The Halloween costume is....

SALLY JESSE RAPHAEL!

I had been watching a Halloween episode of Sabrina and she was being SJR for Halloween, and then I wanted to be her! It seemed fun, recognizable, easy to put together.
So the big Halloween party was last night. We didn't leave until nearly 9 and then when we got there we learned we already missed the costume contest and pretty much everything else.
Everyone thought my costume was great, but nobody could figure out who I was. They all thought that I was Barbara Walters and when I told them I was Sally Jesse, they stared at me blankly and asked who it was.
As we were leaving the party, one nice girl my age came up to me and said "Oh my gosh! You're Sally Jesse Raphael!" and I screamed right back at her "Yes!! Yes I am!". She said she couldn't stop staring at me because it was so good. Thank you, you made my night!

Does anyone else watch the show, The Middle? On the Halloween episode, Brick, dressed up as a character from history and nobody could figure out his costume, then he came across one old man who knew who he was and he was excited. I totally felt like Brick last night!

Anywho, here are the costumes worn by Sarah and Sarah's best friend, Tawnie. They were a gypsy and a hippie.

So that was my Friday night, I had a lot of fun! I really hope I'm able to go out on Sunday and find something to do as Sally Jesse Raphael. :)

The Great Outdoors

So my hair was a dud, but today I went to the Swiss Colony outlet and they had the most absolutely perfect wig, the exact cut and color. I'm going back later to buy it and a few other things.. AHHHHHHH, my original costume is gonna work out after all. I'm kind of excited and won't shut up about it.
:D

Lookie here.. I ventured outdoors today for pictures. I live across from a school and today they were out, so why not take advantage of that? It was windy, but it didn't bother me and I found this awesomely great pile of leaves! Yay!

(the colors are all over the place because I like to mess with the settings on my camera, some are vivid and some are not at all)

Oh how I love photo outtakes.

What is black and white and red all over?

I AM! :D

Here is how I spent my evening. I had my mom help dye my hair red (yes, from a box). This is certainly NOT the red I was going for nor is it going to work with my costume. I'm disappointed but I will make it work! Now on to plan B for my Halloween costume.
When I look at this hair color all I can think of is an immature teenager that dyed their hair with red koolaid, my brother was that kind of kid! :P lol
I actually had a color like this when I was 14, I found a random bottle of red dye in the bathroom and got bored one day and went for it. I think that's when my journey for red really began.

I thought the color for sure was going to end up purple, which I seriously considered being okay with while it was on my head.

The Ghost of Halloween Past

Zombie

Zombie again

Last minute cat costume

Dressing normal and then being a lawn gnome, within an hour I hated the costume and dressed normal again.

Sort of last minute fairy costume

While I patiently wait for the next part of my costume to be ready, I thought I would share my costumes from the last 5 years! I like being zombies or anything with lots of glitter, make-up, etc. I was never a store-bought costume kid, I hate store bought costumes. I think it takes no imagination to pick one out and wear it. I mean, I don't mind the people that do it (since almost everyone does) it's just not for me!
It works for me though, I'm that weird kid with the basement full of dress up clothes and crazy wigs. I'm pretty sure it comes from my love of acting and becoming another character. Just this morning my friend Sarah asked if she could borrow a whole costume for her friend. I certainly am going to help out.
This years costume has a lot of thought put into and more than a month of time. I really hope it works out the way it is in my head. I have a couple last minute costumes just in case!

Soooooooooo, what are you going to be this year? What's your favorite costume that you ever wore? Do you have something you wish you could have dressed up as, but never had the chance to?

A Mighty Wind

I've got lots of things to share with you!
I have yet to hear about the nursing home job, which I kind of predicted, so the day I turned it in I also went and picked up an app for St.Vincents! I think it might be neat to work at a thrift store, not particularly ours, but it would still work out. I went and turned that in today!

Next, apologies about the lame outfit. It is so hackin' windy here right now! Seriously, bad! The scarf probably wasn't the best idea, but eh, whatever!

Onto the next order of business, last week I won the giveaway from Jamie over at Thrifty Threads. I was pretty excited. The prize was a $35 CSN.com gift card and then Jamie threw in some Halloween goodies. I used the card right away and ordered some mocs that cost $33 and decided not to waste the last $2, so I ordered a pencil. The pencil arrived last week and it made me laugh when I received it.. huge box, lots of bubble, and one teeny tiny pencil.

One of the many things in the box from Jamie were some cookie cutters so I'm forcing my sister to make cookies with me sometime this week. She is a much more talented baker than I am!

Slowly my Halloween costume is getting put together, I'm pretty excited about it!! It's totally top secret and you will all find out on Friday. I will be posting a clue about what it is tomorrow though. :)
Outfit details - Black top, $3 (thrifted, Classic Essentials brand) - Another shirt that is unseen underneath, $3 (thrifted, MixIt brand) - Jeans, $3 (thrifted, old school Maurices brand) - Key necklace, $1 (bargain depot) - Material around my neck is just an old scrap of fabric, I'm still working on it.
If you've got a minute, could you go and read my last post about my friends in the band, Loftland and then head over to Facebook and "like" their page. Thank you SO much!

Let's Give Them Something To Talk About

Today I went and turned in my application for the activities assistant job! It's sad to see that I have not played the Sims 2 all day, and if I were to get a job my Sims playing time would go down significantly, so I better play now while I can!

My slipper mocs are beginning to fall apart. I guess I can't expect more considering they were $1 at Wal-Mart and I give them more wear than slippers should ever have to go through. I decided instead of trying to string them back together, I will just pin them closed. My lovely Loftland pin came in handy!

While I'm not at all excited about this outfit, here are the..
Outfit details - Brown top, $1 (Sears) - White cardigan, $1 (Wal-Mart) - Scarf, 50 cents (thrifted) - Jeans, $5 (Wal-Mart) - Mocs, $1 (Wal-Mart) - Key Necklace, $1 (Bargain Depot)

Top Five

Beth from Pretty in Plus posted a challenge.
Post 5 pieces from your wardrobe that define your style.So after a careful search I have compiled my list! (this is in no order and there was a ton more I wanted to add.)

1. Jeans - Some people don't like them, some don't care to wear them, but I adore them! I especially love me some dark wash.

2. The Key Necklace - Where would I be without this thing?! Probably locked out of somewhere or something. This is the best $1 I ever spent. (notice in the few years I've owned it, it has turned from a nice shiny silver that I was first attracted to, and now is a dull bronze. love it!)

3. Scarves - Obviously. The only person with a larger collection than mine would be Hillary Duff.

4. Vests - My fat hiding secret, shhh!

5. Feathers - This is a new found obsession, but it has already proved to last as long as the key necklaces. The only money I dropped on these babies were for the feathers themselves, all my feather pieces are handcrafted.

So now, the moment you've been waiting for.. I shall pass the challenge on to you..
Post 5 pieces from your wardrobe that define your style.
I can't wait to see what you come up with! :)

What a Hoot!

I spent a loooong day shopping out of town today.
I am just blown away by the amazing prices that Forever21 has. I bought this ring (and right after leaving the store I had to wear it around). It was only $1.50 (full price)! WHUUUT?!?! That is a crap load cheaper than Wal-Mart and it's so much cuter.
Oh and after telling ya'll my Payless Lady story the other day, I walked into the mall Payless and had the nicest lady working talk to me, she even complimented my necklace in a non-threatening way. She was the only person in the entire mall working that seemed nice and like she loved her job. I love enthusiastic people. :)

This necklace is one I made in the Summer but had a small issue. It kept flipping up on itself, so a handy little popsicle stick fixed my problem and now it's wearable! It was crazy simple to make, I expected it to be hard. The only tough decision I had was how to arrange the feathers! haha Materials I used were - scrap material, feathers, hot glue, old chain from a necklace, and a painted popsicle stick. Now that I have the formula down I really want to make a bunch of bib necklaces.
Enough about me, how was YOUR weekend? Did you do anything exciting?

Outfit details - Jeans, $3 (thrifted, North Crest brand) - Black top, $3 (thrifted, Old Navy brand) - Gray vest, $11 (XXI) - Feathered bib necklace, homemade - Ring, $1.50 (XXI) - Barefoot in the pictures, but sandals were worn at the mall.

The Payless Lady

I went and picked up an application for the activities assistant job! I think I have a pretty good chance considering my experience with children, planning, and crafting!

So I was at Shop-Ko today and it reminded me of this.. I would like to tell you all about the Payless Lady. I refuse to look at shoes if Payless Lady is working. I know, come on, one lady is stopping me from adding shoes to my collection?! As soon as this lady see's you coming she runs right over to you and asks if you need help, the simple answer to get her away is to say "I'm just looking", within minutes she walks up to you and compliments what you're wearing, "Oh, purple? You should try these purple rain boots, they would look great with what you're wearing". I just nod and agree and avoid eye contact. Then just when I think I'm clear and I can get out of there, a second Payless Lady runs up and starts it all over again with me. I'm guessing they work on commission because I don't get this problem when I shop at the mall. Do any of you have a Payless Lady? I would love to hear about it. :)

After typing all that it fondly reminded me of Target Lady, oh SNL, sometimes you have really great characters.
Well, anywho.. tonight I'm going catch up with Project Runway and do some writing. I hope ya'll have a great weekend! :)

Outfit details - Pants, $7 (Shop-Ko) - White top, $3 (thrifted, Roxy brand) - Sweater, $4 (Shop-Ko) - Scarf, 50 cents (thrifted) - Mocs, $1 (Wal-Mart) - Key necklace, $1 (Bargain Depot) - Blue bobby pin, came in a multi-pack from Wal-Mart

Recent Projects

On a related not from my last post about thinking outside the box, I've been working on a few different projects. I like to keep myself busy with crafts. I find ideas from other websites, magazines, books, and sometimes just come up with things on my own.
This kind of posts really makes me feel like I've been productive lately and NOT like I've been playing a massive amount of Sims 2. haha

The tee-shirt scarf! I've found this DIY project all over the place but THIS SITE had the most practical way of making one. (by the way, I'm in loooove with that site!)

I did a few room improvements. This first one is of my door, it's a tree with a little owl pal hanging out and of course the title "Hannah's Room" (not POOM as it may seem!) Every image came from a ton of magazines. The whole project took me a few days to cut and arrange everything.

Dis is my bunkbed. These bars on the end have been the home to my scarves over the years as well as hanging outfits up on. It's now blocked by my computer desk, so I spruced it up and printed out some of my favorite pictures I've taken. It's an idea I've seen overdone on wedding sites.

One last project. I'm really into making jewelry. It all started many years ago when I learned how to repair my twisted necklaces. I like to come up with quirky, unusual items to do this. My motto is "If you're gonna make it at home, don't make it look homemade!" So here is a work in progress..

A Barbie shoe ring. It's to match my Barbie shoe earrings, of course! One problem.. my glue won't hold the shoe to the ring for the life of me. This is in experimental stage until I can find a solution.. and glitter it up! (yeah, the duct tape is not part of my design)
So my question to you is, how might I get this shoe to stay on the ring?

Today looks like...

I feel like this could be a really great uniform for me. Floral, cardigan, jeans, scarf.. mmmm, yeah!
Wait, that's not actually a scarf! As you might have noticed, I like to look outside the box and transform clothes into other items. Today my scarf is actually a...

PONCHO!
I had received this from my aunt like a year ago and was stumped on how to style it. When I was about 13 I went through a huge poncho phase. That all ended one day when I was walking around the store wearing one and loads of people kept staring at me, I then found my mom and she pulled me aside and told me the middle (er, tail?) of the poncho has bunched itself between my legs. From then on I was embarrassed to wear them in case it happened again. So, voila, a scarf!

This is kind of on a related topic, thinking outside the box. My mom may have found a really great job for me. It's an activities assistant at a nursing home. (bonus: it's only a couple blocks from my house, so no license is required.)
Even if it is crafts that are far beneath my level, getting out of the house, working with people who won't run away from me (as children do while I babysit!), and making crafts, would be a perfect fit for me, did I mention I will get out of the house a couple days a week?! lol
We're gonna go check it out tomorrow and see if it's even something I can do! So wish me luck or say a prayer, a job is really something I could use right about now!

Outfit details - Jeans, $10 (Steve and Barry's) - Floral top, free (cut and sewn from an old dress, Erika brand) - Sweater, free (White Stag brand) - Poncho, gift from my aunt - Jewelry.. hmm.. it was all bought more than 2 years ago, some thrifted some not. - I was wearing my faux Chuck's but then ditched them for pictures.

The Sky is Falling

Today was the kind of fall day that the a/c needed to be on, it topped off at 100 degrees, geez!
This evening I went out to take pictures with my friend Sarah and a newly found friend, Bailey. Sarah lives near these amazing woods (it's actually a very public park, mostly for dogs) so we had us some fun taking pictures. The deal was that we go to this gorgeous location and take lots of pictures of Sarah. I felt a little left out, but oh well!
It was another one of those events where I had kind of high expectations and they were all shattered. I was so in love with the idea of a fall photo shoot, blankets, old cameras, tons of LEAVES, and a gorgeous sunset. Instead we got wimpy twigs, random fields, and the sun poking through the trees. I hate to admit it, but I gave up as soon as we got there (and trust me, I was siked the entire week to do this!) I just let Sarah do her thing and I just halfheartedly snapped photos. Out of the 215 I took, I only like about 5.
Here is me, I snuck my self-timer on, but the girls quickly realized I was taking pictures of myself which was awkward.. lol (bahhh, my shirt was being clingy, I will be more careful the next time I style it)

 ANNNNNNNNNNNND a couple of the pictures I kind of liked.

You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile

Today is World Smile Day! My smile is probably the most important accessory that I possess. It's the first thing people notice about me (out of habit I smile at complete strangers) and it's the one thing that gets complimented the most. I think I was trying a bit too hard in these photos too smile, they look borderline cheesy to me. lol

Outfit details - Fuschia dress, $0 (Swiss Colony) - Floral dress, $0 (an old reconstructed dress) - Tights, $1 (Wal-Mart, old) - Vest, $1 (thrifted, Cherokee brand) - Belts, came with a pair of jeans - Tennies, $12 (Wal-Mart) - Beret, $5 (Wal-Mart) - Ring, $4 (Forever21)

My older sister (Rachael) dressed so cute today and I asked if she would let me take her picture and she agreed, that sure made me smile. Of course out of all the pictures I took, she only let me post one. Rachael works at a library and I'd say she is the most stylish person there, even with a lame new dress code, she makes it work all the time!

Outfit details - Flats, $1 (Wal-Mart) - Dress, $3 (Wal-Mart) - Tank top, $6 (Wal-Mart) - Sweater, $18 (Maurices) - Necklace, stung together herself but the charm is most likely from Wal-Mart - Ring, $10 (Avon)

We were raised as very thrifty shoppers! Daaaang we wear a lot of Wal-Mart, I guess I never really noticed before. :/

EDIT: My bad, the website I get all my "today is" info from was showing me holidays for October 2011, today is sadly not World Smile day, it was actually October 1.