Baby Don't Move

I love flowers of all kinds, of course, but these are just spectacular. It looks like a tangled mess of accidental garden, which I'm sure it's not. Of course, the whole manmade nature of it does mean I could recreate the look if I wanted, in purples, and reds, and yellows, and pinks and greens. This is my Alice In Wonderland moment. For some reason, I always envision her in another color... pink maybe, yellow even, but this time, this dress just made me think of the movie, which I am currently watching.

I suppose this is more Wizard Of Oz, but oh well... I'm getting sleepy (eh..! eh..!)

White & Gold Dangly Earrings (Macys)

Kier + J Turquoise Knit Draped Dress (Ideeli)

Tall White Socks (From My Youth)

Chinese Laundry Brown Heels (Marshalls)

Turquoise Belt From Dress

I've seen few things that just thrilled me as much as these flowers. Driving by them every day just brought a smile to my face, until I stopped. And no, they did not smell like anything.

Blue Rings (Ebay)

Amrita Singh Blue, Orange, & Gold Ring (Ideeli)

Blue & Silver Ring (Macys)

Been listening to a lot of country lately. It saved me from going postal on the highway today- 3.5 hours on the road for what should have maybe taken 1.25. People really can't drive, and, oh, yeah, a truck on fire in the middle of the highway tends to slow down traffic. I was horrified that a certain county's 911 operators took a full minute to answer my 911 call and that the response was, yes, we know. Ok, you know, but I've been seeing the smoke from this thing for at least 15 minutes and I'm still not hearing sirens. And 10 minutes after passing it... still nothing. Frightening. I've never seen something so thoroughly engulfed in flames, and cars are just barely missing this mess by maybe a couple of feet. I shudder to think what would have happened if anything blew at all.. To top it off, the owner was standing on the side of the road, looking like a traveling salesman in his brown slacks and white short-sleeved shirt buttoned all.. the way.. up. And briefcase. And coke-bottle glasses. Just calmly watching his pickup (also very brown in a way that trucks never are.. brown like a chocolate leather couch and approximately the same matte texture) burn. I wish someone had been in the car with me so we could have gotten pictures. It was a little surreal.

But back to country.

Song of the Day: History In The Making

Note: Although I've been listening to this song, it wasn't until I just now found the video that I noticed the singer and what he looked like. So fitting. Made me smile.

Remind Me To Spend Some Good Time With You

When I first went to see the realtor, I was.. well, I was a mess, to say the least. It was bad. I had been out all day. The morning was spent on a bike. The afternoon was spent jumping on a trampoline and then abruptly realizing that it was far too hot for that and running into the pool basically fully clothed. There was lunch and The Hangover somewhere in there too. All in all.. well, some days are just kind of awesome. And then, of course, straight from there to the realtor. I was not quite dry, I was mildly chlorinated, with frizzy hair, no makeup... and the woman walked in and she was one of those people you can imagine always looks just so. I was so mortified, I have no words. So I decided that I had do a little better the next time. This is that effort. She even commented on it. Yikes.

Arturo Chang Black Strappy Heels (Shoe Metro)

Black Leather Skirt (Clothes Encounters Of A Second Kind)

BB Dakota Flowered Tank (Tobi)

Handmade Black Heart Necklace (Leaving LA Present from B)

Song Of The Day: Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better

This is a really interesting song to layer. As in, open it up in a few windows and start them at staggered times. Also, the lyrics are wonderful.

The Start, A Simple Touch

These are 7 am pictures. I love being awake before people really get up on the weekends; it's peaceful and hazy in a way you don't get any other time. For some reason, this particular walk always reminds me of Paris at this time. Once people arrive on scene, it changes, but when we have it all to ourselves.. maybe it's the cobblestones.

Fahrenheight Brown Strappy Boots (Shoe Metro)

Vintage Costume Rings (Ebay)

Estee Lauder Rose Candy Nail Polish

Opi Take It For Granite Nail Polish

I tried out ombre nails and I was a fan. I actually went and had a real person do my nails (usually it's just me sitting on my bed and making a mess while my cat tries to get in on the action) because a lovely person had given me the gift of a manicure/pedicure for Christmas. I just kept putting off using it because I never came up with a special enough occasion for which to get them done. There was no occasion for these, but I finally just.. wanted to go and sit in a massage chair and feel waited on. The woman was so unbelievably confused by what I was trying to get her to do with the nail polish (which I had brought with me), I just didn't know how to explain it any better. She started 3 separate times and each time, I had to say, no, no.. not like that... and she'd wipe it off again. She also made some comment comparing what I wanted and what she did for childrens' birthday parties. I was more than a little insulted. Admittedly these are several days old and starting to look a little raggedy, but I was never someone who could keep polish looking fresh.

BCBG Sating Skinny Pants (Macys)

The Limited Black Tank Top (Mustard Seed)

Spense Purple Blazer (Dillards)

1928 Gold & Purple Earrings

Probably my favorite breakfast ever- coffee (decaf as always) and a scone w/whatever accoutrements are available. Maybe some fruit on the side.

Song Of The Day: Heartbeats - Jose Gonzalez

Things She Said

This is basically a cool-weather version of what I wore today. Today was not cool. Today was ridiculously hot. Ugh. Humid too. It was, in a word, ridiculous. Can't it just be fall already?

All of these murals are in Austin. It's the artsy-fartsy-est place, but it's quite amazing. I wonder if people come in the middle of the night and, bam, put up murals, or if they're 'authorized'. I think rogue muralists would be far cooler, but whatevs.

BCBGeneration Black Suede Boots (Marshalls)

Grey And White Lace Socks (Sears)

Hue Wine Tights (Macys)

TDM Designs Teal Tie-Dye Bamboo Scarf (Chickdowntown)

Vintage Gold Bracelet (Thanks Mom!)

This bracelet was part of the stash my mom gave me to use for dress-up when I was between the ages of 3 and when I stopped playing dress up (an age to which I will not admit). It was a bunch of her clothes from college and beyond, some costume jewelry, and a lot of scarves/scraps of fabric. One time I decided to use two of the scraps of fabric as shoes, so I wrapped up my feet basically like bento and pranced around the backyard. My mom was horrified when she saw the shreds that the silk scarves were in. I learned a lot about fibers that day. I also got a lot of polyester after that. Some of the jewelry and dresses, I have realized recently, are really great pieces. Beautiful vintage dresses and shirts, nice metal bracelets and earrings. My mother had excellent taste.

Forever 21 Black Sleeveless Romper (Mustard Seed)

Old Navy Wine Satin-Trimmed Cardigan (Old Navy)

Song Of The Day: Danger Radio - Think About It

We'll Never Look As Good Again

We took a day trip to San Antonio to go see the Alamo. Came about only because when I came home from a previous trip to Texas, I said something about the outlet mall and my mom got so excited that I had visited the Alamo... 'outlet mall, mom,' 'Alamo,' 'outlet mall,' 'Alamo'... it took a while. So I felt I had to actually give her something to get excited about this time.

Black & Blue Dress (Some Little Shop In Maine)

Before heading out, we made a stop at Torchy's, which is apparently an Austin institution (according to J, soooo, taken with a grain of course-ground salt). Wow. I will never eat Taco Bell again.

Liz Claiborne Red Ball Earrings (Macys)

This is the put-up-with-J tax. Yup. He paid me. (PS, nice cowboy boots, J!)

Vintage Black & White Cowboy Boots (Gypsy Sun/Big Rig Vintage)

On that note, Gypsy Sun/Big Rig Vintage is fantastic. The physical store that just opened up is basically in a garage bay that's a part of an auto-body shop. The space is shared by a boot shop and the Rock & Roll Car Museum (open only the first Saturday of every month- and really fun if you're into beautiful cars). Big Rig's vintage selection is of surprisingly good quality and there are fun little pieces- bags, shoes, jewelry- tucked into corners and onto shelves all over the space. It's exactly the kind of place I could (and maybe did) spend hours in, just looking and touching, despite how small it is. The co-owner who was working when I came by was sweet as can be and super-helpful, with a great eye- helping people put together outfits and suggesting pieces- and it was clear she really knew the inventory. The second time I stopped by, I walked in and asked her specifically for a pair of cowboy boots, told her my size, and she quickly pulled 2 pairs, plus two similar styles in appropriate sizes. I love them so much, I didn't even care if they didn't go with the dress; I wore them out of the shop.

Song Of The Day: The Similou- Weather Girl

Do You Have A Story For Me

Still from the road trip. I love many things, but road trips and abandoned buildings are definitely among them. I always feel terribly guilty asking anyone to stop so I can take pictures, because, let's face it, if I did that as much as I wanted, I would never end up anywhere (which is an alluring thought, but perhaps a thought for another forum). This building was one stop I agonized over for about half a mile. It was the only stop we made besides a stop for gas. As we drove my, my little heart jumped for joy seeing the building, but I thought.. 'we really shouldn't stop, but oh! I want to so badly! Are we really in a hurry? Maybe I should just force myself not to think about it...' but then I decided that no, I really wanted just this one stop. J was kind enough to turn the car around and go back. Luckily the section of highway we were on was basically just a 2 lane road in each direction with no median, so it wasn't too terrible of a detour.

Connected Apparel Blue Halter Dress W/Rosettes (Off Saks)

Banana Republic White Floral Bikini Top (Banana Republic)

I wore a bikini top in the vain hope that we might get to use the pool. It was not to be since we had stuff to do as soon as we got in. This particular bikini is notable for the way I got it- I am a firm believer in not wearing bikinis, but Z got the top for me for my birthday 5 years ago. She gave me my present (there was other stuff with it) and when I got to the bikini top, she practically squealed with joy. The conversation basically went like this:

Z: omg, omg!

Me: uhhh.. there's no bottom, do you want me to just be mostly naked?

Z: it doesn't even matter, guess how much I paid for it!?!?

Me: uhhh...

Z: A QUARTER!!! It doesn't even matter if you wear it, but it was a quarter at Banana Republic, I HAD to get it!

Well I found bottoms for it online. I get a kick out of the whole thing every time I wear it.

Qupid Red Stilettos (Amiclubwear)

The description on the window is a seemingly accurate description of what this building was- arcade/thrift/store -based on the jumbled mess of broken, dusty items littering, clogging the inside. It was bizarre. I'm always curious about what prompts people to just abandon not only a building, but all its contents. I wonder how long this has been left alone.

In the mirror you can see the oldest jar of pickles ever. They were white, sun-bleached, and thus terrifying.

I love this sign so much.

Arnette Black Sunglasses (Sunglass Hut)

A truck full of crazies drove by and yelled at us. Yeah, you're just jealous of my discovery! No one else has ever even seen this building! Ever!

Song Of The Day: Coin Laundry - Lisa Mitchell