Hey y'all! I'm on vacation, so I've asked some lovely ladies to babysit the ol' AC while I'm gone. Make Gracey feel welcome, will you?
Hello, Animated Cardigan Readers!
I am Gracey, from Fashion for Giants, and Jess has graciously let me guest post on her lovely blog while she’s out gallivanting. After considering, and rejecting, such varied subjects as Glitter (the movie, not the craft supply), 80s fashion and what the heck pearl jam is, I’ve decided to write about things that rhyme with orange.
Let’s get started, shall we?
So, what rhymes with orange? Nothing. Unless, of course, there is some word in the now defunct Mura language of the Amazon that rhymes with orange and then the answer is something but nothing anybody knows any more. With the caveat that if the word is in the Piraha dialect of the Mura language then there are still some people who know a word that rhymes with orange.
Still, that’s a pretty darned slim probability so let’s just say nothing shall we? Now, I know your kind-hearted inclination is to pity orange for not being able to be used in a Jay Z rhyme, but don’t worry. Happily for us and for orange, there are a lot of things that go with orange.
Like blue and purple and white and khaki and olive and pink and gray and, oh, lots of things. For example, I am the proud owner of some orange corduroy pants that have become a closet workhorse for me due to orange’s uncanny ability not rhyme with anything but to go with most everything.
Like blue:
And cream:
And turquoise:
And peach:
So, don’t pity orange; instead, celebrate it by wearing it with all the many, many colors that go with it.
And come visit me at Fashion for Giants! I wear other colors too!
Gracey
Hey y'all! I'm on vacation, so I've asked some lovely ladies to babysit the ol' AC while I'm gone. Say hello to Brynn and her two dear puppies!
Hello! My name is Brynn, and I blog over at brynnash. I'm so excited to be posting for Jess while she is off vacationing this summer (JEALOUS.)! I mainly post about my personal style, but I also add in some nuggets about my life.
One thing that you'll learn about me really quickly (both in real life and on my blog) is that I am a complete dog lover! I grew up with dogs and have always loved them. I lucked out with a partner who is as much a dog fanatic as myself, and after we got married, we couldn't wait to get our first pup together!
For our first anniversary, we decided to adopt our little Pippin, a 2-year-old beagle/blue heeler mix. We were looking for smallish dogs (the place we lived at the time had a weight restriction of 35 lbs) and both of us wanted a dog that looked a little different. Pippin's face popped out to me on Petfinder and I knew she had to be ours. I immediately started crying and told Kevin we needed to adopt her. We went to meet her a few days later and took her home with us.
Pippin is named partially for Lord of the Rings (we'rd nerds) and partially for the musical Pippin (I love musicals). She's so funny and makes us laugh all the time. Pippin is often cat-like, and loves to lay on the back of the couch. She also is the biggest cuddler of all time. Whenever we're sitting on the couch, she needs to be RIGHT NEXT TO US. She'll literally stick her nose under my laptop to shove it out of the way when I'm working on homework. Pippin is quiet, curious, and incredibly smart.
After adopting Pip, I became head over heels in love with animal rescue. I knew I needed to foster dogs at some point in my life, because the thought of a dog being euthanized due to lack of space in a shelter breaks my heart. We were introduced to a fantastic rescue in Minneapolis called Safe Hands and I knew this was the rescue I wanted to get involved in. They have such a fantastic, compassionate attitude towards animals and will go to great lengths to save the lives of innocent dogs. Every couple of weeks, they put out a call for people to foster new dogs and have the dogs' pictures on their Facebook account.
One day, I was looking through one of the albums, and this darling little black puppy with the saddest eyes yanked on my heartstrings. Her name was Delia. She and her three brothers had watched their mother get shot when they were just 8-10 weeks old and had been left alone to die. Safe Hands was going down to the high-kill shelter in Kentucky in four days to bring the puppies to safety, but they needed foster homes. I sat in my office looking at her picture, crying because I wanted to save her so badly. Kevin agreed that we needed to foster her, and four days later, Delia came to our house.
We had been looking for a playmate for Pippin for so long, and couldn't believe how wonderfully she and Delia got along. I have always wanted another black lab (I grew up with one), and Delia was perfect. Both Kevin and I fell in love with her, but we were still trying to place her in a family (at this point, we were honestly just trying to foster her). After taking her to several meet and greets and having several family visits that fell through, we were heartbroken for this beautiful, smart, sassy, clumsy little girl. We decided to adopt her ourselves. We renamed her Rooney, and ever since June, she's been our second pup. There hasn't been a minute that we've looked back on that decision.
Having dogs is the most rewarding thing. I absolutely love waking up to these two little nuggets and coming home from work to their wiggly little butts. Life has so much more meaning when you have something to love and take care of...and Pip and Roo have certainly done their fair share of taking care of me as well. When I've had a rough day, I'll sit on the couch with a dog on each side. Rooney will snuggle next to me, and Pippin will lick my tears away. They know exactly how to make me laugh, comfort me, and keep me active. I love having dogs and will never again be without one!!
And since there's nothing cuter than two little puppy noses, here you are:
Thanks for reading about my two most favorite things in the world: Pippin and Rooney!!
Hi guys! I just wanted to drop a note saying that I am officially on vacation until August 11th! I am in Portsmouth, NH right now, but will be on my way to the beach shortly (lucky me!). I've lined up a bunch of awesome ladies who will be taking care of Animated Cardigan while I'm gone, and as always, you can expect a lot of pictures when I return from my trip. (I've already been Instagrammed one too many times.) Enjoy the guest posts while I'm gone and just know that I'm still available by email if you want to chat or have any questions!
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Woman of Substance, Octavio Ocampo
Unknown date, oil on canvas
Ah, surrealism. Not my favourite movement, but it certainly has its advantages. And listen, this one is gorgeous. The flowers, the face...what a lovely combination and flow. Email Salazar with your submissions by July 29th! Have fun, y'all!
The End of the Beginning Tour
featuring Streetlight Manifesto, Rodeo Ruby Love and Empty Orchestra
July 9 @ 8:00PM
Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh, NC
I wore:
This was an emotional concert for me, you guys. I saw Streetlight as a brightfaced sophomore in college, back in 2005 (though I had heard of them back in high school; they, like me, are from New Jersey). It poured all night and my friend G. and I walked four blocks each way from the Metro to some hole in the wall in the Navy Yard so see Streetlight perform. This time around, T. (no pictures) and I drove from our precious little town that never has bands to a town four hours north east of here. Raleigh, NC--you may have heard of it?--is the state capital of North Carolina and I have never been there, but I guess I can cross that off my bucket list. Anyway, the reason why this was an emotional show was because it's the end of Streetlight. The guys are packing it in, setting sail for the future without touring almost constantly for the last ten years. Streetlight in 2005 was always one of my favourite concerts, but it didn't hold a candle to Streetlight in 2013. T. and I sat in the balcony on bar stools (hence the bruised tailbone) and watched from above, and we marveled at the view of dudes moshing with iPhones in their hands. When Streetlight finally came out, the pit was so crammed with people that the moshing ended up being simply a sea, swaying angrily back and forth. (I was glad to be in the balcony, I'm too old for that shit.)
T., who had never seen Streetlight perform, and like most of us, never will again, was very impressed. He mentioned that the music is so much better live, and it's true. Streetlight is aggressive, callous, caustic, furious, pounding, manic, and explosive, and that doesn't come across as well when the music chirps out of your iPhone. It's incredible and wild. And when Tomas, the lead singer of the band, announced that this was the last song they'd probably ever play in North Carolina, I may have cried a little bit.
That may also have been from the contact high I received from the dude smoking weed under the balcony all night.
Necklace: JCPenney | Top: Anthropologie | Belt: Target | Skirt: Kohl's | Flats: Payless
You may be wondering where I have been. Let me tell you where I have been. I have been right here, on my laptop, pecking away at the keys, doing various things (writing a paper, mainly), being utterly miserable and trapped in my mom's recliner while my tailbone slowly heals its way back from "bruised and inflamed" to "normal". I am an idiot and spent three hours on a bar stool Tuesday night at the Streetlight concert (post forthcoming!), slowly squashing my coccyx in the process. So when I woke up writhing on Friday morning, barely able to stand, much less walk, I had no idiot to blame but myself.
One donut pillow, many friends, two shots in the butt and a couple of birthday cake milkshakes from Zaxby's later, and I am mostly back to normal. I missed a lot this weekend--the Black Keys concert (SUPERSAD ABOUT THIS), a wedding, and possibly a date--but I'd rather it happen now than in two weeks, when I'm in New Hampshire. Yikes. Either way, what matters: I'm back in the proverbial saddle again.
Lighthouse, by Jamie Wyeth
Oil on canvas, 1993
One of our very first SIAs revolved around Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth. I think I probably had a lot to say about the Wyeth family and how they were from the Brandywine Valley, near where I grew up, and how they're all awesome. I feel like it's only fair to include Jamie Wyeth in SIA--he's the current heir to the Wyeth family dynasty, and probably last in the line, since he has not had children. Jamie is the one in the family who paints with a sense of humour (a fascinating thing to study), and he's the main portraitist of the family. This is one of those portraits.
Send me your submissions by Monday, July 15th! I can't wait to see your ideas for this one.
Top: Anthropologie | Skirt: Tommy Hilfiger Outlet | Flats: DSW | Lips: NARS Schiap
I am 19 days away from leaving for a big ol' vacation. BIG ol' vacation, y'all. I'm going all the way to New Hampshire, then Cape May for a while, then Virginia! Two weddings, many friends, lots of beach time. I am very excited. But there's a lot standing in my way: a pathfinder, packingpackingpacking, one weekend of work, a new tattoo, curling, a wedding in Atlanta, two concerts, possibly a blind date, a new phone, and lots of work and homework.
I'll open the floor for questions now.
I hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day!
