EVENING DRESS PREVIEW - A Swingin Affair, Palm Springs





Hello Kittens! 

As promised, here is a preview of my Gala dress for the upcoming Frank Sinatra Party in Palm Springs. For the main event (dinner & a musical performances) I'm wearing a vintage pink Wiggle Dress from the 50's (I tracked it down in Seattle at a thrift store in the Fremont District).

Ms. Brande from VICTORY VINTAGE is my stylist for this event  - so these are the original photos sent to her for input.

Check out the pics and see what fabulous tips she has for my FINAL LOOK.

 

Great fit - no alterations required.



BRANDE'S TIP: Ditch the black stockings and go with a nude fishnet from SPANX.

BRANDE'S TIP: The stole will look amazing, and the small silver bag is perfect. This dress needs an OPERA LENGTH glove in white or cream. Now we need some jewelry.......

ME: Would my grandmothers costume jewelry work??

BRANDE: Perfect! Pin the brooch on your STOLE to complete the look.

That is a QUICK PREVIEW of the work going into this one outfit. So what do you think? Does it look 50's/Marilyn Monroe-esque?

Stay tuned for the Afternoon Cocktail Party Dress as well as the After Hours party outfit.

xoxo
Michelle

GIVEAWAY - ending soon! (Hot Pink Passport Cover from Australia)

Don't forget to sign up for my SUPER-EASY giveway. You too can be the proud owner of a HOT PINK LEATHER PASSPORT COVER. Imported all the way from Austrailia - this is the perfect must have. Plus - it's bright color will keep your passport from getting lost at the bottom of you bag.

The winner will be selected this week! Just click HERE and leave your email or blog address in the comments. That's it - super easy.

xoxo
Michelle

Note: the giveaway is open to everyone, and yes - I ship worldwide.

Total Make-Over

In case some of you were wondering what Mr. C 'does' - he owns an Auto Repair Shop. He bought it 16 years ago, and we actually met when I became his customer (technically...the story is more elaborate than that, because I used to work at this very shop when I was 18). Anyways......after living in Germany for 7 months, I walked into the shop yesterday and saw it with 'fresh eyes'. It was DISGUSTING. 

Full of clutter, knick knacks, car parts and just overall messy. It was in desperate need of a make-over. I started saying "let's do this", and "let's do that" - and he said 'OK'. I pointed, and he did it. It was that easy!

BEFORE: As soon as you walked in, it was BAM - the counter.



BEFORE: notice how there is stuff every where?? The walls were covered with random auto topics and repair posters. Back behind the counter on the right is a Rock Star cooler, an empty pepsi cooler and more 'stuff'.Not very inviting for customers. 



BEFORE: The lobby was scattered with random things. Notice the GROSS coffee cart? The fan isn't needed either - it's 36 degrees outside!

We Mr. C and staff pulled out the counter and turned it the opposite direction, which completely opened up the lobby. After that everything came off the walls and we started over.

AFTER: Originally the walls were gray top and bottom.  See how the white paint now makes the checkered tile stand out and also brightens the entire space?? Being iinspired by all of the wonderful chalkboard art in Germany, I taped off two large portions and painted with CHALK BOARD paint. This will be the new menu of services for the shop. It will  have a vintage kitchy-feel next to the checkerboard pattern.

I busted out my overalls and got to work.

Mismatched frames were given a shiny coat of black spray paint. I'm going to put BLACK and WHITE  PHOTOS of Mr. C and his two lead employees in the frames, and place them between the two chalkboards. I think new customers will enjoy seeing their photos.

 

AFTER: Chalk board paint is up! You have to work quickly with this stuff - it dries fast. Doesn't it look so much better already? The shop is clean, organized and looks very professional. Mr. C loves it! I will work on the Menu's this week as well  make signs for the restrooms (using the Vintage Finger Point sign, of course).



AFTER: Notice the coffee cart? Yes - that is the same cream/wood cabinet from above. Silver and black spray paint goes a long way!!!

AFTER: Doesn't it look 100 times better? The menu panels still need to written up and the employee photos added in the center.

PHEW - I'm tired. Let this posting inspire you to get rid of the clutter. It makes everything around you so much more enjoyable - and less stressfull.

xoxo
Michelle

Fatty Piggy Pants

Oh sure - I've PIGGED OUT before, but nothing can compare to the caloric intake of yesterday's Thanksgiving feast. I went to a dear friends home for an amazing meal, and the food just kept coming and coming - so of course I kept eating and eating. Everything was homemade and I had to sample everything multiple times.

I kept hearing 'where do you put all of this food?', or the classic 'do you have hollow leg?'. I couldn't help it - besides all of the traditional dishes there was also Beef Wellington, Chipotle Sweet Potatoes, Bernaise sauce, Pumpkin/Cranberry/Fig Pie.....omg - I think I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it.



This stuff works great!



I'm guessing that I ate at least about 8,000 CALORIES over the 6 hour feast. I was so uncomfortable that by bedtime I swore I would never eat so much again (yeah, like that's going to stick). Ugggh, why do we do this to ourselves at the holidays? It's both enjoyable and miserable.

This morning was painful as I did a 1.5 hour workout while sipping YOGI Detox Tea. I'm trying to get rid of the Piggy Pants feeling but it seems to be lingering around. I normally wouldn't care - but I have some awesome dresses I need to squeeze into for my upcoming Palm Springs bash.

Today I'm surviving on low sugar protein shakes, egg whites, arugula/tuna salad and anything else low protein. Did you overeat too? Please tell me about it so I feel better.

Party dresses will start being posted on Monday!

xoxo Piggy Pants out,
Michelle

Layering 101 & Home Hair

Brrrrr, it's cold outside. And when I say 'cold', I'm referring to extreme winds and snow. JOY. Jumping right into the winter season leaves me less-than excited, so I'm trying my best to keep my boring snow boots and coat in the closet. Here is my attempt of layering to be both WARM and STYLISH.

Welcome to Layering 101:

LAYER 1: Plum colored long sleeve dress and purple tights (H&M)

LAYER 2: Short sleeve charcoal dress (Shabby Apple)

LAYER 3: Over-the- knee charcoal wool sockens (H&M)

LAYER 4: Practical leather walking boots (vintage Buster Brown, op-shopped)

LAYER 5: Add any warm scarf, shopper tote and earrings.

Weather ready - no winter coat!!! Tip: to kick it up a notch, add a hat and gloves.

HOME HAIR

My favorite hair salon is undergoing a remodel, so my stylist offered to come to my house instead. Uh.....what? You want to bleach and cut my hair at my house? Not having much of a choice....... I told her that was OK. I figured it would either be AWKWARD or really CONVENIENT.

She showed up and all went well, until I had to endure the 25 minute rinse/shampoo/condition (x2) ordeal in my own kitchen sink. Not to mention seeing my own hair all over the kitchen floor was a bit odd too (especially considering I had to start cooking right after she left).

So how did my hair turn out? Well...the color is much better than the 'no-toner' approach of the Germans, but the cut seems a bit more 'thinned out' than I wanted. It doesn't look as European/French anymore - SUCK. Oh well.....next time.

Have you ever had this type of service at your house before? It was convenient since I didn't have to drive anywhere, but at the same time - it wasn't convenient because it took longer than normal and I missed out on the whole 'salon' experience. If given the option again - I would say 'skip it' and go to the salon. It's soooo much better!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'll be posting preview photos of my 50's party dresses starting on Monday.

xoxo
Michelle

Honey Badger Says....sign up for HOT PINK COMBAT BOOT'S GIVEAWAY

Remember when I got to the airport in Germany and realized I had my friend Sandy's passport instead of mine? Complete nightmare and really stressful (you can read about that adventure HERE). To keep this from ever happening again, fellow blogger Ms. Talitha from TTime Chatter suggested I buy a hot pink leather passport cover from Ciao Bella Travel. BRILLIANT IDEA Talitha - I'm all over it.

I ordered two immediately - one for ME and one for YOU. You? Yes you! I ordered an extra one as a GIVEAWAY item for one of my bad-ass readers. (sorry, the honey badger video is rubbing off on me. It's pretty bad ass. See..... there I go again). 

Do you want a spicy HOT PINK LEATHER PASSPORT COVER just like me? It's easy to enter and the giveaway is open to everyone. HOW TO ENTER: Simply leave a comment that you would like to be entered - along with your email and/or blog link. That's it!

The winner will be chosen on December 1st. (If you want to throw out a message to the world about the giveaway via twitter/fb/blog - that would be wonderful, but it's not required). Here is yesterdays package arrival from Australia (in photos - of course):

Packages from Australia arrived stamped  'ID RECORDED'. Wow, intimidating.

One for me - and one for you!

Fully lined and 100% leather.  Anyone know what the difference is between 'real' and 'genuine'?? This isn't kangaroo, right?

Enter today by leaving your comment and email and/or blog address.

xoxo
Michelle

Musicals, After Hour Parties + Dear Friends!

Saturday night was date-night at the broadway production of COME FLY WITH ME. It's basically a dance performance to the top hits of Frank Sinatra. Since we have our upcoming trip to Palm Springs, Mr. C and I thought it would be fun to go to get a feel of the era.

I have no idea how this happened - but we got FRONT ROW CENTER seats. It was incredible. You could see everything close up - it was as if they were dancing just for us. The funny thing is the guys were 'sweat machines' and every time they'd shake their head it was like a wet dog spraying water everywhere (read: gross). The women didn't have a drop of sweat on them and were in phenomenal shape. 

I thought I would see 'great fashion' at this production - but  no....it was more like the girls were dancing in their nightgowns or a flimsy dress from Ross.



Look at how close we are! No idea why that girl is randomly standing up. The poor people sitting behind her! 


We had seats reserved at are favorite lounge -and it was coincidentally the 'AFTER HOURS' party for the show. This was their last show and they were out to celebrate . None of them were affiliated with the upcoming Palm Springs event - so it was just one of those weird meet ups. But lucky us - we met up with dear friends SHASTA, Jer and Mr. John.  Mr. Eric (John's other half and my bestie from High School) was out of town -otherwise it would have been complete.

Shasta and Mr. John!

I'm still having fun in the dressing room. Here is today's OOTD. So in case you're curious about what I am doing today? NOTHING - and it's awesome. Take a gander at my 'DO NOTHING' outfit:

Feeling 'dancey' - probably inspired from Saturday's musical (see above if you already forgot what I'm referring to....).  Hot pink sweater (Old Navy - many seasons ago), Black neck tie (stolen from my black wrap dress), Wool cargo pants (Express/op-shopped)

I op-shopped these Express pants, and thanks to ties and random buttons I can wear them several ways. BONUS: fully lined to keep the wool-itch away. Paired with op-shopped black leather ankle boots. I've been joking that I'm part HOMELESS because the majority of my clothes come from the thrift store (aka op-shop).

This outfit needs 'something'. Let's add a Fedora hat!!! (H&M). Aren't the cargo pockets cute? It's a fun twist on an otherwise traditional fabric.

Do you ever wear 'fun' clothes for no reason? If no, give it a try. It's a pretty good time.

xoxo,
Michelle

Big News!!! Party of a Lifetime



SURPRISE!!!



If you can remember, I was trying to sell my condo in Cabo San Lucas Mexico (no luck in that by the way). So Mr. C has been thinking about another trip we could take that would be a fun getaway. Just when you think you know someone and you have it all figured out........ they go and surprise you with something so 'OVER THE TOP' that you are left speechless.

So what is this great trip?

Hmmm,  as much as I'd like to keep it a secret and surprise you after the fact - I know you're dying to know. Here it goes kittens - we're going to sunny PALM SPRINGS CALIFORNIA!

BUT WAIT.....there's more. He arranged VIP FRONT ROW SEATS to the fabulous event called 'A Swingin Affair'. It's tribute birthday party to the legendary FRANK SINATRA. The event includes afternoon cocktails and a tour at Frank Sinatra's sprawling estate, an evening gala with a full course dinner and musical performances. To top it off there is an exclusive after hours party and private limo service to each event. 

Wow. Really? I get to go to this? Me. The girl who has been living in a dorm room and just finished pedaled my bike FIFI all over Europe. Can you believe it?

The gala is being hosted by Pamela Anderson, which means it should be a rock star and tattoo-having wild time. Maybe I'll get to hang out with toxic Lindsay Lohan, or maybe even the fabulous Charlize Theron. It's exciting to think of who will show up for this event.

Mr. C is bringing a few of his friends, so it will actually feel like I'm MARILYN MONROE or LANA TURNER and I have my own 'rat pack'. Exciting, right? 

DILEMMA:

I have no idea what to wear. Any other era I can handle, but for some reason I can't seem to grasp the style of the 50's. I keep thinking horrible poodle skirts and conservative dresses. 

Dilemma solved!

Let me introduce to you Ms. Brande from Victory Vintage. She is going to be my STYLIST for this star studded event, and is expertly guiding me through what to wear and how to accessorize it. Stay tuned as I start showing you my dresses and outfits for this event.



This is Brande! She has a store on eBay and also does consulting work - online and  in person. Check out her blog HERE and her eBay store HERE

Thanks Brande for all of your expert  help. This party will be a blast, and I won't have to worry about look kuh-razy.



xoxo,

Michelle

Sweater Dress Bliss - OOTD

I am having so much fun this week with OOTD (outfit of the day). Today is fuh-reezing outside, so I went for a cozy sweater look. Again,  my apologies for the MESSY dressing room. Major progress though, I've emptied the trunks and my suitcases - so now its down to the random small pieces that need to find a home. Seriously,,,,,, I think I have 200 pairs of sockens (that's 'socks' for you not privy to German speak) 

There's that brown H&M scarf again. Even though I have all of these new outfit choices, I'm still drawn to the same scarf. Sweater dresses tend to stretch out as the day goes on, so the elastic belt keeps me from looking frumpy.

Wool dress (Mudd),  cream tights (H&M), cognac leather boots (op shopped), shopper bag (H&M), striped elastic belt (Forever 21). Sockens (random ones from the drawer).

I'm doing my SOCKEN 'layering' move again. For some reason - just wearing tights and boots doesn't look right. Bring on the layers! If you're wondering why I'm not wearing heels, I did try some one but it didn't look right. I wanted to keep the look casual.

Which coat to wear? I tried on my vintage 70's suede with luxurious faux fur collar. Hmmmm, not sure. I think there might be too much camel brown going on. Plus, this isn't working with my flat boots.

Maybe...if I could hold this particular pose all day.......

I decide to go for something easier to wear - and this tie front cardigan sweater will be perfect. However, since I tend to dirty up anything light in color, I can't help but think ......."don't spill coffee today, don't spill any coffee today - HEY, what's on the ceiling?"

Add my shopper tote (which is the perfect size for hauling around my ipad and water bottle), and voila - finally, the OOTD. What do you think? Too European? I'm not seeing any local girls dressing like this.

READER QUESTION:

Being home has already presented a unique set of opportunities, but with these opportunities come sacrifices. Speaking in general terms, I want to throw out a scenario hear your input.

If you had to choose between HUGE MONEY with limited free time,  or LIMITED MONEY with a fluid schedule. Which one would you choose and why?

I know that's pretty vague scenario, but when it gets down to it - that really is the truth. More money or more time?

xoxo
Michelle

A French Theme - OOTD

All of you have been so patient with enduring my 6 months of 'self-taken' head shots. I'm completely bored with it - so you have to be bored too. GREAT NEWS though - now that I'm home I have a full closet again along with a full-length mirror. Its still not as great as a 'camera/tri-pod arrangment' (which is going on the Christmas list) -but it is an improvement.

Today's OOTD ('outfit of the day' if you are seriously a new blogger and not up to speed with the abbreviated lingo) is French themed. Read: simple lines with a soft skirt and the waist accentuated.

 

This blue skirt (Banana Republic) has front pockets -but it is too big, so I hoisted it up with a wide elastic belt. A simple black turtle neck (H&M) keeps the look slimming, yet comfortable. At one point I swore I would never wear a turtleneck again (since it can make you look like a fat conservative cow), but with short hair and a skirt with heels- I think it works.



 

I adore great tights and socks. These ones (H&M) have wool in them, so they're very warm -  not to mention they have great texture to an otherwise basic outfit. Black patent Mary Jane's - op shopped.



 



I didn't want to be a 'bruise-bomb' with my black and blue combo - so I added a rich purple coat for color. I think the jewel tones look rich together.




Not the warmest coat (Nordstroms - Brass Plum) in the world - but it will do the trick. Please try to ignore the messy dressing room - it's total chaos with the unpacking. There is going to be a major closet purge in my near future (I can hear my nieces squealing in delight over this comment.....)

I was excited to get home and do Helga's FROCK FRIDAY, but honestly I'm not consistent enough to follow a series. Remember Euro Trash? I intended it to be on Friday, but when Friday came I didn't always feel like doing it so it would often post on Tuesday or some other random day of the week.

With that being said..... I will just post whatever/whenever. I often write up several posts at once and them schedule them out throughout the week - so please bear with me as I fall back into some sort of 'theme' to the blog.

xoxo
Michelle

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