You Talked Until Your Tongue Fell OUT - and Then You Talked Some More

I have alot...and I mean alot to say today. First and foremost, Im posting nothing but positive things on this blog. No more complaining or venting. I'll start up a journal for that. This, however, is to share my projects/ outfits/ hopes and dreams/ and inspiration.
Now that that is said, I want to say, for work, I am dressed pretty boldly today. Well I have some pretty bold shoes on. The rest is something typical for a casual Friday. Most know that I love shoes. Its like, my thing. ha. When I landed my eyes on Jessica Simpson's Dany platforms (as previously posted) on PandorasBoxBlog.com (who rocks btw), I knew I had to have them. So after a couple months, I bought them. I wore my black ones up here with a long spanish style skirt and then to have drinks with my sis with some jegging (I've fallen in love with jeggings - with my skinny legs - they look more like skinny jeans and they fit well) and loose top. They were a hit with the ladies...got alot of compliments. So today, Im wearing my cognac colored ones with some torn up jeans I just purchased on VS website on sale (I made these super skinny and the worn spot on the knees has now fallen completely apart...sewed them a little too tight I guess!) and a vintage button up I purchased just recently at the Salvation Army. I didnt get a picture tho. Oops!!!
Next, I want to share my currect projects with you guys. I saw this wonderful picture on another blog of the Beach House record next to a record player and I thought, gosh, that looks so relaxing and wonderful....to listen to records on a dreary Saturday afternoon or open the doors to my room onto a cool patio and lay outdoors while listening to a great album turned up really loud. I love the static-y, crackly, crispyness when playing a record. Plus my parents were really happy that I purchased. My mom kept going on about how she was going to send for my uncle's old records in Mexico. What a little darling, huh? Anywho, I took before and in progress pictures. Im not completely done, but I've painted the cabinet a robins egg bluish green. Im planning on painting the brown parts of the speaker a bold gold as well as the inside of the door to the actual record player. I wanted to line the interior of the door with this amazing gold and white chevron print fabric i found on fabricguru.com. Im going to wait to see the actual colors of the fabric when it comes in since pictures online aren't always so accurate colorwise.

Before - Right when I got it home
Painted robins egg blue - in progress.

I loved the dark brown on the speaker box area - wish I hadn't sloppily painted on them.

Gorgeous Chevron!!!

Speaking of fabricguru.com,they have a gazillion really cute fabrics and awesome prices compared to other fabric stores (same brands too!) I purchased another fabric - black and white chevron to make a dress. I was thinking a maxi dress like the one Jennifer Lopez wore in the picture below, but then I went to Joann Fabric and found these amazing vintage patterns. The dress is so simple to make, so, if it comes out well, I may make a couple dresses for our etsy store.




We are still working on logos/ websites for our etsy store. I think my friend, Brandy may have actually concocted a brilliant one for us. We have gathered quite a bit of inventory, so Im thinking we need to start taking our pictures and just list everything we have. I went to the Salvation Army on Wednesday (1/2 off every Wednesday!! Wowsers!) and got a ton of really really cute stuff - some of which Im keeping, heh. I had gathered some stuff at our local thrift store last week and my sisters went to an estate sale/ thrift stores and found some vintage treasure as well. :-)
Another thing that makes me happy - guitar lessons. My little guy and I are going to partake in some lessons. I bought us some cheap beginner guitars (mines cheap but pretty cool looking!) and we are going to become rock stars. At least thats what Sebastien says. He is excited about learning and I hope that continues. I really want him to appreciate music as much as I do. Our appreciation for art and music seems to run in the family! My mom designed and sewed our clothes when were were kids (there were four girls and a boy for goodness sakes!) and my dad, as far back as I can remember would play records and mix takes in the mornings and sing along. I loved those times! I want to pass that along to my luv bug as well.
Speaking of musica, Im so excited about the bands coming to Dallas in the next few months. Its crazy how many freakin awesome shows are coming up. Me and my little bro are going to see Keane on Monday for instance. I will indeed be taking some pictures and posting them. I promise Ill take a pic of my outfit and some shots of the band. And some of my little bro if he will allow it. Im sure he will, he started working out and he is proud of his body...he likes to show it off lately. Next month, we have Built to Spill. Saw them not too long ago during the week with Dinosaur Juniorand it was killer...hard to stay awake but worth it I think. Their music is so lovely. Have I mentioned that my wedding song will be "The Weather" by Built to Spill. Take a listen to it. Its super sweet. John Mayer is September 4th. Im dying to go to this concert. Im hoping I can get all these concert tickets in next weeks check run! I am incredibly excited about September 23 - Kings of Leon baby! They always put on a fantastic show and I got floor - GA so Im gonna make it a goal to head up to the venue early so we can get right up front. Then the following Tuesday we have Jenny Lewis in Jenny and Johnny (which I hadnt heard of - I'll have to download). But I love Jenny Lewis and seeing her is a must!! Then the following week - ha - is Austin City Limits. I think I've posted the ton of bands that will be there and OMG! I cannot wait. I love festivals and since this is in September, we wont be sweating like piggies like at Bonnaroo. That was a bit torturous to be honest, but the bands we saw there made it soooooooo worth it. Well well worth it. If I didnt want to see that Eagles at ACL Sunday nite, Id go to The XX at the Granada that Sunday, but the Eagles are pretty epic. When am I ever going to be able to see the Eagles besides at ACL without sitting in the nosebleed section? Never! November also has a couple of good ones - the Stars will be in town on the 20th, which is a Saturday and then Blonde Redhead on the 30th. All of these shows besides John Mayer and KoL will be at the Granada. I havent even looked at other venues to see who all is playing there.
Lastly, I wanted to share some pictures of last nite's treats. My mom and my sweet sister, Elisa made quesadillas last nite - not the typical cheese n tortilla. These are whole wheat with sweet caramel atole and queso ranchero. So So Good. I took some pictures and started munchin em down. The picture makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!


Thats it for now. Told ya I had a lot to say!

Finally!!

Im dividing this blog post into three little sections. First of all, since this is supposed to be a fashion blog, I am going to tell you alllll about my shoe purchases. I have bought so many lately. I dont feel too guilty because, first of all, I love them and second, I didnt spend a crap load on most of them. Ha! I think later on, when my closet is 100% set up and organized, I will take a picture of everthing and post it in my handy dandy blog. Then I will let you see some pics of my latest photo shoot with my sis. She did a fantastic job. If you have facebook (my 3 followers as of now do) and are my friend on facebook, you have seen them. Im sorry! Im a procrastinator and am barely posting them. And third, our fantastic new etsy store...coming soon! YEAAAAAHHH!

Numero 1, shoes shoes and more shoes. I bought most on ebay and then there were a couple shoes I had to have that I paid full price. These are the Jessica Simpson Dany shoes. They are 5" tall platform! Crazy I know, but I had to have them. I got the black first. The brown are back-ordered and will be here later this week or early next. Love Love Love them. Similar styles have been all over the runways - Charles Anastase has the original sky highs and Jeffrey Campbell has his Foxys, but the best deal I fould were Jessica Simpsons so I took advantage.


Charles Anastase orignals - Super Pricey Im sure


Jeffrey Campbell Foxy!!!


My Babies - Jessica Simpson Danys

Speaking of Jeffrey Campbell, he has become my latest obsession. Current obessions: shoes (Jeffrey Campbell in partic), jackets (yeah, I know its summer), and chevron stripes. Anywho, I found Jeffrey Campbells very poular Tick shoes for $50 freakin dollars on Ebay! These run $200 yall. Is this not amazing? They were my size and Buy It Nows so I feel so so fortunate. :-) Please dont judge me. :-/


I also purchased a couple of boots on eBay for winter-time. Jessica Simpson Hansel boots are suede riding boots and are absolutely gorgeous. I wear boots all fall/ winter so I had to start stocking up! Also, got Volatile Famous studded black flat boots. Can you say hawt?? Cant forget theSteve Madden lace up booties. Check out those heels

Jessica Simpson Hansel Boots


Volatile Famous Boots


Steve Madden Lace Up Boots


Lastly, I found these amazing cognac colored/ with macrame lace BCBG beauties. Perfect for now and the ladies at work will possibly not call these stripper or freak shoes They have a vintage-y feel that I love. Youl'l be seeing all these babies in my future photo shoots!


NEEEEEXT, photos of my photo shoot. I wore this outfit to a church convention actually. I was going for a 50S pin-up look. Robins Egg Blue Sweetheart dress, layered with an fitted skirt and red lips/ belt/ and shoes! I felt really pretty this day. Check it!







Sweetheart Dress - American Apparel
Fitted Skirt - Ross purchase
Red belt - thrifted
Red Shoes - Ebay Purchase
Hearts Necklace - Buffalo Exchange

Finalmente, I have fan-freakin-tastic news. My sis and I are opening up an Etsy store full of amazing vintage finds/ handmade goodies (I love designing and sewing dresses/ tops/ skirts, etc). We plan on taking spectacular pictures displaying our amazing finds (some of which I found today!!!!) and making them soooooo tempting that people will just not be able to resist our finds (we have fantastic taste so it will be hard anyway), Hopefully we will start taking pictures this weekend and opening up our store then too. Im so ready for this. I need to do something that requires creativity and beauty and art in my life. That is one reason I started this blog because I need this. Since I was a kid, Ive had a love of art and I feel the absolute need to do something....I went to art school and have not done anything with it. This is a great start! We were thinking either Freebird Vintage or Sucre Boheme Vintage (Bohemian Sugar in francais). Which do you prefer?

Music Festivities

Folks who know me are probably tired of hearing me speak of my upcoming trip to Tennesee to experience the Bonnaroo music festival - so many great bands. But today, the Austin City Limits line up was released and OMG!- it is spec-freakin-tacular. I hope more bands decide to join up. But as of now, The freakin Eagles are headlining - how cool is that? Their concerts are crazy pricey so Im thrilled to see them, when otherwise I would probably never do so. Muse, who I recently got to see in Fort worth (and I must say were so so fantastic), is also headlining. Some of the must sees for me include - The Strokes/ Band of Horses (they Played at SXSW but were at a venue we could not get into)/ Spoon/ Vampire Weekend/ BEACH HOUSE!!/ Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros/ Local Natives/ Norah Jones. Check out www.aclfestival.com for the full line up. Are you going this year? And if so, what are your must sees?

P.S. I'll have to add pictures later. This is not working. Probably a work restriction. Im posting during lunch. :-/

Happiness

I’ve decided to delve into the topic of happiness today. My childhood was a happy one. I have the most amazing parents and sisters and brother that any girl could ever ask for. Each and every one of these people would do anything for me. It’s been proven. And I would do anything for them. As I got older, life wasn’t so peachy. I went through some things that I would not want even my worst enemy to go through. When I was young, I was naive and hadn’t seen or experienced or even heard of alot of things (I was very sheltered). Experiencing the world was a not so positive thing. It depressed me, actually. Literally, I had to be on pills to make things seem more manageable. Lately however, I have been so happy.
Happiness, however, is different for everybody, I know. In this posting, I’m going to list the top 9 aspects in my life that have to be in order so that I can feel truly happy.
1. Number 1 is having a healthy relationship with God, being in his good graces. It’s the only time I’m truly happy and I honestly think that anybody who has a relationship with God agrees. I know there’s plenty of folks out there that don’t believe in God. But by golly, there are way too many reasons to believe in him. We didn’t just appear out of the blue. We were intelligently designed and built. I want to live the way God wants me to....it keeps me out of trouble....unnecessary drama! Ughhh. NO need.
2. Having the support and love of my family is also a major factor in my happiness. As I mentioned before, I’ve always had it. I have a big family - 5 kids! Despite any mistake, as minor or major as it may be, they are always there to support or help me correct it. There are many of folks that don’t appreciate that and I’m sure and it can be overwhelming at times when you just want to be left alone, but all in all, I appreciate it. I also have more love in one little package than I can possibly deserve. Having my little boy has made my life feel fuller and more blissful. I probably would’ve gone crazy if I didn’t have my little shishkebob.
3. Being comfortable in my own skin - I know we should be proud of ourselves whatever shape we are in, but when I gain a little weight and my clothes aren’t fitting, I’m sorry, but I can’t stand it. It’s the most uncomfortable feeling to me and I don’t want to wear anything but mumus. That awful thing about my body is that nothing gets bigger but my belly and my back (back fat is the worst!). It’s disgusting and I can’t take it. I am happiest when I’m in shape and my clothes lay right and fit well. I’m a bad example to young girls when I say I’m fat when I’m somewhat thin, but when I have muffin-top – IM NOT HAPPY!!!!
4. Lets move on to numero quarto, yes? I find that keeping myself busy in the things that I love such as decorating or painting or sewing or whatever gets my creative juices flowing makes me extremely happy. I wish I could do it for a living but that require me going back to school and at the moment, with a 5 year old kid, its nearly impossible.
5. Having beautiful music playing at all times makes life a lot better. I listen to my ipod all day at work, on my 2.5 hr commute to and from work, while working out and boy does it make those times a lot more enjoyable. When I get a good mix going, it is just so exciting and keeps me alert and smiling and singing along. One of the best things ever is discovering a new (to me) mind-blowingly amazing band, listening and then seeing exactly how incredible they are. Another of my favorite things to do is see bands in concert. You can feel the music inside you. I’ve been going to shows since my teens and to this day its probably one of my all-time favorite hobbies. I don’t know what I would do without music.
6. Financial stability – Sad to say but money does affect the way we live. If I owe everybody, I’m anxious and worried until the debt is payed off. So when I’m somewhat debt free and able to save, of course I’m a lot happier. Not only that, but I’m able to shop which is one of my favorite past-times. I’m a thrifty shopper though. I rarely buy full price, unless I just have to have it (more than likely a phenomenal pair of shoes/ boots) . It’s usually on sale or second-hand, which is ok with me. You know I read something hilarious the other day. Yahoo listed the top 10 degrees that have the lowest starting to mid salaries. I believe second or third on the list was a degree in Fine Arts. It was so funny because it mentioned that only an artist could make thrift store clothing look like a million bucks….and its true! Ha. Good times.
7. Non-platonic LOVE. Ok, this is somewhat of a sore subject for me. Haha. Honestly, at this moment, I feel that I don’t need it. I have loved in the past/ made my mistakes and learned from them. Tthose in turn, made me know what I want in a future husband. I won’t settle for less. This is the person I’m going to spend the rest of my life with and he has to be my best friend and enjoy the things I do and we have to laugh at the same craziness and, of course, still be able to learn from each other. Sigh!!! I’m not expecting it any time soon. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a fantastic guy to come home to. I can see us dancing to my favorite Built to Spill song at our wedding. J But, I can wait for that amazing moment. I’m patient.
8. Experiencing new places – As of lately, I have been trying to travel as much as I can. I simply love the way I feel when I’m in a new place I’ve never been to or visiting a familiar place far from home that I love. I adore how hotel pillows feel and even the smell of a hotel room (I‘m not counting the hotel in Austin we stayed at with the broken shower stall and the overflowing toilet.) Coming across new and different folks and their appreciating their styles is also really neat to see…
9. Finding an amazing deal while shopping - Haha. I know it’s ridiculous to some, but when I buy something that is spectacular and I saved money, or finding a unique, gorgeous treasure (clothes/ shoes/ home décor in particular), I’m on cloud nine. I’m really not materialistic, guys. I just love beautiful things. It’s not like I want the best or most expensive things! Gahhhh!

That covers my top 9. What makes you happy?
It has been ages since I have been truly happy, so please don’t rain on my parade. Don’t give me any bad news right now or bring me down. I want to feel like I’m floating on a cloud for a little while longer.

Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful Boy. Darling Sebastien

Every once in a blue moon, I am in spectacular moods where almost nothing can bring me down. Today is one of those days. Things are just looking up. I have resolved to do things and I will not dissappoint.

When I am feeling blue, however, I am fortunate, no lucky (I dont beleive in those things so that can't be it), blessed rather that I have the most amazing little guy we all know as Sebastien. He is my 5, nearly 6 year old little boy that, without a doubt, makes everything better. He has the most amazing, goofy personality. He wows me everyday with the things he says and does. Im sure that is how all mothers feel about their kids, but I do think that Sebastien is exceptional and extraordinary in every way and he will be someone special when he grows up.

Last Saturday, we had a chance to go to the park, which gave me the opportunity to take some great shots of him. He is one of the happiest little guys. As he should be...He has so many people that love him. He can be a bit rambuncious, but honestly, altho sometimes frustrating, its one of the qualities that makes him who he is. Ya know?

Argggg! Anger and then Sadness

Im confused. So angry. 3 times already I have lost all my numbers/ all my pictures/ all my memos/ my music download list because of my iphone. I dont know why I keep having freak accidents where Im losing all my data! Its so frustrating.

Otherwise, today was a decent day. I get a little annoyed when folks at work make fun of my outfits or say obnoxious little remarks. It doesnt matter...I like my style and I think I look goooood. The start of my healthier lifestyle was today too...I had less that 1400 calories Im sure and I start going to the gym as often as possible next week starting with a personal training session on Tuesday. Im getting over my allergies/ cold, so things are looking up for the weekend. I really want to spend quality time with my darling, Sebby, because he will be with his daddy a full month in June. Im going to miss him so so so much. He is the most beautiful/ amazing/ special thing in my life and Im not looking forward to that. But hopefully he will learn how to swim and get to play with the neighborhood children and miss me so much too!

My sister, Karina, was nice enough to photograph me with Nikon D200 and you can see such a difference in quality. In this set of shots, Im wearing a Jean Paul Gaultier for Target dress and necklace and tank from Buffalo Exchange. Shoes are Seychelles

A Resolution

Pink Forever 21 Dress Purchased at Buffalo Exchange

Butterfly Necklace purchased at Buffalo Exchange

Pink Tank from Target

Nine West shoes

Soooo, I have amaaazzaaazziing news! Im going to Bonnaroo this year! Im so excited....its going to be such a great trip. Right now, its just me and my sister going. We will blast the music all the way up to TN and attend 4 days of heavenly blissful concerts and after a full day of greatness, camp out under the stars each nite!

But before we go, I need to lose a good 15 lbs so that I am comfortable in my own skin. Im the biggest I have ever been in my whole 28.9 years of life and I hate it. My sister was nice enough to photograph me this weekend and I was completely dissappointed in how I looked. Made me a little sick to my stomach actually. I know thats pathetic, but dang, thats just how I work/ how I feel. I have decided in the next month or so, Im going to document my weight loss thru pictures and work out hard/ eat well and work the last few sessions of personal training to obtain my man muscle goals. Ok, maybe not man muscles, but substantial weigh loss and maybe in a year or so definition. We will see how that goes. :-/ So here are pictures of myself - Day 1, per se' of my journey to healthy. I can do dis!!!