Golden slumbers

Floral wrap around blouse:  Thrift store in L.A.

Capris:  Thrift store in San Diego

Gladiator sandals:  Gift from my older sister

Today started off a little rough; after the four of us had all taken our showers, we noticed that the walls of our bathroom were leaking water.  And then the kitchen started flooding.  Two repairmen later, the problem was fixed and we enjoyed the beautiful weather by reading outside on the picnic blanket.  I'm currently reading Memoirs of a Geisha and I can't get enough of it!

I didn't want to get too sunburned so we eventually took our reading inside.  One of my favorite feelings in the world is the feeling I get when I'm reading in an insanely sunny room with the windows open.  You know that feeling you get when the sun seems to pour over you and blanket you with its warmth?  It's intoxicating.  That mixed with the comforts of a good book is my ideal weekend.

Colin and I also started a new project tonight.  We are going to "install" some clouds in our kitchen that will float against our blue wall.  Hopefully it won't look too cheesy, but I do love a good art project and playing with fluffy cotton all day while listening to good music sounds like a good time to me.  I'll put pictures up of the result when it's finished.

Last night Colin made some delicious drinks and Kevin (my brother-in-law) grilled some kabobs for dinner.  I didn't manage to get a full length photograph of my outfit yesterday but hopefully you can get somewhat of an idea of what it looked like from the photographs I do have of the night.

Yesterday I wore a white collared blouse with small red polka dots and navy blue capris paired with (you guessed it) black Keds.  The blouse I borrowed from my sister.

Colin's delicious lemon drop martini...

... and an alcoholic Shirley Temple...

...make for one entertaining dinner!

I had to include a photo of Jess because the cameraman (or woman) always gets the shaft.  And she's too cute not to include a photo of!

(**Whenever there is alcohol involved there are labels to be found!  I got a vintage label maker a few months ago that I absolutely love)

Happy Birthday, The Betties!

It's finally here!  (kinda)  There are only a few items posted at the moment, but there's plenty more where that came from.

PS-I made my first sale today.  This stuff is going like hot cakes.  Get it while you can!

**Expect a post of today's outfit tomorrow.  I'm going out tonight to celebrate with Colin, my sister, and her husband.  (!!)

Portrait of a Lady

Scarf:  Thrift store 

Cream shirt with brown polka dots:  Thrift store in San Diego

Jeans:  Thrift store in Phoenix

Shoes:  keds.com

Cream socks with aqua polka dots:  Christmas gift from Colin's mom

Brown leather satchel:  Secondhand store in Phoenix

Wrist watch:  Inherited from grandfather

Navy blue belt with coral  pattern and bamboo clasp: J. Crew

**The adorable red shoes (size 6) will be up for grabs at The Betties soon!  

I included a bunch of photographs in today's post as a sort of narrative to accompany the outfit.  Take from it what you will!

Jess and Kevin will be coming in tonight and I really want to have at least one item posted on the shop's site before they get here (Jess is really excited and anxious to see what it looks like and I want to surprise her with at least something).  However, the combination of a lack of technological know-how on my end and it being that time of the month (all of my energy seems to literally slough of with the rest of me... I hope that image isn't too horrific for you), is definitely working against me.  No matter how many tutorials I watch on Etsy I still seem to be lost in some confused state when it comes to figuring out the logistics of everything.  Once I have a breakthrough, though, it will all come together rather quickly I hope (at least that's what usually tends to happen in my case).

I'm including two photographs of yesterday's outfit.  It seems I should have included views of the shoulder pads.  Hopefully you (most specifically Krista and Jess) can get a better sense of the silhouette with these. (Click to view larger)

Help a sister (or a cousin!) out...

If you all would "hype" Krista's newest Lookbook look, I'm sure she would greatly appreciate it!  You can find a link to the look on her blog here.

!

Blouse:  Thrift store in San Diego

Jean shorts:  Flea market in L.A.

Shoes:  keds.com

Purse:  Thrift store in L.A.

I was in the mood to dress 80s/90s-ish today and just ran with it.  I decided to keep the shoulder pads in this blouse instead of ripping them out like I usually do.  I think they actually worked well with this silhouette, if you can believe it (though you can't really tell in this photograph).

I'm developing a crush on the band Tennis.  Husband and wife join to create some throwback tunes whose playful sound will make anyone want to bob their feet to the beat.  You can listen to a few of their songs here.  Marathon is my absolute favorite!

In other news, my older sister and her husband will be coming in tomorrow evening to stay for the weekend.  I'm going to try and convince her to model a few of the items for the shop to mix it up a little.  Hopefully she'll agree to it!

Smockin' it

Smock:  Vintage clothing store in San Diego

Jeans:  Thrift store in L.A.

Shoes:  keds.com

Last night Zeena destroyed our bedroom while we were gone getting our haircut.  I guess her restroom problems haven't yet ended.  So exhausting...

Colin's haircut turned out pretty well though:

We're still working on the slicked back look.  It's a little more difficult to achieve with wavy hair than we thought it would be.

I have all day to work on the store tomorrow and I can't wait!!

Not Again...

I am sorry to have to say this again but the shop will not be finished by tonight.  I know, I know, I'm starting to sound like a broken record.  Because of this, I am not going to commit to a specific launch date, just know that it will be very very soon! I'm terribly sorry, I am trying so hard to stick to my word, but it's turned out to be more of a process than I had imagined.

To take your mind off of how flaky I've been, here's a photograph I found on the Internet of two funny cats:

innocentenglish.com

Chiquitita on LB

I've submitted the photograph below on Lookbook.  Please push the link to "hype" me if you like what you see!

Chiquitita

Blouse: Temporarily stolen from The Betties shop

Pale yellow jeans: American Apparel

Wedges: Target

Hat: Thrift store in L.A.

Necklace: Antique store in Phoenix

I am frantically figuring out all that's involved in the shop, but I am still shooting for it to be finished by tonight. If you're as excited about it as I am, please stop by the blog later on tonight... I will be publishing a post with a link to the store once it's finished.  Yahoo!  I can't wait.

This evening Colin and I will be getting our haircut by our neighbor's friend's wife who's finishing up beauty school.  My haircut isn't going to be anything special (just a trim), but I've convinced Colin to opt for a new style and he decided to go with Joseph Gordon-Levitt's hairstyle from Inception:

It could either be disastrous or really amazing.  To top it all off, he's growing out his scraggly mustache in hopes of achieving a sort of blond Mexican Bandit look.  I hope he doesn't turn out looking like Draco Malfoy, but Colin's a fan of his look too so it'll (hopefully) be a win-win situation for him.

And now I'll leave you with this adorable picture of Z sleeping under my oversized hat. 

She's all roses and smiles

Blouse:  Thrift store in L.A.

Jeans:  Secondhand store in L.A.

Shoes:  keds.com

Scarf:  Thrift store in the South

My ambitious plans to have the store up and running by this evening have been postponed until tomorrow.  I am terribly sorry to have disappointed all of you, but I had no idea how many different things I had to take into account when creating the shop! (mostly policies, and things of that nature) 

If you would like to view the progress thus far, you may visit the shop here. I hope you enjoy what you see!

Like shorts of wallpaper

Jean Jacket:  Secondhand store in L.A.

Tank top:  Old Navy

Shorts:  Urban Outfitters

Sneakers:  keds.com

For all those curious, The Invisible Man is quite good.  The character was actually invisible, which is a pretty big deal considering it was made in the thirties.  I had forgotten that Colin wasn't too fond of old movies (he says they're like museums) so he wasn't as excited as I thought he'd be when I told him about my great find at the library.  He says that it's hard for him to emotionally connect with the characters as they're way too exaggerated (which I find is true), but I have always had a special affinity for the past so I think that's why I am ultimately drawn to those films.  Anyway, I advise you (parents in particular) to check it out if you have the chance.

Today Colin and I took loads of photographs of the merchandise for the store.  The expected launch date is still by the end of the weekend (yay!).  You'd be surprised how emotionally and physically exhausting it is to take photographs of  yourself.  There are only so many intriguing poses you can think of.

In celebration of the eventual birth of the store, Colin is making twice baked potatoes and mojitos for the appetizers.  If the mojitos are any indication of what the dinner is going to be like, it's going to be a meal to remember!