Summer Bum(mer)

Summer = overalls & no shirts
You can find me barefoot and shirtless,
with a nice cold pitcher of lemonade.
Now all I need is a front porch. I miss the South.

So, what have I been up to during my one month hiatus from the blogosphere? Oh, you know, the usual...Working, eating, sleeping, having my roommates want to move and not take me with them, having my boyfriend on tour and everywhere but here for the past six weeks, apartment hunting, being poor as dirt, watching way too much Seinfeld and Law & Order: CI...yeah you know, the usual.

Anywho, I finally found an apartment! Very generous loved ones and 3 grand+ of fees later, and I am now the proud renter of a two bedroom, large kitchen, and the smallest bathroom you've ever seen apartment. Oh, and did I mention that all this space will be mine, since I will now be living alone? So although me moving came about from some unfortunate circumstances, I am trying to look on the bright side and using this shit storm as the wind in my sails to steer me in the right direction. Or something like that. Basically what that means is I am going to use the extra room and privacy to do projects that I have had on my mind forever. One being selling those 12 boxes of vintage clothes, shoes, hats, jewelry, etc. I had shipped up from storage in Florida. Two being designing and sewing again, since that's what I actually went to school for and all. Three being cooking more often and more complicated dishes. Four being updating this lil' blog with all of the above! So expect more outfit posts, sales, designs, and treats along with all of the weird shit I usually have diarrhea of the mouth about in the near future.

Also, I'm thinking the theme of my new apartment should be "Gothic Tea Party". You know, lots of floral, skulls, pastels, black lace, white lace, candles, kittens, cobwebs, mounted butterflies, dead things in bottles, delicate china, ornate frames, dusty bookshelves, blood, guts, cupcakes, etc...

Oh, and in other good news! The boy is finally back in T-minus 11 hours! Deer Tick show with long lost friends tomorrow night! And Sunday I'm not getting out of bed for anything unless it starts with B and ends in BQ! :)

And in the name of summer,
here are a couple of polaroids from our
mini trip to Coney Island the other day.

I'm wearing a vintage floral romper with some old thrifted teal lace-ups.
Rachel is wearing a thrifted dress she altered herself.

Not pictured: my non-matching bikini top & bottom because my ass is too big for the floral bottom and apparently now my boobs are too big for my sailboat top. Whatever, real women have curves, and who says boats don't go with blossoms? Both go well with warmer weather, right? Eh? Eh? :)

Sugar & Spice

"Celeste Cerro decided to spend her entire day downloading new music & uploading it to her iPod for the first time since she got it five years ago. You can find her dancing down the street on her way to a museum exhibit containing "hidden, untouched and curious collections from around the world in photographs and artifacts".

Well, at least that's where I thought I was going, as I stepped outside in this ensemble last Saturday night. My dear friend and I were excited about seeing baby skulls and cobwebs and giant taxidermy creatures, but instead we were greeted by displayed photographs of skulls, and spiders, and disemboweled things. The only actual artifacts were a few teeth and some snakes in bottles. I mean, from someone who writes a blog entitled "Morbid Anatomy," you'd think she could have made it a little more creepy. So I took some complimentary wasabi peas and hit the road, which took me to pretty much the best place ever, totally making up for that less-than-morbid buzzkill. We walk up to this bar, and I am immediately confused and intrigued. As I peak inside, I exclaim to the doorman, "What is this? What are all those books doing in there? Look at those antique sofas! Is that a fireplace? Where are we??" To which the man replies as he stamps my hand, "Welcome to Hogwarts!" I. Could. Have. Died. Anywho, it's actually called Union Hall, but if you reference anything with Harry Potter, I'm pretty much sold. But yes, the entire bar looked like a quaint/just spooky enough old library, complete with antique sofas, cozy fireplace, vintage portraits, dusty books lining the walls, and random oddities like brass bugles and women's busts placed in between them. Oh, and then there were the two indoor bocce (ball) courts?? Did I mention this was a bar? I must go back to that little slice of heaven soon when it's not so crowded. I ended up at a few more bars, dancing the night away, until I ended up at a friend's house with twenty donuts (give or take) in my belly. Listen, all that excitement and dancing takes a lot out of a girl!

But yes, this is what I was wearing through all of that.

My friend basically described my outfit as two polar opposites
Religious up top, satan on the bottom. Which roughly translates to a less extreme version of: Nice up top, naughty on the bottom.
Actually, when I stood up at one point, some girl at the same table as me goes, "Whoa, those pants! I never would have guessed! What a surprise. I love surprises."
Bahahaha.

Vintage bow hat; Double-breasted wool coat, UO; Silk salmon blouse, $2, Salvation Army; Vintage woven bag; High-waisted disco pants, American Apparel; Vintage cut-out oxfords, thrifted; Boy & girl kissing silhouette necklace, charm I've had forever.

I also want to show off my new vintage midnight blue velvet Armani high-waisted wide leg trousers I got at the Salvation Army for $3.50!

I got SUPER lucky that day at the Salvation Army. AND to top it off and to my surprise, it was "Family Day" which apparently meant 50% off on half my stuff! I also found that little salmon silk button down the same day. As well as a perfectly shoulder-padded velvet bolero, and tons of lace. Apparently the Salvation Army is gettin' classy! Or the people who shop there are gettin' trashy? And passin' up the goods? Either way, I'm into it!

Here are some close-ups of the necklace.

And my favorite shoes! That are falling apart! Someone buy me these!

The pictures really don't do the pants justice, so I tried to edit it for a more correct color. Which obviously did not work very well, haha.

Till next time! :)

Side Shots

So right now I'm going through this phase where I love off-centered portraits. And I have such wonderful photographer friends to capture them/beautiful friends to be captured!

Mary Virginia Carmack by Mary Virginia Carmack

Celeste Cerro (me!) by Sarah Culbreth

Sarah Culbreth by Dan Schmahl

Megan Gram by Daniel Diaz

Daniel Diaz by Anonymous

♥ ♥ ♥

Sun Kissed

So in the name of summer right around the corner, and the fact that the photo below just popped up randomly on my friend's tumblr, I have decided to make a post about swimsuits. The aforementioned photo was taken at an outdoor concert last summer. I don't remember the stranger who took the picture, and pretty much forgot all about that day until one of my good friends told me it came up on her tumblr feed. And the girl who posted it is from L.A.? So who knows where my kiss covered chest has been. Ah well, here it is now!

Wearing: Kissy one-piece, Brooklyn Flea Market, $10. Acid wash shorts, Goodwill (Florida), $3.
I was so excited when I found this swimsuit thing with kisses all over it. I even haggled the girl at the flea market down half the price! The shorts are another one of my favorite finds. Although they have these awesomely tacky neon spandex bike short things sewn into them that I always hike up so they aren't visible. I still haven't had the guts to wear them pulled down. Although they are pretty fun to pull out at parties and confuse the crap out of people with. :)

So if you aren't into jumping into someone else's spandex, here is another alternative to finding your perfect beach wear. Design your own! This was the second bathing suit I've made. It's supposed to be inspired by the tuxedo with the collar, cummerbund, and black/white combo. Although, here's a quick tip: If you actually have boobs, you probably should not make the neckline go all the way down to your navel, unless you want to flash the entire ocean. Needless to say, I have to wear a bandeau top underneath mine...which I learned about the hard way. The hat I'm wearing is part of my vintage faux floral headdress collection. I'm pretty obsessed with those. Completely impractical, but so much fun!

Speaking of designing your own swimsuit!
Here is what my amazing friend Sarah Culbreth designed and made from scratch. Not only is she incredibly talented, but she's also super cute to boot! More from her magical fingers to come in future blog ramblings for sure.

Ok, so say you you aren't quite as gifted as Ms. Culbreth in the sewing department? Don't fret, there are still more options. How about a SALE? Everyone likes a sale, right? High quality designer threads for CHEAP(ER)? Hello! Here are a few of my favorites from Bluefly's extensive selection.

Salinas Swimwear Polkadot Bikini

Kushcush Aqua Keyhole Halter Swimsuit

Or Kuchcush's Leopard print one! Equally as cute.

Still not convinced? How about some retro looking ones without the fear or hassle of thrifting?

Urban Outfitters has some cuties...

Ruffled Halter Bikini

Calico Print Bandeau Bikini

Or if you are willing to shell a whole lot more outcha' pocket for a whole lot more cute, try Anthropologie's incredible selection!

Golden Days Bikini

Sea Stripes Bikini

Sea Prairie Bikini

Jungle Dive Maillot

Blue Jean Queen Swimdress

Calypso's Calm One-Piece

Natalie One-Piece

Buried Treasure On-Piece

And last, but certainly not least, my favorite!
Classy AND wet? Hell yeah!
To-The-Nines Maillot

And then there's this...

Is it just me, or are bronzed boobs a little pointless if you have pale triangles and lines scattered across your entire body...? My point is, most people go topless so they won't have tan lines up there. But what is the point, if you still get weird tan tines everywhere else with this design? Unless you just have really perky awesome tits and want to make everyone else at the beach have super low self esteem and/or boners. Then I guess it's perfect!

Add a caption

Is it just me, or are bronzed boobs a little pointless if you have pale triangles and lines scattered across your entire body...?

Happy hunting, and I hope this helped!

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac

Bahahaha, is it bad that I kinda love this?

Hilarious and beautiful and animal inspired all at the same time? SCORE!

Hump Day

"On my way to work a bug used my mouth as a windshield, and then I bungee jumped my earphones into my water cup. Which now means my left ear is water-clogged, without the benefits of an epic beach day or hour long hot shower. So I am treating myself to an extended lunch break and wandering around the city in purple shorts. Who knows, maybe I'll find a sweet muzzle or motorcycle helmet to keep out future pesky, kamikaze insects."

That being said, on aforementioned purple-shorted wandering, although I did not find any facial protection apparatuses, I did happen to discover a badass elderly man reading a book outside on the High Line. Bald as the day he was born and wearing nothing but cutoff jorts and a silver chain. That's right, no shoes, no shirt, but plenty o' skin!

After that I wandered some more. In fact, I wandered right into a "Family Day" sale at the Salvation Army, which means most of my purchases were 50% off! AKA I spent less than $50 on 13 amazing items!! I'm talking tons of lace, sparkly, sheer, silk, floral, velvet, knit, shoulder pads in a GOOD way! The whole shebang! I'll try and post pictures of them soon!

Now I'm just sitting here at work trying to figure this one out:

Whaaaaa?

I am, however, pretty damn sure I NEED this:

urbanoutfitters.com

Musical Wears

What have I been up to lately? Well besides getting awkward tan lines on my lunch breaks and online window shopping all the beautiful crap I can't afford, I've been replaying the same two artists' music videos over and over again.

First I discovered VV Brown's "Shark in the Water," which not only sounds amazing, but the music video is incredibly aesthetically pleasing. She is probably just about the cutest thing ever in her pompadour, floral romper, and vintage looking bow veil headpiece. Even everything from the quaint little coffee shop to the polaroids to the antique radio. Gah. I just can't stop watching/listening!



Her other songs are just as amazing, but her other music video that I'm just as obsessed with is for "Crying Blood." That black and white mini sequined shift dress paired with her cute as hell dance moves? Seriously, could it get any better?



Then I came across Janelle Monae's "Tightrope" video. Holy crap. Talk about fancy footwork! I want to dance in those shoes with those people SO BAD. Janelle is so freaking pretty, making her androgynous attire contrast in the most amazing way. And her shoes! Oh my goodness, her shoes. Asymmetrical oxfords that let you slide around like that are pretty much perfection in my book. I've always said, if you aren't moving your feet, you aren't dancin'! The moves and style and personality in this video are just so killer. Not to mention her voice. So good. AND I just realized I could have had the chance to dance with her!! We were both at the MTVU Woodie Awards Afterparty, and she was up on stage with the DJ dancing her little butt off, while I was on the dance floor with everyone else. She didn't stay for very long, or else I might've gotten the courage to jump up there with her! She was just as stunning as always, clad in a cape with her signature poof and huge smile. At the time I had no idea who she was, although I knew she had to be somebody since she was in the VIP section and up for an award. I didn't think about her again until this music video was brought to my attention. And thank goodness it was!