Fall Cravings

It doesn't feel like fall in Texas...
Well, okay, it does a little. But not in the way that people think of when they think 'fall'. We've gone from horrible hundreds to decent nineties. It still feels hot, but less than before. That doesn't mean I haven't been getting a bit into the whole fall style thing.
Some things I've been craving in particular, courtesy of polyvore.

fall craving by heelhound featuring a shift dress

I am on the hunt for leather leggings. Seriously. I don't even know why! But I have a sweater I adore...and I pictured it with leather leggings...and BAM! instant obsession. Orange and mustard, rust and teal are also flopping through my mind. The lace shorts...I just think it'd be a bit funny to wear them in December, to be honest. Because it's totally viable to do so. The shoe thing is still a hunt.

Two posts in a week! We're getting back there...

shiny shiny

I don't know why, but as we're heading into fall, I have an absolute obsession with crescent moon necklaces.

From here.

From here.

From here.

I showed a picture of it already, but I ~kind of~ made something similar to this last one, from an earring. To refresh your memory of it...it's the necklace in this picture:

Which became this...

(Like my hair? Trying a darker red that looks better with light.)

Still need to figure out what to do with the mate of that earring...I may just glue it to some ribbon and prance around pretending to be Sailor Moon (because I have a short uniform skirt and have yet to grow up) for the heck of it. But any ideas are quite welcome!

And now I'm going to hunt for some other crescent moon necklaces...we'll see if I manage to find any.

New Blogs I've Found and Enjoy

Okay, really, I haven't had time to get through the archives on over half of these ( :< ) but I will. It's summer, and when I'm in the car for hours on end...my computer will have had TONS of tabs from these amazing blogs opened and organized for me to read through as we drive across quite a bit of desert and boring places where we don't get to get out of the car. (Sadly, New York isn't near LA; I loved driving through NYC when we did, because so many wireless networks had swearword names. In seventh grade, this was hysterically funny and I spent the entire two hours drive-through refreshing my connection thing and giggling like the immature child I was). But that's off topic, isn't it?

The Sisters 4 say.... MORE is More
These gals have amazing styles. They're real sisters. Though, if you aren't into dealing with reading occasional dashes of religion/mormonism, don't touch. Personally, I think it's rather interesting to see people reflecting their faith in their personal lives. Probably because I don't run into many people who really do, despite living in the Bible Belt, going to church regularly, and attending a religious school. (Or is it because I do all those things? Sometimes, I wonder). Regardless of that, though, they have some pretty awesome diys. Also, Sis #1 and Sis #2 have some of the most adorable kids ever. They look like they could easily run anyone ragged! I think my favorite highlight from the archives so far is the no-sew cropped fringy sweatshirt. It's lovely and fun and I'm going to have to make it for ballet next year! It's so cold coming out of the overly-hot ballet room at school, so obviously an easy and awesome thing like that belongs in my life. I even have quite a few somewhere that'd fit the bill. (The no-shopping thing doesn't mean I won't try some diy projects!)

seamstress stories
I'm combing through her archives right now, but already, I'm kind of obsessed. Especially since I saw this hairstyle. It's practically the same thing I do to get my hair up at night. Plus, she's adorable - I love her long hair. And she's made some really interesting things from seemingly useless pieces - such as a sundress from two t-shirts, or awesome sandals from old ones she didn't quite like. Rather inspiring.

Classy Cosmetics
hmm. Maybe I'll actually start wearing makeup because of this. She's obviously quite good with makeup. At the very least, I should be well armed for the musical next year!

Dollar Store Crafts
Say it with me: DIYs are AWESOME. And this site is full of them. Some useful, some silly (but awesome still), some just plain epic. Also, they featured this. I need to dip into my collections of hanging-around t-shirts, clearly, between them and The Sisters 4!

Everybody, Everywear
Can I just say I love it? It's a great idea, and a great site. Love it!

That's all...for now. ;) I can assure you I'll find more awesome blogs, no doubt.

Reorganizing My Room

When we moved in, my room was a haphazard process of "what boxes can I find" as I tried to live out of them, with a closet devoid of anything to hang stuff on, and half my boxes trapped under my parents' out in the garage. Things got packed onto bookshelves, my desk, my dressers, the floor... Then I added another desk (more of a workstation-y thing, really) and a couch (to protect it from the animals; it's from my grandmother, and my parents have now wholly given up on getting it back from me). Now, all my boxes got unpacked by October of last year, almost an entire year after we moved in. I realize that since I probably only have another year left here, there isn't much of a point to going obsessive over decorating. On the other hand, my parents are pushing me to go to college in the area, and I'm thinking of doing so. I'd certainly save on room and board. ;) So I decided to redecorate my room. Starting with reorganization! I'm terrible at organization and can't think linearly (imagine the hell that math is), so it's kind of become a problem. Especially since I haven't had the time or energy to do much cleaning since November. Fourteen hours at school will do that to you. (Eight hours of school, six of rehearsal). So between the blankets dumped on the floor, clothes I hadn't had the energy to hang up, textbooks strewn on the floor that I need to sell back, and random icing cans (I crave coconut pecan icing when I'm stressed), my room has become an utter mess. My mom says I need FEMA disaster aid. (I don't).

Instead, with a severe amount of added pressure on myself to try some sort of linearity, I've managed to compile a list of things I have to do to get my room clean. I thought I might share it with all those other people who have messy rooms and desperately need to clean/are being hounded by their parent(s) or roomate(s) to do so. (The steps aren't exactly organized...)

1. Sort all clothing/blankets/towels/things that can be stuck in the washing machine without adverse effects. And get them through. Be relentless in it. I, personally, don't do much sorting. Underwear, jeans/denim things, towels/blankets/sheets, sweaters, white t-shirts, everything else. That's my sorting process, and it works for me.
2. Pick up everything else on the floor, dump it on any furniture that will contain it, and clean the floor. And the picking stuff up applies to under the furniture too, as you have to clean under them too.
3. Get all books on floor/bed/other furniture sorted out. This includes your bookcases. If you own a ton of books by one author, give them their own section. Put your most-read books closer to eyelevel, least-read further down. Use the lowest shelves for the legit heavy books, like yearbooks and almanacs. If you have a lot of bookshelves like I do (I have six), feel free to put some sort of weight to hold books back once you finish a section, if there's empty space. Leave it for other books by the author that you might acquire. I've got to clear space to add new Tamora Pierce books, since the shelf they're currently on is all full, for example. If you're trying to get it more decorated-pretty-y, add little figurines and plushies you might have uncovered while revealing your floor.
4. Papers found on the floor? Sort them! Have a recycle bin and a shredder handy, so you can shred the sensitive things (ie receipts, old envelopes) and recycle the insensitive things (ie printed articles you no longer need, that old math worksheet). The stuff you don't want to trash (ie speeches you wrote in high school and need to reuse in college, cool drawing you did), get it organized. Try an accordion file (ie this or this or this), and organize it by subject, age, or something like that.
5. Find someplace to store your shoes and purses (backpacks and luggage included). I own shoe racks and a purse hanger from the Container Store, my backpack has a place next to my door during the school year, and stuffed inside an empty pocket in my luggage when I'm not in school and not travelling. My luggage holds all my art supplies while I'm not travelling.
6. Pack up all your out-of-season clothing from your closet. You know, if you're getting ready for winter, pack up the tank tops and shorts, pull out long pants, tights, and the like; getting ready for summer, do the opposite and get those winter coats bundled the heck out of your life for the moment. It makes space in your closet. Also, before you pack them, try them all on to make sure they fit. Check for any rips/stains/whatever. Fix any you find that you can, and decide if they merit tossing the item. Don't forget mothballs if something like cashmere or wool is going in! If you're totally over it, then donate it.
7. Then try on all the clothes left in your closet/dressers. Same process; check for fit, rips/stains, and either toss or donate anything you can't wear anymore or don't like anymore. Do this with your shoes too, not so much for fit (I'm going to assume you only buy shoes that fit you...) as for "is it falling apart?" and also to check if you're over them. Same process with your underwear, though no donating; straight up toss that stuff if it won't work anymore.
8. Got trash you turned up? If you haven't already, throw it out! Seriously. Actually, this also goes for any ruined books. I've had to throw out books before, thanks to cat pee/shredding. Hence why my kitties don't visit my room anymore. Yes, they're cuddly and very nice to wake up to in the middle of winter when you're cold, but I prefer my books undamaged. You don't want the smell getting into your other books.
9. Go through your makeup, if you have any, and toss anything that's either dead, or that you're over.
10. If you haven't changed your sheets lately, change them.
11. Found any broken figurines, statues, woodcarvings? If you found all the pieces, piece them together with tacky glue or some other craft glue. If you couldn't find all the pieces, toss them.
12. Anything else organizational you think you need to do, like corralling your electrical cords or cleaning out the mugs/glasses/bottles/cans/plates/whatnot that have collected in your room.
13. Enjoy your now-clean room. And try not to let it get that dirty again!

Hopefully that's helpful to everyone else facing this problem. It's currently working for me. (Also, this is why I'm so busy!)