get back on your feet

o, you know you're spread a little thin when you find out, 30 minutes into work, that your shift is going to be 3 hours longer than you anticipated because you mis-read the schedule, and you had planned on using those 3 hours to catch up on a bunch of stuff you need to do.  Crying in the back room and *subtly* wiping away tears while sweeping up crumbs around the cafe wasn't what I'd had planned for yesterday.  Being spread too thin is no fun, and hopefully this week I can try to get my ducks in their rows (or at least some semblance of order) so I'm not so overcommitted.  I feel like overcommitment sneaks up on you slowly.  I mean, I'm not surprised that I'm spread thin, I'm well aware that I have way too many irons in the fire, but I was surprised at how a little thing like being at work 3 more hours totally unraveled me.  Luckily I work at a coffee shop, so I basically just mainlined some drip and got over it. The best thing was, I ended up having enough time after work to get the stuff done that I needed to do (costuming and choreo work for my Adventures in Oz act next month), and rehearsal last night was amazing.  I missed last week's rehearsal because I was in Texas for TxSC Camp and last night I got to see everyone's acts as we ran through the show from start to finish for the first time this year.  Everything is finally coming together, and I even felt pretty damn confident about my own act, which took a lot of stress and worry away and replaced it with excitement!  I still have way too much on my plate for the time being (next thing to freak out about: Taxes!), but feeling like my burlesque act is under my belt is a huge relief.  If any of you guys are local to the Seattle area and want to come to the show, it's going to be SO much fun.  Tickets are now on sale, and last year it sold out, so I'd get your tickets sooner than later!  If you can't make the Tacoma showing on April 18th, we're also doing the show again the next weekend, April 25th, in Olympia!  Tickets are on sale for that show as well! 
 

top/courtesy of volume 25 :: blazer (similar)+ shorts/courtesy of modcloth shoes/courtesy of blowfish shoes :: necklace/gift

a colorful modcloth wish list + giveaway!

I don't know if it's the graphic designer in me or what, but any time I go to put together a wish list, I always want to separate things by color.  Today I'm doing a giveaway for a $100 gift certificate to ModCloth, but I also wanted to share some of my favorite things, inspired by the new design's color scheme!  Things have been really spring-y here in the PNW so I'm feeling really inspired by spring colors and outfits.  With festival season starting, there are a ton of festival-style wish lists popping up, and while I love festival/bohemian style as much as the next girl, right now I'm much more into graphic, bold, colorful styles.   What style are you feeling right now?  Has festival fever hit you yet?  I actually have never been to a music festival before!  I'm not super into music and going to concerts, but I would love to go to a music festival one day.  We've got some big ones here in Washington.  I have lots of friends who have done Sasquatch, and quite a few who have gone down to California for Coachella, but the tickets are pretty steep and I'm just not in the loop to pay attention to when they go on sale and such.  Are any of you planning on going to a music festival this year?  Which one?  Have you gone in the past?  Was it awesome?  Tell me all the things!

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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#FLASHBACKFRIDAY // hopin' for raleigh

o, Delightfully Tacky has been around for almost 7 years.  Crazy.  I can't think of anything I've done for 7 years straight, other than maybe breathing.  And eating.  Some of you have been around that long (kudos, long-haulers!), but I have a feeling quite a few of you are newer and don't have the time to scroll back through 1,973 blog posts to get the whole backstory.  While my style isn't the same as it was 2, 3, 4 years ago, I still love some of those old outfits and outfit photos, so I wanted to share those!  Flashback Friday is so common on instagram, so I figured why not do a flashback friday on the blog?  I think it's super fun to not only look back on the outfits I put together in the past, but also read the posts and remember where I was and what was going on in life at the time.  

I used to take photos down at this truck/dock all the time when I lived at home in Anchorage.  The lot next door to our house was basically vacant, except for the floatplane dock and this truck that never moved.  Now, there's a giant house on the lot and a family lives there!  It's so weird to go home and have a big house next door instead of a forest and empty lot.  Also, I haven't picked up the guitar in at least a year.  I like music but over the years I've realized that it doesn't bring my soul alive the way it does in my friends who are musicians.  I like music, I like listening to music and as a creative person I appreciate it as an artform, but I've realized it's not my artform.  I'm visual through and through.  Give me all the visual arts.  

On another note: I can't figure out for the life of me how I got my bangs so damn perfect all the time back then...

I'm Hopin' For Raleigh // June 27, 2010

I was so excited when Maria of Lulu Letty joined the Delightful Dozen. She has such great style and I couldn't wait to see what she put up for swap. I was so thrilled that she put up her Lulu Letty ModCloth dress! I remember seeing it on her when she was featured on ModCloth and I fell in love with the simple chambray dress. It actually reminds me a lot of the dress I styled up at the Revolve photo shoot, only way less expensive!

dress(similar)/lulu letty modcloth dress (swap via Delightful Dozen)
boots(similar)/ minnetonka :: belt/forever 12 :: scarf/courtesy of Rare Treasure

Secret time: I play guitar. I'm not that great at it, but I do the best I can. I don't really have enough time in the day to practice all the time. This guitar is actually my little brother's but he stopped playing guitar years ago, so I have "borrowed" it. Both of my guitars got left in Washington when I moved up here. I'm excited to grab them when I drive through Washinton on my trip. Hopefully I'll have more time to play, and maybe actually finish one of my own songs. I have a music myspace, but all the songs I've posted are covers. Nothing fancy, just recorded with my Mac and GarageBand.

A guitar is the best accessory, though. Anyone looks about 100 times cooler the instant they're holding a guitar. And boys become 100 times more attractive with a guitar, pretty much universally. Why is this? I am not sure. Maybe it has something to do with guitar players knowing what to do with their hands... haha! I think people who play music use their brains in a different way too. The visual mentality is pretty ingrained in me, and I try to make my brain think in a more musical way, but it's not natural for it to be like that. It's more of a second language than a first language. Consequently, I'm not very confident when it comes to my music. Hopefully with more practice I'll gain a little confidence.

ona bowery giveaway!

ith my new photography site and blog design launching, I knew I wanted to celebrate by giving away some of my favorite things.  I've been using ONA's Union Street bag for a few years now and love it, but I've always coveted the smaller, leather Bowery camera bag.  I still don't have one (some day!), but I am giving one away to one lucky reader!  Seriously, this bag is so gorgeous, the perfect size for carrying daily, and having used an ONA bag for years (and just being able to tell from the obvious craftsmanship), it'll last a lifetime.  
When I first discovered ONA years ago I was so excited to finally find a beautifully crafted camera bag that, really, didn't look like a camera bag at all.  I was used to stuffing my ugly standard camera bag inside of my cute purse to keep my camera safe, or just putting my camera in my purse sans camera bag, being super careful to keep it from dropping or banging against anything.  ONA makes such high quality, gorgeous bags designed to keep a camera safe and sound while simultaneously looking beautiful and non-camera-bag-y, so I'm really excited to give away a bag that's been on my personal wish-list for years.
bag/ONA ::cardigan(similar)/courtesy of ruche :: jeans/courtesy of modcloth boots/vogue footwear :: necklace/moorea seal :: top/cosette

 



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blog (design) love giveaway!

ince I got to work with Promise this past week on making my new site go live, I wanted to give you guys an opportunity to work with her through the Blog (Design) Love 2.0 e-course from my pals over at A Beautiful Mess!  Blog (Design) Love 2.0 is the second edition of their popular Blog Design Love e-course and it's packed with all new design lessons from Promise Tangeman and re-worked coding lessons from Elise Blaha Cripe. You’ll learn design, font, and color basics for crafting a strong visual brand online. You’ll be able to map your site’s navigation, know how to make your archives work for you, and how to optimize your posts for Pinterest. This self-paced class will help you to customize your online space in a way that fits your style, engages your readers, and looks amazing!  Promise and Elise are amazing, and one lucky reader will win access to Blog (Design) Love 2.0!

I'm a design junkie and you're likely to find me tweaking my design instead of working on something I really need to get done simply because I love it.  I know a lot of bloggers feel design challenged and stressed out by personal branding and graphic design, but Promise and Elise are amazing at making it simple and exciting.  If you're looking to do a DIY update to your own blog design, this e-course is the perfect way to help figure out the process!



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