February 26, 2015 by gn0mel0ver

I Call Bull

Dog, that is.

It is surprisingly hard to find cute english bulldog clothes. And, yes. I realize that might be a weird thing to search for, but I like bulldogs. I like clothes. And ever the two shall meet.

There are numerous french bulldog items. And pug items. But hardly ever english bulldogs. I wonder why that is. Whatever the reason, I usually scoop up the French Bulldog tees and give them love, any way. This French Bulldog shirt was no exception. My husband wants our next dog to be a French Bulldog. I want to stick with what we have, um, because have you seen our walls? They are covered in English Bulldog and Bichon paintings. It would seem weird not to continue the theme.

But, I digress.

What I really want to talk about is the act of getting dressed.

I am not a fashion blog. Or a style blog. Or anything like that, regardless of what some might think. I know nothing about either of those things.

I am simply a “getting dressed” blog.

As in, whoppee! I got dressed today! I can do this thing called life. Let’s be dressed together because whilst naked always sounds like fun it rarely ends up being so. Just ask my neighbors.

Men and women used to dress for the day. They used to really dress. I am not quite sure when it stopped. To be frank, I don’t really care what anybody else wears. I would never judge. I just wish that it went both ways.

For instance, I was at the grocery store later the day I wore this last week and the cashier said to me, “You’re all dressed up. Where are you going?” And I thought to myself, I’m wearing a dog t-shirt and a skirt. This should not be described as dressed up.

I started to feel defensive as other people turned to stare at the ridiculous girl who was dressed up.

“I just came back from a date,” I lied.

Well, I kind of lied. I had gone and seen a movie with my husband but we ate at Del Taco and went to the early bird seating. The whole “experience” cost less than $20. It was not exactly fancy, but again… dog t-shirt.

Honestly, putting on happy clothes makes a huge difference in my day. I knew I wanted to pair this happy shirt with my skirt I had scored at the consignment store last year for $10 (similar skirt here. I previously wore the skirt in this post here with my bulldog). The Glimmered Horseshoe Necklace, boots and belt were past sale scores from Anthropologie. And the scarf is a few years old from H&M.

Are you one of the “dressed up” few? How does that make you feel?

Did you notice that I never, not once, mentioned the somewhat unfortunate placement of the bulldogs on this shirt? It is because I am growing up. I didn’t even snicker it at all.

Bull…

January 19, 2015 by gn0mel0ver

Snow Ollie

Both of my dogs were flabbergasted by the snow that made its way to our house in Southern California a few weeks ago. The first time Ollie touched it he jumped about a foot in the air. Do you see his tongue? Is that not the cutest thing ever?

Murphy did not have such qualms. His terror quickly dispelled to anxiety that someone was going to touch his snow. It was all his. And he could not traipse through it fast enough to explore and guard it. The snowgnome threw him for a loop, though.

Once Ollie saw Murphy jumping through the terrifying whiteness he became a little more brave. He wanted to explore, but because of his love of cars, we had to put a leash on him lest he decide to go give a car a hug and become an unfortunate victim to his love.

I decided to take a few pictures with him in the snow just for fun. I had purchased this dress on a popback from Anthropologie for $30, so it is sold out now. It is all one piece. Anthropologie’s Layered Shirtdress is also a layered more work appropriate one piece dress and I wrote about my favorite layered one-piece last year. Free People’s Lily Dress is a sweet design in a similar vein. I guess I like the ease of an all-ready-put-together ensemble. Although I will admit part of me feels like a child in this. Perhaps it is the pigtails?

Nah.

Look at that face. It is pure love right there. Ollie looks pretty happy, too.

Do you own any easy pieces that look like more but are actually one item? Do your animals like the snow? Ollie spent about five minutes in it and then he was done. Murphy, on the other hand, would have stayed outside all day in it if we would have let him.

But we didn’t.

I don’t know if his little heart could have taken the harsh reality of the sun melting all of his icy treasure. I think he is still looking for it. He probably thinks Ollie ate it all.

Which would not really surprise any of us… Except Ollie.

P.S. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has made me as happy as this Instagram account in a very long time. It is Matilda_and_Kiki. The owner is documenting her newborn bulldog puppies several times a day. Sometimes with video. It is my family’s new favorite thing to check on the internet. The cuteness is heartwarming and I want to just grab two of the puppies and rub them on my cheeks!

November 17, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Pretty Pleats With A Necklace On Top

Way back in the peak of summer I fell in love with The Solana Swing Dress from Anthropologie. I reviewed it here. But I vowed to wait for a good sale price. I very much wanted both colors it came in: grey and pink. I liked the pleats. I liked the swing shape. I knew it was a dress that I could carry into all seasons.

It finally went down to less than $30 during a recent sale. And so I scooped up both colors, and happily awaited their arrival. I even took pictures in one of them while I was extremely sick (still am. I don’t know what to do about this illness) so I could show the dress while it is still available. This dress escorted me to the doctor’s. It is a keeper. Here is the deal, though…

In the reviews, two separate people stated getting any sort of water upon the dress resulted in a permanent loss of the beautiful pleats. I am terrified of even brushing up against the sink in this or going near Ollie, the drool monster. I will try dry cleaning, but I also worry they will want to iron it or steam iron it. Therefore, it may never, ever, ever get washed. That’s not too gross, right?

I ordered both dresses in a size medium, but the pink dress is noticeably longer.

I decided to pair the grey dress with a white long sleeve shirt and wear it more as a jumper with tights.

We took the dogs for a drive and I decided to pose with Murphy.

I initially wore my hair in a new ponytail style, but it was too windy to keep it.

Murphy was being kind of crazy, so I switched to Ollie.

But Murphy looked sad, so I decided to take them both for a walk.

This did not really help, because what they really wanted was my husband. They adore him the best. That is because he adores them the best. Funny how that works.

They finally got what they wanted. My husband is aghast that I took his picture. He doesn’t need to know I then posted it on the internet, too. Let’s just keep that between us. And, yes, I love a bearded man.

And I love a good scarf. I purchased this scarf from Anthropolgie many years ago. It has always been my favorite.

Do you “do” pleats? Do you wear long sleeves under your sleeveless dresses in the winter? What should I do about cleaning the dress? Any suggestions?

*I shared this on The Pleated Poppy and Reasons To Dress.

October 12, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Ollie and Me: On The Prairie

Ollie loves car rides.

No. I mean really, really loves them.

He doesn’t care where you take him. He just likes to get into the car and go.

The sad part is that he is so short he cannot really see out of the window. This does not bother him. Ollie is a glass half full kind of dog.

On this day my husband decided to take him a little bit past the house. I asked my husband if I could join him and perhaps get some pictures of the outfit I wore that day.

He agreed.

Ollie did not.

When we got to the location I decided to see if Ollie wanted to pose with me.

You would think based on the photo above that he was not so happy about this (seriously though, how funny is that face? His is pretty hilarious, too).

I decided to show him how much fun taking pictures can be.

He decided he really, really liked getting his picture taken.

I think it is because he got a lot of love.

Who am I kidding?

He always gets a lot of love.

Dare I say it? It looks as though he enjoyed it more than a car ride.

Blasphemy!

I think he might be happier than I am with this outfit, too. I paired my grey dress from this post (which has become a layering piece ’cause I shrunk it) with a flannel skirt (similar here) and fringe vest (similar super fabulous vest here) that I scooped up for $10 each at a consignment store last winter. The belt was from Anthropologie.

If you have a dog do they like car rides or walks better? What is your best score at a consignment shop?

Ollie did so well taking pictures with me that I might do it again soon. It was much more fun than taking pictures by myself.

And the best part was… He got to get a ride back home.

His modeling fees are odd. But cheap. I pay him in car rides.

No need to tell him we were going back that way anyway.

P.S. * I shared this on The Pleated Poppy and Because Shanna Said So!

*two more photos that did not make it to the blog post can be seen on my Instagram Account (thegnomelover).

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

bulldog

I Call Bull

Snow Ollie

Pretty Pleats With A Necklace On Top

Ollie and Me: On The Prairie