Wardrobe Wednesday: Cat&Fish

 

source: Itz Fitz on Etsy

Happy Halloween!! My favorite holiday of the year and I have completely failed my inner holiday spirit. Maybe it's because I've just begun to see the leaves change, but I feel like autumn here just got skipped and it goes from 90 degrees to 70, and all of a sudden it's supposed to be 30 DEGREES tonight. TOO SOON! I dressed up only once (more on that tomorrow), I haven't eaten anything pumpkin related unless you count some homemade coffee spice, I never even carved a pumpkin, and I never got around to making the Halloween themed dog collars my mom and I got all the materials for. Fail. The only thing I did do was buy a pumpkin candle. Always next year, right?

One thing I am not failing at is posting regularly on my blog! It's Wednesday, which means I pose awkwardly for pictures and end up deleting them all. It's a process, I'll get better. I don't know if you've ever been to or heard of the store/boutique Francesca's, but I have always admired it. A lot of the time when I work up the courage to ask a female where she got her (insert clothing item) from, the answer is Francesca's. When I first saw them in the mall, I immediately went inside and lost track of time and subsequently forgot how broke I was. All I could think was I WANT ALL OF THIS. The front of the store is filled with adorable things that you probably do not need.

It was the clothes, however, that my heart really fell for. A couple of summers ago, I had the pleasure of visiting some family in Oklahoma. We always take a day or three to go shopping around the malls. And there it was, right in the middle of some wacky clothing shops. Luckily, my grandmother offered to buy me a dress of my choosing so I went straight here. I saw this dress with little tiny kitties on it, with little tiny fish bowls and polka dots, and knew it had to be mine. Okay, I'll shut up. Here's some photos of me actually wearing the thing.

 

Outfit details:

Dress: Francesca's

Belt: thrifted

Tights: Target

Shoes: Shi by Journey's

(you might be seeing a lot of them)

It's perfectly light for the miserably humid summers, but with some tights and a coat it's great for winter, too! I sort of have a problem with wearing way too much muted color. If I put no thought into it, I would end up wearing black skinny jeans, black combat boots, a solid colored shirt, and a black leather jacket every day of winter. Those brown flats I'm wearing were the result of me realizing I had not ONE piece of brown clothing. I went on a mission to get lighter and brighter colored clothes, which could have gone better but I think brown shoes were a good start. (It's a process.)

What are your plans for the actual night of Halloween? Do you get trick-or-treaters? I wish I did! Laying in bed, resting my sore abs, and watching scary movies sounds just fine to me.
  

Music Monday #3: Inspiration

Mondays. Most people don't like them but I like to use them for motivation. This week I'm going to eat better food! I'm going to make lots of cool things! I'm going to get back on track with running! I usually don't really stick to these things, but it's worth trying? I did take Grizzly on a 4 mile walk and we stopped by the lake to so he could ponder simple dog things like why leaves were flying all over the place or why the dock was making squeaking noises. I thought about how pretty much everyone's identity in SC got stolen over the weekend. Oh well.

I've been listening to some different music lately, 'cause I find if I change it up more then I feel more inspired and that's what I based this week's playlist on. Makes me wanna get out of bed and make crafts. (Yes, it is 7:30 and I'm laying in bed.)

LISTEN HERE.

One day I'll figure out how to embed the stuff, or some lovely person might come along and tell me how!!

Heart like a kick drum.

Happy Friday!! Man, I've been so excited for this weekend. Corey and I are going to the "Deceased Farm" tonight. It's a 3D haunted house and I'm going to scream worse than a little girl. I don't deal well with being scared. At all. It's his arm that will be broken by the end of the night, though. :)

Tomorrow some friends are having a big Halloween party with a keg maze and other fun stuff. I always like going to holiday parties where it's decorated for appropriately, and guys aren't all like, "Oh, dressing up is soo lame. I just like to see hot girls." If (1) I had my own house and (2) friends that like to dress up ridiculously, I would have crazy themed parties all the time. I'm excited just thinking about the possibilities!

Okay, back on topic. All day I've been thinking about how to display my headbands. My mom told me about using a paper towel roll and covering it with fabric, but any color I think to cover it with just seems like it wouldn't make the headbands pop out. I guess I'll use that for now until one day my brain is like, duh, you should do _______!!!

The past couple hours, I've been working on some business cards. The ones I ended up making are preeetty different than I planned out but I like them so much better. Even when I get up and running and hopefully have good sales, I still like the personal touch having a hand crafted business card gives your buyer. I've really been thinking a lot about corporations (and how much I dislike them and how much they screw up the government and the world...) and I'd like to start making sure that the things I buy come from good places. That's probably the simplest way to put it.

Here's some other things I randomly did when I was bored last Sunday. Theo loved his catnip stuffed toys and I guess he decided to track down where I was hiding the stuff!

Next week I'll be posting a headband tutorial. I still want to try some new designs so I'm not totally sure which one I'll be showing, exciting nonetheless! Hope you have a wonderful weekend :)

   

Wardrobe Wednesday & some other things.

I keep sitting down to focus on finishing my batch of headbands and end up with random things like Christmas ornaments, catnip toys, felt flowers, or (pictured below) fox masks. I've always had a hard time focusing on one thing at a time or being happy with what I'm doing as far as a job goes. Right now I'd say it doesn't get much better than this... I am learning new things at my job every day and it's a constant challenge which is what I thrive on. I can't complain because I'm constantly creating. IT'S AWESOME!

Outfit details:

shirt - Forever 21

blazer - vintage

jeans - American Eagle

shoes - Shi by Journey's

Seriously. I always feel like I could/should be doing more, but I'm out of my creativity black hole for the first time in a while. Every night when I'm falling asleep my mind is filled with ideas for my shop and my future and it's very, very exciting. I know life's not perfect for everyone, and not for me either. I'm not trying to be like, "Hey my life is awesome and everything rules," but it really is all what you make it out to be. I think one day I just started trying more, and now I'm exactly where I've been wanting to be.

Oh.. one more thing. I had a totally different outfit planned for today but after seeing the article below, I felt like doing something animal inspired. And one day I'll have the guts to leave my porch for picture taking! CLICK HERE for 14 Stories That Prove Animals Have Souls.

This is the story that really got me tearing up ;)  

   
 

Fall For Greenville.

Okay, so I feel like I've mentioned this a hundred times already but this time I have pictures so that should make it alright! Last weekend my boyfriend and I made our way upstate, mainly to see Lucero play for free. I've never spent time in Greenville before, but that town is beautiful! Their tree-lined Main Street even won a Great American Main Street Award. I wish I would have taken a picture of it.

In 2004, they created Falls Park and filled it with petunias, lantanas, and lots of other beautiful florals. Then they added the Liberty Bridge which is suspended over the waterfalls. I should probably get better at capturing scenery.
   

We had our groupie moment with Ben Nichols. I look a little too excited!
  

Apparently I didn't take one picture at the fair, but here's some of the loot I brought home! Yes, that is a little baby fetus at twelve weeks old.
  

Happy Friday! This weekend is going to involve lots of wine, baking, making, and football. I've got to finish up a batch of headbands and bows for my sister's salon, along with creating a display for them. This will be my first display for selling, so I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out.
   

A deer on the deck.

This is my second attempt at taking outfit pictures, but my first time actually posting them. Last week while at the Fall For Greenville festival, I asked my boyfriend to take some pictures of my outfit but felt extremely awkward and ridiculous! Does this happen to everyone at first? Haha. I'm not camera shy, but there's something about people watching you try to pose that just feels silly!

Needless to say, I took one look at them and decided they were NOT going public on my blog. So yesterday before work, I snapped some with a self-timer hoping that I would look a bit more myself.

I know it's Thursday, but I think I'm going to do a "Wardrobe Wednesday" in an attempt to force myself to get better at this whole thing since lately I've been trying to change up my style, and generally care more about what I wear.

I think this shirt fits me perfectly. I'm timid and pretty awkward. I like to think if I had a spirit animal it would be a cat, but it's probably more like a deer. I've also been told I'm a turtle out of it's shell... But anyway! When I saw this shirt for the first time, I remember thinking I couldn't wait until it went on clearance.

Outfit details:

Earrings - Forever 21

Scarf - thrifted

Shirt - Target

Jeans - Celebrity Pink

Shoes - Urban Outfitters

 

Craftistas Clutch Review

I was so happy when I came home a couple weeks ago to see my Craftistas kit finally came in the mail. Seriously, I did a happy dance. I love getting things in the mail! Here's the deal: For $20/month, they will send you a package each month of a DIY project for you to complete. They provide most of the necessities, and all I needed for mine was a ruler, scissors, and some binder clips.

The packaging was so cute, I even tried not to rip the tissue paper when opening. Actually, I had already opened everything but put it back together for this picture :)

I kinda forgot about taking pictures once things really started going. I think tracing the design out on the faux leather was the hardest part. Then I stabbed myself with the studs a couple times, once drawing a little blood! Oops.

And here's my finished product.

I really recommend trying it out for yourself. I got mine totally free because they are still in their testing phase! From start to finish, it took me about an hour and a half. If I made another one in my own time, I would use a softer adhesive since you can see the little dots from where I glued the fabric together. I also didn't realize when placing the studs that they would land on the top of the clutch like they did. I still love it, especially the gray chevron lining! I don't normally wear studs but when someone compliments it, it feels pretty awesome to say that I made it myself. You can view the Craftistas website HERE.
 

Music Monday #2: Autumn

I know last week I said I was going to post an Autumn playlist, but I got a little distracted. Before I post the link to the playlist (I CANNOT figure out how to embed it into the actual post! Help!) I wanted to rave about the new Mumford and Sons album, Babel. IT IS SO GOOD. When I first heard M&S, I didn't really understand why everyone loved them. My boyfriend told me to give them another try, and last winter I blasted them all the time. Babel is by far the best album I've heard. So buy it, or download it, or whatever you do just give it a listen!

Have you already heard it? What did you think?

You can view my Autumn playlist HERE.

Tomorrow I'll be writing about my first Craftistas experience!
  

Decide which way to run.

Arghhh, I'm terrible at updating this! I swear I'm going to get better. I've kinda had a bit going on recently. On Tuesday, I started my new job doing embroidery for a shop that does promotions all over the state. It's so awesome! I literally get to work full-time surrounded by sewing machines and colorful thread and I'm not required to get dressed up all pretty, either, which is cool in my book! Paychecks! Raises! Holiday pay! This is SUCH an amazing opportunity for me. You'll be hearing all about that as time goes on, though...

So, on another note, it's FRIDAY. I'm super duper excited for this weekend! Tonight I'm going to Miyabi (my favorite Japanese restaurant ever) for my boyfriend's mom's birthday. This will be my second time going there to face the temptation of soy sauce loaded rice and gooey teriyaki glazed chicken... Yum. But I will resist. At least I'll try.

Tomorrow we'll be setting off for a two hour drive to the Fall For Greenville festival. I've never been, and I love the town of Greenville so I'm sure it will be an awesome day. Not to mention it's FREE and LUCERO IS PLAYING! That's actually how I found out about the whole thing. I'll have another post about it next week.

Recently, a friend of mine and I went down to the Greek Festival.

One little shop was filled with wooden ornaments painted to be various animals.

Pretty perfume bottles.

They had a bunch of awesome painted tiles, and this was my favorite.

 

Then I ordered a greek coffee, which was AMAZING. I don't know what exactly it was because it was probably about 4oz. of liquid, but the coffee settled in the bottom of the cup. He warned me, but I still ended up getting a mouthful of the stuff. I awkwardly took a picture of him handing me the cup:

 Oh. My. Baklava.

Just look at those flaky layers.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Music Monday #1: New and old

Ahhh.... my first official post! I've kinda created a little plan for how I want my posts to go, so I have a little theme going and some organization so readers aren't thinking I'm all over the place... Which I'll go ahead and admit it, I AM! But I'm gonna do it in an organized way, I promise!

So it's Monday. Music Monday. Which means in order to keep this thing on schedule, I've been listening to a lot of new and old stuff to make a playlist that flows the way I wanted. This week my playlist doesn't exactly have a topic or theme, but it's a lotta what I like, so I hope you enjoy!!

Next week will be an Autumn playlist and I'm suuuper excited for that. :)

listen here.
   

About me.

Hi, welcome to Chaos Parade! Thanks for stoppin' by. I'm Kelsey, a tattoo-crazy hair stylist and owner of Little Riot Clothing. In my little space on the internet, you'll find craft projects, personal style, and other pieces of my life as a new mama living in South Carolina.

I love hearing from my readers and always have room for more lady friends, so don't hesitate to leave a comment or send me an e-mail! littleriotclothing@gmail.com

Have a super rad day!