Glasses Are Cool*

Why does Meg look so goddamn cool here, you ask, with her attempted sexy face and awkward pose? It's because she is wearing glasses. Yes. It's true. If she took them off, she would wither into a shapeless, Lovecraftian horror. It is the power of glasses.

Seriously though, glasses are really cool. I love my geeky hipster eyeglasses! I've been wearing glasses since my junior year of high school, which seems like a late time to start, but I was having a hard time reading the whiteboard in AP US History (my favorite class, obvs), and it turned out I needed reading glasses. Well I loved my glasses so much that I wore them every day all day, which meant that eventually, my eyes got worse! Now I need to wear them no matter what! It's a glorious thing, ruining your own eyes so you can be a full-on geek, but that's what I did. I always wanted glasses, and when I finally got them I feel I found my identity. Maybe. Kind of?

Well, whatever. From the first time I got glasses I really wanted big, thick-rimmed, black nerd glasses frames because I thought they would be cool. Sadly, since hipsters weren't really a thing yet when I was 16, LensCrafters and your typical glasses shop didn't carry such frames. Luckily years later in college I was able to find a pair online.

And that's where GlassesUSA.com comes in! They contacted me about sponsoring a post and I was immediately down for it. I'm not just someone who wears glasses -- I love my glasses. It's really important to me to have the right pair, since I wear them every day and they're a distinct part of my look. I took a little lookie-loo around the site, and there are some pretty swank frames up in thurr. They have a "Try-It Mirror" that allows you to make dumb faces and try on sweet tortoiseshell professor frames. Like so:

I'm not sure I could ever tear myself away from my black Ray-Bans, but if I did, I'd probably go for something super nerdy like this! If any of you wear prescription eyeglasses, GlassesUSA is the perfect option for finding cool frames. They have a huge selection, and they're pretty well priced too! Yay!

Try it yourself if you like! (Not sure why the spacing here is wonkadoodle, please forgive.)

And lastly, as a lovely bonus, here are some discounts for any of you glasses wearers out there. GlassesUSA is offering 15% off, storewide, PLUS free shipping (on orders over $50), with code FS15. And for 10% off any order of prescription glasses, use code Blog10! Yay!

*This post is sponsored by GlassesUSA.

Drinks & Dresses*

Happy Monday, everyone! No outfit post today, as I chose to watch the new BBC version of Sense & Sensibility last night with Greg instead of washing my hair, and nobody needs to see the greasy Snape 'do I've got going on at the moment. 

So I thought instead I'd bust out this post I've been planning instead! House of Fraser contacted me and wanted to know if I'd do a post about their dress collection, and after having a lookie loo at their collection I had to say yes. They have some super cute pieces there, and while not everything in the collection is really my style, I found a few that I really loved! As I've not been able to wear the dresses and give them proper reviews, I thought it would be fun to pair each dress with a fun cocktail! So in my fantasies, I'm wearing these dresses and drinking the following cocktails. With recipes, hurray!

I thought this geometric print dress by Vero Moda had to be a Moscow Mule. I had my first Moscow Mule at the The Bar (next to Bare Bones Cafe) on SE Belmont in Portland,  and it was love at first sip. This drink gives me a sort of 1940s/'50s America vibe, not surprisingly as it was invented on the East Coast in 1941, so I felt this dress jived quite well. Now I want a Moscow Mule, they're incredible! Here's how to make one:

Moscow Mule
- 1 half lime
- 2 oz vodka
- 4-6 oz ginger beer

Squeeze lime into Collins glass (or copper mug) and drop in half lime. Add 2 or 3 large ice cubes, then pour in the vodka and fill with cold ginger beer. Serve with a stirring rod. (via)

YOU GUYS, look at this pug print dress by Therapy! I want it so badlyyyy. But until I can chuck a bunch of British pounds across the Pond, I shall simply drink a hot toddy by the fire (aka the TV, which is in front of our fireplace because we have priorities), and dream of pugs and pug dresses. I mentioned hot toddies in one of my posts last week, and seriously we need to all make some and enjoy the season the way it's meant to be enjoyed -- with whiskey.

Hot Toddy
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 oz boiling water (can substitute for tea if you want!)
- 1.5 oz whiskey
- 3 whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 slice lemon
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg

Pour the honey, boiling water, and whiskey into a mug. Spice it with the cloves and cinnamon, and put in the slice of lemon. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes so the flavors can mingle, then sprinkle with a pinch of nutmeg before serving. (via)

Last but far from least, this zig zag dress by Yumi. It's my favorite of the three, super fun and slightly ridiculous... and I want to wear it in space. Natural train of thought: the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster. If you've read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy you know exactly what I'm talking about, and you have probably even made one of these. If you've no idea what I'm on about, according to Douglas Adams, the Pan-Galactice Gargle Blaster is "like having your brains smashed out by a slice of lemon, wrapped 'round a large gold brick." Seems legit. But considering it's a fictional space cocktail, it's difficult for us Earth dwellers to create our own Gargle Blaster to the last detail. Still, we can do our best! There are countless recipes floating out there on the internet, but I thought this one from Knuckle Salad was the best and most insane:

Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster
- 1 tiny bottle of vodka
- .5 oz blue curaçao
- 1.5 oz gin, chilled
- lemon-lime soda
- .5 tsp mint extract
- 1 lemon-lime Airborne tablet
- edible gold glitter
- olive

Right, since this is a really fun recipe, and obviously the author put a lot of effort into the directions, I'm not gonna copy it all word for word, but will instead send you to the original post. (Check out the Sonic Screwdriver recipe in that post as well!) And really... drink very... slowly...

You can check out these dresses, sans cocktails, at the House of Fraser dress collection. x

*This post is sponsored by House of Fraser