'ween

images via mymodernmet.com, refinery29, Thisisnailporn, Oystermag.com

It is with a heavy heart that I write no Halloween festivities were had this weekend, thanks to a wedding in Louisiana that sadly, was not Halloween themed. It just doesn't even seem like fall yet because I haven't spent countless hours researching, creating, and applying my costume (past years have necessitated a wide range of preparations, including fake tattoos, sculpting an ass out of travel pillows, and applying an artistically accurate face painting with Kryolan cosmetics). Because I'm feeling nostalgic as fuck, let's have a look back at some costumes of years' past:

2010 - Day of the Dead Bride





2009 - Lady Gaga





2008 - Kim Kardashian





2007 was Amy Winehouse (pre-mortem) and I'd sure love to get my hands on a picture but it has long since been relegated to some forgotten external hard drive and I can't quite conjure up the willpower to unearth it.

IF I had been blessed with the opportunity to dress up this year, I would have gone as the Black Swan. Not because I fancy myself to be as svelte or as pretty as Natalie Portman but because I've always had a hard-on for ballet and it would be super fun to do the makeup. And my first position isn't too shabby either.

OR I might have just canned all my plans and worn this dress, which surely would have gotten me at least an honorable mention at my company's annual Halloween contest:





$100 seems a little steep to wear Steve Buschemi's face, but it's a chance I probably would have been willing to take.

So tell me dawls, what were your Halloween plans this year? Just don't make them sound too fun, or I'll have an even harder time getting over my loss.

new hairdo

wearing vintage everything
I chopped off some of my wretched, tangled mop of hair this weekend and gave it a little extra "oomph" in the color department as well. Still getting used to the feeling of the nice blunt ends and a shorter ponytail, but I like it so far. Having a little too much fun doing shampoo commercial head tosses though.

lets talk brows

Anastasia of Beverly Hills beauty express kit in brunette

When I was a kid, I had horrible caterpillar eyebrows (and no, I will not show you pictures). It didn't take me long to figure out that achieving social acceptance would be greatly expedited by the liberal and frequent use of tweezers. What followed was a period where I had, for lack of a better description, sperm eyebrows. You know the kind--big bulbs at the front followed by the thinnest line of hair. I stopped short of using a sharpie to fill in the overplucked areas (thank God) but still somehow fell victim to brown lipliner. But I digress...

The point is that it's taken me a long damn time to get my brows in any kind of decent shape. By and large, I was able to re-grow the thinner areas to some semblance of normalcy, but more recently I've noticed some areas thinning out, so I've actually started filling them in with brow powder to make them more uniform. Enter the Beauty Express Kit from Anastasia Beverly Hills. Anastasia's team was kind enough to send me a kit to try out, and I've pretty much been using it ever since. It's not just a brow powder either--there's a wax (for helping the powder adhere and keeping brows from getting all bushy-like), an excellent matte and shimmer eyeshadow to set off the brow bone, and stencils for helping you choose the best shape to aim for. I've been neglecting all my eye makeup for just the ingredients in this kit for the past few weeks, and I have to say I'm a new convert to the "done-up brows" look. You kind of don't need anything but brows and mascara anyway.

wedding bells and puka shells

wearing Eskell Dress (from Eskell in Chicago), Steve Madden platforms, Banana Republic cuff, noir octopus earrings, vintage clutch, Christian Dior and gag sunglasses (can you guess which is which?)

I was in "yeah bro" Santa Barbara this weekend for my friend Callie's wedding, which gave me a perfect opportunity to buy an unnecessary pair of platforms and don celebratory eyewear. The wedding was amazing--the perfect mix of tradition and hipsterness that I love. A freaking mariachi band led us from the ceremony to the reception. Genius.

Also, this dress is one of my favorite pieces ever. I found it during my trip to Chicago (remember that?) at the Eskell flagship store. Original design, fantastic print, super comfy, and on sale for $80?? In the words of Minnesotans, "you 'betcha!"

THE grandma couch print pants

wearing vintage pants, H&M sweater, thrifted jean jacket, Minnetonka moccasins
These are the kind of pants that could literally stand in for birth control. I didn't even realize how true that is until I saw them photographed in all their resplendent polyester high-waisted glory. No self-respecting individual would wear these and think they look halfway decent, but I did, so apparently my opposite body dysmorphic disorder has struck again (wherein I think I look better than I really do). Ah, the power of denial is quite something, isn't it?
And fuck if I don't say so myself, but this week's manicure is killing it. Wrinkly knuckles and all.

saturdays in the sun

Still savoring the last few days of an Indian Summer. This weekend I went to San Francisco's favorite drum circle/burner hangout/dog watcher's paradise Dolores Park with my friend Kelli and her daughter Isabella. We claimed a spot long before most of the hipsters woke up and were out before 3pm. Not my normal schedule, but sort of nice and different.

Also found a knee-length A-line leather skirt at Goodwill that has completely changed my attitude about Fall. Bring it on.

stalked

wearing thrifted Elie Tahari skirt, vintage blouse, J. Crew sweater, BDG jacket, Dolce Vita boots, vintage ring (belonged to my Aunt), Stella & Dot necklace, and Butter London nail polish in "Wallis."

It's Monday, it was already dark when I get home from work, and it's raining (hence sour face in above photos). My only weapon for combatting the sudden dreariness of Fall was this metallic skirt I found at one of my favorite consignment stores. Bonus that it ended up matching my Chanel Peridot wannabe from Butter London, which is totally going to be one of my go-to fall polish colors.

Also, this hilarious bit of fuckery:




Yes, that's me walking in front of my office with my 10am Cappuccino in hand. Google Maps totally stalked me. 

hardly strictly bluegrass

wearing vintage Saks Fifth Avenue label shirt (last seen here), UO jeans and boots, etsy horseshoe earrings, vintage bracelets, costume shop sunglasses




Saw Broken Social Scene, Irma Thomas, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (!!), and Steve Earle today in the park. For free. And as if that weren't enough, this business in the front, party in the back dude:





It was awesome.