Friday, September 30, 2011

Weekend time! Almost...

Who's ready for the weekend???

Favim.com

Meeeee!!

This week has fully exhausted me (really, the last two have), even though it's been a lot of fun. I'm definitely in need of some weekend time, although with possible Oktoberfest activities on Saturday, it may not feel much different from the week I've had!

I'm off to prepare for a film audition and hopefully squeeze in a quick coffee date with my girl friend. A latte sounds awfully good right about now. I've been running around the apartment this morning and haven't even made my usual pot of coffee.

Hope you have a great couple days!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Beanie, baby

Something I forgot to add to my Fall essentials list:

An oversized beanie cap....or whatever you wanna call 'em.


 1. RevolveClothing.com 2. WeHeartIt.com
(Note: I'm purely just citing the photos. The gray beanie is selling for $77 on their web site. I WONT be buying that one. You can find these sort of caps at thrift stores for mere peanuts. $77 for a beanie...ridiculousness....wtf are they thinking...*mumble mumble mumble*)

Effortlessly cool, eh?

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Stormy weather


So, we actually had a brief thunderstorm yesterday evening. It was wonderful. It gave the sky such an interesting light, right as the sun was going down. I loved smelling that rain smell for the first time in so long, and I didn't even mind that I got rained on as I came out of the grocery store, while picking up dinner. Normally, I only like rain when I can enjoy it from inside and absolutely DON'T have to go out in it. But, I think I may have danced in it yesterday, if it had lasted a little longer and rained a bit harder. It was lovely. And thunder and lightening is always a nice addition to a night in with my boyfriend, cuddled on the couch. :)

It did give me a taste of Fall, even though I know I'm getting ahead of myself way too quickly. It doesn't help that some of the blogs I'm reading are posting photos of little towns covered in snow and recipes for pumpkin bread pudding (Right?!!). I will definitely be attempting that recipe when the time's right.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Equinox


I'm a little late, but: It's officially Fall! What are your wishes for the season?
Mine might be to have this lovely set up every single day. Actually, I think I'll just wish for something simple...cooler weather here in Texas.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Comfort food

It turned out to be a good thing that I had every intention of staying in this weekend, because my boyfriend and I both came down with something. I'm pretty convinced it has to do with the sudden weather changes (hey, even a high of 88 degrees is a 20 degree drop in temperature from what we've been used to!) and an onset of allergies. I tend to get my worst allergy symptoms in the fall, so they are right on time. I struggled with a nagging sinus headache for three days straight, while Steve was stuck with congestion, sneezing, coughing, and even dizziness at times. Not so good.
However, it was nice just to camp out on the sofa with plenty of snacks for the majority of the time. We had a little Gene Kelly marathon on Friday night with "On the Town" and "Singing in the Rain". I love that Steve enjoys old movies, like I do, and that he's been so receptive to some of my absolute favorites.

 Movie night! Hot dogs, popcorn, and one of our favorite candies, an assortment of Hershey's Nuggets.
We dragged the little guest room mattress out to the living room for maximum vegging. 
(Even some doggie feet got into this photo!)


Sunday, I made a big breakfast - eggs, bacon, french toast, and creme brulee coffee (Folger's Gourmet Selections brand), which we ate while watching the Texans game. Game outcome? Not good. Breakfast outcome? Yummo.


 It didn't last long...


I felt much better by Sunday evening and feel almost 100% back to normal today. I have a cast party to go to tonight (for a series I filmed a few weeks ago), and I can't wait!
How was your weekend??

Friday, September 23, 2011

Nothing Special

Favim.com

In all honesty, I am looking forward to a perfectly mundane weekend, full of doing a lot of nothing with my boyfriend. Wardrobe will likely consist of one of Steve's dress shirts, rolled up at the sleeves, and my hair piled messily on top of my head. Done.
It's been a while since we've had a weekend to just stay in. I think we're going to kick it off by watching one of my favorite old movies, "On the Town", and make it a complete movie-theater-at-home night with some popcorn, hot dogs, and the guest room mattress dragged out onto the living floor.

Hope your Friday goes by quickly and you have a fabulous weekend! xx

p.s. Just remembered, I also got some Creme Brulee coffee for Saturday morning! Mmm...

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Wading on through...

Favim.com

This day seems to have gone a bit crazy. Found a very large, very incorrect bill in the mail (which required multiple phone calls to get corrected...always fun) and the water is shut off at the apartment for at least 2 more hours (thanks for the warning, guys...so much for my cup of tea) while a valve is fixed.
On the bright side, I was up by 9:30am and headed straight to the gym. I feel sooo much better, especially after a great stretching session afterward.

At the moment, I'm feeling so ready for the weekend that it's hard to focus on work right now...unfortunately, I have a lot to take care of today. Better get to it!
Hope you have a lovely day. :)

p.s. I am focusing on my vacation to D.C. (my hometown!) in mid October. I haven't been there in years. Booked the tickets yesterday!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The blahs

Look! She has my mirror. :)

It's definitely been a busy few days. I'm trying to get back on a normal sleep schedule (messed up again from this past weekend), which sooo did not happen this morning, as I just could not bring myself to get out of bed at a decent hour. I've been doing my best to push through the daytime groggy-ness to get my extra long to-do list checked off this week. I'm also toying with the idea of actually getting back on my work out routine again. Ha. My horrible eating needs to stop, too. It's gotten a bit out of control lately. Time to get back on track! I know I'll feel better and more energized when I do.
On top of everything else, Facebook has decided to go crazy with it's new layout, and I'm finding it almost unusable right now. It's disorienting...and things are disorienting enough in my life at the moment, thanks! Grr.

Hope you're getting through this week relatively unscathed! ;)

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Live it!


Life feels good right now.
I'm a big believer in living the life you want, even if you have to fake it for a while. Eventually things
catch up.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Got along famously



I hope you had a fabulous weekend! Mine was a whirlwind and I feel like I'm returning back to the real world today.
I spent Friday evening and all of Saturday at an amazing acting seminar. I'm still feeling inspired. Saturday night, my boyfriend and I went out for karaoke with some very talented people I had met at the seminar and some other friends. A few of us ended up at a little after party at a completely awesome condo downtown, which happened to be next door to one of Sandra Bullock's homes. She wasn't there at the time, but I still felt pretty star struck.

After being up for almost 24 hours, I was happy to be home and crashing into bed at 5:30am. I spent Sunday doing nothing but laying around and watching movies with my boyfriend, and that was just fine with me.

Quick post, I know. Lots to do today! Trying to get motivated...
Have a great week!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Deviant - Hart


 Just a quick note to let you know that Deviant Tart has been featured today (along with some other great blogs) on The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart! I was really happy to be a part of her blog sponsor swap for September. Go check it out!

And, make sure you didn't miss my feature about Ruthie's blog from a few days ago!

p.s. It's raining!!

Clouds in my coffee

I was very amused by this photo. ;)

I woke up to a cloudy and cool day this morning in Austin, which automatically put me in sort of an interesting mood, like anything can happen today (in a good way). Maybe it will even rain, which we so desperately need here.
I've been craving fall weather so much lately. I've been feeling nostalgic for Steamboat Springs, Colorado where I vacationed with my mom and her husband last November. It was so beautiful and cozy up there, even though I'm not a huge snow person. I loved waking up in our cabin-like apartment suite, and looking at the mountain view with a cup of freshly brewed coffee, or relaxing in the hot springs in the middle of the Rocky Mountains after a snowy hike, and finishing a long day with a glass of wine and a hearty dinner at some of their amazing restaurants. Ok, I am getting wayyyy ahead of myself...

Today, I'll mainly be focusing on practicing monologues for an acting seminar I'm going to this evening. This weekend will likely be filled with football, cocktails, and karaoke. What are your plans for the weekend??

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Prada me?

"Excuse me? Is it the weekend yet?"
I posted this photo of Rumi, because I'm pretty much in love with her shoes. They are Prada, so I wont be buying them anytime soon (p.s. how corny is my subject line? Which of course means I'm still chuckling at it.) But I can live vicarously through a photo, right?
The next couple days will probably be busy, but maybe that will make them go by that much quicker. Hope you have a great Thursday.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Pick me ups

"Just-a-little-too-far-for-comfort-from-the-weekend-Wednesday" seems like a perfect day to focus on my favorite things to get me through a long work day, when I just can't seem to find the energy or motivation to get anything done.


 A bright new manicure.
I am loving this coral color, "blazed" from Wet n' Wild. I haven't bought any nail polish by them since I was about 17 years old, because it always seemed to chip after just a day or two. This was the exact color I was looking for, so I gave it a try any way. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it stays looking great for 3-4 days, and decent-looking (a.k.a. chips you can get away with) for about 5 days. Yay!


Wearing something fun to "the office".
Ok, so I work from home. But either way, some days it's fun to wear something that makes you feel good, even if you aren't going out. And if you do go to an office everyday, and you tend to wear the same, drab business wear, spice it up a bit! The easiest way is to add some color! You'll feel a little happiness every time you remember how cute you look today. :)


4pm coffee + dark chocolate .
Ok, so I ate my three dark chocolate Hershey's Kisses before I snagged a photo, but I promise you, they were there. They are a great little snack to keep around, and a somewhat healthy alternative to get your chocolate fix. The other day, I was really dragging and not feeling good at about 4pm. With two and a half hours to go until my boyfriend got home, more work to finish, and knowing I had some going-out plans ahead of me that night, I needed a boost. I brewed some coffee, curled up in my "girl-throne" (a.k.a. my big arm chair) for a few minutes and enjoyed my little luxurious snack before getting back on task, feeling much better.



A new atmosphere.
We recently got this great canvas of the Flat Iron building in New York City for the living room (IKEA, $149). It's HUGE, and I'm so glad to have that big wall finally filled with some art. It adds even more of a vintage/urban feel to the place, and I love the way the black and white goes with our green accent wall. We've only had it about a week, so it's definitely providing a pick-me-up everyday to be working in what feels like a brand new room. If you work in an office, try adding something new to decorate your work space! If you work from home as well, see if you can find a cute little piece of art, a flower vase, a new throw blanket for your sofa...whatever! Just a little accent piece to brighten your place and add a touch of "new-ness" can make you a bit more happy to be working in the same space day after day.


What special things do you use to get you through the work week??

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Look book

I like to take photos of different outfits I come up with not only to share with you all on my blog, but also so I can remember stuff I really like. I have a bad habit (or maybe a really good habit) of rarely wearing the exact same ensemble twice, but every now and then when I feel like I have absolutely nothing to wear, it's nice to refer back to some of my favorite past ideas.

I'm all about interesting fashion combinations and unique style for not a lot of money. I believe you truly can and should use whatever you think looks good, whether it's $2 or $200. And recycle, recycle, recycle within your own closet. Bring back old stuff once in a while (you can imagine what a clothing pack rat I am), pair it with different things, new things, different hair/makeup, or different jewelry, and it will feel brand new. Enjoy creating looks from scratch, even with a bare bones budget. I find that challenge exhilarating. And I genuinely pride myself on being sort of a fashion vagabond.

I think one of the best "fashion moments" I've ever had was when a stranger complimented my sunglasses, which I bought somewhere for $5, and asked if they were Chanel. Total score.

Here's some recent stuff I've come up with, which I found to be pretty fun:


All you need is love.
Which can sometimes be as simple as a fur (faux) vest with an extra long Beatles tank that hangs off you just right. I paired it with my best pair of beat-up, holey jeans and added a casual ponytail, teased at the crown for a retro touch, and liquid "cat eye" liner.




In the Navy.
I love the casual sophistication of this dark blue dress (Express), which I bought second hand recently for $12. I've been hooked lately on finding items, especially dresses, that are perfect to just throw on and immediately have a put-together look. This one fit the bill perfectly. Of course, I had to pair it with something unexpected, like my suede combat boots (Forever 21) and lace stockings. I've also worn it with the lighter blue heels in the background of photo #2 for a less casual look.


Hello, Kitty!
Wore this recently to meet a friend for coffee. The t-shirt (Target) makes me feel like a kid again, except now I can get away with wearing a short skirt, pearls, and aviators. I love wearing my pearl necklace with really casual stuff to mix things up.





She bangs!
Sorry couldn't resist. I cut some long, side swept bangs the other day, twisted my my pony tail into a ballet dancer-like bun (and tucked the ends into the elastic band) to accentuate the new look. This tank top is from a recent clearance sale at Sears. I got it for....wait for it....$1.99.





Pale in pink.
I wore this out last weekend for a night out with friends. I was so eager to wear a few of the items I picked up during a retail therapy session at Plato's Closet (a second hand store) last week! I had to include close ups of the heels, because they didn't really show up well the in the full body shot, and they are just too adorable. Plus, they're like nothing else I own, which makes them even more special. They are by Hale Bob, and I picked them up at Plato's for $14. I am obsessed with this white blazer, with its slightly puffy sleeves ($12). I'm not a huge jewelry person, and I rarely buy any for myself, but this necklace caught my eye immediately, in a rack of a million others, so I knew it was meant to be. Well, that and the fact that it was $4. The leather-like shorts and the baggy "New York" shirt (with a sheer, lace back - see here) are from Forever 21.



Stripes so cute, it's almost criminal!
I consider this dress a recent "splurge" (Target, $25), but it was so worth it. It's another easy, comfortable dress to just throw on. For an afternoon of shopping with one of my best girlfriends, I added a fedora and pulled an extremely old leopard print purse from the depths of my closet. I've been using it ever since, on days when I don't want to carry my usual, huge bag around. This is why I don't throw things away. Ha.

Ok, so I really want to hear your thoughts, ideas, critiques, yawns, whatever! I'm pretty convinced I can take almost all these items into the cold seasons as well. I can't wait to experiment with layering them. Honestly, I am going to have to do a "Look Book Part 2" really soon, because I have way more outfit photos I want to show you that have no outlet without my little blog.

Be well, and be stylish! xx

Monday, September 12, 2011

Headshots

If anyone's curious, here are a few of my favorite actor headshots from my recent session. There are a ton more, but these are the ones I chose to have retouched for now. I'd love to hear what you think!



Photos by Tammi Land

Friday, September 9, 2011

Star struck



Sort of freaking out on what might be considered an unnecessary level by some, because I saw a segment with Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere AND Rumi from FashionToast on E! News tonight. I was dyinggggg. It was so awesome to watch them "live" after constantly just seeing them in photos and reading what they blog about. It was especially cool to see Emily's interview from her home office, because she posts photos of it so often! They both seemed so down to earth and looked great. They were just what I wanted them to be. And congrats to them for getting the attention of the celebrity world! Maybe one day it'll be my turn... ;)

If the segment becomes available on either of their blogs, I'll be sure to link it!

Weird, pointless stuff


Remember those questionnaire things everyone used to fill out on MySpace all the time, to reveal quirky and little-known information about themselves? I was always kind of obsessed with those. Inspired by this post from Rumi from FashionToast (It's from 2008; I was looking at archives), I decided to pretend she had "tagged" little 'ol me to go next.

1. I like stale mini marshmallows better than fresh ones. I tend to purposely leave the bag open.

2. I have a girl crush on Geri Halliwell.

3. Lots of people have said I look like Julia Roberts (especially when I had red hair - my natural color). Since I went blonde, I tend to get Katee Sackoff.

4. I cried at the beginning of Finding Nemo when I first saw it in theaters.

5. I'm not really a big crier (normally).

6. I seriously don't think caffeine has any effect on me (I can quit it cold turkey for days and not notice a difference), but I drink coffee almost everyday because I adore it!

7. I'm not a big soda drinker, but there are two times when it's a must: Pizza. Taco Bell.

8. I've only recently learned to embrace the color pink.

9. I feel really self conscious when I remember that people actually read my blog, especially during the few times someone I never expected to even know about it, let alone read it, has come up to me in person and started talking to me about one of my entries. Yet...I still only have 10 actual "subscribers". Let's get it together, people. I know there are more of you. :P

10. I hate cats. And animal segments on talk shows.

11. I think every girl should have: a sexy little dress that she can just throw on and feel amazing in. A pair of jeans that she can just throw on and feel amazing in. And a signature cocktail to relax and decompress with on those extra rough days.

12. Twelve is my lucky number.


Now you're tagged. Comment with your own list!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

"So frickin' bad..."

 Photo credit: TheVintageApple


Since I was a kid, I've always said, I have way too many good ideas not to be rich one day. :)
Still workin' on that...

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Fashion wisdom

 Photo credits: 1. TheVintageApple 2. Favim.com


Runway rehearsal downtown today at the actual venue for the Art Institute's Fashion and Music show on Thursday. Looking forward to seeing the set up, and happy to be getting out in this amazing weather!
 

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Back to work


Quick post today, because I feel like I have a million things to catch up on after the long weekend. It's going to be a busy week, but I'm excited about a lot of the things coming up.

My holiday weekend seemed to pretty much consist of different types of alcohol at different types of venues. Haha. Tailgating on Saturday meant plenty of beer and BBQ. That night, we went to see a friend's jazz set at a cigar and wine bar. On Sunday, I had rehearsal most of the day for the fashion show I'm walking in this week, before meeting some friends for drinks and karaoke. For Labor Day lunch, Steve and I had a nice meal and cocktails at NoRTH. Unfortunately, a lot of other people had the same idea (especially with the weather being so unexpectedly cool and gorgeous!), but it was truly worth the hour long wait for a table, and we spent the time browsing stores in the outdoor mall.

By day's end, I was 100% exhausted, but we still managed to get a grocery shopping trip done. I was so happy that Steve pretty much took over and just dragged zombie-like me along with him, so I didn't have to focus too much. I probably could have fallen asleep in the back of the cart.

I had a great time this weekend with current friends, saw some really old friends, and met a few new ones. I'm definitely a bit worn out, but I couldn't have asked for a better few days.
How was your holiday??

Friday, September 2, 2011

Saturday Special: Blog swap!

Hey everyone!
So one of my adorable blogger friends, Ruthie, who runs "The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart", is hosting a blog button swap for the month of September! She graciously included Deviant Tart in the fun. My blog button will be living rent free on her blog and her button will have a featured place on mine.

One thing I found very quickly within the blogging community is a true supportive nature and a willingness to help out fellow bloggers. I am happy to have an opportunity to do the same, starting with Ruthie's blog. If you enjoy our blogs and are interested in helping to spread the word, please grab the buttons you see in the left sidebar.

If you're interested in having your blog button featured on Deviant Tart as part of a button swap, please leave me a comment with your e-mail address, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

In the meantime, be sure to check out:



P.S. Don't forget to grab my button and Ruthie's button for your own blog or web site! Have a great weekend!

Labor Day


 I am so looking forward to the long weekend!!

p.s. I will still be wearing white, if I damn well want to. :)