The Internet Loves Cats

I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but sometime in the last few years there was a shift.  We all felt it.  Some of us embraced it, some of us sneezed at it...literally, there's a lot of allergies.  But whatever your reaction, there's no denying it.  Cats became cool.  This can be exemplified by the Internet cat craze (hello daily cat videos!), as well as cat products showing up EVERYWHERE.  From cat prints on dresses, to cat ear headbands, to super adorable cat shoes, like the Irregular Choice ones I am wearing (on left) and the YRU ones Julie, from http://smileysquid.blogspot.com/ is sporting below, it is clear that cats are where it's at right meow ;)

This weekend I went to a cat party at Japan LA to celebrate Kutusitanyanko, a sock wearing cat from San-X.  Everyone dressed in their best cat attire.  If you click the link to the the Japan LA blog, you can see some photos of me in my past finest cat regalia.  But on my blog I am going to share some photos of this weekend's cat attire.

Mandy and I are twin cats in our tuxedo tops and Locketship cat rings.

Lana and Alex are such hipster kitties, clearly only wearing their ears ironically.  They clearly got their cat styling tips from Mean Girls:  Add some ears.  "I'm a cat.  Duh".

Rachel and Ari are so crafty and actually made their rosette cat ears.  I was super impressed.  Julie is purr-fectly coordinated, as always.

 Before we got to the party a real cat followed Stephanie.  She pet it.  "Aren't you allergic??"  I asked.  She shrugged nonchalantly.  Stephanie takes theme-ing seriously.  That, and she really loves cats.

Cat-tastic group photo.  We all take theme-ing seriously.

Outfit Details (mine, since sadly I don't have everyone's)

Top, Knee-Highs, Gloves, Shoes: ModCloth.com

Skirt: Target-Kid's Section

Belt: Forever 21

Ears: Borrowed from Mandy

Ring: Locketship

Transition to Doll: Phase One

If there is anything in this world I love as much as bows, it has to be Barbie.  I think just the fact that my Instagram handle is caBarbiePrincess, which is an extension of the email address I have had since 1998, is enough to prove this.  But if you ever really feel the need to drive the point home, well come visit my home.  Only give me fair warning, I'll need to clean...so like a week at least.  My whole apartment is kind of like a bow/Barbie shrine, only not in a creepy way.  One time the handy man came to fix my leaky sink and he told me his niece would just love my place.  "Aw thank you", I responded, "how old is your niece?"  "Seven".  Awesome.

 

The mantel in my apartment

One of the walls in my apartment

Once a not-so-nice boyfriend told me that I looked like a doll.  I was beyond flattered.  I mean, talk about a compliment!!  I thanked him and felt quite smug that I had managed to pull of the exact look I was going for.  I mean Barbie is a doll!!  Too bad he guffawed at my excitement and exclaimed that it was not intended to be taken in a positive light and that we were "just so different".  Well I may not have a Ken in my life currently, but when I do, he won't think we are so different.  In fact, I suspect he will be quite a doll.

Outfit Details

Dress: ModCloth.com

Shoes: New Look London

Bow: Forever 21

Ring: Marc Jacobs Daisy Perfume Ring

Earrings: Tarina Tarntino

Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows

I feel like I took a risk with this title.  My first outfit post on my brand new blog and I made a bold statement with the use of an Oxford Comma.  But I'm going with it because I am going to make a lot of bold statements so I want you to be prepared.

If you read my first post you may have remembered that I mentioned already having a lot of daily outfit photos.  One of the many reasons why I love my job is because on Tuesdays we get to take outfit pictures!  My good friend and co-worker, Margaret of http://tryabreathmint.com/, takes my pics and deals with my diva-ish demands.  When we first started doing these weekly shots it was two and a half years ago, back in the prehistoric days before Instagram...I know it's hard to remember.  Since these images were mainly for use on the company Flickr page, we would only take one.  As time went on and the magic of apps like Picstitch were available at our fingertips, we began taking some close up and detail shots.  But since a lot of my photos will be from the archives to start, I do apologize for the lack of detail shots.

Okay, now that that's been explained, let me explain a few more things.  First, I will try to keep future posts less verbose than this one.  I realize I have a tendency to go on and on...and on.  I hope you find some humor in my writing, if you are still reading.  Hello?  Anyone???  Second, I didn't know how to choose my first outfit pic.  Like I said, I have two and a half years worth of daily outfit shots.  How do you choose from 150 plus pics?  Well, we all play favorites.  And this is my favorite.

I mean, it's a RAINBOW dress!!!  I feel like in this one picture I am making so many statements.  I'm fun!  I like color!  I support gay marriage (to the extreme)!  All things that I think (I hope) are true.

And can we talk about these shoes for a minute? 

Okay, so that was less talking and more just looking at a picture.  And lest we forget the accessories, and that I had put pink streaks in my hair for one day to match, we remember here

So there you have it.  My first outfit post.  Wow.  We've already been through so much together!  I hope you enjoyed reading and seeing and I really hope you will come back for more.  Because believe me, there will be so many more.  Most will be full of sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows.  But don't let that blind you from the dry humor and the ability to use the Oxford Comma.

Outfit Details

Dress: ModCloth.com

Shoes: Wild Rose

Bow: IamChubbyBunny.com

Rainbow Headband: Claire's

Heart Ring: Ogeeku

Pink Hair Color: Color Bug by Kevin Murphy

Welcome to my BOW-log!

I love bows.  If you know me, you know this.  If you don't know me, you may have already picked up on this.  And if you didn't, don't worry, there's still plenty of content that should help give it away.  I'm not sure if I can pinpoint the exact time this love affair began.

Perhaps it was my 4th birthday party dress that had three pastel bows on the dropped waistline.

Or maybe it was the perfect little tie on my ballet shoes during my first recital at 6 years old.

Or it could have possibly been a combination of Barbie and Minnie Mouse, my childhood idols who may have helped shape the person I am today, or at least the way I dress and how I drive (more to come on this in future posts).  And I know what you're thinking,  but Barbie actually IS a good role model.  She was a teacher, a doctor, the first woman in space, (10 years before Sally Ride) and clearly quite the multi-tasker.

Whatever the reason, I love bows.  I love that they represent femininity and girlish whimsy.  And I love that the represent me.  And with that, here is the lead in...

This is my blog, or my BOW-log, if you will.  I have been talking about starting one for years now, but there was always some excuse:
1.  I don't have time (true, but I can always make it!)
2.  My computer is too old (true, but it still gets the Internet)
3.  My skin is terrible and I'm embarrassed to post pictures (WAS true, but thanks to the wonders of      Acutane and an awesome dermatologist, it's looking much better these days)
4.  I don't know how to format a blog (most likely true, I guess you will be the judge of that)
5.  I have tons of outfit pictures that I want to use, but I only have one photo in each outfit and all
     blogs have multiple pictures of the same outfit and my blog should be like that too (false!!!  If
     what I'm writing and posting about is my style and my life, then I don't have to follow the same
     format as everyone else, right??)
6. [Intentionally left blank for hundreds of other excuses that I made]

So now that I really have run out of excuses, here I am, typing this stream of consciousness and hoping it has been entertaining enough that you will stick around to see my outfit pictures, crazy shoes, and lots and lots of bows.  And hopefully a witty caption or two, most likely including some sort of play on words.  And with that, I will bow out.

xoxo
Helena