headband battles

Here I go again. I got a new headband and I am attempting to wear it today. I have this wonderful skill of buying headbands only to hate them on my head. So I give them away after trying to wear them a few times. I hate to have them around reminding me that I was not able to pull off the headband-look.

I generally love them on other people. So what if these people usually have amazing curly, big hair and the headband is struggling to hold back the mass of hair so it looks funky and perfect on these people? So what if they are totally retro and have tattoos and bright red lipstick?

With me, it usually looks a bit childish at best and I never know if it works ok since I am wearing glasses. Is there too much going on around my head? But I am trying anyway with my new haircut since I think it could work better this time. I even put a bit of product in my hair so that it was messier and has more volume.

I really like the headband – It is a hard headband wrapped in light blue material with maroon polka dots. And there is a side pinch/bow thing that is clever. It has potential.

We will see how long this lasts today. I suppose as long as I do not look too much in mirrors, I may wear it all day.

New website to share

You know how there are ads on the side of every webpage?  Well, I finally clicked on one.  Modcloth.com had cute images of dresses and I just had to know more.  They have a great assortment of items and photos are pretty good.  Plus, they put effort into naming each item rather cleverly.  I usually do not trust cheaper online stores, but this one reminds me of Forever21. 

I ran across an elephant scarf and it is a thinner scarf, so I had to talk myself into it.  Usually, I enjoy fuller and longer scarves. The reviews were mixed, but generally everyone was won over by the print.  So, I went on youtube and found many many videos on how to tie different scarves.  modcloth even has a blog with tutorials.

I do not have any photos yet, but here is the link to the scarf!

http://www.modcloth.com/shop/scarves/keep-on-trunkin-scarf

nuts

tagua nuts.  These make strangely cute jewelry.  I currently have several necklaces and a ring made of out of this materal.  It sort of looks and feels like plastic and can come in a huge array of colors.

I found a shop on etsy that makes amazing work out of these nuts: http://www.etsy.com/shop/veronicarileymartens#

Before getting lazy and just ordering a necklace (see below), my plan was to get crafty and order some "potato chip beads" online (http://taguanutivory.com/tagua-nut-beads-tagua-nut-chip-beads-tagua-nut-large-center-hole-irregular-potato-chip-bead.html).  I am curious how easy they would be work with.  They appear to be pre-drilled.  Tempted.

What I really want to do is find a place in town that sells them so that I can feel and see them before purchasing them.  I am also battling my crafty-rule that I am not allowed to just buy materials unless I have a specific project in mind.  Oh, there is a good reason for this rule, since I have many other tubes of beads, yards of cool fabric, random zippers and yarn skeins.  One can only have so many containers of these things.

A good bang.

Contrary to popular belief, bangs, a.k.a. fringe, are quite versatile.  A good cut and a few tricks under your belt, ehem, over your brow if you will, and you can have a multitude of looks in a short amount of time.

I have allowed my bangs to grow out some, just past the brow.  Then I trimmed and textured them in an asymmetrical concave, this is where the versatility comes in. Notice that the shorter side is above my nose ring.  This is an important detail to note because I will push them in either direction based on style.

Style 1: I blow dry them in every direction (except backwards) to hang straight down.  The angle is slightly present, but not overwhelmingly crooked.  At this point I may flat iron them stick straight or round them out with an iron for just a bit of poof.

 

Style 2: The good old side swipe.  My least fav but it still offers a different look.  To do this I blow dry in every direction (except backwards) then apply a small amount of molding clay to roots, give it a little tease, work into desired swipe location and top off with a bit of spray.  These are all techniques to help to hold the shape.  For this style I push the short part of the bangs across my forehead. Sometimes I will blow them in their intended direction but find this is not necessary.  Plus it is easier to know what chunk of bangs go where when they are dry.   

 

For the picture below I just grabbed a few longer pieces to swoop over and loosely rounded out the bangs.  They are also slightly grown out from picture above.

Style 3: My new favorite...a classic 50's swoop bang.  The roundness is not too evident in this picture and my bangs are not quite long enough to flip those ends up.  But I am getting close! To get this look I blow my bangs all over the place for maximum control.  And now pushing the longer side of the bangs across my forehead, I use my flat iron with rounded edges to give them a big curl.  While they are still hot I will comb and hold them in place while they cool.  I will do this again and again until I am satisfied.  I will use clay, back comb and spray to help hold in place.

Style 4: When I am flat out sick of something hanging on my forehead, I will either pin back or braid and pin by my ear.  Cute!

Now, go get yourself a good bang.
Katie May

PS-The inappropriate titles for this post are endless...
Full of bangage.
Bang me.
By bangs!
Holy bangs, Bat Man.
Banging around.



meow

You know how you purchase an item of clothing that is going to be special? You are going to wait until the perfect time to wear it, since it is dressier or perhaps it was expensive. I think we all have a few items like this lined up at the back of the closet. Well, today I am reminding myself to wear these sorts of things even though it is just a normal Tuesday. The tunic dress that I am wearing is from Anne Taylor and I purchased it on a whim because of the pattern. It is a darker maroon with these delightful bright kitties. Something about it is just fun and understated the same time even with the unusual pattern. The material is more of a polyester or nylon and it has a nice way of hanging on the body rather than being fitted. I suppose I could have worn a belt, but I like of like the simplier, slightly hippie look this time.

　

I was going to wear it for a special occasion or event, like a Christmas celebration or a company dinner, but that did not happen. I really do not have any upcoming dress-up events and I am not certain why I feel that it is a good idea to wait to wear something that is frankly adorable? Why is saving something for later a positive thing?

　

Since it is more for warmer days, having patience to wait until July takes all the fun out of it. So, today I am wearing it over a pair of darker trim pants and some gray booties. I grabbed a gray sweater to wear over it since the office is a bit chilly. The dress itself is mid-thigh so it works rather well over pants. And the extra bonus is that the dress has pockets. I mean, come on!

　

p.s. my hair is behaving this week and I think it knows that it is soon for the chopping block…

ode to my pink pants

oh pink pants

please provide me

superpowers to get through today.

I am ready for the week to be done.

hoopy

One of the fun things about my ensemble today is my hoop earrings.  It takes all my will power to keep my head still – and not shake it back and forth to feel them dangle around.

Resolution Run 2013

I just unwrapped myself from cat/blankets/couch of a warm-up nap after our morning 5K Resolution Run.  I did a nice time (29 min 14 sec) but more importantly had a blast running in the rare Seattle run.  Hubby also ran and did great – he gets extra points for doing the polar-bear plunge at the end of the run.  I did the dry version (no shame!).   

 

It was cold and so my running outfit consisted of many, many layers.  Starting with knee-high long socks under my running pants.  Then, a modified old-woman Hawaiian swimming bottom that has become my go-to running skirt for these runs.  Then, I have a turtleneck under the run’s shirt plus a headband thing. 



This headband thing is a sewing project gone wrong. It started out as the world’s coolest material for a 60’s shirt but the shirt was all floppy so I tried something but that something did not work. I had found the shirt at Goodwill. So, it became a scarf or headband thing. Look close at the material (polyester!) so that you can share in the cuteness. Sigh.

Happy 2013!