Rhinestone Eyes

Last week Joe and I went to Seattle to see Gorillaz in concert, and went early to make a day of it. One of our first items of business was to hit Pike Place Market, which we hadn't done in awhile and was a great choice, since the weather was awesome. I actually got hot walking around in this outfit, despite the fact that it was, indeed, November. We picked up some leather bracelets, and Joe decided on a graffiti-style Taxi Driver print  from a vendor. He has an etsy store, check out Joe's piece here, or browse the rest of his shop. The online photos don't really do the pieces justice, they look great in person and the ones with color are especially eye-catching.

We also happened to stumble into post alley, and found some great street art and a couple of new friends.

The concert, aside from N.E.R.D opening, was great. We seem to have really bad luck with opening bands...Pharrell did make me long for the days of Bad City though. We had pretty good seat, except for some reason the ten or so rows in front of us were the only people in the ENTIRE arena not standing. They sat almost boredly for the duration of the show, and then in the encore the second Feel Good, Inc. started they all jumped up and danced happily about, as if the sole reason they shelled out sixty-five bucks was to hear that song. Oh, well. 

After the concert we waited around for an hour or so, knowing that members of the band had been coming out to greet fans at every other stop of the tour. Eventually, we had to retrieve my car, which was parked in a lot nearby. Time had expired on the pass we'd gotten, so though we were reluctant, we left. It was cold and late and we had a long way home, so waiting much longer was becoming less and less appealing. Luckily, I had the idea to swing back by in the car after we'd picked it up and check, and sure enough we saw everyone gathered around and taking photos. Joe practically jumped out of the moving car, while I quickly parked backwards in a no parking zone and bolted after him. We saw Paul Simenon, formerly of The Clash, and spoke to him for a moment, even managing to get a picture with him. Then suddenly, we realized Damon Albarn was also in the cluster around us. I was excited, to be sure, but nothing compared to Joe, for whom Albarn (better known to most as the frontman of Blur) nearly most influential musician in his life, second only to Thom Yorke. We got an autograph and spoke to him briefly as well, though I was to stunned to remember to take a picture until it was too late. Overall, one of the best days I've had in a long time, and for Joe the fulfillment of a long-standing dream.

Best Dress

Admittedly, I don't have the world's largest dress collection. But I'm working on it. Meanwhile, I think this is my favorite of the dresses I do own.

 It's such a lovely fit, and take a look at that pattern. You may ask, roses and birds, what's the big deal? Yeah, that's what I thought at first. But look again. Those are AIRPLANES you guys.

My sidekick Paige borrowed it back in June for her eighth grade graduation. Isn't she cuuuuuuute? Also, that's my roommate at the time, Tori. I was wearing a dress, but when I got to the ceremony I decided I didn't like it so I kept my coat on the whole time, even though it was pretty warm in there. Worth it.

Boots and socks for Fall

According to an article I just read on Independent Fashion Bloggers, post titles are very important in driving traffic to your blog from search engines. I have known this for awhile, but usually I just pick some random quote I think is funny as a title and that's that. Especially since my blog isn't really tutorial-based. But I'm curious to see how much of a difference it might make, so I'm trying a blander, more search-friendly phrase today. 

Not that it comes out of nowhere. As you can see, I am, in fact, wearing socks with boots in the fall. It's the thing to do, I'm telling you. I see it everywhere, all over Weardrobe, Chictopia, and the flickr groups I belong to. For the most part, I'm seeing super-tall above the knee black or gray socks, since boots heights are generally falling just at the knee this season, and the socks needs to be long enough to peek out the top a bit. I'm engaging in a bit of rebellion here, since my boots are shorter than what is trendy, and my socks are as well. I'm not actually bucking trend on purpose, I'm just trying to work with what's in my closet right now.

You might remember me mentioning my issues with sleeve length when it comes to wearing/buying coats. Here is a prime example of where sleeves usually fall on my arm. Not arm, acutally. Hand. Almost to the middle of my fingers. Which works out okay, since I'm an introvert and find it somehow comforting to be able to clutch my sleeve in my fingers, or hide my hand all the way up inside. 

Here's Joe again, though he wasn't aware I was taking his picture. Isn't this tunnel cool? I did some investigating recently and discovered that the trails/park where we took all these photos was basically across the street from Joe's apartment, and neither of us ever knew about it! You just have to get about a block off the main road and start walking. A large portion of the trail runs along the edge of the local university campus, and we got to peek into some dorm rooms. I won't tell exactly what we saw....but we had a few laughs at the expense of unsuspecting students. We'll be returning to the same trails for sure, as least we'll try as the weather starts to take it's winterish turn.

You make a better door than a guy

First things first, you guys. I just finished reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the first book in her recently completed trilogy. It's no small compliment for me to say it is the best young adult book I've read since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I often turn to young adult fiction when I need a break from heavier literature, and so I'm no stranger to many of the most popular recent series (since, it seems, nothing young adult can be successful anymore without being a series that's also being/has been turned into a movie). Only the His Dark Materials books by Philip Pullman can compare. Collins has set up a well-paced, emotionally resonant, thrilling first book that not only makes me want to read the next immediately, but makes me feel that it's urgent I do so. Highly recommended so far, and I'm sure I'll have more to say when I get through the rest of the series, which is not likely to take very long.

Next. Here's an outfit I wore to work one of my last days there. It was also two days before Halloween, and though it was unintentional I did feel a bit like a superhero all day. In hindsight, I think I would have preferred tights instead of the leggings, but overall the look was fun and kind of cool and weird.

Recently, I got the green light from Joe to post pictures of him on my blog. There wasn't a particular reason I hadn't done so earlier, but he brought it up one day and so I told him I'd post any pictures he approved. So here it is, Joe's debut:

What a goofball. Yeah, he stood casually aside while I was taking pictures, and then lept into the frame just as the shutter clicked. Now here's us being Urban Outfitters models:

I want to go to there

Yes, when I wear this dress I get called Minnie Mouse.

I bought it a few years ago for really cheap at Ross. Every time I wear it, I consider getting rid of it because it's made of some kind of stretchy mystery fabric. These days I lean more toward natural fibers. But there's something so fun and whimsical about the bright bold red and giant polka dots.

See how cultured and intelligent I am? There are Parisian things by me. And I'm reading poetry. Excuse me, I have to go make pastries or something.

Attn: Farmers. Candy corn is way better than regular corn.

Awhile ago, I mentioned an elusive pair of boots I would be posting a picture of. Actually, it was two pairs of boots. A couple of weeks ago Joe and I went to Seattle for a fundraiser put on by The Office's Rainn Wilson. We made a day of hanging out in the University District and celebrating Joe's birthday, which was a few days hence. One of the stops we made was the Seattle Buffalo Exchange. We didn't spend too much time there, but in the short window I had to shop I found these:

The picture is horrible and blurry, but those are black suede knee-high BCBG boots on my legs there. Ooooooooooh, how I wanted them. I still want them. I still think of them, and miss them. So why didn't I buy them? They were fifty bucks! For used boots! Sigh. And not only did I find these, but behind me, to the left of me in the photo, there are a pair of brown suede boots on the ground. Brown suede FRYE BOOTS. IN MY SIZE. FOR SEVENTY DOLLARS. Seventy dollars is a significant improvement from the three to five hundred you pay for new ones, but as with the BCBG lovlies, definitely out of my price range. I wore them around the store for about fifteen minutes, tasting a bit of the luxe life while I had the chance. Part of me still thinks I should have just gone for it. I am on such a tight budget, though, it simply couldn't be justified. 

Moving on, the show was a night of comedy and music at The Paramount, a gorgeous old theater. It was tough to get clear photos, but I'm including these so-so ones just to give and idea of the building's architecture.  Here's me waiting for the show to begin:

The show was pretty fun overall. The opener was some random singer who sounded exactly like Jason Mraz, which is not so much my kind of music, or Joe's. The rest of the night was mostly musical acts, interspersed with Rainn coming on stage and telling a few jokes. Craig Robinson, who plays Darryl on The Office, came out with a keyboard and did a music/comedy routine that was hilarious, got everyone signing along, and brought the house down. The Presidents of the United States of America came on after him, and as emcee Rainn informed the audience that they knew they had been upstaged, and didn't think they could follow Craig's act! The only really low point was when a band called Blitzen Trapper came out as a surprise guest to close the show. They were awful. With all due respect to the band, they have a following, and I'm sure they're fine musician, but I personally didn't like it. Joe and I took the chance to go to the bathroom and wander around in the lobby for awhile until they finished, and then we went back in the theater to see the finale:

Everyone from the show came out to sing a final song they wrote just for the event. Afterwards, we hopped in the car and managed to get on the freeway fairly quickly (I am notoriously bad at finding my way anywhere, and after Smashing Pumpkins it took me 45 minutes to find an on-ramp). I white-knuckled the drive home in crazy rain, trying not to hydroplane to much. We made the traditional stop at Denny's about fifty miles away from home and gorged on pancakes, bacon and eggs. It was almost the best part of the day.

I hope I'm wearing transitions lenses when I die

I'm not sure what was going on with the random curliness of my hair this day...

I've been doing socks over jeans a lot lately, but I have limited shoes that work with the look. These old Target boots are size 4 little girl's ones, and they're ok but not great quality. In fact, the faux leather is starting to flake off a bit. I have a feeling one or two pairs of boots will be making their way to my Christmas list this year.

Also, because I'm bowlegged boots tend to wrinkle at my ankles. Good times.

Note to self: gazing contemplatively to the side looks funny when the only thing in your eyeline is a towel.