Weekly Nail

Supplies used...
Sally Hansen - Thinking of Blue
Milani - Fresh Teal
Seche Vite as a top coat
Nail stickers (blogged about here // bought from here) 

These nails just sort of happened when I was too lazy to put down a color before using one of the nail stickers. For once being lazy actually worked to my advantage when doing my nails, I think it looks super neat! I even did my nails the same way, just with a different sticker and colors, later in the week.

Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend. I'm sort of recovering from last week this weekend. Elycia just left yesterday after a week long visit and I am beat! We were constantly going, going, going -taking pictures, making a hilarious video, thrifting, splashing in the waves of Lake Erie and going to see mewithoutYou. It was an absolute blast. Luckily it looks like it's going to be a rainy day, perfect for lounging and some light house work.
xoxo

FF #165

I'm finding myself drawn to these two images for the same reason - the maps! Something about putting a map above the bed just looks so good. I think I know exactly what I want to do with our bedroom. Now to find the perfect vintage map...

(via: Ellen Picker)

(via: Alex Thomas)
Speaking of maps, holy cow - the Mapparium looks amazing! Any in the Boston, MA area ever visited? Is it as awesome as this photo makes it look?

  (via: t. enger)

I rediscovered The Black Apple's work recently and was searching for the perfect one to include in my Friday Favorites, I think this one is just perfect. I wish this was a portrait of me, who doesn't want a giant, sleepy tooth to cuddle?

 (via: The Black Apple)

These shoes are just the cutest. I love both colorways they come in. I'm still obsessed with flatforms, I want a whole darn closet full of them.

 (via: Bloomingdale's) 
This sweater is so much fun! I think the end of the sleeves might be my favorite part. 

 (via: Annie Larson)

I know a little while back I posted the donut float but I just discovered these ones as well! I would really love to float around on a pretzel all day, but the serpent one looks like so much fun to play in.

 (via: Urban Outfitters)

This photo is too sweet. That little face!!

 (via: Anna Grapes)

This dress is beautiful. I love striped dresses. I don't think I can have enough of them.

 (via: Dorothy Perkins)
This camera shaped bag is adorable. (It's on sale right now too!)

(via: Threadsence)

Cat versus human is my favorite web comic, I can relate to SO many of them.

(via: cat versus human)

Love the double collar on this shirt. It's pretty darn snazzy!

(via: Piperlime)

Well I've gotta run. Elycia and I have some awesome plans today! It's going to be such a fun day. Hope you all have a fabulous Friday!
xoxo

Girl in Blue

For as long as I can remember I've been interested in cemeteries, ghosts and all things macabre. In middle school I remember pouring over Haunted Ohio books, and day dreaming about visiting all the spooky places Ohio has. Many years later I'm still interested in these types things except with a little (okay, a lot) less emphasis on the haunted, I'm a big fraidy cat. But I still love cemeteries. I love looking at all the old headstones, figuring out how old people were and pondering what they were like.

I found Heather's blog Mortuary Report a little while ago when she commented on a photo of my mine on instagram. I was instantly smitten with her blog and read through a lot of it. While browsing I found a post about the girl in blue.

"For sixty years, the young lady who had been hit by a train near a boarding house in Willoughby was simply known as "The Girl in Blue." No one knew who she was, where she was going or who to contact about her death on Christmas Eve 1933. She carried no identification, only 90 cents and a ticket to Corry, Pennsylvania. She wore a blue dress and blue shoes.

McMahon Funeral Home adopted this young lady's funeral arrangements. Local donations paid for a headstone and flowers. More than 3,000 local residents went to McMahon Funeral Home to bid farewell to a girl they never knew.

Her identity remained a mystery of national interest until a local newspaper story commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of her death sparked a reader to contact a title agency that researched records from the sale of properties in Warren County, Pennsylvania. State authorities determined that Josephine Klimczak was The Girl in Blue. Lake County records, however, have not changed the death certificate; she is still listed as The Girl in Blue"
-from findagrave.com

When I read where this headstone was - I had to visit! Willoughby, Ohio is only a short jaunt away from our house! Kevin and I set out that week to find the girl in blue. It was so stinken hot that day! I had read on some review site (yep, people review cemeteries!) that the headstone was in one of the far corners of the cemetery. We hunted and hunted for it until finally realizing we couldn't spend all day out in that heat looking. I got on my phone and found a photo of the headstone and picked some identifying features around it so we could try and spot those. After a few minutes we found a tree with three trunks and sure enough right under it - there she was!

Judging by the pennies, and mint I'd say she's well visited! I see in other pictures of her headstone that there used to be flowers but when we visited there were none. I'd like to go plant some soon!

I wonder how I went so long without knowing how close I was to something so neat! Kevin and I went to the book store afterwards and grabbed a big stack of books about strange things in Ohio to plot some trips to make in the future. I'm so excited to visit all the other awesome things I didn't even know that my state housed. 
xoxo

new hair, new wardrobe?

Gray wool Marimekko dress, from theprivateparty on Etsy.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I recently went through a major hair color change--my dark brown pixie is now a gray/silver-white (speeding along a process that was already naturally occurring).  For some reason, this has made me want to change my wardrobe.  Well, "some reason" is probably the photo below.  

Bibi Andersson (center) with Liv Ullmann and Ingmar Bergman on the set of Persona, 1966.

Now I want a wardrobe of mod A-line dresses in dark, austere colors.  And Ray-Bans.  Unfortunately, I seem to have a closet full of 1940s and 1950s floral frocks...and not a lot of money to shop with.  Luckily, in my line of work, I can (sort of) patiently shop and hope to find just what I want in my size.  And I *do* have a couple 1960s dresses in my closet that I've held on to that fit the bill.

But maybe this inclination toward mod, austerity, and A-line was already in my brain!  Pre-haircut, I found myself really drawn to these looks from Irish designer J.W. Anderson.

J.W. Anderson, A/W 2012-2013 / via

J.W. Anderson, A/W 2012 / via

J.W. Anderson, Resort 2013 / via

And along with that gorgeous Marimekko dress at the top of this post, I found these on Etsy:

A line geometric skirt, from OiseauVintage.

1960s charcoal wool dress, from BoroughVintage.

Fish print skirt, from persephonevintage.

The new hair.

xo

K

Recipe Remix

I've got a recipe remix of sorts for you all today. A while back I shared a recipe for an amazing summer treat on Elycia's blog. It's an ice cream type dessert made from bananas, peanut butter and chocolate - so needless to say it's heavenly! But this year I've been making it more and more and experimenting with the recipe. I'm excited to share this treat that I've been making and we've been eating obsessively for the last few weeks. Here is the original recipe.

Banana, Peanut Butter & Chocolate Vegan Ice Cream!

2 bananas (of average size)

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

4 generous tablespoons peanut butter

5 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons soy milk

Put all ingredients in the blender and mix until they become a smoothie like texture. Pour into a plastic container with lid and place in freezer. Check on and stir hourly until it becomes the perfect texture, which is completely at your discretion. 

You can drink it like a milkshake after about 2 hours, devour it like ice cream after 5 or 6 hours or just slurp it straight out of the blender. (My blender slightly warms whatever I put in it and that is mighty tasty too!!)

The recipe also makes the perfect popscicles! I recently picked up a popsicle mold and we've been eating them like they're going out of style. Kevin swears he's never had a tastier fudgesicle and I feel the same way. They're the perfect consistency when used in the popsicle mold. When left in a plastic container the ice cream tends to get really hard after it's frozen so you have to wait for it to thaw before snacking. When placed in the popsicle mold it's solid but bite-able (if that's how you choose to eat popsicles, I prefer to lick them.)

As well as eating the ice cream in different forms I've been experimenting with the flavor. I've discovered that using yellow bananas leave the ice cream tasting more banana flavored as opposed to using spotty bananas where you're easily able to cover the banana flavor making it easier to experiment with other flavors. Adding a teaspoon of coconut extract is absolutely divine, and has become our personal favorite. I've got plans to try mint and root beer too! The possibilities are endless!!

If you'd like to make more than the original recipe does (it really doesn't make much at all) you don't even have to double the recipe. I normally just add extra bananas one at a time and then add the other ingredients a little at a time to taste. I rarely ever add any extra soy milk, you don't want it to be too thin of a mixture.

Enjoy!
xoxo

Giveaway // Blowfish Shoes

I'm back again on this fabulous Tuesday with a giveaway from one of The Dainty Squid's long time sponsors, Blowfish Shoes. Blowfish is a great company with tons of awesome shoes. My current favorite pair are still the Gypsy flatforms, which you can see me wearing here & here. Today you'll have the chance to win a pair of your choice!

What?  The winner will receive a pair of Blowfish shoes of their choice!

When?  You have until Tuesday, July 17th to enter.

How to enter -  Visit Blowfish Shoes then come back and leave a comment telling us which pair are your favorite. Please make sure there is a way to contact you if you win.

Optional bonus entries...
(please leave a separate comment for each entry or they won't be counted!)

• Tweeting about the giveaway, feel free to use this -

win a pair of shoes from @blowfishshoes on @thedaintysquid blog http://tinyurl.com/bqbvkbj

• Share the giveaway on facebook, tumblr or your own blog!
• Follow Blowfish Shoes on Twitter.
• Follow Blowfish Shoes on Pinterest
• Like Blowfish Shoes on Facebook.

Good Luck!
xoxo

nifty fifty!

Yes, it's true!  It's hard to believe looking at him--and it's even harder to believe if you actually know him--but Andy will be a half century old on July 12!  And because nothing makes Andy happier than selling vintage clothing, we're having a sale to celebrate.  Prices are already marked down in the shop, so go ahead and make Andy happy and buy stuff.

Oh, and here, from the Small Earth Vintage archives, are some of great shots of my favorite male model.

xo

K

2012 Mid-Year Goal Recap: Books!

One of my 2012 goals was to read 14 new (to me) books. If you've been a long time reader you may recall me mentioning a few times that I'm a very, very picky reader. I have a hard time getting into books but that certainly doesn't mean I don't love to read. Getting lost in a book is one of my favorite things ever! 

My taste is books is weird-ish, I suppose. I'm a big fan of gritty books that are shocking. I like non-fiction and love to read about about people's lives that are completely different from my own. From time to time I do read fiction, I absolutely adore Chuck Palahniuk and have read (and loved) everything he's had published. I just about peed my pants with excitement last year when I found a new book to obsess over - Geek Love. (You can find my post about it here) That got me on the lookout for other books that I might be interested in because I realized once again how much I truly love reading.

Well, I'm well on my way to reading 14 books this year. I'm starting to realize that maybe I'm not as much of a picky reader as I thought, perhaps I just wasn't reading about subjects that sparked my interest. As of the beginning of June I'd finished 10 books already and had another 12 sitting in my to-read pile. Having 12 in a to-do pile is like a miracle, I have never in my life had that many books that I was excited to read one after another.

Before I share about what I've read I suppose I should start with a bit of a disclaimer. A lot of what I've read I would put in the "adult's only" category. This isn't my normal subject matter and it's not going to become something I blog about often. But I'd like this blog to be an honest place and this is honestly what I've been reading. I'll go ahead and blame my love of "raunchy" books on my mom who can normally be found any evening on the couch with her nose buried in a "romance" novel, you know the kind with the half naked, long haired man on the front and the lady clinging to him! Well apparently the apple didn't fall far from the tree except for the fact this apple likes non-fiction and would prefer not to read about cowboys and their conquests. (Hi Mom!)

So far this year I've read...  
Sex Work edited by Frederique Delacoste & Priscilla Alexander.
The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott.
Curtains by Tom Jokinen.
Tunnel People by Teun Voeten.
Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson.
Mole People by Jennifer Toth.
9 1/2 Years Behind the Green Door by Simone Corday.
Step Right up by Nathaniel Knaebel.
Real Live Nude Girl by Carol A. Queen.
How to Make Love Like a Pornstar by Jenna Jameson. 

I really enjoyed them all. Some I read a lot faster than others and there were a couple I really had to work to finish. If I had to choose a top three to read from these ten, I'd recommend  How to Make Love Like a Pornstar, Let's Pretend This Never Happened and Curtains. Those were my favorites. 

If you look past the title of Jenna Jameson's book, How to Make Love Like a Pornstar, and just read you might be pleasantly surprised. Amazon had recommended me the book a few times (which I ignored because of the title) before I checked out the reviews and finally bought it. This was a really great book. It's around 600 pages and I tore through this sucker in two days. I could not put it down. If Jenna wrote a sequel I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Amazon also recommended me Let's Pretend This Never Happened - apparently amazon knows what I like better than I do. I adored this book! I spent so much time in the bathtub obsessively reading it. Jenny is one fuuuunny lady. I felt a connection with her writing (yeah, not to sound creepy or anything) but there were so many little thing that I was like "that is soooo me!" about.

Finally, Curtains - I LOVED Curtains! I thought it was an awesome book and I'm really sad it's over! It actually got me started on a whole new subject matter obsession too! I've since bought five or so books about mortuary sciences, funeral directors and the like.

Read anything great you think I'd like lately? I'm always on the look out for something with similar subject matters to those I've read above to add to my queue.
xoxo

shop preview

A rococo print swimsuit, a nautical blue blouse, a mod op art print dress, and a rhinestone-sparkly peplum cocktail dress in this shop preview!

1960s rococo print swimsuit, by Jantzen.

1950s rick rack dancing dress, by Country Club Frocks.

1950s marine blue sailor blouse.

1960s mod psychedelic print shift dress.

1950s embroidered cocktail dress with bows, by Helen Whiting.

Coral red Peter Pan collar blouse, by Lady Hathaway.

1960s Marimekko-ish print cotton trapeze dress.

1950s dusty pink party dress with rhinestone-decorated peplum.

1960s brown gingham pencil skirt, by Bobbie Brooks.

1960s grass green gingham print seersucker shift, by Branigans.

1960s psychedelic floral print blouse.

1950s full skirt dress with blue embroidered eyelet bodice.

1960s mod op art dress, by R&K Originals.

1960s blue floral print blouse, by Jet Shirts Ltd.

1960s floral printed polished cotton sheath dress, from Shaker Square by Bill Sims.

xo

K