And the Livin' is Easy

Well, it's finally fall, even though it's been ludicrously hot in Chicago for almost a week now. This summer was been super eventful, and it was such a nice change of pace from the first several months of the year! First, my mom came to visit, and after spending one of the nicest weekends I've had all year with her, I had two days of Trashy Diva meetups the very next weekend. I went to Vintage Garage Chicago for the first time and scored some sweet new dresses and an epic suitcase, and Jeff and I had a lovely babymoon around Chicago.

Wiggle Week II

If you're anything like me, you were born sick and tired of looking at gorgeous clothes and thinking 'that's so pretty, but I could never wear that.' My style-obsessed heart aches for all the gorgeous people out there who've internalized society's garbage beauty standards. I've been there and it's not fun. Last November, I decided to devote a week to breaking through these negative thoughts, and thus Wiggle Week was born!

World's silliest graphic.

Review: Twisted Scissors Chicago

Based on all the responses to my Instagram post this morning, it's safe to say that I'm not the only one who gets rather nervous whenever it's time for a haircut. I've had more than one haircut that ended in tears (which, thankfully, I've been able to hold back till I found some privacy!) I'd found a hairdresser I liked in LA, but after six years of relatively hair-drama-free bliss, we moved to Chicago and the process began all over again. I'm happy to say that after fifteen months in this city, I've finally completed my quest today at Twisted Scissors salon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm getting ready to do one of my favorite things in the world: cook a giant, elaborate holiday meal. There's something extra satisfying about holiday cooking: no matter what, the fact that somebody in the distant past arbitrarily decided to celebrate a certain day gets me in the party mood every single time.

#WiggleWeek: Deadly Dames Courtesan Wiggle

While I'll always love a circle skirt with a massive petticoat or two, I'm really starting to get into the wiggle dress. It's taken me a while, since I've spent most of my life feeling self-conscious about my belly, but lately I've really been feeling the fitted look! They have a totally different vibe than my usual giant-skirt-and-novelty-print combo, but it's one I finally feel ready to embrace. Life is just too short to worry about whether strangers can clearly see that you have a stomach: hello, everybody has a stomach. Otherwise, we'd all die of starvation!

60 Things That Make Me Happy

Ever since I was about 11 or so, I've kept a journal. In addition to documenting the mundane, one of the things I've always liked to do is to make lists. I'd make lists of favorite names and words, or of things I wanted to do before I turned 30, or my particular favorite: lists of things that make me happy.

In the spirit of my pen-and-paper journal habits, I thought I'd list my top 50 things that make me happy at this moment, and share my top 10 happy outfits.

Vamping It Up

Wiggle dresses and fitted skirts terrify me. No matter how many crunches I do (and lately, I've done my fair share), my love of eating always defeats the better angels of my nature. What do I mean by this? Simply this: I have a squishy middle, and in fitted clothing, I'm pretty self-conscious about it. I think nothing of wearing a dress with a skirt the size of a house, but oddly enough, when people can see what my stomach looks like, I lose my everloving mind.

But – and there is always a 'but' with this type of story – I may have solved my wiggle-dress problem! I'm totally tardy to the Deadly Dames Vamp dress party, but I've finally shown up and that's what matters.

Fact: it is against the law to smile in a leopard-print wiggle dress