Christmas

 Dress: Fit & Flare Dress in Steel Velvet by Amanda Uprichard (size 4x) via Gwynnie Bee (use my link to get your first month free & help me earn GB credit)

Jacket: Midnight Velvet, thrifted

Tights: We Love Colors

Boots: Steve Madden

Earring: Babil & Bijou, former etsy shop

Necklace: Wendy Baker

Bracelets: Vintage

Photography: Super Boo & Me

Stats: 5'7" 55-50-64

Christmas velvet fit & flare...lovely dress if you like grey. This was a good weight...warm & cozy & petable...with the right amount of flare & length. I like to use GB to step outside my comfort zone because you never know what you might discover. I discovered grey is still not my color, but it was fun to wear once. 

David & I quickly snapped these photos between lunch & going over to Angie & Toby's house. It was 7°, but felt like -9° & the wind was 14mph. 

We happened upon these fun Christmas trees outside a shop.

My make-up with this outfit included...NYX Faux Blacks eyeliner in Oxblood; Golden Nugget, Sin City, & #selfie eyeshadow by Too Faced; Kat von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Santa Sangre; & Ruby Pumps nail polish from China Glaze. 

Lunch at Indian buffet...

Movie (The Red Shoes) & doggie cuddling at Angie & Toby's...

Things that arrived by post...a lovely vintage acorn necklace from The Girls of GB Secret Santa, some We Love Colors new products to test, a lovely earring from etXarte, & a gorgeous sequin duster from Courtney Noelle that I treated myself to for NYE. 

Christmas Eve 2017

 Dress: Keyhole Fit & Flare in Evening Keys by Isabel + Alice (size 5x) via Gwynnie Bee (use my link to get your first month free & help me earn GB credit)

Cardigan: ?, thrifted

Leggings: Torrid (size 4x)

Boots: John Fluevog

Earring: etXarte

Necklace: Wendy Baker

Bracelet: Vintage

Photography: Super Boo & Me

Stats: 5'7" 55-50-64

I have a strong aversion to grey...not quite as big as white...but GB sent me two grey dresses in one box...so it was a very grey holiday. I have a thing for skeleton keys...so I obviously needed to wear this dress. It was a good fit & length...& I added some color with this cardigan & necklace. This is a GB house brand & they are a better quality than they used to be. I would have bought this if it hadn't been grey. 

It was below 0 on Christmas Eve day, so why did I keep touching cold metal?!

 But! We got snow just in time for a white Christmas.

My make-up with this outfit included...Anastasia Beverly Hills eyeshadow in Dimension, Lucid, Pyramid, & Obsidian; Trinket liquid lipstick by Sugarpill; & OPI nail polish in ?

Right after taking these outfit photos...David & I went to our new house to open Christmas presents. We were hoping to be moved in & have a tree up...but things don't always work out as planned. We still brought our little Christmas to our living room full of tools...had a fire in our half put together fireplace & David held up his stocking that I filled roughly where the mantel will be. Next year there will be a tree.

After presents...we went back to our other house & the girlie came over for dinner...& of course, brought fabulous wine. This 2005 bottle smelled like it might have turned...but it ended up tasting marvelous. Kate explaining cork properties to us...or something wine-y. 

I made salmon with toasted garlic & dill, asparagus, & Meyer lemon from David's grandma's trees squeezed over it all...yum. After dinner we watched Rudolph...which David had never seen. Every holiday season we try to watch a few classic Christmas shows...this year we also saw Meet Me in St. Louis & Holiday Inn. 

You Are Beautiful

 Dress: Cynthia Dress in Blue Tweed Jacquard by Leota (size 5L) via Gwynnie Bee (use my link to get your first month free & help me earn GB credit)

Cardigan: Avenue (size 26/28)

Tights: We Love Colors

Shoes: Franco Sarto, thrifted

Earring: Babil & Bijou, former etsy shop

Necklace: Wendy Baker

Bracelet & Pin: Vintage

Photography: Super Boo & Me

Stats: 5'7" 55-50-64

This is a new style of Leota dress for me...& it didn't work. The top & armholes were gigantic, while the bottom fit true to size. I sized up to a 5L, like I do with all Leota dresses. I liked the length & the idea of the lace cut-outs...however, I felt the fabric was too casual & heavy for the lace to make sense. 

The cardigan mostly hid what I found most objectionable about this dress...the extra fabric on top & gapping armholes...so I was happy to wear this to work & to have dinner at Angie & Toby's house. 

It seems they started repainting this building blue...but ran out of paint for the chartreuse door? I adore that color combination...I hope they keep it that way. 

My make-up with this outfit included...NYX Faux Blacks eyeliner in Midnight; Urban Decay eyeshadow in Dive, Ground, Glory, & Maiden; Santa Sangre lipstick by Kat von D; & Ruby Pumps nail polish from China Glaze. 

And this is the face I make when I see a cute dog...immediately followed by me exclaiming, dogiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee!!! There was a cute pibble walking by...I'm so glad David captured this.

A Hempz gift set I bought for a Secret Santa, along with some nail stamping plates for me...& check out those cool vintage metal curtain tacks Angie gave me...those green ones will look great in our rec room.

And some Ulta shopping with my 20% off coupon...

Dinner with David at Angie & Toby's...Indian food followed by doggy playtime & petting. 

Knock Me A Kiss

 Dress: Sweetheart Wrap Dress in Kiss Print by Leota (size 5L) via Gwynnie Bee (use my link to get your first month free & help me earn GB credit)

Tights: Catherines

Boots: Steve Madden

Earring: etXarte

Necklace: Wendy Baker, gift from the artist

Bracelet: Vintage

Photography: Super Boo, Jason, & Me

Stats: 5'7" 55-50-64

I adore these Sweetheart faux wrap dresses from Leota...if only they were 1-2 inches longer...they'd be perfect. I've worn this style of dress in one size smaller & this one fits me so much better... see me in...orange & pink, neon 80s, & pink python. Instead of the usual slippery fabric, this has a textured crepe feel...the sweetheart neckline is just so flattering & is a marvelous décolletage frame without being scandalous. Fantastic fit & I ended up falling in love with this cutsie print. I'll buy this one if I see it around. 

This dress would be fun to go overboard with for Valentine's Day...with a heart cardigan & tights...adorable. 

 Double wing eyeliner in black & pink...

My make-up with this outfit included...Kat von D Ink Liner in Trooper; Urban Decay liquid liner in Woodstock; Pink Pearl, Golden Nugget, & Sin City eyeshadow by Too Faced; Big Bang lipstick by UD; Quince lipstick from Bite Beauty; You're A Pisa Work nail polish from OPI; & Colors by Llarowe nail polish in Summer Lovin'. 

I have so many pairs of shoes with silver buckles or accents...so I brought a pair to the new house that I thought I might wear soon-ish to gold rub-n-buff them...so much better! They are sitting on top of a distressed kitchen cabinet door...that is pretty much all I've been doing for months now...painting these doors. I haven't really shared what I've been doing at the house here since I don't wear pretty clothes there...but I plan on doing before & after blog posts at some point...when there is an actual after. 

Savers 50% off sale...always so much fun! My basket full of everything that caught my eye vs. after I've tried it all on & eliminated...I was sad these super pointy Christian Siriano for Target shoes were a size 11 & too big to stay on my feet...I wore this style of shoe a lot in the 80s. This orange/red/yellow/black sequined cardigan was my favorite find of the day...

Shoes! The ones with the cut-outs on the left are never worn Dr. Martens...they will look stupendous with colorful printed socks peeking through.

I wore this dress on another day to have a nibble of breakfast with Kate & Jason at Graze...I had hash browns covered in caramelized onions & cheese...they were the best hash browns I've ever put in my mouth...yum! And look at that cute gingerbread barn...with sheep!

Then we went to the holiday edition of Kate's wine tasting group, Wasted, at Square Wine. I made two different versions of candied nuts...but only one was edible...sweet & savory spiced nuts...I hope I wrote down the spices I used...I think it was cinnamon, paprika, cloves, & garam masala. So much delightful wine! That last photo is inside the new Gail Ambrosius Chocolates...her sea salt caramels are outrageously delicious.  

Dead Man's Carnival: Tom Waits Tribute Show

 Dress: Velvetina Midi Lace-up Velvet Dress in Burgundy Wine by Holy Clothing (size 4x)

Tights: Catherines

Boots: Dr. Martens

Earring: etXarte

Necklace: Vintage 90s

Bracelet: Vintage

Photography: Super Boo, Kate, & Me

Stats: 5'7" 55-50-64

Super embarrassing confession...I've had this gorgeous dress for ~10 years & this was my first time wearing it. It may have been laying around for longer...the tags were still attached. I used to wear a lot of Holy Clothing in the early 2000s. I had several elaborately embroidered heavy skirts that I wore all the time...they held up for years. Their stuff is well made in India & I unearthed a few summer dresses as well that I will hopefully get around to wearing when the weather gets warmer. 

The fit on this non-stretch velvet dress was spot on, with the exception of the sleeves being slightly long.

Kate said I looked like I was going to a Ren faire, but is that a bad thing? I was channeling my late 90s-early 00s goth chick vibe...perhaps the necklace was a bit much?

My make-up with this outfit included...NYX Faux Blacks eyeliner in Oxblood, Crème Brûlée & Haute Chocolate eyeshadow by Too Faced, Urban Decay eyeshadow in Gash, Majella lipstick from Nars, & Elegance nail polish by Colors by Llarowe. 

I wore this outfit to spend an evening with Kate. First we went to wine tasting at Square...where there were delicious dried blood oranges...so pretty...

Then we munched on some frites & sipped cocktails at Merchant. I don't remember what the girlie was doing here...but I liked her Kate explains it all face. 

Then...on to The Majestic to see Dead Man's Carnival...but first...the girlie had to go back to Merchant to retrieve my coat. We could have sat in the front row, but we didn't....what?! We decided on a bit further back because it was higher & easier to take in the entire stage.

We'd seen Milwaukee's Dead Man's Carnival before...but this time around they were doing a tribute to Tom Waits in honor of the 30th anniversary of "Franks Wild Years". Live music, circus, freak show, burlesque, & a Tom Waits puppet. 

A man who blew bubbles with his pet tarantula in his mouth...girlies in pasties walking on broken glass & sword swallowing...a totally charming evening.