Outfit of the Day - L.A. Muscle Tank + Chiffon

Can we please have sweater weather already?? Come on Sacramento…give us some rain and gloomy, overcast skies. I'm tired of tank tops and layered pantyhose. I want to show off my massive collection of Black Milk leggings and long sleeves!

Today the weather wasn't scorching, but it was still hot enough to facilitate sleeveless tops and light-weight leg wear. 

I received a parcel in the mail yesterday from G-Stage that included this L.A. skeleton hand print muscle tank. Under $10 if you can believe that? I love G-Stage! Super affordable and super cute. Not to mention they had a decent selection of black stuff, which is really what I look for in a website these days. 

High-low chiffon blouse - Forever 21; L.A. muscle tank - G-Stage; Boots - New Rock

L.A. is my second home, even though I don't truly want to live there. It's a great place to visit and explore and get to know, but ultimately, all you do there is wait. Wait for opportunity, wait for traffic, wait for everything. I just can't handle spending that much time in the car in traffic, which is why I love visiting but am always glad to get out.

Until next time!

Outfit of the Day - BlackCraft Clothing Tank & Spiked Headband

Spiked headband - eBay; Tank Dress - BlackCraft; Chiffon jacket - thrifted; Boots - New Rock

Nothing out of the ordinary at work today. Just the same old, same old.

I left the house a half hour later than I intended because I couldn't figure out what to wear…again. And no, it's not because I have too many clothes to choose from or because my closet is disorganized or anything of that nature. Rather, I'm super picky about how I feel in a particular outfit. If I don't feel attractive or the clothes don't make me feel like today will be a good day, I have to switch. As a result, more often than not, it takes me way longer than it should to get dressed.

Anyways, I was feeling frumpy and like I didn't want to put forth much effort, so I chose an oversized unisex tank from BlackCraft Cult Clothing. I purposely bought a series of tanks from BlackCraft in size large just so I could wear them as comfy dresses. This was also a good choice for today because it hides my strange sunburn pattern on my chest. I left the house feeling not frumpy at all and totally ready to blast some metal in my busted-ass VW Beetle.

I also swept back my still-growing-bangs with a spiked headband that I have never worn before. Kyle says I look like the Statue of Liberty, but I don't care. I love it.

So dark and broody - cliche goth :-P

This is pretty much my attitude towards everything. You don't want to get on my bad side!  Haha - Just kidding.

Until next time!

A Two-Day Hollywood Vacation

Kyle and I had such a fun weekend in Los Angeles! Where to begin? We packed so much into a one and half-day vacation - a concert at Bar Sinister, sushi in Beverly Hills, the Museum of Death, tons of shopping, and even a strip club!

We took off early Friday morning and arrived at our hotel around 4:30 p.m. I couldn't believe we didn't hit any traffic. I felt really spoiled because normally we choose to stay at a crappy hotel in the central Hollywood area, but instead we stayed at a four-star Hyatt in Beverly Hills (thanks undisclosed hotel deal website)!

Check out this view from our patio!

After getting all dolled up and changing clothes, we headed out to the Beverly Hills shopping and restaurant area for some dinner. I really wanted some fancy sushi.

Wearing: New Rock boots, chiffon tunic tank top, faux leather crop top with shoulder cut-outs, and curly extensions

I had no idea Kyle was taking a picture and apparently I was already drunk before having any alcohol? I just can't figure out why my leg is all crooked like that. Anyways, this photo is an amusing  shot of me stumbling down the hallway looking all uncoordinated, so I included it.

We wound up eating at a place called Yojisan and while the sushi was good quality and fairly priced (so surprising!), dessert really stole the show. I picked out the fanciest dessert on the menu - green tea chocolate lava cake with caramel gelato. It was amazing. Even Kyle liked it!

I mentioned that dinner was affordable, but I apparently can't read street signs, even though I checked before we parked, so we ended up with a $65 ticket. Yuck. So really, dinner was quite an expensive affair after all. :(

My sushi rolls, Kyle's salmon teriyaki (he doesn't eat real sushi), and the green tea chocolate lava cake dessert

The decor in the restaurant was very modern and minimalist. I loved it.

It was a half hour drive to Hollywood Blvd on a Friday night (7 miles but 30 minutes due to traffic) and we had a destination in mind - Jumbo's Clown Room. It's a go-go bar where the chicks are supposed to be alternative. While it was a fun experience and I'm glad we went, I was overall disappointed because the girls weren't really all that alternative. Having a few tattoos does not make you "alternative" these days. That isn't to say the girls weren't talented though. They were quite acrobatic and I can only imagine how in shape they have to be to prance around and do all those upside-down pole tricks.

Saturday afternoon we headed to East L.A. to meet up with our friends Krystel and Jonathan at a little Mexican restaurant called Manuel's Original El Tepeyac Cafe. I had the biggest burrito I've ever seen in my life. Krystel told me that Manuel's has been featured on "Man vs. Food," so that explains it I guess. Needless to say, I couldn't even eat a quarter of it.

Next the four of us headed to a bar with retro arcade games called "82." Parking was a bitch, but it was totally worth it. The bar was located in dual warehouses (one with pinball machines and one with arcade games) with an outdoor patio seating area. They had a DJ playing 80s tunes and the drinks were named after games and gamer terms! The building art was also pretty neat. We left wondering why this hasn't caught on and thinking we should open one in Sacramento or Davis…I mean, who doesn't love booze and video games?

Top right: exterior of the bar; Top left: interior of one warehouse building; Middle right: bar area; Middle left: Krystel, Jonathan, and Kyle playing Doctor Who pinball; Bottom: examples of the games available to play

Drink menu at 82

Saturday evening after some shopping on Melrose Avenue (more on that in a separate post), we headed back to Hollywood Blvd to visit the Museum of Death.

Sign at the entrance to the Museum of Death

The museum was very interesting because it was creepy, informative, and of course, very morbid. There were some areas that were hard to look at, such as the hallway full of car crash photos. To me, those pictures were the worst because it's not very likely you'll get murdered by a serial killer, but you have pretty decent chances of dying in a car crash, even if it's not your fault.

The last room in the museum is a tribute to G.G. Allin. This is significant because one of the employees told us that the owner is getting his "body," whatever that means. In case you didn't know, Allin died of a heroin overdose just over 20 years ago, so I imagine there's not much left of his "body" at this point if he wasn't cremated.

After a brief Italian dinner, we got in line at Bar Sinister for the Julien-K show. On our way inside while we were waiting in line at the merch booth, Kyle was accosted by a very drugged and drunk Mikey from Coal Chamber, a band that we both like. He was entertaining to say the least, literally taking his pants all the way off at one point and talking about the glory days of Coal Chamber and how you shouldn't give your money to Amazon. In his words: "Fuck Amazon." Ah, the joys of booze and drugs and being a rock star. Kinda gross in my opinion.

Me and a very intoxicated Mikey. You can see I'm amused but also somewhat frightened by him. He was very grabby with Kyle and I didn't want to be next on his "grab list."

I'm not a huge Julien-K fan, but Kyle really does love them. I appreciate the old school Orgy stuff that Amir and Ryan worked on far more. But those guys sure do know how to put on a show. It was a tribute concert to their first album, "Death to Analog," and I think that they actually sounded better live than they do on the CD. In person, the music has a more rock and roll vibe to it, whereas on the record it's more synthetic and electronic-sounding. My favorite song they played was "Technical Difficulties."

All I've got are some blurry iPhone pics of the show. Videos came out great, but photos….not so much.

I'd never been to Bar Sinister before, so we checked out the actual club proper after the concert, which ended at like 1:00 a.m. I'm such an old grandma - I was so tired I didn't even want to stick around and dance till the club closed at 2:00. A quick walk-through was enough for me. I would very much love to go back and dance on a future occasion though.

Be sure to check out my upcoming post on all the shopping we did on Melrose Avenue.

Until next time!

Outfit of the Day - Freddy Krueger, Chains, and Lip Service

Vest/Crop top - Lip Service; Tunic tank top - thrifted; Studded belt - Hot Topic

Today was one of those days where everything I tried on in the morning felt wrong. I mixed and matched a million things and ended up with a war zone on my closet floor and walked out the door later than I'd planned to work.

I ultimately ended up with a very basic tunic tank top that I purchased from the thrift store and accessorized to give the outfit some character.

My "vest" is really a vegi-leather suspender crop top with a buckle, but one of the tricks I have up my sleeve is wearing things other than the way they were intended to be worn. So instead of zipping up the crop top, I leave it open and transform it into a vest.

The Lip Service crop top as it was meant to be worn. I think my way is more fun!

My studded belt is nothing special - I got it years and years ago from Hot Topic and have just been swapping out belt buckles. Today I added some chains and paired it with a Freddy Kreuger claw buckle…but more on that later.

Belt buckle - Freddy Krueger claw from eBay; Cat skull stainless steel ring - eBay; Stretch spike cuff bracelets - Forever 21

This cat skull ring is one of my favorites! It's fully articulated and the teeth are all really sharp, so I have to be careful when I'm at work that I don't snag any of the clothes.

As for my spike bracelets, they're from Forever 21. I like them because they are simple and easy to mix and match with other bangles and bracelets, plus they're stretchy and can accommodate all wrist sizes.

Freddy Krueger is my favorite horror movie franchise character, and as I mentioned, I keep my belts fresh by swapping buckles, so I love that I can add this small element of horror culture to my ensemble. Freddy's red and green striped sweater is just a bit too garish (and colorful for that matter) for me to sport, so instead I just subtly wear his claw on my hip.

Until next time - thanks for reading!

Outfit of the Day - Feather Print, Off the Shoulder, and Thrifted!

Top - Thrifted/Second Hand; Tights/Bottoms - D.I.Y.; Headband - Forever 21; Boots - New Rock

For anyone who doesn't know, when I'm not busy listing my own items online to sell, I work at an adorable little consignment shop in Midtown Sacramento called French Cuff Consignment.  It's owned by a mother-daughter team and I love being part of that family atmosphere. I'm thankful that both my bosses encourage my creativity when it comes to wearing what I want and also give me quite a bit of independence. So although I only work two days a week taking care of their website and eBay listings, I pretty much love going to work because it's an occasion for me to get dressed up.

This was my outfit for today - something light and simple enough that I wouldn't end up overheating, but still cute enough that I feel it justifies documenting.

The focal point of my outfit today was a cute Xhilaration blouse (for those of you that don't know, Xhilaration is a Target brand - damn do they have some cute stuff sometimes!) with a feather print. As if buying it from Target wasn't cheap enough, I didn't even have to pay full price because I got it at the Thrift store for an astounding two dollars! I love the oversized fit because I can wear it off the shoulder and show off my razor blade and praying mantis tattoos (which I got complimented on twice today).

I was pretty rushed this morning, so I went with my usual tank dress, ripped pantyhose, and lace garter belt layered underneath my blouse coupled with my trusty New Rock Reactor boots in patent leather. I have seriously worn those boots practically every day for the last seven years of my life, so don't be surprised when you see a lot more of them.

Left Hand - spiked heart ring from Etsy and stainless steel curb chain wrap bracelet; Right Hand - Razorblade cuff from Love Culture, stainless steel razor blade ring from eBay, sterling silver curb chain ring, "Ugli" printed sterling silver band from Etsy

No outfit is complete in my world without a lot of accessories - mainly jewelry. I've got two rings that I wear every day (Tiffany wedding ring and sterling silver curb chain ring), but with six more fingers to decorate (I don't count thumbs because thumb rings just get in my way), my ring collection is really quite extensive.

My statement ring for the day was the heart spiked number from Etsy. Although I don't remember who I bought it from, I love to wear it because it's so heavy. It makes me feel like a total badass and I love it.

I've also got a thing for razor blades, which is why I have both a ring and a matching bracelet. I stumbled across the bracelet at Love Culture of all places, and it was on sale for only $2, so naturally I bought two of them.

If fashion and accessories are not your thing, I also included my kitten Lazlo…you can be sure this blog will feature my cats as often as possible and in as many random places as possible.

Thanks for reading!

Blackheart Lingerie Order

Pictured clockwise from left: Chiffon ram skull tunic tank, Alchemy Gothic ram skull ring, sharkbite hem chiffon tank top, BLACK MAGIC fringe tank, my own shredded tights and New Rock boots, Iron Fist Count Catula shredded tank, and bat skeleton crop camisole.

I have a hell of a time resisting shopping when the word "SALE" is involved, so over Memorial Day weekend when my inbox was flooded with specials at all my favorite stores, it was really tough to pick only a few stores to buy from!

I ended up going with some stuff from BlackHeart Lingerie because it was cute and also because the stuff was seriously so affordable. I got everything pictured in the collage above (and some more basic pieces as well!) for around $75.

Crop tops are still as popular as ever and I do own my fair share, although I've been wearing them far less frequently than I used to. Both the bat cami and the chiffon shark bite hem tank are cropped and I would choose to wear them differently than most of the girls who are currently sporting them. I don't like to show too much bare skin for every day occasions, so instead of wearing high-waisted denim or skirts with a bare midriff, I wear a long tank top dress and layer the crop top over it. I got an XL in the bat cami, simply because I like my crop tops loose-fitting.

I'm much more into high-low hems and long tunic-cut tops in general at the moment, hence the ram and BLACK MAGIC tanks. The Iron Fist cat bat tee was a bit out of character for me. It's cotton, which I tend to steer clear of, just because it fades so quickly in the wash, plus it would normally be a bit too D.I.Y. for me to pay out of pocket for. In general, if I want the slashed/shredded tee look, I just grab my sharp sewing scissors and hack away at a band t-shirt, but I really did like the cat/bat vampire graphic.

Although nearly all of the tops pictured above look great with fitted bottoms (i.e. leggings, skinny jeans, bodycon skirts), I like to keep things simple with some sheer black pantyhose and shredded stockings and garter belt over top. It really does work with everything and hose are thin enough that I don't overheat in my New Rocks during the Sacramento 100+ degree summer.

Overall, BlackHeart has some really cute stuff and I will continue to check back for new items frequently, but a word of advice if you're considering buying anything from them - their sizes run a bit small. I usually get smalls and mediums in Junior's size brands (i.e. Forever 21, Hot Topic, etc.) and so I got mediums to be on the safe side (I prefer something be a bit too baggy than a bit too tight). While everything fit me just fine, I would have ordered a size up had I known things ran a bit small.

Thanks for reading!