Monthly Archives: August 2012

Quote Inspiration: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Posted in Feminism by

Why extremists always focus on women remains a mystery to me. But they all seem to. It doesn’t matter what country they’re in or what religion they claim. They want to control women. They want to control how we dress, they want to control how we act, they even want to control the decisions we make about our own health and bodies. Yes, it is hard to believe that even here at home, we have to stand up for women’s rights and reject efforts to marginalize any one of us, because America needs to set an example for the entire world. And it seems clear to me that to do that, we have to live our own values and we have to defend our own values. We need to respect each other, empower all our citizens, and find common ground.

~Secretary of State Hillary Clinton~

____________________

Excerpted from the below video from Women in the World 2012

Once bought, twice purposed

Posted in daily fashion by

Yesterday when I was at work, I was wearing this skinny belt around my waist. A few hours into the day, however, I got tired of it, and since I didn’t need it for my outfit, I decided to take it off. Since I was on the sales floor, I didn’t have time to do anything with it, so instead I just wrapped it around my wrist, like this.

And I kind of fell in love with it.

Instant bracelet, you know? I wore it like this for the rest of the day and got a few compliments on it. I don’t think it’s something I’ll be doing regularly, but it’s handy to know that if I ever need a quasi-industrial-looking bracelet, I can wrap a skinny belt around my wrist a few times and call it a day. I mean, I’ve seen bracelets like this for sale for, uh, a lot of money, and I like this so much more (partly because it was free).I know this isn’t a groundbreaking discovery or anything, but I love the look. And I love that I now have a second purpose for one of my favorite accessories.

It made me wonder, though: do you have anything in your closet that you use for a purpose other than its intended? Or anything at all, really? I love little fun things like this, and I’d love to learn yours, as well!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram @ baileythomas48 to see these before everyone else !

Three Little Words

Posted in Uncategorized by

You’ve probably seen this before, haven’t you? If you haven’t, the idea is that the first three words are, as it says, what you want in life, or something like that. I see it pop up every few months or so, and it’s funny because it’s always different. I’m not sure that the “science” behind it is totally accurate, but it’s still a fun thing to do when you have a minute.

Today, my three words were

LOVE

HAPPINESS

TIME

It made me smile because I’ve been thinking about those three things exactly a lot in the last week or two. Not for any particular reason (no special someones here, kids), but just because I’ve been reflecting a lot on how much I’ve grown in the last couple of years as a single lady and how what I want now is so different from what I wanted a few years ago. I spent so many years thinking that I needed to get married by the time I graduated college or I was going to wind up miserable and alone. However, I’m 24 and halfway to 25, and single as ever, and could not be happier. Would I like to date someone? Sure, I guess, if it seemed right. But it’s not a dire situation. Not even something I feel like I need, really. Love and happiness take time. They’re not mutually inclusive, but when they are, they require patience and work and understanding. Even though I’ve been single for a couple of years, I now feel like I understand so much more about relationships and people and just life in general.

Also, I saw Celeste & Jesse Forever this morning, starring Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg, and one thing I really took away from that movie was that there is no rush on finding love. And even if something seems right at one time, it doesn’t always stay that way. Great movie, by the way. I highly recommend it because it was fantastic. Funny and sad all at once, just the way I like ‘em.

It seems like I’ve just been doing a lot of introspective thinking lately, which is a favorite pastime of mine. There are few things I love more than thinking about my past and learning from it and moving forward.

What were your three words? What do you think they mean?

 

Fall 2012 Style Update

Posted in daily fashion by

This morning I was in a meeting in which I was asked to define my personal style and design an outfit for myself that fit within the aesthetic of the company I work for. I know, isn’t my job awesome? But when I started thinking about it, I realized I haven’t thought about dressing within my specific style in a while.

I try to nail down my style about once a year and refine it every season, but I have kind of let that slide since I moved. It sort of feels like I’ve been so focused on getting everything else in order that I sort of neglected my own style and relied on last year’s looks and my old fallback outfits instead of continuing to shop my own closet and finding new looks for myself.

However, when I was pulling clothes for my look this morning, I was also thinking of how to describe my look and style as I knew I would have to present it to everyone else in the meeting. As I thought about what pieces I’ve been drawn to over the last few weeks as fall clothing started coming in, I realized what I was looking for.

I live in a classic silhouette of pieces in bold colors and patterns, with intricate details and attention to every part of my appearance. Without further ado, let me show you the outfit I chose for myself:

It’s all down to the details here. The colors in the Pilcro leggings and the cardigan are very me–I’m really into colored pants this fall–but what really makes this outfit are the little details. I layered two chunky necklaces together to make a real statement up top, but the detailed pull on the boots is important, too. I included a bottle of nail polish because I paint my nails at least every third day, if not sooner than that, because that’s the kind of thing that’s important to me. Whether or not we realize it, we pay attention to details like that. I do, at least, and I always want to make a good impression.

If you click on the image, you’ll be able to see all of the items for sale.

What are you wearing for fall this year?

Summer’s Last Hurrah Giveaway and Discount Code!

Posted in giveaway by

I may have graduated over a year ago, but it still feels weird to get to fall and know that I’m not going back to class. I love it, since being an adult has always been better than being in college, but it’s still a weird feeling.

However, I know that a lot of my friends are still in school, as are a lot of my blog followers! And since I love you guys and want you to get a great start to your year, I’m hosting a big back to school Etsypalooza for the next two weeks!

Starting today, August 15, I’m offering 25% off anything in my store with code LASTHURRAH. This is a great chance to get a great piece for the first week of class (or for just life!) at a super great price. Keep in mind that I do a lot of custom work, so if you want something tweaked slightly or if you have a brilliant idea that you think I would be a good fit for, please message me on Etsy and we’ll see what we can work out.

In addition to the discount, I’m opening this blog post as a giveaway for the chance to win anything currently for sale in my store, including anything that I post in the next few weeks. Or if you don’t see something you like, I am more than happy to work with you to make a completely custom piece. I mean, it really doesn’t get any better than that, does it?

Fun fact: If you buy something between now and the end of the giveaway, and you win, you can pick whether you’d rather get something else free or have your purchase refunded.

Ways to enter:

  1. Comment on this post! Tell me what you like in my store, what most excites you about school (or being graduated!), anything, really. I just want to hear from you!
  2. Tweet about this giveaway and mention me (@baileymichelle) so that I know you did! You MUST come back and remind me here in a separate comment for this to count as an entry.
  3. Link back to this post from your blog! You MUST come back and remind me here in a separate comment for this to count as an entry.

A winner will be chosen on Sept 1 via random.org, but keep your eyes on this space–there may or may not be more things coming over the next couple of weeks!

This giveaway is open to everyone, since my Etsy does worldwide shipping now :) And PS remember that I now accept all credit cards, not just PayPal, so you don’t have to use PayPal to shop my stuff!

Posted in Politics by

The Republicans drove our economy into a ditch. So we got down there, we put on our boots and we pushed and we shoved and we were sweatin’. And there’s the Republicans, watching us. They’re sippin’ on a slurpee. They were pointing at us, saying, “How come you’re not pushing harder? How come you’re not pushing faster?” When we finally get the car onto level ground, heading in the right direction, they see the scratches and shout to everyone, “Look what these guys did to your car!” And then they’ve got the nerve to ask for the keys back! I don’t wanna give ‘em the keys back. They don’t know how to drive!

Perfect analogy from President Obama made in a 2010 speech, but I can’t stress how relevant this still is. As the election nears, we need to remember just exactly how much Obama has done for us and how far his administration has pulled us back from the collapse we were nearing under the Bush administration. Votes matter, friends. Make this year count.

Can’t really sum up the last four years any better than this.