Day 143. 222 days and $219 left to go.

Welcome to Taupe Tuesday, thanks to my dress color for the day!!  Not really one to do such light colors, just because they tend to drown out my fair skin, but I was ready to step out of the box and try something a little new today

Day 143 - Before

Right now, it’s just a little too bland for me…like I didn’t add enough Nesquik powder into my skim milk (hello, best treat ever!) and it’s not even close to tasting like chocolate.  Some trimming was about to take place.  The best part about the dress is the sheerish embroidered section on the top, so I wanted to make that the focal point, not the long sleeves.

So, I got rid of them…

Sleeves, buh-bye!

Along with this…

Skirt, buh-bye!

And these…

SP's, buh-bye

Now we’re cooking with gas!!  Next came the pinning of the raw edges on the sleeves and bottom of the cut skirt.

Raw edges pinned

A little hemming action, and my new shirt was ready for the elements…well, kind of!!

Day 143 - After

That’s right – it rained today and I got stuck in the middle of it, hence the out of control hair!!  The shirt has watermarks too, which luckily you can’t really see, because of course I tend to walk under every tree and awning possible and get hammered with those gigantor drops right on my head.  Just thinking to myself that I’m glad I didn’t go with wearing white today…

PS, matching brolly...totally unintentional 🙂

Love how the detail shines – it’s totally the main event now.  Sorry sleeves, we’ll have you back on the cast list soon…

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Day 141. 224 days and $221 left to go.

I hope everyone has been enjoying their weekends!  Lots of Stanley Cup and NBA finals-ing, post-Tax Day-ing, Coachella-ing, midst of Opening Week of baseball-ing, good weather-ing…  Lots of options, no matter where you are!  Today I had a fun project.  Bold print and comfortable cotton material…one small prob.  One BIG tear.

Day 141 - Before

Now, here’s the thing…TOTES SALVAGABLE!!  Just because there is a big, gaping tear down the dress, doesn’t mean we need to toss it.  I grabbed it at the everything’s a dollar sale, so I did end up spending that dollar even though I would have most definitely talked it down if it were at a garage sale or flea market.  However I saw the potential and was ready to get to it.

Pin that slit!!

I pinned together the very L-O-N-G area that was open to prep some mending.  After pinning, I stitched a very long brand new hem to close the gaping hole.

Pinned and stitched!

Aside from the huge tear, it was still a bit too long for my tastes, so I brought it up to my knees.  I cut off a little bit of material, and used a little strip as a makeshift belt to cinch the dress together a bit.

There I am.  Standing in front of one of the few Southern California locations of my favorite quick eats joint.  CHICK-FIL-A.

Day 141 - After...From Afar 🙂

The only issue?  I literally had my Wally World moment.  That’s right.  We went. We parked. We were denied.  As soon as we walked up, it came to us.  Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sunday.  Hmm, where’s Chevy Chase, Bev D’Angelo and the rest of the Griswold clan?

Whaaaa??????

I couldn’t get my chicken sandwich with pickles, peach milkshake, and waffle fries.  I know, I know.  I had been saving up all weekend for a little splurging today and i was totally denied.  However, it’s hard to be totally bummed when you have to travel to the beach for some grub…

Hi Beach.

So, ultimately it wasn’t so bad.  No chicken sandwich, but there was most definitely sand as well as some lovely ocean views and fresh breezes.  Sigh…

Day 123. 242 days and $238 left to go.

I was anticipating rain today, as that was allegedly on the forecast for Los Angeles.   Unfortunately there was no rain, my car still looks like a pollen covered mess and I’m sneezing my face off each time I go near it .  Thanks Dallas Raines. (Looks like I’m only sticking to Hurricane Schwartz from now on – Julia Gulia gets a little shout out for that intro – thanks JG!!)

Dallas!!

Seriously, when you make this allergy-ridden girl think that there will be inches of rain by a certain time and then nothing comes down, you can understand her frustration.  With that being said, I went with longer sleeves in anticipation of the waterworks from the sky that were not seen.

Day 123 - Before

Are you thinking that this looks a little Friar Tuck-ish?

The Friar

It’s cool – I was just thinking that myself.  I mean our robe-ish ensembles are in different shades and I’m not a cartoon, but we still looked rather similar.

Day 123 - Before, Take II

Not so keen on looking like a rotund mammal, so I needed to get rid of that baggy neck action.

Seam ripping the neck off!

I took a seam ripper and got to unstitching the entire thing.

Detached neck

Now that it was in two separate pieces, I took the fabric that was the old neck and threw it in my bag of excess material.  I’ll use it somewhere and at some point, just not as a neck covering…ever.  The waist was a little large but instead of cutting and sewing to tighten it up, I took a vintage pin, cinched my waist, and pinned the excess material together at the small of my back.  Quick, easy, and newly fitted.

Day 123 - After

Getting rid of that baggy neck changes everything!  I don’t look like a monk anymore, not that there is anything wrong with that, and feel more alright about having a dusty sheet of particles from the air of LA as a top layer film on my green vehicle.

My New Necklace! (Get it...Neck Less??)

This lass is feelin’ way more Maid Marian now. But totally the non-cartoony version.  More like the Cate Blanchett version coming out in May.  I mean Russell Crowe is her Robin Hood so yeah, I’ll take that.

PS – it’s “allegedly” supposed to rain tomorrow as well…we’ll see how that pans out.

Day 117. 248 days and $244 left to go.

Happy Thursday friends!  NCAA competish is back, another brand new Parks & Rec is on (oh, PLEASE bring back Jean-Ralphio), and I’ve got a fab dress to get crackin’ on to wear çe soir.

Day 117 - Before

Found at Jet Rag’s Sunday pile sale o’dollar goods, this was going to look like way more than just a buck.  Now it’s pretty atrosh as is but I have a vision…First thing I got to work on was the sleeves – I was definitely not into the sheer factor and didn’t really want to shorten them, as the crepe material is not fun (nor easy) to work with.  I thought the best idea was to take them off, so I took my seam ripper and did just that!

Next, as the dress was a bit too large for me, I had to take it in.  From the bottom of the new, sleeveless arm holes all the way down to the bottom of the skirt, a good three inches was taken in on each side.  I wasn’t particularly keen on the boxy top of the dress either, so I decided to do a little cinching.

Clipped Straps!

I pinched each side of the dress and took a safety-pin to gather and hold the sides together.  It completely changed the boxy-ness and gave it a softer and more feminine look which I loved.  Before it was completely ready to go, I added a maroon sash, tied it around my waist, and threw on my BCBG cork heels.

Day 117 - After

The dress was complete and I’m completely in love!  It was exactly the thing to wear for a little boutique gathering full of mini cannoli and cheesecake bites and Bellini’s of prosecco and blood orange puree served by Beautiful Bartenders.  No joke, that’s the name of the company they were hired from and yes, they were quite that.

Navy Rules!!

Unfortunately, the only basketball watching I got to do this evening was viewing scores on ESPN.com from my phone, but tomorrow it’s on.  Sorry Syracuse and Cornell fans – I was totally rooting for the both of you.  I shall be cheering for WVU and St. Mary’s tomorrow night though…

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 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 99. 266 days and $262 left to go.

As today was a lovely sunny Sunday, with intermittent showers, I had to choose something that was going to work regardless of the temp or what was coming out of the sky.

Day 99 - Before

It has a slight 70s/monk/tunic vibe going on which isn’t cool at all.  The red/pink/black pattern was what originally drew me in, so I had to make it work.  First on the agenda was getting rid of that weird crocheted/knit/lacey trim around the neck.  I grabbed a seam ripper and took it all off.

Adios weird knit lace!

Next there were a few mini holes by the shoulders (which were clearly worn out after years and years of wear and tear) which I just sewed over to close up.  I also needed to take in the arms a little bit as well as the body and just HAD to cut the length – as a short piece, it worked for the rays and with stockings and boots was the perfect piece to wear in the rain.  After some cutting, hemming, stocking and boot-ing, the new dress was almost ready to go.  I unzipped the dress to my mid-chest area and took excess fabric from Day 73 to use as a belt.  To give the belt just a little bit of flair, I added a gold vintage brooch to the center.

Day 99 - After

Of course, it was sunny all morning which was the perfect complement to an outdoor brunch filled with frittatas, potatoes, blueberry muffins and onion rolls.  However just as the afternoon was coming to a close the rain started coming down.

Sunny Sunday!

Luckily for me, I had my pics taken pre-rain 🙂

Day 93. 272 days and $268 left to go.

So, it looks like yet another Monday themed in a blue direction…totally not on purpose, but now I may have to begin a trend.  We’ll see how many more blue pieces I come across and keep you posted.  But, here’s the piece for today!

Day 93 - Before

Big, blue dress.  Not quite fitting and biggish sheer sleeves, but ridiculously awesome embroidery on the shoulders.  That was what drew me in – the color was fun, but the embroidery was amazing.  First thing’s first, I had to take the dress in to make it fit me.  Trying it on post-re-fitting, I decided that I didn’t want to keep it a dress anymore, but I wanted to turn it into a fun top.  I ended up cutting it about eight inches below the gathered waist, giving me close to a foot and a half of fabric leftover (hmm…thinking cap is on for something fun to do with this excess).  I rolled up the sleeves to my elbows and took a strip of fabric leftover from Day 84 and tied it around my waist into a bow.  Jeans, silver flats, a bun, and a headband that came from my 1987 collection (going through plastic boxes in the basement of my childhood home before my parents moved was one of the best days ever – buried treasures galore including legit friendship bracelets which will make an appearance shortly) completed this ensemble.

Day 93 - After

And, I know you want to get closer…the embroidery really is gorge!!

ECU! (Embroidery Close Up!)

Lovely outfit to work in, cook some oh, so yummy pasta in, watch a terrible reality finale in, and ring in the first week of March in.  Clutch.

Day 92. 273 days and $269 left to go.

Happy Sunday/end of Olympics/Canada win over USA in hockey.  To celebrate the closest thing to real snow I’ve seen in a bit (thank you Vancouver) I decided to choose a white ensemble to signify the cold which I’m not having right now.

Day 92 - Before

Hello white silky dress that has a big, heinous bib on the front and back.  See those ties there that I’m holding up?  Yeah, we’re going to have to get rid of those puppies, because there is no way that I can roll anywhere wearing those.

First thing first…remove the bib!!  PS, I could totally make my own Olympic pennant/bib with these…a little red/blue tye-dying and I’m the Flying Strawberry Blonde 🙂

Removal: Success

Second, after taking those bibbies off, I decided that I’d move forward in a blouse direction as opposed to a dress.  I cut a mild V from the sleeves to the middle of the front of the bibless dress and sewed down the edges.  I then took off a little over a foot in fabric at the bottom to make it more blouse worthy.

Cutting a foot off the bottom

Before getting ready to toss it on, I grabbed a pin from my collection and put it on the tip of the V.  With jeans, boots and a hand and armful of jewelry that got me called Edie Falco in her Carmela Soprano years, my outfit was complete.

Day 92 - After

And wearing a white top totally called for a B&W pic to be taken.

B&W shot!

Day 90. 275 days and $271 left to go.

When I first saw this, I literally thought box of Crayola crayons.  A pastel rainbow striped dress that belonged in that cardboard box right next to Burnt Sienna, Cornflower, and Olive Green.

Day 90 - Before

My photographer chuckled when I threw this puppy on, but even though the striped pattern was a little overwhelming and was a bit headache-inducing, I was determined to make it work.  First, I had to trim the bottom of the skirt.

Skirt Trimming!

I took off a good six inches or so which lightened it up.  My next step was to get rid of those triangular shoulder pads that looked like pieces of toast.

Pad Trimming!

Then, as the dress was still a little big on me and it had those pre-attached belt loops with no belt I thought about another way to tighten up without even sewing.  Take note friends…this is a handy tool!!  I grabbed a little bit of the excess fabric I trimmed from the bottom of the skirt (around three-ish feet) and looped it through the two belt loops.  Check out the handy lil’ image.

Excess fabric = makeshift beltage

And when putting it on, instead of tying in the sash the front of the dress, I pulled the two ends together, cinched it from the back, and then tied the fabric into a little bow.  Also, as those buttons were not flying in my book, I took my fave emerald lace cami from H&M that I’ve had for years, threw it on beneath the dress, opened all the buttons down to my waist and got on my tan boots for a non-Crayola inspiring ensemble.

Day 90 - After

Here’s a little close up of the sash I created…you can see that the material is gathered a bit, which still does the tightening up trick without the usage or need of a sewing machine.  I rather loved the little bustle that got created.

Sash Close Up!

Nothing rings in the weekend better than feeling just a little bit like Rainbow Brite, just sans a rainbow maned horse pal 🙂