roomie friends

Sometimes I get frustrated with my living situation, but I really do like living with people and I like the particular people I live with. I like that we have roomie dinners sometimes, and take the dog for walks, and sit on the porch for hours in the summer. My roommates do surprisingly sweet things for me every once in awhile, things I wouldn't expect. Things like buy me ginger ale when I had food poisoning, or wake me up to coffee and waffles to thank me for a small favor. Occasionally I come home to some little gift left just inside my door; a chocolate bar, a tape picked up on a weekend trip, or a book they thought I'd like. 

So thanks Spike. Thank you for remembering that I was interested in this book, and thank you for leaving it for me while you move on to your next adventure. We'll all miss you here in the house, miss having you above. Good luck in Montana.

cute as a cupcake

So the other day my awesome friends, J and A stopped by work to drop me off one of the special, limited time Easter cupcakes from Trophy Cupcakes. Yeah, I do have the very best friends ever. They stuck around for a bit until I could go to lunch and we ate together outside by the river. Doesn't J look adorable? I love her super cute style.

on me: shirt - mom's, cardigain - uo, skirt - thrifted, tights - target, shoes - steve madden, sunglasses - topshop (london), purse - thrifted dooney & burke

on j: skirt and hairclip - h&m (new york), boots and necklace - yesstyle.com, tshirt - target, jean jacket - american eagle, tights - forever 21, tote - sanrio

uwajimaya love

A trip to Uwajimaya and the International District always includes foreign candy, bubble tea, weird art supplies, FRUiTS magazine, and cute friends. So nostalgic, and so much fun!

choco cupcakes and cute puppies

Last week Emily and I made cupcakes for our sweet coworker's last day. She had been at the store for something like 25 years and she's just the nicest lady so we were really sad to see her go. We were at Emily's mom's house (she was housesitting) so we made it easy on ourselves and used a mix for the chocolate cupcakes. But since I can never just make a simple boxed cupcake, I made the cream cheese frosting from scratch and filled the cupcakes with strawberry jam. YUM. It was a good combo. And a perfect balance between easy and special.

We also got to play with her mom's adorable new puppy! I want to steal the little sweetheart, but I'll content myself with begging Emily to take Bella for walks and let me tag along. I snapped a bunch of pictures because she's just the sweetest little dog. So cute!

crafternoon with rallison

After I posted my spring flower crown, my favorite co-worker Allison told me she wanted to make floral headband with me. And my response was, of course, "Yes, please!" So Thursday we met up at work before I had to start my shift, bought a pile of flowers and whipped ourselves up some headbands. Of course, after we were done we took a bunch of pictures.

floral headband - diy, tshirt - target, cardigan & skirt - uo, tights - hansel from basel, clogs - jeffrey campbell

I love the whimsy flowers in your hair adds to any outfit! This silk scarf style skirt (woah alliteration) and scallop tights fit right in with the whimsy thing, don't you think? And how freaking cute does Allison look? She posted more pictures of herself on her delightful blog, note to self. She is rocking that bug print shirt!

The headbands themselves were super easy to make! I put together a little photo tutorial for you. You need a headband, floral wire, wire cutters, and an assortment of fake flowers. Create a bundle of flowers and leaves and wire them together, leaving a long tail of wire. Use the tail to attach the bundle to your headband. Continue adding flowers until you cover the headband, leaving the last few inches of each end bare. You can go back and fill in blank spots, or anywhere you see the wire, by hot-gluing small flowers to cover gaps. Now go rock your flower headband!

Thanks to Allison for taking pictures of me and for a really fun day! Now I have a million craft projects I want to do, so next time you're home again, let's hang. Also, any other friends want to get together for a crafternoon?* Things are more fun to make with friends. 

Also, check out my fun ombré manicure! I basically followed the tutorial on Jezebel, except I didn't do a base color. I wanted a more subtle look, so I just used a single color+clear. I think it turned out super fun! I'm starting to get into doing my nails more. I've been super inspired by The Dainty Squid as well. Kaylah posts the best nail tutorials. I tried her triangle nail before but it got screwed up before I got a chance to take any pictures. 

*I'm pretty sure I stole the term "crafternoon" from White Lightning. 

rape arguments in bars are rarely a good idea

top - talula, pants - justin timberlake's collection for target, bag - thrifted dooney & burke, boots - thrifted

Have you ever had one of those nights that when it's over you just go, "What the fuck . . . just happened?" Friday night was a bit like that for me. My friend Shiloh's band was playing at Pete's Tavern, as was a local band we went to high school with. Seeing as the show was in the next town over from my hometown, and the bands playing had members from my high school, I really should have expected the oh-my-god-high-school-all-over-again feeling. There were SO many people I went to school with there, and also just a lot of older hicks and other small town types.

At the bar, I bumped into a guy I didn't recognize but apparently he remembered me and Amanda from high school. Once one of the guys he used to hang out with showed up, I did start to remember them and we all ended up chatting. It was nice to catch up with some people from high school. Nice, but extremely weird.

Boys we used to know weren't the only people talking to us. We had several weird guys try to hit on us, get us to dance, and other general creepy behavior. Shiloh also overheard this guy in a black tshirt telling a girl that he would "like to eat cake off her tits." Yeah. Who could resist a line like that?

You know the guy from high school I didn't remember? He overheard me talking about about what a creep Dov Charney of American Apparel is and started arguing with me about how things he did were ok-ish. Things quickly got more general and we were talking about rape and sexual harassment and rape culture and the patriarchy. My friends, of course, were telling him to drop it, because I wasn't going to let it go when he was saying stuff like "girls should just say no and if they don't they're stupid" while I'm trying to explain things like enthusiastic consent to him. But of course, being totally drunk, he kept arguing. And so all my friends got up and left and watched from across the room. It wasn't an angry argument, in fact I was laughing most of the time and eventually I got him to agree with my basic arguments. Then he told me I was pretty and smart and asked for a hug. It was . . . an interesting night.

edith is a conniving bitch

sweater - icelandica (reykjavik), chambray shirt - gap, wool skirt - thrifted, tights - target, boots - thrifted, gin & tonic - tanquaray

I have been wearing variations on this outfit a lot lately. The formula is pencil skirt, large/mens style button up shirt, and cropped cardigan, usually with boots. It's a really easy winter work outfit, I guess. Keeping the shirt untucked allows me to wear this skirt even though the zipper is broken and stops an inch from the top. I rather like the awkward amount of cuff showing, even though it's way too long. It feels kind of boyish to me, despite the skirt. Anyways, it's something that's been working for me.

Has anyone been watching Downton Abbey? I actually wore this last week, when Amanda and I watched the finale together. Oh god, it was so good! We made gin & tonics because . . . British? Yeah, that works, even though they never drink cocktails at Downton. And because a G&T is my drink! We got tipsy and freaked out a lot. It was fuuuuun.

on it like a bonnet

I had such a nice day today! Ems visited me at work (she was actually dropping off cupcakes for our favorite dude, who is sadly leaving the store tomorrow) and on my lunch we went out by the river and smoked while we chatted. It was a nice to have a break from being "on" like I am all day at customer service. It's nice to be able to scowl, and curse, and complain. And how cute is Emily's little embroidered cardigan? Darling!

After work, J came and picked me up (I let her use my car after she took me to work because hers broke down on Friday) and we had dinner with Amanada and Liam. We went to this rad Chinese restaurant I hadn't tried before. The decor is bonkers, with tons of fake plants, twinkle lights, and weird large, round, colored lights all over the restaurant. The food was damn good though. I had honey walnut crispy shrimp which was weird and delightful and Liam ordered this delicious tofu dish. It was cool to get something different at a Chinese restaurant, you know? So many places it's all orange chicken and mongolian beef.

sweater - icelandica (reykjavik), plaid shirt - thrifted, wool skirt - thrifted, tights - old, boots - thrifted, bag - thrifted dooney & burke

After dinner we were going to see a movie but when we got to the theater it turned out it wasn't playing when we thought it was. Apparently Fandango can't be trusted. We dicked around and argued about seeing another movie before we finally discovered it was playing twenty minutes later in the next town. So we dashed back to our cars and got there just in time. I saw a preview for this adorable chimp movie I want to see when it comes out. Apes get to me when they do things we do. It's cool when you see that they really are just like us. The baby chimp snuggling made my heart melt.

snow day

We finally got snow! And I proved I'm not a grownup yet by skipping work and having fun. Well, actually, I got stranded in Seattle and, knowing how everyone freaks out at the sight of snow in this town, elected to wait it out until it at least stopped coming down. Seriously, we don't handle snow well here. People get really stupid when they try to drive in it.

peacoat - old navy, scarf - gift, pants - gap, boots - thrifted

Here you see the mysterious and rarely seen Abominable Snow Rachel! This delightfully cozy scarf holds onto snow astonishingly (and chillingly!) well, so I looked ridiculous by the time I returned to my friend Shane's apartment. We thought it was pretty much done snowing and went out for a walk to check it out but it continued the entire time. The city looked absolutely beautiful, all soft and quiet. At least a couple inches accumulated while Shane and I were walking (the Abominable Snow Rachel was his idea, by the way) so when we got back to his apartment we found one of those cheesy fireplace videos on Netflix and made hot cocoa. Eventually, I got brave enough to drive home, which turned out to be not very scary. Still, I'm glad I didn't drive while it was actually snowing, and instead enjoyed it. This is the first snow we've had all winter, and I'm guessing after it clears up we won't get any more. 

christmastime

ok, so I know I've been a lazy bum and haven't really talked about Christmas yet. BUT I am, finally and I have a million pictures. Starting with our tree!

Every year I kind of sort of pick a theme for decorating, but I end up using most of the same stuff. Usually I just switch up some basic colored balls and buy a few new ornaments, but mostly use the same old ones year to year. I like things that are sentimental or meaningful or funny. These year I kind of focused on a folk-art/Nordic style. Plain white lights and lots of handmade ornaments. I bought more than I should have, but got some really pretty things.

We always do stockings and open presents at our house in the morning before we get dressed, so I usually wear something cute and Christmas-y. I got this cute shirt at Target a day or two before. We didn't go too all out with presents this year, instead just getting a few nice things each. I also made some really tasty french toast using a walnut bread. I don't eat breakfast most of the time (a habit I'm trying to change!) so breakfast is always kind of special, no matter what it is. The walnut bread definitely made this extra yum, adding nuttiness and texture.

And, if french toast isn't decadent enough, I had one of Amanda's delicious gingerbread man cookies. (And how cute is the polka dot decoration? Adorable!) She makes the best gingerbread. After our little family Christmas, we headed over to my stepdad's sister's, where we always do the big family thing. He has a big family so it's busy and crazy and so much fun. His other sister, the one who lives in Denmark now, even came, although she got stuck at the airport for a bit.

sweaterdress - yesstyle, wool tights - mp, shoes - jeffrey campbell, giant scarf - gift

I bought this sweater last year and absolutely love it. With thick tights or leggings, it's a dress. At work, with pants, it's a sweater. It's cozy and cute, and my beloved nordic pattern. Yeah, I might be a little obsessed. I also absolutely adore this giant knit scarf in brick red. My aunt gave it to my mom...the year before last? But she doesn't wear it much, so I've kind of adopted it.

Our power went out Christmas morning, after we opened presents and everything, and it was still out when we got home. Justina and I decided to drive/walk around the neighborhoods in town (where they had power) and look at Christmas lights because we skipped that usual before-Christmas tradition. It was pretty and nice, especially since I always get bored in the evening on holidays. It's like, after you do all the stuff you're supposed to do, you don't want to just do something boring like watch tv, you want something festive still! I took a lot of pictures, including of this cool light teepee, the cat we met, and weird long exposure experimental ones.

I bundled up pretty hardcore because it was real cold, and I also slipped a few mini bottles of whiskey in my coat pocket to sip while wandering around looking at the lights. A co-worker gave them to me as part of a present. She bought a whole bag full of mini liquor bottles to give out and when she bought them it was the FIRST time she'd ever been in a liquor store. Can you believe that?? She's not super young or anything, she has a granddaughter!

Christmas eve J and I thought about going to a FabDownBros show but decided to stick with our usual JAR hangout and gift exchange. Amanda and I both got each other perfume, which I thought was pretty funny. I guess it makes sense, since we try them out together, so we know what each other likes. She also got the cutest gnome lamp from J, who gave me an adorable tote bag with a print of the bookcover for A Clockwork Orange from Out of Print. (Totally want like all their shirts!) And how cute does A look?? She was dressed up for Christmas and I just love that dress.

Some of my favorite gifts this year! Lola by Marc Jacobs perfume, a sparkly star shaped clutch from Modcloth, the literary tote Justina gave me, some socks my mom knit me, nice soap (Andy always gives soap to everyone), and a handmade frame with a Edward S. Curtis photo. I also got a cute wool skirt and funky hamper sort of thing from Riley, a scarf from my grandma, and some other things I forget.

Well...Christmas is long over but I hope yours was just as fabulous as mine. It all seemed to go so fast this year, I must remember to slow down and enjoy it more next year.

xmas prep

sweatshirt - cairo via urban craft uprising, dress - thrifted, tights - target, boots - thrifted, purse - thrifted coach

These were taken back in December when I was getting ready for Christmas. Every year, J and I get gross seasonal drinks at Starbucks and then head to Molbaks to wander, look at pretty stuff, and buy a few overpriced ornaments. It's delightful. The holiday season really is one of my favorite times of year and every year I wish I had more time and did more things. This year was no exception, in fact, I think it's been the worst yet. Way too busy with work and stuff to do all the things I wanted. Half my decorations either never got put up or waited until Christmas eve and I only made a few things. Christ, I didn't even send out cards this year. But there's no point in whining about all that. I DID do and make some fun things, which I'll be posting on in the next few days. And I'm determined to make the rest of the winter a fun time too. Ice skating anyone?

I used to love getting fresh, real trees at Christmas but my mom's allergies make that kind of selfish now. Instead, this year I satisfied that urge by wandering through the trees at Molbaks for quite awhile and picking out my pretend tree. I liked this kind of funky one and hung up a little felt fox on it, just for fun.

The huge expanses of poinsettias are also rather fantastic. J liked these pink ones best but I think my favorite were the multi-colored ones. They have so many kinds! We spent quite a long time there, just kind of wandering.

A couple days before we went to Urban Craft Uprising in Seattle. That's where I got the sweatshirt. It was fun but I didn't find anything for anyone else. Still, Christmas shopping downtown is always delightful and the lights were fun and we had a good time.

This year, my winter style has been a slightly odd mix of grunge and holiday pretty. These two shopping days, layers for extra coziness were the big idea. Big sweatshirts, flannel, wool, tights, ugly hats, and weird prints.