Hey, Sugar

I’m really trying to clean up my diet. I made an ill-timed resolution to give up sugar a couple of days before our ninety-six Papas eggs (a Covington, Kentucky easter confection) showed up. My will power expired when the Opera Cream eggs were unwrapped. I made a new commitment to quitting added sugar (and processed grains) this morning, when the skirt I wanted to wear wouldn’t fit around my waist. (But as I type this, I’ve just finished a Starbucks chocolate chip cookie.)


Hat, Free Press. Dress, Parker (consignment). Boots, Vince Camuto (consignment). Earrings, Charming Charlie. Bag, Colini Handbags (thrifted).

As a vegan*, it takes a lot of planning and cooking to avoid sugar and processed grains. Then, my hard work is, once again, derailed by a shipment of Graeter’s ice cream from Cincinnati:


*Yes, I know neither the Papas eggs nor the Starbucks cookie are vegan. My diet and my principles are totally going to hell.

Mural Fail

I headed to Arden Way and Del Paso Boulevard today to check out a mural recommended by Colour Me Classic. I was hoping it would become a new picture spot for me, but the location is too exposed (I need shade or at least back-lighting) and heavily trafficked. It’s definitely a future possibility on a cloudy day with backup (Beefy). In the meantime, I returned to my old haunt under the Watt Avenue bridge.


Vest, Sasson (vintage). Dress, Ella Moss. Belt, thrifted. Shoes, J Crew. Sunglasses, Coco Sunglasses. Earrings, Stardust Remembered. Bag, Aldo


Traffic was so heavy that I didn’t even get a chance to take a picture of the target mural, but I did spot this little gem on Franklin Boulevard:

Grump

I’m not a terribly moody person, but, every once in awhile, I get in a funk. Sometimes it’s ennui, but most often it’s frustration. Today, after I spent 30 minutes trying to find parking for a lunchtime Toastmaster meeting (and eventually missed the meeting because of it), I was in a black mood. I didn’t want to eat my feelings and didn’t have time to walk it off, so I listened to a podcast. Listening to something educational or inspirational always puts my frustrations into perspective and resets my mood.

Later, two different photo locations didn’t work out (and I had to be home by five), so I resigned myself to photos in front of the boring, old blue wall in my backyard. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but a glass of wine and my always entertaining puppies cheered me up.


Jacket, J Crew (consignment). Dress, Lipstick. Shirt, Banana Republic (thrifted and altered). Boots, Nine West. Earrings, flea market. Rings, vintage, thrifted, and/or heirloom.

How do you turn that frown upside down?


Can you tell that my pups make me happy?

Whisper Pink

My hair has faded to barely pink. I’ll be remedying that tonight. For today, though, it went nicely with the springtime colors in my outfit.


Jacket, London Jean. Shirt, Rockies (consignment). Skirt, Ann Taylor (thrifted). Boots, American Eagle (consignment). Bag, Croft & Barrow.


I’m using a “screaming pink” gloss formula to brighten up the color.

The World Needs More Lerts

On a trip to Ecuador, I met a record store owner named Jorge. When I told him my name was Kasmira, he immediately broke it down into “casi mira,” saying it made sense because I saw nearly everything around me. It’s true; I’m always picking up on background noises and noticing objects out of place. Jorge took my friend and I out salsa dancing that night and then for a breakfast of incredibly salty hamburgers. And I noticed every detail (although I remembered few).

I arrived at my picture spot today and spotted a rock out of place. Of course, I fixed it before I took photos.


Blazer, Diane von Furstenburg (consignment). Tee, Disney. Skirt, Victoria’s Secret. Boots, Sofft (consignment). Earrings, Charming Charlie. Bag, Canvas boutique.


There are downsides to being hyper-alert to auditory and visual input. I rarely sleep through the night because I register every sound. I drift out of conversations because I’m easily distracted by the sights around me. I think my memory suffers because I simply have to sift through so much “noise” that I discard important information with the unimportant.

Sometimes, there is a payoff, though. Like when I found an owl tree because I noticed the pellets and extensive whitewash underneath a neighbor’s magnolia. Or, today, when I was sitting at my desk and picked out the sound of a woodpecker in the front yard, snuck around the house, and photographed it.


Be alert! (If you want to find birds.)

White Fluffy Vest

With January almost over, I realized that I hadn’t spent my generous, $25 clothing budget for the month. So I went to Thrift Town and dropped $14.99 on a fluffy, white, faux-fur vest.


Vest, Vero Moda Jeans (thrifted). Shirt, Mossimo. Skirt, American Eagle (thrifted). Tights, We Love Colors. Boots, American Eagle (consignment). Sunglasses, Meow Meow. Earrings, Claire’s. Bag, Steve Madden.


I didn’t post yesterday’s outfit because I didn’t like how the pictures turned out, but I did save one photo for my 365 project:


Today I liked my pictures AND I received my free gift for joining the Sierra Club:

Outdoorsy

I have a hard time getting people to believe I’m outdoorsy. I don’t mind sitting in the dirt, sleeping under the stars, or going without hot water. I’m not Revenant level hard core, but I suppose I could eat a freshly caught fish, raw, if I had to. (The scene where Hugh Glass sucked marrow out of the bones of an old carcass was a little nauseating.)


Plaid shirt, Salt Valley (consignment). Tee and skirt, Mossimo. Tights, We Love Colors. Leg warmers, Apostrophe. Boots, Dan Post. Sunglasses, Coco Sunglasses. Earrings, Charming Charlie. Bag, vintage.



I found an owl tree in our neighborhood this morning and Beefy and I returned (after the Revenant) to collect some owl pellets for dissection. I didn’t eat any, since I’d already had Smashburger, but I did smell them. For a pile of fur and bones vomited up by an owl, they didn’t smell much at all. Just sort of musty.


You may still not be convinced that I’m outdoorsy, but I’m certainly not prissy!

Dots and Spots

Polkadots and leopard spots.


Vest, Tilt (cut from a consignment jacket). Dress, Jovovich Hawk for Target. Leggings, Merona. Boots, American Eagle (consignment). Earrings, Charming Charlie. Bag, vintage.



More dots and spots:


Mixing polkadots and leopard is nothing new. Roasting radishes IS. I had no idea they could be eaten any way but raw. I also didn’t know the greens are edible. I tried both for lunch. Over kasha.