Fashionista mode

Feeling all inspired now that I have just shopped like mad over the weekend, I'm gonna get all fashion magazine editor on you all.

Nothing inspires me more than fashion.  It inspires me creatively, it somehow motivates me to see the world, and it makes me feel good inside.  Let me create the equation that fits into those three things that cause me to be inspired.

Creatively :: Putting clothes together, to me, is like putting fonts and colors, and shapes together to create a beautiful design.  With clothes, I tend to experiment with different textures and colors, like I would with fonts and shapes, and try to create something pleasing to all those various eyes I encounter on the street.  Also, seeing unique and trendy outfits, turn on my creative mode, and inspires me.  Like this outfit

The way she paired up the ripped jeans with the casual navy top, only to spice it up with those layered rhinestone bracelets and beautiful bold flower necklace, is a great example of how to express yourself creatively through threads and accessories.

Worldwide travel motivation:: Every country has their own staple of style.  

This one reminds of of Savannah, Georgia for some reason.  This whole picture, complete with the casual flats and loose fitting blouse, the summer hat,  dressed down even more with that leather buckle belt, and then adding the southern bell touch with the feminine skirt shoots me into a down south type of mode.  I hear crickets when I see this pic.  But that's just me....

Then this picture here brought me back to my Academy of Art college days.  Most of the students from Hong Kong and Japan tended to wear outfits like so.  And yes.....they did wear heels to school.  The colors they wore were so, "OMG, I would have never thought of pairing those together, but it looks damn cute!"  They always surprised me with what they  pulled out of their closets each day.  So yeah, this is one of those outfits that amazed me, and hence making me want to mingle amongst all the asian fashionistas in their coordinating countries.

These 2 pics remind me of the 2 sides of Italy.  One of the countries I absolutely fell in love with,  not only for their beautiful people, but their beautiful clothes, accessories, history, scenery, food, so on and so forth

This chic right here brought me back to the time I went clubbing in Italy.  All the women were dead sexy like her.  I felt like such a hobnob dancing within the sea of effortless gorgousness.  I wanted to go up to all of them and call them, "Bitch" out of envy.  I mean, the way she paired up the cool rocker tee and the short shorts to show off her long envious legs, only to accentuate those bad boys even more with those sexy "fuck me" heels, and then to rock the outfit even more with her boyish rocker haircut, makes me want to slap the hoe for looking so sexy.  I bet you if I were to wear that same outfit and have the same hair, people would as why that "boy" is wearing heels.  SMH...

This other outfit reminds me of Italia as well.  This brought me back to the time when I shopped in Rome. Again, effortless beauty.  She looks so comfortable in her flowy threads, but looks so well put together.  sigh.....Italia

Now, just ignore the written part of the picture and try to think what foreign country this picture reminds me of....

Yup....good ol' Paris.  The femininity and the drama in this outfit screams, "Paris, best dressed Bitches!" But in a more elegant way of course.  I love how the dramatic lace sleeves add the elegance to this black dress, along with the volume in the skirt. Only to be toned down with the girly flats.  Also, notice she isn't wearing any jewelry to make it more than it should be.  I tell yah, these French girls were born with cute outfits on.  

Feel good inside:: Fashion is my way of expressing how I feel each day.  If I'm feeling blah, obviously sweats and trainers would be my outfit of choice. If I were feeling girly, a dress with the right accessories to make it a "me" outfit would suit my needs.  I'm my own canvas,  the clothes are my paint, and my mood is the artist.

I'm so happy that clothes were invented.  I could not imagine walking around naked.  I think if we still were walking around naked or draped with rags, I would die an unhappy and uninspired person.  So thank you Fashion.  You're fab.

Giveaway

Ladies and Gentlemen!

I have been fortunate to be included in a giveaway by friend and birthday twin.  Please check out my friend's blog to win any design of your choice from my Aimes Design Etsy Shop!

Enjoy and good luck!

http://www.onedomesticateddiva.com/2011/06/its-a-giveaway/

BTW, I love her blog.  She gives great recipes and tips!

Bensimon.....Je' Tem

As you may know, shopping is one of my favorite pastimes.  In fact, it's part of the reason why I breathe.  There's nothing like purchasing something that comes in cute packages that can automatically turn a grown woman into a little girl geegling with glee.  Well....that's how I feel when I purchase things anyway.

What's even better than that feeling is the feeling you get when you buy something that you absolutely LOVE MORE than you thought you would at the time of purchase, and then realizing that they are YOURS, POR VIDA!

That's exactly how I feel about my newly purchased shoes from Bensimon.
I.  FREAKIN. LOVE. THESE. EFFEN. SHOES.
They are that wonderful.

What they are, are shoes that are of French Heritage, manufactured in Europe, and started out as a Military surplus company.  I think.  That's what I gathered from their site.  Most of it was in French.  Here's their link to get your own interpretation.
http://www.bensimon.com/uk/accueil.htm

So anyways....yeah, if I could super glue these bad boys onto my feet, I would. And if really were possible to wear these FOREVER, my life would be complete.  First of all, they are soooo comfy,  they're cute, they go with tons of outfits.  Love the color that I have, and the other colors they carry, and I may soon carry,  AND they look so.....french!  A style that greatly jock and swing like Tarzan for.

But yeah.  For any of those interested in buying some Bensimon shoes, the only advice I can say is.....be careful....they're addicting.....

Here's mine.....

EEEEEEE!!!!! How cute are these!!!???

BUY IT!

Lav it

I absolutely LAV this outfit!  It reminds me of my High school days for some reason....

Blood in a log

So I've finally given in, and tried my first slice of black pudding.  I totally wish I were talking about the powdered one that comes in a box where all you have to do is add water....

I unfortunately am talking about the one that come in a log form....where all you have to do to get rid of the rank aftertaste is drink water.
Mira::

See, black pudding is pretty much a well endowed log of sausage that contains all kinds of inside shit (literally) from a pig, and fat, and some even still have coagulated blood, hence the dark color.

Here's more info, just in case you're interested....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pudding

So anyways....here I am, hanging with the hubby at the firehouse, after I got off work.  Usually after I work a 4.5 hour day from 1-4:45pm, I tend to become a hungry hippo, and the only thing on my mind is anything that fits into my needy belly.  So midway into devouring my yummy Popeye's popcorn shrimp, and being in piggy mode, one of Rick's British fellow firefighters brings up the subject that I was always too scared to tackle.  Trying Black pudding.  AND it so happened that he had a few logs up in the station fridge.  Great.  And after asking me in front of a few of the firefighter guys, and not wanting to look like a little prissy sissy, I agreed to try some and a slice was served.

I must admit....the look of the thing is a bit intimidating::

I mean, unless it were a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips, I probably would have eaten something that looked like this.  But the fact that this was supposed to be a sausage AND looked like this, scared the HELL out of me.  But again....guys were around me, and my feminine machoness didn't want to sissy out.  

So I took a slice, chewed with all eyes on me....and I must say, it pretty much tasted like sausage....that is until the blood taste crept up into my mouth.  Now, in my culture, we have this dish called Dinagoan.....I think that's how you spell it.  It's pretty much a dish with the same insides of an animal, mixed with blood and vinegar, and other food type things to make it taste better, that is usually served over rice, which helps take away the blood taste.  And, after eating the the black pudding, it did taste a bit like Dinagoan....but I prefer the filipino way better.  Sorry Brits.  Eating the insides of a pic and its blood in a solid form made me feel a bit queasy.

But anyway, yeah.  Black pudding.  I can proudly say that I tried this piece of food.....and although Rick's co-worker gave us a huge log (because I accidentally gave the impression that I LOVED this, to avoid hurting his feelings) for free....I now have plenty of this blood stick to digest for the rest of the year.  Mmmmmm....blood.....

PRETTYrubbish quick plug

Just a quick little plug for my Etsy shop PRETTYrubbish

Aren't they purty?  Want more?  Check out my site homies!  There's lots more where that came from!

Enjoy!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PRETTYrubbish?ref=pr_shop_more

I like the Green

Although the "So you Think You Can Dance" US version has kinda started showing in the states, the UK version just finished. The talented winner from our version was a Tap Dancer named Matt. I wasn't especially rooting for him....I never really noticed him till the finals....but apparently the rest of England did.

But anyways....strangely enough, my most favorite dance from this season was this one. A contemporary piece danced to the beautiful song, "Wild Horses." To tell you the truth, the thing that got me in this dance was Matt's partner Charlotte. Not only was she wearing my favorite color, and beautiful shade too, but the way she danced this dance, her expression, her technique, Muah....delicious!

Also....She was one of my faves from the entire show. She had such a bubbly personality, she did the coolest and fastest spins, and her nose always got my attention....IDK why.....

Anyways...watch it, and be prepared to get teary eyed....it's an emotional one.

Bloomer season

I must admit, I have been falling off the fashion train a bit lately.  I've been so obsessed with building up my vintage store on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/PRETTYrubbish?ref=pr_shop_more that I have totally abandoned fashion magazines, stores, and websites to scout for little treasures at carboots, charity shops, and antique shops.  It finally hit me one day that I was slipping away from one of the loves of my life when I walked out of the house wearing the exact same thing I word the day previous...and to make it worse, I matched and looked very normal.  Very fashion faux pas in Amy world.  After coming home from an outing where I spent the entire time trying to dodge people I saw before....I hopped onto my beloved Mac, and researched extensively at the fashion that I so longed for and abandoned.


Well, after catching up, and adding a few members to my closet, I'm back to normal.  I find that fashion is also a huge factor to my creativity.  The different likes and colors of all the different pieces of clothing and even shoes inspire me to create and design, and it also motivates me to tread on foreign ground.  Travel the world.  HEART.


So anyways, let me get on with what I want to share with you.  During my, "getting back on the fashion track" journey, I've discovered a fashion trend that I know I will not be able to ever be a part of.


BLOOMERS

I think they are damn cute.  Not to mention refreshing to wear in hot weather.  Now, if you were a skinny little chic like this lass over here, this cloth of fabric will look major major cute.  

However, if you were a woman of my stature, thick, and full of woman bumps, you would look like Coco in shorts

It would look as though I were wearing underwear with a cute top.  And being respectful to society, I chose not to partake in this fashion trend.  It's a shame though, because I really love that look.

So for those of you who are fortunate enough to get away with wearing bloomers.  Do it.  It's really hot right now.  That's all I see in the store over here in England.  Also, a lot of the tourists from other countries that come here are sporting those cute things, and because a lot of those bitches are model skinny....they look cute on them.  I'm finding that a lot of young french girls wear them too.  I trust their fashion sense the most.  I must admit, I even steal a bit of their style when I see them.  Their ensembles look so flawless every time they cross my path.

Anyways...oui oui bloomers.

The Good Ol' Days Now.

As I was being a supportive wifey during my hubby's softball game for his work, 3 familiar words were yelled in a high pitched voice, and I was suddenly whisked back in time.


"Duck, Duck, Goose..."

Yes, after those three words escaped a little person's mouth, I soon flash backed to the year that I was the tender age of 7.  It was recess, and I was sitting in a circle along with other children of my age, anxiously awaiting for someone to tap my head and call me "goose."  Then all of a sudden I felt wet dog licks on my face, made by my ever so loving dog, and suddenly I Marty McFly'd into present time.


It was pretty weird and Nostalgic to be reminded of my childhood through the eyes of present day kids.  It was like watching Ducktales whilst eating my morning breakfast before going to school.  I felt young and safe, and the only important thing on my mind was fun. The good ol' days.  It felt as though I was a kid again right then and there.  And due to the fact that it would have just looked odd for me to join them, I was soon reminded that that was many moons ago...and the baton has been passed.


After a short second of being depressed that I was no longer young, naive, and innocent, I began to think.  Despite our materialistic  society that we live in today, somethings will never go out of style.  And I like this fashion trend that has been recycled all these years.  


I mean, after these group of kiddies got bored of their 5 minute duck, duck, goose game, they progressed to another oldie...."Freeze Tag."

 Acting as though I were listening to an old song from back in the day, wanting to say, "Awwww Shiet! I remember that!" Again, I had to hold back.  There were children.  But it blew my mind that a game that was hot like Punky Brewster back in the day, was just as hot like Lady Gaga in present time.  I mean, usually when things are passed down from adult to children, the children usually don't receive what was given to them very acceptingly....due to the fact that it's not cool to like things your parents liked.  But the fact that these children were joyfully playing games that their parents used to play when they were little people like them, AND having fun playing these playground games, kinda made me wish that everything in life were like that.  Simple, and innocent.


It kind of makes me look forward to teaching my future children the games I played and giggled with glee to.  Those were the good times.  The Good ol' days.

Good one Rihanna

I absolutely LOVE this video/song. I'm not a HUGE Rihanna fan, I just like her. But this one song/video is making me LOVE the bitch.

I'm a huge sucker for all things Beautiful and controversial...and if it is all done in a reggae beat, marry me. This video right here captures the best of all worlds. First of all, the art direction of this video is so pleasing to this artful eye of my. The over saturated colors, the usage of the colors to portray differrnt moods, the grittiness, lighting, the scenery. Pure brilliance.

The storyline is also great. The message that she puts out is so powerful. I've been hearing a lot of ignorant people not agreeing with the the message that this video sends. Hey fools....look a bit deeper into the words and the way it is portrayed. It's not just what you see cut and dry....it's called art. A way of expression. To send out a message felt deep down inside. It's not trying to tell people to kill someone if they've been raped....there's more to it. It's trying to capture the feeling of that innocent girl living her daily life and enjoy the simplicities that she holds within it. Only to have it all taken away by that one stranger who decides to take away her dignity and self worth. So the end, or shall I say the beginning of the video shows how something so traumatic can effect that innocence and their future. Pretty deep huh? Well, if you are ignorant, try to look more into the story, rather than judging right off....believe it or not, a lot of the world today is more than meets the eye.

On a lighter note.... I love the style of that Rihanna goes for in this song. Reggae. As I was watching this vide for the first time, my hips were rocking back and forth in this seat holding my bum . Reggae tends to have that involuntary effect on me. So anyways....enjoy this song/video. It's great. Good one Rihanna.

Masculine Feminine

I love how the masculine splashes of accessories adds the "sexy" to this outfit.  It blows my mind how wearing male inspired touches make this so feminine.  Masculine laced up heels, adding length to her fitted jeans covered legs.  To the form fitting simple black top covered in a delicate, yet durable looking cape coat.  And to top it all off (literally) with a dark felt hat that covers her eyes and luscious locks, to add mysteriousness to the entire outfit.  

I'm so glad that women's clothing has evolved to trends like this.  If we were still wearing corsets and poofy skirts and shizz like that, I'd walk around naked.   

Truth.

Top O' the Morning!

I always believe the best way to wake up, is to shake your badunkadunk.

HAPPY MONDAY!

Full English Brekkie

Food has always been the devil to me.  If God were a vegetable, and the devil were meat, I might as well burn in Hell.....because me and meat have got some kind of love affair going on.

It took me a while to start this blog, because everytime I came around to do so, as soon as I was looking for the right images and uploading mine for this blog, my mouth would water like crazy at the savory images, and I would have to take a sausage break.  England has got me on some sausage craze, and it's not funny. Here, mira,  let me show you why this blog took a while::

I must admit, while this image was uploading, I took a snack break.  But anyways....on with my story.  

So every country is always known for a type of famous dish, or piece of food that pretty much serves as their culinary mascot.  Well....England, is known for this.  Their full English Breakfast AKA a triple bypass on your morning plate.

Being that this dish contains 3 of my favorite foods, mushrooms, bacon, and eggs, this dish was a winner for me.  But because my belly was starting to look larger than the kegs at the local pub....I had to sustain from this delightful dish. 

But last weekend, me and the man went and enjoyed us some QT time at a local restaurant to fill us up with some good ol' English FAT.  What I love about eating out for breakfast over here is this.  First of all, you don't get an entire bible of all kinds of breakfasts, where you pretty much contemplate for 15 minutes on what to get, and then feel pressured that the waitress or waiter keeps asking if you're ready, then you order, and when the food comes, you realize you should have gotten something else.  To keep it simple,  all menus over here pretty much consist of the same ingredients, just prepared in different ways.  Just think Taco Bell.  So pretty much you get to chose from whatever is pictured above, plus or minus a piece.  IE., if you were to add, you would most likely add a a fried tomato, a piece of toast, or bread, or fried toast.  Yes, fried toast, as if all the meats and other fried goodies weren't enough for your heart.
Some English brekkies may also include black pudding.  Now, I really wish I were talking about pudding, as in Bill Cosby pudding, but unfortunately my friends, it's this

You see those 3 black circles on the right?  Yeah.  That's a black pudding.  What it is, is pretty much blood sausage.  Uh huh, yeah.  GeeRossss.

Anyways, yeah. So another thing that I enjoy about eating out for breakfast is the cute little restaurants that hold all of us hungry fatties.  It's always held in a quaint little English room with hard floors, and most of the eateries are mainly manned by families.  So you would have the kids seat us, and serve us, and mom and dad would be in the kitchen cooking some homemade breakfast.  Also....Me and the hubby always tend to be the youngest people in the restaurant, except the young'ns servicing the place.  You literally have the moms and pops coming in to eat, and what's even cuter is that they all know eachother, and conversations of all their grandkids, and children's accomplishments, and talks of pop culture consisting of that Lady Gaga lass,  begin to infiltrate your eardrums.  I really find it endearing.

So anyways, me and the hubby had our share of our English breakfast for the month last weekend.  Here's my heart attack on a plate that I devoured like a madwoman

A quarter way through my dish, I forgot that I was planning on blogging about this....hence the reason you see a picture of my already eaten plate.  Do you see my fried toast on the left?  It was delightful.  And I must say this breakfast is VERY hangover happy.  

Also, to show you how simple these Brits are let me show you how they display their condiments

Bottles and pretty containers????  Fah Ghet About it!  Why waste your money and time filling those up when these badboys already come in their own packaging?

Anyways....that's my schpeal on this wonderful English mealtime.  K.  I'mma eat now.  Baiiiyeeeee!

KidInc.

Here's a quick little plug for my friend from college's new business line.  It's a baby clothing line that has SUPER cute clothes!  Check it out!

http://www.kidincstore.com/index.php

Another Happy Song

So I hear that the X Factor US has started filming over yonder in the states. First off...I would just like to say, thanks for stealing Mr. Cowell's rude grace from our TV screens here.  Bastards.....

But yeah. So last year, when we had Mr. Cowell on the UK version of X Factor.....this guy, Olly Murs, was runner up on the show. I think he might has well have been the winner, because he's pretty badass...and the actual winner is....well, nowhere to be found.....And I totally cannot remember his name.

Anyways, Olly.  I love his style. He's so quriky. So happy sounding. He's a cutie. And he performs like a Mutha! As I was driving home from the gym this early beautiful sunny morning, this song popped on the radio, and I was another level happier. Watch and listen his cute new song, "Busy."

Makes you want to giggle and dance with glee donnit?