here.

Here, look at some cute pictures of Dusty.  And then go die a thousand deaths because she is the cutest thing to ever walk the Earth.  I can't even.  Thank God for cute corgis because I haven't done outfit photos in probably a week.  Since we've had flooding and even a tornado touch down here in the Tacoma area, I don't feel too bad about staying inside.  Last night Dan finally pulled the trigger on buying us some Magic the Gathering cards, and he had the day off so we hung out all day, went climbing, made food, drank wine, and learned how to play.  So far I'm really liking it!  I've never played a card game like that.  I play a mean game of solitaire, but that's pretty much it.  Dan's been trying to convince me that we should start doing D&D, so I think this is his first attempt at converting me.  Honestly I'm not really opposed to the idea, so we'll see if he succeeds!  But for now Magic is a pretty fun alternative to watching Netflix or doing something else that's mostly passive.  I've always liked that games fill time, but they aren't a passive kind of brain-rotting activity like watching TV.  I mean, I love me some brain-rotting TV, but when it comes to hanging out with other people, playing a game is much more interactive than just sitting next to one another watching the same show.   

zucchini bread

Zucchini is one of those things we've been getting in abundance from our CSA, and beyond sautéing it in butter and garlic, or throwing it in a quiche, I hadn't really done anything with zucchini.  I had seen zucchini bread before at coffee shops and bakeries, but had never had some.  When I found a zucchini bread recipe in on of my Grandma's cookbooks, I decided to give it a go!  It turned out so wonderfully and I've already made a second batch because Dan wanted more (and of course we had more zucchini, so why not).

The rain has come in here in the PNW, so I haven't been doing much in the way of outfit shoots, preferring to spend my time in front of a warm stove or oven instead of trying to brave the cold, wet weather to grab some outfit photos.  We've been hit by some record rainfall this past weekend, and merely going outside to run to the car results in mild drenching.  Thankfully our house doesn't have a basement and is also on the top of a hill so we've avoided a lot of the troubles that many Tacomans have been dealing with.

(recipe via Auke Bay Chapel by the Lake Presbyterian Church cookbook)

Ingredients:

3 eggs beaten until thick and lemon colored

1 cup butter, melted

2 cups sugar

2 cups grated, unpeeled zucchini

3 tsp vanilla

3 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 cups flour

3/4 cup raisins and/or nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.  Mix together eggs, butter, and sugar.  Fold in zucchini, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.

2. Sift together flour, soda, baking powder and salt.  Fold into egg mixture and add raisins.

3. Pour into 2 loaf pans, greased or lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 1 hour.  Cool about 15 min and remove from pans.

 

Q + A // getting over a break up

Going through a break up is one of the worst things to cope with.  Dealing with the pain, the broken trust, the expectations that were disappointed, and the loss of someone you love is never easy, regardless of how good or bad the relationship was.  You feel like you've lost the last few years of your life, you feel like you've lost your best friend, you feel like you've lost the future you'd imagined with that person.  It's ... rough.  If you guys have been around the blog for a while (like a long while), you'll remember one of my posts about getting over the hardest break up I've had.  It took me nearly a year after the break up happened to be able to write that post.  In a lot of ways people expect emotional pain to be easier to "get over" than physical pain.  When I went through that break up, I felt like I had been in an emotional car accident that had left me in the hospital in traction.  It was almost debilitatingly painful.  It's important to realize that, like being in a bad car accident where you'll need physical therapy in order to regain your ability to walk, emotional pain similarly needs time to heal and return your heart to where it was before the break up.  

You can't expect to get over it and move on immediately, but in many ways dealing with the pain and heartbreak post-break-up can be a wonderful time of healing as well as a time to get to know yourself and really work on you.  It's unlikely you'll be ready to jump right in to a new relationship, and oftentimes that's an unhealthy move to make, hence the stigma surrounding the "rebound" relationship.  In many ways a rebound is about avoiding dealing with the pain of a breakup, and merely puts a bandaid on a broken bone.  This isn't always the case, but it's a safe rule of thumb to avoid the rebound.

 Give yourself space.  It's hard to jump right back into your social life, especially if people constantly are asking about what happened and making you relive the pain.  If you need space, give yourself that.  Maybe hang out with a couple really good friends who will aid in the healing process, but you're especially vulnerable, so avoid spending time with people who won't respect what you're going through. 

 Focus on healing your heart.  They call it a broken heart for a reason.  In many ways your heart truly is broken.  It doesn't know how to trust anymore and has a very difficult time opening up to people for fear of being hurt again.  It's a slow process and learning to trust again doesn't happen overnight.  

 Cry.  Let yourself cry.  Ugly cry.  Scream.  Mourn.  When I went through my break up I told myself I wasn't going to cry, and I didn't for about 3 or 4 months.  And then something snapped and I cried almost every night for I don't even know how long.  It was almost as if holding it in had made the dam breaking even more powerful.  Let yourself cry.  Dealing with the loss of a relationship is worth tears.  If you have to wear sunglasses to class, do it.  I was the weird kid in the back of my chemistry lectures wearing sunglasses inside at 9 am, but it hid my puffy cry-eyes and in many ways it felt like a form of armor or protection, even though they were just sunglasses.  

 Do yoga.  It forces you to look inward and confront your pain and acknowledge what is happening in your heart.  Plus, it's a great work out and an excuse to get out of the house.



 Let yourself binge on ice cream.  I don't understand it, but ice cream has a healing power.  Rebound with Ben & Jerry, they understand.  

 Exercise.  Moving your body and getting your blood pumping can give you a little boost of endorphins that will help you feel better.  Wallowing in bed can feel great, and pillows are great for soaking up tears, but you'd be surprised how much better your heart will feel when it's had blood vigorously pumping through it.  Also, it'll get rid of all those ice cream calories.

 Surround yourself with people who genuinely love you.  Family, good friends.  Make sure you're around people who you can trust and who will support you through your recovery.

 Journal.  Get all of your thoughts and emotions out on paper.  Word vomit.  It's cathartic and healing.  

 Spend time away from your Ex.  Perhaps this is not geographically possible as you might work together, live in the same town, have the same friends, etc.  Do your best to get as much space as possible.  Don't try to be "just friends" immediately following the break up.  If you guys want to be friends still, you can definitely do that, but doing so immediately following the break up will oftentimes make it much harder to deal with the emotional fall out of the break up.  Give yourself space to heal and have clarity.

 Do something nice for yourself.  Buy yourself flowers, get a massage, 



After my big breakup I moved home to Alaska to be close to family (thankfully this was possible as I'd just graduated college), got jobs as a graphic designer and a fashion merchandiser, went to NYFW twice, dyed my hair red, bought my Brave, quit my job, and drove around the country.  The time after a break up can actually be a great time for you because you can wholly focus on yourself.  You're no longer focusing on compromising for your significant other, you can do what you want to do.  Go on the adventures you've always wanted to go on, chase the dreams you want to chase.  No one is holding you back.  For a long time I wanted to wait until I was with someone who wanted to go on my Winne trip with me, but I decided to stop waiting and just do it on my own and it was the best thing I could've done.  I'd love to do it again now that Dan and I are married, but that time in the Brave, on the road, solo, was one of the most healing times of my life.  

Do you guys have anything that helps you deal with heartache?

mix + match

I love how certain color palettes correspond to specific seasons.  When fall rolls around I always find myself drawn to rust, mustard, navy, and wine.  Color that are a little more subdued, but still rich.  Fall has so many of it's own colors that it's hard to not be inspired by my surroundings.  This herringbone skirt is a fall staple.  I almost never wear it during any other time of the year, despite it being one of my favorite pieces.  The warm weather is lingering on, but this outfit with a pair of tights and a cardigan would work just perfectly once the temperatures drop.  
As always, I'm mixing prints.  I have a deplorable lack of leopard print in my closet, especially for a blog called Delightfully Tacky.  I feel like leopard print perfectly walks that line of being delightfully tacky.  It's luxe but also a bit kitschy, which is right up my alley.  Of course, sometimes leopard print can stray into full-on tacky (oh hai, leopard snuggies), but I love when it's deployed well.  Some more discerning people might avoid pairing leopard with other prints, but I'm pretty sure I can't not mix prints, so of course I am.  Next time, though, I think I might pair it with an LBD for a date night.  The bright orange would be a fun punch of color against black.
 
watch + clutch/courtesy of fossil :: top(dress)/courtesy of lace affair :: skirt/target necklace/courtesy of moorea seal :: bracelets/courtesy of musana jewelry + jewelmint shoes/courtesy of blowfish :: glasses/target
I saw Rebecca post a picture on instagram wearing a huge stack of bracelets and I was inspired to create my own "arm party."  I wear so few wrist adornments because most of them are too big and just fall off over my hand.  I had to remove four segments to get this watch to fit, but I'm glad I did because it makes me feel pretty fabulous.  I really love the look of stacked bracelets and watches, so I might start doing it more often!  Elastic bracelets work better than, say, bangles.  I'm pretty sure I could wear most bangles around my upper arm.  Maybe I'll start doing that too.  A little Xena Warrior Princess realness, eh?  
*This post is in partnership with Fossil and Lucky Magazine. Thanks for supporting those companies which help keep Delightfully Tacky alive and kicking!

holding on for autumn

Lately it's been almost too chilly to go out in only a cardigan!  I suppose it's time to dig all my big coats out of storage.  It's kind of exciting, though, to rediscover all the "new" fall/winter clothes.  Boots, sweaters, jackets, coats.  All hidden away since April, dusted off and re-hung.  Dan and I went on a mini coffee date yesterday afternoon before he headed off to work and I enjoyed a Maple Pecan Latte from Metronome.  Usually I'm a black coffee/americano girl, but lattes get all the fun fall flavors so I like to indulge in a few during this season.   You know how people say, "if you haven't worn something in a year, get rid of it"?  While I kind of agree with that, I also disagree.  A lot of items in my closet linger, simply because I only have the desire to wear them during certain times of year.  I haven't worn this top since last fall, but I didn't want to sell it or donate it to a thrift store because I had a feeling once fall rolled around again I'd want to wear it.  Lo and behold here we are!  I actually have been wearing this outfit with my wide legged, high waisted jeans, but I wasn't in the mood to wear giant platforms (they're the only shoes that make me tall enough so the jeans don't drag.  Yes, I'm too lazy to get them hemmed), so skinnies and boots were my substitute.  I like the outfit both ways.  Kendi recently styled an outfit with wide leg, high waisted jeans and I'm excited to emulate something like it!  Well, once I find a suitable top.  

 
top(similar)/courtesy of marshall's :: cardigan + jeans/courtesy of modcloth boots(similar)/courtesy of blowfish :: bag(similar)/courtesy of handbag heaven hat(similar)/courtesy of tittle millinery I don't think I've mentioned it yet, but I'll be heading to St. Louis fashion week next Wednesday and I'm actually really excited!  I haven't been to NYFW in a few years, partly because it's hella expensive, but mostly because it's not really my scene.  But St. Louis fashion week seems more down to earth, with more indie designers, less peacocking and street style photographers, and events that are more my speed.  Plus, I'll get to hang out with some of my favorite old blogger friends and new blogger friends I've yet to meet!  STLFW sounds like it's going to be very blogger friendly and low-key.  Plus I'm stoked to hand out in St. Louis!  I went through St. Louis in 2007 when my family was on a cross country RV trip, but we didn't really spend any time exploring the city, just passed through.  If any of you are in the St. Louis area, you should come to STLFW!  I'll be at Industry Night, the Saks Event, and the Neiman Marcus event, which you can buy tickets for here!