Fashion Covets: Fingerless gloves

For some reason, I've been enamored with arm warmers, and fingerless gloves. I was was thinking of velvet gloves to  go with my wedding outfit, but I couldn't seem to find anything that was speaking to me. Couldn't find my color in the exact kind I wanted. That was awhile ago. I haven't really thought of gloves for my wedding outfit in awhile, but I have been really loving them lately, or the idea anyway.

I began knitting a pair of arm warmers, nothing as intricate and lovely as these that I found while wandering around Etsy.com.

These from hypericumfragile are just wonderful:

 They make me think of Victorian teas and Jane Austin novels. There's just something about these that makes me lust for them. They do sell the crochet pattern for $8, so if you know someone who is good at crocheting that could be your ticket.

skywatcher1121 has these lovely delicate skeleton lace fingerless gloves:

And then there's these from yasoknitting:

They look so exotic. And the lace on the hands like that gives me chills.

I could go on and on and post hundreds of pictures, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Until next time....

Fashion Covets: Finding my personal style

I'm sort of stealing this idea from the blog Ultimate Goth Guide, where she has a new segment called "coveting". Although, there are a few differences. Hers is once a month and featuring individual sellers, where as this is more about developing one's personal style.

As a child, I loved clothes. There were probably several reasons, but I loved pretty frilly dresses, and cute little outfits. As I got older and my self esteem got lower, I was more concerned with covering myself. Due to some unpleasant things in my childhood, and the normal awkwardness of adolescence, the effects culminated into wanting to hide. Bulky t-shirts and sweaters and loose fitting pants were my salvation. As my weight went up, the more I needed to hide it. As I have mentioned, my weight was a barrier. I put on these pounds and a cushion to keep everything in and everything else out. It was a way to separate me from society.

I became more and more self-conscious about wearing anything that was beyond my norm. I was afraid I guess of scrutiny. Or of being looked down upon for wearing what was in yesterday. Felt and still do feel like everyone else was clued in to some secret of life and social interactions that I was completely left out of. All I could do, was fake along, like the person who laughs along with his friends at a joke that they don't really get the punch line.

As I had said before, there was a lot more to this journey than just the weight loss. So much more than a number on a scale, or a clothing size. I've felt so left out of being able to wear cute clothes and outfits and I would gawk at wishing I could wear, but would never even dare to think of trying them on in my wildest dreams. I've tried so hard for so long to project the image that I thought everyone else wanted, not that mine was the complete opposite or anything like that. Just more of that I never discovered my personal style and identity.

With my wedding coming up and this journey that I am on, I feel the need to do this. So I have been scouring the interwebs to find the kind of things I may like. So this is where I will shows those things as add to my journey of self discovery. Finding my personal style. Who I am. Not being afraid of myself, or being who I am, even to the criticism of others.

Valkyrie

My friend Jeremiah works at the Taco Bell on Gateway in Springfield. A year or two ago, he was working when the band The Cruxshadows came in on their way from one concert to another and the Eugene/Springfield area was a stop along the way to get something to eat. He was retelling us the story, very excited as to have met them. but then, he also, said he was so awestruck at the time that it didn't even occur to him to possibly inquire about if he could get an autograph for his then girlfriend. They were her favorite band, afterall. He had tried to show them to me while we were in the car one day, but it was on his PSP and I wasn't really paying all that much attention.

A few weeks later, I asked him again what the name of the band was that he was talking about and what would be the best song or couple songs to listen to as an introduction to their music. So he told me and I then downloaded my first two Cruxshadows songs, Dragonfly and Deception. After that, I was hooked I then downloaded the highest rated album at the time on itunes, Dreamcypher, which also was their latest album at the time. It was actually awhile ago when that came out, I believe 2007. They did release an EP Quicksilver which, along with the other songs and the album mentioned above became some of my favorite songs to run to. I would run in the rain listening toWindbringer  and Winterborn--The sacrifice as I pounded the pavement during one of my wet and/or rainy Oregon runs, as well as Defender and contemplated the world and characters of the story that was in my head (I will probably post about this on another blog at some point in the near future).

Anyway, I am very excited to read today that they have previewed a track from their upcoming album on the 4th of July. So far there only seems to be postings of the recording of the live stream, but they're surprisingly decent and I'm just glad to get a taste of what they've been working on since Quicksilver, especially after the theft of a bunch of their equipment in early 2010 upon returning to the states after completing their European Tour.





I haven't listened to their entire discography, but they have some amazing older tracks to. And of course I'm partial to the Skinny Puppy remix of "Edge of the World". But Jackel head and Monsters, and Marilyn My Bitterness are great tracks as well as the Clan of Xymox remix of Citadel/Never Surrender, which is probably my all time favorite running song! It's like an anthem as I push myself through a run or any workout: "I will never Surrender! I will never Surrender!"

And then, not to mention, the bodies of the women in the group, inspire me to get up do a TurboFire video right now. Just gorgeous, strong and powerful. Just lovely.

$1 Day at Dutch Bros!!!

 Somehow over the years I have developed a love for coffee. I always found this so interesting considering that I when I was a younger I loved the smell of the grounds, but hated how it tasted completely different than the aroma would have let me to believe in all of it's seductive beauty and dark mysteries.

I love the culture, I love he smell, I love the preparation, I love the sound of my coffee maker as it brews it in it's quiet dance of infusing the water with the grounds. Coffee, much like tea, is one of the beauties in the world. It may not hold as many of the exotic flavors and fragrances that tea does for me. But there is something about it that appeals to me.....

My favorite coffee stand, is Dutch Bros., which is a franchise that has stretched well beyond it's original Southern Oregon Boarders. I love the energy of the employees who work there as well as all that they do for the community and other altuistic work. Such as, when police office Chris Kilcullen was killed in the line of duty, there was a fundraiser that was done through dutch bros to raise money for a college fund for his kids. It raised a good amount of money. They also, on valentine's day have a food drive where you can donate 3 cans of food to Food for Lane County for a drink. They also do a fundraiser for the MDA and Relay for Life, which brings me to the annual $1 day. 

Every drink, ever size if $1, and a 100% of that dollar goes to the Relay for Life. I'm not sure if it's the same organization every year, but $1 is once a year every year and is always for charity. They also were all dressed up for an 80's theme. I wish I had had my camera because the outfits were amazing as they were making coffee and rocking out to "living on a prayer".

I guess the other reason I love DB, is because there have been the few occasions when I get there and realize that I don't have my money, or I had forgotten my purse, and they end up giving me my drink, and tell me to just pay them back next time. Which I always do. They don't have to do that, it is perfectly understandable that they wouldn't, since they are a business. But it is something that is a little extra at times.

I guess my best experience at Dutch Bros was last summer. I was going through the break up with my baby's daddy, and it was a very hard and stressful time. I also managed to mess up my finances by paying too much on one of my bills and everything went haywire. I was hanging out with Carson, who was living downtown by the Olive St. DB at the time. We went down there and I didn't have any money, just a stamp card that had 9 of the needed 10 stamps to get a free drink. It was a VERY bad day that day and I explained to the guy that was working that I'd understand if the answer was no, but I was wondering if there was any chance that he would accept the card even though it was missing one stamp. He just said, "hey, I'll take care of ya" he stamped my card and then made me my drink. It really made my day. I felt really bad that I didn't even have any money to give him a tip.

I did however square that up with him. I ended up giving him like 5 dollars later on when I had money, and I explained to him that he had really made my day and I had really appreciated it cause I knew that he didn't have to. He was a tall and well built guy with tatoos all over his arms, and for some reason I find it extra awesome when they seem touched by it. Which he did. I know it's just a coffee place and they are employees just doing their job. But for the most part, the people who end up working there are just fantastic, and actually seem to enjoy it. I have a cousin who works for DB in Southern Oregon, and she seems to really like it.

So thank you Dutch Bros, even if I have spent way too much money there at times, but you make a great product and have some of the most amazing employees I've ever had the pleasure to be a customer for. :)