Rag Bag Brag: Go Big or Go Home, Without Leaving Home

Before the pandemic, I'd never made what I've now lovingly come to call my barrette brooches (barrettes so big you can clip them to your blouse, belt, or bag to tell the world that you have an unhealthy fixation with sunsets or cupcakes or swans well before having to utter so much as a "Sorry I gave Fluffy that Snickers".)  No, before masks became as mandatory as underwear, I limited my hair flair creations to a still-large but respectable size.  But I guess spending so much time with my felt gave me ideas, because before I knew it, I was crafting scenescapes and a bunch of other stuff on "canvases" that rivalled a gunslinger's belt buckle.  It was such fun digging through my colorful stash and imagining endlessly weird and wonderful worlds.  (And yes, I realize how that sounds, but despite what that post on Regretsy said, no wacky tobacky was used in the making of these fine products.)  Soon the barrette brooches were piling up, leaves, moons, and tulips fighting for space in my cluttered craft room.  I stored the ones I listed in boxes.  But that left me with just as many that I planned to keep.  So I started hanging them on the kites around one of my windows.  Nearly three years later, almost the entire window frame is covered.  Which means just one thing: it's time to start adorning window number two.

After that, who knows?  Maybe I'll rig up some sort of inverted Maypole contraption from the ceiling.  But one thing's for sure.  No matter how much square footage I squander, I'll "never stop never stopping" making barrette brooches.  

Just like Andy Samberg in Popstar.       

What the World Needs: What is, Women's Wit and Wisdom

When I saw Iliza Shlesinger promoting her books on Celebrity Jeopardy!, I knew that I would read them.  Not only do I love books by comedians, but Shlesinger's first, Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity, has a foreword written by none other than Celebrity Jeopardy! host Mayim Bialik.  So when the husband gave me a copy for Christmas, I was psyched.  

In Girl Logic, Shlesinger shares laugh-out-loud anecdotes showing why we women think and act the way we do and why that both helps and hurts us.  Yet it's Shlesinger's more serious commentary toward the end that most gripped me:

"Point is, from the get-go, it's been excruciatingly difficult for women to be strong and make our way in this world.  We've had to fight hard for everything we've achieved.  And sometimes we've had to fight each other.  We're taught to do it, we're trained to do it, and our most reactive, base-level Girl Logic tells us we HAVE to do it to get what we want." (192)

I read that and thought, oh my goodness, she's right.  Women are taught to fight with each other.  That's where the whole mean girls thing comes in.  And why if you, for whatever reason, lack that killer instinct, then everything from playing musical chairs to competing for the corner office will rip you a new one.  Thankfully, Shlesinger goes on to say that we don't have to play this evolutionarily-rooted and socially-sanctioned game.  (Whew!)  We can be better than our biology and the men who try to control it:

"Though the irregular, sometimes-irrational headphone cord knots of GL might kick into freak-out mode and tell us other women are out to get us, it's on us to choose how to react -- to take the high road and attempt to act from kindness instead of fear or pettiness." (Shlesinger 192)   

Take that, Regina George!  (Not that Regina didn't already learn her lesson, what with getting hit by that bus.)

So yeah, I heart Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity.  Because I'm always here for hard truths sugar-coated in comedy.  

Next stop (at some point!) Shlesinger's, All Things Aside: Absolutely Correct Opinions.

I'm sure it will be absolutely awesome.

Mostly Blue but Rainbows Too

Skirt: So, Kohl's; Boots: Style & Co., Macy's; Tights: Hue, Amazon

Bracelets: Cloud Nine, Ocean City; Ring: Charlotte Russe; Fabulous Felt Fall Flowers Barrette

Top: So, Kohl's

Bag: Mellow World, Kohl's

Top: So, Kohl's; Skirt: Tinseltown, Kohl's; Boots: Penny Loves Kenny, Amazon

Butterfly Garden Necklace

Bag: Apt. 9, Kohl's; Yellow belt: Belt is Cool; Chain belt: Worthington, JCPenney Rings: Mixit, JCPenney; Yellow bracelet: Amrita Singh, Zulily; Striped bangle: Target; Clips: Target; Turquoise bangle: Mixit, JCPenney; Floral bangle: JCPenney

Tan Teardrop Earrings

Top: Nine West, Kohl's; Skirt: Lily Rose, Kohl's

Bag: Simply Vera, Kohl's; Yellow bangles: B Fabulous; Ring: Mixit, JCPenney

Headband: New York & Company

Red Hot Rainbow Necklace

Sweater: Zulily; Skirt: Wild Fable, Target

Bag: Betsey Johnson, Macy's; Orange bangle: Strawbridge & Clothier; Ring: Michaels

Saguaro Safari Necklace

Clip: So, Kohl's

Boots: Jessica Simpson, Amazon

It's not winter without a blue or two.  So here are a bunch mixed with browns and yes, of course, brights.  My favorite piece?  The '90s-throwing-it-back-to-the-'70s blouse that I'm wearing in the first pic.  (And speaking of '90s-to-'70s nostalgia, I'm tempted to finally get Netflix just so I can watch That '90s Show!)  But the turquoise "flame" bag is a runner-up too, edging out its siblings in black and red.  You know what they say: if you love something, then get it in every color (also, set it free, but that's not happening here).  

Anyhoo, no earthy ensemble is complete without a cactus.  And the one that makes my blue sweater and brown boots worth their sand is not one but six saguaros.  Yes, it's leopard, snake print, and more snake print in this Saguaro Safari stunner.  (If it's wrong to call my own necklace stunning, then I don't want to be right.  Even if I'm doing it mostly for the alliteration.)  Because the only good snake is a dead snake . . . especially one that wasn't alive in the first place.

Thanks, pleather.  You make the world better.

Love Songs -- and Life -- on a Loop

This post isn't so much a book review as it is an off-the-rails-rant/reflection/rambling of a section of a book.  The book is The Honey-Don't List, by Christina Lauren, and it's an enemies-to-lovers tale about two twentysomething assistants on a home renovation reality show.

Now that that's out of the way, here's the quote in question:

"Our eyes catch for a few loaded seconds.  I'm thinking about how the first few times I hear a new song -- even one from a band I love -- I don't like it.  I resist the idea that something new could ever be as good as something old, but then slowly the new song works its way into my brain and I forget what it ever felt like to dislike it.  Right now I'm looking at Carey's face, thinking it's like a song I've heard a few times now, and every time I hear it again I like it more." (Lauren 93)

We've all been there.  Maybe not the falling-in-love-with-an-enemy thing, but the not-liking-something-until-it's-firmly-wedged-its-way-into-our-daily-lives thing.  What is it about a hook, musical or otherwise, that brainwashes us into hearting things that once made us want to hurl?  This is something I've wondered since childhood, when I first succumbed to liking the latest Hall & Oates single.  What can I say?  It was the '80s, and my mom was a fan.

Anyway, the familiarity-breeds-content theory is alive and well in The Honey-Don't List.  At least for Jim and Carey (and yes, there's a Jim Carrey joke in the book).  The bond that burgeons between our hapless-in-Hollywood (okay, Jackson, Wyoming) heroes rings true because it's spurred by the soul-crushing egos of the show's married yet miserable stars.  A pressure cooker of a workplace like that is enough to make any two unattached people, however seemingly ill suited, turn to each other for moral support -- and more.  That said, The Honey-Don't List is a fun ride (most of it takes place on a tour bus), perfect in these weeks before Valentine's Day -- or for cleansing your palate after a wrenching read.

Because even with books, the heart wants what the heart wants . . . after being exposed to it a gazillion times.

Mugs on Mugs: Starting the Day the Golden Girls Way

Forget having a cup of Joe.  How about having a cup with Blanche and Dorothy?  Bea-cause that's what's on the breakfast table with these Golden Girls mugs I got for Christmas.  (Even if they're in my craft room instead of kitchen.  Me sully Rue or Bea with tea?  Never!)  Cute and colorful, they're a Miami devotee's dream.  But I especially love how they broadcast each Girl's philosophy:  

Blanche: (on the inside, so as not to take up real estate better spent on her face): "Day after day, I just get more fabulous!"  

Dorothy: (in all caps) "No, I will not have a nice day."

We all know that Blanche is her own biggest fan and that no one bosses Dorothy -- not even the Ticketmaster rep who trills "have a nice day" after saying that the Sinatra show is sold out.  These ladies are a (sorry not sorry) strong cup of coffee -- and that's why we love them!  Blanche oozes glamour; Dorothy corrects your grammar.  Yet they have one thing in common: they're not to be messed with.           

Try it and you just might end up in jail -- or, even worse, Shady Pines.

Toadstool Cool: Skirts and Sweaters

Sweater and skirt: So, Kohl's

Bag: Amazon

Coat: Nine West, Kohl's

Shoes: Nine West, Marshalls

Lipstick: A Little Magic, Sephora, Kohl's

Red bangle: B Fabulous; Love bangle: Boscov's; Black and white bracelet: Mixit, JCPenney; Flamingo necklace: Ella & Elly, Zulily; Headband: INC, Macy's; Ring: Miami accessories cart; Necklace: The Tote Trove

Sweater: Jessica Simpson, Amazon; Skirt: XOXO, Macy's; Shoes: Nine West, Amazon

Colonel Cutie Necklace

Bag: Dancing Days, Banned, Modcloth; Yellow bangle: B Fabulous; Zigzag bangle: Strawbridge & Clothier; Green bracelet: Parade of Shoes; Ring: Making Waves, Ocean City

Skirt: Wild Fable, Target; Leggings: French Connection UK for Sears; Boots: Penny Loves Kenny, Amazon

Bag: Olivia Miller: JCPenney; Blue ring: Mixit, JCPenney; Brown ring: Charlotte Russe

Sweater: Volcom, Macy's

These outfits are all about the timeless -- yet eclectic and unexpected! -- combo of skirts and sweaters.  Also, a bag that looks like a mushroom.  Believe it or not, I've been waiting a year to bust it out of the accessory forest that is my closet.  Not that I wasn't wooed by its woodland whimsy (in one of these pics, I appear to be clutching it with the dreaminess of Gollum and his precious).  But there are a lot of carryalls competing in that closet.  Sometimes when I walk in, I imagine them chirping, "Choose me!  Choose me!  My dress is the prettiest!" like the mannequins in the Beverly Hills Teens cartoon my sister and I watched constantly on VHS.  (Hey, I had to balance out that Lord of the Rings reference with one from a show I actually like.)  Yet no matter how many bags I hoard, there's only one that makes me feel like Smurfette while also expressing my love for those mushroom cannisters that everyone and their mom (mine included) had back in the '70s.

So, as I always say about pizza, make mine mushroom.  It's the fungus that we want among us.

Unlike those maniac mannequins.

Thriller Chiller: Don't Take That Tone With Me

Remember that episode of Friends when Joey's reading Little Women and Beth gets sick and Joey gets scared and has to put the book in the freezer?  Well, that's what I had to do with Lucy Foley's The Guest List.  Not that I really wedged it between a DiGiorno and a mess hall-sized bag of broccoli.  But I did stop reading it a third of the way in, much to the consternation of my book club besties.  (Hi, Mom!  Hi, Sis!)  Why?  Because its tone made me nervous.  

Now, I've read more than my share of murder mysteries.  But they're always either dignified and distant, like Agatha Christie, or hilarious and homespun, like all those cozies, that I barely notice anyone's bit the big one.  In other words, their tone is lighthearted.  You know.  Sunny.  Funny.  And sometimes accompanied by recipes.  And that little light is all that I need to go on to find out whodunit.  Yet a story that's shadowed through and through, with characters as damaged as their murky dismal surroundings (even my "serious" descriptions are "silly," Rainbow Brite's Murky Dismal being as cartoonish a villain as they come), plunges me into an abyss of black-out blinds.  And for a spirited sunseeker such as myself, that's a bad place to be.  

That said, my mom and sister weren't really surprised that I dropped Ms. Foley like a bad habit.  They know I don't do well with darkness and were very understanding.  Being in a book club is funny like that, even with -- especially with -- people you know really well.  The titles we choose say a lot about us and what we want and need from books.

And I know what I'll need when it's my turn to pick is something with a colorful cover. 

Ring Thing: Relishing the Embellished

Sweater: Hooked Up, Macy's; Skirt: H&M; Bag: Royal Monk, Mocloth; Shoes: Ami Clubwear; Necklace: SHEIN; Headband: Express; Vertical striped bangle: Amrita Singh, Zulily; Horizontal striped bangles: B Fabulous

Ring: PinkBopp

Hat: Wild Fable, Target; Sweater: Bar III, Macy's; Skirt: Mudd, Kohl's; Bag: Betsey Johnson, Amazon; Boots: Simply Vera, Kohl's; Necklaces: Amrita Singh, Zulily; Maroon bangle: Iris Apfel for INC, Macy's; Yellow bangle: B Fabulous; Green bracelet: Cloud Nine, Ocean City; Purple bracelet: Etsy

Ring: PinkBopp, Etsy

As you know, I'm a big fan of PinkBopp rings, which are handmade by the lovely and talented Samantha.  Each one is bursting with beautiful embellishments, a colorful collage at your (and on your!) fingertips.  So when I saw this red, yellow, and blue butterfly dazzler, I knew I had to have it -- and ended up getting the purple one too!  

Both rings inspired me to build super bright outfits.  The rainbow sweater is an old favorite that I wear a lot, whereas the checkerboard sweater is new (I bought it last summer on clearance but never wore it).  The butterfly ring reminded me of Snow White, so I went with red, yellow, and blue pieces to complement it and set off the rainbow.  The purple ring demanded (what else?) more purple, plus green and orange to make it pop.  Without meaning to, I ended up with one look in primary colors and one in -- yes -- secondary colors.  Talk about a happy accident, art class edition!  Even if this isn't an art class, but a blog.     

So yeah, I had a lot of fun styling and wearing my new rings.  But I can't sign off without showing you their packaging.  How cool is this fruit-tastic box, beach-themed ribbon, and thank-you written on Lisa Frank stationery?!  

Samantha put so much thought and creativity into every detail, making for a one-of-kind handmade shopping experience.  So if you love unique accessories that will make people ask, "Where did you get that?," (my mom asked me this when I wore the butterfly ring yesterday!) then be sure to check out PinkBopp.

And, as always, keep that color wheel spinning! 

Nightmare Tally: The Dark Side of Dreams

There's nothing quite like sinking into a Nicholas Sparks novel.  You know that you're in for a love story about the bond between a salt-of-the-earth guy and a sophisticated-but-sweet girl that breaks your heart as it edges ever so gently into poignance and sometimes darkness.  Yet as I began reading Sparks' latest, Dreamland, I realized that it would be different.  Although it follows the budding romance between Colby, who gave up his dream of being a musician to run the family farm, and Morgan, a spectacular singer intent on achieving stardom in Nashville, there's something else: Beverly and her six-year-old son, Tommie, on the run from her dangerous husband.  

If this scenario sounds familiar, then it's because Sparks' Safe Haven was also about a woman fleeing an abusive spouse.  But in Dreamland, Sparks goes much deeper.  He gives us every visceral detail of Beverly's struggle: the sweat that soaks her disguise in the merciless southern sun as she walks miles to buy what little food she can afford for Tommie, the terror when a cashier comments that she looks familiar, and has she been in the store before?  The risk she takes hitchhiking to Tommie's school to deliver his forgotten lunch.  Her exhaustion from scrubbing the ramshackle house that she rents in the middle of nowhere, no questions asked.  Beverly's anxiety is so palpable it's painful, and as I read, it made me anxious too.

Sparks switches between Colby's and Beverly's stories throughout the novel, finally combining them in a powerful denouement that answers every question.  Although I had an inkling of the twist, the full scope of it, once revealed, was a shocker.  And I thought what I always think when closing a Sparks book: Sparks isn't a master of just love stories, he's a master of life stories, showing us what it means to be human and happy (or not) through his fate-fueled narratives.      

Even if that sometimes means battling nightmares before reaching the peace of dreamland.        

As You Were, in Pink Faux Fur

Skirt: A New Day, Target; Shoes: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Top: Nine West, Kohl's

Dazzling Dragonfly Necklace

Wrap: Amazon; Bag: Kate Spade, gifted

Purple and turquoise bracelet: Apt. 9, Kohl's; Mint bracelet: H&M; Barrette: XOXO, ROSS; Rings: Express

Skirt: Vylette, Kohl's (and yes, this is my b-day dinner outfit!)

Top: So, Kohl's

Bag: Public Desire, Dolls Kill

Barrette: The Tote Trove; Sequin strands: Ribbon drawer

Twinkling Treble Clef Necklace

Jeans: Candie's, Kohl's (also, that not-quite crop top again!)

Belt: Marshalls; Bag: DSW; Earmuffs: Betsey Johnson for Trolls, Macy's

Shoes: Jessica Simpson, DSW

Blue-Eyed Dragon Necklace

Coat: So, Kohl's

Bag: Gifted; Shoes: Chase & Chloe, Zulily

Twinkling Treble Clef Necklace (now styled with sequins!)

Top: So, Kohl's

I promise that no rose-colored rabbits were harmed in the making of this post.  Although it would be cool if there were Technicolor critters cavorting across the countryside.  Which is odd considering that one of my new necklaces features, not a fanciful fur ball, but a dragon ruled by an eerie blue eye:

Blue-Eyed Dragon Necklace

I couldn't resist the Game of Thrones vibe going on in this pendant.  I loved the turquoise shade so much that I added coordinating crystals and a heart charm.  Also, in keeping with the gothic glam of some of these looks, I switched my lipstick from Revlon's Cherries in the Snow to its much darker cousin, Black Cherry:

If my (slightly smug?) expression is any indicator, then I'm happy with it.

Next up: dragons in bunny ears.