Brain Goo

My brain isn't working today. It's too hot out. I think my grey matter has melted into a brain smoothie inside my skull. Gross. These are the thoughts happening inside my mind. I would not go so far as to call them thoughts, actually. More like neural poop.







I'm wearing: F21 top and earrings, Old Navy skirt and flats, Wet Seal belt, Ralph Lauren sunglasses.

I actually like my outfit today, surprisingly! This skirt gets way too much wear, as it's the perfect length, comfy, and black so it goes with everything. I try not to go overboard with styling it too often, but sometimes it's just the only thing I can wear on a hot day when my brain has melted to goo.

Awww yeah, I'm gonna stuff my face with watermelon in a sec here! Watermelon... mmmmm...

Also note how this final picture is pretty much exactly the same as the one in my previous outfit post. Somebody's running out of poses...

Complimentary Colors

I can think of a lot of things that go well together. Rain and Chopin, apples and cheese, dresses and boots, pancakes and milk, Coke and anything salty... I could go on. Some things are just perfect for each other, whether they were made to be that way or not. And I'd venture to say that these photos illustrate similar complimentary pairs. Purple and yellow, Meg and Greg, Meg and beer.

Admittedly, I did not go well with beer until I discovered another important pairing: beer and Germany. Germany, you guys. German beer is where it is at. I hated beer until I went to Germany and tasted my very first German beer, Bitburger. Light, refreshing, delicious. And so it was through the perfect companionship of beer and Germany that led me to a companionship of my own: Meg and beer. I actually enjoy beer now than any other alcoholic beverage, barring a friend's version of Vodka Collins, and mimosas. But let me tell you guys. If you're going to be in a bar that serves Bitburger anytime soon, or if you find yourself in a store that sells imported beer, treat yourself to a delicious German delight! You won't regret it. It converted me to the world of beer, and that's saying a lot, as a previous beer hater extraordinaire.

Look. Now I've gone and rambled about beer on my style blog. That's what I get for having no outfit photos, and instead deciding to update my blog at almost 4:00 in the morning with silly photos from last night.

Oh well! I started this blog with a secondary purpose of updating my mom on my life now that I'm far away in Oregon, so we'll just say this one's for her. Look mom, pictures of me and my boyfriend, and beer! ...I should really get to bed.

We Are SEX BOB-OMB

So all I can think about today is Scott Pilgrim vs. The World! That's it! I went to the midnight showing with my friend Anne (who needs to resurrect her blog, hint hint), and it was so much fun.

I actually hadn't ever heard of Scott Pilgrim or the comic series of which he was a star until earlier this summer. I know, geek fail. (Well, I've never been a huge fan of comic books, so sue me!) Anyway, I somehow found out about the Scott Pilgrim books and the subsequent movie (probably through Anne in one of her Twitter posts, not gonna lie), so I read the books and sat around for months just waiting for the movie to come out. Thus, last night was full of pent-up excitement, and I'm so glad I was able to go to the midnight show! (Ticket courtesy of my mom, who is pretty much the coolest person I know.) The theater was full of geeky fans who truly appreciated all of the humor and specific nods to the comics. So awesome. If you like video games, Michael Cera, quirky comedies, and fun action sequences, you should probably go see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. It rules.










I'm wearing: ModCloth t-shirt; Target skirt, shoes, and necklace; belt from a clothing swap.

This outfit was based solely around my awesome DDR t-shirt. I was inspired by Anne of Time Enough For Drums and her Tee Series, so I thought I'd put together a look for her Spotlight Contest. I really don't know what happened, though; this outfit is all over the place! Oh well, I kinda like it that way. I'm not sure about the shoes, though. I think I should have gone with my suede fringe boots, but it's a bit too hot out for that at the moment. Oh well, too late, I'm not going back out in the sunlight!

And it is officially too hot for me to form any more coherent thoughts for today. You'll get pointless rambles next time, I'm sure. Have a wonderful Friday night!

I (he)ART Chictopia, Guys

Well, I entered the I (he)ART Chictopia contest! I figured I may as well churn out a pretty picture for a possible reward, y'know? It seems there's some steep competition, but go check out my button and share your feedback. It would be much appreciated! Thanks for all of your positive encouragement in regards to my art. ♥

Also, if you're curious to see one of my finished commissions, go and see Lulu's new blog header! I think it turned out pretty well.

And that's enough art blabber for today; see you tomorrow kidlets!

Cool Story, Bro

Well, hello dearies. How is it on your end? It's pretty jittery and caffeine-filled on mine. Apparently chugging an iced latte after having a very small breakfast and a stress-filled interview isn't the best idea for calming one's nerves. And yet I did it all the same. But how can I resist, with a Starbucks less than a block away, an iced vanilla latte calling my name? I can't. I never can. I did resist Pioneer Place mall, though. Be proud of me! I certainly am.









I'm wearing: Express top, F21 belt and dress worn as skirt, Aldo shoes.

I'm proud of myself for another reason today. I wore a dress as a skirt! I always see people doing this, and it seems so effortless, but let me tell you -- I've tried to wear several of my dresses as skirts, and it never works. It's a conspiracy amongst bloggers to make difficult things look easy. But I pulled it off today, at last! You may recognize this "skirt" as the dress from the other day, which surprisingly serves as a quite comfortable and relatively flattering skirt (until you look at my butt).

I wore this outfit to an interview at a bridal shop in downtown Portland; I felt like since it wasn't an office job, I could make it fun while still nice and put-together. I'm not sure I succeeded, but oh well, I felt confident about my appearance and I figure that's good enough.

Now let me tell you something about my jaunts into the west side of Portland. They are, almost without fail, ridiculous. I arrived on 4th Street with half an hour to spare, but did not find a parking spot for another twenty or so minutes. I still don't really know my way around downtown, so I always just end up driving rather aimlessly, trying to stay in the same relative area as my destination, nervously searching for parking. I'm still too scared to try out a parking garage. I'm afraid I'll do it wrong, back up traffic, and draw hatred from the denizens of the city. No, no parking garages yet for me. Oddly enough I do feel comfortable parallel parking, so I look for Pay to Park spots along the streets. As I drove about today, I ended up by Powell's Books, which is not at all where I needed to be, and drove in confused circles until I ended up a block from where my interview was taking place, with a perfect parking spot (no parallel parking required)! The driving around was annoying, but at least it ended with my finding a good spot. I really need to study a map of downtown so I can be less aimless next time!

Oh god, what, she's telling a story about parking now? Jeez. First television shows, then anxiety meds, and now parking. What the crap is gonna be next, her bowel movements? I imagine this this what you are saying as you read this. Or, "cool story, bro," as Greg would say. He is a meanie.

Guess what else is a meanie? THIS WEATHER. I hate summer I hate it I hate it. The end.

Meet Melancholy Meg

Things are slow here on the blogging end. My wardrobe continues to incite rage in me whenever I attempt to put together an outfit, and yesterday I received yet another rejection from a job I interviewed for. I really need to teach myself not to get my hopes up every time I have an interview; it just feels that much worse when I end up not getting the job.

Excuse me for a bit of melancholy today. I'm a day and a half behind on my lovely anxiety/depression medication, due to the incompetence of Medvantx. Let me tell you guys, if you happen to decide to have your medication mailed to you through Medvantx, don't do it. They are a huge pile of fail.





I'm wearing: Target skirt and shoes, F21 belt, Old Navy tank top, great-grandmother's necklace.

If you're wondering why I would talk about my anxiety and depression on my blog, and why on earth I'd mention that I take medication for such a thing, well... to be honest, I kind of like to get that out of the way when getting to know people (like you, dear readers). I feel like it's a big part of who I am, and I don't mean that in a totally emo way! I've had chronic, mild depression since high school, as far as I can remember, and anxiety for probably my whole life (thanks Mom! ♥). For a long time, the sadness gave me a gift for expression that I don't think I would have been able to tap into were I a happy-go-lucky social butterfly. Some of my best writing was done while in the throes of depression. Not that I miss it, now that I'm on medication and more functional as a human being (and yes, I still get depressed every once in a while). But it does make me less expressive than I used to be. I think that's why so many great artists and writers were depressed, suicidal, alcoholics, or addicts. There's something about sadness and art that go hand in hand. I kind of like it that way. Maybe I'm just crazy, though.

Don't think I'm being emo, here. Greg would say I am, but he's anti-emo and doesn't quite understand or approve of expressive emotions (and that's part of why I love him)! No, I'm just being reflective. It's my silly style blog, after all! I can ignore clothes and talk about emotions for a while if I want to. What do you think? Does self reflection belong somewhere else, on a livejournal or a private paper journal, and not a style blog? I always like it when people are candid about their lives in their blogs. I'd rather not read something that's tailored to be impersonal and advertisement-friendly. I'd rather get to know the person about whose life and style I'm reading, you know? What do you think?

I have nothing to say about today's outfit. Maybe I'll like my clothes again one day, haha.

Custom Portrait Commissions

All right, dear blogger friends and readers. I mentioned something about this a while ago, but then promptly forgot about it! Now I've remembered at 2:07am on Tuesday morning. You see, I'm currently unemployed, having just moved from Montana to Portland, Oregon in a frenzy of excitement and ambition. However, I have yet to find a job, after applying for roughly 150+ in the last two months. Well, I thought, since I have this fun ability to draw, perhaps I could offer something up for my readers for a modest price. Yes, a price. I know, I know... but it's custom art, and hey, it's not everybody who can say they had a custom portrait drawn! Can they?

That said, please spread the word if you can and are so inclined: I will be offering custom digitally drawn portraits, such as the one in my header (and seen below in larger def), and the one I drew for Amber:





I'm going to go with a flat rate of $25 for each portrait. Each portrait will be more on par with my header image, detail-wise. Here are the details, in case you're interested:

♥ Unless otherwise specified, each portrait will be of your head and shoulders, with one optional "prop" or specific item/accessory (something like the bow tie in my header, nothing big or too detailed).
♥ All colors will be flat except for the optional prop, which can be shaded (just like the bow tie).
♥ I will used a muted color scheme (as seen in examples) unless requested otherwise.
♥ Please provide one or more photo references, or a link to your blog if it contains photos I can use as a reference for your portrait.
♥ I will email you a large, digital copy of the image that you may resize, crop, or otherwise use for your own devices. You are not required to link to me if you use the art in your blog, but I would appreciate at least a mention somewhere as the artist. :)
♥ I will accept payment when the product is finished and emailed to you. I will only accept PayPal (please email me for my PayPal account link).

To see more examples of my work and what I'm capable of drawing, visit my DeviantArt gallery. Most of the art there is kind of old, but you'll get a better idea of my style if you're so inclined.

If you have any other questions, or if you want to commission me for your custom portrait, please drop me a line at white.duck@gmail.com! And please let me know if there's anything I've missed in the details.

And thank you so much, guys. If you can't afford to or if you're not interested in a portrait for yourself, please pass this on; maybe somebody else will. If even one person buys my art, that's a huge help for me. Greg and I can barely afford to do laundry and we're sleeping on a leaky air bed, so this is my only source of income until I find a job. Love you all, and bless. ♥