What's white, round, and comes from a Pittsburgh jewelry store?

 Clockwise from top left:  Truus, Bob and Jan, Too!, AnnuskA AnnA - Theodora, Sugarbarre2, Fred_Baby.

Pearls, baby!

I've been thinking to myself lately that my readers have been especially frisky lately, and by that I mean that traffic is up on the old bloggerino, as are comments-- both number and depth of response!  I do so much appreciate your reading the blog and I love reading what you all have to say.  So it could not come at a better time, that Louis Anthony Jewelers, a Pittsburgh jewelry store has kindly sponsored a giveaway for all of you!  I always love to host a good giveaway for my readers as a special thanks to you!

Up for grabs are these gorgeous, 7mm freshwater pearl studs, valued at roughly $100. 

Each pair is unique, and may not look exactly like these, pictured.

Who are these kindly pearl-giver-awayers??   Louis Anthony Jewelers is family-owned, by Veronica and Lou Guarino and is located in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh, PA.  Louis Anthony Jewelers offers carefully chosen and undeniably stunning selection of jewelry, timepieces and gifts.  They provide the kind of warm, familiar service that goes beyond knowing your name to knowing what's on your personal wish list. 

They offer a wide variety of jewelry brands from esteemed to emerging-- my favorites are BIBIGI and Chimento, seriously hot stuff-- makes ya think they ought to change it from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Pittsburgh Gilders... eh?  eh?

Anywho, here's how to enter!

1)  Pop onto the Louis Anthony Jewelers Site.  Click on the Designer's link and choose your favorite line of jewelry!

2) Report back on your favorite(s) with a comment on this post.

3) For two extra entries, follow me on Twitter and give a tweet-out about the contest! Be sure to leave another comment here with a link to your tweet and your Twitter username so I can know it's you!

4) For three extra entries, post about this contest on your own blog!  Be sure to leave a link in a separate comment.

5) For one extra entry, follow my blog with Bloglovin'!  I love this site, I wouldn't get around to reading half as many blogs as I do without it!  Be sure to leave a separate comment so I can count it correctly!

6) Don't forget to leave your email address so I can contact you if you are the big winner!

This contest starts now, and ends on Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time.  Good luck to you all!

Yours,

Elissa.

The stars aligned...

Yesterday was pretty much a dazed trot through the land of sedatives as I resigned my teeth to the dentist. 

The only moment I remember is when I had to go to the bathroom right before I went off and the hygienist accompanied me.  Not wanting to be babysat, I said, "Lemmeh do it on my own," and ran into a wall.  When I got to the bathroom, she said, "Do you, ah, need... assistance?"  To which I turned around and said, "Yyyou know.... and I know.... we don't want that to happen."  I'm assuming I succeeded at my task, however, that was the last thing I remember... 

Above, a visual representation of the experience... the sneakers are the best pair I've had in a long time, thrifted of all things.  The high-top shape makes them slightly cooler, and the pink color and perforations make them feminine and light.  That, and they look good at the end of a dentist's chair.


Tra la la,

Elissa.

Who's cutting arts?

The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.  This explains why, even though biking to work is both free, and by the miracle of modern traffic patterns, actually faster than driving to work, I am unable to get up the requisite 45 minutes early in order to do so. Why 45 minutes early?  Why, I require 3/4 hour of mental preparation to conquer my various biking-related fears vis a vis heavy morning traffic.  It is this trepidation that encourages me to press the sleep button one, two, three more times.  Oops!  There isn't time enough to bike!  Guess I'll drive again!

Not so today!  I sprang out of bed, right sprightly and walked to work today (I could not summon the mettle to ride).  Though coffee and breakfast-less, my footly commute helped breathed some life into my morning. 

After, I met up with some people from the Ohio Art League, for whom I am now blogging on the side.  The biggest party of their year is coming up this Saturday, and they are getting the event space ready.  I came by to take inventory of all the art that is going up (for sale by silent auction) to write a little piece about it. The space itself has 4 floors with insane downtown views... and I can walk to it from my house, so I look forward to getting into howl-at-the-moon mode. 

"Wonder", by Lisa McLymont

Of all the art, this one sang out to me as my tastes are pretty staunchly multimedia... the Wonderbread factory in town just closed, and a new art space called Wonderland is about to open inside.  Even though we miss the fresh bread smells, people are pretty excited about Wonderland, and this painting/collage pretty accurately encapsulates all of the emotions involved in a beloved factory dying, while a glamorous, unproven venture looms.

Speaking of art, here's a close-up of my necklace, which is really what my outfit is about today.  I got it at an antique store in Florida last year, and it's one of my favorite things-- I rarely trot it out due to its in-between length, but damnit if I ought to do it more often.  It makes me feel like I'm projecting good will, without having to smile or give money to anyone.  I'm now on the hunt for accessories that make me appear beatific but not religious, and hard-working but not employed.

Tomorrow I have to go to the dentist to repair 6 years worth of eating lots of cake and candy and shirking the chair.  Luckily ( I suppose ) the last time I went they couldn't work on me because I was... well, conscious.  I have extreme tooth-meddling aversion and almost threw up on the hygienist, to which the dentist prescribed me some knock out pills and rescheduled me.  "Do NOT forget to take these prior to," he said, "Because I can't work like this." he gestured to my expression of abject terror and white-knuckled grip on his coat.

Ughhhh.... wish me luck!!

Yours,

Elissa.

Happy Mother's Day!

My mom and myself, circa 1985.

Happy Mothers day, all you muthas!!  I'm going to Cincinnati to visit with mine.  I credit my mom for my sense of humor and also my white, white complexion.  Beaches are not our friends.  To kick off the day, I bring to you one of my most favorite songs featuring mothers, sung by one of my mom's favorite Bobs (aside from my dad). 



Take care, everybody!

Elissa.

Cosmic, Far-out 12-year-olds.

I can't remember exactly how I first happened upon Fallie's Scrapbook, but it's fast becoming a favorite read.  Her laid back, minimal blogging style allows for her caprice and creativity to shine through, and Tuuli, the 12-year-old from Estonia behind it, has it in spades.  I'm addicted to her lollipop-headed fashion illustrations, portraits, and far-out outfit posts.

She's a simple kid with a flair for badassery.  Care for a wolf tee of your own?  There's a rather rad one in my shop right now!

Here, a look from Hermes' F/W 2010 show... I believe that her sister is some kind of fashion designer, and Tuuli does all of the illustrations for her line (from what I understand).  Her ability to render each piece makes every outfit look like candy-- if she came out with a book of paper dolls, I'd definitely buy...

Here, she brings Brian Boy and Julia Frakes to life... gotta love those teal lips...

Cosmically Lacoste...

Look at how she got the texture on the tights so right in her illustration of a Topshop Unique Fall 2010 ensemble...

When I first saw this portrait she did of Tavi in her MiuMiu, I nearly crapped.  It's amazing.  Must... commission.... portrait.... to hang in dining room and intimidate/disgust guests! 

A portrait of the artist as a young girl.  You guys just need to check out her blog for the full effect.  It'll make you wish for a little sister if you don't have one, and hate your own little sister for not being this cool if you do.

Speaking of coolness, for those of you that asked on my last blog post, the stand-up thing last night well--- actually, much better than I was prepared for...  I set a really low bar for myself, mainly just don't throw up-- but once I got up there, my trepidation melted off and I felt really good.  People even came up to me afterwards to tell me how much they liked it-- which is freaking crazy!  I was prepared to come back on here and talk about how I totally choked, but... I definitely did the opposite.  It is weird, but hey man, I'll take it!!  What happens from here, I don't know... but I know what I'll be doing next Wednesday.

Yours,

Elissa.

To flatter, or not to flatter...

Ahmigahd ahmigahd ahmigahd.  Tomorrow night is the big night.  I'm somewhat used to being on stage-- my parents say that as a baby, I would stand up in my high chair at the restaurant and sing at the top of my lungs serenade diners and staff alike.  I've done plays, I've given lectures, I've sunk my teeth into all kinds of karaoke, but this stand-up foray is altogether different. 

Top:  thrifted.  Tank:  Urban Outfitters.  Jeans:  NY&Co.  Shoes:  Pink Duchess.

I won't be putting my own spin on something people are already familiar with, or working within the safety and constraint of someone else's writing and direction.  I'm just making up some stupid stuff and hoping people like it-- hopefully I'm not the only one that thinks that cats with French accents and pulling grilled cheese sandwiches apart is funny.  If not, I'm pretty sure I'm just going to quiver and vomit and scamper back to my hole.  Ye-yipe!!!

Today's look attempts to make use of this gigantic, cropped silky top I thrifted.  It's got great buttons and is actually -- dunh, dunh, dunh -- some kind of 1970's lingerie.  I was primarily attracted to it because of the cool fabric, and the fact that it has roomy sleeves, something that I've begun to seek out on account that I've finally acknowledged that my "pythons" will never be garter snakes.  And not that one should go around covering things... I don't necessarily believe that you should cover things you don't like looking at, because it is, you know, your god-given body, it's just that now I won't have to look at them because they are now covered.  Ya dig??

Also on my arm today... a watch my little brother gave me.  He is a watch fiend, and has a pretty sizeable collection.  He takes them apart and puts them back together again, it's all very German of him.  Well, the boy is indeed going to attend school in the Land of Clocks (and cute wooden things, and streudel) and has unloaded some watches on me to make his transcontinental move a bit lighter.  This particular watch is a 1930's Gruen, which used to be manufactured in downtown Cincinnati.  The best part is you don't have to wind it, because it automatically does so whenever you move your arm.  I didn't even know that technology was around then!

It makes me want to revisit watches altogether; I have some pretty cool ones, actually, and I keep coming across styles that make me want to revisit watch-wearing, even though I primarily stopped on account of their arm-embiggening qualities. 

Whaddya think?  Is there something you can't stop wearing even though you know it's not flattering??  Should it matter?

Yours,

Elissa.