52 Pick-me-up: Completion

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We have reached the last week of 52 Pick-me-up Style. We've been working our way through the rainbow all year, with additional emotional word prompts from Tori Hartman's Chakra Wisdom Oracle. Now is your chance to show me your best color, your favorite outfit, and, for all you "Jokers" out there [you know who you are], your loudest, craziest ensemble with ALL THE COLORS.

Toast the rainbow!

I'll leave the link open for a month. Keep in mind -- I will be showing fashion illustrations November 22 - December 17 at TAG Gallery in Santa Monica under the title "Fashion Rainbow". What does that mean? You might be "SpyGirled"!

I'm also hosting a 40+ Blogger Meetup to coincide with the show, December 2-4. Plans for that are still very nebulous. Sign up for the email list on the 40+ Meetup page to stay informed.


Toast the rainbow -- Link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Wine / Creation

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We are on our last week of neutral colors for 52 Pick-me-up -- let's celebrate with wine!

Did you know that you can exercise with wine? (No, I do not mean "bending your elbow").

Um, yeah. Lizzy IS a bit perky.
I see from her YouTube channel, she also does workouts on the couch.
Or combine the two -- workouts on the couch with wine.
Or omit the "workout" part and have wine on the couch.
Cheers!

I wore wine twice this week, here are the outfits depicted in #selfiesketch style:

Linking up with Shelbee's On the Edge of the Week linkup

See the ongoing series here on Tumblr.

It's the final week to link any neutral, including those not mentioned like brown.
Wine / Creation -- Link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Silver / Confusion / Clarity

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This week's 52 Pick-me-up neutral is my favorite metal for self-adornment: Silver.

My rings --I wear them 24/7, they all hold memories.
Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday. 

I featured my rings on my (sort of) new WordPress blog, where I'm doing a June Challenge in order to get more comfortable working with the platform. I want to create an e-commerce site on it (Blogger's search is terrible and I can't add a shopping cart). It's true, if you do something every day, you get more proficient -- unless it's cleaning up clutter. I fail at that one!

Full outfit:

Roxanne gave me the top -- I've gotta admit, it's one of the more uncomfortable things I've put on my body. Metallic yarns ITCH! As you can see, I put it on over a tunic -- still the THOUGHT of it made me itchy. I'm selling it on Poshmark for $10, if you're interested. It has holes and snags. Don't I make it sound ENTICING?

Disintegration seems to be The Thing for all the silver garments here. 

My Union Bay "fauxkenstocks" are falling apart too. [Sad face]. All of a sudden, all the glue is failing -- on the straps, on the sole. Do Birkenstock's last longer than a year? Maybe it's time to upgrade to the real thing.

On a happier note, how about those leggings?

They're my own pattern, recolored from a silkscreen print that I made in the 70s. (Read more here).

Society6 had one of their better sales ($5 off, free shipping), so I pounced.
Available here, if you want to be twinsies. (Disclosure: I will get about $2.50 commission).

Time to add your neutrals!

Silver / Confusion / Clarity -- link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Black & White / Destiny

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What's in the cards for me as I turn 60? 

My year, according to the Destiny Cards app
Seems accurate, so far. 

I wore this Black & White ensemble on May 15, for International Fluevog Day,
John Fluevog's self-proclaimed day to celebrate his oeuvre.

Starring Fluevog Creepx that I got on deep sale in San Francisco.
Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday.

As part of the celebration, all the Fluevog stores had sales and special giveaways.
I ventured over to the Abbot Kinney branch in Venice. 
What a party!

Shoe frenzy!

Shiny! The Sparkler, released 2016
(All links are for your shopping pleasure, not affiliate).

Red Liz on left, can anyone ID the pale pink ones?

Meteor on left, Black Opposition in middle

Men's Granville

No shoes for man's best friend. Sad face.

I got into the fun and tried on dotty Propel

Lots of fab shoes, all beyond my budget.

Back home, I DID manage to get a pack of Fluevog playing cards online. With the Day's free shipping, I avoided the $8 shipping usually slapped onto $10 cards. 52 Pick-me-up, indeed!
...

But then on Friday my luck turned.
I was all set to photograph a Royal Flush with the Heart suit, but much to my dismay, the Queen and Jack were missing!

Oh noooooo!

I immediately did a live chat with Fluevog's online customer service.
Megan from Minneapolis was ever so helpful and a replacement deck is making it's way home.
Whew! Crisis averted!
Megan told me to use my partial deck for "craft projects".
I have the perfect idea and it involves the December 40+ Blogger Meetup. In the cards, my friends, in the cards.

Will it be my Destiny to see you in December?
Black & White / Destiny -- Link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: White / Instinct

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GASP! 
White shoes before Memorial Day! Issue me a Fashion Citation!

I call them my stompin' clompin' clogs. They combine flavors of Western, Moto, and I think a whisper of Dutch. Made by Fiorina, obtained in Hong Kong in 2004, I only recently discovered that they stay on my feet if I wear them without socks (much to the chagrin of my co-workers. These babies CLOMP).

Lets move slowly up the outfit, shall we?

My "skirt" and my leg.

Double houndstooth. Score!
The skirt is a tube of horrible 60's nylon jacquard. It's sticky and VERY synthetic feeling. I will not allow it to touch my skin. It plays nicely with my $2.99 polyester leggings obtained last summer at Jack's in NYC. 

I'm a walking symphony syntheticony.

The big picture:

Yes, I'm holding up my stomach. Ho ho ho!
No, I'm not pregnant. I'm way beyond that possibility.
I'm linking this up with Patti's Visible Monday.

Die Laughing was a store in Pasadena, from the time before Pasadena had Old Towne.
This tee saw the light of day strictly for this post. I then changed into a black tee with a message about crying. You'll have to wait until the next edition of VOGOFF to see that.
Unless you saw my #selfiesketch on various social media, that is. No, I'm not going to help you find it. 

Use your Instinct!
Bwahahahaha.

White / Instinct -- link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Grey / Release / Remission

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If there was a word that jumped out at me this week for 52 Pick-me-up, it had to be Remission. 
That word takes on a huge presence when one has had a brush with cancer.
Cancer patient, doctor, nurse, caregiver, friend -- it is the hope at the end of treatment.
I AM currently in Remission. 

Where was I six years ago? 

Pages from my journal, 5/25/10: 

I was WAITING! Waiting in lines, waiting for appointments, waiting to hear results -- lots and lots of waiting.
I took a sketchbook along to help pass the time. It was a godsend. 

What triggered this trip down memory lane?

The "grey item of clothing" search that lead me to this Stussy shirt:

It's still a cool print, and the fabric is a soft sanded cotton.
It's missing some buttons though, so onto Repair Mountain it goes.

This shirt became my post-surgery shirt (twice). Roomy, soft, and turned inside out, the pockets can hold drains!

I sketched and posted about it on 6/27/10.

Today, I put it together with some grey lounge pants and my trusty old clogs:

Reenactment of my Harbor/UCLA Hospital appointment look.

And that's my story of Grey / Release / Remission.

What's your's? Link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Ivory / Rejection

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Continuing with my "Brights served with a side of Neutrals", here is Ivory:

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday

I've worn this tunic many, many times:

This is the first time you've seen it with sleeves!
I loved it before, now it's perfect.

Last week, I forgot to give you the list of upcoming Neutrals (distracted by the fashion show).
Here it is, feel free to link up any usage of any neutral any time until 6/25.

••• 45. (last week) Beige / Impartial / Fairness
••• 46. (this week) Ivory / Rejection
••• 47. (5/22) Grey / Release / Remission
••• 48. (5/29) White / Instinct
••• 49. (6/5) Black & White / Destiny
••• 50. (6/12) Silver / Confusion / Clarity
••• 51. (6/19) Wine / Creation


Ivory: / Rejection -- Link and Tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Periwinkle / Balance

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This is our final week of PURPLE and our last color is Periwinkle, a color combining purple, blue, and grey. Balance is the emotion cue word, very apt for me after my month of fake-journaling as Enid.  I also blogged the tartans of US and Canada A-Z every day this month (except Sunday) over on Pattern Recognition. Exhausting! Extremely unbalanced!

Periwinkle was one of the colors in Enid's rainbow of crayon colors, here is my Periwinkle outfit from 4/21.

Anyone remember the brand Kensington Blue? They made my striped tee.
Hey 80's. I got the ikat scarf at that time too. Relics that still fit! Hurrah!
Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday

I shot an outfit photo every day this month to sketch from -- easier for me to look at the preview on my camera vs imagining what I looked like. I'll be making a compilation of the month's photos, but not today. I'm too busy being a groupie! (Smithereens gig at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. It's sound check as I type.)

It's all about Balance, right?

This is your final week to add anything PURPLE to the link-up.
Periwinkle / Balance -- Link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Lilac / Recovery

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I hear that the Lilacs are starting to bloom in NYC and environs. Sigh. I LOVE lilacs!

More on my mind is this week's 52 Pick-me-up emotional word -- Recovery.

I attended a very uplifting event last night, celebrating a group of young women who designed a fashion collection under the guidance of the team at Freedom & Fashion. Freedom & Fashion's mission statement is: "Using the arts of fashion and beauty, we create empowering programs that mentor and bring freedom to at-risk young women and survivors of the sex trade."

These stars shined brightly and gave me a sense of hope for the world. 

The designers

Their designs

I'll share more of my sketches from the night later in the week.

For now, congratulations to everyone at Freedom & Fashion. It was a soul-stirring event.

 Lilac / Recovery -- Link up your Prince or your Purples and party like it's 1999! [RIP, Purple One]

52 Pick-me-up: Amethyst / Forgiveness / Belonging

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The 52 Pick-me-up prompts this week are: Amethyst / Forgiveness / Belonging 

I've been on an 80's nostalgia kick, triggered by seeing a performance by Stan Ridgway (Wall of Voodoo).
All week, Stan and WoV have been my soundtrack. 

We'll start today's post with an outfit including orange and Amethyst striped leggings from Tweeds. 

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday.
Can't overlook me in this outfit!
[5/9] also linking with Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

Anyone remember Tweeds? It was an early "cool" mail-order company (vs. preppy L.L. Bean's, Land's End, etc).
I got these leggings in 1988 or 89. Hey! They're Vintage!
(Enid called them "antique". Enid is a brat.)

Here's a closer look, to get the full glory of the lower half of the pattern smash:

Turquoise laces c/o the nice girl at Fluevog on Abbot Kinney.
Pink/turquoise Keds snagged on Poshmark -- I love Poshmark!!!!

Amethyst-the-gemstone also gets the spotlight today.

I had amethysts in my wedding ring (HAD being the operative word -- the first cracked on day 2 of my honeymoon. Yes, it was an omen, I should have paid attention). I designed the ring and I wish the silversmith friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend who made it had told me it was a bad design (he might have tried, can't remember). ALL the Amethysts are long gone (as is the wasbund). The silversmith also made a keeper ring that I now wear in my pinky.

Here are: the retired wedding ring, 

a new Amethyst stacking ring (again from Poshmark),
the keeper ring (it's a keeper!),
Spanish St. Lucy postcard,
additional artifacts from the DEF wasbund era in a Mexican matchbox.

I don't remember WHY I chose Amethysts for my wedding ring. I didn't research its spiritual qualities, I went with intuition. Which brings us to one of this week's emotional words: Forgiveness. I'm still working on that one re the wasbund.
Maybe when I'm 64?

Amethyst / Forgiveness / Belonging -- link and tell! (Anything purple)

52 Pick-me-up: Indigo / Gratitude

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I went to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve today.

It did not go as expected.

What does this have to do with this week's color/emotion prompt, Indigo / Gratitude? 
I'll get to that, don't worry. 

It was a beautiful morning, and I was looking for any excuse to procrastinate on finishing my taxes. 

ROAD TRIP!!!!! 

The drive up San Francisquito Canyon Road was lovely. 

I took a bunch of road photos (I'll post them on Flickr later) and entered the Antelope Valley with great anticipation. 

Then I got to the entry gate and discovered that I didn't have my wallet. 

OH NOOOOOOOOOO! 

That was not the worst part. Just wait.  

I took a selfie at the Reserve's entry on Lancaster Road, with it as a backdrop. 

Note the lack of poppies. [Chloe frames c/o Ditto]
Linking this up with Patti's Visible Monday.

I was on a mission to find poppies. 

CA Poppies. Done. 

Well, why not take some outfit shots and be a silly fashion blogger dressed inappropriately? 

Argh! You can't see my INDIGO pants!
You CAN see the DIY poncho that I made by cutting a hole in the middle of a throw blanket.
(As reported by Enid on Friday)

Alright, enough of that.

I was getting low on gas.

I contemplated the situation and decided to go home a longer, more well-traveled route.

Remember, I DIDN'T HAVE MY WALLET.

What I DID have was a change purse in my console for feeding parking meters.

(Thank you, Severo, for insisting that I have this).

$2.83 won't get me a gallon of gas. Trouble brews.

Also in my dash, I found a spare AAA card (they'll give you $5 of gas if stranded) and a jade amulet.
(The woman who gave it to me said jade gives "luck" to travelers. I needed all the luck I could get. I put it on).

I zeroed out the "mileage counter" to keep track of my miles.

Onward.

Fifteen miles later, the "very low on gas" light started blinking.

What did I do?

I stopped and took more outfit photos! 

Why not? It was a good field full of poppies! The best of the day!

Exiting the car, I found a bunch of burrs on my pants:

A good look, don't you think?It's known as a "3D" print.Now you can see the color of the pants.

Got the shot! Thank you wind!

I had cut the poncho's neckhole too big, so I cinched it in with a giant safety pin that I obtained in Austin, TX.
All that orangish field behind me is poppies. They were all closed because it was windy and cloudy.

It was 5 more miles to I-5, and 28 miles down (literally, so I was able to coast) the freeway I saw a bunch of roadside business. I parked to assess my situation. And scour the car for more change. 

Success!

I found the other change purse, it had some quarters in it!

I was now up to $4.30.

The Mobil station was charging $3.25/gal.

Could I find better?

I consulted the GasBuddy app.

Yes, a 7-11 across the freeway was listed at $2.99.

Even better, it was down to $2.74 when I got there.

That would get me 1.5 gallons.

I WILL MAKE IT HOME.

Thank you GasBuddy for finding me the best deal in town.

Thank you Prius for your great mileage.

Thank you amulet for your magical powers.

Thank you readers for indulging me!
Gratitude, it's a powerful thing.

Indigo / Gratitude -- link and tell!

An InLinkz Link-up

52 Pick-me-up: Royal Purple / Faith

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I'm recuperating from a late night partying in Claremont.

(I had an art opening for my #dailytruck series at SPACE Claremont. I got home at midnight).

Here's a Royal Purple look from earlier in the week:

Linking with Patti's Visible Monday
[5/9] also linking with Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike

Since most of you aren't local, I give you #myshittycommute The Book*, which has all 20 pieces in the show:

#myshittycommute

By anne m bray

*I get a small commission if you buy the book or PDF. I'm ever so grateful for your support.

Royal Purple / Faith -- Link and tell!

An InLinkz Link-up

52 Pick-me-up: Aubergine / Mystical / Intuition

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Welcome to our second week of PURPLE on 52 Pick-me-up.
Aubergine is French for Eggplant. 
Eggplant is a blue-greyish purple, not to be confused with Wine, which has a deep red cast: 

We'll get to Wine in a few months, have patience! 

My outfit de jour has both:

Eggplant pants, Wine scarf, Cranberry jacket. Hungry yet? 

Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday, because I can.

How about you?
Aubergine / Mystical / Intuition -- link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Iris / Despondence

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Oh, have I got an Iris (Violet) outfit for you this week!

Am I bright enough?
Linking up with Patti's Visible Monday, because, VISIBLE
Linking with Not Dressed As a Lamb's #iwillwearwhatilike also, because, age inappropriate!
[5/9] and again linking with Catherine's #iwillwearwhatilike, because, PURPLE

Today marks the start of seven weeks of purple hues.
••• 38. (3/20) Iris / Despondence
••• 39. (3/27) Aubergine / Mystical / Intuition
••• 40. (4/3) Royal Purple / Faith
••• 41. (4/10) Indigo / Gratitude
••• 42. (4/17) Amethyst / Forgiveness / Belonging
••• 43. (4/24) Lilac / Recovery
••• 44. (5/1) Periwinkle / Balance

I'm doing a big purple linkup and keeping it open until 5/8.
Add anything PURPLE over the next seven weeks. Multiple linkups are fine, as long as you have some purple somewhere.

And now some words from our sponsor:

Thank you Prince, that was rockin' -- love your hair!

Iris or Violet / Despondence -- link and tell!

52 Pick-me-up: Navy / Quest

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We are finishing off our seven weeks of blue hues with Navy.

I was all set to have this be a post about Poshmark and selling this Navy and wine striped dress from Uniqlo:

That's not a pin at my chest. It's the size sticker.
I was going to sell it NWT [new with tags]

A funny thing happened while I was taking my product shots...

Rare view of my butt.

I decided that I liked it after all and I'm not going to sell it!
It's super comfortable!
I just need to remove the pockets -- the pocket bags are too bulky on my hips.
My hips are big enough, thankyouverymuch.

Here's the saga of why I have this new dress that I thought I didn't like:

Remember the Uniqlo Del Amo store opening that I attended back in October?
Remember the flannel shirt that was too small?
I found it online in my size, along with some bright tees that weren't at Del Amo either. The dress looked cute on the model (don't they always), it was on sale for $19.98, and I added it to my cart.

Upon arrival, it didn't live up to my fantasies (a hazard of online shopping). I wanted to send it back, but a mail-in return was going to incur a "restocking charge". Sigh. I could return it to a local Uniqlo store but never made it within the 30-day deadline because of a combo of laziness and the holiday season (I don't "do" malls during November/December).

Anyway.
It's a keeper, for now. I like how it looks with the argyle tights.

••• 

Back to the subject of Poshmark.
I've had some success with sales, and have racked up some "bank" to shop with.
I went on a Quest for Mexican huipils, etc, and found this:

Yes!
Mine!

I thought from the photos that it'd be a darker blue, but that's OK. It's lovely.

Signing in at Patti's Visible Monday, like always.
I'll also link this up with Judith's Hat Attack for April.

Navy or any other Blue / Quest -- Link and tell!
I'm changing up the link-up schedule and will have it open for a longer period starting next week.
For this week, here are all the "BLUE" linkups. I've reopened them, so add to whichever shade of blue you coordinate with. ;-)

Ink Blue or Navy

Sapphire

Blueberry, Denim

Aqua

Sky Blue

Electric Blue