Madagascar 3: Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!

Well, I get to see Madagascar 3 a week before it opens in a pre-screening, thanks to Crowdtap, a website that allows consumers to test, rate and comment on ideas, products and other such things. This Madagascar pre-screening will be in San Francisco, which is a bit of a drive, but that's okay, as I get to bring a friend (probably my dad. He's one of the few people who lives here year-round that can put up with me weirdness. The rest go home for the summer). The idea is, of course, to come back and rave about your wonderful experience, and to take pictures.

Lots. of. Pictures.

I'm going to San Francisco...to see a screening of a movie and I'm taking pictures. Anyone have an idea of what that may lead to? Begins with a C, ends with a Y....

Yes. I will be going as Gia the Jaguar. We'll see how good of a costume I can come up with in a week. I think I'll start by taking a look at Ben Nye's catalogue. I seem to remember a big kitty facial design in there....

For instructions and commentary on creating a Gia, see:
Clues on How To Create Gia
Making Gia's Whiskers
Creating Gia's Spots

Cat Fashion

As you may or may not know, I have three cats. Incidentally, I am allergic to all three of them, but that's okay.

It is interesting to note that Leia, my younger female, is fine with having me trim her nails and holds her paw out as if I was painting her fingernails or something. Luke, on the other hand, has to be caught, held down and forced to let me cut his little nails. If it wasn't for the fact that declawing really isn't good for cats, I think I would have had him declawed long ago.

Either way, I really wish I could dress them up like this.

Finally---D'AWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

Someone Had Too Much Time on Their Hands

Admittedly, it is pretty funny.
.

Madman With a Box: A Doctor Who Request

So, the other day, one of my friends and I (yes, it was yet another Rose. I seem to have a lot of Roses that end up on my blog. I might just starting making a tag for you girls.) were talking, and she mentioned how she really wanted to get something that said "definitely a madman with a box." Since I happen to have discovered some items that deal with both madmen and boxes, I have composed this for her perusal. I fully expect to find one of these items in her possession sometime soon. Probably about the time I buy the "Come Along, Pond!" book bag. I need one, anyway. I'm getting tired of having to not drop books or papers and control my purse and go down stairs while turning on my phone. Very inconvenient.

Allons-y!

....because, who doesn't want to fly around with a mad man in a box for a year or two?

from This Is Pop! at cafépress, and comes in a variety of t-shirts and bags and...stuff.

Just in case we get snowed in by accident this winter, some cross-stitch.

from pickleladyfarm at etsy

Dorm room decoration. We all need it.

from oliviaf2987 at etsy 

Definitely a madman with a box ring and bracelet

from foxwise at etsy

Just in case you want to be the madman with the box.

from deelee at RedBubble

And finally....

The Doctor Who Surprise Package, which, like the TARDIS, is filled with a lot of things, but you never know what you are going to pull out. 

from bohobear at etsy

The Doctor's Ride

"And here I was thinking you were a madman with a box."

"If you ever get one thing right, it is, that, I AM a madman with a box."

"Course you're not, you're not scared of anything! Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of box, man eats fish custard, and look at you! Just... sitting there."

"When I was a kid, you said there was a swimming pool and a library and the swimming pool was in the library."

"There's something you better understand about me, 'cause it's important and one day your life may depend on it. I am definitely a madman with a box!"

"What's he after?" 

"TARDIS key, of course!"

"The question is, what do we do now? Either you turn off your clever machine or I'll blow you and you new paradigm into eternity."

"And yourself."

"Occupational hazard."

"Scan reveals nothing; TARDIS self destruct device non-existent!"

"All right, it's a Jammie Dodger, but I was promised tea!"

Travel Update: Cosmosphere

It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly, a shot rang out! A door slammed! A maid screamed! Suddenly, a pirate ship appeared on the horizon.....

That was quoted at least four times today. I'm too tired to take pictures, but I got a nifty little wristband at the cosmosphere today. It reads "Failure is never an option."

That's true. I spent the majority of the day looking at rockets and the history of the rocket and at space race stuff. And I really think it would be awesome if they could get larger crafts into space, ones that you can actually walk around on.

Its sort of put my head in the clouds. Astronaut clothing needs a make-over design wise. I'm going to go put my head on a pillow so I don't have to worry about tripping over stuff when I'm not watching where I'm going. I hope to have the video journal edited and up soon. You might end up with one huge one on like Monday. :P

Night!

Adventures in Wrendom

Today has been hectic at least. Went to bed a little before one this morning and have been running ever since (yes, I was even editing my to-do list in my sleep). I have some posts planned, so don't worry that I will forget you while traveling, but I am also attempting to video-journal my days. As some of you know, I am going to Kansas for a "mod moot." I shall be traveling over several states and at the end of each day, I will post a short summary of my day. We shall see how this goes.....

Hugs from the air, 

Wren

Flying Feathers

Well, as promised, I have news of feathers for you. Yesterday, I had four feathers put in: the three pictured and one other in a different spot. They're pretty pretty pretty. Carol from Jewell's Mind Body and Bath made these and put them in. I showed them to the kids I work with, and their responses were varied. Kass loved them, and she wanted a detailed explanation of how they got there, whereas Gracie yelled at me "You got your HAIR painted?????"

Yah. Painted hair.

The most interesting discovery came when I woke up this morning. I'm not usually a tender head, but spots on my scalp were quite sore. I figured out why: the extra weight from the feathers, no matter how miniscule, is abnormal. I remember a friend talking about one party where she wore those fancy eyelash extensions, the ones with the designs on them. They weighed fractions of an ounce, but her eyelids got so tired of them that she had to take them off in short order if she wished to open her eyes. The same principle applies to my hair. Now, I'm getting more used to it, but my scalp is still a little tender. For those of you who haven't read up on feather facts, you can find a quick history here.

Now, as promised....the first Tainted Loves video blog.

Today is the Day: Feathers

Today I will be getting my hair feathered. Both my parents are very interested in what, exactly, this entails, so when I asked if my mom wanted to come my dad said he wanted to come to. So the three of us are trooping down to watch someone do my hair. Since they're both coming, I'm hoping that I can put a camera in the hands of one and a video camera in the hands of another, and they can be useful that way. Such are the dangers of being the parent of a blogger.

I promise not to get any that are too wild. I'm intending to use a basic color, so I won't have to worry about my clothes and hair not matching (plus, I hate hot pink). Check back tomorrow to see what it turns out like.

Complete Outfit: Blacks and Whites

Just in case you didn't know, as a rule, I personally hate plaid. There are few exceptions to this rule, but there are exceptions. A FEW exceptions. Today, I've found some perfect ensembles from Shabby Apple and ModCloth. There are actually two dresses very close to each other, one at each store. The Shabby Apple dress is a little bit more modest (surprise surprise), but both are very close in concept. Both feature off-centered buttons and are made from a similar fabric. Both have high necks and fall to around the knee. The pattern isn't quite plaid, but it isn't quite checkered, either. To take a closer look at both dresses, you can see the Shabby Apple dress here and the ModCloth dress here.


The shoe that fits the best, of course, is one I've mentioned before: A black and white heel from Shabby Apple. And, of course, what to do when your feet get tired, or you're ready for something a little less formal? Perhaps these nautical flats would be a nice touch, complete with little red bows. The last one is all in theory, of course. The shoe is sold out. Sigh.....

The final finishing touch would be a black and white pearl bracelet. I particularly like this bracelet from SabtisDesigns. Any jewelry beyond something simple like this would be overkill. Because of the high neck, I would advice steering clear of any necklaces, and maybe even earrings. Anything more complex than this pair from SilverSmack would be too much.

Mmm....now I'm in a shopping mood......

I Promised You A Cookie....

...for successfully reading this post. Since it is summer up here, and I'm hot, I've found something better: cookies with ice cream in the middle. Enjoy.

Down With The Bloody Big Head: Keeping Tea Time

I managed to fall down the hole of the etsy search engine today, so be forewarned that I have a few days worth of random cool items from etsy stowed for sometime soon. However, today I'm just going to settle with perusing watches, most of which are from a very cool seller that I found just recently. The seller is robinhoodcouture, who, incidentally, makes a lot of amazing looking items. I'm often glad that there are many other things that lay claim to my money, as I could easily get pretty carried away cosplaying. These accessories are absolutely adorable, though. I'm still playing with the idea of multiple watches, but I know that I would have to plan this very carefully, as each watch is around thirty dollars, depending on where you get it. Never less than twenty.

My favorite design right now is the Royal Crown Pocket Watch. Pictured above, this one does snap open and closed, unlike many other models I've looked at. I also really like the Victorian Heart watch, mainly because the handwritten style of the letters and the non-circular design makes me think someone was a little mad. My last favored watch from robinhoodcouture is more modern in style, being the Watch The Stars nautical design. I think that this character would be a mix of incredibly old items with a touch of new, odd, shinier items. In the end, I think I will probably end up with only one or two watches, if that, from here, but they still are a lot of fun to look at.

My other discovery was from when I managed to stumble into steampunk world (again). A necklace with the inner workings of a clock on it. How fun! I still have no idea why timepieces are so vividly connected with Hatta for me, but this is a fun accent. Browsing through the LondonParticulars shop, I see they have a variety of clock gut items. I guess a working clock would mean that Hatta is never late for tea, and thus would never need to hear "Off with his head!"

Summer Wear, Easy: T-Shirts

I used to hate t-shirts. Probably thanks to being forced into suits and polos or button-downs every day, I'm now reveling in the time now that I can spend freely in a T-shirt. So, I've become a bit of a shirt connoisseur this summer. I've only picked up two or three, but I have a long drool list. I'll share a few of my favorites with you.

My number 1 most wanted right now is a great Alice shirt from ArtFire member Tartx. This shirt has some awesome artwork on it (a portion of it  from the books I first read as a child), and is just plain old fun. I don't usually get shirts that are based off of films or books, but this is an exception. I especially love the slightly frustrated Alice, and the equally annoyed flamingo. I suppose my fascination with Alice in Wonderland comes from having first read both books while I was running an incredibly high fever, thus, it is exempt from all my normal media judgements.

There are a few ties for second, mainly because I meandered through Coldwater Creek the other day and fell in love with several shirts. There is, of course, the silver beaded shirt (left), which reminds me of an icy, slow moving river that is just waking up. The coolness of the beading counterbalances the casualness of the fact that it is a t-shirt. Awesome shirt. The sunflower tee is nice, and is somewhat like my black rose tee, just the flowers are upside down from each other.

Then, of course, there are more abstract flowers, which I also love. This one is particularly colorful and versatile, and I like that. Easy to throw this on over a basic black or brown or blue or whatever skirt or pair of pants. The abstract leaves shirt has the same feel, but is only in black and white, which is fine by me. Both shirts are great for those early mornings where you can be casual but don't want to exert brain power on matching things. Of course, the same thing applies to this glow in the dark shirt, which is weirdly fun. I don't see myself really wearing this one, though, although it does remind me of a certain outfit of Liv Tyler's that we discussed perviously.

Finally, my inner makeup artist (hey, its my job) comes out. I don't know how many of you remember the disassembled gun shirts that were popular a few years ago (this is the closest I could find), but there's an airbrush version too. Booyah. Unfortunately, I doubt that many people would "get it," so no purchase here. I'm still thinking about the Alice and Ice ones, though.....

A Chocolate A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

I love chocolate. The darker, the better. 85%? Amazing. Higher? Drool. My dad knows I love chocolate so much that whenever he gives me a gift for no reason, I can usually count on it being a bar of Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate, which is amazing. I'm still working on the bar he gave me around Easer.

Oh, and did I mention...today is Chocolate Day?? It is. I am hoping that all the chocolate stores have specials for today, so that I can get even more great chocolate. In favor of this event, I am going to share my favorite factoid about chocolate.

Are you ready? Here it is.

People who had small servings of chocolate throughout the week, the total netting between 1.5 and 2 ounces of chocolate, had a decreased likelihood of heart disease. Those who ate no chocolate maintained the normal risk level, and those who ate more than two ounces had a greater chance of heart disease. So, now, the question is, how much chocolate is 2 ounces? it is almost exactly one half of the largest size of chocolate bar you can get.

So, now, the healthy thing to do is to practice self restraint and have one little square of chocolate each day, and presto! you are a healthier person.

I am SO loving this new research! Now, I'm going to go celebrate by hitting the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and getting me some chocolate.

Bridal Feature: Balancing Bling and Bloom

A few days ago, I briefly mentioned designer Pnina Tornai when I last talked about bling. She is the creator of the dress that I am still dying to get a picture of: the all-swarovski crystal wedding dress. So far, no luck. However, today, I'm lacking much inspiration for anything except something related to Say Yes To The Dress, the TLC show that I am kinda sorta a little addicted to. It all started when my great aunt suddenly turned to me one afternoon and said:
"You know, you really should watch Say Yes to the Dress."
"What's that?" I asked.
"Its about weddings. Watch an episode, and you'll see."

That afternoon, I slipped back up to my hotel room, and downloaded season 5, episode 1.

I was hooked. The show is so much more than simply watching people pick out wedding dresses. For me, it is a study of interpersonal relationships, and great for examining psychology. And a chance to look at pretty (and absolutely horrendous) gowns. Out of all of those gowns, I must say my absolute favorites (and absolute hatrites) all come from Pnina Tornai. The first dress that caused me to fall in love with Pnina's designs is the one pictured above. The second is this one. For more pictures of the dress, you can actually see wedding pictures from the American Chopper family here. I love the simplicity and drape of this dress, with its quiet elegance.

Contrast to that another one of Pnina's creations, which lands on the complete other side of the spectrum. Big, bulky, and heavy. Yet, its still unique, as is the over-blinged ballgown that has been a hatrite for several years.

Pnina's designs often walk a fine line, one where designs will either soar high or will crash and burn. Most interesting to me is, the ones that completely crash and burn in my mind are favorites for others. To each her own, I suppose. I just can't understand that much dress.

Take a look at Kleinfeld's site, and maybe you'll be come a Say Yes addict, too.

The Bedazzling Bedazzler: Costco

Bedazzle is defined as "To dazzle so completely as to make blind."

I've found the company that makes bedazzles. And, oddly enough, they were in Costco, the business man's Wal-Mart. After snapping a picture of a supposedly Swarovski Crystal studded mirror, I had to find out what company MADE this stuff. A surprisingly under bedazzled banner told me the company name, and I dutifully came home and researched it. b. b. Simon is the maker, and, between Simon and Pnina Tornai, Swarovski should never have any stock problems--especially considering the odd crystal studded wall art and that Pnina has been known to create dresses that are made completely from Swarovski crystals.

I spent nearly two hours in Costco today, mainly because I am a longsuffering saint who is overflowing with brotherly love and thus is willing to sacrifice her own life for the benefit of others a loved one wanted to purchase a smart phone, and I needed to buy some little kid snacks. I know that Costco is expanding in the higher-end oo-la-la fashion industry (they recently launched their own traveling bridal boutique), but I'm seriously doubting how much they are going to gain in sales by this. I'm also wondering about the percentage of those crystals that are REALLY Swarovski. Did I mention that a street vendor was recently hawking "Swarovski Bras"? I hate to be the old grump, but for those of you girls who were oogling over the aforementioned undergarments....you don't have something with Swarovski crystals on it that sells for $12. Jus' tellin' ya......

Oh, yeah. I got enough kid snacks to feed us for the next 70 weeks. Cheers.