Obsessed: Ear Crawlers and Ear Jackets

I've recently become obsessed Ear Crawlers and Ear Jackets. Every few years I get really into jewelry and this seems to be one of those instances.  I've recently been into more delicate simple jewelry and have been steering a bit away from bigger statement pieces (though I still love those as well). I think simple jewelry is just easier to wear and kind of chic for everyday.  Anyway I have a small but growing collection, thanks in part to a Bauble Bar sale, so I figured I'd show it.

Most of the earrings above are no longer available online but all were found at Target or on Bauble Bar so those are great places to check for alternatives.

Top 5 Random Videos I obsessively watch on YouTube

1.  Apartment Tours









I'm nosy, especially when it comes to home decor. There's a reason I love apartment therapy and that HGTV is the background sound to my home life, I love to see how people style their spaces. So it wasn't long until I randomly discovered apartment/home tours on YouTube.  I'll admit many of the apartments rely heavily on IKEA for decor, but everyone has different taste so it can be fun to see how people style those pieces. There are some that are more unique, like the ones above, which are always nice to find. But I've seriously found myself watching apartment tours on repeat for way longer than I should.                              


2. Thrift Hauls






I enjoy looking at what people find at thrift stores/ flea markets. Watching thrift hauls really gets my thrifting mojo going and fulfills that thrill for times when I'm not in the mood to thrift or can't for whatever reason.


3. Lookbooks








Lookbooks are fun simply to see the outfits people put together, but it's also a good place to find some outfit inspiration. There have been times when I'm unsure how to style an item and have turned to lookbooks for inspiration, they can be very helpful.

4. Thrift / Flea Market shopping videos










These videos are even better than thrift hauls as the people take you with them to thrift stores/ flea markets. It's fun to see what other people are looking for at the thrifts. I follow some YouTubers that do these videos that search for things I know little or nothing about and don't collect, but it's still fun to learn about what they're into and see what they find. For example Pat from Pat the NES Punk searches for retro video games and toys at Flea Markets around his San Diego home and Lazy Game Reviews thrifts for vintage video games, PC games, old computers, computer accessories, as well as other vintage electronics. Will I collect these things? prolly not, but it's fun to learn more about them and get a secondhand thrift high.

5. Daily/ weekly Vlogs










I love a good reality show and Vlogs are basically self-made reality shows, with slightly less drama. For some reason even mundane things like grocery shopping or what the person is watching on TV can be interesting in a vlog. I think vlogs can satisfy that voyeur side we all have.

OOTD Low-key Valentine's Day

Dress and Leggings: Trifted  |  Boots: Payless

I've always had a generally positive view of Valentine's Day, even when I was single. But man is it hard to love that day when you're in a relationship. Valentine's Day, especially if you want to go out to eat, is one hell of a racket. So this year after going out for the past few Valentine's Days we decided to do take-out and chill. It was very low-key but perfect, and cheap. lol. Even though we didn't go out I wanted to dress up a little for the day so I wore this thrifted dress I got during the MLK day sales. I tried it on and instantly knew it'd be a perfect V-day dress, it's sort of on theme but doesn't scream valentine's day. I won't lie i'm pretty obsessed with this dress and will probably wear it out until it's too warm to wear it. 

OOTD Prince "Piano and a Microphone" Paisley Park Concert

Top & Leggings: Thrift  | Skirt: Dorothy Perkins | Boots: Payless

       One of the perks of being a Prince fan and living in Prince's hometown  is every so often he hosts random events around the cities and at his Paisley Park compound. Two weeks ago my mom got tickets for one of two "Piano and a Microphone" gala concerts at Paisley Park. Having never been to a prince concert I was super excited.  The concert was AMAZING! It was definitely one of the best concerts I've been to. There were two shows one at 8 pm and one at 11pm. We got tickets to the 11pm show which was much more hits based than the 8 o'clock show that, from what I gather from reviews, was more of lounge type show where he spoke a little more about why he wanted to do the shows this way and his childhood. Although I would have loved to see the first show too I am not disappointed in the least at the show I did see.  The setup was just a small stage with a (purple) piano and two candle sticks at each corner of the stage, It was all kind of ... romantic. The 11 o'clock show that I went to was the more hits driven show and featured songs like Raspberry Beret, Purple Rain, Nothing Compares 2 U, How Come you don't call me anymore,  I wanna be Your lover,  and Kiss. Toward the end of the night he got the crowd to sing along too, which was so much fun.  We got there a little late so we ended up standing behind him and saw the back of his head for most of the concert, but walked around so we still got to see him and we had pretty close view of him. Somewhat unfortunately, but predictably, cell phone photos/ recording and cameras were strictly prohibited. So the only picture I have of the evening is of the outside of Paisley Park, I wasn't about to get kicked out! The cellphone ban is a definite generational thing. I went to see Bob Dylan with my mom two or so years ago at the Orpheum and he had the same rules, no photos. It sucks a bit since you want photographic brag worthy photos, but on the other hand it is nice to just be in the moment and listen to the music. Sometimes people get way too caught up trying to record everything and they don't really experience the event! If you were wondering he wore a mauve/ marsala / light purple silk ensemble that resembled a funky Pajama set. He wore flared pants, a matching phases of the moon long sleeved shirt, vest, his hair in a medium afro and light up platform shoes. Needless to say he did not disappoint on the outfit front, you can see it on his Instagram Pincestagram.

Paisley Park

         Anyway I wasn't completely sure what to wear to the concert. I was contemplating buying something new but last Monday I spent way more money then planed at thrift store MLK day sales and didn't really want to shell out money on a new outfit.  I did find some clothes at those sales but the one dress I would have worn I'm saving for Valentine's Day. So I dug in my closet and remembered this skirt that I bought awhile ago and haven't worn recently. It wasn't the outfit I had originally envisioned and looking at these picture I forgot how long the skirt is one me,  I still like the outfit but next time I'll probably go for a shorter skirt.

         The concert was amazing and now I'm definitely going to have to go to more Prince concerts!

**
If you want a better detailing of the two concerts you can read this article from Rolling Stone on the 8pm show and this one from the current of the 11 o'clock show that I saw. Both articles include full set lists if you're interested. 

DIY Halloween Costume Ideas

Halloween is Saturday! Can you believe that? If the holiday snuck up on you like it did me and  your still scrambling to find the perfect costume here are few DIY costume ideas you can put together fairly easily and inexpensively. 

1. Beanie Baby

beanie baby costume by cleopatrajonez featuring a jump suit

If you're a 90's kid like I was a 90's kid you may or may not have 63 or more of these bad boys collecting dust in your parents basement. The first thing you'll need to do is DIY a quick TY tag. A good sized piece of cardboard and some paint (or glue and construction paper) plus a ribbon or string to tie around your neck should do the trick. There are two ways to go about the costume portion. 1. You could buy a cute animal onesie add your TY tag and bam! you're done. Or  2. you can get the basics of an animal costume, for instance wear a black top/ pant ( or a good jumpsuit) and a pair of animal ears then add the diy TY tag around your neck and you've got the perfect 90's throwback costume.  Since most people have some been some sort of animal for Halloween at least once (or know someone who has) the basic elements of this costume are pretty simple and you may already have some of pieces at home. You can make this costume as "sexy" as you want with whatever you choose to be your main piece of clothing. If you want to  make it scary/ morbid you could be a zombie/ vampire/ pet eaten beanie baby to add a little more personal flare.

2.  Orphan Black Clone

orphan black clone costume by cleopatrajonez featuring dr martens boots

If you don't watch Orphan Black you totally should, but to put it very simply it's a show about clones. It follows four main clones Sarah who's kind of punk, Alison who's preppy, Cosima kind of alternative and Helena ... well she's just kinda crazy. All of the various clones have super easy DIY costumes, especially Alison and Sarah, and all of these pieces could be found in your wardrobe or a good thrift store.


3. Cookie Lyon

Cookie Lyon Costume by cleopatrajonez featuring chain jewelry

I think one of the hottest costumes this year will be Mrs. Cookie Lyon. Her outrageous style is so fun and easily copied that I wouldn't be surprised if come the 31st Cookie Sightings are everywhere. This costume is super easy to assemble Cookie never met an animal print or fur she didn't like. If you have any of those in your closet you're already ahead.  Leopard is probably her most iconic print so bonus points for any leopard pieces. Otherwise a nice bodycon dress, heels, a faux fur jacket (the tackier the better)  and some gold accessories will also give you serious Cookie. 

4. Minion

minion costume by cleopatrajonez featuring a 8oz flask

Minions are a big costume for kids this year but it's also a super easy costume for adults. All you need are overalls, a yellow shirt, black gloves, black shoes and of course minion goggles (which you should be able to find pretty easily or make yourself). You can go traditional overalls or an overall dress if you want to be a little more feminine. Either way this is an easy costume thats super easy and recognizable so you probably won't have to explain your costume all night.


Anyway  if you need any more inspiration you can check out my old Halloween costume posts featuring:  Mad Men inspired looks , Minnie Mouse, and 70's mob wife/ Rhoda. If you still can't think of anything youtube and blogs are full of ideas. Another quick a dirty tip is to just take a trip to your local thrift store, you're bound to find a piece that will inspire a great costume.

 

Junk BoNaNzA 2015!

I've been to the Junk Bonanza a couple times now (in 2012 and 2013) but had to skip last year since both my mom and I worked during the festivities. This year we both had time to go the first day of the event and were pretty pumped. Though we don't always come away with things there's so much cool stuff to see it's always worth a trip. Plus, the things we have picked up there are pretty awesome and some of our favorites. This year we went on the first day and boy was it busy. The first main room was super crowded and it was a bit hard to make your way into different booths as you were kind of swept forward with the crowd. Luckily the other three rooms were far less crowded. There were a lot of cool pieces but I left empty handed again this year as I had a pretty small budget and didn't see anything I needed within it. When I go to any sort of antique/vintage event I'm always looking for things that are unique and hard to find at Thrift stores, estate sales, flea markets and/or really cheap vintage stores, so I sometimes come away empty handed if I don't see anything amazing that I can afford. It's still fun to browse though and you never know what you'll find. So here are a few of the cool things I saw while walking around the bonanza.

 I'm really into these old organizational and industrial pieces but the majority of them were out of my price range. 

  It's this guy cute? I have no idea where I'd put him but I like him/her.

This vintage kids ride was really cool. I think It was for sale but I have neither the money nor the space for it. 

Cute yellow chair.

This booth had a lot of cool mid century modern pieces. 

This cute lamp for example. 

My favorite from this booth though was this mod/ MCM birdcage. I've never seen one before and I kind of love it.  I Kind of regret not going back for that one. 

Burnt out (I think) Light bulbs! these were super cool and I'm sure some crafty person could make something awesome out of them. 

This booth had some cool Mid Century Modern lamps. These were nice, but i'm at a point where an atomic lamp has to be "can't live without it" cool for me to pick it up. These I could live without. 

   

        This vintage horse head mount thing was pretty cool. It would be pretty awesome in a kids room.

                                                  Skeleton keys are just the coolest

     Cool vintage daybed 

I actually really liked this picture and it was only like $22.00 but I didn't end up coming back for it. 

Pretty sure this lamp is made of an old plant stand and a vintage industrial mixer blade, kind of awesome.

Cool Tripod floor lamp 

How cool is this huge radiator cover? 

BABY!

Santa and his roller set beard. 

More cool industrial pieces. 

50's Doctors Cabinet. 

Giant Diaper Safety Pins. 

This beer sign was pretty cool but I see them a fair amount at Estate Sales so I passed.

I love a good vanity and am currently obsessed with a few Mid Century ones I've seen on the interwebs. This one was really cute but I'm not big on painted wood and it's not the vanity of my dreams. I do though love the Mongolian lamb fur they upholstered the seat in. I'm semi-obsessed with some pillows from West Elm made of the same material, but they're so expensive!

As and avid thrifter I thought this booth was a bit silly. Any thrifter worth their weight knows you can find silver pieces like this for (i'm assuming) much lower prices at literally any thrift store. I was pretty much just baffled at this booth. 

An assortment of cool rotary phones. Back when I was a kid we had a few of these and they always made you feel very fancy, like the number you were calling should be more important because of the dramatic way you dialed. But nowadays these phones would just be catching dust in my house. The only vintage phone I think I'd buy aside from an Ericofone (like the one Roger Sterling had on Mad Men) would be one of those clear plastic 80's/90's phones. I was obsessed with those and never had one. Someone needs to make a phone cover for cell phones like that, I'd buy it in a minute. 

Pretty Lampshade. 

Cool vintage Christmas set up and awesome car grille. 

I really loved the lamps in this booth but they were way beyond my price range, very cool though. 

The people at this booth made this old stove into a kitchen island. Isn't that the coolest idea ever? The great thing about Junk Bonanza is even if you leave empty handed you get to see a ton of cool DIY's. 

Can you spot the sneak peak of my Junk Bonanza OOTD?

These display cabinets were pretty amazing and reasonably priced, but they were still outside of my price zone. I'm also looking for more closed storage pieces as opposed to these lovely display pieces. That said if I had the money I'd totally have gotten them. 

Isn't this the cutest bookshelf? It would look awesome in a kids room. The good news is it's a totally do-able DIY piece if you really like it. 

These hands were pretty cool but I have no need for them. They could make really cool Halloween decorations though. 

That's it for this year's Junk Bonanza, even though I walked away empty handed I saw a lot of cool stuff and will definitely be back next year if I can.