Inspiration: Room Decor Manic Pixie Dream Girl Edition

fleur by aurevoircat featuring flower pots

Today's inspiration is brought to you by me (Cat) and features a pretty little room setup that I put together. I named it Fleur because the feel and decor of the space is light and dainty just like a flower. To me, plants, candles, rosy patterns and dusty colors scream manic pixie dream girl sanctuary. I wish I could copy and paste it to my own bedroom. If only life were as simple as this cyber dream world we call the Internet.

What makes your room your sanctuary?

bizou, C

Noise: Lykke Li

Lykke Li is a Swedish singer-songwriter who just recently moved to Los Angeles. She's one of my all time favorites, and her new album "I Never Learn" is absolutely STUNNING. Li's voice evokes so many emotions on many different levels, as the album is said to be about a failed relationship. You can definitely hear it and feel it within all the passion and heartbreak that she masterfully achieves. Her previous albums include "Wounded Rhymes" and her debut "Youth Novels" stemming from 2008. Evidently, Li has mastered her killer and absolutely soulful ballads with each gut wrenching song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkeQ4knCEB4

 

The song below is called "No Rest For The Wicked". Theres no doubting all the heart that Lykke poured into it. The song speaks lengths on emotions and heartache. Give the whole album a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh-0y8Qe0Sw

-C

Las Vegas Foodie Fest! - Adventure times

I'd like to consider myself a legitimate foodie, foodie in that I love food, I like LOVE to eat and cook and bake and CARBS....tangent. So a few weeks ago we went to visit our friends in Las Vegas (they have the raddest blog you should check it out here) and had the extra added bonus of attending the foodie fest! It was Las Vegas's 5th annual event and it did not disappoint! I ate from about five different food trucks, had about nine different kinds of funnel cakes, and witnessed one of the longest lines in history- form for the White Castle food truck. We had a wonderful weekend and if you're ever in LV this time next year, be sure to check out the Foodie Fest and get your grub on! Here are some photos from the event, thank you to my wonderful friend Esther for lending me these photos, you can read up on her take of the event and other photos here.





 

And this is us! Don't ask me what I'm doing in the back with  my face, who knows! This was such a fun time, I have a new found love for food trucks and will be on the prowl for the mac and cheese one that I hear roams the streets of LA. So to be continued! Happy foodie times!

 

xoxo- J

DIY: Inexpensive Last Minute Birthday Gift Idea

If your wallet is filled with things other than money such as random gift cards and spare change, then you're a lot like me. Chances are you don't have a ton of money to spend on a gift! But, there's a secret to perfect, affordable, and thoughtful presents.

Birthday's are probably my favorite things to celebrate. I love putting together trinkets and little miscellaneous things to create a thoughtful masterpiece. The best gifts are made of the simplest things.

The key things to remember when gift giving: 1. you don't have to spend tons of money, 2. go for what the person likes or is interested in, and 3: make it thoughtful! (But a little glitter doesn't hurt either...)

Today is one of my good friend's birthday and I didn't have anything prepared. As I scrambled to find some money and head out the door, I remembered she had mentiond something in the past that she had been wanting. If your friends or family members talk about something they've been swooning over, here's your chance to woo them and make them super happy! My friend Jessica told me she'd been wanting a pair of heart shaped sunglasses for the longest time. I jumped on the opportunity to get them for her. Even though they're so simple, I knew she would love them.



When putting together a gift, always include something that you know the person will love. Particularly, it's best to go for something that sparks their interest. If you don't quite know the person well enough, throw in some sour candy (everyone loves sour patch kids, right?) and a personalized card! They're bound to love it.

For Jessica, I bought her a bunch of her favorite candies, a lei (for her love of Luau's), heart shaped shades, and a personalized card (there's glitter inside, of course.)





Be creative and have fun with it. Know that you don't have to spend loads of money on something extravagent. Put together something thoughtful and they're bound to love it! Add a little ribbon or bow to your wrapped gift and watch your friend's face when they swoon at the hand crafted perfection.

 

Au Revoir 4 now - C

Summer Looks: The Parisian ft. midi skirts

Summer is in just a few months, for us over here in the Western Hemisphere that is. The sun is starting to heat up and give off its fiery fury, the beach is swamped with families and people dying for some cool water on their backs. To be quite frank, I'm one of those people who hate the sun and heat. I'm a vampire basically, during the summer you can find me hiding in the darkest shadows of my room wearing all black clothing covering every part of my skin... It's kinda funny, my dream place to live is somewhere frigid and rainy. Somehow, I've always felt that it's easy to tell a lot about a person by the type of weather they love.

BUUUT, since I probably will have to leave the house a few times to make it to museums or free music shows (the two best parts of summer besides getting milkshakes with friends), I will make the exception. Today I'll simultaneously give you a look at my favorite things to wear and tips on dressing like a chic French babe for the 100 degree weather. Because who doesn't love French babes????

parisian by aurevoircat featuring leather shoes

The three outfits I've put together can all basically be interchanged. If you didn't know, I have an obsession with shoes. My favorite kind would have to be oxfords, but I threw in some ballet flats for those of you who aren't the oxford-type-of-wearing-people. The caption of the photo says "featuring leather shoes", but obviously it doesn't mean you have to buy leather shoes!

The first outfit is stereo-typically French.The combination of the color red and stripes is something so classic and in my opinion will never get old. They're two of my favorites. Don't be afraid of skirts that go below the knee folks, trust me. These particular skirts listed above all are just below the knee, so they aren't an awkward length, they're the perfect length in my eyes. I won't say that they're "classy" per say, (I don't like that term very much), but they definitely are very classic and graceful. I threw off the bright red midi skirt with a dusty-sea foam colored pair of oxfords.

The second outfit is very simple. The tops aren't necessarily crop tops but I favor crop tops a lot when pairing them with high waisted skirts like these. It just depends on what you like, so feel free to change them out. The black and white needed some color, so I added pink oxfords, but don't hesitate to go insane with colors. Bright yellow or cobalt blue shoes would look trés cool with this combination.

Lastly, the third outfit involves a dusty pink longsleeve, black midi skirt and basic ballet flats. Simple.

look at all the ways you can sport a midi skirt!!!



disclaimer: the photos listed above are not mine and were found via Google Images.

Midi skirts are very simple but entirely lovely and perfect for summer or frolicking in daisy fields. At the very least, fashion is all about personal freedom and expression. So make it yours!!! Make your own rules and wear what makes you feel good.

au revoir for now, - C

 

｡◕ ‿◕ ｡

greetings cyber-things !!! It is I, Corrine, but let's call me Cat.

I was given a question that I am here to answer for you all.

Q:  What was it like to be raised by a young mother?

A: I would have to say that being raised by a young mom is indeed an interesting and unique experience. My mom gives me a lot of freedom and unconditional acceptance. It's easier for her and I to connect since she's young and understanding of today's "modern world", if that makes any sense at all, (trust me when I say that my mom is 1000x more "hip" than I will ever be). Plus, it's interesting to see us interact because she and I are total opposites. It could very well be the fact that I was raised by someone so young, but the truth is that I am deep down, a ninety-eight year old woman. Yes, it's true! My mom will always be a pop culture diva at heart and I will forever be the little old lady who loves cats and floral patterns (don't forget book clubs...)

Sometimes my mom is my best friend and sometimes she's just a regular, disciplinary mom, so it all balances itself out. At the end of the day, I'm grateful for my mother's ability to be understanding. I can say wholeheartedly that my mom is my closest friend, as I've known her all my sixteen years of living and the fact that she never fails to make me laugh.

Anyway, I originally wanted to avoid writing anything too lengthy so I will end it here. Thank you for reading!

On the blog you can expect from me posts primarily about art, fashion or music.

- C

I was a teen mom

I was a teen mom. I was 16 when my daughter Corrine was born and she was 4 months old when I graduated High School at 17. She is the same age today as I was when she was born and I can't imagine her having a baby right now. I was a child raising a child. I honestly don't even know how I did it, but she's literally one of the most amazing, grounded, intelligent human you'll ever meet, aside from her being the best teen a mom could ask for.

So back to my HS experience being pregnant in school, I was quietly asked to leave school when they found out. I was 3 months along and had to inform my school I wasn't able to participate in physical education anymore. Apparently they thought pregnancy was contagious, but I was a 4.0 student, on the student body, in band, in choir, and head of my Matheletes team, and here I was leaving school to go home study.

But I graduated a year early, with a presidential award and scholarship. So take that sucky school! I never used my scholarship though, but that's another story. I'm also not with Corrine's father, we divorced when she was a baby and he hasn't seen her in years….also another story.

Today I'm going to share with you some of  the challenges I faced as a teen mom. There are a lot of bad times in life and a lot of good times. Sometimes my posts may seem sad and bad, but in the end we made it and we are happy and good, so don't feel bad for us, we're just sharing our stories with you. And it's actually super therapeutic for us to write these. So thanks for saving us a therapist bill, yayy for friends and there free shoulders!

So a lil background on me, I'm an Army brat. My dad was a drill Sergeant in the Army for 23 years, so we traveled a lot. Every 2-3 years we'd move, my father would go over seas a lot, my mom had to work a lot to help support the family, and I helped take care of my younger brother and sister growing up. My parents were strict, I mean my dad was a drill Sergeant. We never had sleep overs, boyfriends, bad grades, hence I fell for the first boy who payed attention to me when I was 14, and two years later we had a baby, and two years after that we got married.

My parents were not into helping us out, they told me that I decided to have the baby, so I would own full responsibility of that. They loved her, they loved her so much, but they never helped in terms of making things easy for us. We figured out a way to work and go to school, AND graduate,  just between my schedule and his schedule, without any help. Then we divorced in 2002, Corrine was still 4 at the time, and coming out of a bad relationship, not knowing any type of independence, being co dependent for most of my life, it was all such a struggle for me. I had to work 2 jobs and take Corrine into the office with me at 4 am on the weekends to pull in over time, all the while fighting with my ex, and really trying not to have a mental break down each day.

 I tried not to break down in front of Corrine because I figured she didn't deserve that. I'm her rock, I'm not supposed to dump my crap on her, she grounded me so much and still does. But I was supposed to teach her how to cope in life, how to be strong, and how to navigate the hard times, so I had to be the example of that. So having a mental breakdown was just not an option for me, even though I really really wanted to trust me. I mean, here I was 21 years old, bouncing around with my lil one, home to home couch to couch, super unstable, to live with co workers and friends until I got on my feet. Then being on my 'feet' a year later, equated to Corrine and I in a small one bedroom apartment with nothing in it for an entire year except a mattress on the floor and a television with no cable. Oh the hard times, I don't miss em, and we still have em!

I remember going to sleep at night listening to headphones, soothing songs, like Enya, yes Enya guys!!! Sad times I know! Like I can't even listen to her anymore without feeling bad for myself, why Enya, couldn't I have listened to something less somber! But we got through, but money was an issue. Embarrassing to say but humbling….I wouldn't eat dinner for days at a time and Corrine would have fast food for dinner every day for a week because it's all I could afford, thank goodness of that 99 cent menu! And thank goodness for student loans!

 I mean 35k in debt later, but I was able to pay rent and survive because of those student loans. But we always had holidays, always. My mom and dad would make sure Corrine had presents and I was able to get a real Christmas tree each year, and we'd decorate it, and we'd get real pumpkins for Halloween and we'd carve them, and I'd take her trick or treating…. we always had our holidays. And each other. I remember her saying to me once, in the middle of us moving for the umpteenth time, "Mom, don't be sad, home is wherever you and I are".

 I mean I can't even, it makes me tear up to write these words but this is our life and we're sharing them with you. This was just part of the financial struggles I faced as a teen parent, the emotional hardships, the lessons I learned, how I chose to raise her, will all be in another post, or I could literally write a book for you right now. And Corrine's post will be next, the way we're doing it is that we are taking the same topic but then writing separately on it. She won't read my post and I won't read hers until they are both live. This way we get to experience what you get to experience when you read our blog. So thank you for your comments and thanks Andru for this topic! She'll post her blog post in response to this topic tonight. Thanks for reading my words!

I did a "Draw my life" video...on my life, you can check that out here if you're into watching instead of reading. And just so you know, some posts on this blog will be answers to questions like this, some posts will be about cooking or baking, some about art or what we're reading at the moment, and some about fashion and reviews. We're doing it all but we thought we'd start with something a lil personal so you know that we know that you know, who we are ;)

hugs,

J