Three Positive Things for Monday

Spread the love -- write out three positive things right now. No judging, don't think too hard about it...

For me

1. My husband and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this weekend! We had a wonderful time together, just what we wanted.

2. Our three kittens turned nine months old, but they're still just little adorable babies.

3. I got a great manicure and pedicure (first one of spring/summer season) after this photo.

What's up with you?

What I'm wearing: Black knit military-style jacket, Macy's | Black T-shirt, Target | Black embellished skirt, thrift-store w/additions by me | Black tights, Calvin Klein | Black boots, Aldo | Silver key necklace, gift from my husband | Silver-grey skull earrings, Walgreens

Friday Five: Dream Wedding

1. If you were getting married tomorrow (or renewing your vows!), who would be in your wedding party?
I couldn't help but doing this one, since my sweetie and I are celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary this week! You can see pix from our wedding here. If I did it over again today or did a vow renewal, I'd want to include my BFFs Kendra and Sarah for sure, and probably a lot of my original wedding party too, just all in different roles.

2. Where would you get married?
It's a dream wedding, so how about Venetian carnevale! At a private, historical palazzo with a masked ball theme, all in costume, a mix of 18th century and 16th century with gothic overtones, and candlelit for sure.

3. What song would be played for your first dance?
"Somebody" by Depeche Mode. That's what I wanted the first time, but my husband had to go and write a song (because he's adorable like that).

4. What would be your wedding colours?
This, I'd do the same: black and burgundy.

5. Where would you go on your honeymoon?
We'd already be in Venice, Italy, so that'd be the wedding and honeymoon combined! With all our friends and family. 


Questions culled from The Friday Five on LiveJournal.

What I'm wearing: Black & white striped knit jacket, Marshall's | Black sheath dress, Target | Black tights, Calvin Klein | Grey wedge pumps, Anne Klein | Silver key necklace, gift from my husband | Pewter key earrings, made by me

With or Without Makeup

So I posted about why I love lipstick, but what about going without makeup? While pretty much every picture on my blog shows me wearing some makeup, I don't actually wear makeup every day. But I used to.

For most of my life, since I was a teenager, I used to not go out of the house without lipstick. Just that though, not necessarily other makeup. I had to wear my lipstick -- dark or bright, something that shows (no wussy little tinted lip balm for me, lol!).

But in the last couple years or so, I've gotten a bit lax. I'll go to the grocery store or drug store or other quick errand without lipstick. Maybe around turning 40 is when this laid-back attitude started. But it's only for those kind of errands. I still prefer to wear lipstick any other time I go out and  also when people visit me at home (but I don't care if it's just me and my husband at home).

All thru chemo and radiation for breast cancer, I made a point of wearing lipstick (also earrings) to doctor's appointments and treatments, though that was mostly to balance the fact that I was bald and felt like crap and was probably wearing yoga pants and baggy T-shirts since I felt so crappy.

But I had my dark lipstick! It was the one last remnant of femininity and beauty and non-cancer-y thing left, and I clung to it ferociously.

Do you wear makeup every day? Do you leave the house without makeup?

What I'm wearing: Black lace jacket, Macy's | Black skirt, NY & Company | Black tights, Calvin Klein | Black ribbon-tie pumps, Clarks | White silk print scarf, Target | Silver pearl earrings, vintage

CorpGoth Status Report: Lunch Time

This month's Status Report is about lunch! What is your weekday lunchtime like? What do you eat? Where? Solo or with others? Share a little bit about your lunch break...

I have a stealth motive here. See, my lunch is really boring. I'm rushed in the mornings, so I grab a Lean Cuisine (or similar frozen meal), and call it done. I eat lunch in front of my computer, leaving 20 to 30 minutes for the break total, including food prep time.

The only nice part is that, at every office I've worked, I try to bring my own reusable utensils and a cloth napkin. This is mostly to lessen the garbage generated (it's bad enough that I'm eating packaged food most days), and also to fancy up the meal a tiny bit. I have a bamboo-wood utensil set I bought at an environmental fair years ago, and I bought this napkin at the thrift store to test fabric stamp decorations on.

What I'd love to hear about is your lunches -- do you make your own meals? Do you have any tips for quick, relatively healthy lunches to go? I'm looking for ideas! Share what works for you. And even if you're like me on the easy lunch, or you have access to a cafeteria or someone else makes lunches for you, join in.

Tell about your weekday lunch routine in this CorpGoth Status Report through Wednesday, March 18. Post on your blog, and include the link in the comments.

I Love Lipstick

I freakin' love lipstick. It can be pretty, sexy, exotic, refined, hardcore, mysterious, elegant, outrageous, all kinds of things, and just with a couple of easy swipes.

Whether $5 at the drugstore or $30 at Sephora, it's a bargain considering how much bang it packs.

So many colors and effects, all drawing attention to the part of you through which your brain is most obvious: your mouth. I make my words carry extra weight by underlining them and giving them an exclamation point with lipstick.

Do you wear lipstick?

What I'm wearing: Red turtleneck sweater, Macy's | Black & white stripe sweater, White House Black Market | Black tights, Calvin Klein | Black patent pumps, unknown brand | Black & white beaded necklace & matching earrigns, made by me | Red lipstick, Makeup Forever

Fashion Frustrations

I've mentioned why I love wearing dresses so much -- they're easy! But they also fit me better. I'm short and curvy, and it's a million times simpler to find a dress or a skirt and top combo that fits my shape and looks good than it is to find pants.

People say "jeans are comfy," to which I say, bull. Only if you're certain special sizes. Jeans are never the right length for me, and the waistband usually gaps if it fits at the hip. Alterations are a huge bother (yes, I sew, but I loathe altering readymade clothing with the fire of 1,000 suns).

There is one fashiony thing I've always wished I could wear though -- jeans tucked into boots. It looks so cool, so chic! It would be goth-able in a Victorian riding habit kind of way, a little steampunk, a little casual-goth, with black jeans, tall black boots, and a nipped-waist velvet or military-style jacket.

But I can't because of the size issue. Not just the jeans, but worse:  There seemingly does not exist the combination of tall leather boots wide enough and skinny jeans skinny enough to make that combo work on me. I love the look, but it will never ever fit on my legs unless I have my legs amputated and get chicken-leg prosthetics. Even at my lowest recorded weight, I had huge calves (of course, to get to my lowest weight, I had to run 10k around my neighborhood regularly, which meant bulging leg muscles). So no jeans tucked into boots for me. EVER. Oh well.

My boots always have to be worn with tights and skirts or dresses, not jeans, not even leggings.

Are there any fashion frustrations you deal with, major or minor?

What I'm wearing: Burgundy peplum sweater, Anthropologie | Black T-shirt, Old Navy | Black corduroy skirt, H&M | Black tights, Calvin Klein | Burgundy boots, DSW | Burgundy & grey pearls, Salamanca Designs | Silver & purple dangly earrings, gift from Lisa

Trust Imagination

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night

He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing, stretching every nerve
I had to listen had no choice

I did not believe the information
I just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom, boom, boom
Son, he said, grab your things I've come to take you home

To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut

So I went from day to day
Though my life was in a rut
Till I thought of what I'd say
And which connection I should cut

I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom, boom, boom
Son, he said, grab your things I've come to take you home

When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free

Watched by empty silhouettes
Close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
So I will show another me

Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom, boom, boom
Hey, I said, you can keep my things they've come to take me home
--Peter Gabriel, "Solsbury Hill"

What I'm wearing: Black piped jacket, Speigel | Black skirt with lace accents, NY & Company | Burgundy & black stripe tights, We Love Colors | Black heeled boots, Aerosoles | Black skull scarf, gift from my husband | Dangly jet earrings, random accessory store

CorpGoth Status Report: What's for Lunch?

Subject: What do you eat for lunch on a typical workday? Do you brown-bag it, eat at a cafeteria, or go out? Do you eat with coworkers or solo? Do you work through lunch? Do you do something else during your lunch break, like take a walk, run errands, or go to the gym? If you work from home, do you make a fresh meal and play with your pets or kids? Tell us something about your midday break in this report.

Due Date: Monday, March 16 to Wednesday, March 18

How to File Your Report:

1. Post to your blog on or around the due dates.

2. Include the following code in your post so the This Is CorpGoth Mid-Month Status Report graphic will display (if you're using Blogger or WordPress, switch to the 'HTML post' setting & then paste this code in):

<a href="http://corpgoth.blogspot.com/search/label/corpgoth%20status%20report"><img border="0" src="http://www.trystancraft.com/corpgoth/corpgothstatusreport.jpg" /></a>

3. Comment on my Monday the 16th post including your blog link.

4. Read everyone else's reports via their links in the comments!