Highly Visible

Dress - Carmen Marc Valvo, thrifted

Pumps - Miu Miu, ebay

Belt - ?? Tj Maxx maybe

Headscarf - via Mom (target?)

Thrilled to say I'm linking up to Patti's Visible Monday over at Not Dead Yet Style. I'm hardly one to blend in, but today, I felt especially visible. I've been following along with Patti for awhile now, but this is my first time linking up. Love this neon dress. It went perfectly with this bandanna borrowed from my mom. Tried to pull my hair up into a retro-y look.

Speaking of my hair, the pink goes back to red tonight with the discovery of Hot Tamale! Hopefully it'll be a good replacement for my defunct Paint the Town. (Also please don't link to any online sellers for dye. I don't buy hairdye online due to heat instability while shipping!)

I had a great weekend with my BBs. Miss them like hell already. May have to make an extra trip over this week if I can swing it. Might be able to because OMG it's finals week! I went and returned my books, I've got reams of notes to study tonight and go in tomorrow to hopefully spew back everything I know.

Trying to show the headband - Oh look, Hipster!Hubs

Appliques

New Life: Week 4 (Lots of Images)

If you've been following along on Sundays, you'll have already met the crew. If not take a moment to go back and catch up on:

Week 0 (Birth)

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3 

Warning this post is really really long. However, there are lots of cute pictures along the way.

Somebody turned the kittens into sugar this week. They were pure sweetness. I had practically all five kittens in my lap, under foot, ON my foot all day long. For the first half of the day I was so busy going kitten crazy I forgot my camera. Thankfully by the first nap time I was able to start snapping pics. 

Today we had some milestones - Tom, Harley, and Jane had their first taste of solid food in the form of chicken. During lunch they smelled the food so we offered them up little shredded bites of cooked chicken. Tom practically ripped it out of my hand!

Later we tried them on soft food. Socks, who rejected the earlier chicken ate his entire portion of wet food - then promptly slept most of the day in my arms . Tom decided to run, hide, and cry from the living room during food time. Harley opted to check out the litter pan instead of eating - however kittens will be waiting a few more days since everyone tried to eat the litter. Oops! Everyone got milk time with Momma after their first dinner of real food.

Bruce - What a blossom he turned out to be. Loves kisses, begs to be picked up. He's still got a sweet face and is an excellent cuddler. Still sad because we've yet to actually find him a home (though Mom confessed if we don't find him a home, we'll probably keep him - but we are still trying). He's such a sweet cute boy. He also likes to sleep in the weirdest positions. Like on his back curled in my arm.

Harley - From loner to playful, she spent lots of time curled up in my lap today. She's a chewer, loves to nibble on my fingers. 

Harley asleep, Bruce awake

Such a sweet girl

Tom - This rambunctious boy is settling down a bit, but still loves to bounce off and cry just out of reach sometimes. However he did spend a good portion of the afternoon with Socks and Harley crashed out in my lap. Check my twitter @MeganMaeDaily for extra kitten updates on weekends.

Biting sister's face

Jane - Still full of herself. She realized that 3/5 kittens were not coming back to the pile and herded Bruce out from behind the chair. She decided to scream until she realized everyone was in my lap - I picked her up and she promptly took a bath and fell asleep. At four weeks, we do lots of sleeping.

Iggy Socks - aka Billy Socks, aka Socks Stardust, aka Iggyicklepants. Socks has pretty much won himself a home with us. Mom and I are kind of obsessed with his sweet face, Ragdoll-like temperament, and soft purrs. So far he's the little rockstar of the group. I hardly wanted to leave him today. Even more good news - Spike has taken to him! Spike, Mom's adult ginger cat, has mostly been scared or aloof when it has come to kittens, but he has spent some time sniffing and licking Socks.

I also got a little bit of video of him to show just how stoic he really is. All the kittens seems to wiggle and waggle all the time. But Socks? He's totally chill during downtime, just look out when he's playing!

Socks bonelessly crashed out.

Laziest Friday

 Cross Tee - thrifted

Leather jacket - Theory, ebay

Button-fly Jeans - Levi Strauss, thrifted

Shoes - Eject, ebay, altered

Scarf - gift from Ee

Leather star wrap - Target

To quote something I read on the internet "Give the hardest job to the laziest man and he'll find the easiest way to do it!" Well, I am a lazy person by nature. Not to say I'm a procrastinator. I used to be one of those people who always waited until last minute to write a paper. Which admittedly has made me learn some good shortcuts. However, I revamped my personal policies when I hit college so I don't do everything last minute, but since I am still quite lazy - I still try to find the easiest, most effective way to do something.

Today, that was getting dressed. I got dressed on auto-pilot. One minute I'm hopping out the shower, the next I'm dressed in jeans, a tee shirt, leather jacket, and carrying this gorgeous scarf from Ee. I don't own a lot of scarves or accessories, but I've been carrying this scarf around on potentially cool days and finally managed to snap a picture of it. I took off the jacket and scarf by midday, but I was happy to have them in the cooler morning and inside buildings.


This tee is one of my favorites. I still love my goth details and when I find them in light colors (white, light blue, etc) it always makes me excited. I can't remember clearly, but I think in the first matrix movie there was a woman dressed all in white (and the twin guys with dreads). All black can be pretty badass, but wearing white and still kicking butt? Awesome.


Any big plans for this weekend? I'm gearing up for my exams this Tuesday and kittens on Sunday.

Meet my goal

Kitty Dress (altered) - All Saints, gift from Megan

scorpion  Belt - thrifted

Shoes - Fly London

 Socks - gift

Last day of actual classes. I decided to pull out my favorite (and only!) LBD. I removed the sleeves (you guys saw this coming..)  I can actually put outerwear over this dress now. I couldn't resist pairing it with this scorpion belt. I thrifted this belt a couple of months ago, but have gone through an "anti-belt" phase lately. I was reminded of the belt when I was checking out Goodwill's wares on Wednesday and stumbled upon a pair of lobster embroidered pants (no, they weren't my size - I checked *sad face*).

So yesterday, DH and I were about to go to our usual Wednesday plans, which were unfortunately canceled last minute. So at home I turned to Twitter where Hillary began the inspiration for the first couple of drawings I've done in months. You can check the "MMD figurine" out on my About Me page.

Additionally Hillary gave me a great idea. Megan Mae Daily is not funded by outside advertising. I don't do paid posts or reviews. I did one sponsored giveaway with a company and decided it wasn't for me. However, Megan Mae Daily is a fashion blog. The content here is funded by myself and husband, my family and friends' generous gifts and swaps, and my savvy thrifting and clearance shopping. 

However in yesterday's blog post I wrote about my proposed shopping "ban" (formed after the thrifting trip was a bust), which will consist of exercise and tucking money away (for a pair of Trippen boots) in lieu of a Goodwill trip.

And now that I'm in my final days of the semester I'm thrilled to say I'm back open for art commissions! To paraphrase Hillary, the drawings are great for blog headers, crops are good for icon photos on social networking sites, and would even be cute on a business cards.

I also have a brand new batch of buttonflowers  in lots of new colors. Check out the ready made pieces I have posted or email me for a special request. Both art commissions and buttonflower sales will be going into my savings fund.

Sailor Soup

 Blouse - Dear Creatures, thrifted

Trousers - Etcetera, thrifted

 Logic oxfords - Cydwoq

I slimmed these trousers down since the last time I wore them. They nearly went back into the redonate pile, but I will definitely be hanging onto them now. The slimmer leg is much more flattering and comfortable. I couldn't help but take advantage of the weather flip flop and wear this blouse. Another mega-cute thrifted find. I would have probably done insane things to find this shirt as an anime-obsessed teen/tween.  

I've decided Cydwoqs would be the shoes I wore to Hogwarts. They're magically comfy. As obsessed as I am with Cydwoqs, I think my next shoe goal is to find a pair of Trippen shoes. They don't have many pairs up on ebay, and none in my size. I think I need to start a savings fund/shopping ban where instead of taking $5-10 thrifting, I take a walk/play some dance central and put the money I'd otherwise spend away for a pair. I don't think I'm going to have the same luck I do with Fluevogs and Cydwoqs, and will have to save up like I did with my Miz Mooz Amelia boots.

Also if you have a few moments, go check out Ally over at Shybiker who is wearing a very similar blouse and the skirt I bought for her!

**No links generate profit for MMD. Linked only for love and sharing.

Stripes in Bloom

Shirt - Talbots, thrifted

Skirt - hei hei, thrifted

Codori Crochet Tights - Sockdreams

Textile Shoes - cydwoq

More like wilted stripes. I love the idea of this skirt, I love the color, the way it feels - but ugh the denim is perma-wrinkled. I hope treating it like jeans will help it relax. I can't believe I had to grab tights today, even if they were lace ones. They matched my gorgeous Cydwoqs, however. The shoes are a bit wider than I wish. Cydwoqs definitely run larger in the small sizes. The grey ones fit fine without socks, but I got blisters due to looseness in these two weeks ago.

It's the week before finals. I am so braindead. I managed to get the crockpot going before leaving for class this morning, but forgot my oatmeal. So of course I was starving and paid for overpriced cafeteria food that wasn't that great. This is not a sponsored/paid post, but I want to share my current breakfast obsession. Better Oats is my favorite quick hot breakfast meal. Minimal packaging that doubles as a temporary measuring cup and saves on self space, not overly sweet like Quaker, and made with real fruit/chocolate depending on flavors. Good for brain food!

How do you keep yourself pumped up for mid-week? 

Driving me crazy

Leather Jacket - theory, ebay

Tee - Ann Taylor, thrifted

Pants - Divided, thrifted

Euforia Boots - vintage newstock, etsy

I've worn this outfit before, but I needed to go by the driver's testing center and get my permit renewed. Fun fact: I still suck at driving and am too chicken to actually go test for it. I also yell a lot while I drive, mostly to myself. No sir, I don't like it. However, I do actually have a personal goal set to get my license by the end of this summer. I'll be setting an actual date for testing soon, and plan on doing the driving home from school and other excursions for practice. 

The wind was cold despite the bright sunshine. It went from sandal-weather to sweater-weather in about 24 hours. It seems like our weather pattern seems to be a slow build to hot -> then rain -> cold for a couple days -> rinse and repeat. At least I got to wear my vintage star boots again. Love these things.

How was your weekend? Do anything fun?

New Life: Week 3

 

If you've been following along on Sundays, you'll have already met the crew. If not take a moment to go back and catch up on:

Week 0 (Birth)

Week 1
Week 2

This week, our milestones are playing, purring, beginning to clean ourselves, accidental piddles in the box requiring bedding changes, eyes beginning to focus and lots of floppy ears. I'm still learning to use my camera past "auto" and the mugshots were taken with low light options. I'll make sure to use that next week since the rest of the images are blurry or grainy. Sorry about that! Click any picture to embiggen.

Playing

Bruce - Feeling much better this week. Eyes are bright and clear. See how the light shines off them while he unhappily has his photo taken. Poor baby. His little bat ears are really sticking straight up now. He's still quiet and reserved. We're trying to specifically give Brucey lots of attention because his little sister often gets picked up twice due to his reserved nature.

Harley - Quickly turning into a cuddler! Miss thang spent the day staring up at me out of the box, quickly followed by bored yawns. She kept trying to climb out of the box to follow me.

LilTom - This sweet boy has a home! Mom's found someone with an adult cat who needs a new bud to give him some exercise. Tom is a playful kitten who will do great with another cat. He's getting awfully pretty, taking after his Mom's lanky features and Dad's patterning. So cute.

Miss Jane - And news I've been almost too excited to say - Both girls have also been promised to a home!  Jane and Harley will be going to the same home when the time comes. She's settling down as her sight and sound give her more to rely on and give her comfort. She was all about asking for attention. I had trouble with clear photos on all because of kittens turning away, but she kept running into the camera! Silly girl.

Sgt. Socks - Whatchu talkin bout, Socks? Sweet sweet boy! Still a cuddler, but definitely more up for traveling these days. He actually did climb out of the box and into my lap. Loves pets and making wicked hilarious faces. Still trying to talk Mom into keeping this one. Though she wants a new name for him. Got any good explorer/adventurer names? This mild-mannered fella needs something to balance him out. (And Mom has officially ruled out "Sarge")

And I can't forget my #1 furbutt, Spike. He decided to break free from his collar last weekend so I let him prance around with my leather bracelet around his neck. I had to hunt him down to get it back~! He did look pretty good in it. He and I got some one-on-one time today. He's not really fond of the kittens so he tends to hide when I've got one. Sammycat on the other hand keeps giving Mom the slip and disappearing outside. He does come back, but no pics of him today since he came back after I put my camera away.

With 3 out of 5 kittens already promised to new homes, I'm still hunting for homes for the other two and the Momma. Wish me luck!

Foodie Saturday

I didn't start out in fashion/lifestyle blogging. I was a cooking blogger. My cooking blog is now defunct due to meals frequently going the way of eating out, repetition versus experiments, and general lack of ideas. However I've had short bursts of creativity which show up on my twitter feed occasionally.

This weekend started out with an old standby - homemade pork stir fry. However while browsing the grocery, I realized I had been really missing Chinese buffets. Full of MSG, grease, and cost way higher than I can afford these days - I stick with my favorite Chinese restaurant which has huge portions for cheap lunch prices. But sometimes nothing matches those buffet crab legs that never end. When I saw tiny packages of rock crab legs ($4!), I still got the pork I needed, but set part of it back for another meal.

Stir fry can pretty much be made up of nearly anything. My favorite way is cubing up boneless lean pork, cooking with a small amount of veggie oil, then adding whatever fresh and frozen veggies I have on hand and a handful of baby corn. The key to my stir fry sauce is teriyaki, soy sauce, and a small amount of fish or oyster sauce. This really hit the spot, feeding two with leftovers and leftover ingredients for less than I would spend on a buffet dinner.

Another thing I've been missing since we've stopped eating out to cut daily costs - my favorite sandwich place and Panera. I love soup and sandwiches for lunch. I've been getting more adventurous with my sandwich ideas thanks to our groceries' deli selling by the pound (meaning you can buy smaller amounts than prepacked to try things out, or buy prepackaged when you know what you want), getting the Hubs to branch out from his typical. Lately he's hooked on grilled sammies, but here's some quick sandwich pairings:
Above
Honey wheat, turkey, havarti
Ham, herb Monterrey, wheat (grilled)
Cucumber, homemade herb cream cheese (great for those herb gardens), whitewheat

Other ideas
Tuna melt with gruyere on onion bread
Roast beef, ham, and white cheddar
Provolone, Cajun chicken
Smoked gouda and honey ham

Yeah this post is a bit meat oriented, and I'm always up for my veggie blog-buddies making suggestions to add more meatless, non-soy ideas into my recipe box. What are some of your favorite home made meals/snacks lately? What are your best food tips? What your kitchen secret weapon when you want to impress?

Mystery Solved

Deadwood Altair Dress - All Saints, gift from Megan

Star Belt, Cami - thrifted

Star Sandals - Poetic License

Earrings - gift from Debbi

Decided to take advantage of the hot day to bust out a cotton dress and sandals. Ahh! So nice. I jazzed up this plaid dress with star everything. This is the second pair of star earrings gifted to me by Debbi. You can see them here along with a close up of my sandals.

So today was full of lots of interesting things that I could ramble about, but I was sidelined by an email. A reader has found the answer to my quest for the name of my favorite Fluevog boots. At the height of my shoe shopping spree, I purchased not one - but two pairs of identical boots. Both from ebay, within the same week, from two different sellers. I got them in black and yellow. I sold the yellow pair back on ebay because my style wasn't quite where the yellow boots were. I kick myself for it because I wish all the time I still had them - alas, I know the buyer was a very sweet girl who gave them a good home.

Fluevog Jean Time circa 2004

Anyway, the answer was finally revealed to me! I knew these boots were originally from the Time family, but the emailer, Carrie, linked me to this post showing the boots are called the Jean! Possibly after Jean Shrimpton? As the other shoes in the family are the Twiggy and Bridget. This is one shoe family I'd love to come back.

Wendy Brandes Uniform

 Top - Tadashi Shoji, thrifted

Pima Cotton Jeans - The Limited, thrifted

Shoes - eject, ebay

Bracelets - Target, vintage, ex-belt

Bags - Ecko Red, Timbuk2

Here is one of yesterday's thrifted tops. I saw the sheer sleeve poking out of the racks on the way to check out and after picking it up and trying it on, I fell in love with this hourglass shape and futuristic vibe. I struggled with what to wear it with for warm weather, and usually when that happens something goes unworn... so I decided to try the Wendy Brandes uniform. I tried her patented toothy grin, however I feel like I looked weird. I prefer my personal Smirk™ imo.

Wendy is the inspiration that made me actually looking up the clothing brands I thrift. She gave me the heads up on willi.smith, but her comment also inspired me to look up Carmen Marc Valvo and Tadashi Shoji. These clothes wind up on the Goodwill racks because processors don't recognize the brand from some of the top house names, so budget shoppers like me get a great chance at stumbling across these great pieces. I highly suggest letting your smartphone play a role in your thrift shopping. I don't recommend buying something because it's designer, but it will help clue you in whether you're buying something that could be higher quality goods than your average f21 fast-fashion.

Don't forget to also utilize your best thrifting tool - your hands! Your sense of touch can tell you a lot about a garment. This top for example is made of a strong mesh material with tight seaming, excellent fit, and that little bit of heft that lets you know you can really wear something without it breaking apart while you were it.

Also a small addition to today's post - this bag! OMGOMG. There's a super cute girl in one of my classes, and I couldn't resist taking a picture of her bag. A small shout-out of thanks to her for that.

Therapy Wednesday

Tunic - All Saints (altered)

Jeggings - GAP, thrifted

Pumps - Miu Miu, ebay

Whoa buddy was it hot today. That cold snap didn't last long. I needed a little midweek pick-me-up - so I popped my head into Goodwill before my therapy appointment. Little retail therapy. Haha. I did manage to pick up two pairs of pajama pants to replace my tatty ones and two new shirts (because I never have enough shirts). 

Also earlier this month when I went to my cousin's birthday, my aunt gave me a belated birthday present. She usually gifts me something from Victoria Secret and this year was a bundle of make-up goodies. Make-up isn't really my thing. In fact, all the make-up I own fits in one clinique travel bag. But I've been using the eye shadow palette (Masquerade*) and really enjoy it. Not a lot of itchy-eyes or anything like. I still refuse to wear a base/foundation, but it's great to have a neutral palette to play with.

Also I did try to make an eyeliner tutorial, but uh - it wasn't that great. My best secret for perfect cat-eyes? Line using short dashes with gel liner then use a liquid. Gel liner is easier to fix mistakes, looks great on its own, but also provides a map for where the liquid liner will go. I like maybelline eyestudio because it's drug-store price, it comes with a decent usable brush, and the little pot lasts forever. 

All that said, I'm not a beauty blogger. So YMMV.

*Links on MMD do not generate profit. Link for love!

Professional Mermaid

 Shirt - Gap, thrifted

Hector Skirt - All Saints

Pearl Hart Pumps - Fluevog

Pink hair and green/blue colors always make me feel mermaid-y. When I was growing up, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid were THE movies. I had everything from Ariel christmas ornaments to Rajah bedsheets. Some days, I still want to feel a little magical - even if it is quite dreary. Wearing one of my All Saints pieces instantly makes me want to wear all the rest of them. At the same time. 

The rag curls did not turn out well today. I was more poofy than curly. Not sure if I took them out too early, the humidity was too high or I just messed up my rolling. 

My days are currently filled with tests, studying, and completing the Big Projects. However I'm hoping to sneak in some time on Pottermore which has recently opened to the public. Tweet me @MeganMaeDaily if you're a Potterhead and want to friend me. (Also in case you're wondering - Slytherin 4 life!Z1!!)

Also I've got an influx of buttonflowers coming up. Many new bright shades and designs. Very excited to go show these off soon. Fingers crossed. 

3rd degree

Vinca Dress - All Saints, ebay

Belt - thrifted

Sweater - Rugged Warehouse

Shoes - Fly London

Kari asked the last time I wore this dress to see the shape of it. It took awhile for me to come back around through my closet but today felt right to remix this dress. (Worn here and here) It's very showy, very fitted. I prefer it with a topper as it's too fitted to wear much underneath. It's very similar to the deadwood dress Megan gifted me, but since that one is a larger size it's a bit easier to layer.

I thrifted this patent leather belt a looong time ago. However I've always put it back on the belt holder. I don't know why, it's a fabulous red belt. I'm still looking for sweaters that fit like this one. I bought it in the early blog years trying out these magical "cardigans" everyone was wearing - I was so fashion backward. I didn't realize how much of a holy grail this cardigan was with it's scoop neck and perfect length.

The reason for today's title? I burned the snot out of my knuckle while cooking lunch. Do not, I repeat, do not stick your hand in the toaster oven. Especially when said toaster oven is not tall enough to fit the food and your hand without one or the other touching the element. Frick. April is not turning out to be a great month for my hands.

New Life: Week 2

If you've been following along on Sundays, you'll have already met the crew. If not take a moment to go back and catch up on:

Week 0 (Birth)

Week 1

And now welcome to Week 2 of Kittens! Little eyes open and ears beginning to flop, they like crawl around as fast as their wobbly bodies let them. They fuss and cry at all the new experiences they face.

Bruce (aka batface): Sweet little boy wasn't feeling well today. He's got a bit of a sticky eye from opening up and 5 kittens clawing to be the top cat during feeding time. A little bit of ointment is taking care of 'im, but he wasn't up for bright lights or photos, so I only got the quickest of headshots. Hopefully he'll be feeling right as rain soon.

Harley: Quickly becoming a drama queen, everything is the end of the world - when she's not showing off. She discovered she can roll on her back today, and gave me lots of cute faces and batted paws.

Lil Tom: Still my mom's favorite, and definitely the prettiest marked kitty of the bunch. He's got the cutest possible ears ever. Definitely takes after his Mom's big ears.

Calamity Jane: Or Miss Jane as she's become. She's got a little screech in her meow when she's afraid her Momma has disappeared or if she's hungry, but she's otherwise adventurous and loves peeking over the box when she's not being woken up from her beauty sleep.

Sergeant Socks: The unarguably sweetest of the bunch. He'll cuddle up to you and loooves pets. He's got the best eyesight so far and will stare up at you out of the box. He's got a stern face when it's not melting you with cute determination.

I did get video of the boys this week, however most were only a couple of seconds long, and not worth uploading to youtube. The kittens are definitely beginning to run around so hopefully next week I can let them roam and play while carrying the camera. This week, I tried to catch them from falling out of the box, off the couch or out of someone's hand. They're ready to rumble and will definitely be a feisty bunch by next Sunday.

Friday the 13th

 Dress - Carmen Marc Valvo, thrifted

Cardigan - Rugged Warehouse

Wedges - Jeffrey Campbell Clinic

Well, what a wake-up! As I went to step into the shower, I was greeted by a half-dollar sized spider. Happy Friday the 13th! 

Bumshot

I couldn't wait another day to wear my super awesome thrifted dress. It's so bright, so comfortable. I swear it's not quite as highlighter-neon as it appears here, but it is really bright. Some of the things that won me over about this dress was the incredible hour-glass fit, and that the appliques continued all the way around the back of the dress. I have no idea how I'm going to style this again, but I'm sure I'll figure something out.  Thanks to whoever donated this to Goodwill!

Click photos to embiggen

I'm planning on a weekend full of 2 week old wobbly kittens, movies, catching up on homework, and hopefully being able to revisit my not-novel/novella thing. It's been way too long since I've even considered writing. Tumblr is just way to interesting... and I don't even have a tumblr.