Tag: style

Twinsies: Two Samanthas, Double the Childlike Adventures

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This lovely book was gifted to me a couple of Christmases ago from my mom, who knew how much I enjoyed reading about Samantha from the American Girl series when I was younger. Even now, I still greatly enjoy looking through the short stories that compile this big ol’ book because it inspires me to embrace my curious inner child as an adult (I also love the movie adaptation)!

The character and I not only share the same name, but we also share the same love for fashion of the early 1900’s (this book is set in 1904). Samantha’s adventures, her curious spirit, down to the outfits she wears, is very fun for me to look through!

As an homage, I wore this outfit that reminds me a bit of that time period (the blouse style and the ribbon in my hair, specifically! If you notice, big sleeves cuffed at the wrists with high neck lines and hair bows were all the rage during that time for young girls):

Blouse: SHEIN // Suspender dress: Amazon // Bow: made by me // Choker: ROMWE
Cameo ring: Brooch from my childhood turned into a ring!

Even though I’m an “adult” (LOL, I still can’t use that word without quotes) and not a young girl anymore, I always feel like I intertwine between an “adult” with responsibilities like paying my bills and still being a very curious child who still stops to look at worms on the sidewalk. Being in my thirties, I actually feel quite honored to be the local weirdo with huge hair, who wears what is deemed as “childlike” styles by most, usually receiving many an odd side-glance from others. Because to me, fashion has no age limit, nor is there an age limit to embracing your inner child, and I personally don’t believe you have to dress “age appropriate” if you don’t want to (whatever “age appropriate” means, right?). With fashion, the sky’s the limit. Which is why I love it so much!!!

So here’s to embracing your inner child and finding your own adventures in the everyday life. And here’s to people who are adults but don’t really feel like one, LOL!!! Because the magic of childhood never has to stop. ✌🏼 For example, when I was a kid, I would often take Polaroid photos of street lights. I am still fascinated by them and feel a sense of comfort whenever I see them, and I still take photos of them for my own enjoyment!

See ya next time!!! 💖

Super 70’s; Getting Those Mellow Yellow Starbucks Bonus Stars

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Daisies and flared sleeves go together like peanut butter and jam, and the outcome is a late 60’s/early 70’s look that is of course, a favorite of mine! I added ribbons for a bit more decoration in my hair. 💛 I’ve always loved the fact that ribbons and flowers were a big accessory back in that time period!

Top: SHEIN // Suspenders: SHEIN // Choker: ROMWE
Shoes: Dolls Kill

Paired with the shorts, this is one of my favorite retro outfits I’ve worn lately! And with the Gene Simmons purse I always carry around with me, it matched my hair clips because they are the exact same flowers I used on my purse! 😉 I feel like I tripped and fell into a time machine on my way to a KISS concert and landed in 2021.

Blogging this at Starbucks!! ☕️ It’s Double Star Day (which means at Starbucks, if you order on Double Star Day, you get bonus stars on your rewards!) so I definitely wanted to go (not like I ever need an excuse to go to Starbucks, LOL). ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Because dang it, that’s what makes life fun. Like blogging, and giving yourself a little challenge to go scoop up those bonus stars on your Starbucks rewards. And also as of lately, finally being inspired to create some new artwork!!! It’s been far too long since I’ve made any new art. On a whim, I felt a creative spark and created this piece 💖. And I am super happy with it!!

See ya next time!! 💗

Scream Queen: Valley of the Creepy Dolls

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In my lavender purple dress and new black belt, I decided to take some outfit photos in a different spot – my room, this time!! Taking photos outside is always better and clearer, as the quality is grainier indoors for some odd reason on my phone camera, but I wanted a little change-up from my backdrop norm.

With my creepy ventriloquist doll in the background, and I myself feel like I give off creepy doll vibes, we make for a perfect pair. I also love the dichotomy between my Scream shirt with the floral skirt!!! 💜

Cage belt: Yesstyle // Dress: Forever21
Shirt: Etsy // Skirt: Secondhand

See ya next time!!! 💜

Getting my AncestryDNA Results (I’m Shocked!)

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Many times in my life I have asked myself this question in terms of my ethnic background, so I finally decided recently that I wanted an answer! I ordered an AncestryDNA kit to finally get an answer regarding this elusive side of myself that I very much wanted to get to know better. And boy did I get an answer that I was truly shocked by!

As you can see, it was a very long list, right down to the little 1%’s!!! But let’s look at the big ones that took up 35% to 28% of my ethnic background:

The Northwestern European part I got from my mom’s side. She’s blonde with blue eyes, and I have darker features that I already knew came from my dad, even though I don’t know him at all personally and have only met him a couple of times when I was very young (I barely can remember). But my mom always said, “from what I know, he’s Italian and Spanish.”

NOT SO!!! The Spanish part was right, but I only have 10% of Spanish, which I was shocked by! I thought it would be much higher. And there was absolutely NO Italian to be found in my ethnic background!

It turns out I!!! 👏🏼 DID!!! 👏🏼 NOT!!! 👏🏼 KNOW!!! that I’m over a quarter MEXICAN! 33 years on this earth and I never knew I was Mexican at all! And a whopping 28%, at that!

I highly recommend AncestryDNA because it gives SO MUCH detail, down to the specific areas of a country your DNA was matched. It was the best gift I could have given myself and now I know for sure I wasn’t randomly dropped off on earth by a UFO, and I have some actual roots from around the world!

And for today’s outfit, we have some yellow, white and brown going on! If I have a glow about myself, it’s because I was so happy with my AncestryDNA results! ❤️

Corduroy suspender shorts: Amazon // Top: Goodwill
New ribbon bows: Made by me!

See ya next time!!! 💖

Party Like a Cherub Rockstar

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Don’t be fooled – I am no rockstar, clearly! I have no musical ability, instrument or singing-wise. And my version of partying is upsizing my Starbucks drink (tall → grande = living it up), putting on a good CD to get into while I drive, and crafting.

But my play on words in this blog title refers to the famous 1993 radio hit by the Smashing Pumpkins, Cherub Rock. That’s exactly the song that popped in my head when I first saw this gorgeous top!!! It makes me think of that song, and also the entire album aesthetic of Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

Which is why I paired the outfit with this ring I made in 2018, when I went to go see them for their reunion tour in the Bay Area! (One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to!) The Smashing Pumpkins instantly take me back to my childhood and all the nostalgia that comes with it.

Funny enough, this second outfit ALSO reminds me of Cherub Rock in an unexpected way. The mesh top makes me think of the psychedelic, liquid-like colors of the Cherub Rock music video! How about that!!

Top: SHEIN / Bows: Made by me
Ring: Made by me

As the opening lyrics of the song go:


Freak out
And give in
Doesn’t matter what you believe in
Stay cool
And be somebody’s fool this year
‘Cause they know
Who is righteous, what is bold
So I’m told

So go ahead and party like a rockstar, even if your version of partying is upsizing your Starbucks drink for the afternoon, rocking out solo in your automobile, and making new bows to wear in your hair. Which are all my definitions of partying!!!! Also, getting my second dose of the COVID vaccine on Monday made me feel like a rockstar because I felt relieved to have finally gotten it completed. As I exited out the automatic sliding glass doors of the Walgreens, with the evening sun in my eyes, I felt pretty darn good knowing I was done with it. Then I got in my car, put on Cherub Rock like a champ, as the Walgreens grew smaller in my rear view mirror.

See ya next time!!! 💝

Dino’s Day Out: A Photo Diary of Concrete Evidence That Dinosaurs Like High Heels, CD’s and Lattes

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The moment my eyes settled on these pink platform Mary Jane’s from Dolls Kill, I knew it was love at first sight. It’s my favorite shade of pink, and the flower cut-outs just scream 70’s. So it was a big yes for me!!!

Then I took a good, long look at my beloved Gene Simmons purse. It’s my favorite purse I’ve ever owned, and I had it custom made to boot. It just needed a little extra something. I realized that something was 70’s-style flower patches. The results were way better than I expected; it added so much more 70’s-teen-girl-obsessed-with-KISS vibes that I can’t get enough of!

Another thing I can’t get enough of is my new dinosaur mesh top from SHEIN! Typically, dinosaurs seem to be geared towards boys anytime I see them on clothing, so that’s why this caught my eye immediately, in all of its pink glory. 💖 The corduroy suspender shorts are from Amazon!

Before leaving for the afternoon to embark on a trip for coffee, I thought, something’s missing. And that’s a little blue dinosaur figurine I own, who’s the perfect companion to my outfit of the day. But I made sure she went out in style, in her own new set of heels and even giving her her own latte while I enjoyed my iced mocha. So this is concrete proof that dinosaurs enjoy nice shoes, café culture, and CD’s. It was a girls day out, and I’ll leave you with a couple of photos from our day!!! 💖

See ya next time!!! 💕

“Think I Could Pull This Off With Shorts?”

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So!!!! I did something different; I bought myself suspender SHORTS. Now this doesn’t seem like a big deal, right? Alas, for me it was! I don’t think I’ve worn shorts since high school. I always wear skirts and dresses!

While scrutinizing the SHEIN item that my eyes beheld on my laptop screen, I tried to envision myself in them. Could I pull it off????? Maybe. Then I realized, what did I have to lose? BUY ‘EM!

And so I did. I’m actually really happy with them! At first, I felt a little self-conscious but that feeling quickly faded. It’s just because I hadn’t worn shorts out in public in soooooo long…but I dig the whole vintage vibe with these cool buttons!

Funny story about these shoes: I was walking in them the other day and the bottom of the shoe literally flapped open, like a gaping fish mouth. Fortunately, a friend of mine recommended Shoe Goo glue, and boy did it work!!! All fixed and like new! These are my favorite flats. 💖

Second outfit we have here is my beloved teddy bear outfit, which is my favorite as of recently!!! 🐻💕

This top is also from SHEIN! Ain’t it cute?!!? Once I realized it would perfectly match my teddy bear hair clips I own, I knew I wanted to get it!!!

I think it’s fun to try different fashion stuff even if maybe you don’t think you can pull it off. For me personally, I’ve always been a social outcast, so I feel I have the luxury of wearing whatever I feel like, no matter how “out there” it gets.

Believe it or not, I actually used to look completely “normal” (whatever that word even means??? But it’s the only word I can think of) during my junior and senior year of high school. I tried to emulate how the popular girls at school would style themselves, although I never did fit the bill anyway. And guess what? I still never fit in, nor did any boys like me, and people still thought I was a nerd!

And that is why, I literally laugh out loud when I’ve been told, “Maybe if you just tried to not have an extreme style, you’d be seen as more attractive,” or, “Maybe you’d have more friends if you toned your look down a notch.”

Nope! I’ve tested both waters, and I concluded long ago that whether I completely blended into a crowd of people or if I decided to wear a huge orange traffic cone on my head, it would be the same results. I’ve always been one of those people who just never fit in, no matter how I tried to present myself. So I decided I’d just wear whatever I loved to wear, no matter how outdated or out-there it was, because ultimately it has made me the happiest and feel most like myself. And what’s more important than that?

So wear that one clothing item you’re not totally sure you can pull off, and wear it with confidence. 😘

See ya next time!!!

Bow Thugs-N-Harmony; A Double Dip of Fourth of July Ensembles

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Folks!!!!! I took it upon myself to get into the Fourth of July groove, so I have a double-dip of outfits that are red, white and blue! 🇺🇸❤️💙 Let’s get started.

First off, I have officially fallen head-over-heels in love with the fashion site SHEIN. After seeing so many ads for them on the internet, I finally caved and bought three new tops! In this post are two out of the three, and you can find the red floral top here and the checkered blue top here. I look forward to buying more clothing from them in the future!!!

First outfit ❤️ : The big red lace bow was made by me. I like it!! It kind of reminds me of a more subtle version of the hair bows Lolitas wear.

After a 3 mile recreational nature walk in the heat of late Friday afternoon, I thought it’d be nice to get myself a CHERRY BURST SLUSH from Sonic (new drink on the menu). It has little balls in it and they burst in your mouth, revealing a strong cherry flavor. ‘TWAS GOOD!

Here’s the second outfit I’m wearing today (heart pin is from The Tote Trove! Isn’t it darling and super patriotic??) And the floral bow is a 90’s bow I used to wear in elementary school, haha!! 💙:

I purchased a new CD that I was very much looking forward to listening to whilst driving places! As someone who has really never explored the hip-hop genre all that much, I was pleasantly surprised at how easily I got into the album while playing it in my Challenger. I’m glad I expanded my musical horizons and gave something new-to-me a try (the album came out in 1996)!

The freedom to drive around while listening to a new CD, sipping down a Cherry Burst Slush and going for a long nature walk with a gigantic bow on my head? Now that is a freedom that deserves a ring. 🔔❤️💙

Have a fun Fourth of July weekend, whatever you do! 🇺🇸⭐️

A Good Book and Good Laughs; How My Belarusian Pen Pal Got Me Hooked on Soviet Comedies

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This week, I started reading a new book I’ve been anticipating called Checkpoint Charlie by Iain MacGregor! I’ve wanted to learn more about this famous border crossing of the Cold War era, which was a tense divider between East and West Berlin back in the day. You may or may not be familiar with the famous sign that stood at the checkpoint (and still does, as a tourist attraction in Berlin), and I always thought it was both fascinating and foreboding at the same time:

The stern sign gave you fair warning in English, and it also warned you in Russian, French and German that you were leaving the American sector of West Berlin and about to enter East Berlin territory. It was a crossing point from (I think) 1947-1991.

I’m still in the beginning of the book but I can EASILY SAY I am HOOOOOOOOOKED and it’s a real page turner!!!!

Alongside my exploration of new literature, I’ve also dipped my toe into the world of film from the Soviet era of the 1960’s. I have my Belarusian pen pal to thank for this, as I would have NEVER known what I was missing out on – Soviet comedies!

(My pen pal is in his late forties, lives in Belarus and experienced living in the Soviet Union himself, so I’ve learned a lot from him. I can even understand some Russian phrases now, like basic greetings!) 😃

I’ve watched a few comedies so far, including Operation Y and Shurik’s Other Adventures (1965), and my favorite is Bootleggers (1961) featured above. It’s a short film at only 18 minutes long, but it’s 18 minutes of pure joy and laughs for me!

It stars (from left to right) Yevgeny Morgunov, Yuri Nikulin and Georgy Vitsin. The three characters star in several movies together and play troublemakers, in which their schemes don’t exactly turn out the way they think it will and they go through hilarious situations that end with them in the back of a police car. Bwahaha!!!

Side note: I fell in love with Georgy Vitsin like, 3 seconds into the film. How could I not fall for a face like this?

I found myself thinking: all three of these actors have been deceased since the late 90’s/early 2000’s. How cool is it that I discovered their films all the way here in the United States, in 2021 no less, long after they’ve been gone, and I get to experience it with fresh eyes?! Their legacy definitely lives on!

So as you can tell, I’ve been enjoying myself immensely in the world of literature and film – the perfect way to kick off the summer. ☀️❤️ I’ll end this post with two photos of me trying to awkwardly take photos of my outfit in my room. I was feeling the orange and purple ensemble, and the pockets? Sewed those bad boys on myself!!!

See yaaaaaaaaaaa!

Finding Your Happy Place; Letting the Creative Juices Flow

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Above are the creations I made this past week!! I’m over-the-moon happy with how they turned out. I’ve been on a roll lately cranking out new jewelry designs. I realized how much I truly enjoy making jewelry, and it’s definitely one of my many happy places!

See that necklace with the pumpkin and Starbucks cup on it? Yep, it’s a pumpkin spice-themed cameo necklace! I made the cameo last fall and didn’t do anything with it, so I made it into a necklace. I’m sure someone who loves anything having to do with pumpkins and coffee will love it when autumn rolls around! (Thankfully though, it’s nowhere near fall yet…I’m not ready for that, as I love summer!! ☀️ )

It’s nice to create stuff and feel really good about it. There’s a sense of satisfaction when you wear something you made yourself! Even more so when you know someone else is wearing your creations (two weeks ago, I had someone buy several items from my Etsy shop, which was a total happy surprise!)

On a last note, here’s me rocking one of my new necklaces in sunny yellow plaid!!! 💖

See ya next time!! 💖