What's In My Bag?

 The "what's in your bag?" meme seems to come and go every year at some point. Since it seems to have come again I decided to partake. So welcome to the very sexy innards of my bag.

 My bag was originally from Target but I got it at goodwill a couple weeks ago. I have a lovely turquoise bag that used to be my go to but recently acquired a large rip in the bottom and on some of the outer pockets. Even though I still love that purse and can probably sew it up a bit, I knew it was time for a new bag. I'm not completely in love with this bag but I haven't found a bag yet that I really love. So this is my in-between bag until I find something I really love. The only real downside to this bag is that it's a lot smaller than my other bag. I can barely fit my work apron in it when I need to and I can't fit any large books in it either. Anyway here's a breakdown of the innards of by bag.

1.  Advair. I'm asthmatic, sexy I know, and sometimes I forget to take my preventative medicine so I carry it around with me.
2. Jumbled headphones for my iPod.
3. iPod. I carry this around more since getting my car, it has an ipod outlet which I use on the regular. Yes that is me singing loudly in the small blue car next to you.
4. Small Nalgene Bottle. I go this a couple years ago with a pack of bigger nalgene bottles that I used to pack shampoo and conditioner while I was abroad. Now I use it as a pill case. Currently it's full of ibuprofen and claritin.
5. Ecuadorian Coin Purse. I go this at a small market in Quito where they hawk tourist-y goods. I bought a few scarfs but only had a large bill and the guy didn't have any change so he told me to add a small item to even it out. Incidently I probably use this more than any other thing I bought while in Ecuador.
6. Camera Cord. I don't usually carry this around, I think I stuffed it into my purse after uploading my last blog post. 
7. Random Pens. Pens seem to come and go in my bag. Sometimes I have a ton and other times I have none. The purple pen is from our vet and the others were probably taken from around the house/ stolen from my mom.
8. Wallet. I got this wallet a couple years ago from Urban Outfitters. I like that it's slim, looks like a clutch and has a crocodile texture with shiny gold interior. 
9. Work Badge for my Sometimes Job. Since I'm currently working (until the end of next week) this has made it back into my bag. It lets me get into my job and permits me to traverse the hidden bowels of the mall.
10. Rescue Inhalers. I usually carry only one of these but I couldn't find my inhaler with the lowest number of puffs a couple weeks ago so I opened a new one. Now I have two in my bag. It works better like this because if I take one out to use and leave it around the house I always have one in my bag. Isn't asthma fun!
11. Ice Breakers Mints. I use these occasionally and sometimes they really come in handy. I had a job interview a couple weeks ago and I don't know if it was stress/anxiety or dormant impending illness ( I actually got sick a couple days later) but I ended up throwing up before the interview. Luckily I had these babies on hand. TMI? I know, I know.
12. Bert's Bee's Chapstick. You know that awful time when you really need chapstick and you don't have any? I hate that, so I carry one with me at all times. 
13. Tweezers. You never know when you catch a glimpse of yourself and your about two hairs away from full on wolfman or woman. I am always prepared for those situations. 
14. Random business card. I stuffed this in my purse while in a moderately priced Vintage (pop up?) store last Sunday.
15. Black Power Pick. Yes I carry around a black power pick, I'm (half) black I can do it. Ironically my (white) mom gave it to me as a christmas present a couple of years ago when I went natural.
16. My purple non-iPhone. Last year we downgraded our phone plan from smart phones to just phone and text, this is one of the few phones you can get that requires no data plan. It's actually kind of refreshing not to have a smart phone. I had a crackberry and was on it all the time, now I'm not constantly checking my phone. It's actually kind of freeing. The only downside is the camera on my phone really sucks and since I don't have an iPhone I can't enjoy some of the cool iPhone apps or join instagram and have vintage-y looking pictures of my cats, shoes, food etc.  Not constantly being on your phone also opens your eyes to the sometimes incredibly rude ways people use their phones.

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Mad for Mad Men

Image Via AMC

If you like television like I like television, which is perhaps a bit too much, then you're probably just as psyched for the return of Mad Men today. I didn't actually start watching Mad Men until 2010, I'd heard so many good things about it and its style but just hadn't put in the time to get into it. Anyway I totally got sucked in and quickly caught up on seasons 1-3. So, when I heard last year Mad Men wasn't returning until 2012 I was bummed.  Though I tried to quell my thirst for the Drapers with sub-par 60's dramas (*cough* Pan Am *cough*) there's nothing like the real things, and I'm glad It's finally back! So of course I had to do a Mad Men post in celebration of the 2 hour season premier tonight.
     
        Mad Men is pretty well known for it's style so what better way to celebrate its return then through a post celebrating the style of it's leading ladies.

Betty Draper

 

 First up is Betty Draper ex-wife of Don, disgruntled housewife, and WASP. In other words the ultimate 1950's housewife. Mad Men is of course set in the 1960's but Betty's style is most definitely informed by 50's fashion, including the classic 50's circle skirt silhouette. When she's not in a skirt or dress she goes full WASP in her classic equestrian chic look.

And of Course what would a Betty Draper post be without disheveled Betty.

Anyway here's my take on Betty's look. This is actually my Halloween costume from 2010 when I went as a 50's housewife.  Betty's look is very 50's housewife with pearls, circle skirts, cardigans and heels. She is always dressed to the nines and never skips a beat, even when she's sad Betty.

Cardigan and Skirt: Vintage  Shoes: Urban Outfitters  Necklace and Earrings: Target  Bracelet: Marshall Fields (before Macy's took over)

Joan Holloway aka Joan Harris

 

 The second and probably most iconic look of all the female Mad Men Characters is Joan. Sassy, in charge and sexy Joan is the office Marilyn and always dresses the part. With Christina Hendircks' fabulous curves Joan's style is sleek, tailored and sexy. Joan is an ace at knowing what works for her body. Unafraid of color Joan's look incorporates bold color with slim silhouettes that accentuate her tiny waist and lovely curves.

I have a couple looks that would work for Joan but I haven't blogged them yet and want to save them for future posts. This entry from the skirt challenge, though, works equally as well.  What makes it very Joan to me is the pencil skirt, bold color and highlighted waist. When letting out your inner Joan highlighting your curves is of the utmost importance as is incorporating solid bright colors.

 Shirt and Skirt: Thrift Shoes: Urban Outfitters Necklace: Target

MARGARET 'PEGGY' OLSON

Finally we have Peggy the smart, modern, working girl carving out a place amongst the men at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Peggy's style is very 50's school girl but seems to be evolving into a bit more of a mature style, with a few school girl touches. Despite being in her 20's her style is fairly Juvenile. Peggy is often shown in more muted tones with bold, simple patterns and higher necklines.

Peggy's style is the hardest to translate for me but I think this dress works well. Peggy doesn't work as many brights solids as Joan but she's sort of the middle point between Joan and Betty. Peggy incorporates both full and pencil skirts, bright and muted colors and a variety of patterns. Though it's a tad brighter than Peggy's general palate and the neckline is a bit lower then Peggy's normal ware I think this dress works fairly well for a Peggy look and it's also my OOTD for today. 

excuse the floors that need to be sanded

Dress: ASOS Scarf: Thrift Shoes: DSW  Bag: Thrift (originally from Target)  Scarf: Vintage

And just for shits n' giggles I had to add a picture of my favorite male character and silver fox on the show, Roger Sterling. Le swoon. 

*all Images via google images and AMC

Whose style do you like the best? Which TV characters do you wish you had full closet access to?

EPIC Thrift Haul!!

So I had kind of an epic thrifting day last Thursday. Even though the Savers I visited has been open since like October I hadn't visited until last Thursday. It wasn't for a lack of want, just that it's a bit far away from my usual thrift haunts and my house. Anyway after reading positive reviews on yelp I knew I had to go and give it a shot. Since both my mom and I were off last Thursday it seemed the perfect day to check it out. I wasn't really expecting to find anything and spent most of my time looking through the clothes. Towards the end of my visit I was browsing quickly through housewares to see if there were any cool Pyrex dishes or something and there they were, two Cathrineholm pots! I had seen the pattern before, most recently on Rachel from Smile and Wave's post about her thrifting trip to the Ozarks,  and knew they were cool and vintage. So I giddily took the biggest one and rushed to my mom to show her my bounty. Surprisingly she had no idea about Cathrineholm enamel ware, but I knew I was going to get it so I made her guard it while I tried on the small pile of clothes I was hanging onto. Later that night I went on ebay to look up the dish and found it selling online for $50-75.00, I paid $8.00. I had no idea they were so expensive. Immediately I lamented leaving the other pot. Sometimes I think too practically, " I don't really need two" etc.  I knew I had to go back Friday and see if the smaller pot was still there, and it was! Anyway it was a pretty epic find in my book and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna start collecting Cathrineholm from now on. I've seen a ton of cool ways people decorate with them on pinterest and I'm sold.


Anyway aside from the Cathrineholm I also found this large Pyrex mixing bowl. I've kind of started collecting Pyrex but I'm trying to limit it only to patterns and colors I like. I don't want to become a crazy pyrex hoarder, I don't have room/money for that.

And this cute made in Japan ceramic deer.

This haul was a bit out of the ordinary for me because I'm usually thrifting clothes and accessories, I rarely if ever get home accessories. I've been making a more concerted effort though to look through the home goods aisles more frequently and with a more discerning eye. I read some thrift blogs and people find amazing stuff in the home goods sections so I knew I needed to browse those more and branch out from just clothing. Guess all that "hard work" has finally paid off. In any case I'll definitely be paying the cathrineholm Savers another visit soon, on the list it goes.

Sorry for the lack of outfit posts. I did wear clothes last week but nothing especially interesting. It's been unseasonably warm around here (yay) but I hadn't really put together any good warm weather outfits and couldn't for the life of me think of any good outfits before I went thrifting. It seems in a pinch I'm not especially creative with outfits, but making lists of outfits and having them at my disposal when I just can't think of a good outfit seems to help.  So a couple days ago I made a list of a some good warm weather outfits so I should have more outfits to post soon.

Shop Your Home

        Shop your home is a phrase I first heard on the Nate Berkus show a few year ago. It refers to changing up your interiors by moving furniture and home decor items from their current locations to different areas of your home. It also refers to re-discovering things packed away in basements and storage. I've done this a few time in my house. I found a few bedside tables to put in my room a few years ago and dug up some of my mom's vintage clothes. Anyway, we recently had another shop your home moment when my mom brought up the above planter from the basement.

 After my our mini road trip to Red Wing Sunday my mom dug up this little gem. A few weeks ago we went to an estate sale that had this planter (though a bit bigger) as a lamp. While at the estate sale my mom exclaimed she had a very similar planter at home. We didn't end up getting the lamp. They wanted around $250.00 for it and that's just out of my price range. So, the next day I tried to find it but had no luck.  Thus, I was super happy when my mom brought it up from the basement Sunday. I'm kind of obsessed with it. I just have to figure out where to put it!

Tang also likes the planter.

 

Have you ever shopped your home? What did you find?

Spring is in the Air

Shirt: Kohls  Cardigan & Scarf: Vintage  Tights: Target  Skirt: Thrifted (orginally target)   
Shoes: Gifted  Earrings: PLNDR

          It's been increasingly warm these last few days in good ole Minnesota, which is incredibly rare. Last year round this time we still had a thick wall of snow. It seems though that the amazingly mild winter we've had is turning into an early spring (fingers crossed). Still it's Minnesota and in an instant the weather can turn right back to cold and snowy. I got up early Sunday and my mom and I decided to go on a mini road trip. My bestie had just been on one herself to Maiden Rock, WI so I was semi-inspired by her trip and suggested Red Wing, a (semi) nearby town. We'd been to Red Wing a few years before and went to a pottery place (Red Wing is famous for shoes and pottery) and then pretty much left. We went a different more scenic route this time; possibly due to our GPS that seems to be fond of scenic byways instead of seemingly quicker routs. Either way we had a really nice drive and ended up in Red Wing. While there we gawked at some beautiful old houses in town and then went to a mallish place that had antique stores. I inherited a love of all things old from my mom so we browsed the three whole levels of antiques, ohhing and awwing at all the cool stuff. Most of the stuff was pottery and glass/table ware. Though those things are nice they're not exactly things either of us really collect, so we left empty handed but with some serious eye strain (So. Much . Stuff). I didn't take any pictures, though I did take my camera. I haven't quite mastered the taking pictures all the time thing, which is one of my blogger weaknesses. Though I like to take pictures I also like to live in the moment and experience what I'm doing "in the now." Sometimes I feel like you can get caught up trying to take pictures of the memories and not really experience it to the fullest. I'm working on trying to figure out a good balance and next road trip I'll definitely take at least some pictures.

            Anyway since we were going out and it was nice out I decided to wear a "blog worthy" outfit. I've been dying to wear/blog this outfit since I got the skirt and figured I should seize the opportunity and go for it. In my original conception it had a collar necklace and my knee high black boots, but since we were going to a small town I decided to make it a bit more casual. I really like how the outfit turned out even though  I could have gone bare legged, it was that warm! But, I don't really trust spring weather and sometimes the temperature in Minneapolis can differ drastically from the temperature in other towns so I erred on the side of caution and went with the tights. I totally love this outfit and you can definitely expect to see more of this skirt in the future.

And I'm Back

 

 Shirt and Jeans: Thrift  Cardigan: Vintage  Earrings: PLNDR Shoes: Target

Finally an outfit! I got my camera back last week but I was sick most of last week and didn't exactly look or feel camera ready. Anyway I didn't actually wear this outfit today I wore it in January/February during my forced hiatus. But, I liked it at the time and figured  I'd re-create it to get the outfit posting momentum back. Looking at the photos I'm not as in love with the outfit as I was when I first wore it, but it's not too bad.

Happy International Women's Day! Feliz Día de la Mujer!

image via google

          Three years ago I was introduced to International Women's Day while abroad. Oddly before then I wasn't really aware of the day. It wasn't until interning in Ecuador with a battered women's shelter, La Casa Matilde, that I even knew people celebrated it. The first time I celebrated it La Casa Matilde and other women's organizations put together a march to raise awareness of women's issues. That day was so inspiring as women, children, and organizations that fight for women's issues all marched to raise awareness of women's issues and celebrate women. At the end of the march all the organizations met up and they had different presentations for the audience of mostly children, about hard issues like domestic violence. I and some of the other volunteers got up and took a "Domestic Violence Vaccine" after pledging not to commit domestic violence. They also had domestic violence clowns, which was a bit odd, but obviously a way to teach the kids about these issues. Since then international women's day has become a day that I remember and celebrate with enthusiasm. So today think about the women in your life who have made a difference to you and also think about women less fortunate. If you can, think about donating to a women's organization or volunteering with one. Either way just take some time to remember and celebrate the women in your life and around the world.