Adventures in Rollers

My Grandmother spent her entire life sleeping in hair rollers and had an extensive collection of foam rollers, even some new ones that had never been opened. I had natural, ringlet, curly, blonde hair until I was about 7 years old but then my hair became heavy and board straight at which point my mother started rolling my hair. I have vivid memories of trying to sleep on hair rollers before portraits. Finally around the age of 10 my mom just gave up.

I've always missed my curly hair and wished it would come back. At the base of my head I have small little left over curls, but that's about it. Now that my Grandmother has passed, I was given some of her unopened foam rollers. Last night after a long bath, I was watching a movie, and thought, I'm going to give this thing a go.

I chronicled the journey.

Out of control tight morning curls!

After the curls were brushed.

I turned out looking a lot more like Shirley Temple than I had planned, but I really like it. I think this might be something that I do once a month or just when I'm feeling sassy.

Best Dress Ever

Once again, I have been a terrible blogger, filled with the empty promises of blogging on a more regular basis. Apparently, I am a liar. A big ole liar. Well, this week I'm off for Spring Break and I'm doing my best, once again, to avoid SXSW like the plague. Today, my husband and I took a little road trip, my favorite thing to do, to get out of town. It was a beautiful day filled with nature walks, Czech  food, and antique shopping.

I also got to wear my favorite new dress. Hands down the best dress I've ever owned, the one I've had in my mind for years, right down to the color, and now finally own.

Outfit Details:

Dress: eShakti
Cardigan: Target
Leggings: Old Navy
Shoes: Old Navy
Hair Bow: Handmade
Handbag: Tate Modern

I could go on and on about how much I love this dress. The fabric is one of my favorite types, thick and almost canvas like in texture. It's also lined and has a full circle skirt. It also comes in a blue, which I plan on ordering once it's back in stock, as currently this dress is sold out and I'm hoping and assuming they'll be more in stock soon since they went so quickly

Porch Dancing

I mentioned in a previous post that during the eShakti sale I had purchased 2 dresses, this was the second. I really love it. As usual I opted for the 'Short' option, and unlike the other dress the length of this one is much better. It's very cute with a black shirt underneath it and pretty much any cardigan. I really wish some of their more recent dresses would start coming in a few different colors as this is yet another one that I would love to have in another color.

The only downside to this dress is the fuzz that's attracted to it.

Outfit Details:

Dress: eShakti
Cardigan: Target
Leggings: LB
Flip Flops: Drug Store

Has anyone else bought from eShakti recently and if so, what do you think about their new line?

She's Gone

This past week has been the worst of my entire life. My beloved Grandmother, who I called Mimi, passed away and was laid to rest. Needless to say, my world collapsed. I've written a bit on my blog about her journey with ALS, and I wanted to take a moment to post some photos of her. The woman that was and is my hero.

Mimi, I will miss you for the rest of my life.

Arrow & Dots

At the end of December I used a few discounts I had from eShakti to buy some dresses that I would have usually just admired from afar. For many of my long time readers, you'll know I don't buy anything unless it's on sale. I just don't like to pay full price, when I know I can get a good deal if I'm patient. Anyhoo, I had a $30.00 off coupon, so when this dress went on sale, I jumped at it and I'm glad that I did because I think it's super cute!

OOTD Details:

Dress: eShakti
Cardigan: Old Navy
Leggings: Old Navy
Shoes: Target
Hair bow: Handmade

As per usual, I opted for the "Short" length, and for the first time, I wish I would have gone for "Above the Knee", as this dress was WAY shorter than any dress I have ever ordered from eShakti before. The front looks fine, but the back rides up something awful. There is no way I'm going to be able to wear it in the summer without leggings under it like I had hoped. If they come out with another color of in the same style, I'll get it in a different length. The details are so cute with the little embroidered arrows and dots. I also love how the pockets are so beautifully hidden and flat. I didn't even notice them until the end of the day. This is definitely going to be one of my favorite Spring and Autumn dresses.

While I was looking at these photos I couldn't help but to giggle at how drastically different the seasons look from this post to the last post just a few days ago. When I last posted it was 40˚F and pouring rain and today it was sunny at 73˚F. Oh Texas, it's no wonder everyone is sick!

A New Year

Once again, it's been too long since my last post. I promise I will once again get back on track. The last few months have been fairly busy with house hunting, family time, and of course the obligatory winter illness that consumed half of my 2 week holiday. I have been missing my blog and I think about it regularly.

To get back on track here's my first official OOTD of 2013.

 

OOTD Details:

Dress: eShakti
Cardigan: Target
Leggings: Old Navy
Coat: Old Navy
Wellies: Academy

I've had this dress since mid-October, but haven't put in on the blog, if you follow me on Instagram, you've probably seen it. It's no longer on the site, but I LOVE it. It's in my regular dress rotation and has become one of my favorites. It's odd too, because looking back over 2012 I went from having no red dresses to around 5 and I love all of them. It makes sense, as my favorite coloring groupings are red, teal, and ochre.

These wellies I picked up a few days ago for about $10 at Academy and they are perfect. So comfy and functional for the deluge we've been having recently.

Finally, I chopped off all of my hair! This included the last of my died hair, so now I'm back to my natural color, which I haven't seen in over 10 years! I was surprised by how blonde it still was!

5k with my Momma

I cannot believe it has been almost 2 months since my last blog post! So much has been happening in my life that my little blog has been neglected. Over the past 3 months I went from working 3 jobs 65hrs/7days a week to a new job, with my very own office and actual days off to spend with my family. My husband and I have been considering buying a house, nothing is set in stone, but we are weighing our options, as apartment life has been taking its toll. So, lots of changes. I'm going to get back to regular blogging, which I've missed, now that everything has settled down.

Yesterday, my mother and I participated in a 5k for ALS, the horrible disease that my grandmother is currently battling. It was a really uplifting day. This was the first event like this she and I had ever attended and it was both humbling and inspiring to see everyone out there. I hated that literally thousands of people were participating because their lives had been changed somehow by ALS, but at the same time it was nice to see such support of others. It was very emotional.

I made t-shirts for my mom and I to wear. Simple ones that just stated who we were walking for. Momma's said Mother, mine said Grandma. Since my Mimi is learning sign language now that she has lost her ability to speak, we thought we'd sign "I love you" to her in the photo.

We definitely want to participate in more events like this one and become more active in the ALS community. 

A Very Special Night Out

Friday night my husband and I went out on a date, something we don't do a lot for our age. We're sort of shut-ins. Back in July he bought me tickets to see Mark Kozelek for my birthday and I have been anxiously anticipating September 21st for the last 2 months. When it came, my day was jam packed busy and wasn't moving fast enough, but of course by the time it came, it was over too quickly.

Mark Kozelek of course has no clue, but he has provided the soundtrack for my relationship with my husband and his music is very special to us. I saw him my first year in college, by myself 7 years ago in London when he played with Mojave 3 and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen. It literally brought me to tears. So when Nathan saw he was going to play to a 300 person crowd in Austin, we jumped on the tickets and thank goodness we did because they ended up selling out. He played at the Scottish Rite Theatre which was a spectacular setting. I really wish I would have had more time to snoop around the rich fabrics of the sitting rooms and explore all of the little nooks and crannies.  The show was wonderful, just him and his guitar for 2 hours. He has a bit of reputation for being an ass at shows, but he wasn't, frankly I thought he was sort of socially awkward in a kind of charming way.

Because this was a special night for Nathan and I and because of the anticipation, I bought a dress special for the occasion.

Outfit Details:

Dress: Asos
Cardigan: Target
Leggings: Old Navy
Shoes: Target
Brooch: Vintage
Bow: Handmade

We were 5 rows back in a sit anywhere you want situation. There were no bad seats. Ahh, such a lovely night. We're thinking about buying tickets and driving to see him in Dallas when he plays in December. He rarely tours, so I think it'd be worth it.

I thought I'd leave you with the song that started it all for me. Enjoy.

Meet Benny

This year has been a tough one in the dog department for my parents. They lost their first ever rescue greyhound Marlin at the beginning of the year and then the day after Mother's Day their almost 14 year old basset hound Quincy lost his 2 year battle with lymphoma. In our family, as in many families, pets are not just animals they are fuzzy kids. We all took the loss pretty hard, especially my dad over Quincy as that was his boy.

As time was beginning to heal the loss, a new man walked into their lives, meet Benny. 

(If you follow me on Instagram you've probably already seen some of these photos.)

He's such a sweetheart! He's an 8 year old rescue taken from a backyard where he had been chained up and never let in the house, which means all through the horrible Texas summers. He's about 15lbs under weight, but not for long. He's also a bit of a humper, but he understands the word "no", so that's good. Oh, I just adore that face and wish he was mine, but luckily he belongs to my folks and I can visit him whenever I want. My dog, Penny, is pretty taken by him too as she kept following him around and trying to get him to play with her.

It's quite an interesting bunch at my folks house with a mix of basset hound, greyhound, and now a bulldog. We are clearly a family of rescue lovers!

2 Year Blogiversary!!!

Source

August 14th marked Pretty Penny Mae's 2 Year Blogiversary, so I'm 10 days late, oops! I just wanted to make a short little post to mark the occasion and thank all of my lovely readers. This blog has been a great outlet for me and I've met some really lovely people because of it. 

Here's to more fantastic years to come!