Happy Halloween



Happy Halloween, my dears! I hope your day is full of sweet candy, funny costumes, and feeling like a kid again. I'm planning on spending my day ingesting a SCARY amount of chocolate and remembering that calories don't count on Halloween.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, partly because I am a HUGE horror movie buff and partly because I love how Halloween is a great chance to be creative and, hello, dress up! I love dressing up on a regular day, and here is a whole day that's devoted putting together a fabulous outfit and letting others enjoy it. Loves it! The one thing I don't particularly like about Halloween is how it's become the one day a year that girls feel like they can wear next to nothing (or nothing) and get away with it. I mean, I don't have a problem with showing a little skin if it's a necessary part of the costume, but wearing nothing just because you can is a bit lazy. Last year, I saw a girl who was just wearing Saran Wrap as her costume. Um, what? Really, people, we can try a little harder, can't we?

To celebrate the day, I compiled some photos of my costumes from the past few years. You can see that I am very unconcerned with being sexy in my costumes. I am all about the funny homemade costume! I have more fun making the costume than I do wearing it, and for me, that's what Halloween fun is all about. Hope you guys enjoy and have a fabulous day!

Spelling Bees 

We wanted to do something a little more fun than just bees, so we carried around dictionaries, cut out the "B...E...E" from felt and stuck puffy letter stickers on our yellow craft T-shirts. We made the antennae out of styrofoam, paint, pipecleaners and plain headbands. Even with our shoes and leggings, this costume cost less than $20.

Bright yellow galoshes that we got on clearance at Target that I still wear and LOVE.



Burger King & Whopper Jr.

The Boyfriend wanted to be the "King," so I decided to we his Whopper Jr. I glued pieces of felt that I cut and painted onto a large T-shirt to look like a cheeseburger.  I pinned the T-shirt in the back, tied up the sleeves with ribbon and made a cheeseburger dress. The whole costume cost me less than $7.



Gold Digger & Millionaire





I got tired of seeing all these gold-digger costumes at the store where the girl was the "digger," so we went for a less sexist, homemade version. Together, our version cost about $10 to $15.



I bought the accessories as part of a costume kit, wore a suit I had, and made the dollar signs out of felt and glitter.



I spray painted an old shirt and pants, glued glitter all over it, spray painted a plastic baseball hat and attached a WORKING tap light that I also spray painted. The shovel I made out of poster board and a wrapping paper roll.

Chao, May-Ah-Mee

Dress - Vintage

By my last night in Miami, my feet were killing me and my legs were just as sore from all the walking in heels I had done, so I just had to opt for an outfit I could wear with flat sandals. There's something about the bright colors of this dress and tropical print that just screams Miami to me, so it was an easy choice for my night on the town. We gorged on giant stone crab claws and then went bar hopping on Ocean Drive. I've worn this dress before here, but I remixed it a little with different accesories this time, which I think subtly changes the whole look. Sorry for the lack of a lot of photos on this one, but the lighting was so terrible, and they had called our name (after a two hour wait!) for our seat for stone crab, so we dashed like a bullet for our seats the minute we could. Well, I hobbled like a faulty heat seaking missle, but you get the idea.

To make up for the lack of photos, I will leave you today with some food porn from Miami. Hope you all have a great weekend, loves!

Stone crab!

Biggest Cuban potato balls I've ever seen...like twice the size of the Porto's version in Burbank

Ridiculously pricey, but gorgeous, dim sum

Crispy skin pork

Prettiest gelato displays I'ev ever seen

Say Hello to My Little Friend

Dress - Vintage, Jewelry - Vintage, Clutch - LV (gifted)

This is one of my absolute fave vintage finds (I know, I know, it seems like they're all my favorite) and I couldn't wait to wear it in Miami. From the moment I tried it on in the store, it just felt like something Michelle Pfieffer would have worn for her role in Scarface. And what better place to rock it for the first time, than in Miami where the movie was set to have taken place? I wanted the perfect late 70s, early 80s shoe to go with the dress, and I searched far and wide for these gorgeous bronze T-straps. Then, with a little bit of dramatic winged eyeliner and a vintage clutch, I felt like I was ready to party Miami style. Sometimes, I like modernifying (yes, I made up that word) my vintage pieces by mixing them with more contemporary pieces, but sometimes, I like to let the vintage piece take me back, and I find myself catering the whole outfit to that era's look. I've said it before, but isn't it amazing how a vintage piece can make you feel so different, almost like you're wearing a costume?

Extending Summer

Tank - F21, Shorts - Old Navy, Jewelry - Vintage, Ring - gifted from sister

I'm back, back, back, from Miami! It was an amazing whirlwind of a trip, with a lot of sun and beachtime, great food, and lots of summery fruity drinks. The weather was warm and tropical, and I got to pretend it was summer for the full four days I was there. Since I was pretending anyway, I thought I would go on a last bright colorblocking hurrah by pairing this bright orange tank with yellow shorts and a turquoise ring. One of the great things about Miami was that there seemed to be absolutely no fashion rules, and the people loved to wear bright colors, giant jewelry, and giant stiletto heels.  I did a lot of walking most of the time I was there, so I ended up sticking to flip-flops most days because I'm a wuss practical.  This is why I need a segway. So I can be fashionable and still feel my toes by the end of the day. Come on, you know you sometimes want one too. Imagine the possibilities. Double the shopping in the same amount of time. Yes, please!

The hotel we stayed in, the Fontaine Bleau, was absolutely amazing, with its creative design, vintage elements (like the original bow-tie tile floor), and stunning decor. It also had great amenities, including upscale and award-winning restaurants, a gorgeous bar and nightclub, not to mention, ten pools and a private beach, which was my idea of heaven.  Besides, there was something so special about knowing that I was staying at a hotel that celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and Lucille Ball once stayed in. I love my hotels like I love my vintage clothing, with a lot of history and character.

Original bowtie tile floor and staircase to nowhere

One of many gorgeous chandeliers all over the lobby

Love the clean, beachy color schemes of the rooms.

LIV Nightclub where I saw Lil Jon and Foster the People perform

I'll be spending the rest of the week posting a few more Miami pics, so stay tuned!

View from a lounge chair on the hotel's private beach.

Here Comes the Sun

Blouse, Mary Janes - Forever 21, Skirt - old?, Bracelets - Vintage

Sorry for the quickie outfit post, but I'm currently in a frenzy getting ready for my trip to Miami (frenzy = trying to figure out how to fit five pairs of shoes in my suitcase without Boyfriend finding out). Mustard yellow is one of my new obsessions for the fall, and this sheer fitted shirt was just too much to resist. I don't know if it's because I've been drooling over the vintage fashions on one of my new fave shows Pan Am (yes, it's very possible that I only like it for the clothes, it's too soon to tell), but the minute I saw this shirt, I knew I wanted to style it with a vintage look. Luckily, I have held onto this sheer black pleated skirt for YEARS, and I love how the two pieces play off each other. All I need now is a gorgeous, quiltedclassic Chanel bag to complete the look. Ahem, Boyfriend, I am talking to you.

I am flying off to Miami in a few hours, and I can't wait for the sunning and eating and shopping (of course!) awaiting me there. We're also going on a nice leisurely boat excursion on Saturday, complete with tanning deck and a water trampoline(?!), so I'm also planning to do some serious work on my tan. We got really lucky, and it looks like we're going to have a break in the tropical storm just for the few days we're there. Yay! I've never been to Miami before, so you can bet that I'll be taking a ton of pictures, and I can't wait to come back and share them with you next week. I'm also excited to work on some plans for ways to celebrate my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY here on BSMMH, coming up in a couple of weeks. I can't believe it's already been a year! I want to make sure to celebrate it right, so I've been brainstorming a few ideas. Stay tuned, loves...and have a GREAT week!

Cycling Gear

Dress - ModCloth

This was the first ever dress that I bought on ModCloth, and yet, this is the first time that I've had a chance to wear it. I know it's a little "sweeter" than the pieces that I usually go for, but I just couldnt' resist it. There's something about this dress that makes me want to go bicycling through the countryside of Italy. I was told by a friend over the weekend that people don't bicycle in Italy and that recently, a tourist who was bicycling was hit by a car and died. Thanks for killing the dream, G. Oh well, it's what I still always picture myself doing when I wear this dress. Isn't it adorable?

I'm really hoping that I actually get to do that whole Italian cycling thing in this dress at some point, but for right now, I will be satisfied with the exciting news that I WILL BE GOING TO MIAMI this week! Surprise! It was kind of a last-minute trip that Boyfriend surprised me with, and I couldn't be more thrilled. It's been on my "list" of places I'd like to visit for a while, and I'm excited to finally check it off my list. I can't wait to sip on some mojitos (my fave drink of late), munch on some delicious Cuban food (another one of my faves), wear some hot outfits, and most importantly, work on my tan. Of course, there is a tropical storm threatening to make this vacation a very soggy one, but I'm trying not to worry about it. I'll just bring a kicky umbrella to go with my bathing suit. That's dedication.