  Bohemian?  Edgy and modern?  Whatever I end up deciding on, I know I want a dress in which I can envision myself having tons of fun.  Most of these either don't fit my clothing criteria or my budget, so it's mostly just window shopping and getting inspired, but hey, a girl can dream, can't she?  Also, to get the prom vibes going, please enjoy the circa 2001 image of me at freshman homecoming (which was basically my school's prom.  We didn't have prom).  I haven't grown since then...

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The leather and white dress is by far my favorite dress.  Maybe of all time.  If I had a spare $455.00 I would 100% buy that dress, even though it breaks my shopping rules.  I don't even care, it's amaze.  But alas, I cannot even slightly justify spending that much on a dress.  But seriously.  Give it to me. My boobs aren't strapless-dress-friendly, but I do have a thing for the blue and white dress.  I feel like I would just be floating like a cloud walking around it in.  And hiking up the top every 30 seconds.

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I'm having a bright color moment right now.  I want all the colorful things.  I like the simple and edgy chicness to these looks, and I love the idea of a solid colored dress paired with some bold statement jewelry.  I think my favorite look out of these three is the coral one.  It'd look amazing with a bold turquoise necklace.

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Vintage inspired 50's-ish dresses don't totally feel "me" anymore, but I'm still drawn to them.  These are all basically different versions of the same dress, but I love each version, so I wanted to share them all anyway.  I'm having a love affair with coral these days, so that coral one is speaking to me.  The kicky polka dots on the other two are too fun though.

Which dress would you pick out of all these different styles? My first pick would be the leather bustier one (if only!), but being realistic I think I might end up going with the modern coral one.  Who knows!  It's so hard to choose!

Last year I didn't really feel myself in the outfits I wore to TxSC.  It was a weird transitionary period in my style, I had a haircut that didn't feel "me," and I just never felt awesome.  This year I want to go into TxSC with some outfits planned that make me feel amazing.  I want to feel totally myself and totally bangin'.  Outfits that make me feel confident and happy.  With only two weeks till TxSC, I'd better start planning!

art on the ave

This time last year I sauntered up to 6th Ave to get some coffee at Bluebeard and as I turned the corner onto 6th I was met with throngs of people, booths lining the sides of the street, and music bumping from various outdoor venues.  I had happened upon Art on the Ave, which I had never heard of before (though, being a newb Tacoman, is probably understandable).  I had plans that day, so I couldn't explore, but when I heard about Art on the Ave again this year I was determined to check it out.  The day couldn't have been more perfect for it.  It was sunny and gorgeous and just hot enough, but not roasting.  Girls were walking around in cut offs and bikini tops and dudes were wearing shorts with their shirts, which they'd obviously peeled off after realizing how hot it was, tucked in to their back pockets.  It was actually really fun and I wished I'd allocated more time to browsing around and checking out the musicians and booths!  
Dan and I walked up and down the street checking out festivities before deciding that hydration in the form of Coronas with lime was needed pronto, so we headed up to Masa's sundeck, which ended up being perfect for people watching, and also for spotting friends, two of whom came up and joined us for beers with chips and salsa.  

 


skirt + shoes/courtesy of modcloth :: top (similar)/american eagle outfitters :: hat/thrifted  leaf necklace :: courtesy of duplika handmade :: bag(similar)/courtesy of handbag heaven quartz necklace/courtesy of adorn by sarah lewis :: photos of me by Dan
After Art on the Ave we headed out to see a movie!  Dan's parents gave us a coupon for two free movie tickets, and Dan's been geeking out about seeing Pacific Rim for months now, so we went and saw that.  We almost never go out to see movies (though I've been wanting to see the new Star Trek for a while now, maybe on Tuesday for $5 movie night!), so it was a fun treat to go to the theater.  I spent too much money on popcorn and soda, but it was a special occasion.  They do like to charge you an arm and a leg for that stuff, don't they?  Anyway, we really liked the movie.  I was excited to see Charlie Day show up (Charlie from Always Sunny in Philadelphia), as well as Idris Elba whose work I've enjoyed in Luther.

 

life lately

Mandy tagged me in her 10 things you don't know about me post, and I figured a life lately post would be the perfect place to do it!

1. I was bit by a dog when I was about 18 months.  It chomped my whole face, through my eyebrow and cheek, and under my chin, nearly blinding me.  I still have scars.

2. I was obsessed with CATS as a kid.  Like the musical, not the animal.  I had the video and knew every dance and every song.  I'd perform it with my brothers and my friend and her brother and force our parents to watch us perform it dozens of times while videotaping it.  I still know all the lyrics.

3. I'm excited to go grey.

4. I've never broken a bone, unless you count the cracked rib I got in 11th grade from coughing while having the most awful flu/cold sickness.

5. I have emetophobia (from wikipedia: an intense, irrational fear or anxiety pertaining to vomiting. This specific phobia can also include subcategories of what causes the anxiety, including a fear of vomiting in public, a fear of seeing vomit, a fear of watching the action of vomiting or fear of being nauseated.).  Not quite as bad as when I was younger.  I used to cry if I was anywhere near someone vomiting.  I didn't have a phobia of doing it myself, but being around it happening to someone else, smelling it, or hearing it... I would get so much anxiety.  This is a major reason why having a kid frightens me slightly.  Kids tend to vomit a lot, sooo that's gonna be great.

6. I've never been in a car accident with another vehicle (besides a couple fender bender backing-into-a-car accidents).  The only full-speed accident I've been in  happened when I hit a patch of black ice, spun around, crossed the road full speed in reverse and hit a tree.  But I've never been in an accident with another car where I was driving.  I was in the car for a 5 car accident, also involving black ice, but wasn't driving.

7. I love karaoke.

8. I ran hurdles in Track & Field when I was in high school.  I wasn't a very fast runner, but people always seemed impressed that I jumped over things while running and therefore didn't notice that I wasn't super fast.  I'm convinced the 200 meter hurdle race was invented by Satan.  In hell you have to run that race over and over again while he laughs at you, because you want to die, but– joke's on you... you're already dead.

9. I played Clarinet in band in junior high and high school.

10. I think I might enjoy public speaking.  Not entirely sure yet, as I haven't had tons of excuses to actually speak in public.  But I fear vomit like 1,000 times more than getting on stage.  I would get on stage and speak at a packed out Tacoma Dome with 5 minutes notice over getting puked on any day.

 
 
 
 

daily driver winne, on a grocery run // hot weather outfit // first CSA pick up! finally went to Shake Shake Shake! // what happens when I brush my hair while I blowdry hand lettered my new business cards.  and misspelled thief. yay for photoshop finally mega cleaned my studio.  I can see the floor now! blowing through Wild. SO good // Fancy hair & makeup for a photo shoot!
Interesting reads from the web lately:
 The story of an ex-hater and troll.  A good reminder that haters and trolls are real people too (even though they often hide behind anonymity), often dealing with their own issues.
 31 problems only curly haired people will understand.
 "Some people believe they have the right, no, the responsibility to decide who is broken and then to tell them loudly and often." Loved these thoughts by Jamie.
 Some interesting thoughts here about the dangers of the ideas behind princesses and femininity.
  "If you are not kind on the internet, you are not kind"
 James and her little ones are so cute.  Birdie is the only kid who even remotely gives me something like baby fever.
 So on board with Backwoods Mom's real talk about how things online aren't always as they seem.
  Click over and donate to this Indiegogo fundraiser! This is an amazing organization in Oaxaca, Mexico doing wonderful things to help and empower women.  They currently rent a van every time they need it, but it's rather expensive and if they had their own van that money spent on van rental could all go towards supporting their mission.  

the amazing spider-man

On Wednesday I had a fun photo shoot with Willow and got my hair done at Indigo for the shoot.  I couldn't bear to take the faux-undercut cornrow/braid out so I slept on it and rocked it again on Thursday.  After I got my hair done I had some time to kill before heading to the studio, so I walked next door to Bleach and then UrbanXChange and found this awesome Spider-Man t-shirt!  This is totally an outfit high school me would've rocked.  I was always wearing little boy's t-shirts.  They seem to have the perfect proportions for a small-busted, petite girl like myself.  



top/urbanXchange :: jacket/courtesy of asianicandy :: shoes (similar)/target bag/courtesy of stylelately :: jeans/courtesy of for elyse I love not feeling tied down to one style.  I'm feeling much more free to do whatever the hell I want with my style these days.  Not that I was ever forced to dress a certain way, but I definitely fell into a rut for a year or two, and over the last year I've diversified my closet so I'm more able to dress according to whatever style I'm feeling fits my vibe that day.  Somedays it's more girly/feminine, other days more hippie/boho, and sometimes it's back to my rock & roll/punk/pin-up roots.  I like that regardless of what style I end up wearing, I always feel myself, despite wearing a totally different style than the day before.