FLASHER

I had to use my flash today because the weather outside is frightful.  I know I already posted today, but I was so inspired by the J Crew catalog that came in the mail, and planning my Christmas list, I put together this ensemble.  I think the shorts are a little too short but I didn't have any longer ones that I could roll up.  Oh well.  The leggings are a little thicker and cover everything.

Another reason I wanted to post again today is because A. Cullen from Time Enough for Drums Nominated me for the Beautiful Blogger award!  Here are 7 random facts about me:

1. My Favorite song in the whole wide world is “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by The Beatles, written by George Harrison. I love the slower longer version and the kick ass version where Eric Clapton plays guitar. Youtube it if you have to. It is worth everything.
2. In a past life I think I was an orange cat. I love cleaning myself, sleeping in window seats, being alone, stretching, I only let people pet me when and how I want them to, and I can have happy jumping energy one second, but be purring on the couch the next.
3. My favorite colors are orange and brown, or just about every shade of tanned leather, rust, dirt, smoggy sunset, wood, or muddyness.
4. I wear boots EVERYDAY. Mostly because I am a little insecure about my ankles. I would do it even if they were not on trend.
5. I LOVE people in glasses. men women it just doesn’t matter. I think the reason I fell for my husband so hard was because of his glasses. I have a pair, but I am SO blind and unwilling to give up my peripheral vision for vanity.
6. My greatest weakness is salt and oil together with any type of potatoes. I would willingly banish all sugar from my diet FOREVER, but would probably commit suicide if you took away hash-browns.
7. I have girl crushes on a number of bloggers. I would rather not say which ones so they don’t get freaked out. But EVERYONE does right?

Now there are Seven other bloggers I would like to nominate for this award, in no particular order:

1. REFUSES TO LABEL
2. Goldleaf
3. {megs in wonderland}
4. Between Laundry Days
5. girlfacedana
6. Blue Collar Catwalk
7. Just My Style. . . 

I would love to nominate SO many more.  And there are a few bloggers that I would nominate but I know they have won this thing like a million times.  This part was kinda hard for me.  

Basics Wanted

I noticed that other bloggers have made their Christmas lists so I thought I would do the same.  Easily done for me because the only thing my closet really lacks are good quality basics.  I can find them all at J Crew actually.

1. Sahara Suede ankle booties
2. Boyfriend Fatigue jacket (cant decide between green or black)
3. Dream shawl collar cardigan
4. Ultra knit Weekend pants
5. Herringbone leggings.

Thats all.  Thanks Santa.

Hemming and Hawing

I just wanted to show you these dresses I hemmed!  The first and second ones I did in my sewing class at the high school this week and the last one was something I did on my own a couple of months ago that was originally a long sleeved, collared, below the knee monstrosity.  I wore it with this blazer and booties (no leggings) during the summer to an independent horror film festival.  If you look closely at the print you will see it is little guys with guitars!  It was the print that sold me on it, but the shape was a little too much and super dowdy.  I am happy that sewing machines give us the power to reinvent things.  I generally do not alter vintage things if they are signature, classic shapes, but I feel less precious about the 80's.

So many of you commented and I am so excited to go meet you on your blogs or in OZ!  I have the whole morning free to list on etsy and electronically travel (dishes and laundry can wait till tomorrow!) Oh, d.rose, That IS the skirt you had in your hot little hand!  I sort of feel bad!  You should have it in your possession!  My word of wisdom:  Always shop alone (or with a fellow blogger who gets it!) so your instincts are not muddled!

New Things for Etsy!

Over the course of the next few days I will be adding, a few at a time, all of the items above.  Most everything will be $20 - $30 ( or less)  since I am trying to clear some stock. I still have two more 8 foot rolling racks FULL of stuff waiting for spring and summer, but this stuff needs to go NOW.  I am in a deal making mood so let me know what you are thinking!  Leave a comment if you want me to reserve anything and if you reserve it here I will give you free shipping* (in the US or discounted shipping everywhere else!)  MarieRetroRevival is where you will go to buy the loot, but remember, it won't be listed all at once.  I will carve time out each day to do it with reserved things listed first!

*the denim dress and the shoes do not apply to the free shipping deal because I can't fit it into a flat rate envelope! Sorry!

Introverted Extroversion

All right.  So I am an introvert.  I thought for a while that I might be and extrovert because I LOVE people so much, particularly faces and facial expressions, but I did that personality test that Carl Jung came up with (I am an INFJ or Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging personality type, apparently the rarest type at only 1% of the population) and figured out what my deal is.  I HATE talking on the phone because I can't SEE what people are really saying, I LOVE face to face interactions but value that type of interaction so much that I feel I need to reserve special, uninterrupted time one on one for these conversations (Time that is in very short supply) so it just doesn't happen very often. But I love Blogging and looking at other peoples blogs because even in my limited time, I love and NEED to see the features and expressions on faces.  I love outfits too, but give me a good face shot and you will completely intrigue me.

Why am I bringing this up?  Well, it has recently been brought to my attention that there are some REALLY interesting people reading and visiting my blog that I didn't even know about!  I crunched the numbers and less than 5% of you are commenting! (EDIT:  This is not to say I do not appreciate those of you who do comment!  I do!  I love it SO much!) To be fair, I read blogs for months and never commented because I didn't feel I had anything to say or I was shy, or simply didn't want to call attention to myself, but I REALLY want to see you and read about you!  I get really excited when someone says they have been coming here for a while or they just found me for the first time because then I get to click on them and see who they are and what they are all about.  That is the really really cool part of blogging for me.  I get to be introverted and a little voyeuristic but still study and know about people.  Best of both worlds.  Sure I would love to sit face to face with you, but who can fly to Istanbul, or Texas, Tennessee, New York, Canada or even San Francisco (though its only a 3 hour drive for me!) on a whim?  I can"t so I fly there in my computer and look at your pictures and laugh at your commentary and feel all warm fuzzy and connected.

So drop me a line and just say Hi just ONCE!  Thats all I am asking.  Even if you don't have a blog.  I am about to go do my thing at the high school right now.  I am wearing this great elastic waist band skirt I found at the Goodwill with just black basics  I really didn't know how else to wear it.  It is pretty statementy but I love it so much!

Ex-Work Party

I used to work for this non profit arts organization helping to put together Art Exhibitions, Artist's Visits, Lectures and Arts in Education Programs in the schools.   I resigned in April of this year (for complex reasons) but They are having a christmas party tonight and a HUGE part of me really wants to go to socialize, catch up and relive the good old days, but another half of me feels a little weird about it.  I am not sure if I am going to go, but if I do I will wear this outfit. This dress is vintage and originally came down to below my knees!  I did a hem job on it before my hemming class yesterday (which went really well by the way!) but learned that I had done it correctly anyway!  I hemmed a couple of other dresses yesterday to in the same fashion!  I can't wait to wear them and show you!

Also, THANK YOU all SOOOO much for your comments!  You have no Idea how much they mean to me! (well maybe you do because you are mostly all bloggers!) I am always just so excited when I get comments, my husband makes fun of me because I literally squeal when I see that I have some!  Answers to some questions : yes urban outfitters on the hat from last post, I have been with my husband for 10 years, married 7, I would be more than happy to cut your hair, and I have super big crushes on you too!  I wish I could be more timely about getting over and replying to you, but my son HATES me to be online so I only get little snibbits of time to come say hi! I like to carve some out a few times a week.  He is nagging me right now so gotta go!  So see you soon!

High School Again

I am working at the high school again today.  A couple of weeks ago I took the advanced screen printing class to a local thrift store.  Each of them had $5 to spend there collecting source materials to be cut and sewn into new items, or printed directly on in a more non traditional way.  All of the students seemed pretty excited.  Some of the boys actually really got into it buying vests, flannels and blazers that they are going to rip the sleeves off of, print on, sew patches on, just really great ideas.  The girls are layering prints under vintage slips, cutting segments from knit vests and patching in patterned fabric panels underneath and adding buttons, I mean these people are just so passionate and creative! Today they have a master seamstress coming into the class to teach us all how to sew and taylor things to fit us!  one of my perks is that I get to participate in all the classes too!  I know how to sew strait lines, and pin things to fit my body, but high quality tailoring is something I have always wanted to learn!  I have a whole sack of vintage dresses I want to learn to professionally hem, and a few other things I hope to adjust!  I am so excited.

I may also want to learn how to properly sew a zipper onto something for easier access.  I am wearing this little floral playsuit today and it has about a million buttons on the front that take a fortnight to unbutton.  Now, usually not a problem, unless you have to go to the bathroom.  In this case a zipper going down the back would be WAY more efficient!  It wouldn't be so bad if the torso was a little longer so I could simply move it to the side, but with tights and everything I have a feeling this is going to be a real pain!

Oh, and the hair was still a little funny. Maybe tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.  Might be a hat and headband season!