What I'm Listening To: Kiesza- "Hideaway"

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Can you believe this music video for the song "Hideaway" by Kiesza (aka. Kiesa Rae Ellestad) was filmed in one take!? Wow!

Kiesza is a singer/ dancer from Calgary, Alberta, Canada and is a former reservist from the Royal Canadian Navy. Hideaway is her debut single, but with the catchy lyrics and crazy dance moves, I'm sure we'll be seeing and hearing a lot more from her.
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Best Dressed At the Cannes Film Festival 2014

Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Last week TONS of celebrities were gathered at the Cannes Film Festival  and dressed to the nines to promote their upcoming films. Here are a few of my favorite gowns that were seen on the red carpet. What were your favorite looks from Cannes?

Coco Rocha
Blake Lively
Jennifer Lawrence
Jessica Chastain
All images borrowed from http://www.whowhatwear.com/
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What I'm Listening To: Sia- "Chandelier"

Saturday, May 24, 2014

This week I have been listening to Sia's new song, "Chandelier". The video includes a performance by 11-year-old dancer, Maddie Ziegler in an unknown apartment and it's pretty incredible.

Fun Fact: When Sia appeared on the Ellen show, she sang in a replica of the apartment with Maddie performing, but Sia refused to show her face (see article here). 

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What I've been Wearing

Thursday, May 22, 2014
In continuation with Coletterie's Wardrobe Architect series, last week I hid away any clothes that weren't in my Spring/ Summer Capsule wardrobe colors or shapes so that I could start implementing my capsule wardrobe. Here are a few outfit shots I made for Instagram:

05/08/2014

Top: JCrew
Jeans: Banana Republic 
Socks: Betsey Johnson via Ross Dress for Less 
Glasses: Bonlook Honeybadgers

05/09/2014
Top: Old Navy
Boyfriend skinny cropped jeans: Old Navy
Glasses: Bonlook Honeybadgers
Angry Birds Socks: Spencers Gifts
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What I'm Listening To: Eurovision 2014

Saturday, May 17, 2014
Last Saturday the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest aired it's live finale and crowned a winner. For those of you who don't know, Eurovision is a yearly European wide song competition in which each country chooses a musical act to represent their country and the European public can vote via phone, text or app to narrow down and select a competition winner. The competition has been around since 1956 and has helped launch the careers of such acts as ABBA and Celine Dion, and while there are still some great musicians who enter, the show is also known for it's more bazaar performers (ahem Jedward).

Anyways, before the show even started there was buzz around Austria's contestant, Conchita Wurst, who is a drag performer who sings dressed as a woman with a beard. There was also buzz about whether the Russia/Ukraine conflict would effect the way some countries voted during Eurovision.
In the end, Conchita took home the prize and although there were boos from the Danish audience every-time Russia gained a voting point, the political conflict didn't seem to effect how the countries voted for the most part.

Here are some of the best/worst acts from the show:


  • The winner: 
Conchita Wurst (Austria)- Rise Like a Phoenix
    • This sounds like the next James Bond song.


  • Best dance song that almost won: 
András Kállay-Saunders (Hungary)- Running


  • Best break-up song: 
Sanna Nielsen (Sweden)- Undo


  • Best duo: 
The Common Linnets (The Netherlands)- Calm After the Storm

  • Worst use of gratuitous milk maid boobs:
 Donatan & Cleo (Poland)- My SÅ‚owianie (We Are Slavic )
    • This group was definitely after the boob-lover vote!


  • Best unappreciated band: 
TWIN TWIN (France): Moustache
    • This is the band that I voted for because this was the only song that made me want to get off of my couch and dance! Apparently the rest of Europe disagreed because they barely got a point.



  • Best act from the UK: 
Molly- Children of the Universe
    • After the UK put up 2 of their oldest performers in years past (Bonnie Tyler and Engelbert Humperdink) with little success (Tyler was 19th, Humperdink was 25th), the UK took a different approach, which seemed like a good idea, by asking lesser known acts to audition before selecting Molly. But even with the younger singer and a better song, the UK still ended up in 17th place. 


Did you watch the Eurovision song contest? Where did you watch it? Who was your favorite/ least favorite act? Let me know in the comments below.
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The Wardrobe Architect Week 14: Overcoming Editing Hurdles

Thursday, May 15, 2014
This week the folks at Coleterie posted the final instalment to the Wardrobe Architect series: Overcoming Editing Hurdles. I feel like I've learned so much about myself and my personal style by following the series and it has definitely kept my impulse purchasing habits in check.

Week 14 is all about editing down your wardrobe and getting your Spring/ Summer capsule wardrobe in order and ready to wear. Luckily, I've already done some purging at the beginning of the series, but I still find it hard to get rid of some items that:

a) I spent a bit of money on.
b) I inherited from friends and family (more so if they are no longer living).
c) I made myself.
d) I think would do well on eBay or another site (but I haven't listed them).

This is the week that I need to get motivated to either sell, sell, sell or just donate.

Wardrobe Architect Re-cap:

Week 1: My Fashion History
Week 2: Developing My Personal Style
Week 3 & 4: Let's Talk About Shape
Week 5: Color Theory
Week 6: Organizing My Palette
Week 7: Let's Talk About Prints
Week 8: Hair, Make-up, and Beauty
Week 9: The Capsule Wardrobe
Week 10: The Capsule Palette
Week 11: Planning Your Pieces
Week 12: Accessories
Week 13: Null

Bonus: Tracking My Wardrobe


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Ditsy Floral Fabric Brooch

Tuesday, May 13, 2014
I love it when Mollie Makes magazine includes a free crafty gift that I can put together in front of the TV with a cuppa tea. Check out my Ditsy Floral Fabric Brooch that was included with issue thirty-nine. The brooch was designed around an authentic vintage button sourced from Gemma Nemer of The Button Tin.  I've been wearing it when I need a touch of Spring in my wardrobe. 

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What I'm Listening To: Ha Ha Tonka- "Usual Suspects"

Saturday, May 10, 2014

This week I heard that Missouri band, Ha Ha Tonka, was kicking off UK tour with a show at The Bank (a former bank turned coffee shop/art house/ community center) in the town of Eye in Suffolk and I had to go. Ha Ha Tonka has frequently toured in Kansas and I'd been fortunate to have caught them in concert before in Lawrence, Kansas a few years back when I was still in college, so I knew the show would be good. But this show was downright memorable. The venue was pretty small and intimate, the people in town were friendly, there was a man and woman sitting in front of the stage sketching and making water color portraits during the show (they made me wish that I'd brought my own paint set), and by the end nearly everyone was on their feet dancing and clapping. It truly was a ton of fun!

Ha Ha Tonka at The Bank
If you're in the UK, Mainland Europe or the East Coast of the U.S. you may be able to catch Ha Ha Tonka in a town near you. You can view tour dates here, and be sure to give them a warm welcome.
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What's Making Me Laugh: Tiny Hamsters Eating Tiny Burritos

Sunday, May 4, 2014

If you're a follower of Hello Giggles, the female friendly website founded by Zooey Deschanel, Sophia Rossi and Molly McAleer, then there's no doubt that you've already seen the video of Tiny Hamsters Eating Tiny Burritos. But, if you need to put a smile on your face, give it a watch.

Bonus: Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender & James McAvoy dancing to Blurred Lines

The Graham Norton Show has been on fire with delivering hilarious celebrity interviews. This week's episode was no exception.


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Blue Chamomile Tunic

Friday, May 2, 2014
Here is a tunic that took nearly 5 years to make: my Blue Chamomile Tunic. I cast-on this beauty in the fall of 2009 as a distraction from completing my graduate school masters project. Needless to say, I had to put this project on the back-burner so that I could finish my masters project and graduate on time. 

I picked up this project again in 2010, after I had graduated, and I completed the waist band and most of the upper bodice before my teeny-tiny yarn (Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud Lace in Tide Pool) started breaking and getting impossibly tangled and I called it quits. 

In the spring of 2013 I was determined to get this thing finished. I invested tons of free-time cutting and untangling my mess of yarn in an attempt to salvage some of it, but eventually I had purchase a new skein. Then I finished knitting up the bodice, sleeves and bottom portion. 

Since I started this sweater when I was fairly new to knitting, I didn't swatch my yarn and as a result my waist band and upper bodice area fit more snugly than some of the other Chamomile tunic's on ravelry, The knitted hem on the bottom kind of annoys me because I can't get it to lay flat. And if you look closely, you'll see a few subtle flaws where the yarn has clumped together and formed knots in itself or where the yarn got thin but didn't tear, forming a small gap in the fabric.






Overall, this was a beast to knit, and I'm glad it's finished (and it looks nice on camera too)! I don't think I'll knit this again because the tiny gauge makes it take forever to knit-up, but if I did decide to do it again I'd make the upper bodice longer and more roomier, add a few more flowers to expand the waist and I'd omit the knitted hem at the bottom. I'd also use a different, more sturdy yarn.



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