Cerealist

It's a Gas

Tissue tee: Old Navy * Skirt: thrifted and shortened * Jacket: thrifted * Suede pumps: thrifted * Belt: thrifted

One of the reasons I love autumn? The colors. While the light pastels of spring, bold neons of summer, and cool neutrals of winter are all lovely in their own right, I am constantly drawn to the warmness of autumnal colors. Deep greens, olives, all shades of brown, from chocolate to rust orange; these colors all have so much depth and warmth and comfort to me. So I wasted no time in concocting a truly autumnal outfit with some of my favorite thrifted pieces.

This skirt may look familiar to Emily, Megan, and Lisa. The four of us when thrifting a few weeks ago, and I temporarily broke my shopping ban. (Oh NOES!) I decided it was appropriate to spend as much on thrifted goodies as I would have been spending on gas to visit Joe that weekend. It went swimmingly, and I found 13 fabulous items, all of which I'm so smitten with, for a mere $23. With enough gas money left over for lunch (I have my priorities). Oh, and one of those 13 items, which, as you may recall, I bought for a total of $23, was a pair of vintage navy Oscar de la Renta pumps. Word.

These are not the vintage OdlR pumps, obviously, but they are supremely badass vintage suede heels that I canNOT get enough of.

Anyway, this skirt, as the other ladies can surely attest to, was the worst length. It hit at the mid-lower part of my calf and was supremely unflattering. But I had already fallen in love with the color and the waist detailing, so I snatched it up anyway, with the vow to hem it right away. So Emily and I spent the evening trying on clothes, making the most gooberific videos ever, and I sewed the crap outta this skirt until it hit me at a much better length. I totally adore it now, and can't wait to wear it throughout the year.

Title song: Pink Floyd, "Money"

Untitled

When in the Face of Reality

Dress: thrifted, remixed * Mustard shirt: Target, remixed * Jacket: Forever 21 * Booties: Bakers, remixed * Belt: thrifted, remixed

Disclaimer: There is a metric crap-ton of photos in this post. Get out while you still can.

So remember when I posted pictures of this forest, and was all oohing and aahing over how green it was? The post was from yesterday, but the pictures are two weeks old, and look at it now! I know it's still pretty green, but I'm pretty smitten with the gorgeous orange ground cover. Totally changes the feel of the woods. And it totally changes the smell of the woods, too. It now has that deep, damp, pungent smell of decomposing leaves and autumn chills. (Apparently this is turning into a blog about seasonal changes. Hope that's cool with you guys.)

This is one of my absolute favorite outfits ever. Actually, if I'm going to be honest (and I'm always honest with you guys. As Terra said, this is a safe place. A trust tree, if you will), I didn't wear this over the weekend, when these photos were actually taken. I wore this a few days before that, last Thursday. I totally intended to go do my daily outfit pictures, but I ended up hanging out with the roomies right after work until late into the night, and never got a chance. I almost let it fall aside, figuring that I'd probably wear something similar again someday, but in a quick moment of clarity I threw the outfit into my weekend bag when I left to go see Joe. He took these pictures for me on Sunday. There. Honesty. Not so hard.

Anyway, back to the outfit. I fucking love it. Pardon my french, but seriously, you guys, it's my favorite. It was so damn comfortable (I'm not convinced that this thrifted dress wasn't once a nightgown, which would mean I'm literally wearing pajamas), and flattering, and fun, and layered, and just a touch badass. I was hesitant to pair the black boots with such a light neutral outfit, but I ended up really loving the way these rocker-ish boots grounded the whole look.

You guys, today is my Wednesday! As in hump day, as in I'm halfway through the week already! I'm taking a short week this week and next so that I can go to Tejas and visit my sister. I'm hoping to still post while I'm gone, and I'll definitely share pictures when I get back. I'm so excited!!!

And finally, in an attempt to round out this unbelievably long post, how do you guys feel about taking pictures of outfits in different settings (or entirely different days) than where they were originally worn? Does it bother you when bloggers do this? If you're a blogger, do you do it? I am actually a bit ambivalent, and only do it with outfits I adore, like this one. I kind of feel like it tears a hole in reality (dramatic, I know). Anyway, thoughts?

Title song: Living Legends, "Rabbit Hole"

You Close and Warm

Striped tank top: Forever 21, remixed * Patterned skirt: Forever 21, remixed * Cardigan: harvested from Emily's donation bag, remixed * Two-tone brogues: Urban Outfitters, remixed * Necklace: gift from Gina, remixed * Belt: thrifted, remixed

(Sometimes I don't know how to start posts, so I'm just going to dive right in, right......now!) Wow, things are so busy right now. It's hard to believe that it's already the end of September. Autumn is in full swing, everyone is starting (or is a month into) school, it's so cool that we've had the windows in the apartment closed for a couple of weeks. It's finally that kind of cold where you really don't want to get out of bed in the morning. Last night was the first night this season that I pulled out my comforter right away. It's lovely and cozy, and I adore this time of year and the chill it brings, but I recognize that it also means that life is getting really busy again.

What is it about autumn that makes everything speed up? As if the lethargy of summer gets transformed into manic activity. It's fine, actually, and I like being busy, but I get overwhelmed when it feels like things are happening without me being able to stop and notice. I have a three-day week at work this week (I'm going to Austin on Thursday to visit my little sister!!), and I feel like I have two weeks worth of work to accomplish in those three days. My desk is a black hole of to-do lists, notes, reminders, and, of course, actual work, and my work email is chock-full of those little red flags, telling me that there's shit to do and I better get to it. The problem is that I am doing it. There's just something about September at my job when all of a sudden there's ten times more to do than there is time to do it.

The nice thing about being so busy though, at least right now, is that I am always way more motivated and productive when there's a ton to do. I procrastinate and get apathetic about work when I don't have a full agenda. But when I'm busy like this, I have the fear of god in me and work my little tail off. It's also beyond wonderful that I get to go home after a long day and have people to eat, drink, and talk with. When I knew that Joe was moving away, I thought about staying in our old place alone. While it would have been fine, I'm so infinitely glad that I chose to live with Emily and Kelli instead. It eases the difficult days, and enhances the good ones.

On an unrelated, final note, aren't these pictures great?? They're actually from a couple of weeks ago, and I completely forgot that I had them! It's nice that in a post about the busy, crazy, overwhelming to-do lists of autumn, I have pictures that can remind me (and you) of the cool, calm, greenery of summer. Also, I made this for you:


Title song: The Field Mice, "An Earlier Autumn"

Laundry Day: Be Kind

I'm off to see Joe today.

Happy Friday. Have a lovely weekend. Be good to each other.

Title song: Devendra Banhart, "Be Kind"

Good News!

Left: Ger, Yvonne (me), Regina Mangan, Ciarán Cullen (Waterford City Enterprise Board)

News and Star Newspaper Report on the Awards Conference

Ger and I having received our piece of Crystal ( notice the awestruck expressions! )

Gals,
We are really thrilled to share our recent news with you. Bonzie Designs won it's very first business accolade by scooping up an Award at the South East Female Excellence in Business Awards for the Excellence in Craft/Manufacturing 2010. ( quite a mouthful isn't it!)

It was a lovely day and great to actually get out of the studio for the day and mingle with women in business from all over the South East of Ireland. The conference also hosted motivational speakers including Sean Gallagher ( of RTE Dragon's Den fame) who gave a really warm and genuine talk to a 160 strong gathering. The hugely popular Veronica Canning delivered a side splitting performance whilst all the while inspiring and motivating with her words. Veronica runs a gorgeous motivational company called SHOEISMS ( you had me at hello Veronica, once we saw the shoes on the book cover we were hypnotised)

One of the best parts of the day was the opportunity to network with other like minded women and swap and share experiences, challenges and solutions. It was worth taking a day away from the sewing machines to recharge the mind and feed on the positivity of the event. A warm feeling that would have been worth capturing in a bottle!

A heartfelt Thank You to all of our family and friends who offered their well wishes after the event, it felt great to have so much support! A special Thank You also goes out to the Enterprise Boards for hosting such a fantastic event.

www.bonziedesigns.com