Nailing It + The Leibster Award

Girls, prepare yourselves for a photo-heavy post (for me) because there are three things that are going to make this a longer post than the norm:

1. I am wearing a 1940’s crushed velvet cape. That right there is reason enough to post like 100 pictures.
2. I want to look like this (sans cape) forever and always every day. There is something about this outfit that is just 100% ME — the mix of patterns, the polka dots, the perfect retro shoes, the fact that it is nearly entirely thrifted/vintage, the casual feel even though it’s a skirt and heels… and the fact that it just makes me feel like a bombshell while I can still interact with the toddler and not fear that dirt will require special care (aka, I can throw it all in the washer.) I don’t often do this, but today I looked in the mirror and I thought “DANG, you are killing it today!” So, suffice it to say… I really love this outfit. And did I mention the cape?
3. Sara Lily tagged me in the Liebster Award post she just wrote!

If you aren’t sure what a Liebster award is, it’s a fun way to share more about yourself and — if people partake — learning more about your favorite bloggers. I haven’t done a Liebster in YEARS — all sorts of blog awards passed around before I ever started fashion blogging and I partook in quite a few. But then I started running out of interesting things to say and while I have been tagged for several in the past two or so years, I kind of let them slide. Because I can only think of so many random facts about myself, you guys.

But the rules are: list 11 random facts about yourself, answer 11 questions put forth in the post, and tag 11 bloggers whom you admire and would like to know more about. So here goes!

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. Like Sara, I used to write novels all the time. It’s actually what this blog started from — I posted my stories online, and then decided I wanted a place to write about my random thoughts, which then morphed into posting daily outfits when I started wanting to feel more beautiful… and it grew from there. I  no longer have the time to write, although I ache to create beautiful love stories again (yes, I am your somewhat stereotypical romance novelist… kind of…) but for now I’m accepting the fact that this blog is my writing outlet, and I only pen the occasional poem or idea.
2. I am the youngest child and I have three older brothers and no sisters. I never wanted a sister, I was glad my parents didn’t have more girls, and to this day I think it’s hilarious when people feel sorry for me that I had to grow up with three brothers. But guys, I had protection. And also it meant I got my own room always. And also, never had to share clothes or toys, so…
3. Because I had brothers and no sisters, I never wanted a daughter until I got pregnant with Asa and my husband admitted HE wanted a girl. It didn’t take me too long to warm up to the idea, though, and while I wasn’t disappointed at all that Asa is a boy — because I wanted a boy first anyway — I might have been a little disappointed if Evie had also been a boy. Because by that time, I realized girls are fun, too!
4. I am an artist, though I haven’t picked up a pencil to draw in a long time. And if I can say so myself, I am pretty good. I took art lessons for about 6 months and sorely wish I could have taken them longer to learn more techniques than I already know! My favorite thing to draw (and paint, and photograph too) has always been faces. I’m particularly fond of this one:
5. I also play the piano — and have since I was four — sing, and occasionally write songs. At one point I started to write a rock-opera/musical, (side note, old video, bad quality, lots of errors) but I don’t think I’ll ever finish that. I never write down my music (the lyrics, yes, the notes, no) so I nearly always have to record myself playing so that I can listen to things later and make sure I don’t forget my compositions.
6. Aside from loving Owls, I am also a cat lover, and it is proof how much I love my husband that I gave up my cat of 9 years for our marriage. Mostly because our rentals can’t have cats, and my mom is allergic so she couldn’t keep my cat, so we gave her to a family that loves her (I hope.)
7. Unlike many Paleo-enthusiasts, I eat mostly Paleo (or try to) because I have to. Wheat gives me heartburn, makes me stuffy/groggy in the morning and inhibits my sleep at night, dairy gives me headaches/indigestion/gas/sometimes bloody stool (TMI? Sorry) if I go too far, and legumes give me terrible stomach aches. All of my mysterious aches and pains completely disappear when I clean up my diet. And I’m not a perfect eater, by any means, but it’s habitual now to avoid dairy, grains, and legumes. But I still really love Mexican food and cake, so… it’s a hard life. 😉
8. I have trypophobia, which is not strictly a fear so much as an extreme discomfort over images, surfaces, or other things that form multiple small holes in a surface — like these images. (DO NOT click if you’re trypophobic, you will die) Personally, perfect holes don’t bother me but if the edges of the holes are uneven and jagged, I just can’t. The worst for me in real life are empty barnacles all gathered together, lava rock, certain types of coral, and those frogs that carry eggs on their backs. I literately cannot make myself look directly at those things.
9. I used to hate cleaning of any sort, and was the worst housewife when I first got married, but after Asa started to become mobile and I was forced to clean more, I have started to like it. Getting the kitchen clean is one of the most satisfying things ever, and I rarely go to bed without doing the dishes any more.
10. I was not allowed to watch many of the Disney Princess movies growing up — Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid — so when you say Disney I usually think Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, or Fox and the Hound. Also, I asked my parents if I could watch PG-13 movies probably until I was 16, aaand I don’t think I saw my first R rated movie until I was… I don’t even know how old. But I’m okay with all that. It just means I have really selective and good movie taste now.
11. I can type somewhere over 110 words per minute, and I’m pretty sure it’s due to my constant practice typing when I was little. Before I could even spell, I would mimic my mom typing — and at the time I thought she was the fastest typist ever. Now, I think I’m faster than her.

And now, the Q&A portion!

1. What inspired you to start a blog?
Like I said above, I used to write novels, and then I wanted to have a place to write random thoughts. Fashion blogging came about after I discovered What I Wore and Selective Potential, and challenged myself to wear skirts every day for a week. I later started posting my own fashion photos… and the rest is history!

2. Who is your favorite style icon?
My grandma — my dad’s mom. I didn’t really have a single icon until I discovered pictures of her when she was my age, and OH MY GOODNESS. We’re not blood related (my dad is adopted) but I want to be like her. She was so fashionable in her day:

(She’s on the left in the left picture, and the right in the right picture. THAT SKIRT. THAT COAT. AH.) Otherwise, my style inspiration is always my fellow bloggers, who are gorgeous and insanely stylish!

3. Can you name two of your favorite bloggers and explain why they are your favorites?
It fluctuates so much, but right now I absolutely adore Kara of The Dressed Aesthetic and Lauren of Paper Mothball Vintage. Kara is a marine biologist with a special love for sharks and vintage dresses, and she has THE most amazing wardrobe I have ever seen. Her blog posts are always interesting, whether they be thoughtful, funny, or retrospective, and I just love the fact that she is an incredibly smart woman who dresses in the most feminine way possible! Lauren was a model, and now works on the other side of the lens as well as showing off her fashion and creating many of the things that she wears, and she has always inspired me with her gorgeous and on-point vintage looks from every different era, her photography, her framing, and her attention to detail. Her blog is like looking at the most beautiful magazine!

4. What’s one wardrobe essential you can’t live without?
Right now, as a breastfeeding mama, tee shirts with stretchy necks or crop tops I can wear with high waisted skirts! I’m not much for button-up tops, and prefer the casual look of a good tee shirt. So, if I can pull down the neck, that’s the best, but crops also work well because they’re FAR easier to move out of the way to nurse Evie, and also way easier to tuck back into a skirt.

5. How would you describe your blogging style?
I’ve been trying to figure this out for a while. I suppose… a bit storyteller, a bit rambling, focused on sharing casual and thrifty vintage looks that are still beautiful while being practical for every day. And narrating life as it is at the moment, whatever that moment might be.

6. What is your greatest achievement outside of blogging?
Is it lame to say making it through two births unmedicated? I mean… because I am the person who HATES pain. I am afraid of getting shocked by arbitrary things like static from the carpet, for goodness sake, yet I had Asa and Evie with no pain medication whatsoever. I went through three days of intense false labor with Asa, and Evie’s labor was so painful I threw up. And also, pushing a baby out in five minutes. I am impressed by myself with that one. So that’s a pretty big achievement.

7. What was the last book you read?
Can I list the book I’m currently reading? Because it would be Tell The Wolves I’m Home, which I bought at Goodwill based solely on the cover (I do that a lot…) and so far it’s really sad and interesting and I can’t wait to see where it goes!

8. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
It’s a very close call between Ireland and New Zealand. Ireland, my heart has been yearning for since I was little for no particular reason really, but the more I read about it the more I want to go. And New Zealand, well. I’m a nerd, and let’s just say I REALLY need to visit Hobbiton.

9. Where do you see yourself in five years?
I will probably have at least one more kid and maybe be pregnant again (yeah, we want five or more), and I will hopefully have finally finished and published Sweet Ireland Air, which I have often said is the novel I would publish first.

10. What was the first movie or book that made an impact on your life?
I think Jane Eyre has always had the biggest influence on me and my writing and my life. I want to craft love stories like that, and realized a few years ago that many of my stories are based around a moody man with a secret, probably because my first love was totally Edward Rochester. It’s been my favorite book since I was about seven or eight, and I can read that novel over and over again and still see new things. And oh, Edward Rochester, love of my fantasy life… my husband knows full well that Rochester is a lifelong crush of mine. I even have Edward on the list of names I would give one of my sons… or at least I did, until Twilight came along. Sigh. #RochesterOverDarcyAnyDay

11. What advice would you give someone who just started blogging?
Learn from those you admire the most, don’t quit just because you see someone better, and always do what YOU love instead of copying someone else! I still haunt my favorite blogs for inspiration and to just learn — anything from blog design to photography to outfits to how to do my hair, I learn from the bloggers around me.  But while i take inspiration and lots of lessons from bloggers I admire, I always make sure to put my own spin on whatever inspiration I’m posting, because over everything else, authenticity and hard work is the key. Nobody wants to see a copycat or a halfhearted post! But that doesn’t mean you can’t be inspired by those around you, or post something silly just because it makes you laugh.

Top, Target | vintage skirt, belt, and heels, thrifted | 1940’s crushed velvet cape, gift
(shop similar items to this look here)

And I would love to have these lovely women participate:

Hannah of The Outfit Repeater
Skye of My Kingdom for a Hat
Lyndsey of Dressed in Mascara
Emily of Bread and Roses Vintage
Rebecca of Three Things Great
Elana of Room 334
Nicole of Writes Like a Girl
Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey
Katie of Butterfly Loves Snapdragons
Heather of The Arbitrary Fox
Jamie of Petite Panoply

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Happy Friday!

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