Same Difference.

One of the biggest falsehoods that people assume when you're a twin is, "Oh! You have twice as many clothes!"

Wrong.

We have A LOT of clothes between us, but rarely do we have duplicates (save, of course, for a handful of jeans and v-necks. And socks.). Instead, we do a "clothes shuffle" and cart, back and forth, filled-to-the-brim bags between our places.

This "share and share alike" mentality has come to fruition over the last two weekends. We bought this mustard colored dress (I loved the cut of the dress and she loved the color) at a [not so local] thrift store and we had our own ideas of how to wear it.

I knowwww that we're wearing the same jangles and belts, but she's in a faux leather jacket and thigh highs! I'm in wooden platforms and denim jacket (not shown)! Kinda different! Kinda the same!

ME: I went for the whole "ladies who lunch (in desert climate)" look. I added a touch of "southwestern flavor" to Robertson Blvd. that afternoon. The face? Quasi-rich people and the lurking papparazzi frighten me.

VERSUS

SHE: Jaya went the "Necessary Roughness" route and threw on some mean shades, a faux leather jacket, and a chunky knit sock.

Ohhh, we should try this experiment again and TRY HARDER. Seriously, different jangles, different color schemes, and, maybe, different faces? UGHHHHH, were are you weirdo female model from What I Hate About Me?! You WERE AWESOME.

**A LITTLE EXTRA: Where did we get this awesome idea to dress the same but different? We stole it, natch. Specifically from the Dinner Party Download's interview with the Watson Twins (listen to it because it's brillant). The Watson Twins said that they wished that they had a food show where they each get the same ingredients BUT (here's the twist) they make two totally different dishes. WHAT?! Brillant, right. Someone get a-choppin' and make this happen! 

Found via publicradio.org

Winking-Eye Alcohol Suggestions.

I love this jacket.

LOVE. IT.

It makes me feel like I could hang out with any one of these fabulous ladies seen on hel-looks.com, like her, or her, and of course her. We'd be BEST FRIENDS FOR LIFE.

Jacket from Old Navy.

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About my facial expression: it's my nod to one of the funniest, drunkest, and chicken-clucking-est ("A-coodle do da doo! A-coodle do da doo!") ladies to grace the tv screen, LUCILLE BLUTH.

From IMDB:

Narrator: Lucille was suffering from a hangover-related headache and sought her medication. That's when she mistook the red eye alcohol warning for a winking-eye alcohol suggestion. But she had the good sense not to drive herself to the meeting.
Lucille: I'll call for a car.
Narrator: [shows the car on fire] Unfortunately, this was after a failed attempt to do so.

Today Was A Good Day.

Why?

My top 4 reason's Ice Cube knows what he's rapping about:
001. Today was the first day at my new temp job (what WHAT!) and as horrifying and nerve wrecking as that can be, isn't actually wasn't that bad. I was trying my hardest to not be my normal, surly self and instead, I was attentive and responsive.

002. My horoscope via The Los Angeles Times:

If you are striving to join a group or make headway in a new career, this is an auspicious day. A handshake is the beginning. Your intellligent questions will create an opening.

003. The music playing today was RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME:

• Right before heading into work: Van Halen's Running With The Devil.
• While at work, the supervisor (50-ish, white man from the Northwest) played blocks of: Hall &  Oates (first song of the day: I Can't Go For That), Foreigner, and Prince.
• On the drive home, a block of Lauren Hill played on 93.5 KDAY (read: Doo Woop (That Thing)).

004. I'm trying to figure out what "business casual" means. 80s pantsuits? Polos and khakis? Agggh, gross. But I gets to play around with my clothes now!


It Was A Good Day - Ice Cube

"It's not magic, Michael. It's an ILLUSION."

Style-spiration photos are clogging up my hard-drive so I started "tumblr"-ing @ www.itsanillusionmichael.tumblr.com.

If you gots to ask me where that quote's from then WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS.

**OBLIGATORY PICTURE POST:

**Wink wink** CREEEEPER. Looks like I learned how to wink from a molester! "I gots candy in the back of my dirty vans kiiiids. Wants some candy?" HAHAHAHAHA. It makes me laugh and laugh and gasp in horror. Ohhh, and that day I was paying homage to Parker Posey in Dazed and Confused in this lovably soft sweater from some thrift store.

It's just missing the word Seniors. And yes/no if my friend is giving me the finger.

Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter Långstrump (aka Pippi Longstocking).

The first time I came across Hel Looks a couple of years ago, I spent a good day and a half straight looking through the 96,000+ photos.

What kept me going (besides the AWESOME fashion, enviable hairstyles, inventive use of colors/layers/overcoats, the overwhelming patronage to "recycle centers"- aka thrift stores, and the DIY mentality towards bags/purses/accessories/everythinginlife) was how many gals stated "Pippi Longstocking" as an inspiration. A fictional book/tv/movie character as a STYLE-SPIRATION (thanks Jaya! repeater-disease is fighting its way through my tight-closed lips!)

So, I went and watched the American version: The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking, and I was sadly underwhelmed. I probabbbbly should've watched it as a child, but I didn't and now I'm stuck with the idea that Pippi is just Liar McLiar-son in pigtails.

Then I went and watched the original Swedish version and I LOVED IT. I get it. Ragamuffin girl comes into town, shakes it up a bit, tangles with the local popos, and buys a lot of candy for a lot of (utterly adorable) children. Anyone with kids or anyone who's a Swedish-ophile (ahhhh, sounds dirty) should watch it (sidenotes: it's dubbed [boooooo!] but by the end you'll forget, and doing a backflip off the roof of a house will only land you in the hospital or dead in a ditch. watch it and you'll understand).

PICTURE MONTAGE TIME!

>

Villa Villekula (name of the house) is battling it out with the Beetlejuice house for the coveted spot in my heart, "House Of My DREAMS." Ohhhh, I just googles "Beetlejuice House" annnnd, STILL LOVE IT. #1! #1! #1!

LOOOOVE YOU.

Just Another Mixtape: December Issue.

This post is coming to HAUUUUNT you from the paaassst.

Woka woka. 

The mixtape for December at [The Monthly Mixtape] was, of course, THE BEST OF 2009. There was another option for "The Best Of The Decade: 2000s," but that was too epic of a task for me.


So here it is! It's not my ULTIMATE 2009 playlist, but pretttty close. If it were up to me, I would've gone "All Rush Mixtape"-style and just send out the entire album of Band of Skulls and The xx, with a smattering of El Perro Del Mar (who I totally forgot about! Look her up- Lykke Li-ish). Oh, and Fever Ray. I LOVE FEVER RAY (and all of Sweden).


Sooo, here is the mixtape I sent to my mixtape partner, landmarcattack. Click on the title if you want to downloads it.


::12.09 Mixtape:: Best Of 2009::
01/ Pump Yr Brakes: Amazing Baby.
02/ Impossible: Band Of Skulls (my favorite band of the year!).
03/ Beach Baby: Bon Iver.
04/ I Cut Like A Buffalo: The Dead Weather.
05/ When I Grow Up: Fever Ray.
06/ My Boy Builds Coffins: Florence + The Machine.
07/ It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry: Glasvegas.
08/ Cheerleader: Grizzly Bear.
09/ Pursuit Of Happiness: Kid Cudi.
10/ I've Got Your Number: Passion Pit.
11/ Meet and Greet: Slaraffenland.
12/ Know Better Learn Faster: Thao + The Get Down Stay Down.
13/ New Fang: Them Crooked Vultures.
14/ Crystalised: The xx


--
**OBLIGATORY PICTURE POST:


These are a few of the photos I loved in 2009. All pictures are taken with 100-200 speed 35mm film with 8M or regular Lomo cameras (except, of course, the polaroid picture). Digital pictures SUCK compared to grainy, overexposed, real-to-the-touch photos.

I'm.... STYLISH?

Christina, the blogger from Musing Of A Fatshionista,  recently wrote a "2009 Fatshion Recap: The Most Epic Fashion Post Ever!' post and she included myself (and a little bit 'o my sister).

What the WHAAAAATTT, am I right?

She found me through my Flickr account (I do all those fashion-y group dealies) and asked me if I wanted to participate. Her post exceeded all my expectations! She put together an impressive picture montage of "fatshionable" ladies.

This is just going to bolster my already "healthy"(aka high) self-esteem.

Here are a few of fine young (cannibals? She Drives Me Crazy look it up. greeeat song) ladies whose styles I want to cop in 2010.

001/ Hayley of Fashion Hayley

She has AWESOME shoes.

002/ Ida of IX-13

She makes me want to live in black pants/tights.

003/ Nana

004/ Sonia of Anomalous Allure

005/ MYSELF (and my sister) of A Giant Screamer and Hey It's Me Jaya?! Again, my healthy self-esteem.

There's a lot more pictures and gals that I am too lazy to show here so just go HERE to look at the rest.

I totalllly take back what I said in my last post. I'm not gonna be a Debbie Downer about this new year! This was a great way to end the '00s (the aughts? the naughty 00's? vomiiit. thanks jaya) and an even better way to start 2010 (the teens? right? right.). Yah! Fist pump!

Now excuse me while I go haunt these new found style muses.

Happy New Year's.

I was driving with my sister on New Year's Eve, when I turned to her and said, "2010 is gonna SUCK."

She just laughed and laughed and laughed at me and said, "What did you just say?!"

Ohhh, I should take that back. Maybe. Whatever.

Happy New Year.

One resolution I really want to promise myself: BE MORE PROLIFIC. With this blog; with my Etsy listings; with all things general in life.

That resolution isn't really for anyone but myself. Why? Because I gots to tighten up my typing skills (or lack other of, according to my sister's snickering face) and, again, I should really learn more about my computer. I know it's screaming at me, "I CAN DO MORE THAN SEND EMAILS, TROLL AROUND FACEBOOK/FLICKR, AND STALK PEOPLE!!"

Message RECEIVED, computer.

And maybe, MAYBE, I should stop "sounding/looking" cynical. The way I sound, the way I look to others, in general the way I come off to other people... I can be a little (more than) off putting. Opppps. I don't mean it REALLLY.

Is this coming off as cynical/sarcastic, funny, or uplifting? Ahhhhh, I'll take "funny."

2010, don't make a fool outta me!