Weekend Vanity

Our weekend kicked off with going to Snake Dance, our friend Bryan's dance night. Time to get dressed up, give our skeleton a little kiss (scandalous!) and be off to the club for some dancing.

My outfit was pretty simple; tank top, leggings, short ruffled skirt, a little sweater and winklepickers. A heavy sprinkling of accessories and Voila! Comfortable club outfit for when I was feeling lazy and uninspired.

Saturday was Siouxsie Sioux 60th birthday, so I opted to wear a Siouxsie and the Banshees t-shirt in her honor. Since we were heading to a show that evening that was themed in her honor, I figured the modified top was a perfect choice. I've been going through my t-shirts and have been giving them some new life *wink*.

The evening was very nice as I got to see a lot of friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. I was also glad it was a relatively early evening as we had a very big house project to accomplish the next day. Damn, I sound old and responsible! When did that happen?!?! Hahaha!

Speaking of vanity, our front garden got some love and we put in a raised bed with some small shrubs. The beautification took place all day Sunday and all the lifting, sweating and multiple trips to Home Depot was totally worth it! Check this off the 'To-Do' list...

Thank you for reading, until next time!

DIY Project: Green Velvet Settee

LOL @ the sock and slipper combo.

I picked up this lovely vintage green velvet settee from an estate sale. I had visited the sale on Friday and wasn't crazy about the price, so I returned on Saturday for half price day and got a great deal. The lovely lady at the estate sale gave me a great price tag of $35, so I couldn't resist!

The settee is in excellent shape, BUT it smelled musty. The first thing I did was spray the fabric down with cheap vodka. Yep, vodka! The cheaper the better as it helps with musty smells or "vintage smells" on fabric like; velvet, cotton, faux fur, etc. Tip-I suggest testing a small spot, before you spray the entire surface.

I used the at home Dryel kit to dry clean the cushion cover. Worked like a charm!

*not sponsored, I just like it!

Next, I removed the cushion cover to dry clean and discovered the cushion was the real source of the musty funk. I already was planning on replacing the cushion myself, so I hopped onto Amazon and ordered some high density foam that I will be cut to fit the cushion cover. I've never done anything like this, but luckily there are some great Youtube videos to help guide me. It also helps that Derek is here to lend me a hand. *Wink* I'll keep you posted on how the settee project goes.

Thank you for reading, until next time!

A Lace Dress and Fluevogs

Hello Friends! Last Tuesday got freakishly hot for this time of year, so that gave me the opportunity to wear my new Fluevog shoes! I am happy to report that they were incredibly comfortable all day, which is rare for me when I'm wearing new shoes for the first time.

This lace dress is so 'swooshy' and so much fun to wear, especially when it's windy outside. The multiple layers of lace are trimmed in ruffles and the handkerchief  (pixie) hem is something I've been searching for in other dress styles. I really like 'uneven' hemlines and am not quite sure what to look for when I'm doing an online search. Any suggestions, stores or brands I should check out? 

Unicursal Hexagram pendant was purchased at Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo, which I added to a black rosary chain. 

Wearing; lace dress (local shop), belt (old, Forever 21), shoes (John Fluevog), assorted bracelets (thrifted), earrings (etsy), necklace (see text under photo).

I hope everyone has a great week! We have so many things planned this week as well as fixing up our front garden. I can't wait till 'This Old Goth Haus' has more curb appeal.

Thank you for reading, until next time!

New Orleans Trip Part 2

I totally forgot to mention in New Orleans Part 2 that we ended our evening (5/8/17) by strolling through Jackson Square and finding a tiny bar in Pirates Alley. The bar services absinthe and Derek and I had wanted to give absinthe in try in the tradition sense. We both dislike anise flavors and have had absinthe based cocktails that we did not enjoy, but we got adventurous this time!

The verdict? It was quite enjoyable! We shared one glass together (that was already prepared?), which was tasty, so we ordered another and watched the process. Ice cold water dripping on a sugar cube that is over a glass of the absinthe brand, Absente. Yum! 

So, as you can surmise from all the photos that we did consume a lot of alcohol, but not getting too crazy. *Wink*. Tuesday (5/9/17) was Tiki tourist day and we dressed in our tropical ridiculousness and set out once again to check out the French Quarter sites. We stopped in at the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum which was so interesting, so interesting that I forgot to take any photos inside. So many interesting artifacts and so much to read, I could have spent all day looking at all the old medicine bottles and reading what they claimed to help. 

I did snap a photo of us in the museum's courtyard. Tourist fashion!!!

Since we were in the area of the Hotel Monteleone, we decided to stop in a have a drink that their carousel themed bar. Yep, it's a bar that very slowly rotates around. You sit on the bar stools and you move, but the middle bar stays stationary. The bartender has to hop over the bar in order to get in and out! Craziness! The drinks were tasty and the ladies next to us were a riot.

Next thing you know we are hungry and went over to Tiki Tolteka which is a Tiki bar that is located above a Mexican restaurant. Wait, you can order tacos and a Tiki drink?! I'm in!

I really wished we could gotten a photo of the both of us in one shot. Oh well. 

The drinks and food were good, the decor was AMAZING, but our experience was sorta 'meh'. The bartender could have cared less if we were there (at first), but finally got him to knowledge our "How are you?" inquires. Oh well, can't have a great experience everywhere. 

Wednesday (5/10/17) was our last full day in NOLA, but we wanted to get out of the French Quarter, so we hopped on a bike taxi and went to the Garden District. Number one place we wanted to visit was Lafayette Cemetery #1. 

I took a lot of photos, but I'm going to post them all and bore you. We went to St. Louis Cemetery #1 the last time we visited, so it was cool to go to a different cemetery and hear some of its history. 

I did so good with applying sunscreen and not getting burned....until the cemetery. Irony. Ugh! Hahahaha! 

Thank you for letting me share my trip with all you!

Until next time,

Striped Vest with Gauchos

I got the back of my calf tattooed (a piece I've been putting off getting finished), so I needed to wear loose fitting bottoms that wouldn't rub or drag on my legs. I opted to wear my gauchos which first appeared in the "That's Not a Skirt?!" blog. These darn things are so comfortable! I forget what's it like to not wear such fitted clothing like jeggings and leggings, especially when I was a wide leg pants wearer from mid 90s to early 2000s.

I'm wearing a basic black tank top tucked into the gauchos, a 3/4 length sleeve light cotton sweater and my cropped black and white striped vest. Add some pointy shoes, a thin studded belt, layered cross necklace and coffin earrings, and this completes my look!

On a totally random note, I think I may have developed a severe sensitivity to hair bleach. Though my friend only used a soap cap on me (shampoo+bleach) to lighten this time, I'm still dealing with a painful itchy scalp. I am going to try a treatment he suggested using cholesterol hair conditioning cream. Yes, I also reacted with "WTF?" when he first said "cholesterol". Artery hardening anyone? Hahaha, just kidding! So, I'm going to give the treatment a try and cross my fingers in hopes of a solution.

Back of vest: patch made from a (now defunct) Deathrock Magazine t-shirt

Have a great day everyone and thank you for reading.

Until next time!

New Orleans Trip Part 1

Sunday 5/7/16 tipsy outside of Reverend Zombie's House of Voodoo

Hello friends! Derek and I are back from our trip to New Orleans and we had a great time! I have to admit this vacation wiped me out. Lots of walking, eating and drinking....and sun. There will be a lot of photos in this blog, so I hope you enjoy!

This would be our band photo. 

Sunday we got up at 3:30am to get to the airport for our 6am flight, (Ugh!) which got us into New Orleans at 11am. We headed to our AirBnB to drop off our luggage and headed to Cane and Table for brunch, which included an all-you-can drink menu. So you see, Sunday was a very 'boozy' Sunday.

After going back to the studio apartment (found through the AirBnB app) to get freshened up and changed, we headed out to roam the French Quarter. We found ourselves on Bourbon Street, which was in full blown drunk tourist mode. We kept saying, "What is going on? Why are we here?", but we managed to run into a friend we could relate too. Hahaha! Derek was so excited that that mascot was wearing a top hat.

Mr. Skeleton man requested I take a photo too, so I had to give him a hug.

We ended the night at Latitude 29 which is owned by Beachbum Berry and his wife. We had a great time, chatted with some lovely people and had some great cocktails.

Obligatory photo of Derek enjoying his cocktail.

The next day (Monday 5/8/16) we got a slow start to the day, because well....we drank a lot the day before. We started off the day going to the French (open air) Market and had a delicious brunch and headed out to explore the shops. Our main goal was going to the John Fluevog store as we had a credit from a shoe return (pair for Derek that didn't work out) and we wanted to look at the shoes in person. Derek tried on a crazy pair of loafers (which he didn't purchase) and he let me use his credit. This resulted in me getting my first pair of Fluevogs!

I fell in love with the Alison style the first time I saw them. The skull buckles paired with the strappy and pointy style makes me very happy. They are SO comfortable and I'm looking forward to no sock weather so I can rock these beauties with dresses, skirts, etc. 

Hand. Staple. Forehead

After popping into the shops, we went to the Museum of Death.  It was a really neat smaller museum that had lots of Victorian Memento Mori items, bones, taxidermy as well as lots of serial killer information and artifacts. The murder scene photography, car accident footage and other various gruesome imagery didn't peak my interest, but I'm glad we went as I always learn something new!

Derek loves Baron Samedi

We worked up a thirst and wanted to sit in a shaded courtyard, so we wandered into Pat O'Briens. They are famous for their hurricane cocktails and frankly they just tasted okay, yet  more refreshing after the ice melted. Hahaha!

After more walking around (I had to ice my hips and ankles every night), we went back to Cane and Table for dinner. Not only was the food delicious, Derek was very happy that he got the pineapple drink that he saw on the menu. Mind you it's a two person drink, but vacation to us means "let's indulge!". That is one happy person with his happy pineapple.

I was marveling as to how awesome the Tiki fountain was in the restaurant's courtyard and next thing I know we're posing next to it. Our waitress was awesome to offer to take our picture, but we are both clearly uncomfortable. ACKWARD PHOTO TIME....GO!

Phew! I'm exhausted all over again just looking at these photos. Fun exhausted, of course.

*Wink*

Part two soon to come. Thank you for reading!

Leopard, Spikes and a Bow

Happy Friday my dear friends! Any exciting plans for this weekend? Our plans include working and packing for New Orleans as we leave super-duper early on Sunday morning. *Insert happy dance* It's going to be an interest temperature change from the very wet and chilly weather we've been having, but I'm ready for some sun and warmth and de-layering a little bit.

Now that I've been at the tattoo shop for over a month, I've been wearing shoes and other pieces that only come out of the closet from time to time, like this leopard blazer and these spiked platform creepers. I don't know why I never put insoles in these shoes before, it makes a world of difference!!! Foot pain is never fun. Never!

I've been having a lot of fun getting dress everyday. I've been challenging myself to wear what I have and add only things to the wardrobe that I really want. I did a Spring time closet purge which mostly consisted of realizing some of my basics were too worn out and needed to be turned into rags.(Eeeeek!) I also tackled the enormous piles of sweaters that I own and passed a few of them to a friend and some went to the donation pile. I'm usually cold=I own a lot of sweaters. Hehehe!

Wearing; leopard blazer (old, gift from my mom), boatneck top (Target), cross belt (old, Forever 21), skirt (DIY from a dress), spiked creepers (old, ??? eBay?), necklace (gift made by Derek), bone bow (DIY'ed by me), earrings (The Pumpkin Coven), Creepers pin (Last Craft)

Do you do a seasonal wardrobe rotation and/or seasonal closet purges?

Thank you for reading, until next time!

My Morning with Bear Knuckle Brawlers

Photo on the left: Pretending to be a morning person

Photo on the right: Reality. Hahaha!!!

Welcome to my kitsch-en and my morning Wednesday routine. Wednesday's are thrift days and my time to run errands and generally have a day to myself. I tend to wear more comfy clothing while I'm running around, but I don't want to look like a complete bum. When I was contacted by Bear Knuckle Brawlers to send me some of their garments, I jumped at the chance since I had been looking for some casual attire that suited my personal style.

I'm not normally a hoodie person, but the Longline Hoodie in the moon print caught my attention since it is like a tunic and I liked that I could style it with all my printed leggings. I have to admit I've been contacted by many t-shirt/lounge wear companies and the reason why I like Bear Knuckle Brawlers so much, is that the designs are the type of imagery that I enjoy. Sometimes less is more.....in my opinion. *Wink*

The verdict: cozy, cozy, cozy. The fabric is soft and the longline hoodie design is easy to wear and I loved that after wearing it all day, I didn't have to pull down or adjust the garment. My only 'con' to the design,  is that I don't like large labels (hem line) on the front of my clothing. This is just a personal opinion about aesthetics as I think it takes away from the overall design, but no biggie!

I have more Bear Knuckle Brawler goodies to share and I get to have my partner-in-crime, Mr. Derek to help me. I also am excited to share our trip to New Orleans as we leave in just a few days!

Thank you for reading, until next time!