Day 109. 256 days and $251 left to go.

Three down…four more to go!!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day friends!  It’s the one day where green bagels, green beer and Shamrock Shakes from McDonald’s are a-flowin.  Not only is it St. Paddy’s Day, but it’s also Day G and I get to wear GREEN to celebrate!!  Not a coincidence, no luck of the Irish…it was fully planned.  I made sure to start ROYGBIV week on Sunday so that Day G would fall on this most fun, aka holiday of my people, celebration!  Check out my piece.

Day 109 - Before

A patchwork skirt was today’s special – I mean a garment that has all different kinds of green fabric all over it is screaming, wear me, my Irish friend Marisa to your fun St. Patrick’s Day party full of drunkards, a band called the Ployboys and oodles of Bass ale.  Look a bit closer…

Safety Pin Party!

The clasp of the skirt was being held together by safety pins, which is probably not the best sign when it’s a piece of clothing meant to cover thy arse.  I had a new plan for this piece – let’s turn it into a top!

Since the weather was slammin’ today – the dashboard of my car, no joke, flashed 88 degrees at one point – I thought something sleeveless would work like a lucky charm.  But I wanted to add a little bit of flair (and a little bit of security) so some straps were made from a batch of excess green and gold ribbon I had in my stash.

Pin Transference!

I safety pinned the edge of the ribbon on both sides of the top to make some fab straps.  I also added a little bit of velcro onto the open areas by the clasp that you saw above.  I wasn’t worried about the top falling off, I just wanted to avoid some unplanned breezes.

Before it was something that would be oozing out of a pot at the end of the rainbow, I added a belt and just cinched and pulled it out to give it a billowy effect.

Day 109 - After

The outfit was ready to go especially when those green, shimmery shamrock necklaces were put around my neck.  All I needed was a “Kiss Me I’m Irish” pin and my pieces of flair would be totally complete.

Marisa Go Bragh! Thanks to MC for letting me borrow his headgear!

We toasted or “slainte” each other, sang along to “Whiskey in a Jar” and ate Irish nachos (potato chips, melted cheese, pico de gallo and sour cream) during the festive evening.  Thank goodness we didn’t see this guy…

More like Scarychaun!

The only thing alright with this pic is that Mr. Leprechaun is enjoying a Guinness – can’t totally hate solely for this reason, and well also that Jennifer Aniston acted against him in his first film. (Trailer’s here if you’ve not had the experience to view this horror-ific low-budge masterpiece.)  There’s nothing like a tent full of people of all ages, singing with each other, dancing with each other, and drinking Jameson’s with each other…makes me proud to be an Irish lass (shout out to Limerick which is where my grandparents’ parents’ came to the US from!!)

It’s also the one time of year where I get to see and bond with all the other fair-skinned/freckled people in LA!  I’m usually the palest of the bunch, but not today!!  Holler!!

Irish Eyes Are Smiling

And no, I was not drunk when I was taking the above pic.  Jolly, yes.  Drunk, not yet.  I also opted to not bring out my fake Irish accent as it’s way less Bono and way more Julia Roberts in Michael Collins and that’s definitely not a good thing.

G is for Green! P is for Perrier!

Wishing you rainbows, four-leaf clovers, and a magically delicious day!!

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light,
May good luck pursue you each morning and night.
~Irish Blessing

Day 108. 257 days and $252 left to go.

Two down…five more to go!!

Welcome to Day Three of theme week!  I’ll be your hostess Marisa so sit back, relax, and strap on your seat belt.   It’s Day Y, so YELLOW in the house!!  This is the piece for the day…

Day 107 - Before

Now I didn’t take any closeups of this puppy – sorry!  I’ve had this one for a bit and didn’t photograph the issues that it had – but let’s discuss the fact that there were some dark, gross spots on it.  It was as if somebody took many a footstep on it on purpose.  It was washed and most of the dirt came off, but not enough to pull it off in white.  It fit perfectly, but was just a tad bit dingy and that’s no bueno.

I went back to my trusty box o’dyes and pulled out RIT’s Yellow and got to some dyeing.  Just like yesterday, I did this on my stove.  I boiled some water, didn’t add any salt (I wanted something more muted, so I went without the salt today which makes the color bolder), let it sit for a few hours, rinsed it with warm water, rung it out and let it hang dry on my patio.  After those steps, I was golden.  Hello pun!!  This is how it turned out…

Day 107 - After

I felt slightly Sandy from Grease and was all about it.  I took a sheer, purple-ish scarf and tied it around my waist and threw on my favorite purple Steve Madden heels to make this outfit rock.  The green/purple embroidery along the sleeves was killer and I wanted to accentuate that.  Now also, there was a button missing on the top of the dress, so I buttoned the two bottom buttons and safety pinned the dress where the third one would have gone.  I left the top few buttons open…I mean it was 85 degrees today and I did break out in a minor sweat being outside at 2 pm, so showing a little bit of cleave was completely acceptable.

Best part of the day?  See below…

Corona @ 3:46 in the afternoon? Why sure office, of course I'll partake in a Mexican beverage.

Me+Corona+3:46 PM+office=BEST WORK DAY EVER!!!

My work cohort Leonard Cohen and myself imbibed in some Coronas to celebrate the upcoming March Madness bracket war that will be going on in T minus 36 hours between the two of us.  March is my favorite month solely for the NCAA tourney.  I love sports, I love the Super Bowl, the World Series rocks (esp when my Yankees are the winners) and March Madness makes me swoon.  Unforch my team, USC’s Trojans, are ineligible this year because of partaking in shady activities (it’s all good boys, I would have taken those vehicles too) so I’ve got some new, non-PAC 10 teams to root for. Without giving away my winner (I know Leonard reads this, so I don’t want to give him any hints) I’m ready for a few weeks of severe, killer, ruthless basketball playing between 18 year olds, most who look like they’re 40.  No joke, there are multiple players who I’d like to check out their birth certificates as I can’t honestly believe they were born after 1969.

So, successful Day Y/3?  Yes.  PS, Day G happens to fall on the holiday of my Irish people.  Get ready, because this girl goes full-out.  Bring it St. Patty’s, I’m waiting for you!!  Until tomorrow friends…

Y is for Yellow!! B is for Banana!!

Day 107. 258 days and $253 left to go.

One down and six more to go!!

Theme week continues and orange is the color du jour, so guess what??  We’re going to play with some dye today!!  It has been awhile since I whipped out my box o’dyes, so let’s give them a little jpeg love…

Hi Cute Dyes!!

I decided to go with a thin white embroidered blouse today as the weather forecast was looking pretty hot for the week…Thanks Johnny Mountain and Dallas Raines for your delightful insight into this third week of March.  (PS, we Los Angelenos may have the best meteorologist names around – however if the names of yours can rock ours like a hurricane, please share!)

And when I say hot, I mean it. Literally.

It was a little too big, but I had my sewing machine threaded and ready for some taking in action.  Mostly, I was psyched to give it a tangerine bath.

Day 107 - Before

Before bathtime, I took in the sleeves and the body of the shirt in to make it a little tighter.  You can do this post-dye, however I like to mend my pieces ahead of time and use white thread so when it soaks, it completely matches the color after it’s done.  I boiled water, added some salt (to make the color even bolder), grabbed RIT’s tangerine dye, and tossed in my shirt for the day.  Luckily my cooking club dinner theme wasn’t Italian this evening, so I didn’t have to worry about boiling penne at the same time as my project.

Stovetop Dye-fest!

After letting it soak for a bit, I plucked the shirt out, rinsed it with hot water to expunge the excess dye, rung it out and hung it to dry.  The warm temps early this am dried this sucker out and I couldn’t wait to put it on because let’s just say that this piece completely Orange Crush’ed some of my other dye projects.

Day 107 - After

The way the color took to the fabric and to the embroidery blew my mind.  And, I must be honest, thank goodness today was O day!  Why, you may ask?  Well, let me share…

Embroidery Close Up! (ECU)

Like I mentioned above, my cooking club was this evening and the theme for the night was Indian.  I made some yumster curry crusted bananas for dessert, but prior to that I got to indulge in some of the most ridiculous chicken tikka masala that I’ve ever had courtesy of MW.  Now, let me show you a stock photo of this dish.

MW's chicken tikka masala was way more delectable and was served in the most gorg La Creuset dish

Kind of perfect that it matched my shirt for the day…you can probably figure out what happened next.  Yes, a cube of chicken fell off my fork and trickled down my shirt (completely in slo-mo through my eyes) and landed right in the middle of some embroidery.  Luckily it blended right in.  Crisis averted.  Tomorrow may be trickier though – yellow is much harder to hide, so I must be on my best, non-klutzy behavior.

O is for Orange!

Day 106. 259 days and $254 left to go.

The first New Dress A Day theme week has arrived!!  That’s right friends…

It’s all about featuring the colors of the rainbow this week!

I haven’t used the ROYGBIV acronym since elementary school (Red/Orange/Yellow/Green/Blue/Indigo/Violet) but I’m bringing it back!!  As it’s Day 1 today, we’re going with RED to kick it off.  Pop open that celebratory bottle of Cristal, er Mumm Cuvée Napa Brut Prestige (I brought one back when I visited Mumm’s winery during a Napa trip – it’s divine and totally reasonable) and let’s get crackin’!!

This is what we’re working with today…

Day 106 - Before

A lovely, large red nightgown with some hanging red ribbons = the perfect thing to begin ROYGBIV week with.  The cherry red color was bold and delicious, and I couldn’t wait to make it work on me.  There were a few issues with this that I had to fix.  It was big under the arms, big in the bust, and the wrong length.  If it were a 90 degree summer day, I’d try to make it work as a sundress, but it’s not, so I won’t.  Shirt it is!!

First thing, I turned the dress inside out and pinned the areas that I needed to take in.  I stitched a brand new, more fitted hem from under the arms all the way down to the mid-thigh, the length I was going to keep it.

New white threaded hem on both sides of the dress!

Next it was time to cut off the bottom of the dress…

New length!

Now after I made this preliminary trim I tried it on and realized I needed to go higher, so I cut off another five inches or so before I took those hanging ribbons and tied them into a bow.  The perfect finished product to go and visit one of my favorite people in the world…

LD!

Mr. Larry David…Insert theme to Curb here.  I’m kind of highly obsessed with his shows Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm – let’s be honest, I get pretty psyched when I catch the Junior Mint or Kenny Rogers’ Roasters episodes in Seinfeld reruns and Curb has given some of the most amazing lines in television.  This clip is one of my favorites…not just because it involves ice cream

Day 106 - After

I got to enjoy the company of Mr. David and his fellow castmates (Funkhouser & Richard Lewis totally rule) in my new red top paired with some jeans and my vintage chestnut/burgundy-ish boots (a total $12 Ebay score).

Day R rules!!

Exactly the thing to ring ROYGBIV week in, enjoy a 7pm sunset in, and close up the weekend with some fab friends, real and TV ones in.  “I’m feeling pretty good. Pret-ty, pret-ty, pret-ty, pret-ty good.”  Thanks LD.

Day 105. 260 days and $255 left to go.

Happy weekend friends!!  I don’t know about you, but I’m jazzed for daylight savings tonight!!  Now, I’m a bit exhausted from the weekend already – I know, it’s only halfway through – and the idea of losing an hour of sleep tonight is kind of gut wrenching, however the benefits are going to make me one happy gal.  Grilling dinner on the patio while it’s still light out, check. Hikes at 7pm, check. Walking home from happy hour before the sun sets, check.  I’m already giddy with excitement!  So, in honor of more light and less sleep tonight, I went with something super easy today!  Something that all of you can do…

Day 107 - Before

OK, first thing’s first – these sleeves…TDF (To Die For).  Yes, those billowy sleeves with black piping were more than worth the $1 price tag.  If the rest of the dress was shredded, I would have still bought it and used those sleeves on a tank because they were beyond fabulous.  The waist was a little large but that was my only big (ha – just saw the pun now, post-writing) issue.  And as much as I liked it as a dress, all I wanted to wear today was a comfy pair of jeans, some boots and a zip up hoodie to keep me warm in this lovely mid-60s weather, so guess what?  Yep, I turned it into a top.

So, pretty much all I did for this was cut off about a foot from the bottom of the dress.  I left the edges raw (no hemming, too tired) and didn’t even tweak the large waist.  Quick fix for the waist prob – I used some of the leftover fabric from Day 84 as a belt/sash which cinched it in.  The result?

Day 105 - After

Now this exuberant after pic was taken just as I won a close game of Wii bowling.  I tend to get really excited, clearly, and I will rejoice all I can because in Wii bowling, I’m pretty good.  Bring me to some actual lanes and I don’t even get close to cracking 100.

Wii Action Shot!

Today, I didn’t need those bumper in the gutters.  When I hit my fave spot Shatto Lanes, which serves a mean $4.75 Makers on the rocks, that will be a totally different story.

Happy Daylight Savings friends!!

Day 104. 261 days and $256 left to go.

It’s Friday, y’all!!  That’s right, I’m channeling my inner South right now and yes, am totally craving some barbeque.  I had a late afternoon viewing of Whip It, tied into SXSW chatter, both which are take place in Austin, and that’s all I’m jonesing for right now.  A trip down South for some grub and some y’all-ing.  With that being said, my choice for today included ruffles.  Kinda pageanty and trés Southern – I promise I’ll refrain from the big hair though.  Big dress however, my hands are tied.  Check it!

Day 104 - Before

It’s a big, big, nightgowny mess right now.  The ruffles at the top of the dress are sick and I love that bottom ruffle too, however it’s just too big and unflattering.  Those sleeves are out of control and not in a good way.  The bold magenta color was originally what drew me in as it had a slightly batik look to it.  I do heart dark shades of pink, but there was some work that needed to be done y’all.

I mentioned my love of the ruffle that was found on the bottom of the dress, however I had to go with my gut.  I hacked off half of the skirt to take it in the shirt direction.  I know, I know…I shed a single tear, however the color/ruffle action was a little too much and it needed to be broken up with some jeans.  I took some scissors and went to choppin’.

Pile o'fabric

The excess fabric above could clothe a small army, so we’ll keep that around to use again somewhere.  I made a new hem at the bottom of the newly turned shirt before taking in the body and a bit of the sleeves.

New hem!

My sleeve issue stemmed from the weird length/puffyness/largeness of them, so I thought that making them short would do the trick.  Instead of chopping them off, I pulled them up (thank goodness they were big!) and thanks to gravity, the fabric over my triceps draped down my arm nicely.  I took my newly fitted shirt, added some jeans, and let down the hair.  Nothing big like I said.

Day 104 - After

All I need is a plate of BBQ, some slaw and hush puppies to satiate my Southern craving (See Day 59 for my love o’hush puppies). PS – Tomorrow is daylight savings!  This is like a holiday to me – no joke, sunlight when I get home from work is like the best thing ever!  Bring it loss of an hour of sleep tomorrow night.  I’m ready!!

Day 103. 262 days and $257 left to go.

So let’s just discuss first that the problems à la internet have been amended.  Thank you Time Warner for finally figuring it out.  It was hard looking at my network preferences where my network “xoxo” (yep, total ode to Gossip Girl, I’ll be honest) was unable to be connected to.  Alas, it’s been fixed and I sit here now in the midnight hour on my couch, with working WiFi, watching DVR’d American Idol from tonight (kind of pissed about the results and kind of over this season already…) and Project Runway (who else is watching – must discuss!!) as I write about today’s ensemble.  So, let’s begin…

Day 103 - Before

Wha?!?!  I know, that’s what I thought too!!  This apron/bib/tie on the side situation was not just weird, but really gross and unflattering.  Not to mention, this excess fabric sat on top of a fitted dress that had some pretty amazing ruched sleeves.  This piece was going to get a much-needed chemical peel as we needed to slough off that gross layer of old, gross, saggy extra fabric.  Out came the seam ripper and the procedure began.

Bye, bye bib!!

Total success!!  The excess fabric has been removed!!  Already the piece looks 10 years younger…  I was lovin the sleeves, so with wanting that to be the focal point, I took the dress, cut off the bottom and turned it into a top.  After removing the bib deal, the neck was a lovely crew length which was perfect.  I took it in a bit on each side (just about an inch or so) and rehemmed the bottom.  The final look was this.

Day 103 - After

Cute new top paired with my skinnies and my peep toe Aerosoles made for my Thursday outfit.  Sunny day, floral print, a pic on somebody random’s brick front steps = rad photo-op.  Floral prints always make me smile and lucky for all of us, they’re totally IN this spring season.  DVF, Stella McCartney and Erdem (pic below) are making me super excited to try and recreate my own versions on a dime.

Erdem's S/S 2010 Collection

OK, deep breath Maris, deep breath.  I will have dreams of jasmine scented botanical gardens and meadows of flowers tonight which is way better than the weirdo dreams involving Neil Patrick Harris that I’ve been remembering.  I adore NPH more than words, but I’ve been doing magic with him and that’s borderline nightmarey.  Dream with NPH on set of How I Met Your Mother = AWESOME.  Dream with NPH doing magic at The Magic Castle in Hollywood = CREEPY.  (Click on the link and you’ll totally get it, for all you non-Los Angelenos.)  Random sidenote – magic, clowns, Chevrolet El Camino’s from the 70s, wigs, and rice pudding all give me the heebie-jeebies.

Enough talk of things that slightly make me feel weird and back to happy thoughts, so one more look in my flowered top of the day…

My shoulder lean, just like T.I.'s

Sweet dreams friends!!! No pun intended, really

Day 102. 263 days and $258 left to go.

Sorry for the lateness in posting!  My awfully terrible internet provider Time Warner, who I’d like to beat into a bloody pulp…sidenote, decided that they’d cause a glitch in my internet activity a bit after midnight.  This caused me to call in, spend 30 minutes on the phone with Samish, go through “tests”, to have him tell me it still wasn’t working and that they’d send a tech out my way tomorrow.  This has been a week like Alexander’s terrible, no good, very bad day with regards to the technology in my life.  I’m currently posting this from the Coffee Bean.  Thank you for your free WiFi and vanilla lattes to get me through this annoyance.  But enough with the lamenting!!  This outfit was a goodie!

Day 102 - Before

Twas a big muumuu today!  I loved the Hawaiian print, the turquoise shade, the hibiscus, and well, the pockets!!  I wasn’t digging the buttoning on the top nor the length, so I thought this would make a perfect shirt.

I got to cutting off the bottom, a good seven inches or so…

Marisa Scissorhands!

…and then made a new hem.  I unbuttoned the top three buttons and folded under each side to form a V.  I actually just safety pinned these down as well, which made it a quick and easy fix.  As the V was a bit deep, I threw on my favorite skull tank which was an H&M find in DC a few years ago.  Didn’t want to be too Showgirls-y today.

Day 102 - After

With some skinny jeans and boots, my new top was ready to grub in.  A little Daphne’s action was the perfect end to a long, long day.

Close Up!!

Hopefully my technology woes will be corrected tomorrow, otherwise the next time, I’m crackin’ skulls.  Take that Time Warner.

Day 101. 264 days and $259 left to go.

It’s day 101 and the sewing machine is back up and rolling!  I ended up switching out the needle and cleaning out some of the fuzzy, furry lint that accumulated nearby my bobbin (that was the problem, I believe) and it was back in action.  Perfect timing as this knit dress was on the agenda for today.

Day 101 - Before

Yep, a little bit too big, however the knit material and color was amazing.  There were also a few holes…

Holy Smokes!!

…but those were going to get fixed easily as they were on the seam of the waist.  I had some extra ideas to add to it as well, but first, time to take it in.  I took in the sleeves and the body of the dress.  And as the waist had overly stretched out and torn elastic, I took that out as well and made a new waist hem.  This also worked out perfectly as I sewed over the holes that I found making the dress look kinda brand new, like circa 80s brand new.  Next I tweaked the length.

New hem!!

I cut a good eight inches or so off, pinned the raw edges under, and rehemmed the bottom.  This knit material was fraying a bunch, so a new hem was necessary to stop the pillage

The leftover fabric from trimming the edge

And with the leftover fabric above, I turned that into a belt just to cinch it a little bit more.  My little addition was rhinestones!!! I needed some glitz, so I played around with my bag o’ gems and tried to make a fun pattern around the neckline.  (PS, I totally used a glue gun to affix said jewels!!)

Rhinestonin'

And, did I mention this dress that I picked up for a buck was vintage Express?  Totally something that Phoebe Cates would have picked up in the val at the Galleria in like 1987, for sure.

Express!!

But, I was going for a little more contemporary vibe.

Day 101 - After

Shortened dress, fitted sleeves, and rhinestones made up my ensemble for the day.  It was surprisingly warm too, which was helpful in the scattered gusts of wind Los Angeles provided today.  I have to say, I was very pleased with the glitz action, so check out the close up below.

Rhinestone Cowboy

This one is another winner in my book!  Kind of wish I could wear it again tomorrow, as there is more wind action on the radar.

Day 100. 265 days and $260 left to go.

It’s triple digit day!!  Hello day 100…you’ve arrived!!  Now, I was planning to work with something ridiculously awesome (a certain designer that starts with a D and rhymes with Eeyore) but unfortunately a friend of mine was wreaking a bit of havoc in my morning routine.  It was more like mourning this am as my best little friend, my sewing machine, decided to be fickle and not work.

Day 100, pshaw! I'm tired, so I'm taking a vacation day. Off to the beach, holler!

So, unfortunately my celebratory ensemble had to be changed, and quickly.  Instead I went with two pieces that I found for a buckaroo each that I was going to make minor adjustments on but opted to keep them intact to assist in still making a fun, fab, frock for my big day!

Day 100 - Before

First was this fabtastic wrap skirt.  It was a floral-y, denim-y, country-ish pattern that I adored.  I originally was going to shorten it and move the ruffled edge up a bit, but chose to keep it looking as it was for today, since I was mildly handicapped.  Next came this…

Day 100 - Before

Again, another find in a pile of stuff.  This cardi was gorge – soft pink-acrylic-knitty-material, rhinestones, silver knit trim…however the pic above was what it looked like post-wash.  I took a chance with this puppy as when I found it, it was full of dirty spots and marks that would have forced me to dye it (even though I wanted to go navy for another day) if the spots didn’t come out.  Fortunately they did and it ended up being the perfect complement to the wrap skirt.  And may I say, I felt a little like Betty Draper too and that’s always a good thing!

The final product…BAM!

Day 100 - After

Cardi, skirt, white tank, tan boots = Day 100 saving graces!!  I opted to pull the wrap skirt up higher than my waist to give it more of an empire feel.  Close up below…

Day 100 - Close Up!

Thanks to you lovely friends out there who have been with me on this little road trip so far.  It’s been an incredible 100 days and I’m so glad you’re on this ride with me!!  In celebration, I’m enjoying a little bit of this for all of us…

Heavens to Betsy!

It’s like the Girl Scouts infiltrated my dreams like Freddy Krueger, but less of the tormenting/nightmares/gloves of blades business and more of the sweet tooth/happy dreams/most perfect concoction of heavenly goodness stuff.

No joke.  I finished the container.  I mean ice cream & thin mints together?  How could you not?  Happy Day 100