April in review.

Can you believe it's almost May already? I remember on Fridays (a while back) when I'd always blog something along the lines of "Can you believe it's already Friday already" but now it seems like I always feel like "wow, can you believe it's the end of the month already!?"

Inspired by Pugly Pixels end of the month wrap up "Links Loved" I thought I'd share something similar of my own!

April in review!
new blogs I found & enjoyed:
• Hue and Hum!
• As I mentioned in my Friday Favorites already, MaieDae!
• Koi Story!

iphone apps downloaded:
• All three full versions of Angry Birds. I'm almost embarressed to admit how often I play!
• iGarageSale. I'm crazy in love with this app. I orginally downloaded the lite version but within ten minutes I bought the full version!
• Tetris. Why did it take me so long to download tetris on my phone?!
• Couch to 5K. A running app to help get my out of shape self into shape! I've only done a few days so far but I'm digging it!
• ThriftBuddy. I just downloaded it last night but I'm pretty stoked to get out and use it to find new thrift stores!

my favorite posts this month:
• Hair Tips and Tricks; part one, two and three.
• Vegan Peanut Butter Pillows. Yuuum!
• Diana Mini!
• Spring. It's not weird to be inspired by my own photos, is it? Because I certainly am.
• Friday Favorites #100! Wahooo, I'm still excited I reached 100 Friday Favorites posts.

new (to me) movie I watched:
• I love you Phillip Morris. I love Jim Carry so much, do I recommend this movie? Yes, as long as you're old enough to watch an "R" rated movie. Ai yi yi, it had some vulgarity (and I'm no prude!)
• White Oldeander. I really like Alison Lohman, she's a great actress!
• Amelie. Can you believe I only watched it for the first time this month? Me either. It was awesome!

exciting happenings on and offline:
• I had a breakthrough (I guess you could call it) in where I want to be with my business, and what I want to make. I'll blog about my new designs and stuff a little later this week! I'm so excited.
• Started making plans to meet Elycia after we realized just how close she is even though she's across the border from me. I get butterflies when I think about it!
• Had a great brainstorming session with my tattoo artist regarding my second full sleeve. I'm so excited about it. I can't wait to watch it progress over the summer.

It was a great month if I do say so myself!
xoxo

FF #102

This bag is too awesome for words!

 (via: broundoor)
I'm completely infatuated with neat suitcases like this!

 (via: decades)
Too cute!!

 (via: YeeHaw)
This dress is crazy amazing. I need it on my body! 

 (via: cristinapires)
SHARK! Wait, it's just a cat. ;)

 (via: YouthDiaspora)
Love this gorgeous illustration. The border is so pretty!

 (via: LizzyStewart)
Love these snazzy shoes!

(via: 3adore4)
Such a pretty dress!

 (via: audiemaria)
This necklace is super neat!

 (via: justinejividen)
I'm forever amazed by awesome soap like this. It looks so yummy!

(via: LoveLeeSoaps) 
I'm crazy about these shoes from Blowfish Shoes! Their website shows a video on what they look like on and they look so comfortable! 

 (via: blowfish shoes)

This giveaway from A Piece of Lisa is pretty awesome. PS. Even if you don't want to enter a giveaway, you should still check out her blog, it's great!
I love this ring by yellowgoat!
I'm crazy for the all of the leggings by zelnatt!
MaieDae has such a pretty blog, with lots of great content.

Well, I'm off, probably to nap some more! In case you don't follow me on twitter and didn't know, I got my teeth pulled a day early. Yesterday my day was come home, cry in pain, take medicine, sleep for 3 hours, wake up full of energy that only lasts for about 30 mins, and restart the cycle. I'm hoping today is a little bit better. You guys should see my cheeks, they look hilarious. I look like I'm wearing a fat suit on my face. Haha. I'm trying really hard to stay positive about this whole situation. :)
xoxo!

Hair Tips and Tricks. Part Three: Miscellany.

Find Part One: Bleach here and Part Two: Dye here.

Making it Last.
If you've bleached your hair, and left the hair dye on for more than two hours you're already on the right track. A few more tips;
• Always, always, always rinse with cold water! (This will also help reduce bleeding if you have more than one color) As cold as you can possibly stand, it'll be worth it!
• Quick showers! No soaking in the tub and no standing under that hot shower for long periods of time anymore. You want your hair to be wet for as little a period of time as possible. Personally I like to hop in the shower very quickly wash and condition my hair in the cold water than put my hair up in a towel and finish washing the rest of my body that way I can still take long, hot showers.
• Use shampoo as little as possible and only use sulfate free shampoos.
• Mix a little bit of hair dye into your conditioner so when you condition you're getting a quick touch up.
• No chlorine! It sucks not being able to swim in pools but chlorine murders hair dye.  

Products I use & love.
Hask Placenta. Yes, you read that correctly, placenta. Made from sheep placenta, which is normally discarded anyways, this product doesn't harm momma sheep or baby. While it might be kind of intimidating to put a product that has placenta as a main ingredient in your hair I highly recommend this stuff. It smells really good and makes my hair oh-so-shiny!

Biotin. It helps promote healthy hair. I've been using biotin on and off (off because sometimes I forget) for about a year and a half and definitely feel it helps my hair.

Tresemme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo . I've tried quite a few dry shampoos and this is the only one I've liked. Like I mentioned in part one: bleach I have greasy hair and to maintain such a pretty color I can't wash it every day and this is the perfect product to allow me to not wash my hair but still look great.

The Body Shop Banana Conditioner. This is my personal preference for conditioner. I think it smells really great and it leaves my hair reeeeally soft.

Those are all the products I use in order to keep my hair soft and healthy. I don't have a personal preference for shampoo as of right now.


Other.
Regarding hair dye staining everything-
I use Comet to clean up the sink and tub. It works wonders and normally if the dye is cleaned up within a few days of staining it looks like nothing ever happened. (Don't put off cleaning just because you think it will come up just as easy later, it's always best to clean up hair dye messes ASAP)

I personally, have never had problems with dye staining my clothes, pillowcases, etc as long as my hair was rinsed well after dying. The first few times I used Special Effects it stained my finger nails but for some reason it doesn't do it anymore (...?).

Conditioning Caps -
In between colorings, or if you accidentally over bleach your hair you should do a conditioning cap. All you need to do is wet your hair, towel dry it, slather in conditioner of your choice and put on a shower cap. Leave it on for 3-4 hours then rinse. This will fade your hair significantly and should be done when you're going to change colors, or touch up it.
*Tip: don't bleach your hair, do a conditioning cap then try to dye it. Remember you want your hair to be porous when you dye it.

On having bright colored hair.
Something to keep in mind is how people will react to your fun new hair. There isn't one time I can think of in the last few years where I left the house and didn't have someone mention my hair or stare at me. Sometimes it's a compliment, other times it can be not so polite. I've had people pet my hair, had people ask if it was an accident, and had people yell at me. If you're someone who just likes to blend in, maybe a full head of colored hair isn't for you. Try adding just a few peeks of bright colored highlights. Try to remember that if you love your hair, that is all that really matters.

In closing...
I hope this short series of posts helped, or inspired at least a few people. If you want to dye your hair, even just a few pieces of it, GO FOR IT. You're never too old to have a little fun! ;)
xoxo

What I wore: 4.26.11

The details;

hat - thrifted/stolen from Kevin

dress - Target

sweater - Target

sweater clip - handmade by me!

socks - from my easter basket. ;)

shoes - thrifted

I cannot believe how gorgeous it was yesterday! I went outside to take photos with the thought "I'm gonna freeze because I'm not wearing tights" and ended up having to shed my sweater because I was sweating within' minutes. I am 100% not complaining. It smelled so good outside too - like spring (FINALLY!) and there were all kind of birds singing! Eeeee! I can't even express how excited I am for spring to be here.

Speaking of being outside - this is kind of a big deal for another reason. Since moving to the "*city" I've had this really weird thing about going outside alone, I always feel like people are watching me and it totally freaks me out. I think it started when one of the neighbors across the street asked Kevin where we had gone the day before because I was "dressed all fancy". The thing is he was inside the house when he noticed this. Not really big deal, but it made me feel really weird. And another time I saw one of my next door neighbors peeking through the fence.  But I'm not going to waste gorgeous days inside because I feel like people are looking at me, because for one - they're probably not. Two- who cares if they are?! So here's to taking steps in not being such a strangely shy lady! :)

*City goes in quotes because we don't live in the city city, we live in a fairly small town but this is the first time in my life I've had neighbors. I'm a country girl who grew up in the middle of the woods, this is a big change for me!

Hope you're having a lovely Wednesday!

xoxo!

his and hers

A pair of outfits from last week and the weekend, courtesy Andy and me. I thought he looked particularly cute when we went thrifting last Thursday: vintage 1970s black flag Levi's, 1950s black oxford shirt, retro Eddie Bauer sneakers, and a reversible olive drab plaid 1960s windbreaker. And a pint of Founder's Pale Ale.

The colors in my Saturday outfit were loosely inspired by the image below from the Street Style Aesthetic blog. My outfit: 1950s dress, Target cardigan and tights, 1950s woven straw and leather handbag, Old Navy shoes.

I love this woman's look. Well, perhaps the ankle socks are not for me (though cute on her), but I love the skirt with the big bow in front, and especially the cyan blue sweater with the oversize mustard clutch. I went with a turquoise dress and chartreuse shoes, but probably wouldn't have thought of those shoes if I hadn't seen this photo.

xo

K

The Collector: Part 8.

I debated for a little while whether or not having a TON of buttons counted as a collection but as I was picking some to sew on to a pouch I realized it's definitely a collection if I refrain from using one because I think it's too pretty not to keep all for myself.

All of my buttons were won at auctions. Store bought buttons are ridiculously over priced! Plus these ones have character, ya know what I mean? Before I had them someone else loved them, sorted them and ran their fingers through them.

Before I attended auctions my dad would bring me home containers full of them, but late last year at one that I went to we hit the jackpot! The lady must have really been into sewing because there was tons of buttons, supplies and patterns. I brought home all the buttons as well as a big box full of miscellaneous supplies.

I love sorting through them, it's one of my favorite things to do. I love finding ones with intricate designs on them. I love running my fingers through them and feeling them move. Okay, am I starting to sound creepy now? I don't even care, I love buttons.

Here are a few of my favorites. I like wooden buttons the most! I went though most of the containers I have and picked out the wooden buttons to keep in a special baggy so I know where they all are.

Do you guys have great childhood memories of going through your mom or grandmas button collection? I don't (my grandma who sewed died when I was pretty young) but digging though these I can imagine just how magical it would be.
xoxo

Giveaway Winners!

Eeep, sorry to post this so late! I was taking my good old time reading though all the comments before heading to the random number generator to help pick a winner. Before I tell you who won I want to thank everyone who entered, and everyone who comes back day after day to read! I seriously love you all so much!

The winners are....

Zully and G. of Tulle & Combat Boots!
Shoot me an email thedaintysquid[at!]gmail[dot]com to claim your prize! :)

Hope you're all having a great day!

xoxo!

insanely cool...or just insane?

I was tempted, and am kind of regretting not buying him. He looks like a squirrel Amy Sedaris would have on her wall. But he stayed on the thrift store shelf. (Call me, Amy--I'll let you know where he is.)

These came home with me, of course.

Just plain freaky. Stayed in the store for the crazy doll lady.

I loved how they were arranged on the shelf. Which is where they stayed.

Even with the scuff on the cover, I loved this. It came home with me.

Purchased.

Purchased.

Andy was so excited--this was his second "The Whites" album of the day. If Andy had things his way, the house would be filled with weird albums like these. But I like to keep the record cabinet filled with vinyl we might actually listen to...so none of these came home.

xo

K

Cleveland Zoo: Revisted.

Saturday was so beautiful. It was finally warm enough to not wear a coat! So we decided to head to Cleveland Zoo where we both whined about how hot it was. kidding, well kind of.... But seriously, the first hot day was totally a shock to our systems.

I lugged around my heavy camera bag all day and didn't take a single picture until the last 30 minutes of our trip when we were in the "Rain Forest". It was suuuuper hot in there but I much prefer to be closer to the animals like we were in there as opposed to being 30 or 40 feet away from the ones outside.

Here are some of my favorite critters of the day (sans Orangutans who I was too busy ooooh-ing and ahhh-ing over to photograph);

This trip to the zoo was SO much different than the last time we visited  back in December. It was packed and there really wasn't any other animals out that we didn't get to see last time other than the wallabies, which I will admit were absolutely precious. I think we'll stick to visiting zoo's in the later months of the year though. ;)

Well I'm back to work now. I have a lot to do this weekend because it all goes as scheduled I'll be getting my wisdom teeth plus four other pulled on Friday. Eeep! Hopefully the sun comes out today so I can take some photos of the new clutches I'm working on, they're amazing!
xoxo

The Easter Kittens.

 Hope the easter kittens brought you lots of peeps this morning!
xoxo!

FF #101

I adore this woodgrain shirt! Did you notice the cute little owls peeking out?

 (via: threadless)
Made from a vintage paint by number!!!

(via: somethingshidinginhere)
Too cute for words! 

 (via: Australian War Memorial Collection)
This dress from modcloth! Sooo pretty!

(via: modcloth)
This print!

 (via: hellojenuine)

This handmade brooch is absolutely amazing. The details are blowing my mind!

 (via: BlueTerracotta)

The prettiest bracelet! 

(via: Thief&Bandit)

I love this shirt! 

 (via: minxshop)

This sloth's face is killing me! Too cute. 

 (via: AmazonExpeditions)

This photo makes me yearn for summer! 

(via: steph says hello)
This is too lovely for words. I can't even begin to explain how bad I just want to curl up and read there!

(via: alizabeth)

Tutorial to make crystal egg geodes!
I'm not that big on rings, but holy cow, this is beautiful!!
I adore this leather satchel!!
I'm head over heels in love with these handmade shoes by goldenponies!

PS. Don't forget that today is the last day to enter the Friday Favorites giveaway!
xoxo!