Bloglovin' Brooch Giveaway

Check it out, guys. I made a blogger badge of honor brooch for this most spectacular occasion: my first giveaway ever! The only mandatory entry is following us on bloglovin', but there's some other ways for you to earn extra entries, like tweeting about the giveaway, following us on twitter, and adding our etsy shop to your favorites :)

You can enter through Rafflecopter below:)
The giveaway ends at midnight, July 10.
Good luck, ya'll.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

-Elizabeth

Purty in Pink

What I wore to see Camera Obscura last night:

OUTFIT DETAILS:
pink scalloped dress: tjmaxx, three ena
knee-highs: fred meyer
oxfords: thrifted, rockport
record player brooch: handmade (not in the shop yet, though)

I found this awesome vintage king-sized sheet at the thrift store, and we're using it as a photo backdrop in our bedroom. I want to start taking weekly family portraits with Franklin in front of it - I think it'll be fun. Maybe we'll change the backdrop every season? So many possibilities. Oh, I'm excited :)

Camera Obscura was amazing, by the way. Danced the night away to my favorite songs, and I even made eye contact with Tracyanne Campbell, heehee. They played French Navy during the encore, and it made me so so happy. Anyway, I had a good time. I never thought I'd see 'em live, so I'm a very happy girl.

-Elizabeth

Wishlist No.1 : Desk Set

My first wishlist, ever! It's more time consuming than it looks, people. and I have so many TABS open! haha. It was fun - though I'm afraid that making wishlists might lead to lots of online shopping that I really can't afford. If I can just stop eating, maybe I can afford more pretty dresses? haha.

WISHLIST CONTENTS:
1. this wooden kitty tape dispenser from the sewing post. so cute!
2. this handmade leather watch is too darling. I haven't worn a watch in so long, but I need to know the time, at all times, to function properly - especially working at a preschool! snack time, lunch time, nap time. (Nap time is my favorite.)
3. I need this book strap! I really do. It's too cute.
4. This peach print dress is so perfect. click the link to see the cute cute bows on the back, ahhh. It's so adorable, I'm dying.
5. This copper sweater is way out of my budget, but that's what wish lists are for, right? Wishing. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for this color cardigan at thrift store.
6. I love me a cute, rugged pair of moccasins. I have a feeling I'll be purchasing these before the end of the day, haha.

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In other news: We're going to see Camera Obscura tonight! I'm so excited that my excitement has turned into anxiety, haha. But seriously, I'm so excited. I'm pretty much in love with Tracyanne Campbell, and tonight I'm going to see her with my own eyes, heehee!

-Elizabeth
PS: I'm working on a brooch for my first giveaway ever! Stay tuned, ya'll.

Bucket Bangs + the George McFly

 We haven't gotten our hair cut professionally in over a year, haha. I cut our hair now, and I don't think we'll ever go back. It's saved us a lot of money, and it's kinda liberating to chop your own hair. Today I gave myself bucket bangs, and after watching the Back to the Future trilogy this morning, I gave Franklin a George McFly haircut. I think it looks super cute on him! :)

I still don't know what the heck I'm doing when I cut our hair, haha. I just sort of jump in, and hope for the best. The first few times were not so great, but I get a little better every time, thankfully. Also, guess what? I stopped using shampoo about two weeks ago, and I love it. I use baking soda to wash my hair, and apple cider vinegar to condition it. It never looks oily, and I get to feel awesome about saving money + using less chemicals on my body. Stickin' it to the man! or something.

-Elizabeth

Stoic + Pariah at Marinus Home

I'm selling my brooches in a real store, guys!

I've got some Stoic + Pariah brooches for sale at this cute little shop in Poulsbo, WA called Marinus Home. You should stop by and check it out if you're in the area - so much awesome stuff in there! They have a lot of sweet vintage stuff, and all of the handmade items they sell are from local (Washington State) artists, which I think is pretty darn cool. Franklin and I drove down yesterday to drop off a bunch of cat lady brooches and check out the shop. It was so cute! There were so many vintage typewriters, and picnic baskets, and suitcases, ah! I wanted to buy everything, haha. If you're ever in the area, make sure you check it out! <-- even if you don't live close, you should click on that link for the sole purpose of listening to the awesome French song that plays on their site, haha.

Here is the super-sweet shop owner, Talitha:

It was so neat to see my brooches sitting in a real shop! It makes me want to make a crazy amount of brooches and work the craft fair circuit. Seeing all the brooches tagged + displayed like that made me woozy with delight, haha. I want more of this feeling!!!!

-Elizabeth

PS: don't forget to follow us on bloglovin'!!! I completely forgot about the google-reader shut-down, and I am sad now. so please, let's be friends on bloglovin' :)

Cat Lady, Hat Lady

I feel like all I wear lately is my preschool-teacher smock and its accompanying drool-and-mashed-potato-caked jeans. Toddlers are messy! and exhausting. When I get home, all I want to do is shower, put on some sweats and go to bed. It was nice to dress like myself for once, ahh.  Also, you can't tell very well in these pictures, but I dyed my hair! it's kinda coppery red.

OUTFIT DETAILS:
sweatshirt: thrifted
bandana: thrifted
hat: thrifted
skirt: thrifted
belt: thrifted
shoes: minnetonka
cat lady brooch: stoic + pariah handmade (listed here)

Right after I came back inside from taking photos, we got some crazy sun showers, which resulted in a perfect rainbow! We could see the end of it, right in our yard - but when we tried to run toward it, it just kept getting further away, hahaha. Tricky illustions. Oh, what fun though :) The lighting was amazing. I tried to take some pictures, but it just didn't do it any justice. So we just used our EYES to look at it, haha.

Sometimes I have to resist the urge to record everything photographically, 'cause otherwise I forget to experience it myself, with all my senses, and I start treating it like a memory while it's still happening. Sometimes taking photos helps make something memorable, but sometimes you just have to live it and leave the camera at home. Not all the time - just sometimes. Ya know what I mean?

Anyway. I should probably get out of these wet clothes and change into those sweats now, so I can go watch netflix & fall asleep. I hope you like the outfit! It feels so nice to get out of my grubby work clothes and stop feeling like preschool teacher.

-Elizabeth

PS: fourth season of arrested development in less than a week! are you guys excited or what?

The Fancy Parfait Pancake Stack

This literally came to me in a dream a couple nights ago. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, so I made it today. I call it: the fancy parfait pancake stack.

The pancakes are made with rolled oats, whole grain wheat flour, almonds, milk & eggs. I put a dollop of blueberry yogurt and a handful of freshly chopped strawberries between every layer. It's pretty darn healthy compared to what I normally eat. It was pretty tasty, too - just like in my dream.

Anyway. We're trying to change the way we eat, and get rid of all our bad eating habits before we start having kids. Diabetes runs in both our families, and heart disease runs in mine, so our future kids are kinda screwed already. I'm so excited for the change! We're taking it slowly so as to not overwhelm ourselves, but we're doing pretty good so far, I think.

-Elizabeth