Birthday Party!

 My handsome roommate/perma-boo, Jake, turned 30 last week. It makes for good "you're old!" fodder, because he's more than three years my senior, but honestly he looks younger now than he did five years ago.

Here in Chicago, I pampered him with a hot lather shave at a barber shop. In his words it was, "neat but terrifying and a little painful." Afterward, I surprised him with a sushi dinner under the "stars" at home. We drank champagne from my Long Island trip out of my Great Aunt Dot and Uncle Bill's wedding flutes from 1956.

Over the weekend, we made the pilgrimage back to Iowa to visit my family and our family of friends. We were fortunate enough to go play at our old coffee stomping grounds. Jake made me a delicious macchiato, and I reminded myself how much I love making drinks. I made the latte above--I still got it!

For dinner, we joined about thirty of our closest friends at the Tic Toc for our favorite fried foods, stiff drinks, and Katie's homemade cupcakes topped with mini Jakes. We finished the night by cashing in a free keg party at our regular bar. Seen above, we all celebrated our love for him by wearing our best Jake ensembles--mostly western or plaid shirts tucked into jeans, with a big belt buckles. Cory, on the left, made an homage to the hospital employed Jake of yore.

Friends, I am in love with you! And the birthday boy seemed to have a perfect time.

DIY Memorial Day: The Results

Perfecting the art of dirt-cheap holiday memories.

THE RESULTS

Backyard haircuts at dusk:

Dye party (Rit Dye and old stained clothing):

Late night relay races:

DIY Memorial Day: The Process

Photo by Carissa, more found here!

Perfecting the art of dirt-cheap holiday memories.

THE PROCESSES

Backyard haircuts at dusk:

Dye party (Rit Dye and old stained clothing):

Late night relay races:

Surfin' the Positivity Wave

Friday night was a treat! Large portions of good times and major positivity! Jake, Carissa, and I three-way dated to Iowa City to see Koo Koo Kanga Roo perform the all-ages show at Gabe's.

These two fellas are so much fun, just oozing with a zest for life and every person and thing in it. Koo Koo Kanga Roo promotes bein' nice, havin' fun, being silly, and feeling great. We participated in a ninja vs pirate dance-off, played with an old-school parachute elementary P.E. style, and did a lot of call and response. If you know me, you know I love group activities and TOGETHERNESS, WHOA. Minneapolis needs to watch out, because I may kidnap them and keep them for all positivity, all the time.

Carissa, myself, Jake, and Bryan (of the 'Roo) posing for the band's webcam. They bring their computer to all of their shows and encourage all of their new friends to take photos. Bryan gifted us each mustaches on a stick--handmade by them.

The headband I'm wearing was hand-braided by Leslie Hall using spandex scraps. You can get your own here.

Free friendship bracelet making station as part of their merch station. "MAKE ONE! And give it to someone you have NEVER met before! THOSE ARE THE RULES!"

Gabe's has two pinball machines I've never seen before. Wheel of Fortune and Big Buck Hunter. The Wheel of Fortune is a beautiful rave of a machine, but the Big Buck table was terrifying, frankly.

 

Friday's work outfit

Top: Reconstructed by myself, an old stained tee embellished with that funky stuff from a thrifted top, $3.00-ish

Skirt: Thrifted, $1.75

Earrings: Rusty La Rue (by pretty lady Emily, can be found at White Rabbit), $7.50

Shoes: Grungy work Keds, gifted by boo

Approximate Total: $15.25

Wassup, B?

Wishful dressing works! The past two days have been over 40 degrees here, and the forecast is due to slowly creep up to 60 by Thursday. Iowa can be brutal, but waiting will inevitably bring you the occasional unseasonal weather. Here I am acting foolish and not wearing a coat in the 35-degree weather:

Enjoying the fact that there is ground space not wet, icy, or snow-covered.

Outfit seemingly inspired by Carissa.

Dress: My favorite and most-complimented dress. So comfortable. Vintage, $5.00

Cardigan: Handed down by my mom after an accidental shrink in the dryer, free

Belt: Thrifted, $.25

Earring: Upcycled from old jewelry, seen here, free

Socks: Target, $1.75

Shoes: Thrifted work (read:filthy) Keds, bought by my boo, free

Sunglasses: Douche-y, but it was legitimately bright. Vintage, purchased at Thrift Mart (my favorite day of the year!), $.25

Approximate Total: $7.25

Rather than gather at one of our usual drinking establishments, we (the crew) collectively decided to leave the success/raucousness of Friday's PROM! be and enjoy a quiet Saturday and Sunday. I spent my Saturday afternoon working with housemate Brandon, who was miserably stuffed up. I offered him some natural tips for relief. Witness:

Ingredients: a quarter tablespoon of "wasabi" paste and a whole lotta gumption.

Results: Major discomfort, but about 30 minutes of intense and immediate relief.

 Saturday evening, Jake and I had our Lincoln's-Birthday-Not-Valentine's-Day Date. If you ever want to take me out on the best! date! ever!*, I recommend you follow suit: Super burgers and cheeseballs at the Starlite Room, an hour of pinball at the local dive bowling alley, at least an hour in the store in quest for the perfect snacks, and way too much candy while watching way too much Party Down in our jammies. Swoon.

A handsome fellow posing in front of the Local Bowler's Hall of Fame. I'm a little concerned about Mr. Bottom Left.

 Can I just brag for a moment and say I earned 22 million points in JUST ONE TURN, and replay was 31 million on the Sopranos pinball game? Sure, I blew it and basically scratched my final two turns...but still! I grew up with a machine in my home and was raised by my dad to be a pinball wizard, touring the area for the best machines. It's one of many fun things my dad and I would do on "father/daughter days," my favorite days.

Do you know of any pinball machines open for public play in the Cedar Rapids area? Hit me up! They're tough to find these days. I'd love to make a database/locator!

*Just kidding, I am kinda-sorta-totally life partners with that guy up there. But I will gladly accept those activities under the (metaphorical) blanket of friendship!

Prom Outfit Rundown

Photos courtesy of Liz, found here.

My prom dress was a reconstructed version of a dress Carissa gifted me for the occasion. I'm terrible about doing "befores" to pair with the "afters," but the dress originally looked like a sky blue version of this:

Source

 To alter the dress, I cut off the long skirt, fitted the bodice, removed the sleeves, made a scoop-neck, and added a giant bow and bustle from extra fabric. I used elastic and more fabric for the hair bow, and one of the sleeve's cuffs for the corsage band. Of the entire ensemble, the only thing I spent money on specifically for the occasion was the $1.00 bundle of fake grapes for my wrist. All other pieces were already in my home!

Dress and bow: Reconstructed vintage, FREE

Tights: Betsey Johnson, $3.00 

Shoes: Not pictured. Thrifted floral and bow-ed wedges, $12.00 BIG SPENDER

(pictured above were my packed "comfy pair")

Bracelet: Rhinestone costume necklace, worn to my actual senior prom!

Corsage: Bundle of plastic grapes, $1.00

Approximate Total:  $16.00

Jake's Outfit

Shirt: Thrifted, $2.00

Bow-tie: Thrifted, $.50

Boutonniere: Clearance craft aisle, $1.00

Belt: One-hundred-thousand years old, thrifted rhinestone buckle, $.50

Pants: Thrifted, $3.00

Shoes: Thrifted Italian snakeskin "pimpin shoes," $5.00

Approximate Total: $12.00

PROM!

All that PROM! build-up totally paid off!

FRIENS! That was totally my fault.

The highlights:

Over 40 people came!

No one broke anything or barfed anywhere!

Everyone danced! And sang!

My friends are terribly handsome and clean up well!

Lots of new friendships!

Pretty and weird. The best kind of people.

We were able to throw this prom for VERY little money. We can thank that to craftiness and friendliness. Being nice to people is cool to do and occasionally has its financial pay-offs. After being loyal patrons to our karaoke master, Mike at Crowne Karaoke, he volunteered to run the music at our prom for FREE! His newest karaoke venue, Gatherings, offered up their beautiful restaurant/rental space for payment merely in smiles. We returned the favor by cleaning up their space afterward and putting out tip jars for everyone.

Mike, our karaoke guy of over three years, second from the right

Tom, the owner of Gatherings (top, second from right) and Tina, our long-time friend and all-time favorite bartender (front, center).

Pair that with decorations that cost less than $40, and the event cost us organizers less than $10 each to put together. BAM!

Instead of buying $2 weights for the $1 balloons, Carissa tied them to cassettes she had around the house. It reduced the balloon bundle price by 2/3 and was much, much more inline with our prom's concept. Bonus: the NKOTB and Ted Nugent tapes made excellent conversation starters.

All of the photo booth pictures are courtesy of Liz, who graciously volunteered her equipment and expertise for the evening. Check out the whole set here.

This is Liz. She's nice and nice to look at. I'm so glad to know her.

After the cut follows more of my favorite photos

Winter Slap

Winter got me. Those doldrums are here. Hopefully I can kick them tomorrow with a healthy dose of positive attitude and lots of greens and almonds. 

I'm working on a legit, relevant post full of substance. But until that happens, here are some photos. Blogging for the sake of blogging. Or at least, for the sake of not not-blogging. Get it?

Disclaimer: living alone without a tripod or camera remote makes taking photos of yourself reaaallll awkward. Evidence as follows:

Monday, Takin' a lean in the kitchen.

Top: Thrifted, $1.50

Dress: Thrifted and cropped shorter, $2.50

Belt: Thrifted, $.50

Earrings: Handmade by Rusty La Rue, $7.00 (available at White Rabbit!)

Leggings: Target, years ago, $5.00

Boots: Second-hand, FREE DOLLARS

Approximate Cost: $16.50

What did I do? I made delicious chili verde from scratch! One secret ingredient: a can of Hamm's beer. The rest are secret secret ingredients.

Tuesday, Muschi Cat pictured in the chair.

Top: Reconstructed out of two thrifted shirts and some elbow grease, $1.00 (two shirts for 50cents each)

Skirt: Thrifted, a longer skirt that is comfy enough to roll if I choose to wear it "mini"--an excellent way to get more use out of it, $2.00

Tights: Years old, $2.00ish

Socks: Target, $2.00

Boots: Thrifted cowboys as usual, FREE

Bow: A gift from Carissa at the peak of my bow days, years ago

Approximate Cost: $7.00

What did I do? Sang karaoke stone-cold-sober and altered 2 skirts to wear this week.

Bow & junk pile.

more bang trimming

SATURDAY DATE NIGHT. Note Jake's "before" hair, and his ability to align himself exactly in the two right squares.

Skee-ball! One of our favorite date night activities. And so cheap!

After. More to note: his wide stance and the denim shirt to match my own.

More date night. Jake prefers colored pencils (top), I prefer crayons (bottom).

Erin and I brought identical snacks to work. Nothing gives me an energy punch like a handful of almonds and an orange. $6.00 worth of natural almonds has lasted me nearly two weeks at a handful a day.

Our espresso machine leaked (where the dial is), so we hired Macgyver to rig up half a paper cup and some cardboard. Busted and beautiful!

PS: Happy day-late birthday to my loveliest, lovely Jessica. A birthday post will follow, featuring lots 'o ladies in jumpsuits.