Heavy Consumerism

I just shopping spreed my brains out:



double serge pencil skirt



factory silk crepe camp shirt



petal midi skirt


JCrew had one of their extra 30% off sales again and the coveted yellow double serge pencil skirt became available in 0P which I think will fit well.  I also fell in love with the look of silk blouses in a neutral tone so I grabbed one from the factory line in cobblestone. Then I saw the petal midi skirt which is also in silk and the sandalwood color was so warm and pretty. This impulse buy will be much loved.

This morning, Mike and I quarrelled about his lack of creativity in formal workwear and he complained that his shirts and ties don't match, mostly owing to the fact that his ties are all weirdly patterned and colored.

a sampling of tie friends

Also I noted that he had been rotating the same 3 dress shirts for the last month or so and became concerned that they would fray and pill in the wash/dryer if this pattern keeps up.  Therefore, Mike also had a shopping spree via moi:  (It will be a belated birthday present since I didn't get him anything this year except for a colored printer ink cartridge which i would have gotten anyway for our printer.)

normal colored shirts with normal patterns and high potential of matching even the ties above

normal plain jane tie friends

 And then I felt a little guilty about my exorbitant spending (especially in light of all the wedding planning costs...shudder) so I scrutinized my bank account up and down.  Fearing that my rewards points will expire, I decided to redeem them for some restaurant gift cards to my mom's favorite restaurants: Olive Garden and PF Chang.  It will be a belated birthday present for her. And my dad.  Ok fine, i confess i didn't get birthday presents for anyone this past year. 

Silly Prints

I have been incapacitated and bedbound due to a terrible cold!! I usually get sick only once a year and this year I thought I was out of the danger window having gone from Oct through Mar without hardly a sniffle, but alas, I was not spared this year.  Well, during my hour of lucidity last night, I was searching for things I could purchase to improve my mood (and chances of recovery).
I love whimsically printed tops and dresses!  One of my great shopping regrets is not buying this top from Anthropologie:

Anthropologie Raining Pouring blouse
why did I not purchase you when you went on sale for $49!!!
::whail::

Anyway, it has been difficult to find similarly delectable printed clothing, but here are some that are currently NOT sold out.

In no particular order: boats, bikes, cars, birds, ladies.  These are mostly F21 finds, with the exception of the car-printed item which is a modcloth dress!  I am not inspired enough to pay $$ for any of these at the time :(

I Love my Minnie Pant!

Ah, another compilation of outfits surrounding one beloved article: the bistretch wool minnie pant.
I am no longer using pant in the plural, folks.

Mine are parsley (green).  These pants have a really bizarre disconcerting fit in that they feel really weird on but look good. They are really tight on the legs (hence leg slimming) but relatively loose in the hips/butt.  I cannot stress further how bizarre it feels...it's like wearing tights without pants. SO WEIRD. And since the material is stretchy wool (bi-stretch as a matter of fact--meaning they stretch in 2 directions or something, per google search) they get saggier and saggier in the hips as the day goes on.  Anyway so I tried on the 00 regular at the store in charcoal (back in the fall 2010) and the hips were Sooo poochy I hated them; I thought they looked like sweatpants for some reason.  Alas, I continued to long for a slim leg trouser with a flatter flat front so I took a chance on the 00P's thinking the hips would fit me better.  When I first got them I was disappointed that the legs were cropped.  They have a 24" inseam whereas the regulars have a 27" inseam falling at ankle length for me, which was what I personally wanted. I didn't like how my calves were cold.  Plus I tried wearing sheer trouser socks with them but that was just awkward.  However, I think they fit perfectly in the hips and I also randomly went for the green color even though I originally wanted the grey and I am so glad I did! I am mesmerized by this green and have been enjoying the challenge of styling these pants.

For some reason there are hardly any online fashion bloggers reviewing these and posting outfit ideas with them, yet they are always selling out on the website and have never been drastically marked down.  Oh well, I don't know how I can rouse the underground minnie pant wearers to reveal themselves.

So without further ado, here is me wearing my minnie pants (minnie me)!

1. Charlotte Russe tank top, F21 purse, CK shoes
2. Ralph Lauren sweater, Gap belt, shoes from Vietnam
3. Ann Taylor sweater, Bandolino shoes, BLACK TROUSER SOCKS! (awkward?)

1. Unknown top, may be from Gabe's. Express cardigan. Shoes from Burlington.
2. H&M tee, Gap belt, UO shoes.
3. Target sweater, shoes from Burlington.

Caring for my pants:
In a cavalier (or desperate?) act, I washed these in the cold wash and hung dry them instead of forking out the $$ to dry clean them as recommended.  I am pleased to say that they didn't shrink, in fact since they had stretched out from wearing, washing them actually helped them resume their original size.  They have a really weird synthetic smell when they are wet though, not sure what to make of that.

New Couch

We just bought a new couch!

Our couch friend, not yet in in his new home.  He is like a big fluffy leather cloud couch.

I have been so busy, nothing to update.  I recently calculated that when I am on call months, I only wear real clothes 50% of the time. The rest of the time, this is the outfit of the day, night, and next day:

hehe. I am usually working harder than this...

In other news I have been collecting wedding inspirations. Pale purple and deep red everywhere!

Edit:  Alas.  The couch was too big to fit into our building!!! Cry...

An Update

Here are some latest versions. I am experimenting with placement of the text.  I have a few qualms but they are minor.  Such as faintness of the "pittsburgh, pa" stamp.  I realized after looking at a few other save the dates that I should include our names and our location. Otherwise people would not know who the weird bird cards are arriving from!

Now I have to figure out what goes on the other side :)

Here are some reflections on the process.  I carved this design last year because it is 'somehow' involved in the invitations as well (secret.).  I liked it so much I decided to use it again.  Besides, it will provide thematic continuity.  Actually I put a lot of thought into the meaning of the design too but that is a story for another post.  

I use a speedball linoleum carver both for my eraser stamps and for linoleum.  I use erasers because I found a whole bunch of them really cheap at a miscellaneous chinese store, but otherwise there are specific stamp blocks that can be used (pictured left). 

Then I mix up the ink on a plate of plexiglass (from Home Depot) with my trusty squeegee. This is my favorite part because you never really know what color you'll get.  I am not particular about getting the shade right; I usually like to be surprised and mix colors based on how I feel at the moment.  The second batch of these that I printed had some lovely pink and mint shades.

When inking the linoleum, the trick is to thin out the ink until the consistency is right.  The first few prints are always too inky for me.  The last few prints are underinked.  I'm sure master printmakers have this all sorted out, but I'm happy with I can get doing these by hand.  When I was in high school we had this amazing printing press and made huge prints.  Nowadays I am content with my little card-sized prints.

green bird friend

many bird friends

a sneak peak

One phrase to explain it all--4th year of medical school.
This is another bridezilla moment except that it has been surprisingly long-sustained so I am probably a permanent bridezilla, or rather, just neurotic. It all started with me deciding to make all of the wedding stationery myself.  Let's just say that it was too late to turn back when I spent $50 on 750 sheets of really long 33" x 6" shiny purple paper.  The shiny purple paper and I certainly had some adventures last spring but it is too early to unveil those right now.  I will share a more recent adventure: TODAY'S ADVENTURE!!

Left: multitudes of linoleum printed birdies
Right: carved eraser stamps, trusty corner punch

A Blue Parfait Week

This past weekend, I painted my nails in a glorious color called blue parfait.  The nail polish is at least 7 years old but somehow isn't all goopy. It is Covergirl brand.  And now, I bring you the entire week in outfits!

Saturday

H&M shirt
 JCrew Minnie pants
Gap belt
Urban Outfitters shehs.
blue parfait nails

Sunday & Monday

Sunday: sweater- Benetton, Paris Blues skinny jeans, no shoes!
Monday: American Eagle cardigan, blouse tailored in Vietnam, J Crew belt, Anthropologie skirt, leopard flats

Tuesday

On Tuesday, I put together 3 different black/white patterns which surprisingly worked out:
H&M blouse, Old Navy skirt, Gap bow belt, leopard flats
J Crew coat on top!
::direct gaze toward rogue hair::

Wednesday & Thursday

Wednesday: H&M shirt, pants tailored in Vietnam, unknown shoes, earrings made at bead store
Thursday: Limited shirt, skirt- thrifted, Target belt, Calvin Klein shoes

Well that's all for now.  It's not really the full week, but I did start on Saturday so the outfit ideas are draining fast!  Time for a beauty rest.