The One About Fred Flare

This is where I make art. The basement floor. I don't really go into my bedroom except to sleep and store books. I even keep the majority of my jewelry on a shelf in my bathroom. Anyway, this is a small glimpse of some of my crafting supplies, spread out in all their glory, and ensuring that no one else will be watching tv in the basement for a few more weeks.

Check out my jewelry wardrobe!

This is the unfinished back/side of my wardrobe. The giant purple corner tree was the first effort. You can't tell but there are little blue fruits (aka dots) in the branches of this tree. It also has some great texture going on. The top of my wardrobe. Yes, that's Max from Where the Wild Things Are. I haven't finished his face with marker cause his neck looks really fat for some reason, and not at all like my original on-paper sketch. You can see how the tree blooms into the corner. And do you like the quote?? Its from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, for all you who don't get down with the time warp. This side is unfinished. But it has some flowers I cut out of scrapbooking paper, which I painted over to make them pop. I've been saving this hand with lighter for months. I cut it out of an ad ages ago and miraculously never stored it, just left it laying around and it is still in pristine condition. Painted the flower onto the wrist and then felt iffy about it, but I can't take it back so "make it work!" This is the front. Do you like the lovely teal shade I mixed up? And more dots!! I think I'm going to stencil some words down the front of the drawers in black. I just have to decide what. My sorority sister refers to this as my Hawaiian Grandmother dress. Whatevs. Dress and Cami from Old Navy. Navy Cardigan and Flips from American Eagle. My outlet store steal bag and key necklace, Fossil. Yellow glass bracelet from the Smithsonian and blue bracelet is DIY me. My bag looks strangely plasticky in this picture, but I assure you its lovely soft leather. This is the only bag I've used all summer, except for when I was in England/Ireland. Then I used a giant plaid tote bag that made me feel really unchic, but I carried all my class texts, a water bottle, an extra sweater, camera, passport, money, and more in one bag. I also had the smallest suitcase of all of my professors/peers. I think that should earn me an A for the course, just because I could store that sucker on every train, bus, and metro we went on without fail. Something slightly disturbing I've just recently realized is that I don't have many grown-up bags. I have this Fossil handbag, and a Wilson's Leather dark brown purse I got for $20 at an antique store (which I don't think I've ever used for more than a few days, but it was cute and leather so I snatched it up). But in reality, at school I use one of about 15 different Vera Bradley patterened bags. Including the messenger bag and the extra large backpack. In my defense, my hometown is super preppy, and I went to private school where I had to where plaid skorts and polos every day for 13 years. And kindergartners carry VB lunch bags. However, as I said, not very grown up. Yes, older women carry them. But they also wear mom jeans (except for my mom! no mom jeans cause she's hot!). But preppy dressing flows deep in my veins, and sometimes nothing gets my heart pounding more than a guy in khaki shorts and Clarks desert boots. With a sweater and button down. I like it even more when the sweater/button down gets the indie nerdy twist and there's a bearded dude with a pair of chucks... Where was I again? But then I had a second revelation that maybe I never realized my lack of adult bags because this Fossil bag is ALL I NEED! And when I go for something smaller, I grab my Dooney and Bourke clutch, which I pretty much stole from Nordstroms. (Not really, it was just on sale for 75% off). But do I really need to be grown up? I don't think so, especially since I just looked on Fred Flare for the first time! No one told me what I was missing. Buttered Toast wallet? Calculator watch? Napoleon Dynamite sleep max????? Any cutesy food can be made into a kitschy accessory, not limited to band-aids, purses, earrings, and floss. If I loved my friend Caroline enough, I would totally buy her this $75 monstrosity. She really really loves wolves. If I hadn't already bought Melissa her birthday present, I would buy her this. Its a pin. She wants to be a librarian. Specifically a children's librarian. But in reality, Mel just wants to have an excuse to be paid and hang around books all day. And I would buy this, if I wasn't saving up all my money for my next tattoo.

Urban Outfitters in London and Dublin both had these mini portable purse speakers in their sale section, and I almost bought them everytime I saw them. And very rarely do I kick myself for passing up buying things. But now as I sit at my reception desk with the speakers mysteriously not working on my computer, listening to the white noise of the modem and a/c unit, I kick myself. Hard. And when I think of all those spring semester days spent lying on a blanket on the quad, drinking out of nalgenes and reading for class, listening to some country western gospel music assaulting me from a few blankets over, I kick myself again. Harder. I told myself I would never really use them. But I think about them with wistful, misty eyes. Birthday. I keep promising myself. Birthday.

Also, I've been checking out Erin, and I could not hate her more for her collection of pull-up denim leggings WITH AN ANKLE ZIP that she got from Target. And trust me, I already checked, they are out of stock for all but the size 1. Grrr. She wears those leggings (in black and blue) all the time and they look so good and now I'm craving my own pair even though I DON'T NEED THEM (that's what I keep telling myself). Also, after falling in love with all my new AmEagle jeans, I want a skinny pair. (Mel could tell you that all the jeans have new stretch, better rise, and higher pockets to make your butt look perkier!). Birthday. Biiiiirthday.

I have a very serious styling question. Peep toe booties. What do you do with them in the winter? Not wear them? With footless tights? Leggings? Dare I say, full tights? I have always considered pairing open toe shoes with tights/hose complete anathema but can it ever be appropriate? This could just be residual disdain for those fools in sunday school who wore their Easter dress shoes with white tights in the winter. So bad. I can't talk, I wore some pretty hideous things back in the day. Which I count as up to 10th grade, for sure. Currently, I have no peep toe booties. I do however have peep toe blue sueded wedges (that I'm wearing riiiiight now). I don't think I'd wear them with tights, but maybe some sheer footless tights? I just don't know! But I keep seeing peep toe booties online for fall, and I don't know where everyone else is crashing but it snowed before Halloween at school last year (I go to school in satan's underbelly for sure). I can't do bare legs after my birthday. Its too cold. And I've considered that bright colored tights with black or neutral booties and a dark dress (enter daydream of me in booties and pea coat, cold crisp air, cigg in hand) could be really cute. Actually, while cruising Charlotte Russe I saw an ad with a pair of legs sporting light brown peep toe suede booties and electric blue tights. Is it approved??? I don't know!