Flaming knife juggling hippo

One of my favorite things about being in a long term relationship is all the silly, completely ridiculous things you say/do together when no one else is around. Timmy and I like to invent ever-evolving character traits and back-stories for all my stuffed animals. One of Viola's (a large purple hippo) prominent traits is that she likes to juggle flaming knives above Timmy's head while he sleeps (weird and dark). That inspired me to make this gif for Timmy (it might take a minute to load fully)....




The item between Viola and the blanket is Timmy's hoodie which I stuffed and turned to look like Timmy was sleeping on his side with Viola on his pillow.

10 Pin-up dresses by ModCloth

Although I wasn't one of the winners in ModCloth's "Year of Dresses" contest (is it bad luck that I actually drafted this blog post before the winners were even announced), I still love ModCloth! I especially like that ModCloth allows me to give $15 off a $50 order to new users, and get $15 for myself in return (I'm saving my credit up for "Kudos Were the Days" heels!).

Today I am sharing some of my favorite pin-up/retro/vintage inspired dresses from ModCloth. If you are not already a member of ModCloth, you can get $15 off your $50 order by clicking my personal ModCloth link.

You can view previous posts where I shared my favorite ModCloth heels here and here.



"Sheath a Lady" dress



"Stopping the Show" dress



"Folded Fatale" dress



"Enchanted Afternoon" dress



"Biz and Hers" Dress



"Cool Vibes" dress



"Irresistible Enchantress" dress



"Big Band Singer" dress



"Once and Conifer" dress



"Nifty Newsprint" dress

Girdles can be sexy

I have been eyeing the 1294 high waist open bottom girdle by Rago for months now ever since I discovered it on Amazon.


Photo from stockingshq

I love wiggle dresses, however, my stomach is not flat enough and my thighs not smooth enough to pull them off. I'm not sure I could have even when I weighed significantly less than I do now. I was able to pull off my NYE dress solely because of a strategically placed peplum.

Today I finally "bit the bullet" (I'm cheap) and bought it. What convinced me was looking at other photos of the girdle; Amazon's product photo of it doesn't do it justice at all. Compare Amazon's product photo of it below (snooze!), with the image I shared above.



And the difference is not because Amazon only chooses to show the girdle in white; the girdle still looks hot in white, when photographed well, as evidenced by this image from Dollhouse Betty.



What really won me over though is the before and after photos I found of ladies wearing the girdle.


Photo from Pinup Persuasion


Photo from Fuller Figure Fuller Bust

The 1294 comes in sizes small (26" waist) through 9X (48" waist).


Photo from pinupgirlclothing.com

It seems to be priced pretty consistently from site to site; I've seen the price only vary from $53-60. The cheapest that I found my size was $56, however, I decided to go with Amazon where it was $60 because it includes free shipping (and free returns). The reviews I read said that the girdle runs true to the size/measurement, which is a relief, and I hope it is true; I hate "vanity sizing" because it makes clothes shopping on-line impossible.

Dresses made with Butterick 5748 and 5605

Last month I posted about two vintage inspired patterns I bought, Butterick 5748 and 5605. Today I want to share some of my favorite creations I found around the web using those patterns.


First off, Butterick 5748...




Dolly Clackett


Dolly Clackett


Megan Rosalarian Gedris


Rebekah's Sewing Diary

Moving on to Butterick 5605...



Sunday Crafternoon


Kitten's Closet


Did You Make That?


Closet Case Files

What I wore - Cellphone addition

1) When I got the bow bracelet home I realized that two places where it had been soldered were no longer attached, so, I'll have to return it. Sadly the store I bought it at won't be getting any more of it in, so, I won't be able to exchange it. I am hoping they will be willing to give me enough of a discount that I'll be willing to risk gluing it.

2) When I saw this cape from the Neiman Marcus collection at Target I fell in love, however, it was much more than I wanted to spend ($99). When I saw that the collection was marked down to 70% off, I decided to try it on, and it was even more darling off the hanger. Unfortunately it was then that I realized it was made of wool and wool makes me itch. I tried justifying to myself buying it anyway ("I could just suffer through the itchiness," "I could wear it with only high necked and long sleeved outfits," "I could try sewing lining in it"), but in the end I just couldn't. Although, if I am being completely honest, I am still fighting the urge to buy it anyway.



3) This shirt is from Forever 21's Hello Kitty Forever collection. I bought it but I'm not sure if I'm too old to pull it off. I also bought this Hello Kitty v-neck t-shirt; I find this one easier to pull off for my age.

4) Not something I wore, but as a girl who loves all things sparkly and sequined, these undies at H&M caught my eye. Completely impractical of course, and imagine how uncomfortable they must be!

Vote for me in Modcloth's "Year of Dresses" contest

I entered Modcloth's "Year of Dresses contest." I decided to go a little non-traditional from most of the photo entries submitted, and instead of submitting a photo of me in a dress, I went with a photo of me in skinny jeans and combat boots!

If you would take a few seconds to vote for me in the contest, it would be much appreciated! You can vote once every 24 hours, and the contest ends Tuesday, January 15th.

******Click here to view my contest entry and vote for me******

Here is the image I submitted:

What I Wore - NYE "pin-up" inspired look

While Timmy and I had some NYE frustrations, at least I got to enjoy playing dress-up.

I decided to just do one victory roll on each side rather than two as I had the first time I did victory rolls. It doesn't look as good this time around since I didn't have the expert help, however, I think I did a pretty good job for my first time solo. My hair is so fine and thin that it can be tough to work with (which is part of the reason the victory rolls don't really look like victory rolls).



And here is the dress I was so excited to wear. I haven't felt so good in a dress in a long time. The dress is from Torrid and it also comes in black (which I also bought).







And as a bonus, my adorable boyfriend on NYE :).

Well, that was disappointing... (The Abbey Pub)

Last night Timmy and I went to NYE with JD McPherson at The Abbey Pub. I discovered JD McPherson sometime last year when Cammila posted about him on her blog. Timmy and I missed our chance in August to see him at the Bash on Wabash when the concert got stormed out, so, last night was our first time seeing him live. He was even more amazing live, however, we were unable to enjoy it because of how poorly The Abbey ran the event.

The doors were supposed to open at 8 pm, and the concert was to begin at 9 pm. While the doors opened on time, the opening band didn't go on until 10:15. That band only played for half an hour so they finished playing at 10:45. JD McPherson didn't go on until 11:45 pm, and there was no band playing between the two. I don't understand why The Abbey would choose to schedule the concert to start at 9 pm, then not start until 10 pm, and have an hour of inactivity between the two bands (there was less than five minutes involved in switching of the equipment). If this had just been a regular bar performance, it wouldn't have been so weird, but it wasn't. This was a $25 a ticket event in a separate venue off the side of the main bar where another band was playing for free. If The Abbey's intention was to allow people time to mingle between acts, then they shouldn't have sold so many tickets that you couldn't move without shoving people out of the way. It was so packed that the back of the guy standing in front of me was touching my boobs. Concerts are usually packed, especially in Chicago, but this was just a whole other level of ridiculous. Who wants to spend an hour, two separate times, just standing in the middle of a packed room that you can barely escape to go to the bathroom or get another drink?

Also, for $25 a ticket (not counting ticket fees), I was expecting more than 90 minutes of music during a four hour event. I expected a concert. I choose The Abbey for NYE because I was not interested in the overpriced NYE parties thrown at fancier bars, but it turns out The Abbey was just as overpriced for what they provided. Had I not bought a ticket to JD McPherson, I could have stayed in the bar listening to live music for free WITH AN EVEN LONGER PLAY TIME. In the end, Timmy and I left halfway through JD McPherson, as awesome as he was live, because being constantly shoved around by waitresses and people trying to leave, made it hard to enjoy the music. The $55-60 we spent on our tickets was wasted because we only spent about 30 minutes in the actual venue; the rest of the five hours we were in the main bar watching the stage on the TVs in there; as you can imagine, it was a lot of fun staring at an empty stage for four of the five hours.

I understand that The Abbey wanted to make sure JD McPherson was playing at midnight since it was NYE, however, they should have planned the event accordingly from the beginning. Why start the event at 9 pm and only plan for an hour and a half of music if you want the event to last until 1 am? They could have started the event later, or even better, added a third band. The Amazing Heeby Jeebies who played the main bar were great, and would have made for a terrific addition to the lineup in The Abbey's concert venue next door. Another option would be to have had JD play his set before midnight, and have him only do his encore after. This would have also been better because they had a balloon drop at midnight; the constant balloon popping during his performance was distracting, and liquor soaked wood floors + popped balloon remnants = not the safest combination.

The Abbey also offered $70 VIP tickets which included balcony seating, a buffet, and drinks. What The Abbey didn't seem to tell people about the VIP tickets is that you could only get your free drinks at the bar in the balcony. Since there was an hour delay to the start of the concert, and an hour between bands, some people went to the main bar (separated from the venue only by a door), to listen to the Amazing Heeby Jeebies; when VIP people ordered a drink at the bar there, they were told they had to pay for it (after the drink was already made and they were forced to pay for it). While this may seem obvious to some people, on behalf of the VIP ticket holders, I must say that the way they had everything set up, I don't think it was that obvious. So, if you were a VIP ticket holder who didn't want to sit in the balcony for two hours staring at an empty stage, and wanted to actually listen to some live music, you had to go back to the venue, show your stamp to the doorman, push your way through the people, and go up the stairs to the VIP bar every time you wanted another drink.

I heard from someone that the reason The Abbey was waiting so long between bands was because the venue was so packed that they were wanting to see if the event cleared out a bit by people going over to the main bar area to hear the Amazing Heeby Jeebies' free performance. If this is true, it makes the whole situation even more aggravating: their solution for overselling tickets is to make those who bought tickets so frustrated with waiting to hear music that they just give up and leave, and not get what they paid for? I really hope this was not the case, however, I can't think of any legitimate explanation for how the event was ran.