Day 59. 306 days and $302 left to go.

Okey dokes folks, today’s garment was something I fawned over when I first came across it. The ruched shoulders were simply heaven. I think I need to live in a place called Ruched Shoulderville (and clearly summer in Sequin Beach). Seriously, if every piece of clothing in my closet had ruched shoulders I’d have closet envy of my own instead of JT’s, TA’s and MC’s. No joke. OK, just take a look for yourself…

Day 59 - Before

It’s hard to really tell up close, but it’s a stunner and it fit me rather well too! The waist was elastic, the zipper down the back of the dress was intact, and it was the perfect size. It was pretty much aces for me except for the length and the belt loops that were located around the waist. Unfortch, no belt came with this piece, so I had to figure it out and make it work on my own. It’s just too easy, this one…

Day 59 - After

So, you can see that I cut the puppy shorter (no hemming done on this one friends as I’m out-of-town and don’t have the sewing machine with me – raw edges all the way), cut off the belt loops, added my fave elasticky straw looking belt, threw on some textured tights and my comfy black flat boots as I created a makeshift window seat in room 368 at Presbyterian Hosp.

We headed to Captain Steve’s for hush puppies where I couldn’t resist taking themey pics in my ensemble…I mean, with decor like Captain Steve’s, you’re just asking for pics to be taken. Check it.

Ahoy! (I'm probably not supposed to be standing here unless I'm going to pass out menus but whatevs)

Aquarium in the lobby=take picture immediately!

I think the flash from the camera killed the fish. Sorry, Captain!

And sometimes more that just one…

Channeling my inner Nemo

From boat scene…

I'm on a boat...again

…to beach scene next to a now defunct pay phone area, Captain Steve rocks.

I need to hire this muralist to paint this in my house

Radical cousin extraordinaire TP took these fine pics. “Danke Sch√∂en, Darling, Danke Sch√∂en.”

Update: For my girl Anne (and those unfamiliar)…hushpuppies!

Fried balls of goodness, aka hushpuppies

Day 58. 307 days and $303 left to go.

I hearted this piece when I found it , so let’s not waste any time…

Day 58 - Before

Most fabulous of 50s finds! Gorg buttons, 3/4 length sleeves, black linen. Looks good, right? Yeah, not so much – check it out…

Day 58 - Before (from the back)

Agasp, both areas beneath the arms were completely torn open – the left side was pretty thrashed and the right one was not looking so hot either. It must have been a “fat guy in a little coat”/Chris Farley moment to get these puppies ripped this much.

I mean…

ECU!!! (Extreme Close Up!!)

On my little over 2000 mile journey two days ago, I had time on the airplane to do get some hand sewing done. We had our own individual TV’s and even though I was listening, I couldn’t bring myself to actually watch The Real Housewives of Orange County. I’d like to think that listening doesn’t count, but it totally does…

The first thing I did to prep the jacket was to pin up the open seams.

Pin that seam!!

I then took my trusty needle and began my hand stitching journey.

Hand stitchin' away in seat 29E

Closed up those puppies and then tossed it back into my carry-on bag along with my travel pillow/blanket/sleep mask combo from Pechanga Resort & Casino. I know, as much as I love gambling I won’t drive to Temecula, CA for a casino – this was a total freebie that was included in the gift bag from some event that was actually a bit too practical to donate. To answer the question you may be thinking, yes, I am totally horrified each time I bring this out of my bag during my travels…

Yikes...and it's yellow!

The after…just like brand new! The holes have been all sealed up and it’s ready to wear.

Day 58 - After

Looking at this now, I feel like a total equestrian wearing the jacket – the hat assisted in making me look like a total jockey, but whatevs. I like horse racing, gambling is fun, and yes, I was at the Breeders Cup.

Hello Seabiscuit

‘Twas a comfy jacket to wear as we enjoyed some meat. Yep, y’all, we ended our long day with some filets at the Longhorn Steakhouse accompanied by some stuffed baked potato action.

Hello meat!!

Probably the reason the last button on that jacket wouldn’t close

Day 57. 308 days and $304 left to go.

The choice for today totally felt like the Seinfeld “puffy shirt” just without all the ruffled puffiness. The fitted cuffs and embroidery gave it an Elizabethan feel, but not in a good way. If it makes me feel like Juliet, great. If it makes me feel like Shakespeare himself, not so great.

Day 57 - Before

I did love the embroidery and fitted cuffs, but it just didn’t work in white. It was in pristine condition, aside from being a little bit large, but that was something that could be easily fixed. I decided to grab the dye and color this piece up! (I promise a full dye tutorial will be coming soon – I’m even going to throw a little tye-dying in for good measure, so sit tight!) Before dye time began I took in the shirt just a skosh and then threw it in a vat of boiling water with some RIT dye in Yellow. I didn’t want it to look like a banana, so I put in a smaller amount and it transformed the shirt into a lovely shade of lemon chiffon. (I’m in the south right now, so it’s all about food – Chick-Fil-A will be had very, very soon.) Looky, looky…

Day 57 - After

It came out in the most subtle shade of yellow which I loved. For most of the day, I pushed up the lace cuffs to make the sleeves even more poofy, which gave off the Renaissance feel in a total feminine way. The dye took to the embroidered lace beautifully and ended up being a little darker than the rest of the blouse. I loved that the lace was more pronounced now (you can really see it lining the buttons down the front), as you couldn’t tell a bit when it was all white. Took the shirt from plain to precious.

I enjoyed a ridiculously delicious Cadillac margie made by my fab cuz-in-law BP as my NY Jets lost to the Colts in the AFC championship game this afternoon…

Shirt matches my marg!

…then enjoyed the warm NC winds while it downpoured.

Raindance!!

Thanks to my ‘lil cuz RO for the margie and rain pics. I owe you a glass of Cheerwine.

Shout out to my girl RS who was the winner in the cuff giveaway! Her gorge outfit was plucked from her mom’s closet (because her mom wore it when she was her age) and is the perfect glam, comfy, sparkling, festive celebratory dress to tear up the dance floor in. “THIS outfit is made to aid in dancing the night away,” she said. I think I may need to take a trip to India just to enjoy the fabrics. Congrats lovely lady! xx M

Hips don't lie!

Day 56. 309 days and $305 left to go.

Like I mentioned yesterday, I was LAX-CLT bound this morning, so the leggings were going to be making another appearance – airports need to be added to my list of allowable places to wear them on top of my chiro, yoga, & the rain, ps. So, I needed something that was plane-doable, something that could be layered (because they don’t hand out those cute little fleece blankets anymore) and something comfy (because I like to nap before the plane even takes off). And as much as I like to get slightly glam for flights just in case I happen to “accidentally” bang my LeSportsac Weekender bag into Bradley Cooper making him spill his coffee and immediately fall in love with me, sequins are ruled out as they leave gnarly indentations (I think I still have some from Vegas on Day 50)

This is what I went with today…

Day 56 - Before

Yeah, a completely not-OK jackety/top. A, the midriff is SO not happening. B, the shoulder pads are SO not happening, and C, the boxy cut is SO not happening.

This company actually went out of their way to make these shoulder pads in the same material!!

This needed to be fixed – I saw potential because I loved the black/white checkery pattern and the black/white buttons were pretty fantastic as well. So first off, I grabbed my scissors and snipped out both of the shoulder pads!! Little sidenote…by the end of this year I’m going to be holding stock in shoulder pads, as I’m planning to open my own little boutique called, Put Your Head on My Shoulder…Pad (Clearly I had time on the plane to think about this). I may have to make them cool again by December

I then took the arms in as well as a little bit in the torso to make it fit a little tighter. I wasn’t going to be able to change the length of this puppy, but it was going to do wonders with being a layer, which was exactly what I was going for today. I put on my favorite paper-thin white T, threw on a grey wife beater, then layered it with the newly transformed, sans shoulder padded top.

Day 56 - After

I then threw on another layer, my black wrap, on top of the previous pieces…

Day 56 - After, After

…before adding my camel military meets Little Women coat (which was a gift card redemption, on sale at Anthropologie, find), fave floral scarf by Moksha, and my H&M Russian Ushanka-esque military hat.

Day 56 - After, After, After (Window seats rule!)

Shout out to today’s fab photog, my lovely mother, for assisting in this airport photo shoot. I don’t think the folks at the TGI Friday’s in Terminal B at the ATL airport had seen this kind of photo taking since their Ultimate Electric Lemonade launch! (I just stuck to a Stella today…)