New Things to Come

I've really let myself down when it comes to posting on this blog. I just don't have enough personal content to keep it going. I only have exciting things happen every other week or so, and even then I don't really document it well enough to write a post on it. So, this blog will not see as much activity as in the past.

HOWEVER...

I'm going to be starting a new blog soon (as if I don't already have enough to keep up with.) It's going to chronicle my obsession with second hand, consignment, and hand-me-down clothes. I found that I have a real knack for fashion on the cheap.

I hope to launch the new blog sometime next month. I'm really taking the design and feel of it to heart. I may possibly choose to purchase my own domain for this one. (!) So, keep a lookout! And thank you to everyone who's kept up with this blog. I know I haven't really delivered.

Much love,

Karah

More Christmas Wishes

It seems my last post has left me with a myriad of different Christmas wishes. Now, I don't like receiving gifts, so, like I said, this is more of a "I hope to accumulate these things over time" kind of list.

This is the Friendship Bracelet Watch from Urban Outfitters. It basically combines two of my favorite loves into one accessory: bohemian-inspired, woven bracelets, and chic, classic watch faces. A watch like this in any color would make my heart sing.

This is the Fujifilm Instax Mini 25. I've always been a fan of Polaroid, but with the phasing out of film and the immense cost, this little baby is the next best thing if not better. It features vertical and horizontal shoot triggers, zoom, auto-focus, a self-portrait mirror, adjustable exposure for different degrees of light, and the price isn't too shabby either--> around $100 bucks depending on where you shop. And since the film for this particular camera is made on the regular, one is sure to enjoy tangible, instant pictures for years to come.

From time to time I like a bold lip. However, I find it hard to enjoy a bold lip when it feels caked on and flaky. Enter Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain! This is all the glam without the mess. It literally is what it says. It's a semi-permanent stain that soaks beautifully into the lip and stays put until you decide to take it off with an oil-based make-up remover. It even comes equipped with a lip balm on one end to keep your lips hydrated all day long.

I don't know what it is about Essie brand nail polish. Maybe it's how true the hues are. Or maybe it's because I can idiosyncratically line all those little, square bottles up side by side so neatly. Either way, Essie nail polish is a staple. I don't buy anything else.

For the winter, this is my face wash of choice. It's completely gentle for my sensitive skin, soap free, and smells lightly coconut-y. It cleans with the help of coconut fatty acids. It keeps the break-outs at bay without over-drying. This makes a great stocking stuffer.

Since I've recently procured an iPhone, I've done everything in my power to personalize it. But, sadly, it lacks a funky, artsy, boho cover like this one. I'm not even sure where to credit this photo. It showed up in another social networking feed. Isn't it just lovely??

The last thing on this list is sterling silver stone jewelry. (Can't do the fake metal.) I love the rustic feel of pieces like this. They also add a little pop to more relaxed, demure looks. :)

What's on your Christmas wish list, dear readers?

Much love. xo

Things & Stuff

So, in lieu of not writing in FOREVER I have decided to make a list of things I will touch on in this here blog post.

1. The ITIS.
2. Thanksgiving.
3. Fashion Gems.
4. The Victoria's Secret  Fashion Show.
5. All I want for Christmas is...

Let's get this party started.

The ITIS.

Let's just say that being sick for over four weeks is just plain RUDE. AMIRITE?! It all started with a little cough. Nothing too alarming, right? That's what I thought, except it just. kept. getting. worse. Coughing. Then more coughing. Then sinus congestion. Then chest congestion. Then outright exhaustion. I finally broke down and went to see our faithful and trusted family doctor, Dr. Reddy, who looks like he should be in high school, but really he's just a very young-looking man, in his mid-thirties, who looks to be of Indian descent? Maybe? You know how some of those Indian people can age well. ANYWHO, he told I was SEVERELY dehydrated. And really, when someone uses the word 'severely' it kind of makes your palms sweat a little. He also said I probably have something bacterial going on, although we were never really able to determine what, exactly. Also, I am currently suffering from A LOT of inflammation due to a Lupus flare. A flare which, may I add, has been pretty much rearing it's ugly head for the last six months. That, too, is RUDE. So, my lungs and airways were inflamed along with a more than annoying case of Lupus rash. 

I was prescribed a 5-day course of antibiotics and PREDNISONE for inflammation. Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOATHE Prednisone. Not that it doesn't do what it's supposed to do (because it does,) but because it makes me want to eat EVERYTHING, ALL THE TIME. I'm glad I'm only on it for 10 days, else I would be a WHALE. Also, it tastes like I would imagine Windex to taste. It tastes SO bad.

Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was just lovely. My brother and sister-in-law have finally made their way from Idaho. They've set up house just over the state border in South Carolina in Augusta County, which is a mere two and a half hours from here. So, they decided to spend Thanksgiving with us. I also got to meet Buster, my brother's oh-so-adorable Chipuginese pooch. And, oh, how I fell in love with him. 

I mean, look at that face! Isn't that just- I can't even... 

Mom and I did most of the cooking, and everything turned out pretty much perfect.

 (Except that Mom singed the pumpkin pie? Who does that?! My brother thought it was chocolate creme pie upon first sight. Oh well. Apparently it still tasted good.) There was enough turkey left over to make a big 'ole batch of turkey salad (which has since been depleted. Seriously. It's that good.) We all enjoyed leftovers for the next few days. Glorious mountains of leftovers. The kind of leftovers you save yourself for all day and then engage in a delightfully, gluttonous feast. Yeah. Thanksgiving rocked. We put up our tree that day, complete with the silver and gold ornaments. I will post a picture when I have time to take a better one.

Fashion Gems.

As you all may have heard, my mother recently introduced me to Goodwill of Bluffton, SC. Now, let me tell you. Goodwill of Bluffton is basically the MOST AWESOME Goodwill I have EVER had the pleasure of perusing. I mean, this place had some GOOD stuff. It was the size of a Marshall's or Stein Mart. I was literally in thrift store heaven. I was also able to score some sought-after loot. World, meet the punchy-colored skinny jeans!

I can't describe to you how much of a find these were. I find myself completely low on cash these days and I paid all of EIGHT BUCKS for both pairs of these beautifully-hued skinnys. AND, it's like they were made for me. They fit perfectly. I can't wait to go shopping there again. I shall call it "The Goodwill of Possibilities." :)

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

The only thing I may love more than my new-to-me, punchy-colored, denim skinny jeans is underwear. And not just any underwear. VS underwear. All my underwear hails from VS, because, really, no one makes underwear quite like VS. And let's not kid ourselves here, people. We would all secretly go lesbian for at least ONE of those VS Angels. I was particularly blown away by more than one collection in this year's show, not to mention I was also blow away by some particular Angels' physiques. For example:

How bangin' was Miranda Kerr looking?? Seriously, she JUST had a kid like 1o months ago. And god bless nursing because her boobs are SPOT ON PERFECT. P.S. Mad props to Orlando Bloom for scoring that hottie. 

I could go into quite a bit of detail about Adriana Lima, but I'll just let you all drool. Did you know that this was her ELEVENTH VS fashion show? Fountain of youth, anyone? I mean, damn.

And last but not least, let's talk about Alessandra Ambrosio. I don't think she's all that curvy, or even the prettiest of the Angels (that goes to Erin) but HER BODY. I'm in awe of it. It's just absolutely chiseled to perfection. I can't even really say anything more than that. I wish I had that body. As a good friend of mine pointed out, when you get paid millions of dollars to be THAT hot, you work really hard to keep looking that hot. 

Did I mention that Erin was the prettiest? I did? OK! +20 points for awesome abs.

And yes, I did record the show and WILL be watching it again soon.

All I want for Christmas is...

I don't really want anything for Christmas because really the only thing I want is money. So, this is just a mock list of things I would like to accumulate over the next little while if I can. Knowwhatimean?

Head bands. Cute, sweet, boho style head bands that I can wear all cute-like in mah (nearly) long hair. This is more in anticipation for summer, since I vow to spend way more time outside next summer, even if it's under an umbrella.

Stripes! Tops, to be specific. I think they'd look just peachy with any of my punchy-colored skinny jeans. Which brings me to my next thing...

A continuance of my punchy-colored skinny collection! Because really you can't have pants that are too bright. ;)

Much love.

Softball, Natalie, TOM HANKS?!....WHAT?!!

You know how sometimes you have those dreams that are so weird that you promise upon waking up that you'll write them down for your own remembrance and possibly for posterity's sake? Well, let me tell you that I've never had a dream quite as weird and random as I did last night.... or, erm, this morning... and it bears writing down. Blogging down, even.

You see, I have this really nasty habit of waking up around 11ish on a Sunday morning, looking at my clock, and thinking to myself, "well it's Sunday," and going back to sleep. But let me let you in on something. That next hour I sleep until noon o'clock is the best sleep a girl can get, filled with the most vivid dreams a girl could ever ask for. Except for usually my dreams aren't weird. But this time, they were weird.

Let me fill you in on why this dream may have played out particularly bizarre.

First of all, the last activity on my agenda last night was to catch up on Natalie Holbrook's (aka. natthefatrat) blog. I read it religiously. If you've never had the privilege of viewing her writing, you can read here. It's filled with all things NYC, fashion, and awesomely adorable, chubby babies. I'm in love.

Also last night, I happened to watch "Breakfast at Tiffany's" on Netflix. Which kind of had me thinking about "Sleepless in Seattle." I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's because Sleepless is based on An Affair to Remember. And maybe I just had classic movies running through my brain making correlations with one another? Like I said, I'm not sure why.

An aside:

Did you know I'm going as Audrey Hepburn for Halloween? 

Yep.

ANYWHOOZLE...

So this dream starts off with Taylor Swift. It's no surprise that Taylor Swift is in my dream, as I thoroughly enjoy her music. And also because I wouldn't mind being life-long friends with her. She seems like a very adorable person. And really, no one wears red lipstick quite like her. Ms. Swift and I decided that we would take ourselves out on a friendly date to a nice restaurant. I'm not sure where we were exactly, but it's safe to say that it had to be somewhere between Savannah, GA and New York, NY. Taylor drove. She nearly gave me a heart attack. Didn't you know Taylor Swift is quite the little Evil Knievel behind the wheel? We drove along a very busy little street in what looked like to be an old town-esque part of wherever we were. It rather much reminded me of Old Towne Fredericksburg where I grew up: a one-way street and lots of shops and restaurants, delicately running business out of 18th and 19th century buildings. 

Somewhere along this one-way street we decided to park and find the restaurant we were looking for. We walked and walked, often walking inside a building to pass through and come out in another place completely. Kind of like Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz. For example, we walked through one building and came out into what can only be described as Queen Victoria's garden. We'll call it that. 

This went on for quite sometime, constantly crossing into different places: Venice, Greece, the subway... When all of a sudden we found ourselves at a ball park. When do my wondering eyes should appear but NAT THE FAT RAT! Yes! There she was, rooting on a SOFTBALL game, of all things. I sauntered over to introduce myself, trying not to give off that whole "I-stalk-your-blog-and-oh-my-stars-your-kid-is-so-cute" kind of vibe, but no introduction needed! She knew who I was, which made me confused in my dream brain. I shyly commented on how incredibly jealous I was of her petite stature before she went into a fit of yelling at the ump for some dastardly call.

I'll let you know by this time, Taylor Swift had disappeared. Natalie trumps Taylor, I suppose?

So, come to find out, Ms. Holbrook was somehow involved with this team. I don't know in what way. She wasn't playing obviously, but rather she was rooting and happily schmoozing the player's husbands. (You know, catching up and talking, not flirting. SHEESH. Where are your minds?) Then the weirdest thing happened. One of those husbands came up to me and said something along the lines of, "Vinny told me you were in charge now. So here's a list of the players and their salaries. Thanks, doll." There was the list. And right next to that list was a BIG OLE STACK OF CASH... in very high denominations. Before I could say anything, the guy vanished. So, I scooped up the stack of bills, not sure what to do with it and went and sat back down. I placed the stack under my thigh for safe keeping. THEN I saw a very angry-looking, mobster-type fellow tornado in with that look of, "I'm going to pop off whoever has that cash," so I nervously tried to hide the stack by setting my purse next to my leg. Why I didn't put the cash in my purse in the first place, I don't know. After a few good minutes and lots of panicking, the mob man disappeared. 

Which leads us to the next scene.

The next day, I knew I had to find Natalie. I knew that she would know what was going on. So, I made my way to the upper west side. (How I found my way....? Never been to NYC.) I asked to speak with her somewhere other than her apartment because I had the sneaky suspicion I was either being followed or monitored. However, she was eyeballs deep in getting herself and her precious offspring ready for the day so I was forced to covertly speak.

"Do you know anything about this?" (I showed her the stack of cash in my purse.) 

"So Vinny got to you," she said. "This is bad. Hang on, let me call Percy."

Percy was played by Tom Hanks. Percy's face never made an entrance, but the voice I could overhear from her phone was distinctly Tom Hanks. I just sat there and nervously picked at my nail polish until she was finished. 

"All right. Come here," she summoned.

This next part is the part that made my dream brain wake me up because it was soooo funny. 

She said, "Percy said he needs to you to go to some website and type in some password, but I can't say either out loud, for fear that we may be monitored, so I'm going to write it on the....

MAGNADOODLE.

And if you're laughing right now as hard I was in my dream, you'll know why it ended there. 

But I loved it.

Oh, hey! It's been a while!

I looked sadly at my blog and realized it's been a whole month since I've posted anything. I promised myself in the beginning that I would try to write AT LEAST three times a week.

Chyeah.

Vacations and trips and break-ups and TUMBLR happened.

First, there was Tampa with Laura and Craig and that was wonderful. Two weeks in Tampa! Who could ask for more? I ate and laid in the sun (when I wasn't breaking out in rashes from Lupus, that is.)

I came home to house full of cousins and had to endure not having my own room for a whole month! Imagine that. A whole entire month living in the same room with my mother. Needless to say, I was hating life. Don't get me wrong. I loved having my cousins there. I missed them dearly and we had some fun with girly chat when they weren't out doing other things. But I'm one of those who values their alone time. I'm very solitary. I like my own space.

There were a few trips here and there to Raleigh to stay with Bigs. Were are no longer together. At first it was my doing. He was NOT a fan. I felt like I needed to be alone. And I did! I legitimately needed space. I really tried to make things work with him, but in the end it was a mutual decision. We both agreed that I needed time. So, that has me down lately. The whole thing just sucks because at the end of the day, Bigs and I are really close. We always will be. We were great friends long before we were ever lovers. I know that we're still going to have that friendship, but it's going to be quite hard to divorce myself from the relationship aspect of it.

Boy, does he give the best hugs...

I have my friends, though. I recently spent a weekend with my dear friend Melissa and her husband, Damian. Zacky went with me and we had a GREAT time. I probably drank a little too much and made a fool of myself on the mic at the pub, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I missed Melissa. I vow to visit her more.

Tumblr has been the bane of my existence for the last little while. I'm so addicted. I've managed to attract quite a little following in the short time I've used the platform. It's the one place where I can post things that are completely true to me and my personality and not feel like I'm being scrutinized or judged, (which is why I don't give out the URL often.) So, Tumblr often trumps my blog most of the time, but I'm going to make a more valiant effort to update here.

Much love.

THANK YOU, FIREBIRDS!

Upon my return to Savannah from an oh-so-amazing stay in North Carolina, I found this waiting for me on the coffee table.

Firebirds, I cannot thank you enough for the awesome service and excellent cuisine! (Did I mention that those Smoked Chicken Wings are to die for?)  I've never had a bad experience at any Firebirds I've been to. This is why you are, and will always remain, my favorite restaurant!

<3 Karahbelle

YAYYY! Smoked Chicken Wings and Cilantro Grilled Chicken Breast with that awesome cheese sauce. YUMMY!! Can't wait!

An Ode to Firebirds Smoked Chicken Wings

Dearest Smoked Chicken Wings,

Thank you for being the most awesome hot wings on the entire planet. Your buttery, spicy wing sauce and slightly crunchy texture are like heaven in my mouth. I could eat only Smoked Chicken Wings for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. You always come out to me searing hot, complete with a hot towel for my sauced fingers. Sure, my stomach and throat may burn like Mordor later, but that's all part of the glorious wing experience. (Maybe that vodka Collins' wasn't such a good idea...) 

Oh, Smoked Chicken Wings. Keep doing what you do. 

If I could marry a chicken wing, I'd marry you.

Love,

Karahbelle