[Enid] Explained

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Enid's new guest posts will commence tomorrow.
Who is this Enid character, anyway?

She gave a reveal on her last post, May 1, 2014:

According to my calculations, Enid was 18 when Ghost World was published in 1997.
That would make her 35 in 2014.

[Amazon link]

What sort of career did Enid grow into after she left on the bus?

[from Ghost World, p. 80]

I figured that she worked in publishing and had wound up being Miz Bag of Vogoff's dogsbody. In the beginning of 2014, she had caused a few deadline misses, so Miz Bag "punished" her by sending her out to report on my road trip circumnavigating the US.

This year, Enid has been banished to Vogoff's scarf closet*.
(Enid can never catch a break.)
Even I don't know what she'll get up to in there, starting tomorrow!

*[it looks a lot like Lenny's. Well, maybe not THAT insane]

Lenny Kravitz's "scarf closet" [source]
Now I feel better about how my closets look.
Note human in foreground for scale.
[7/25/16 update -- NOT Lenny's, it's a scarf merchant in Marrakech. Discovered REAL source while repairing broken link]

SpyGirl Watches: "Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies"

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Exactly five years ago I finally went to the doctor about a lump in my right breast that had been growing for about a year. Yes I was in deep denial.

It was breast cancer -- stage IIIc, to be exact.
I had a mastectomy, chemo, and radiation.
I'm sharing this fact so that maybe you won't procrastinate as badly as I did.
[If you want to read about my cancer saga, it's over on a Caring Bridge blog here].
I'm fully recovered, by the way. Team Bray for the win!

There has been much more open discussion of cancer of late. I think that's beneficial to all that get touched by this disease, whether it's as the one with the malady or as that person's caretaker and/or loved one. Wendy Brandes wrote an excellent post here regarding Angela Jolie's cancer decisions, I highly suggest reading it.

PBS is airing a three part documentary based on the book by Siddhartha Mukherjee.
I enjoyed the book very much and I'm looking forward to seeing the documentary.
There was a great review of it in the Sunday LA Times here.

"Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies" will be airing 9pm Monday 3/30 - Wednesday 4/1 (six hours over three nights). Check your local listing.

52 Pick-me-up: Iris

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This week we celebrate the Iris.

Iris Petals by Len Burgess 

Iris 'Constant Companion' October 18th, closeup by Bob Gutowski 

The iris comes in a wide range of colors, but I was inspired by the purple ones.
Both of my ensembles feature the radiant purple scarf that Bella gave me last May.

Did you know that the heraldic fleur de lis motif is based on both the lily and the iris? Now you do!

[source]

I'll be linking up with Sacramento and Rosie's Share-In-Style on Monday.

You, on the other hand, will hopefully link here!

Spy Girl Watches: L.A. Frock Stars -- Vintage Rebranded

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Episode 2 of L.A. Frock Stars aired last night, did you happen to catch it?
One of my favorite scenes was when Doris and Shelly Lyn visited the studio of
costume "jeweler to the stars" Joseff of Hollywood.
(Here's a video clip of that part).

I love Shelly Lyn. She is a Goddess.
She said something about respecting the "ratios" of one's body in Episode 1.
I must get her to elaborate on that now that we're Instagram pals!
You can see examples of her amazing jewelry designs here at Reikolyn.

New episodes will air on the Smithsonian Channel every Thursday at 9pm.
They are rebroadcasted, check this link, then click on the specific episode for air times.
The same link will also lead you to streams of all six episodes of Season 1 (for now).

Who will I sketch next? Come back next Friday to find out!

I was given access to screeners of all six episodes of Season 2 back in February. 
The above verbiage is all mine.

Are You Ready for the Return of Enid?

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Enid's journal was left only half filled last year.

Leather-bound blank journal a gift from my brother (yay Randy!) 

Ducks in Paisley scarf a gift from Connie 

I'm doubling down and combining TWO April blogging events:
International Fake Journal Month 
and 
Blogging from A to Z 

I've been brainstorming during #myshittycommute

(this particular session was for my upcoming show at TAG)

and am STILL not sure EXACTLY what Enid will post every day.
(IFJM "rules" stipulate creating the fake entries on the actual day. Enid is a bit of a wild card).

I'm lining up her inspiration and I promise it shall be alphabetically entertaining!
All I can say at this point is, it will have something to do with scarves.
A dance of the 26 veils, if you will.

Miz Bag has granted her approval

It's not too late to join in the madness!

Read about how to join IFJM here.

Sign up here for Blogging A to Z (900+ blogs listed so far!)

ps: I had NO IDEA that this would be SCARF WEEK on 52 Pick-me-up when I wrote this post.
How fortuitous!

52 Pick-me-up: Match Your Scarf

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This prompt was so much fun last year, I'm doing it again.
First you find a scarf, then you match your outfit to it.

I chose this Indian silk square that I "borrowed" from my mom back in 69 or 70.

Scarf it up! Link and tell!

I'm linking with Patti's Visible Monday later today. No hiding behind scarves for me!
Also linking with Maricel's TARDIS Tuesday. Because blue.

SpyCam. At Superba

SpyGirl Watches: L.A. Frock Stars -- Vintage Ninja

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Did you catch the premiere of L.A. Frock Stars Season 2 on the Smithsonian Channel?
It's lots of fun and informative too.

Episode 1: Vintage Ninja has us join Doris, the owner of  the Hollywood Boutique The Way We Wore®, in New Hope, PA attending the Whitaker Auction. She finds and bids on some boxes of real treasure -- castoffs from FIT's (Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC) archives. Oh how I wish I could rifle through those boxes! We also get to watch the store staff pull garments for stylist Seth Chernoff who is looking for garments for Tori Spelling.

I sketched Doris in her "vintage ninja" treasure hunting outfit:

New episodes will air on the Smithsonian Channel every Thursday at 9pm. They are rebroadcasted, check this link, then click on the specific episode for air times.
The same link will also lead you to streams of all six episodes of Season 1 (for now).

Who will I sketch next week? Come back next Friday to find out!

I was given access to screeners of all six episodes of Season 2 back in February. 
The above verbiage is all mine.

"The Art of Having It All" Book Give-Away [ends 4/1/15]

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Giveaway extended until 4-1-15.

It's Maricel and Selah's Thoughtful Third Thursday today.

The theme this month? "March On"

Back in January, I was asked if I'd like to review "The Art of Having It All" by Christy Whitman. 

Here, I have the book placed on my abundance of sewing repairs.

"Sure," I said, "I'll read it and then do a giveaway." Well, lo and behold, I was sent TWO copies. So now I'm thinking, why don't I get a study partner and we can check in with each other and see where this book takes us.

Some pithy quotes from Christy [lifted from the press release] to entice you:

“Having it all simply means having access to all of yourself, in any moment you choose it, and in every aspect of life that is important to you.”

“Nothing can happen until you start paying attention to you, and this means listening to your emotions rather than trying to resist, suppress, ignore or deny them.”

“Give yourself permission to have. Give yourself permission to be.
Give yourself permission to need. Give yourself permission to let go.”

“There is a deep place within your system where there is complete alignment and infinite capacity.”

Sound like something you'd like to read?

Simply enter your email into the Rafflecopter below. That's all I ask!
NOTE: it's a two step process. Log into giveaway via Facebook or your email. THEN add your email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The technical details on the book:

The Art of Having It All – A Woman’s Guide to Unlimited Abundance
Christy Whitman
List $14.95
Trade soft cover, 136 pages
ISBN-1- 978-0-9885855-0-8
Published by TV Guestpert Publishing

For more information about Christy, visit www.TheArtofHavingItAll.com or www.ChristyWhitman.com

I was compensated with two copies of the book, one to give away. 
I'll be paying the postage to send the winner their copy.

I've quoted extensively from the press release.

Happy St TARDIS Tuesday

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I saw this StyleMint blue/black/green dress on someone in Go Chic or Go Home, my online Digital Closet community and HAD to have it. It's rather cheap cotton blend knit that is now starting to pill and I'll keep wearing it until I kill it.
You've seen it before, but never combined like this!

Jan, of Fort Smith Stylista, kindly gave me the Duro Olowu shirt because I raved about hers, you can see how I sketched her in it here. The shirt had been sadly languishing in my closet because the right sleeve was too tight due to my lymphedema. Solution? I cut off the sleeves!

Severo gave me the socks, from his February Sock Haul in Brooklyn. These came in a 3-pack that sold for $1.99. He now checks my feet every morning to see what socks I'm wearing.
He has a gig in Boston this weekend. Will he bring home some new socks for my collection?

Linking up with Maricel's TARDIS Tuesday.

52 Pick-me-up: Baroque and LAFC

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This week's theme is Baroque. I am WAY more interested in posting about the two days I spent at the Fall 15 presentations staged by the Los Angeles Fashion Council last Tuesday and Wednesday. Let's see how I can get this to work.
Vocabulary.com defines baroque as:
"Something baroque is overly ornate, like a paisley red velvet jacket with tassels, or music that has a lot going on and might include a harpsichord. Anything with a complicated design can be baroque but it also refers to a style of art, music, and architecture from 17th Century Italy (and is then sometimes capitalized). Although it has roots in the Portuguese word barroco meaning "imperfect pearl" not everything baroque is imperfect. Caravaggio and Rubens are considered baroque painters, and baroque composers include Vivaldi, Bach, and Handel. Although rococo and baroque both describe something over-the-top, sticklers will save baroque for something with heft and use rococo for lighter designs, like that velvet jacket. Historically, Rococo comes after the Baroque period."

One of the first people that I ran into when I arrived was Glenda, from So What to Twenty.

My hair (by Nancy) and makeup (by Christopher) c/o Glam Squad
photo by Freddy Harrison

Even though we had only met online, I knew it was her immediately!
Over the two days, we had some lovely chats while waiting for shows to start.
I think an Inland Empire blogger meet-up (including Maricel) is in our future!

That golden prism wall piece made an excellent backdrop for many a portrait those two days.

That's Paris Hatcher of Where Sexy Meets Classy and Traci Mari Smith of Just Mariklo.
Still trying to ID the guys.

Baroque is a good adjective for Michael Ngo's presentation entitled Shinobi Ballroom

Ngo was inspired by Willi Ninja and the LGBT Ballroom scene of the late 80s.

Johnny Rice and Anthony Garza aka The Kiss Boyz

A quote lifted from Michael:

"I envisioned the lovechild of strength & elegance and the battle between reality & fantasy—who you are and who chose to be. Finding strength, beauty and bravery by channeling your inner warrior is my mission. I want to empower the wearers of my collection with contrasting worlds of smooth and textured; evening and street; and elegant and edginess. These ideals will be conveyed through my relentless addiction to structure and eye for detail.
With the beauty & grace of a geisha and the strength & stealth of a ninja, you can triumph over struggle & opposition and defiantly dance into the moonlight.
You own the night.
You are your own SHINOBI."

Check out Michael's video:

Did I go baroque enough?
Add your own baroque-inspired links!

BTW, I'm linking this up with Sacramento and Rosie's Share-In-Style on Monday.

SpyCam. Tonga Noir

52 Pick-me-up: International Women's Day, Week

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So what could be a better way to celebrate International Women's Day (today, March 8) than booking my room in Vancouver, BC for a blogger meet-up this summer?

Our hostess Suzanne Carillo is putting together a meet-up of INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTARS!
I will finally meet some of my muses (Melanie, Sue, Trina, Tami, Sheila, Pat, Ally, Charlotte -- I'm looking at you) and reconvene with Patti, Bella, Val, and Natalia. (Bella and Val -- would it help you decide if you had a ride up there? I might just drive it! I promise to refrain from taking photos while driving if you are passengers).

Here is the list so far (lifted from Suzanne's page):

Melanie – Bag and a Beret 
Sue – A Colourful Canvas
Patti – Not Dead Yet
Sylvia – 40+Style
Bella – The Citizen Rosebud (t)
Greetje – No Fear of Fashion
Trina – Tea Time With Trina
Dawn – Fashion Should Be Fun
Tami – Thrift Shop Commando
Sheila – Ephemera
Pat – Project Minima 
Natalia – In The Writer’s Closet
Val – Muse Fondue (t)
Ally – Shybiker
Lana – Two Teens and Their Mama
Jennifer – A Well Styled Life
Charlotte – Sublime Mercies
Mrs. C – Mrs. Jack of all Trades (t)
Louisa – Damselfly’s Delights
Gaylen – G Marie
Anne – Spy Girl
Shawna – The Director Of Awesome
Tiina -Elegance Revisited
Jodi – Day 2 Day Wear

Oh the fun we shall have!

In lieu of lots of gifts (but how can we resist???) we will be doing a clothing swap.
Since I'm half-heartedly culling my closet, I've already pulled some potential gems:

[Late add]
The meeting of SpyGirl and Citizen Rosebud, May 20, 2014:

We got the Pattern Max memo

It's a Visible Monday week chez Patti, you'll see me there!

Have anything special in mind for celebrating Int'l Women's Day/ Week/ Month?

Link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Dots

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." --Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011, Stanford commencement address (12 June 2005) [source]

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It's all about the Dots this week. NO BRAINER! 

I'm taking a look at my dotted socks. I have A LOT of dotted socks. Some might say too many.
No, you can never have too many dotted socks.

All the dot socks. Yes, leopard counts as dots. 

Most are Happy Socks brand. 

Severo gave me the MTA Subway socks and black ground multi dots above them. 

Full confession: the above sock organization became reality for this post.

One hour ago, my sock drawers looked like this:

The novelty ankle socks drawer had really hit critical mass!

I had seen this pin, for organizing shoes using an old wine carton.

I thought, I have tons of empty tea tins from my daily cup of Twinings Earl Grey that I can't bear to recycle.
They are a perfect size for storing socks. My shelves have become a horrid mess [again]:

(No, don't even ask about that Barbie Doll.)

The bottom shelf is now replaced with a grid of tins filled with socks! Yay!
Next I'll find some empty wine cartons to get my shoes in order.
And work on that middle shelf!  √ DONE!

Here is one of my favorite dotted pairs on their swan song:

Sad to say, they had to be retired. Soon they will get repurposed as catnip receptacles.

Did you connect the dots this week? Link and tell!