New February's resolutions!

This is a picture I took to document a particularly good hair day. However Blogger resizes everything and it's hard to tell that my hair looked AMAZING that day. Perfect amount of wave and curl and straight bangs. Not a cowlick in sight! In this picture it looks messy. In the bigger picture I am a vision. A vision of perfect hair loveliness ;P

Completely unrelated...

I've been really slacking off lately.

I haven't painted in a year. I haven't sewn in weeks. I haven't exercised since Monday and before that in MONTHS. I'm not in school right now even though I really should be. I only work 4-8 hours a week at a local museum and in my free time I pretend that I sell vintage items online. But really?

My New Years' resolution was to get my stuff in gear. I will admit it's been a bit depressing to see how much I've let suffer while I slack off. But starting this week, I decided that enough was enough!

First off, I apologize to anyone I let down with all my slacking. I tend to boo hoo instead of taking charge of my life.

Second, I finally got my car "running" again today. I need to fix the tail lights and brake lights, windshield wipers and driver's side door in order for it to pass inspection and get an oil change. It's going to be a busy Monday, that's for sure.

Tomorrow I need to finish sewing dresses and get them in the post on the way to the car place on Monday.

I gained quite a bit of weight due to boo hooing and extreme illness followed by extreme fatigue followed by more boo hooing. I've lost nearly half of that weight gain over the last few months and it's time to pick it up again! People keep reminding me to do yoga/pilates. I'm not gonna lie. I hate those two sooooo much. I hate things that hurt and I hate things that are hard and I hate things you can't do while watching television. But I PROMISE all of my readers that keep encouraging me to do these things (and I promise you too mom) that starting tomorrow I will do yoga/pilates every day.

You can encourage me by reminding me? That would be fantastic. I need that extra kick in the pants.

What New year's resolutions have you slacked on? I encourage all of my readers to use this week to start those up again! It's not too late. Just imagine how good you will feel when you start meeting your goals and crossing things off your never ending to do list! I know I feel ten times better this week having met at least four of my goals!

That's all for now. Just some self -reflection and honesty for today.

To reward you, here is a picture of my sleeping kitten :)

Blog Giveaway!!

Ever since this post, I've been obsessed with Clark shoes. I discovered this journal a few months back and I was more than just a little skeptical. I was under the impression that with arthritis and a broken tail bone, I'd never be able to wear heels or stylish shoes of any kind. Specially made converse shoes were as stylish as I would get. I was convinced that you don't really suffer from arthritis if you can wear any heels at all. And to answer someone's previous question, yes, even kitten heels kill my feet!

BUT...



After buying these shoes, I'm in love! And I admit, a little bit obsessed. I'm obsessed with seeing how many options are out there for me. With that said...



I discovered these shoes and I NEED them.



I am so in love with this look by Rhiannon and here is my opportunity to emulate her style and to wear high heels again.

I'll never be able to wear shoes like these Jeffrey Campbell heels Rhiannon is wearing...



But I think these Clark's sandals are very similar, right? ALL of the reviews were wonderful. Everyone said they worked well for a wide foot and even a woman with bone spurs in her foot said they were comfortable.

Depending on the website they are anywhere from $43 to $90!! I'm a 6.5 Wide and that size is hard to find in this style. But it's out there with the price tag of $90. My mom told me when I bought my last heels that I would need to start saving up for good quality shoes from here on out. Before I got arthritis I used to frequent Payless and the clearance racks at DSW. I was the shoe queen with lots of pointy toes and no insoles. Heels were never a problem for me. I was never awkward on them, they were comfortable. But now, each pair of shoes is going to require careful deliberation and saving up $100.

BUT I need these NOW!!

So I've decided to do 2 things. All button ring or barrette sales are officially going towards my shoe fund. You should definitely buy one or two to help me buy my new shoes!! Click on the picture below to get to my shop!



AND I've decided to have a blog giveaway. I can't decide whether I should get the black leather or the black patent leather. Leave me a comment with your vote and on Wednesday, I'll do a drawing to see who wins!

And the winner gets these barrettes.



Please only participate if you are in the U.S. or Canada. Well, you can participate if you live elsewhere, I just can't enter you into the drawing because I can't afford to ship to you :(

So help me decide:

Leather:



or...

Patent Leather:



Leave me in a comment and I'll enter you in the drawing :) Also, buy a ring or barrette to donate to my beautiful beautiful shoe purchase!

OR! If there are any independently wealthy oil tycoons out there that would like to donate to my "needing these shoes really bad" cause can drop a few dollars in my paypal using the "donate" button below :) Kidding, but seriously, I need these shoes so you should do it anyway!

I AM DOCTOR FRASIER CRANE!

Not much time or energy to make a real update today.

I deleted a post I made a few days back because I was merely venting and sometimes that's all one needs. No worries, I won't make it a regular occurrence :)

However I'd like to state that I am Dr. Frasier Crane. I am convinced that they patterned that character around me!!

I'm overly sensitive, pretentious, love antiquing, giving advice that no one wants, overly organized and obsessed with my little brother. Not to mention that I internalize every little thing and dwell on people and actions and situations that really are not that big of a deal. I'm always overthinking, always making tedious jokes and references. I love the finer things in life (however I'm really good at being lazy and enjoying the less fine things of life as well) and I'm obsessed with all things British.

Whenever I watch this show, I am convinced Frasier would be my best friend. He's too neurotic for me to date, but I think we'd get along just fine. Also, I'm convinced that Jenifer is Niles. Weenie, neurotic, pretentious and bearer of many phobias. She also cracks jokes like Niles does and dresses up randomly for no reason.

Television on the internet was a wonderful invention. I tip my hat to you sir!

OH OH!! And my vintage EBAY auctions end tonight! Get your bids in and make me happy :)

Ebay auctions

Here's the promo I made for this weeks' auctions!
Feel free to check out our store and happy bidding :)

P.s. Click on the picture to view the store.

Outtakes!

I have been very bad with money this month. VERY bad. I don't even remember what I spent it on. Cheap beer and hookers? Probably just groceries. I'm going to be short $50 this month on rent. WAT? Who does that? Did I really need those extra trips to McDonald's? Oh well. I'm listing new things right now on EBAY and maybe this will be the week that I actually sell more than I don't sell. Our first week we sold 8 out of 20 and this week we sold 7. We don't have much feedback. I know this. But still. The things I felt for certain would sell didn't and random strange things did. Here's to hoping.

I thought it would be funny to start posting the outtakes from our "photo shoots". I checked with my roommate and she said she is OK with that. They're more funny than embarrassing. I deleted all the ugly ones and kept these two because I think they are funny.



Will have 10 new items up within the hour and 10 from last week. Come on EBAY. Pay my rent!



Click on the banner above to visit the store :D

Oh and here's a picture of me for good measure. I ignored everyone's advice and chopped off my bangs yesterday. I only hate them in pictures. In real life I actually like them. I think they need to be rounded up and not rounded down on the corners but I think they'll grow out nicer this way. And the way my hair grows, they will be down to my eyebrows in about 2 weeks!

won't you come out to play.

Isn't there a Sesame Street song that has that line in it? Something about raining outside and coming out to play? I loved Sesame Street. It's my opinion that it went downhill in the early 90s but those first monsters and first episodes were really wonderful. My little brother still sends me links to youtube videos of early Sesame Street skits.

Today is one of those days. It's cold and rainy and dark outside. My car is still broken so Prudence and I are stuck inside together listening to car alarms going off outside, the neighbors dropping furniture as they move in and watching last week's episode of Biggest Loser on nbc.com.

Prudence keeps talking to me and asking me to play. She knows where her toys are and she will stand around in front of the shelf we keep them on and sing. My cat doesn't cry, she sings. She warbles and sings. She is convinced that since I am still in my pajamas, I must want to play.





It's one of those days that I had planned on being productive or sleep in all day or watch tv all day? Today is the last day to bid on our auctions so I best get to promoting and then altering a few more items for tonight's "photo shoot". Fingers crossed that our pictures turn out wonderful instead of pink and blurry :D

I need to get better about comments!

One of the things I sincerely regret is not being better about commenting. I know that it just makes my day to see new comments on my posts and I think I should do the same for others. Often I find myself viewing a post and having something I want to ask or offer feedback on but I NEVER do!

Same goes for commenting back when people say nice things or ask questions on my blog. I always have the intentions of writing back but by the time I get around to it, it's been three weeks and it's rather too late at that point.

Completely off the subject...

YAY!! I was featured in this blog today!

Little Gray Pixel: Fashion Forward: Spectator Pumps

She featured these shoes and I totally agree with her. Had these narrow shoes fit my fat feet, I'd have kept them for myself.

And now for pictures of my workspace. Ha Ha workspace. I've been altering a few dresses a week. Mainly just hemming them shorter but sometimes taking them in or cutting ugly bits off. It looks so messy. And it is. I'm using a $12 desk I bought from Goodwill as my sewing table and it's the sexiest thing I've ever owned. It's dark wood that has been scratched in beautiful ways with wooden drawers and carved wooden drawer pulls. It makes me happy that I own it every time I see it and it makes a lovely makeshift sewing table. However it does mean that my sewing machine has to sit out in our living room until I tire of this new found hobby.


That's all for today. Except for this creepy EBAY promo I made. Last week's photos turned out TERRIBLY. But they were all I had and my roommate refused to pose for any more photos. She looks so blurry and creepy in these photos. However the clothing is gorgeous this week. Check out our latest EBAY listings and bid on some :)

Last Change to BID on AUCTIONS!

This week has been intense for me. My car broke down, my phone died, our heater went out and they dropped us randomly from our internet service???

We have sorted most of it out but I am exhausted.

Too exhausted to update with much. I'm trying to convince my model to do a fitting so that I can finish the three dresses I have yet to hem and then I'm going to have to bribe her to do a fashion shoot tonight. I'd love to tidy up a bit so that I can take pictures of the photo shoot process. I think that would be fun. We'll see.

She is writing her thesis and the thrifting process and the initial fitting process always seems like a good idea to her, but by the time I need a model, she is suddenly overwhelmed with work. I understand but when I try and model my own clothes I always chop off my head or make some awful face. Not to mention I don't have a vintage frame. I have the world's largest rib-cage and I can never get any of the tiny things to zip up. No amount of weight loss will ever fix that :(

Anyway. Please check out our auctions. Only a few more hours left to bid!
The waiting is so hard! I suppose it will just get easier though :)

Click on the image above and it will take you directly to the shop!

Vintage decor

I got bored tonight and wanted to take some photos of my room. I only took a few photos so expect a real update soon with tons of photos of my apartment. We have so many vintage nick nacks that I think it would be fun to update weekly with photos from my favorite spots in my apartment.

Today's photo post is from two bookshelves and a wall in my room :)








Also, please don't forget to check out my new vintage dress store on EBAY! We've worked awfully hard on it and are quite pleased with the results. We'd love any feedback, favorites and especially bids :D

Just click on the picture below and it will take you directly to our store!!

new EBAY store!!

I wish I could say that I could resolve to post more often and then I would do it. But I keep forgetting and then being too tired to post whenever I remember.

It's been two weeks since my last post. Since my last post I was sick (again), throwing myself a pity party, cleaning my apartment, and preparing for my NEW EBAY STORE!!

My roommate created a new banner for us which you can see on this journal. She simply changed the title of each banner so we can have one for my blogger, one for our etsy, and one for our EBAY.

I think it looks amazing. What do you think?

Starting an EBAY store is harder than it looks. EBAY is harder to figure out (in my opinion) than etsy; but we have heard wonderful things about selling vintage on EBAY and I've been stalking some similar vintage sellers' EBAY stores and some of the things they sell sell for over $100! And I'm talking items nearly identical to what I have to sell. So we gave it a shot.

It took many hours of photoshop and many many hours of altering and hemming dresses and many more hours of photographing them.

My dad helped me design a "set" which consists of a Ralph Lauren sheet from TJ Maxx and two 1"by2"s and three of those spotlights with super special light bulbs. This set did not come complete with a better camera however and most of my pictures turned out blurry. I will try a tripod next time but no promises.

Many hours later and the agreement that if my roommate would play model, I would play photographer, editor and list all the items on EBAY, later and we have launched our new site!

Please go and check it out and give us some feedback. Any tips on how to improve or on how to better make use of EBAY is totally rad. Please add us to your favorite stores and feel free to bid on our listings as well!

We're still keeping our etsy. We'll make listings inactive while they are listed on EBAY and keep the shoes, men's vintage, accessories and vintage home decor on etsy for now. It's already proving a pain to promote both stores and I'm afraid that my promoting for etsy is slacking...but still excited about trying out EBAY!

If you click on the picture at the top of this post it will take you straight to our EBAY :)

Here are some pictures of my personal favorites that we have listed for auction this week!