LP Wishlist

row 1: the smiths - the queen is dead // arcade fire - the suburbs // no doubt - return to saturn
row 2: the cure - disintegration // lorde - pure heroine // arcade fire - reflektor
row 3: new order - power, corruption & lies // the smiths - meat is murder // the knife - silent shout

I've been working on filling out the rest of my record collection! Especially now that I have a record player that's not an antique that belonged to my dearly departed grandparents. It's older than my mother as she has memories of dancing on her daddy's feet while they played LPs on it. So it's something I really love & treasure & want to last forever. Which to me means playing it very seldom until I get it looked at and rewired & possibly refurbished.

Since it's a huge old wooden cabinet with wicker laced speakers nobody ever knew it was a record player when they'd come over (the reason I ended up with it is because nobody in my family even knew what it was until I lifted the top & flipped out. I remember more than a few people scoffing at my record collection (I guess in an attempt to imply I was trying to be a hipster or something because they didn't realize I actually had something to play them on??) when they would come over. I'm by no means an LP snob, I enjoy the way they sound & love the aesthetic but I mostly love that most LPs come with a complimentary download of the album! I used to lose/scratch/??? all of my CDs so this honestly seems like the most cost-effective way of having a physical copy of music I love.

But anyways, I mentioned my new record player in this blog post & it is the apple of my eye at the moment. I've become obsessed with finding any album I have any sort of emotional attachment to in LP form. The list above is a mixture of classic favorites & new loves I'm dying to buy. Now if only money were no object...





So are you an LP collector or do you stick strictly to mp3 format? Anyone out there still buying CDs?? I'm pretty sure I haven't actually bought a CD that wasn't a present for someone else in well over 7 years.

I scratch the HELL outta CDS.
-Becca

Random Bloggers OOTD Portraits #1

I've been on & off attempting to teach myself basic painting in photoshop the past few months. Here are the fruits of my labor. I've been trying to use different layers and clipped bits of fabric and reference images to make portraits because I honestly have little interest in painting anything other than people.

I'm not as thrilled about these as I would be had I made them with physical paint brushes and watercolors but I feel like I certainly made a lot of head-way in navigating my way around PS. But ultimately I'm pretty proud of myself for trying something new. And something has to be said about the ease in which I can undo my mistakes. Watercolor is not so forgiving.

Taylor (& my best good friend) of A Thunder Heart


Caroline of sparklyvodka


Kate of Scathingly Brilliant


I have three more in the works on my computer so hopefully I'll get around to finishing & posting those. If not, haha rest assured I've given up on painting in photoshop altogether.




-Becca

Records

For Christmas my mom & dad got me a new (portable!) record player since the one I normally use is an antique record cabinet from my late grandparents. It's really big and old so I try to be gentle with it & use it infrequently. I'm really terrified of breaking it. Eventually I want to get it tuned up & replace the speakers since I don't think it's been serviced for a long long time.

But back to my new LP player-- it is SO beautiful. The floral pattern is so bright and happy & definitely brightens any room it's sitting in. The speakers aren't amazing but I'm planning on getting a sound system for our tv anyways so I just need to find a small table for it to rest on nearby so I can plug the record player in as well. You can take the top off easily if you don't have something to lean it against & there's a locking mechanism & handle so you can take your player where-ever you may want. It also comes with a program that enables you to record your favorites LPs & convert them into mp3, which is amazing. I haven't tried that yet but I'm really excited about it!




top to bottom: Disney's 'Cinderella' Soundtrack // 'Purple Rain' by Prince & the Revolution // 'Rank' by The Smiths // 'Milk Eyed Mender' by Joanna Newsom
I bought a few new records in celebration of being able to listen to records regularly again. I was having a really awful day when I bought 'Rank' but after listening to it, I definitely feel like experiencing such a shit day was definitely worth it since I now have such a great live recording of my favorite band in my possession. I feel like I've fallen back in love with listening to music. I was without speakers for my computer for over 6 months & I hate using headphones so I basically only listened to music in my car or on my phone & let me tell you, it was sucking the life out of me.

I'm not only falling back in love with listening to music-- but also shopping for records, talking about music & listening to full albums instead of single songs. I haven't felt this excited about a piece of technology since I got my electronic diary in fourth grade haha.



You can buy this record player here.



-Becca

Birthday Wishlist

one // two // three // four // five


1. "Youth Novels" LP by Lykke Li ($19 USD) - I've wanted this album for awhile & now that I have a new record player that's easier to use & portable I'm trying to beef up my LP collection. I also really want 'Reflektor' by Arcade Fire. I had trouble picking between the two but this one looked best in the image haha.

2. 'Buns & Guns' Sailor Moon baseball tee ($30 USD) - I've been wanting to start working out regularly again & this seems like the perfect tee to get me in the workin' out spirit. Plus it's Sailor Moon!! I'd honestly like the Sailor Jupiter or Neptune one as well but the Sailor Moon one has pink sleeves <3__<3

3. NARS 'Final Cut' Illuminator (Exclusive to Nortdstrom) in 'Adelaide' ($30 USD) - This is just pretty & I want it. Plus, it's limited edition & I love 'Copacabana' so much I figure this illuminator has to be just as amazing, right?

4. Jeffrey Campbell 'Malt Shop Heel' ($185 USD) - Haha these are totally out of my price range & a huge ridiculous wish but geeze, they're beautiful. Then again, this is a "wishlist" so I'm putting whatever I'm wishing for on here. Deal with it!

5. Betsey Johnson Ice Cream Wristlet ($68 USD) - THIS IS SO CUTE. I really hope this just shows up in a TJ Maxx sometime soon because I will scoop it up SO FAST. I don't really have any wristlets & I feel like I really should stop carrying around huge purses at some point in my life. Do I really need all that crap I carry around 24/7? Nope.



Not gonna lie I am not excited about turning 26 at all. Not at all. Wanna bury my head in the sand and pretend it's not happening. Maybe it's time to start lying about my age. I have trouble remembering how old I am on a regular basis so I'm sure I could confuse everyone & eventually no one would question me.

I'm gonna be 25 forever.

-Becca

Review: Victoria by Victoria's Secret

Despite not being much of a perfume person until I turned 20, I now have quite the little gathering of scents I really love that *I* think smell good on me. I'm not snobby about what types of perfume I use-- celebrity perfumes, knock offs, whatever. As long as it smells good/good on me & lasts I'll buy it.

Which brings me to this little gem. I don't know why I'd never tried any Victoria's Secret brand perfumes but I have a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with not shopping there haha. Nothing there really fits me that well so why would I?

Anyways, I was hanging out with my friend Erika (she used to work at Victoria's Secret) and she let me try a sample size of 'Victoria' because she was planning on buying a full size soon. I fell in love. The bottle was what got me at first (how cute is it???) but the scent is what made me want it even more. The Victoria's Secret website describes it as "a sparkling blend of red berries, Victoria rose and crème brûlée."



It smells amazing! You can definitely smell the rose & brightness of the berries while the crème brûlée makes it a little creamier smelling with a hint of caramelized sugar.

I love it. I think I'm going to get a lot of use out of it all year long but especially in the spring and summer. Definitely give it a sniff next time you go into Victoria's Secret. Victoria retails for $52 - $68 USD. I know they also make a body mist version that's a bit less potent and less expensive ($25 USD) if you're wanting something a little wallet-friendlier.

Let me know if you like it!


-Becca

WIW: Case of the Grumps

culture flock t shirt // ryan's cardigan // skirt // leggings // boots (similar)

I went out on Wednesday to run some errands with Ryan since it's his only day off during the week & I just had a string of bad luck all day. It put me in such a weird & grumpy mood. I am fairly sure I looked exactly like the drawing above while we drove around Denton paying bills and looking for books & returning things. I ended up buying some Cotton-Candy flavored "Mini Melts" (a Dippin Dots imitation) towards the end of the day and felt a lot better. Ice cream is a cure-all so I guess I shouldn't really be that surprised haha!

In other news, I'm back! I completely dropped my blog once winter hit & proceeded to have intense seasonal depression! I'm hoping that I can get back on track for spring & start churning out content again. I'm planning on broadening the spectrum of topics I talk about here (in hopes that it will keep me from hitting a wall & just dropping everything) so I guess we'll see if that comes to fruition.

Anyways, glad to be back!

-Becca

October 2013 Favorites

BEAUTY

revlon colorstay matte balm stain in 'sultry' // sinfulcolors nail polish in 'whipped' // tocca 'stella' // jouer matte moisture tint

REVLON COLORSTAY MATTE BALM STAIN IN 'SULTRY'
I've already reviewed this so I won't go into super detail, suffice it to say I really love the formula and color of this balm stain. I bought it mid October and it stayed on my lips through the rest of the month. I bought another color from the matte range earlier this week & I'm tempted to go back and get another. I just really love the pigmentation & feel of these. I wish they provided more moisture & didn't leave my lips feeling so dry after a few hours but I don't mind re-applying & using lip balm between applications. Overall very pleased.
review here


SINFUL COLORS NAIL POLISH IN 'WHIPPED'
This is a leather-looking matte nail polish from Sinful Colors new Leather Luxe line. There were lots of different colors-- black, white, red, burgundy, brown, navy & maybe a teal? I bought black for myself and one for my leather lovin' bestie, Taylor. Sinful Colors, despite being incredibly affordable ($1.99 at Walgreens) are quality nail polishes. I wore this for around four days (no top coat) without so much as a chip. I was pretty impressed


TOCCA 'STELLA'
Ahh! I've been waiting since February to start wearing this again. I love love love the way it smells. The Sephora website lists the notes as: bitter orange, blood orange, watery accord, white freesia, wild diamond orchids, spicy lily, sheer musk & sandalwood. It primarily smells like blood orange but isn't terribly sweet smelling. I don't know, I'm terrible at describing scents. I just find that it smells amazing when I catch a whiff of it on my scarf or cardigan. It smells clean and fresh and I just really like it. You can find it at Sephora & Anthropologie-- I definitely suggest going in and sniffing a sample of it. TOCCA 'Cleopatra' is also amazing.


JOUER MATTE MOISTURE TINT IN 'PORCELAIN'
I reviewed this earlier this week ...or was it last week? I don't know, you can find a link to my review down below. I won't go on and on but overall the Matte Moisture Tint is definitely a great tinted moisturizer/base and is perfect for people with normal-oily skin & lasts all day and blends amazingly. Despite having a measly color range, I'm assuming each color is supposed to work with a range of skintones? I have no idea. I'm very pale and have cool undertones & a LOT of redness and 'Porcelain' works PERFECT for me.
review here


MISC.

vintage green glass cameo necklace // f21 studded bat headband (sold out) // lexi holiday candle tin in 'frosted maple'

VINTAGE GREEN GLASS CAMEO NECKLACE


Ryan's mom bought me this beautiful necklace from a vendor at Czhilispiel last year. Ryan's family competes annually in the Chili competition & there's always a small fair & a section of booths with arts and crafts type vendors. I picked out the green cameo charm & the woman who owned the booth constructed a necklace from other bits and bobs she had on hand in her little jewelry tackle box. I used to have her card but I've lost it. The cameo is actually one of many from a vintage bracelet I've seen on ebay. I love this necklace & always get so many compliments on it when I'm out. It's one of those pieces I know someday I'll pass onto a child or grandchild because it was a sweet gift from Ryan's mother & feels like a timeless piece of jewelry.


F21 STUDDED BAT HEADBAND
I bought this at F21 last month when they first released their cats & bats line. I wanted the kitty cat beanie but I wanted the bat ears headband WAY more. I sort of wish I'd bought the cat beanie too though, it would have been easier to wear throughout the winter. I wore the headband on Halloween as part of my bat costume & I think it's basically the coolest headband ever. I wish I could wear it regularly but I don't like weird stares and the bat ears are quite tall and would be really hard to miss. I accidentally bumped them off of my head all night trying to get into cars or fix my hair. They look so awesome though! I love the metal spikes & the faux leather look. I wore it with a wet-look fit and flare skirt and my peter pan collar top with a black cardigan I pinned to make it look like I had bat wings. Terrible explanation but it looked pretty cute if I do say so myself. I couldn't find this still for sale on F21's website but I'm sure if you looked around your local F21 you might find a pair.


LEXI HOLIDAY CANDLE TIN IN 'FROSTED MAPLE'
THIS CANDLE. I've already burned the wicks down but there's still so much candle left-- which is my only real complaint. I hate when wicks aren't evenly distributed and fail to melt the entire candle. Ugh! But apart from that, this candle smells AMAZING! I am not one for buying a candle that costs over $10. I'm a bit of a penny pincher when it comes to how much I'll pay for things. Even the citizens in my Animal Crossing town call me a "bell-pincher". News of my bell pinching ways even made it all the way to Taylor's town...little gossipy turds! So when I smelled this upon entering the WillowBend Anthropologie a month or so ago I knew I couldn't leave without owning whatever was making the entire store smell so CRAZY GOOD. It was $18 and while I think that's a stupid amount of money to spend on a candle...I did it anyways. Because it smelled so freaking GOOD. Now, if you aren't crazy about sweet smells, this may not be for you. However, I hate vanilla scents because they're too sweet and I think this is amazeballs so I would definitely recommend smelling it before writing it off. I lit it in our dining room and it managed to make the entire apartment smell like fresh made waffles and maple syrup for the rest of the day. I'm trying to figure out how to melt the rest of the wax or put new wicks in. I'll figure it out but for now I just leave it open on a table for a bit and even just the smell of the soy candle UNLIT makes the apartment smell amazing. Plus the tin is too cute!




Well, that's it for my monthly favorites. Sorry it came a bit later than normal. Did you do anything fun for Halloween? What did you dress up as? I'd love to know! Tell me below in the comments!


-Becca