FBFF - Blogging Lessons

Happy Friday everyone! I'm actually surprised it's already Friday, my week seems to have gone by quite quickly. Hopefully today flies by too. No outfit photos today, but I am wearing the exact same thing as last Friday, so you're not missing out.

Today's Friend Friday is a little different. Instead of five questions, we have to list the 5 hardest blogging lessons learned while blogging, and how they've made us a better blogger. I don't know if I can come up with 5, but we'll see!

Is this really interesting? - I have a tendency to babble - I'm sure you've noticed - and I have to reign myself in and try to keep things on topic while trying to be interesting. Just because some tiny detail or silly informational tidbit is of interest to me, it might not be to others. So I've started reading my blog with "other eyes", to try and imagine, if I were someone else, would I enjoy reading my post? It definitely seems to help... at least I think so!

Mit It Up! - I don't want my blog to be repetitive and blah, which I noticed was starting to happen, outfit post after outfit post, so I decided to mix it up. Or at least try. I'll write up a post about a certain style of dresses or do something like my recent step-by-step recipe with photos post. I think a little variety definitely helps me be better, more interesting blogger.

Don't be jealous! - Yes, I admit it, I am mildly jealous of other bloggers who have oodles of watchers and get tons of comments and have crazy amazing style. But I decided, why be jealous? I can learn from these fashionable ladies instead, learning fashion tricks and blogging techniques that I can apply to myself. Jealousy gets you nowhere, but soaking up info is great!

Keep on truckin' - Sometimes I just really, really don't feel like posting. But I know if I start to slack in my blogging duties, that it'll snowball and suddenly it'll be two weeks later and I haven't posted in ages. And I really don't want that. So I make myself post as regularly as I can, keeping myself at full blogging steam!

You get what you give - If you write bland, boring posts all the time, you're going to get bland boring replies... or none at all! So I try to write in a lively manner, and to be cheery and friendly. Especially when some of the people who comment here regularly are ladies who's blogs I also read and like to consider as bloggy friends. Fin.

Well that wasn't the best FBFF contribution I've ever made but hey, I'm trying. I'm really looking forward to next week's questions though, those I will be able to answer much better than I did with this task. But moving on... Here's another new necklace in my Etsy shop!

Have any plans for the weekend? My last weekend was so busy, I want to try and stay in and relax. Or at least just do my own stuff. I suddenly have a desire to try doing some home-made acid washing, so I want to go out and get some t-shirts at a thrift store and give that a go. Maybe I should do step-by-step photos of that too... Would anybody be down with a Do-it-yourself acid washing post?

I hope you're all having a good day, cheers!

Oreo Cream Cheese Cupcakes

This post is brought to you by ridiculously delicious baked goods. And the fact that I am running out of new things to post. I've pretty much taken a photo of most every seemingly interesting outfit that I can wear in these temperatures... so I'm stuck in weather-limbo until spring really hits and I can wear what I want to wear and not what the weather calls for instead. But yes, baked goods! Oreo cream cheese cupcakes!

These are indeed as delicious as they look! And so super simple to make too! I used this recipe here, but there are literally dozens of oreo cupcake recipes out there, so if this one isn't your favourite, try another. Anywho, I had the brainwave of taking photos while baking these, to give you a sort of step-by-step. Here we go!

Ingredients: - 18 whole Oreo Cookies and 6 roughly chopped Oreo Cookies
                     - 1/2 a cup of sugar
                     -  2 large room temperature eggs, lightly beaten
                     - 1/2 a cup of sour cream
                     -  1 pound cream cheese (I know it seems like a lot, but it's worth it!)
                     -  1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (the real stuff makes a difference)
                     -  A pinch of salt

Step 1: Place cupcake liners in your muffin tins (I used one 12 cup and one 6 cup tin, medium cup size) and then place One Oreo Cookie in the bottom of each cupcake liner.

Step 2: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. I highly recommend you let your cream cheese hang out somewhere warm ahead of time, to make this an easier task.

Step 3: Once the cream cheese is smooth, gradually add in your sugar, and then beat in the vanilla extract.

Pictured here is the cream cheese combined with sugar...

Because I forgot I was supposed to be taking a photo at each step!

Vanilla extract!

Step 4: Drizzle in the beaten eggs, a little bit at a time. Make sure to scrape down the sides so everything is well combined!

So I didn't drizzle... but it worked out fine!

Step 5: Beat in the sour cream and add your pinch of salt!

Step 6: Stir in chopped cookies by hand. The ol' fashion way!

Step 7: Pour your batter into the cupcake cups, nearly to the top. These won't rise like most cupcakes, so don't worry about expanding cupcakes overflowing.

Step 8: Bake at 275˚F for about 20-25 minutes or until firm to the touch.

Step 9: Transfer to a wire cooling rack - but keep in tins - and once cool, place in fridge to set for at least 4 hours. (I left mine in overnight)

And voilà! Oreo cream cheese cupcakes! They're like tiny little single-serving sized cheesecakes in a cup. I do recommend eating them with a fork and in a plate, with a napkin handy.

I hope you enjoyed my photo-by-photo recipe post Cheers!

I have a hair-do!

Well, a half-assed one. Mostly because I am incapable of using bobby-pins. I know... what kind of long-haired girl doesn't know how to use bobby-pins, right? But my hair was super short (think 1-3 inches) for years and years, and I just kinda never learned how to do my hair. And then I grew it. And I still don't know how. I'm trying to learn though! And this is what I wore on Sunday March 13th, 2011.

Top - Thrifted from the Salvation Army

Skirt - Thrifted from Value Village

I got the idea to do this to my hair a while back when I read about a similar hair-do in one of Heather's posts. I'm afraid I can't remember which it was to link you back to, it was weeks ago at this point. Anyway, I've always hated how I look with a pony tail - my hair does weird stuff at the back of my head - and I can't for the life of me figure out how to braid my hair behind my head... so side braids are doable. And so is this. With hair clips. Because I fail at bobby-pins.

If I put some effort into things I could probably manage it without having elastics at the end of the braids... but I'm lazy. Actually, this hair-do is great for when I skip a shower and my hair looks bleh. You can't tell when it's braided, heh.

And the whole point of this for me is just to get my hair up and off my neck, which even a pony tail can't really do. And that's important with summer and warm weather coming. When you have 3+ feet of hair... you need to be able to put it up somehow in hot weather conditions. I used to clip it, but I can't find clips big enough to handle all my hair anymore haha...

The funny thing is that I've always needed my hair to look clean and sleek and perfect, I can't stand stray hairs. I've avoided doing things to my hair because I thought they looked too messy. And yet this braid-crown do-up is messy as all get out. Especially by the end of the day, I'll have little wisps of hair floating around my head like a blond halo. But I like that somehow. Now I just need to perfect the hair braiding and clipping so I can do it everyday without taking up too much time before work.

And as a random end-of-post extra... Here's one of the photos I took of one of my crested geckos this past weekend. I bought some lilies and decided to have an impromptu lizard photo shoot. Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

Cheers!

Sun Flowers and Hopes of Spring

It's trying really hard to be spring outside! But it's that awkward time of year where it's cold in the mornings but warmer in the evenings and I can't ever figure out just what to wear out the door. I look forward to the time when I just need to sling my bag over my shoulder and walk out the door, no muss, no fuss.

Dress - Purchased on Etsy from Reluctant Damsel.

Shirt - Smartset

Tights - Fancy Sox

Shoes - Thrifted from Value Village

This dress! Love it so much! (Okay, I say this about all my new dresses... but it's true every time!) I wore this on Friday March 11th. I'm stuck wearing it layered over top things for the moment but I cannot wait to wear it on its own this spring and summer. Plus there's this amusing coincidence...

My tattooed flowers match perfectly with my dress, haha... I've had several people make the comment so far so I figured I should share. And for those wondering... Germaine was my maternal great-grandmother, and the Brown-eyed Susan's are my favourite flowers.

I had a totally fantastic weekend. Friday night I went out dancing to psytrance with some friends - and learned that this dress glows in UV - and had a blast. Then Saturday night I went out with another friend to a blues bar where we danced to some funk n' reggae. Lots of dancing!

Now if any of you happen to really, really like the pattern from my dress... Well it just happens that there's another item on Etsy with the same exact fabric, from the same line of clothing. So if you too want to run around this summer sporting some sun flowers like these... Maybe this romper will do!

I hope you've all been having a good Monday - as good as Mondays can be! Cheers!

FBFF - Blogging and Life

Hello all! I'm sitting at home right now because, unbelievably, I am incapable of leaving my driveway. I took one step off the front stoop this morning, slid 5 feet down a slight icy incline, and realized the entire street was like an ice rink. Plus it was raining. And the sidewalks weren't cleared.

What should be my walkway, a sidewalk and a paved road.
(Why or how my neighbour's driveway is so clean is beyond me!)

Again, there's supposed to be a sidewalk somewhere in there.

It took me two minutes of slippery slope ice struggles before I able to make it the whole 5 feet back to my doorstep. So yeah... not going in to work today! I am not risking slipping and hurting myself. I'll probably post outfit photos later tonight, but for now, here are this week's Fashion Friday questions and answers.

1. When it comes to prioritizing your life, in what place does
blogging fall?
It's important to me as something that I have been capable of picking up and actually keeping with, but I won't refuse to hang out with friends or change plans or something just so I can take outfit photos or write a post.

2. We all wish we had more free time to dedicate to blogging and all
it entails. What are your tricks for taking advantage of the time you
do have to be as productive as possible?
Oh goodness, I have no tricks haha... I just try and schedule my time to squeeze in a quick photo session, or if I'm at the computer just chatting with friends, I'll do some quick photo editing. Just basic stuff.

3. Have you discovered any short-cuts that makes blogging easier or
more time efficient?
Well I do have to admit that having "spare" outfit photos from before that I haven't gotten around to posting on that exact day, are actually kinda handy. If I don't have time for anything elaborate, I can just throw up some older outfit photos.

4. Do you have an editorial calendar or something similar that helps
you plan ahead?
Goodness no, my blogging is all on the fly, a daily thing. The closest I come to planning ahead is trying to decide what outfit to wear on certain days so I can use it in the blog.

5. If time wasn’t an issue what you would be doing on your blog/for
your blog that you aren’t doing now?
Going to different places to take photos! All winter I've wanted to do a quick shoot in a library somewhere, but I still haven't gotten around to doing it for lack of time.

Happy Friday everyone! Cheers!

From the Ashes

Alright! Time to get in gear and start blogging again. I'm going to begin this post by telling you about a giveaway! It's a chance to win $100 to spend at Chic Shop, brought to you through Amy at Flying a Kite. There are a couple things on their site I would love to get my hands on. You can read how to enter the giveaway here.

Dress - Purchased on Etsy from Sally Jane Vintage.
Tights - Fancy Sox
Shoes - Spring

This is what I wore yesterday. I absolutely adore, this dress. I'd had it in my Etsy favourites for ages, and came quite close to purchasing it in the past. Finally there was a sale and I used it as an excuse to snap it up and make it mine. I am so happy it didn't slip away!

I'm not usually a big fan of dark navy or midnight blues on myself but this dress really makes me happy. It's one of those 70's dresses, much like this one, that I just really dig and love to wear.

And in other news... I have a few more new necklaces in my Etsy shop and I'd be super pleased if you could take the time to check them out! I'm doing my best self-publicity but it's tough going! I put a few items on sale and put them in their own little section, so maybe that will help things along.

I can really feel myself getting into a good style and creativity groove now. I'd have more to post, but two I had made for the shop were sold to people in person before I had the chance to list them! (I guess I can't complain about that!)

A friend of mine also makes UV responsive clay jewelry and we've talked before about maybe getting together to sell at fairs or craft shows or something. I'd need more stock first though, definitely. Maybe in the future!

I am so glad tomorrow is Friday, how about you? Hope you're all doing well! Cheers!

Intermission

Let's just consider this an intermission from your regularly scheduled (not really) blog posts. Ahem. I haven't really been in the mood to blog lately, nor even read the blogs of those I'm following - I'm sorry, I'll try to catch up - but I am making effort today to try and get back in the swing of things. Thankfully, I still have a saved up outfit from a few weeks ago.

Dress - In the mall somewhere

Tights - Fancy Sox

Leg warmers - Ardene's

I wore this way back on February 19th, 2011. I don't usually tend to buy things from the mall anymore but this dress caught my eye last year and I just couldn't help myself. The pattern is fun, and the dress does amazingly well at managing my bosom that I had to take it home haha...

I just finished cleaning out my closet of clothing I no longer wear or things that are now too large. I purged 5 pairs of jeans (I don't even wear pants, why do I have all of these?!) several old dresses, dress shirts, sweater dresses, t-shirts... All the more room for new vintage acquisitions! ;)

We're going back to Sturgeon Falls tomorrow to spend some time with my grandmother before the funeral Saturday. So I'm going to be AWOL for a wee bit longer as we're only coming back on Sunday. I want to bring all my jewelery making supplies so I can keep myself busy sans internet.

And thank you to all of you for the kind comments. They meant a lot, and I really appreciated them. Somehow they seem more sincere to me in a way, since none of you were obligated or forced, but willing gave me your kind words.

I hope you're all doing well. Cheers.