The Shoe of the Leopard

You know the feeling, right? As the sun scintillates through the tree branch openings it becomes clear just how beautiful the day will be and you feel a pleasant pressure building up within you until you just scream out with conviction:

♫ I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter

dancing through the fire

'cause I am a champion

and you're gonna hear me roar ♪

Or maybe you don't know the feeling since I made it all up.  But can't you just imagine the power of the sun in that photo?  Wouldn't you like to sing Katy Perry's song while darting through the trees and dancing through the fire?  Because you are a champion, as am I.  Anyway...in terms of outer beauty I do not have the eye of the tiger, but I do have the shoe of the leopard... print.

um...what?

This was some time ago, before fall befell us (the heat then was no joke).  My lovely mother came to visit me and I had to dress to impress.  Only because my momma always looks amazing and I have to at least try to match-- I couldn't just wear jeans when she came all the way to see me.  Ironically, she happened to wear jeans that day, but still chic (the ultimate style descriptor for her). 

Still simple, still comfortable, and still different from what I'd usually wear on the weekend.  These pants are everything, actually.  I have no ounce of regret in buying them.  Okay, I had one ounce while at the store but I let the clerks keep it once I left and wore the pants the following day.  Oh, one thing about the flats: I really like this blogger/vlogger Shirley B. Eniang at Meek-n-Mild (blog link on the right) and I felt a little inspired by her style when I saw the shoes at Target.  Cool, cool.  Hope you enjoy my silliness, like the outfit, and have a lovely day.

Karate Kid crane kick...obviously

♫ I'm a huntress on an African safari ♪

New York & Co. top
Gap cap(ris)
Target Mossimo leopard flats
Ruche earrings
crossbody purse
My skinny bangles

Oh Autumn!

As far as I'm concerned fall officially began four days ago.  The autumnal equinox and one weekend of rain ushered in the new season but I was not truly aware until I decided to step out in decidedly warm-weather clothes.  While everyone else had broken out their boots, sweaters and cool colors, I had on sandals, short sleeves and summer pastels (which is an actual fashion-type phrase! also, awesome alliteration!).

This is autumn!!!!!!!

It's always a challenge for me to dress smartly (or even decently) when the weather turns drab.  And since I maintain a pre-weather forecast mindset, I almost never check the predictions and constantly walk out the door ill-prepared.  Sometimes I run back in to grab an umbrella or jacket and other times...
Once in college I put on this knee-length denim skirt and a zip-up hoodie (yes, I remember outfits I've worn as far back as age 8).  The ugliest grey ribbed ankle-length tights for "warmth" and flats (which I live in) tied it all together.  That day the wind was harsh and it rained relentlessly.  I got to trudge across campus cold, wet, and uncute.  As I battled the wind's attempts to invert my umbrella I thought "Why did I wear this?! My feet are so wet! Why do I have a doctor's appointment today and why is Student Health Services on the opposite end of campus?!"  

So let's see if I can keep this style blog up through March (oh winter!).  I guess it's always the right time to be creative and actually make effort to look nice. That's the point of this.  To everyone, Happy Autumn!

Fit for Last Week

Doesn't this have that senior portrait vibe?
Too bad I've graduated twice without the real thing.

This morning I woke up feeling ambitious and decided to make scrambled eggs for breakfast.  Chopped tomatoes, onions, and half a Habanero chili pepper...  The onion venom violated my eyes and although I was a fork and an arm away from the pepper, it stung my eyes too.  But I was feeling good about these eggs, so I kept going.  I alternated whites and yolks and added thyme, curry powder and salt. Heard a nice sizzle in the skillet, a promising process.

The result was a bland fail. Even adding Sriracha sauce could not save it.  It was eaten anyway, followed by some chocolate (yeah, chocolate in the morning).  I will try again, make no mistake. That's my boring story for today. Maybe something better will happen, something good at my kickboxing class tonight.  Definitely doubt that... kickboxing is not my friend right now.

Oh so I stepped out in this getup last Thursday to visit my neighborhood Academy Sports and Outdoors for some kickboxing gloves.  Then I played with Picasa a little bit.  I'd always wondered how people created that focal point color, everything else black and white effect. And now I know.  Happy Thursday and not-so-happy government shutdown day 10. Whoo! Whew!

Cynthia Rowley t-shirt
F21 chaqueta
F21 skirt
sandals "stolen" from my cousin's closet

Make It Look Easy

Live music performances are awesome.  And when one of your favorite singers is performing in your city...yeah, even more awesome!  Oh and when you get to meet that favorite singer...well, yeah 3x.  

His name is Travis Garland, his music is really good, and he's from Texas (home state solidarity, ya'll).  I discovered the tour in July and spent two months thinking about it and wondering who to go with.  Because I have no sidekick friend or anyone I felt comfortable asking, I decided to make it a solo adventure.  To go to a never-before-heard-of bar with zero parking and fight against my natural awkwardness. But at least I would have VIP status!

The VIP people sent a slew of emails about the Meet and Greet times: first 4:30 (oops, that was for Austin), then 6:45, then 5:30 (more than two hours before doors open?!), then back to 6:45.  I met two lovely ladies in line and we kinda stuck together once inside.  From 6:45 to midnight I was in the company of a gaggle of girls.  Teenage girls, far-traveling girls, funny girls-- feeling breathless at Travis Garland's presence, pretending to faint, and yelling out why he was still wearing clothes, after he took off his jacket (I'm thinking "Aye, this is not supposed to be Usher or Trey Songz. Calm yourself down.")

VIP got me and the gaggle of girls a pre-show acoustic performance of two songs, a personal photograph and an autographed poster in one of those drawstring bags people always give out. Oooh, I was nervous for that personal photograph. He stood there and asked "Who's first?" This one girl ran into his arms ahead of everyone.  We all wanted to be first, but who would be brave enough? This one girl would, so she did. 

I want to know where his smile went
I also want to know what kind of camera angle this is

After the meet and greet I had to rush outside to move my car (to where?!) or pay $5 (to these money collectors whose sign was not there before.  How is that acceptable?).  Our headliner was scheduled to play at 10:45.  In between we heard a Chicagoan named Spaceship or Starship-- just joking, her name is Storm Calysta.  Electronic music is not my favorite (or even least favorite) and I could barely hear her lyrics over the music but her voice was pretty nice especially in this acoustic song she wrote about Beowulf called "Hero".  Next up was Eddie Gomez.  He sung a made up little something during soundcheck and it was amazing so I was expecting no less than more amazingness.  Expectations met.  Then I decided to meet him too (and of course get a photo, which was not without difficulty).

Attempt #25

Attempt #26

Man, this concert/show/whatever was SO MUCH FUN.  I'm glad I went. I was standing right in front of the stage.  If I was fangirl (or just plain crazy) enough, I could have reached over to touch the microphone stand or maybe even his shoe.  Oh my goodness, that reminds me... Travis Garland had this shirt that he used to gratuitously wipe sweat from his forehead and abdomen and all that.  Then he threw it out to the audience, where two girls caught it at each end.  Yikes.  I would never fight for anything like that.  Would you?  If it just landed in my hands, no struggle, I still don't know what I'd do because that's kinda nasty.  

About my personal stylings: I was going to be real extra and wear some heels or a dress (or try to fit the artist's style), but I thought it'd be better to be myself and dress casual cute.  That top required strategic bra strap arrangement, enough to balance out plain Levi's and sandals.  Secretly apologetic to my one friend who deems it unacceptable to expose your toes if unpolished.  Now every time I think to wear open-toed shoes, I think of what she would say to me.  Sometimes I begrudgingly make myself find an alternative shoe and other times, like the night of this concert, I decide to pretend that I couldn't care less. 

Above is a little clip of the show.  I didn't want to record the whole time, because I think it's important to be in the moment, but I wanted a concrete memory.  

There are three things to take away from this: 1) I'm a ♪ balla baby ♫ 2) Don't be afraid to do what you think you'd have fun doing, even if there's no one to do it with and 3) check out Travis Garland right now. Start with "Where to Land", then "Motel Pool", then "Neighbor" (in the clip), and follow with everything else.