Asymmetry and vertical stripes

what i wore: black cardigan and headband from Forever 21, black belt from Francesca's Collection, Geren Ford asymmetrical hem dress from Gilt, black knee high socks and light gray tights from Target, and black Blowfish wedges from DSW

I got this dress from gilt today! I'm love the asymmetry of this dress and the vertical stripes are a nice touch. It's a tiny bit big , but nothing I cannot fix! I am so excited to wear this dress more often. This week has been a hard week, I procrastinated until last minute to write a paper for English and I had so much homework. Now, I'm enjoying pizza and The Office, and it's almost the weekend! I'm super excited, my only homework is to read and I'm looking forward to that and freedom from stress for a couple days.

Oh, and I'm taking a break from the bangs today!

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

Would you like to do some ad for ad trading?

Please, contact me via email if you are interested at meanzchan@gmail.com

This is a good way for us to help each other out without any expenses. Usually, I'll keep your ad up for a month (and vice versa), unless we agree otherwise!

I will take up to 10 ads, so email me now to secure a place!

Strawberries

Strawberries are so interesting, that's why I decided to photograph some.

Have you laughed today?

what i wore: print dress from Forever 21, black tights, black and gray and black gingham button up and Dolce Vita lace-up boots from Target, black lace top thrifted, and belt from Dillard's

I am super tired today, so I decided to go for a boho grunge look. I used this printed dress as a skirt. It's not my favorite of outfits, but it's comfortable! It snowed again last night! I don't know when the nice weather will be coming my way. I am sick of coats! I just watched the Laughing Cow cheese commercial, and I thought their slogan matched my pictures! I also love their cheese wedges!

Anyways, I have a paper to write for English! Sorry for the short posts as of lately!

So, my lovely readers, tell me about yourselves!

Inspired by: Safari

what I wore - "Mangino" vintage wayfarer sunnies is tortoise/smoke from OC Shades, leopard print tank + lace tank and olive green tights from Target, black Blowfish wedges from DSW, black ruffle cardigan from Express, tan skirt thrifted and black belt from Francesca's Collection

Not really sure why I decided on going for a Safari theme today, it just happened! I found this skirt while browsing the aisles at Goodwill to pass some time this weekend and came across this lovely skirt. I think that I might make it a little short, since I have pretty short legs to begin with! Anyways I really loved the neutral color of this skirt and it fit pretty well! So through this skirt, came this outfit!

I have a lot to do this week for school including a presentation, a paper and a drawing, but I will try to update when I can.

Thank you for all of your lovely comments, and I do try to take the time to reply to each and every one of them on my blog! I also tend to head over to look at your blog and leave a comment there! I hope you all are having a happy Monday! I'm also super ecstatic that I have close to 200 followers!

Oh and before I forget, I am honored to announce that I have been awarded the Kreativ Blogger Award by Sandy of My Fair Lady, as well as the Versatile Blogger Award by Tereza of Drastic Plastic. Thank you so much ladies!

What would you have worn with this skirt? Also, what adjustments would you recommend?

Snow turning back

what i wore: cozy long The Limited sweater thrifted, striped pale pink cardigan and black lace-up Dolce Vita boots for Target, and Hue cord leggings from Dillards

I love the dreamy look of the photos I captured today outside as it snows in the Spring... I was going for soft, comfortable and cute today! I feel like I could even sleep in this outfit, I'm glad I got to wear this sweater, I've been wanting to for a while!

Here's my friend, Sarah:

She came over today, the same day it was snowing, but by the time we took these pictures around 3PM it had stopped snowing and the accumulated snow on the ground earlier had diminished. I thought she had a cute casual outfit on today that really utilizes blacks and grays. You can view her blog here. Watch out for her spotlight that will be happening in the near future and also a post about her wedding/reception!

So off topic - I've been listening to Fall Out Boy all day and it makes me feel nostalgic. I remember once, when they came here and I saw them, I was crowd surfing and then I was dropped on cement. I was fine, thankfully, but that was the end of my crowd surfing days... I used to go to so many shows, when I was 14 and 15 I'd go to at least one a week. I miss that. I haven't been to one in a while. I'm thinking about seeing Iron and Wine though when they come here in June! Also, I just discovered Grace Potter and the Nocturnals recently, watching Conan and I love them! They're a mix of blues, soul and rock with a Janis Joplin-esque voice!

So, what are you listening to? I'd love some music suggestions!

Gray day and clubber wayfayers

what i wore: "clubber" clear wayfayer sunnies from OC Shades, black faux leather jacket from H&M, white ruffle blouse, light gray tights, black shorts, and gray fair isle slouch sweater from Target, and Restricted gray lace-up wedges from Endless

Hello my lovely readers! Before I get to anything else today, I'd love to share a great customer service story. I had just ordered a few pairs of sunglasses from OC Shades (only $10-$12 per pair!) and I received them today. They sent me a pair of "Harmen" round clear lens instead of the sunglasses version. I actually don't even like the style on me, so I sent them an email asking how I should go about returning this pair and getting my money back. I got an email back within a half hour I got an email that said this: "This is our mistake for sending you the incorrect pair of sunglasses, so feel free to keep them. If you want, we can send you the original sunglasses you order, or any other sunglasses of your choice on our website, or we can simply refund you your money." How nice is that!

I know it's not much, but it made me happy that they actually seem to care about their customers and their products are pretty inexpensive too and amazing!

I absolutely love these "Clubber" clear framed wayfayers though! They're so retro chic and I swear they are made for me! I might even get some prescription lenses put in!

Anyways I wanted to wear a lot of gray today, I don't know why, probably because I've been wearing plenty of color lately and it's a nice break. I wanted to used non-colors of course as well, so to add value to my outfit I decided to put together different shades of gray! This week has gone by pretty fast! I'm glad tomorrow is finally Friday!

Pictured below are my boyfriend in I, and I got him to model the "Harmen" round clear lens glasses for me! I'm thinking about possibly a giveaway featuring these sunglasses and a couple others! What do you think?

It's getting hawkward

what i wore: maroon lace dress, and patterned tights from Target, Black and white polka dot socks from H&M, leopard cardigan from Delia's, Seychelles Hawk wedges in whiskey from Endless

Happy Tuesday everyone! It's another dreary day here but I'm keeping my chin up! I wanted to go for a fun, flirty look today and here it is: lace, leopard print and polka dots! I slept for about 2 hours last night because I was cramming for a test today, but strangely, I'm not tired! I'm wide awake. I think I function better on 2-3 hours of sleep!

I just received these lovely Seychelles Hawk wedges in the mail from Endless yesterday (I love their two-day free shipping). They are probably a half size too big, but I just ordered some Foot Petals Heavenly Heelz Pads.

I loved the lighting so much I decided to take multiple silly and sassy pictures to display in a photobooth-eqsue style.

Oh, and if you haven't noticed, I like puns, and goofy titles, what are some of your favorite puns? (Modcloth always uses good puns, when they name the clothes on their site!)

United colors of floral

what i wore: green cardigan from Target, floral top and denim appearance leggings from Forever 21, and Steve Madden boots from DSW

I was scarce on time this morning. But I wanted to bring a little color into the gray blreak rainy day we were having here. I also wanted to mess around with black and white editing and I didn't really mean to make my hair a burgandy color in the third picture, but I like it. I've always wanted my hair to be that color. I'm not sure if I'd be willing to dye my hair again though. I'm really happy with the black (well mostly black) right now! Anyways, I got an Astronomey test to study for that I've been putting off, but it's tomorrow so I have no choice tonight!

Speaking of rainy days, do you like to dress in bright colors or do you like to go with more neutral tones? Does the weather affect the colors you wear?

Inspired by: Jane Lane

what i wore: red button up from Forever 21, black tights, black Dolce Vita lace-up boots, white Hanes v-neck tee, black shorts and black top from Target.

Via Google

So, since we got Direct TV installed, I've been watching and recording Daria on Logo. This used to be one of my favorite shows and Jane Lane was always my favorite character, probably because I can relate to her in many ways. I love her artsy style and always admired her I don't care attitude. I know cartoons basically wear the same thing in every episode, but her outfit is so chic and not very hard to wear! I wish I had a red blazer but I improvised with just a button-up shirt. Although I decided against channeling her personality and attitude, I thought it'd be fun to try her style! Also I wish I had the guts to chop off my hair and do a bob like hers. I've always wanted to! I'm thinking it could happen sometime in the (far) future!

I might be doing a lot more of these, as in channeling and drawing inspiration from cartoon characters, tv show characters, and etc. What do you think? Would you like to see more posts like these?

Green sheen

what i wore: small houndstooth bow headband from Target, pink pattern scarf from Forever 21, beige and sandy cardigan from Old Navy, green v-neck tee from Target, dark warm jeans from Gap, Vince Camuto chestnut lace-up boots from Dillard's, and cross body bag thrifted

Hello, and happy Sunday my lovely readers! I hope you all are having a fantastic day. I've had a pretty good day, I could not get to bed last night for some reason and I stayed up until 6AM and actually did some homework. Although I have a lot to study for my astronomy test on Wednesday, I'm happy to have gotten some work done. Anyways, my parents were going to have a barbecue today, but because of the fact that it looks like it could start pouring at any minute, they decided against it, which is really sad, I've been craving the chicken skewers they've been talking about. Oh well, it'll happen soon, I hope!

So, today I decided to go for a casual pretty look, I wanted to spice the outfit up a little with the pink scarf and the little houndstooth bow, also I love green and pink together. I also used some orange lipstick. It is not my favorite, but it is always fun to experiment!

Oh, and how many of you are excited about today being the first day of Spring? I am, even though we got a dreary start! It only gets better, right?

Lady of Many Charms

what i wore: Lady of Many Charms dress from Modcloth, black vest, black skirt, and light gray tights from Target, Restricted lace-up booties from Endless, periwinkle wide belt from United Colors of Benetton, faux leather coat from TJ Maxx, cross body bag thrifted and rhinestone covered phoenix bracelet from New York Couture.

This is what I wore on a date with the boyfriend tonight. I love this Lady of Many Charms dress I got from Modcloth, but it is a little short so I decided to add a skirt! Also I wanted to add a pop of color with the periwinkle belt, I love that color! I wanted to go for a soft, feminine, romantic look tonight. I was really in tune with the grays tonight.

I'm not very excited about my break being over, but it was fun while it lasted!

Also, I finally wore this phoenix bracelet. I'm not sure if it's really my style though, I don't wear a lot of accessories, but oh do I love it!

I've been really loving peter pan collars lately! What have you been eying lately? Any specific trend?

2D art post: Part I

Here are some of my pieces that I did during my semester in 2D Design Fall 2010. I just have been in inspiration mode as of lately, so I wanted you to see some of my work.

I used colored pencils, sharpies and a white-out pen (only a couple).

What do you think? I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts.

Origami Koi

what i wore: floral open should top and leaf pattern skirt from Forever 21, periwinkle belt from United Colors of Benetton, lace skirt from Target, gray flats from Old Navy

Aren't these koi adorable? I tried to make some of the harder tutorials, but I had to stick to a more simple one, and it still took me a couple of get these right. To view the tutorial I used, click here.

So anyway this is what I did yesterday, when I was waiting for a friend. Turns out she ditched me anyway, so I decided to get creative. I tried out different settings on my camera, and made more koi out of construction paper and tried different ways of hanging these up. I hung them on one of our ceiling fans and I decided they're cute as a decoration as well as part of a background.

Have you gotten creative lately? Tell me about it!

PS - Happy St. Patty's Day!

Portrait of a dog

I just wanted to share this lovely picture of my dog Bella. I was messing around with lighting and editing and I thought she looked very distinguished and pretty! She is usually terrified of cameras but today was was willing to let me snap a few.

Birds of a feather flock together

what i wore: Feather or Haute Dress from Modcloth, teal tights and yellow ankle socks from Target, Military inspired navy jacket from Forever 21, sunnies gifted from my aunt, Dollhouse Tiller wedges from Endless, and cross body purse thrifted

These lovely pictures were taken and edited by Alex Crahan, the subject of my first spotlight post! I'm looking forward to hopefully having some more collaborations with her. She's so talented. I love these pictures. I might have to post more later! Anyways, view her photography blog here.

This outfit, kind of just fell together. At first I just had on the dress and the teal tights to brighten it up since it was a pretty nice day outside, I wanted a bright color. Then I added the socks and the wedges, not really thinking that the socks would peek out, but I actually liked how it looked! Then the military inspired jacket was chosen because I have not been able to wear it for a while. The bag and the sunnies just came naturally!

The only thing that is missing from these photos are actual birds! That would have been perfect, but we could not really spot any.

I cannot wait to update with some of my artwork from the past semester!

Anyways I'd like to give a warm welcome to my new followers! I'm so happy that I have all of you! Thanks so much for all of the comments and support. It really does mean a lot.

Local Spotlight: Alex Crahan

what she wore: blue v-neck sweater from Heritage 1981, light blue button-up blouse and grey knee length socks from Target, plaid skirt from Old Navy, Minnetonka moccasins and a locket from Walgreens

This is one of my new features! I am going to be doing more spotlights from now on. I think that people are interesting. Not everyone that I feature in the spotlight will be a blogger. This is just an experiment and a look into people's live, who they are, and all the interesting things about them.

I know Alex from high school, she's a very inspirational and sweet person. Here she is with her adorable vintage school girl outfit. We had the interview, took pictures at a park in Des Moines, and had lunch at Palmer's Deli, which has fantastic sandwiches.

There are a lot more photos, but I'll post them at a later time.

Here in the interview. I hope you all enjoy it!

Tell me a little bit about yourself, what you do and where you live.

My name is Alex Crahan, I'm 19 years old, and I live with my family in Johnston, Iowa. I'm currently taking a break from school and I am unemployed. The last two years have been incredibly stressful, trying times for me, so right now I am busy rebuilding my life and reevaluating my goals. I'm taking a lot of time to see what inspires me, what works for me, what doesn't work for me, who I want to be, and what I want to do.

Tell me about your personal style.

My personal style is very eclectic. One day I'm wearing all black, the next I am wearing pink. I'm very into astrology and being a Gemini translates into my style. I can't make up my mind. I recently watched An Education so I've been very into the 60's schoolgirl look, but next week I might be into something completely different. One thing I have never strayed from is my love of all things vintage. Clothes that were made in the middle of last century just speak to me in a way that modern clothes cannot. I dress to be comfortable but I also want to look good for myself, it's a definite confidence boost when I like how I look. I like layeres, 50's prom dresses, moccasins, makeup, waist belts, sweaters, platform heels, leopard print, stripes, peachy-pink, eye-catching tights, lockets, sequins, turquoise, chiffon, lace, ties, vests, pencil skirts, feminine details, boots, plaid, cat-eye glasses, & good lingerie. I also like to shop at J. Crew, H&M, & Urban Outfitters.

What is the most interesting thing about you?

I am a thinker, I spend a lot of time in my head, dreaming & scheming. I'm able to always fight for myself & what I happen to believe in. I'm adaptable. Confidence isn't something I am always equipped with, but I can fake it until I make it, or remove myself completely if necessary. I think that I am a kind, thoughtful, and bold girl with the ability to create & inspire.

What are your passions?

I'm very passionate about the people that I love. Relationships are important to me, I'm intensely devoted to being the best I can be for those around me, and for myself. I'm passionate about photography and art in general. Finding beauty and creating beauty is essential to being who I am.

Do you collect anything?

I collect tea sets, vintage dresses, cameras, eyeglasses, aprons, vintage furniture, and other antiques.


What are some of your favorite blogs?


A Beautiful Mess, I’m Boy Crazy, Gala Darling, Lune Vintage, Delightfully Tacky, Sea Blanket, Girl and Closet, The Cherry Blossom Girl, and Bio Requiem.

What inspires you right now?


I've been inspired by films from the 50's and 60's. I love having Netflix, I watch old movies and I screenshot things that I like. I've been going out a lot at night & I'm sort of inspired by the culture that I have encountered. Getting dressed up to go out, being social, it's a lot of fun. I have folders full of photos that inspire me, clothes that inspire me, art that inspires me. I like to walk around antique malls, that always leaves me inspired.

What is your ultimate goal in life?


My ultimate goal is to be a renaissance woman. I want to be a wife and mother. I want to travel a lot. I want to be a photographer with my own studio. I want to own my own shop where I sell vintage clothing and clothes I have designed. I want to make music. I want to meet interesting people. I want to fall in love. I want to try everything once. I want to learn every single day.

I know that you have two blogs, tell me a little bit about each of them.

My first blog is meowjosen.tumblr.com. It's basically my everything blog. I talk about my life and personal experiences, I post photos that inspire me, I post music, videos, quotes, etc. I answer questions. It's a jumble of everything. I spend a ton of time on my computer and on the internet, so basically anything that is of interest to me or on my mind is on my blog. Oh and I reblog things that I think are funny or weird as well.

My second blog is my photography blog: fillenouvellevague.tumblr.com. I wanted a separate place to post my photos and ultimately I want to incorporate fashion and music and any other art I make into that. Fille Nouvelle Vague means New Wave Girl.


What else would you like my readers to know about you?

I enjoy humor, I think I laugh at myself every day and I surround myself with people that make me laugh. It's important to laugh!



So what do you all think? Would you like to continue to see posts like this one?