Hello MADIEE...

Welcome to the family!

Steve Madden- MADIEE (Cognac)

I LOVE these Steve Maddens. They're still just a little tight so I've been gladly wearing them around to stretch them out a bit. I even learned how to polish shoes today just for them! (Yeah, ok, not hard but I had never done it before. I guess I don't own a lot of leather shoes.) Now I just need to stop even looking at boots. I'm definitely set for a while, but it's so hard to not look! Particularly hard when you have some how ended up on what seems like every shoe-related mailing list on the world wide web.

And I'll leave you with a picture of the gorgeously crisp Chicago day we had yesterday in between rain showers:

Tattoo Healing

I have officially only put any effort into outfits twice since last Wednesday thanks to this tattoo. Though I wish it would just finish healing already, I'm not really minding this temporary yoga pants lifestyle. (Not to mention I spent the weekend playing with/helping my aunt take care of my cousin's little baby Luke, with a pretty good chance of being spit up on, so there really was no need for looking all that put together.)

Speaking of healing... for anyone else out there with tattoos/wanting tattoos, I'm finding the care instructions from our guy at Insight to be WAY better than those with my previous tattoo. They recommend using lotion and NOT A&D/Aquaphor/etc. for moisturizing during the healing process, and it has made a big difference. The general thought behind it is that it allows any fluids to exit while better allowing oxygen in to the wound, and leads to much less scabbing and more of a peeling process similar to that of a sunburn. It also STARTED peeling a few days ago (it hasn't even been a week since I got it done) so the healing process overall has been much faster than when using Aquaphor with the last one. If you have any questions at all about the specific care instructions, feel free to comment/get a hold of me, because I definitely recommend this by far over using any kind of thick ointment.

I don't like posting without pictures, but since I'm sure no one (including me) wants to look at the peeling mess that this tattoo is right now, here's a super cute picture of little Luke the rock star.


Which reminds me... I need to get on buying him a precious little pair of baby Chuck Taylors. He's only 7 months old but we're all half convinced he's going to skip right over crawling and just start walking. He loves pulling himself up and, unless he's totally occupied, prefers to be standing, so it's only a matter of time. Might as well be running around in style.

Why I'm Only Wearing Yoga Pants

...At least for yesterday, today, and most of tomorrow. I'd make that all weekend if I didn't have real things to do.

Yep. That's a combination of the Tom Petty logo infused with the Hoover love of racing and an individual touch of the Jack White Airline. A family crest of sorts, forever inked into my body.

My dad, brother, and I have been talking about this "family tattoo" (my mom opted out) for what seems like two years. We're not sure what we're going to dedicate all of our time to now, but I'm sure we'll find something. Dane got his in early August, my dad a few weeks ago, and I just finished it off last night. This wasn't my first, but it's safe to say it was the most painful and that it may be the last. At least the last of any substantial size.

Shout out to Thomas at Insight Studious in Chicago for doing his thing and making me 100% glad I went through with it.

My brother's, with an Eddie Van Halen version of the flying V.

My dad's, inspired by Dave Grohl's Gibson... a guitar he has some version of. (Sorry the picture quality is a little iffy and shiny)

And in other news, I finally got around to updating the Wonderland Kitchen URL. This was far more of a pain than I anticipated. If only I could just take up two domain names and have all links forwarded to the new site. Hmm, maybe there's some way to do that, but I don't know. I just spent an hour updating any links I could find, but google searches are still off and I'm not sure what effects it had on the Google Reader followers. If you followed before the switch and are still getting the updates (like today's Mushroom Alfredo post) and could let me know, I'd appreciate it!

You can now find that here: AlexsWonderlandKitchen.Blogspot.Com

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week!

Transitioning to Fall

In addition to some longer sleeved dresses, some of the things I'm really looking for right now for fall weather are comfortable tunic-type tops that can be worn with leggings or jeans, a belt, and boots for an easy casual look. Particularly since I seem to be on a boot rampage and have bought three pairs in the last two weeks. Er... we'll save that for another post.

Forever 21+ has a few tops that have caught my eye. I think I may need to make a little trip over to Michigan soon to check them out in person. (Click pictures for links)

Ok, ok, so that last one wasn't at all what I described... but it's still really cute and very "me" and I think it would transition nicely with a cardigan. Now that I think of it, I don't think I have many dresses that can't easily be turned over from summer to fall and occasionally even winter. Am I the only person who wears a lot of things year round, just in different forms?

East Ukrainian Village

My friend Mandy was in town from St. Louis this weekend, and on Saturday we set off to explore a section of Chicago I had not yet been to. It's called "East Ukrainian Village" (or East Village) and has a lot of vintage shops and much to my delight an amazing Western store called Alcala's. We're talking walls upon walls of cowboy boots. It's a shame I don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on them. I'll definitely be going back, as they also had some really awesome belts and really cheap real leather purses.

Hey, look, Wonderland graffiti!

One of the vintage stores was called Kokorokoko and is specifically 80's/90's. What I wouldn't have done to have THAT around back in high school when those were frequent party themes. I ended up getting a few more buttons for my denim vest and a "brief purse" (It's a purse that just has a built in handle so it makes it feel like a brief case? I don't know, I like the way it felt in my hand AND it was sparkly.) and Mandy got a ring and a necklace.

We also made a stop at Margie's ice cream, a place we had both heard of. It's a super old school ice cream and candy shop with THE BIGGEST sundaes ever. Seriously, huge. And they come with an entire side of fudge. REALLY GOOD fudge. Thank god we had not eaten lunch that day.

Grandpa's Turtle Sundae from Margie's. Unbelievably one of the "smaller" options.

This weekend overall was a pretty good one for Chicago exploration, and I'm definitely looking forward to doing more of that in the near future.

Back in Boots

Fall has definitely happened in Chicago, and I love it. I don't know if it's just that I love fall so much or that I'm so glad the humidity has gone away, but I have been in just about the best of moods ever since the weather started getting cooler last week. My house has been in constant candle-mode, alternating between Slatkin & Co's (Bath & Body Works) "Leaves", "Creamy Pumpkin", and "Autumn Apple." Yum!!! I also made the first batch of Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bars of the season last night, and then proceeded to eat two of those and drink a glass of Sauvignon Blanc as my dinner. As someone on Facebook commented "I'm sure that covers at least 4, maybe 5, of the food groups anyways!" Haha.

What fall means as far as my wardrobe goes is this: SWEATERS AND BOOTS ARE BACK! I threw a big chunky sweater on Wednesday night and had forgotten how super comfortable and warm they always are. Mmmm. Here's today's outfit:

Outfit
Dress: TJ Maxx
Scarf: H&M
Sweater, Leggings: Old Navy
Boots: Durango via RCC Western

And in the background? Only my absolute favorite flowers- gladiolas! They were surprisingly cheap at Whole Foods... $3.99 for 10 stems.

What are your favorite parts of Fall that you are excited about? Or are you like me and it's just about everything to do with it?

Brand New Bag

Faux Leather Saddle Bag

Old Navy: $24.50

I saw this bag at Old Navy last week and wasn't quite sure I wanted to spend $25 on it, but decided it would get plenty of wear. It's the perfect size- not too big that I'll be tempted to throw anything and everything in it, but big enough to hold the essentials. I'm not usually one to go for long strap bags with the exception of little purses for going out, but this was a good combination between my usual go-to's.

It's also nice that it's really structured and therefore holds things in place a little better so I don't have to go digging through looking for something... does anyone else ever have this problem? Last week I think every single time I went to get in my car I had to search for a few minutes just to find my keys. No bueno!

I Did It...

The fact that my hair stylist can get me in usually within a days notice really works nicely with my impulsive decision making. I mean, I had been contemplating this one for a while, but I have a tendency to make decisions and then forget that I made up my mind and come to a completely different conclusion. I decided I should just leave it long since the weather is cooling down anyways, maybe get just a little trim, and go with that for a while. Well, that turned into "cut approximately 3 inches off", and three inches seems like a lot less when you're just holding your finger up to your hair trying to measure.

Either way, I love it. It definitely seems like a much shorter cut than that picture of Zooey Deschanel, but I think she just has a much longer neck. It looks a lot shorter when it's curled (though I'm sure you're all smart enough to know that), so I'll get a straightened picture up sometime.

Hurry!

Through midnight tomorrow, you can use the code "FALL30" on Steve Madden online orders and get 30% off your entire order. I personally will be using this to get THESE little babies:

It does exclude clearance and a few other styles (including a pair I was going to get, but in the end I think I like the MADIEE's better) so be sure to double check when you enter the code at check out.

If you miss the cut off for that code, I believe you can still use the code "SMFREESHIP" to get free shipping on your order, but this unfortunately also excludes clearance and can't be combined with the 30% off code. All clearance shoes are currently only $19.99, and if you wear a women's size 10 it's your lucky day because I've noticed a lot of the cuter styles are only available in that size now!

They have a lot of cute boots in stock now, a lot with a definite cowboy boot influence without necessarily having the full blown western look. Here are some of my current picks in the store:

The PAMMYY seems simple enough but also comes in some wild prints.

The classic Oxford look in a wedge.

The HAIIKU. I believe I posted about this one before, but it's currently on sale for $79.95 from $129.95!

The CHEEEKY comes in your choice of two velvet floral prints or cognac leather.

Hello, Red

Outfit
Shirt: Old Navy
Jeggings: Forever 21+
Sunglasses: Forever 21
Vest: J.C. Penney
Shoes: Target
Bracelets: Charlotte Russe

Oh, and I don't think I ever posted a decent picture since I colored my hair red. Well, more red. When your hair is this dark it's difficult to get it to do anything you want, but I attribute getting it this far to Garnier Nutrisse Ultra-Color (R3- Light Tint Auburn) which is (gasp, finally) a coloring meant specifically for dark hair. OK, maybe this existed before... but I just found it and I was damn excited about it.

(Even if the red was still coming out in the shower a week later. Just invest in a cheap red towel from Target, it's totally worth it.)

Hair Cut Help!

I've been going back and forth on whether or not I want to cut my hair. I'm getting real sick of always having it up in a little bun, but I also know that it's starting to cool down and this big ol' mane of hair will be much more manageable throughout fall and winter. At present time I'm thinking maybe just a minor cut off the bottom and really layering it up (and keeping the bangs at the perfect length to be full bangs or slightly swept to the side)... but I think if I could find some good picture inspiration, I might consider going in for a closer-to-shoulder-length cut.

This has apparently been consuming my thoughts so much that I've even been having dreams about hair-cut related situations. Haha. In one I had a great shoulder length really red cut that looked something like Rachel's hair in the 7th season of friends. (I guess I've also been watching a lot of Friends lately, too...) Here's what I'm thinking...


Oh, yeah, if my hair could look like this every day without a hell of a lot of effort, this would not even be in question. As it is, I'm not sure I'm willing to commit to that much of my hair being pulled into my bangs. You know, what with me constantly changing my mind about whether I want to keep them or not.

Or this... but with bangs.

What do you think? Any picture suggestions???