I'm not very good at posting...

But! I wanted to share because I swung by a cool event this week, in the midst of starting a new year of teaching (they put me in the art room?!?!?) and grad school and a million other things.

I went to this Modcloth #fashiontruth event because I've always loved their style, and somehow failed to realize it was an open casting call for models until I arrived. Decided to go ahead and do it since I was there anyway, so I got some fun pictures out of it! Wore my VERY FIRST SEWING PROJECT and had fun swinging the skirt around. More on this sewing endeavor later.

Point is, Modcloth is looking for models of all shapes and sizes and style and I think that's pretty fantastic. I believe all body types are beautiful, and we have to stop with the fat and skinny shaming. Some real women have curves, and some real women don't have curves, and the world is more interesting for it. I like the idea that plus size women, petite women, curvy women, skinny women, tall women, short women, and whatever shapes I've missed, can ALL make beautiful models. They don't seem to be going toward supporting just one side of the spectrum or the other, and they also aren't getting rid of people who fall more in the middle, and I think that's great.

Just for fun, here are a few of my goofy pictures. And my #fashiontruth? I have two. The first: wear what makes you happy. The second: it doesn't matter if anyone else likes your clothes*.

*This one is maybe related to the fact that I now own 7 pairs of overalls and am not ashamed to admit it.

oh hey, I have feet

look! fabric!

nervous laughter

mug shot

How Can I Pick One Train Pun?

This week, because it was free for local residents, some friends and I...

Rode the steam train! I hadn't done it since I was about eight, and it was actually really nice (not to mention very nostalgic!) We found a car that wasn't too full of toddlers and just sat and chatted and enjoyed looking out the window at the wetlands. I was especially a fan of the faux-vintage ads. 

I figured that for a steam train, I'd better opt for vintage inspired. If only I had known that minutes after I left the house, the afternoon rain would come early and the temperature would drop ten degrees...

Dress: Modcloth, On The Job Dress, Shoes: Merona (from a swap), Umbrella: family vintage

We also made a stop to investigate a new pastry place, and visit a parrot named Linus. You know, the Saturday essentials. 

Chocolate croissants, talking birds, and old-fashioned trains...all in all a very good Saturday. Anyone have an interesting (or just odd) local attraction in their area?

Pastels

This is the VERY LAST DAY to enter my giveaway of lovely Etsy pieces and a Starbucks card--click here to enter :)!

I'm a bit in love with all the mints and lilacs floating around this spring. It is probably to make up for the fact that I refused to wear dresses or skirts period from age 7 to age 14. Anyway, while I've been in Connecticut I've been picking up a few hours at an old job of mine, ushering at a theater, and since I have to be pretty dressed up for it I decided to have fun.

 dress: modcloth, no longer available, shoes: lulu's, mojo moxy, tights: italian brand that I can't find again ANYWHERE which is very sad because these are getting so many holes, necklace: lulu's, earrings: courtesy of the lovely mia over at whimsical miscellany! my new favorites. 

I absolutely love these flower earrings! I'd been trying to find the perfect pair for ages and everything looked either a little too big or too small on me, and these are just right. I sound like Goldilocks. But in all seriousness, they are lovely, and come in a bunch more colors. Here is a detail:

Anyway, it has been a quiet week. Lots of running the dogs around, seeing family, job apps, and cooking. I think I am going on a steam train ride and to check out a new pastry shop with friends in the morning,  so that should be fun...I don't think I've been on the steam train since I was about 8! 

Wednesday Wishlist

3 more days to enter my very first giveaway! Click here for a chance to win beautiful Etsy items and a Starbucks card :)

1) This perfectly pink dress from Modcloth

2) These sea salt caramels from Fran's. I have had one ever, and it was so incredibly good. 

3) This pretty scalloped dress from Shabby Apple

4) These macarons from Laduree. Apparently I have sweets on the brain. 

5) This pillowy nook

Shocking Pink

Remember to click here and enter my very first GIVEAWAY! Lovely handmade jewelry and more by Etsy sellers, plus a bit of Starbucks. Enjoy :)

Shocking pink was the name of a Crayola crayon color that really fascinated me as a small child. It didn't quite match up to my favorite shade, Tickle Me Pink, but I remember feeling really intrigued by the idea that a color could be "shocking." Anyway, it's a rare color for me to go for anywhere outside of a crayon box, but this dress is definitely shocking pink.

dress: modcloth (from a swap, no longer available but was called the everyday dress-up dress), shoes: lulu's, still available in other colors, sunglasses: flea market, necklace: etsy (a gift, so don't know the store), nail polish: essie, shade go ginza

I am very enamored with these shoes right now. I got them with the gift certificate I won in one of Lulu's weekly name-the-dress contests. I wore them to substitute and one of the fourth graders said "FOUR straps? You're wearing shoes with FOUR straps? I can't believe it, Emma. Four straps." 

So apparently they are really controversial. But the nail polish completely matches, which is fun. 

In completely unrelated news, I saw these napkins today and thought they were really funny. If I had any use for cocktail napkins, these would be the ones. They also had ones with a fan on them labeled, shockingly enough, "fan."

Riveting stuff, I know. It was a quiet day. 

Home again

It was a red sort of day...

 Dress: The Coach Tour Dress from Modcloth, Shoes: Capelli, Tights: leggs, Earrings: brought back from Iceland by my grandparents

It's been a whirlwind but lovely week. Subbing was wonderful--so nice to be back in a school again. This morning I met up with my friend Ali to go to this absolutely massive tag sale. It's held in a huge gymnasium and all proceeds go to the local Child and Family agency. It was overwhelmingly huge. This doesn't even how huge, really, but this is the best I got:

They had an unbelievable variety of stuff. We even found a travel lite-brite, which I almost bought out of nostalgia before realized I'd never actually use it. In case you didn't grow up during the heyday of lite-brites, here you go. Definitely one of the best parts of "choice" time in first grade. The clothing section was extensive, even after being picked over for 2 days, and had a surprising amount of vintage. My finds included a vintage Christian Dior swing jacket ($2.00!), Etienne Aigner ankle boots ($1.50!), crazy vintage "Helene Arpels" loafers ($5.00, apparently she was some kind of style icon who wore diamonds on her shoes because she said they go with everything), and some accessories.                             

                                      

                                                   

                                  

                                

                                          
                                        
                                 

 I'm particularly excited about the boots, and the jacket...I think I'll be even more excited one I figure out how to get the shoulder pads out.

We realized at the last moment that there was a book section in another room, so of course we had to thoroughly peruse it as they were packing up around us. They'd reduced it to $5 to fill a box, so we were grabbing anything that looked interested. A few of the gems I DIDN'T add:

Not sure what I was thinking--clearly essentials for every library. And on top of that, I left the "More From Your Microwave, Volume II" cookbook behind. I did, however, get some lovely finds, including a collection of various author's early writings, called "First Words," a few novels and poetry collections I'd been looking to read, and some more useful cookbooks. Just because they have the best covers, here are pictures of one book I got as a gift for my brother and one for me (obviously mine is the one on the right). 

Followed up with a stop at Rita's Ice for old time's sake. All in all, the perfect frivolous Saturday adventure. 

Wednesday Wishlist

1) These shoes, by BAIT Footwear, that every other blogger in the world seems to own

2) This airy cozy loft, reposted from sublime-decor

3) These cute dotty socks from ModCloth

4) This bunny bread, from Cookistry

5) This pretty beaded dress from Ruche

Enjoy! Would love comments with links sharing some of your own favorites of the week :)