sigh

I hate being a sentimentalist because I am always around people who don't have a sentimental bone in their bodies. 

Either that or maybe it's just me that they're not sentimental with. I really can never tell. 

Either way- super sadface. 

Florida Blog!!! 😆😆😆

Dearest blog, I have not forgotten about you. I have simply made about 40 posts that were okay in nature but let's face it- I'm not good at endings.

I'm really not. Looking back on all of my term papers and such you would see some great substance, amazing filler, and then a really sad ending paragraph. 

So yeah, basically, I've wrote a bunch of blogs that I can't finish. And I am so sure that this will be the exact way. 

But, here we go.

-

I am so excited! I have arranged a date with my Mom so that we can drive down to visit them in their new home! I miss my parents a lot. It's very hard to be so far from them, because we're so close.

This trip will also be my first real vacation in at least 5 years. Unless you can call traveling to Alabama for 2-3 days and visiting the mountain after family time, a vacation.  Psst. It's not.

This trip will also be the first time I've seen the beach (if it doesn't have salt water it's not a real beach in my book) since 2009- and it has been way too long.

I had spent most of my teenage summers waiting to go to Clearwater. My Grandparents lived in Palm Harbor and we would go down for a visit. 

We would always try to book a stay at the Island Queen on Clearwater Beach. It was a Mom and Pop motel owned by Chester and Mary on a side street. We got to know them extremely well, as my Mom is 100% Polish and so are they. And, Chester is a character. My Dad would stay up late with him drinking Spirytus. That's 192-proof alcohol! 😉 oh yeah- he claims he has never had a hangover on the stuff.

I don't have photos in my phone's possession so here's an Internet pic that looks like something I took years ago. Hah! 

 

They were later bought by some million dollar company to build some condos on the property. I don't think they are finished to this day.

It's really sad.

But yeah, the motel room had a living room and a kitchen. It was really great. 

But I was usually only there to sleep. I knew the entire beach like the back of my hand. Where to buy the best and cheapest souvenirs, where the locals hung out, and even how to find the best internet access before cell phones existed (well for me, anyway).  I would walk from one end to the other and up every side street. 

Clearwater Beach is home to Pier 60. Every night during the summer but especially on weekends- people from the town come out for the sunset festival. They set up booths of homemade items. I can't tell you how much I've wanted to be one of them in recent years. 

The pier just after sunset, in 2009.

 

But anyway,  I'm really excited!! 

To stray from the topic a bit, I've always suffered from wanderlust. Suffered. Why suffered? Because I don't have enough money to travel even though my heart begs for it.

I've always wanted to pack a few bags and jump in the car and travel the entire Route 66. It starts in Chicago, so that really would have been easy.

I have so many places in this country I want to see and nearly millions of places in this world. Basically, it would probably be easier to list the places I have no interest in seeing. You know? 

When I do get to travel, I keep a piece of the place I visit with me. I almost feel like I have a ton of homes away from home. If I were asked to move to any of them at any time, I'd jump right up and go. 

I often just sit around thinking about my other homes and what I did there and wonder what people are doing there right now. Sigh. 

But, back on track a bit, one of those places is the west central Florida coast!

I'm planning on being at the beach on the 9, 10, or the 11th of August. I guess I'll just have to see how that goes. But, I can promise that my heart will be happy when I'm there.

My main reason for going is family time. I'm also going to try and beg for a Disney day- but that might not happen during this trip. My husband and I have been wanting to go for the last few years. Our daily work in the bread industry usually had us talking about how we'd rather be at Disney. 

We'd have deep conversations about what we'd do first. Enchanted Tiki Room vs Tomorrowland? How does one choose? 

My answer: tiki tiki tiki time. TIKIIIIIISSSSS. 

His answer was usually Tomorrowland but only if it was what Walt originally had visioned. It's been upgraded so now I'm not sure how he feels. 

But, I'm sure I'd rather be almost anywhere than a bread aisle ever again. And I'm still not sure about Disney. I wasn't so thrilled during my last visit- with the exception of riding Space Mountain about 5000 times.

We shall see. 😉

But I'm excited!

End Blog. See. 😉

My Fashion Goals

So, I thought I would take some time to talk about my fashion goals. Not necessarily what pieces I want, but where I want my look to head.

As stated in my intro blog, my most recent job has been bread delivery. It was crazy physical and exhausting. Not to even mention the havoc it did to my upper arms, which were already larger that most girls. Oh and the bruises. 😱

My day to day outfit had consisted of jeans and a t-shirt (and sometimes a jacket/hoodie or thin coat). I never had time to do make-up and even if I did, it would probably run down my face.  I looked like a poor little frumpy thing constantly.

Now, that I am out of that crap, I'm trying to wear the style that I like the most. Well, let me be completely honest- I want to but I'm afraid to wear that style. And of course, there's all the physical work we're doing right now.

But, let's start with that first part. Why am I scared? Well, I hate attention. I loathe it. This is quite amusing because I have blue hair and my hair for pretty much every year since 2001 has been unnatural and brightly colored. 

The first time I bleached my hair. And Benjamin. Ah to be 16 again.

But the funny thing about my hair is that it's so me that I often forget it's dyed a bright color. It just is who I am. So I will be out in public and people will be staring  and I pretty much always think I have something on my face. So I get mortified, a lot. 

Blue hair, Don't care. 

I find myself getting sidetracked a lot. Anyway, back to the whole attention thing. I really hate to stick out from the crowd. I am what you can call a socially anxious extrovert- which I plan to talk about in another blog. But for now, just know that I'm anxious in all social settings - unless I have a buffer. 😉 

I recently dressed up for the Fourth of July and we were headed out to a festival. My Mother-in-law told me that I looked great but people would stare at me because I'd be the only dressed up one, that everyone would be in shorts and t-shirts. So my anxiety shot up. 

I started remembering the girl I saw at the festival the last time I had gone. She was wearing rain boots and short shorts. I laughed a lot. I couldn't help it. And, I was so afraid that I would be that girl.

We arrived at the festival and sure enough it was all extremely casual. I freaked out and begged my husband to leave before we got out of the car. 

Patriotic or something. 

My husband complied- as the only reason we really wanted to go was over anyway. The car show. Phew. Relief. Now I only regret not having the courage. 

I assume that one day I will be over this anxiety and on to wearing what I want, just like I wear my hair the way I want. But, it's really difficult to get over.

So, back on track. Maybe. What is the track really? 

What are my fashions goals? Humph. My goal is being able to dress like an everyday pin-up girl. What does that even mean?

I want to be able to wear skirts on most days (except the super-physical days). I also want to perfect my rockabilly look. This is intimidating because I really suck at doing my own hair. It's so thick and gross and I get frustrated after 1 minute.

I figure (hope) all of this will be a lot easier if I ever get to open my photography studio. (Fingers triple crossed).

Anyway, just to end this entry, I'd like to share a few pictures of some of my more recent acquisitions. I've got a list that's longer than it should be of items that I really need/want/must kill for. Some of these pieces are from that list. And I am beyond excited to wear them when I go to Florida one of the first weeks of August. I figured I can dress the way I want there because, vacation. Right? 

skirt is Pinup Girl Clothing and it was at the top of my must-haves. One of my favorite parts of the culture and the midcentury lifestyle is... Tiki! We're actually going to be making a tiki room and bar in our house! So excited! And yeah, that necklace is made by me (and my husband) in my company, Atomic Lucite- because TIKI!!

Also fun thing about this skirt: I showed it to my husband expecting some sort of death glare. And, he literally said: "That's an awesome tiki print!!!" 

I don't have much money to play with and even less so now that we have moved and we're just starting out businesses. But, I can gladly share that all of the items I am posting here was paid by my jewelry endeavor. I totally couldn't say no to this. Strawberries and raspberries. A perfect combination. 

Another fun piece. I forgot the belt here which would actually help shape me a bit more, but I just got so excited and forgot. Ooooops. But this is from Carolina Dress - out of the U.K. It is the most comfy thing ever! I'd highly recommend it, but a word of caution- the company doesn't answer emails, Facebook, or Paypal questions and shipping to the US is sloooooow. So yeah, jerks. 😬

My first major grab. Skirt by The Oblong Box Shop and Shoes are Bettie Page. I really have a long long long list of pieces I need from TOBS, but found this for a decent deal. I had to have it. I needed to have it!  I have it and now I will never go back! Muahahah.

Sidebar

Husband also really likes this one.

But it's Moai's in Space and it looks like the Jetsons. Who could hate on that?

Now I just really need the other two

MCM skirts from TOBS, and a tiki, 

pineapple,  flamingo...

ALL THE PRETTIES

 Skirt by Unique Vintage. I bought this skirt on a whim because the price was good. I wasn't sure how I felt about it until it was on me, and now I don't know how I lived without it. P.S. Pockets. That is all.

 

Skirt by Unique Vintage. This piece was at the tip-top of my must have list. I saw it  randomly on my IG feed one day and nearly fainted like a woman from an old movie. I had to have it. Had.  And, one day- it was made possible. Best decision ever.🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉

So, that's all I've got for now. Just had to share these pieces that make me happy. I'll probably share more as I get them- because fashion is also like my new therapy- you know, if I could feel good about wearing these things outside of the house. 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

All I have to say....

In the aftermath of the Dallas sniper incident I have this to say:

People suck. Not all people. Most have good intentions. It only takes a few to ruin everything for everyone else. Snipers killing cops? Stupid. Cops killing people that aren't using similar force? Stupid. Media exploiting things to their benefit and the benefit of government policies? Stupid. 

That is all. Screw it all. 

It Begins. (again)

Hello and welcome to my blog. I've had about 20 blogs over the years, and I was told once that I should keep them up because it's the best way to get out my thoughts. And, right now, I have a lot of thoughts. 

Oh yeah! Hi! Let me introduce myself. I am Melanie. I'm 31 and I've recently moved my entire life from Indiana to Alabama (for the second time).  

This is Me. 😉

 

I graduated with a double major from Indiana University in 2009 and wanted to go further in my education, but lacked the funding. I've also got an astronomical amount of loan debt. Yes, I'm one of those people. Anyway, at that point I moved in with my now husband, Brad, in his house in Alabama. 

After some time we moved back to Indiana. Both good and bad stuff happened there and now we're back here again. The filler stuff will probably make up some future blog posts. 

I forgot to mention that during my first two years in Alabama we had adopted a little dog named Boomer. He's a Catahoula and has stumpy little legs. But he's mostly bark and no bite. A typical big sweetie. 

Anyway, as you can already tell, I write in a jumbled manner. I write like I am talking to a person, rather than talking to myself. And, I write whatever comes out of my head. I honestly doubt that anyone will ever read this, but that's ok by me! It's more a therapeutic thing than a social thing. 

But first- a little bit more about me (specifically jobs) before I end this introduction and start getting into topic blogs.  (Oh and I sincerely apologize for my comma problems, I just really like commas)! 

I went to college (Indiana Univeristy) and got degrees in both Sociology and Criminal Justice. My main goal (after several swaps in major and career ideas) was to get into law enforcement and persue some sort of entry into a federal department. 

Upon exiting college with my head held high, I tried out for a police job but didn't have the agility for push-ups (even though I had completed the correct amount in the time they wanted..). To make an exceedingly long story short, the police chief of that city was fired the week after I "failed" the test and he somewhat stalked me. It turned me off of police for a while. 

I then spent several months traveling the country looking for work. I arrived in Louisiana where I got a job as a jailer in the Parrish jail. I declined it though, for several reasons, but mainly because the jail housed some death row inmates convicted of rape and murder due to state over-crowding at the prisons. The jail was tiny and you had to walk through areas with 2 foot clearance and all the cells were open barred. They then told me they refused to bargain with hostages. Basically, your life was on the line and they wouldn't fight for you.

Yeah no.

So, I went to Florida and back to Alabama where I found my first job outside of college- McDonalds. 

I am an extremely anxious person. McDonalds was actually a blessing and it helped me get past a bit of that. I met some amazing friends and actually started enjoying life. 

Then, I went and got a job at the county jail in Huntsville, Alabama as a Detention Officer. It was an hour drive, both ways. After being maced and tased and put through physical and mental exams- I started working midnights (7pm-7am). The team I was on pretty much hated me and made me feel useless- but the job wasn't terrible. I always went home with a great story- always. After transferring to day shift, I felt a lot better about the job. I was taken seriously and I was accepted by my fellow teammates.  I'm sure I will talk more on this one day. 

My favorite team! 

 

So skip ahead, we moved back to Indiana. My husband bought my Dad's bread route (delivering bread to stores, filling shelves-etc.). I worked with him for a while. We got married! 

See, wedding.

 

We bought a home. I got a job doing loss prevention with Macy's. 

Macy's stuff

 

My husband hurt his back. I had to quit my job and go into work with him full-time. 

During that time (in more recent years) I started getting into the rockabilly culture, practicing portrait (mainly pin-up), and making pin-up style jewelry. We collect and sell midcentury furniture.  And now, we are back in Alabama- persuing all of the above as careers. More on that later, too. 

Me, taken by me. 

But yeah, that's it for my first post and my brief hello. What I plan for this blog is just to speak on topics that come up in my head. I'm an extremely quizzical person. I think a lot and ask a lot of stupid questions. My husband finds me crazy, but I actually enjoy knowing that I think differently than other people. 

So, check back in- or not. That's okay. As stated before, this is more of a therapy for me than anything else! :) 

New Blog #1- check.