Halloween Costume! Russell and Carl from Up

Halloween Costume! Russell and Carl from Up

Ansell first came up with the idea to do the characters from Up. He already has clothing that is basically old man, Up is his favorite movie, and Carl his favorite characters. So, overall it was an easy pick for him.

He made the bottle cap from a Corona bottle. It’s not authentic but close enough. To be really cool, you can get the grape soda cap from this store at Etsy.

Ansell wanted me to be the house. While that’s a cute idea, I was a city last year and I really wanted to be an actual person this year. Plus, I wanted some mobility and a house was not going to allow that.

So, I chose Russell because I freaking loved Russell and was excited by all the cool, but easy to make, stuff on his outfit.

First, thank you to Chariots of Ire for having such a great tutorial of making the Russell costume, especially the badges. Here is the link to Part 1 of the costume tutorial.

I ordered the yellow cap, shirt, bandana, shoelaces, and badge supplies in September. If I hadn’t there is no way I could have done as much last minute stuff as I did. :)

Here it is!

Costume break-down

I have provided links to all of these. Just click on the link in green to go to the actual product I used.

Yellow Cap: $3 Amazon

The hat is supposed to have the Wilderness Explorer badge on it, but the badge wouldn’t stay on for me so I gave up. It didn’t matter though as the way the cap is worn, you’d never have really seen it anyway.

Bandana: $6 Amazon 
Cut in half. One half was the bandana and the other was the flag.

 

Yellow polo: $10 Amazon 
 It's useable as a regular shirt when this is done!

Scout sash: Repurposed long sued skirt from stash.

I used the bottom half, and now the top half is a super cute skirt!

Beads: From stash, originally bought from Amazon. I think it was these, $7 Amazon.

Brown shorts: Ansell

I couldn't find anything I liked on Amazon but you could check Ebay, Ross, TJMaxx, or your male friends wardrobe. (Try the last one first!)

Yellow socks: Ansell

Sometimes these look white, sometime light green, sometime light yellow. I chose light yellow because I thought it looked the best. Pick whatever works in your wardrobe!

Sneakers & Laces: Had the black sneakers (from Ross), Orange Shoelaces $4 Amazon

Backpack: Ansell

I recommend looking at thrift stores or ask outdoorsy friends if they have something similar. Ansell and I are both backpackers so I had my pick of backpacks.

Crap on backpack: Crap from around the house. Wish I could have gotten a trumpet like this and spray painted it gold!

Badges: 

Transparency printer paper $8 

Furniture cushions $4 per 8 both from Amazon

These are the actual badges used by Pixar found here. 

I simply printed the badges on the printer transparency paper then cut and put on the furniture pads. 

The transparency paper was sticky enough that I didn’t have to use extra glue to get them to stay on the pads. 

The pads themselves are sticky backed and they are SUPER sticky so I just placed them straight on the suede stash and they stayed on all night.

I used 4 packs of the furniture pads for a total of 32 badges. You need more like 6 or 7 packs though. 

I made all of the obvious front and top badges with the furniture pads. 

The ones towards the bottom I just left the transparency paper on the white adhesive backs and used elmers glue stick to glue the paper on the suede sash. It wasn't as 3D but since the majority of the badges were, it tricked the eye well enough for my purposes. 

Can you tell?

Note: I specialized what badges I chose based on my own interests/skill set not the original costume.

That's why books, sushi, cupcakes, and sewing are the most prominent.

The large Wilderness Explorer badges were printer on the transparency paper then stuck directly on the shirt and pendent.

The lower badge with the beads was put on paper then sewn on. I would have preferred putting it on leather to make it more like the original costume but didn't have time.

The black hair is my own hair spray painted black. I also used a lot of bronzer to look less pale. I will never be asian but I can at least try to not look like a ghost.

And done! I had a lot of fun with this costume and it made a huge hit at our party. Ansell and I won the couple's costume contest!

Empowered Women International Event

Empowered Women International Event

A couple weeks ago Ansell and I attended a special shopping event at One Thousand Villages that was hosting Empowered Women International.

One Thousand Villages is a fantastic store that specializes in Fair Trade goods. All the items sold in the store are Fair Trade and really unique.

At the event, One Thousand Villages donated 20% of all proceeds sold that evening to Empowered Women International. I had been wanting to get some Christmas presents there anyway and liked being able to ensure a chunk of the profits went to my old internship non-profit EWI.

It was also great because I got to see Marga, the founder, there and finally introduce her to Ansell.

All in all we had a great time shopping and got our Christmas stuff done early!

Afterwards we went to a Bluegrass bar and listened to some live music.

The Great Gatsby Party!

The Great Gatsby Party!

 

Last month a friend of ours threw a big Great Gatsby costume party.

I was pretty excited about it and timed my hair appointment for the week before the party so I would have a freshly cut 1920s bob.

I also had Arika send me the 1920s dress I had left with her, which she kindly did. I took in the dress a little bit on the sides so it was still baggy ala 1920s but without looking like wearing a moo-moo.

She also sent me a lovely pair of earrings, which I paired with the outfit. 

I also wore my snake bracelet, which was a Christmas present from Ansell, a long string of pearls I found at a used store for $5 (and have worn so much since then), a shorter strand of pearls, fancy headband I had in my headband stash, patent leather shoes I found year ago at a second store in Florida, and blinged out ring from H&M.

I looked up photos of 1920s makeup and tried to re-create the color schemes and style. As usually I should have pushed the envelope more and made it bolder. (sigh)

Ansell was equally dashing and already had most of the outfit. He simply ordered a boater hat, put everything together, and BAM! 1920s gentleman.

Once we got to the party I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO TAKE ANY PHOTOS. I’m so ashamed of myself because there was so much cool stuff and people really went for the theme. Our host, Adam, had glasses arranged to say “1920” and everyone was dressed really well. It was a successful party and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Just wish I had taken some photos.

Here are some photos taken by others.

Can't wait for the movie! Darn you WB for pushing back the release day!

Playing with the new hair!

 I have been playing around with ways to style my new hair.

I did a style where it was lightly curled. Just enough to give it body and have it look a little fun. This is the first time I wore my bangs side swept and I like it a lot.

A little note, I look great with high-necked tops now. The short hairstyle gives my wardrobe a completely new look, which is great!

This is one where it’s completely straight and blunt. I didn’t even turn it under at the tips. I wore it with a tux shirt, mini skirt and wide belt. The look was great although the picture turned out crappy.

This is the first time I really played with doing a masculine look and I like it a lot.

Out for a picnic! Tight spiral curls everywhere! This took me a full hour. Which is ridiculous considering how short the hair is. Next time I’m going to do leave-in rollers. However, it looked great and Ansell loved it. I definitely want to do it again but leave it overnight with more product. The curls dropped and by the end of the day it looked like the first picture in this blog.

Again, I feel like the hairstyle gives my wardrobe new life and makes everything a little more edgy.

PS Check out those shoes. I love them.

Annnnnnnd Ansell, who always looks great. He made us a fantastic pasta salad for lunch and we had a picnic at the Georgetown Waterfront. Ansell is my number 1 inspiration for wardrobe style right now. He ALWAYS looks fashionable and classic but definitely has his own personal look.

I’m hoping to do some more styles with my hair in terms of braids and other fun. For now, I’m enjoying how light and easy it is!

NYC - Day 4 Friday 8/17

Last Day!

On our last day, we said goodbye to our nice Harlem apartment, dropped our stuff off at the luggage-holding store near Penn Station, and set out to Soho.

 The Soho area is pretty cool. It had some really interesting stores that I have never seen anywhere else. One of which was called Evolution and had everything to do with animals, insects, and humans. So, it had fossils, every kind of beetle, moth, and butterfly imaginable, bones, globes, rocks, etc. It was such a cool place and won Ansell and I’s best store in New York award.

Soho also had a little shop called Mini Cupcakes. It is exactly how it sounds. I chose the Cookie Dough one although I think the Smores would have been fun as well. It’s $1 for one, $3 for 3 and I think $5 for 6. The next time I might just get all the flavors to try it out.

These cupcakes are so small that even 6 of them probably wouldn’t add up to a full cupcake. :)

We also visited this fantastic boutique hotel/restaurant called Isola. The restaurant part is like an indoor/outdoor space. The walls and ceiling are all glass and they incorporate a lot of greenery and open space so it feels like the outdoors but temperature controlled. Ansell and I really loved it and we spent some time enjoying a drink (beer for Ansell and tea for me) while doing some quiet reading. 


I really appreciate when places allow us just to hang out and sip drink quietly while reading. The wait staff didn’t bug us much and didn’t pressure us to buy more stuff.

This is what we get in Portland.
Yeah...it's hard to top.

For lunch, we passed a cabaret place doing a $10 lunch deal and took advantage. We actually got a lot of food and it was pretty good quality for $10. It was obviously a “get-them-in-the-door” tactic though so you could meet the girls inside. I wasn’t that impressed though. If I wanted to see bored attractive girls dancing to music I’d go to a club, at least there the girls would be having fun. Besides when you used to live in Portland, OR and got to see fire dancers and gymnastics just taking off your clothes isn’t very impressive, just boring. So we ate cheaply and left.

These are all paintbrushes stuck in clear gesso.

We rounded out the day by meeting up with another of Ansell’s friends, Mitch, who is in art school and visited the Museum of Modern Art, or MoMA. We timed it to coincide with their free entry period and it was packed. Despite that we had a nice time looking around. I’m not a big fan of modern art and I really appreciated Mitch filling in some of the back-story and interesting details about certain paintings, styles of art, and artists. I also appreciated how low-key he was. He never came across as those artists who are so into themselves and what they’re doing that they’re a chore to be around. Instead he was refreshingly honest and down-to-earth. You can check out his artwork at www.mitchpaster.com.

After that we went to a cool divey diner and I got way too many pancakes. I downed those pancakes like I hadn’t eaten pancakes in months, which is kinda true.

Full on pancakes & happy from our time in New York we caught the bus home to DC.

We had such a wonderful time, Ansell got to visit some old friends and I met new ones, we saw amazing things, ate lots of food, drank lots of tea and overall had a great vacation. I can’t wait to go back!

See you soon New York!

NYC - Day 3 Thursday 8/16

Lower Manhattan here we come!

Thursday morning was spent exploring the Financial district. It’s a lot more interesting than I thought it would be!

We visited the Federal Reserve (boring) and the Stock Exchange first. It weirded me out because the Stock Exchange had the Chinese flag flying. We soon learned that they were having a summit or something there. All the Chinese businessmen and women seemed really excited. Yay for cultural exchange!

We walked down to the waterfront and saw the Brooklyn Bridge before stumbling upon this hidden restaurant alley. On either side of the alley were restaurants and the alley itself had been taken over by tables and hungry financers. It was wonderful.

I am constantly amazed at how well NY creates community spaces. You don’t go 10 blocks without seeing some kind of park or community area, which I think is really important in such a big area.

After eating we headed to Battery Park and saw the distant figure of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Then we walked over to the 9/11 Memorial but the area was totally sealed off and that was really disappointing. I really think it should be open to everyone. One day it will be but for now I understand they have to control the crowds.

The plans for the whole area, and the building of the new tower and the other towers, are very interesting and I can’t wait to see it all completed. It’s amazing that when I eventually take my kids to see it you’d never know that in the not so distant past there were two towers there.

After the Financial District we went to the West Village and hung out. Plenty of cool restaurants and stores. 

We relaxed (and people-watched) at an Italian Café, Olio e Piu, and I enjoyed a nice cup of tea and some Italian cheesecake while Ansell had beer and salmon.

The cheesecake wasn’t what I expected, in a good way. It wasn’t very sweet and was very dense. It was served with melted dark chocolate that was almost like ganache. It was something I wouldn’t have normally ordered but really enjoyed.

We then discovered the Village’s “High Line” which used to be train tracks that the city repurposed into a green, community walkway. This was hands-down my favorite place in New York.

It was so lush and it was great to get off of the street and up higher, where things seem clearer. It was such an unexpected space and I was delighted that the city had invested the money to make such a wonderful community space. I feel that DC and a lot of big cities really lack areas like this.

I thought a lot about my Aunt Carol when I walked along. I think she would have enjoyed it just as much as I did. I would like to one day walk arm in arm along the path and admire the greenery together. It’s such a peaceful place within the heart of all the hustle and bustle.

I want to go back so bad!

That evening Ansell and I met his friends at their apartment in Brookyln. As soon as I walked in I thought I had interrupted a TV show about New York artists. It literally looked exactly like one would expect a struggling artist apartment to look like. Nice!

They had set out a fantastic spread for us and it was great to meet Ansell’s friends from Barcelona. They were awesome people and I can’t wait to visit them again!

We got drunk then dragged ourselves home to Harlem. What a great, long, day!