Me and Pippy

Here are pictures of me with my kitten!

He's going through a bit of a bitey phase right now, I can't say I approve. But he's still really cute. I am calling him Pippy, but Travis just calls him "cat." He's already a lot bigger than when we got him a couple weeks ago!

Lately I'm not doing anything more interesting than just working a lot. A lady did yell at me the other day in front of the entire store. Some people treat retail employees like they're less human, and I hate that. I swear I wasn't rude to her. But it's alright! I just want a little more time to spend on my art. Speaking of, I was really excited to work on a blog header for Chloe of Of North! She's been a fave of mine for awhile, so I was totally honored to paint her. I've also got a show going up in a local cafe, College Grounds, so I've got to get my work together for that!

Idk if I've mentioned (read: complained) that Travis was hired full time at a place that is literally giving him no work. First he was working full days, then more like 4 hour days... then 2... and now they haven't asked him to come in for like a week and a half. This means that I'm carrying the rent for a 2 bedroom apartment on my own, and his mom is handling the rest. He's applied at dozens of places, so we def have our fingers crossed for something to happen!

Time passes a lot quicker it seems, now that I'm out of school. 

I also got to go to the Indie Craft Parade in Greenville with my friends and family, whom I treasure. Never getting to see the people I love really makes me value the time I spend with them. Plus we got to see a bunch of sweet art made by talented people!

Dress: Thrifted

Shoes: Lucky Brand, Thrifted

Socks: OVS

Top: Walmart forever ago

Art Lately: Getting Botanical

Anxiety - I painted this before flying to Italy. It's important to remember to breathe deeply, you'll get through it.

First Day - I kind of miss going back to school. It freaks me out knowing that time of my life is over.

Planting - This one was a bit out of my comfort zone, but in the end I like how it turned out! I'm definitely getting addicted to painting plants. I have started keeping some, and gardening is very therapeutic.

Sisterhood - Girls, stick together.

Ayanami - A special fan art from a special show.

This last one is a gift I mailed to a friend! Shhh don't tell her ;)

Brighter

I don't ever have to go clothes shopping anywhere other than work now, it's great! Also kind of a dangerous job, since I spend my day going through all the clothes that come in... me and the girls that work there end up giving at least some of our paychecks right back!

Today was a pretty nice day! Me and Trav got a kitten earlier this week. Probably not the best decision ever since we're kind of strapped for cash atm, but it made Travis so happy! And he's such a sweet little guy. We're calling him Pippi right now, I'll be sure to post photos of him soon! He's part of the litter that crawled out from under our porch a couple weeks ago. My sister and Travis's old roomate both wanted one too, so we got to give a couple more kittens good homes!

Well, I just worked 10 days in a row, and am enjoying my little mid-week weekend. This Sunday is my Mom's birthday, and we're going to the Craft Fair in Greenville! I get to see my friends too, I'm so pumped!

Top, Shoes, Bag: Thrifted

(Monteau, Steve Madden, Fossil respectively)

Shorts: American Apparel

Necklace: I forgot to take a close up :( 

But it was made for me by a friend.

Granny Shoes

Our neighbor has kittens!

We really want one but I'm worried that it'll cost too much and that it won't get along with Kit when I bring him down. Plus Travis wants to name it Goku, so there are a few good reasons not to. But, kittens! I want to give one a good home. The guy doesn't seem like a very responsible pet owner. We gave him a box for the cats and he dropped it! A box full of kittens! It was like a horror movie!

Do ya'll like my granny shoes? They're, like, orthopedic. Haha. But I think they're cute in an ugly sort of way! I got the beaded cardigan from the thrift store and was all like "Woah look at this it must be hand beaded from like the 20s so vintage omg!" But then I found a tag. It's from TopShop. It's also like 8 pounds or something.

My crop top is from Megan, I traded it for art. She's a super sweet lady, check her out!

I had a really wonderful weekend, but now I'm back to work! I'm always just looking forward to getting home and painting, really.

Top: Kiddo TV

Shorts: American Apparel

Cardigan: Topshop, thrifted

Shoes: Thrifted

Pin: Modern Girl Blitz

Necklace: Forever 21

Back in the Garden

Today I wore what's probably the prettiest dress I ever did wear!

It's also from work, no surprise there, and it's designer, ooh la la! It's Nicole Miller, and while I'm not sure how old it is, her dresses sell for something like $250, and I've never been able to afford something like that. But it sure is beautiful! I'll cut the small talk and get you right to a close up:

Isn't it a work of art? My Mom was pretty jealous, tbh. I took a couple days off work this week and ended up with a four day weekend due to schedule stuff and Labor Day. And it's sure felt good! I got to go home for the first time in like a month and a half. My parents and cat were glad to see me and I really enjoyed just being back in the house. I missed them so much! My Mom took me to some thrift stores and I got bunches of lovely treasures (I know she reads this blog, hi Mom!), and I painted one of our old chest of drawers powder blue and brought it to the apartment (no more using bins to hold my undies). Plus, the weather was beautiful.

I forgot how much I missed driving. During school I'd drive for 4 hours a week round trip on weekends and sing really loudly with the windows down. Now I don't get to do that anymore, which saves on gas... but I miss out on my the therapy of the good ol open road.

My Mom has a really beautiful garden, and she gave me a bunch of plants to take back with me! Here's our back porch. She's a decorating genius, really.

After I took pictures with the tripod, Mom wanted to take a few, so I posed for her. ^ Stunning as per usual.

Dress: Nicole Miller, thrifted

Shoes: Seychelles, thrifted

Necklace: Handmade by me

Absence

So, this dress came into my work. Brand new, with tags, still on the freakin' Modcloth website. We were selling it for $22. I was like "holy shit that's an Emily and Fin I need to own it," obviously. Only problem is it's a size XS, and well, I'm a pretty solid M. But I squeezed my butt into this beauty, and look at me now! It's a little hard to breathe deeply, but this is a price I am willing to pay. I can't believe my luck!!

I'm happy to be visiting home right now. You know what they say about absence, it makes the heart grow fonder. My Mom took me thrifting and I got a ton of wonderful goodies! Lots of pots and some pillows and some grandma-shoes. And I got to hug my cat again! Work was really busy this week, and I think I deserve this 4 day weekend I'm having. I literally slept for 15 hours on Friday. And then I took a nap.

Oh and check it out! I have a Fossil bag! I do love my work because it means I can afford things like this, and I'm recycling clothing, too! This pretty baby cost me like $12. It's the first time in years I've carried something that's not brown.

Dress: Thrifted, Emily and Fin

Pin: Kate Rowland

Shoes: UO

Bag: Thrifted, Fossil

Bra Free

There's a couple of things I'm not going to compromise on:

1. I'm not gonna shave.

2. If I don't feel like wearing a bra, I'm not gonna wear a bra.

I understand that there are certain things I can't do at work, like wear crop tops and ripped tights, and that's fine, I can handle it. But keeping my hairy legs and letting the girls loose are two tiny ways that I can promote my ideals, so to speak. We feel ashamed about things like body hair and nipples, and that ain't right, it ain't right at all! I can oppose the patriarchy and still look professional enough for work.

I don't wanna come off like I'm trying to make a big ol' statement here, because bra burning is nothing new. But I do want to do my part in normalizing things that should be considered normal, like a healthy love for our own bodies.

I took these pictures in a corner of our apartment, which is slowly starting to shape up! My plants are doing better already, and I'm so excited about it. I want to find them some pretty pots to make them feel special! Hopefully the place will be cute enough to share on the blog soon.

The last time I wore these shoes to work they killed my feet, so I'm going to bring a backup pair this time.

Dress: Thrifted

Shoes: UO on sale

Necklace: Target