Little Black Dress

Normally I would never buy a sleeveless dress. I hate my arms. But I am not willing to do anything about them, so I just stick to wearing sleeves. “The Lazy Girl’s Guidebook” told me this was okay. I should know. I wrote it. Well, not really. I was too lazy to jot it down, but if I had written it, this is what my advice would say:

“Cover it up.

This advice works for most things.

The End.”

See, book written. Productive day.

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I really do like this dress (now sold out. Similar dress here. Similar plus size here). It is so easy and the material is really cool. It is a basket-weave and I love the flirty little ruffle at the bottom. I will layer with this dress in the wintertime, too. This was the outfit I wore on a day I ran some errands. Shhhh. Don’t tell my lazy self.

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Maybe you have noticed my kind of rad backdrop?

That was a rug/tapestry purchased from the flea market a few weeks ago. Yes, that is a monkey sailing a sailboat. I have idea what this piece is. It is definitely handmade. We much prefer the backside in the previous picture to the bright front shown above. So, we plan on hanging it backwards.

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I do not like to stand too close to it for fear of cooties. Or other substances. Or the fact that it might be able to move on its own via the germs littering its surface.

I really need to disinfect it. Or somethin’.

But alas, lazy and all that.

My husband was thrilled when he saw that I had haggled this piece down and was walking towards him with it. Held out at arm’s length, of course. Neither one of us really wanted to touch it to carry it to the car.

Thankfully, only one of us didn’t write a guidebook on how to be lazy.

I will be posting more detailed shots of the tapestry soon. Including it hopefully actually hanging up… And none of us covered in yellow tape and bugs. But for now, let’s move on.

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Whew! Had to sit down. That standing was hard work.

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I had asked my husband to get a close-up of my new necklace from H&M. Murphy was thrilled to be in these shots.

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The necklace cost more than the dress (Anthropologie’s Melanie V-Neck). It was $19.99 and the dress was $19.95 (down from $138. Gosh, I love popbacks!)..

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The kids’ task on this day was to clean this room. From the debris on the floor you can probably tell that they have read their mother’s handbook.

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Don’t worry. As punishment, they had to hug that tapestry. And I think I saw it hug them back.

Gosh, I love a happy ending.

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And it could be worse. I could have made them pose with a necklace.

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Or myself.

P.S. * I shared this on The Pleated Poppy!

Bermeja Tunic Dress

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You would think a girl whose favorite novel being entitled, “Name of the Wind”, would be more interested in names than I am. Blame it on having the most popular name of my generation. A common name. And you will start to see the reasoning behind my conditioning. A name might be what is given to you, but the words you have earned by which your name is described to others, are your own.

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Lately, I have become more intrigued by the names of things. I think it also has to do with naming blog title posts each and every day. Do I give the post a funny name? A punny name? One that makes me smile? Or do I stick to what the search engines want and keep it boring and simple? I try to do both.

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This dress has the name Bermeja Tunic Dress. I decided to look the word “Bermeja” up. Imagine my surprise in discovering that the name of this dress is controversial. Historical. Quite interesting.

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Bermeja is a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico. Or was a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico. Or might or might not have been a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico. Nobody knows. Because either it disappeared or it simply never existed.

There are many theories about the island. I found my information on Lonely Planet. You can click there if you wish to learn more.

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The reason this is even more interesting to me is because on the day these pictures were taken, I wore my Holy Holey Girdle. Yes, you read that right. I will have to do a post on it sometime.

Well, this dress ended up being shorter than expected and we ended up having to edit Holy Holey Girdle out of two pictures. This led me to feel many mixed emotions. I have never edited a picture before by erasing a flaw in it. I want to be true to myself. But I also don’t want Holy Holey Girdle to get all of the attention.

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It is kind of addicting. This fixing of one’s flaws. I am not going to say this will be the last time I do that. In fact, I will say, that will definitely not be the last time I do that. But in an effort to be real, I will share an unedited picture on tomorrow’s Keepin’ It Real” post, complete with a glimpse of Holy Holey Girdle.

‘Cause if it is about names. The truth in names. Then I want my name to be a real island. Of truth. Even if the truth can get ugly. At least it won’t sink with the weight of lies.

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Paired with the dress, are my new Tarara Gladiator Sandals from Anthropologie (they are almost all sold out, but other stores have them. Bloomingdale’s has them here). Tarara is a small town in Cuba. In New Zealand, Tarara means fast talker (source: Wikipedia).

These sandal boots were made for talkin’…

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Had you ever heard of Bermeja before? What are your thoughts on names?

*The bracelets and necklaces are a mish mash of older pieces (similar bracelet here) and Forever 21’s Globetrotter Beaded Cuffs. The turquoise necklace is from Simply Livly on Etsy and the other necklaces are old layering necklaces from Anthropologie (similar here).

* I shared this on The Pleated Poppy!