Yours, Elissa.

This morning I was rolling my eyes along to a radio talk show where they featured a social media expert. "All that means," said my Sweet, "is that they have a Twitter account." I snorted to myself, "I could be a social media expert."

But I would never try to pawn myself off as an expert, even though I frequently fantasize about Catch Me If You Can-type things like passing myself off as a heart surgeon for one malpractice-mired day... I'm involved in social media, but I definitely don't use it to its greatest extent. As we drove along to the strains of the Wu Tang Clan, I became increasingly agitated.



"I feel bad," I said.

"What's the deal, baby seal?" replied he.

"Ech, I dunno. It's stupid," I paused, "The social media expert set me off. I'm annoyed with my blog."

"Hm..."

"It's just, I have this blog, I have this Twitter account and Flickr and all of these other things with my name on it, and I don't know what I'm saying to anybody anymore. It doesn't really mean anything. But then again, I don't want to quit because, what a thing to waste!"

"You gotta not have this hoarder's mentality about your social media," Sweets concluded, and funnily, his diagnosis ended my months of inner turmoil (really) about whether to continue on with SpandexPony.



My raison d'etre is no longer there. I've come to a point in my life where what I am and what I'm doing right now don't vibe with the spirit of this blog any more. I need time off, to figure out what I'm doing next. I've very much enjoyed writing and photographing and sharing it with all of you, reading your comments and visiting your blogs, as well. I'll still keep up with my photos on Flickr, and probably occasionally Tweet things in lieu of bookmarking them-- you know, cool shops, great ideas I've found... you can find the links to those accounts in the sidebar.

If and when I return to blogging, I'll be sure to post something on here and/or Tweet it as well. In the meantime, I'll be reading and commenting on yours. Thanks, dear readers, for contributing a bit of glamour into an ordinary girl's life. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed the past two years.

Take care,

Elissa.

Cool you off.

Just sayin... that I had to pull down my previous post temporarily because the time was not "ripe", so to say... it'll be back!

But in the meantime, I'd like to invite you to my other blog-- Elegant Balloons. If you get the reference you are OBSCURE sir! And if you don't, I invite you to check out the stand-up stylings of Paul F Thompkins (Thank you Sara Louise!).

My photo-a-day project is coming along nicely-- and by nicely, I mean, I'm adhering to doing it, not necessarily that I'm going to start doing art for greeting cards. BUT, if you'd like to see my photo of the day (this month is white-- think I'm going pink for February), check out Elegant Balloons.

Til Later....

Elissa.

Whee.

Today was a very low-key birthday... me and my Sweets first went to a dog adoption event. We've really been jonesing for a dog for the past year or so, but finding a good match may take much longer than we anticipated. I want small(ish), he wants big; I like scruffy, he likes smooth. I want chill, he wants playful--- somewhere there's a medium-sized dog with a short, wiry coat and adaptable nature just waiting for us. To be continued...

I look so creeper don't I? Anyway, I've got on a Sweater: TJ Maxx, Blouse: thrifted. Jeans: NY&Co. Shoes: MIA. Broach: thrifted. I'm starting to really like wearing broaches as an alternative to earrings or necklaces. They're out of the way, and not so much a pain in the gadinga as --ahem-- cheap earrings that my ears are finally rejecting after many years of abuse.

Later, we caught "Sherlock Holmes"-- ruled! I happen to love well-choreographed fight scenes in movies, and if you do, too-- or just enjoy watching Robert Downey, Jr. as I do, then you'll love this flick. Extra bonus? The art during the ending credits. Later, it was a sushi fiesta, and let's just say that I'm still recovering. Gawd.

A friend of mine is auditioning to be an apartment scout for Apartment Therapy... I was honored that she sent in snaps of our house as her submission. My office, as you can see, is still in disarray, to say the least, but she definitely has an eye for staging her photographs well. When they pop up on the site I'll give you all a look-see!

Yours,

Elissa.

Pieced together.

Michelle Repici will make you love winter, crave pattern, and develop a crush on chinoiserie. Her art is a happy combination of all that I love-- collage, texture, and photography.

A Hazy Shade of Winter, 2009

A Moment Suspended in Time, 2008

Check out the rest of her work here.

I'm off to Cincinnati today to visit with my parents and do an early birthday dinner for myself, and a late birthday dinner for my brother.

Til Later,

Elissa.

Find of the moment.

If you've been reading for awhile, you know that I have periodic flare-ups of Doc Martens lust. Then I buy a pair and am crushed upon rediscovering that heavy, mannish boots do nothing to make me look like Bridget Fonda in Singles. In fact, they are so unflattering as to make me look like I have an agenda.

Doc Martens Darcie

These, on the other hand, do-able, and surprisingly, most doable in the cherry-red color-- which in a pair of Docs brings skinheads vividly to mind, but in a heel, the freewheeling 70's. I'd like to pair them with cabled tights and a dress, or boyfriend jeans and a midriff top and truly get my Ciara on.

Yours,

Elissa.

Try not to be mesmerised.

There is no way that you will not want a slinky, a cigarette, or both after watching this mesmerizing test footage from Henri-Georges Clouzot's unfinished film "L'enfer".



Rummaging through my drawers to find my glitter,

Elissa.

Wedding!

I'll have to apologize for the delay in posting... there are just so many photos (thankfully) that I felt harried just looking at all of the CDs and jump drives people had given us. Yikes! But I did want to share with you all, so here goes!



These are our invitations. My Sweets designed them himself. See our cat on them? We were going for an Art Deco-y theme, and the Conservatory where the event was held served as inspiration for the invites as well.



Here's a bit of how the Conservatory looked on the inside. We did an evening wedding in their greenhouse. At the time of the wedding, they were having a Dale Chihuly exibit, so in addition to all of the beautiful plants throughout the building, there were these huge, festive, Medusa-like glass sculptures hanging from the cieling, sprouting from the koi pond, or interspersed among the flora.

Photo: Kevin James.

Here's the dress! It was beaded, ivory lace on top of champagne silk. I loved, loved, loved the low back! My father and brother played guitar and violin while people got seated; then our friends Angie and Jenny sang and played piano during the ceremony. The songs? "In My Life", by the Beatles; "At Last", by Etta James, and "This Will Be Our Year", by the Zombies.


As mentioned before, we had a Dudeist wedding, as Russell and I were initially joined by a common love of The Big Lebowski. The officiant became ordained a priest in the Dudeist faith, and wrote the most hilarious, Lebowski-referencing service ever. Russell's and my vows were also reference heavy. And yes, he is a good man, and thorough.

Photo: Kevin James.

Here, a pic of my Sweets and his Dude of Honor, his brother.

Hair thing by Hems and Bustles. Flowers by Flowers on Orchard Lane. Photo: Kevin James.

And me, and my own little Bunny Lebowski. The flowers I was pretty particular about, and they turned out wonderful. There's foxtail fern, delphinium, hypericum berries, and ostrich feathers in them thar flowers.

I've even got blue tights and peach-colored shoes! Tights: We Love Colors. Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell Michelle.

Our colors were peach, silver and navy blue. We did huge, ostrich feather centerpieces and the table numbers were all actually guestbooks that we made, each bound with silver ribbon. We made feather pens and put them in bud vases filled with rice on each table so folks could sign them. It looked awesome.


The favors we gave out were little sachets we made with pillow mints inside of them, along with ye standarde tube of bubbles from The Knot, housed in these funny "Pick Your Nose" cups from Perpetual Kid. As you can see, people had a lot of fun with them, and they were really inexpensive-- we got 110 favors for around $100.

Photo: Kevin James.

One of my very favorite parts of the wedding was our tango! We took about 8 lessons to get it right. Russell really was not into taking lessons at first, but soon he really started enjoying himself and then became quite the perfectionist! In fact, he suggested that every Halloween (which will be our anniversary), we learn a new dance and perform it in costume at whichever party we happen to haunt. My father and brother played the music for our dance, which made it that much more special.


After the dance came cake-- lemon raspberry! I ordered it from my very favorite bakery in my hometown of Cincinnati, Bonbonerie. They are awesome, and totally accommodating. I designed this cake myself, using Photoshop and our invitations as a guide. I even bought the silver ribbon and had it mailed to them! The cake toppers are salt and pepper shakers that I found at an antique store a couple of weeks before the wedding; and they've since been re-purposed as commemorative Christmas ornaments.



How do you reconcile Halloween dress with wedding attire? Why, simply mandate "flamboyant formal" as the dress code on your invitations. I loved seeing what people came up with; if I had to do it again, I'd do a full-on, costumed blow-out. My friend Jenny (center photo, with me) made these amazing, crazy animal heads out of bedsheets, amongst other things. They were a huge hit.

Photo: Kevin James.

And that's about it! The rest is history-- let me refer you here for honeymoon stories and pictures! If I had to do it over again, I'd a) keep it a little simpler. I didn't count on the people attending making most of the wonderful memories for me; I thought I'd have to manufacture them myself. But it just goes to show, that unless you're in an extreme case, people are coming because they like you and want to have a good time. B) I'd ask for more help. I was fiercely independent in the planning of this wedding, though I definitely have quite a few people to thank (literally, I still haven't sent thank-yous. Eeek!). But it definitely did get overwhelming at times, and it wasn't until I started talking to people that I learned that a friend of mine used to be a florist and has connections to wholesale flowers (after I already signed a contract with my florist).

Thanks a ton to all of you, dear readers, for offering me support and encouragement before, during and after! If you'd like to see more photos, feel free to peruse my Flickr set here. If you'd like any advice, or to know where to look for anything, I am more than happy to help! And yes, I have a heaping stack of Elegant Bride and Martha Stewart Weddings if you want those, too.

Yours,

Elissa.

Mmm.... usic.

I can't get this damn song out of my head! So good.



And in an age where many attempt to be adorably terrible, this video truly succeeds.

Yours,

Elissa.

Redirection.

In my formative years, I was a violinist in the orchestra. For concerts, we would wear white oxford shirts with black slacks or skirts. I always chose the skirts. For some reason (probably my faulty laundering or explosive growth rate) my skirts were always super short. My sense of propriety remained unperturbed, however, until I became known as Short Skirt Girl. I worried a bit about being "Short Skirt Girl" today, but I figured a sizeable chapeau would excuse my skirtly transgressions.

Hat: H&M. Sweater: Victoria's Secret. Skirt: Thrifted. Thermal: Target. Tights: Gift from my moms. Scarf: Anthropologie. Shoes: Wanted.

I love writing and taking photos, cool-hunting on the Internets, having rapport with all of you good bloggy people and of course, catching up with my old friends, fashion and design. But sometimes I lose sight of what exactly I'm doing on here, and then I need to reassess.


Therefore, I'm switching my focus a bit away from personal style, because I don't really think that's the most interesting thing about me. In fact, it's getting to be less and less interesting, because a) I have no money and b) I have seriously recommitted myself to getting into shape. I've been saying it for like a year, but you have to get your mind right first, and it wasn't. Now it is. But still, although I will continue to enjoy taking and sharing some photos for ya'll of yours truly, I gotta move away from the every day self-photo taking activities, because I can't handle the self-scrutinizing.



I mean, seriously, when you get to trying to figure out how to Photoshop your legs longer, it's time to stop taking photos of yourself. It's not my job, and no one requires it of me, and it may possibly be one of the least interesting things I could offer to all of you. And I mean that to myself as a compliment.

The first one to tell me what I've Photoshopped in the above photos gets a free mystery prize! Please leave an email address with your comment. Good luck!!

Yours,

Elissa.

Blizzard, if you will.

For the last week or so, it's been snowing non-stop. I love it when the snow is too deep to navigate successfully in my tiny car --and bald tires. The layers, puffer jacket, glittens and industrial-strength socks and boots come out and I march off around the neighborhood to complete my errands, or, as I pretend to myself-- grab the essential medicines and supplies or else everyone will freeze and starve to death.

...or get eaten by giant spiders.

Check out these marvelously magical/creepy/beautiful/haunting snow globes by artists Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz. All of you in more southerly climes will be clamoring for a little bit snow-- real or in a globe-- yourselves...







Going outside,

Elissa.

Birthday wishin's.

My little ol' birthday is coming down the turnpike (yes, that very same birthday and turnpike shared with Sal, my birthday twin). Last year's was so very good that I could easily pass this one without notice -- I think. In case I change my mind, here's what you can bring to my birthday party at the roller rink.

Siamese Hunting Man Pendant

Deer? Done 'em. Still like 'em though. Antlered Siamese twins? This, I gotta wear.

Brooklyn Bridge Ring

I'm really hitting the jewelry sites hard these days. I read somewhere that double rings were now a bloggy cliche, and it is true that J.Lo wore this in one of her more recent videos, but damn if I don't get a thrill from this piece! Me want.

Buffalo London Studded Heels

I spent most of my teen years in a punky state of mind; I wore a studded dog collar to a job interview, if I remember correctly; and spent my days in JNCO's and bondage pants. Now that studs have come around again, it's sort of like passing Chipotle after college. You just don't want it anymore. Disturbingly, however, I find myself strongly attracted to these heels. Maybe it's the Roxie Hart shape. Maybe it's the Nancy Reagan shade.

Einshop Houses Bag

I love LeSportSac, but the "cartooniest" my tastes veer might be Marimekko (although I am quite partial to Tokidoki and Insight's animal series tanks). This one looks like the two brands met up and had a baby and called it Handbag. The house print? Impeccable.

Jagger Trilogy Ring

I think it was DeBeers who first came out with ads for "right-hand rings". Perhaps because fewer people are getting married, or getting married later. If you want that bling, better get it for yourselves ladies! But do make sure to put it on your right hand. Whatta bunch of hooey. Although, this ring from Macha has me thinking, you know, I really should just go out there and reward myself.

Yours,

Elissa.

Your Daily White

And speaking of white... cue Billy Idol... I have a confession to make. While I was planning my wedding this past year, I had visions of ultra-impressive photos-to-prove-it gracing my blog. I (and several of my near and dears) put a lot of heart and soul into planning the thing, and I convinced myself that this was my one opportunity to prove that I was the goddess of putting together attractive, formal events. Well. Ladies, I offer you my one Over-Arching Piece of Advice. As long as you are going to the trouble, spend good money on a photographer whose style you absolutely love.

After all of the arrangements, and because we were inviting so many people, we didn't have much left over for a photographer. We scoured local art schools to find one that would fit the bill-- literally-- and found a couple of students that we really liked. A friend of a friend heard of our search and said he would do it. And I'd seen his photos-- they were really dramatic, fashion-editorial type photos, so I jumped at the opportunity. Yes, we'd love to have you!

As I later found out, a wedding is not a fashion photo shoot and my family and I are not models. Many, many of the photos that I got back were unflattering to all involved, and missed important details that I'd put a lot of time into-- the tables, the programs, the flowers. I expected to gaze on my photos like the ones I'd gazed upon in magazines, but lo-- too many chins here, too sweaty there. Gawd. I was crushed! And it isn't the photog's fault-- a wedding involves too many conflicting factors for the inexperienced, coupled with the fact that despite what you see here on this blog, I don't love posing for photos; I freeze up and get weird. The factors, oh!-- the factors!

Now that I've had two months to cool down about it (and the same amount of time to track down photos that friends and family took), I'm now able to look at my amassed collection as a whole. When I look at them-- some, yes-- sweaty, awkward, blurry, underexposed; regardess, I see my closest friends, family, my husband and myself having a wonderful, colorful time.

I'll be telling my story for you (in both words and pictures) in the next couple of days. I'm excited now to share with you the fun that we had, and not just plastically try to impress you with my hawt dress and ohmigod the centerpieces.

Damn, kids! Humble pie. It tastes good.

Yours,

Elissa.

Making Good.

January. New. White. It just made sense. I'm starting off on the good foot with my 365 Days in Color project. This month's color is White.

January 1st -- The Lights on Our Mantle.

January 2nd -- Stella in the Window.

I love this one. She begs and begs for us to open this window for her so she can guard the backyard from the sill or by prowling the roof.

Tonight, we're going to a local mountain -- if you can call it that, this is Ohio after all -- to go night-tubing, BYO Flask. That should present plenty of opportunities for white-finding!

Yours,

Elissa.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 1955!, originally uploaded by RickRaven.

Everyone seems to be echoing the same sentiment-- 2010 will be an auspicious year...

Funny, because I felt giddy at the beginning of 2009, and a bit deflated at the dawn of this new decade. The prospect of creating self-flagellating "won't do's" known as resolutions doesn't wag my tail either, so I'm devoting this profoundly sleepy work-day to compiling a list of things I'd actually like to be doing in 2010.

1. Go skiing. I love it. I never do it.

2. Go ice-skating. Ditto.

3. I'm going to follow CassiaB's lead-- (her blog is fantastic, by the way) and work on photographic project similar to her 365 Days in Colour one she did for this past year.

4. I'd like to create at least one garment per month. I newly received a dress form, now's the time to put it to work.

5. Get an outfit like Miss 1955's up there to ring in 2011.

What about you? What would you like to accomplish during this next year?

Yours,

Elissa.