Happy Birthday @elizabethhales ! My life has been 1000x better because I have you as my friend. You have been one of the greatest blessings in my life. Thank you for being you. My heart overfloweth. 💗👯♀️💗
Creativity gives me so much life. This is a reminder to myself that my creative expression in all its different forms is important to me and my well being. And the second photo is a reminder to me to stop freakin stressing about it and just have FUN with it. Remind me to get out of my own way sometimes! 😜
Please take 30 seconds right now to go vote for me! The polls close tomorrow night and you only have to vote the one time. Link in bio for easy access. Bonus karma points if you have the next person you see take 30 seconds to vote for me. Thank you @millie_rose_mitchell for the cute poster! 😘
Have yourself a merry little Christmas! (And that’s just what I did.) Whether you’re naughty or nice or a combo of both, we all deserve hope, peace, love, and joy this day and every day! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good life!
I put a spell on you, and now you’re mine! Here’s my 3 different Halloween costumes this year: Winnifred Sanderson of Hocus Pocus. Grandma Yetta of The Nanny. And a vampire murder mystery character of 1000 year old vampire Viking shield maiden who now owns a nightclub. Zero dollars spent, everything found within my closet. 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
I was working an event in Waco Texas with @nomadartisanco at @visitmagnolia and we were pretty much the only ones in costume. So of course we ran amuck amuck amuck! A surprisingly large number of people have not heard of or seen the movie so we did a lot of educating. And it was such a joy to play with others who did recognize us!! Especially all the children. They were delicious snacks in between cupcakes.
The Nanny is one of my all time favorite sitcoms! I was injured the week before this particular party and needed a cane and a cushion to function. So since I was feeling like a grandma, I was gonna look like a fabulous hilarious one.
The vampire murder mystery party was so much fun and it was a fun challenge for a costume. Do I go actual Viking or a modern interpretation? I decided on modern Viking nightclub wear cause I don’t go to clubs at all. 😂 It’s a more subtle costume for sure, but it was a fun creative exercise!
Of course I’m gonna geek out about the fashion and costuming of Elvis. Seeing the clothing on mannequins of his size I could easily picture how everyone could swoon in his charismatic presence. ‘Every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man’! There’s way too many clothing pieces to show, but it was really cool to see the evolution of fashion from the 1950’s-70’s not just in normal everyday clothes but also in terms of entertainer performance costuming and how that has influenced other performers over the years. I think the iconic jumpsuits have been copied, made fun of, and cheesed up over the decades that I was genuinely surprised at how beautiful and well crafted they actually are. Maybe in the video at the end you’ll see more details. His wedding suit to Priscilla (the back of her dress is stunning 😍) was emulated by Uncle Jesse’s wedding suit in Full House. Another fun fact, the character was named for Elvis’s twin brother Jesse and John Stamos narrated the audio tours at Graceland.
It’s THE pink Cadillac! 🤩😍 So fabulous and fun and quirky I can’t help falling in love with it even more. Such a fab collection of vintage transportation. I’d really love to own a classic car some day. It’s definitely gonna be a pastel color of some sort. Probably gonna need some stripes and fringe like that jeep too.✨
GRACELAND! I finally made it to the home of The King, remedying an old regret of mine. I had a chance to visit in middle school but I turned it down to hang out with ‘cool older girls’. I had a crap time with them and wished I had done what I really wanted to do. But I learned a valuable lesson. Middle School Whitney would of had a great time, but More Grown Up Whitney could appreciate what she was seeing even more. So many fun cool weird details from eras and design trends gone by. An entire room covered in a busy fabric?! Ya know, I kind of dig it. When I walked into Elvis’s kitchen, I felt like I stepped straight into my Pop’s kitchen. Everything about it was instantly familiar.
*Cue Carmen San Diego Theme Song.* I’ve traveled about 30,498 miles in the past 6.5 months. 18913 by air, 10103 by car, 907 by train, 215 by boat, and 360 by foot. Four countries and dozens of covid tests later, if I were to put that all together in a straight line I would have circled the earth one time and be a quarter of the way into my second time. (By the end of Oct it’ll be almost halfway.) Its so freakin cool and random! All of this travel has been completely unanticipated and unplanned. The most advanced noticed I ever had was 3 weeks. I kept saying yes to opportunities so I guess opportunities kept saying yes to me. 😆 I’ll do my best to share my whirlwind adventures!
I like bowling, it’s right up my alley. 🎳 This adorable 8 lane alley has been open since 1936 and has lots of fun throwback details, like the overhead score sheets you write by hand! (You can see the shadow of a hand on pic 7.) A moment of victory was captured, but most of my bowls were like the last pic. My vintage embroidered ‘Patricia’ shirt felt bowling league appropriate for the occasion. Why would I wear someone else’s name on a shirt? That’s just how I roll. 🎳
Today I will wear lingerie and a crown cause it’s my birthday! Here’s to another trip around the sun. Some times it feel like a miracle I’ve made it this far. Some times I feel good, beautiful, sexy, and strong. Always learning to love where I’m at, love where I’m heading, and love where I’ve been that got me to where I am now. Life is hard. Wear the lingerie. Dance awkwardly in the cross walk. Do good things for yourself. Embrace your flaws and know you are awesome regardless. Thanks @ragoshapewear for helping me feel good and rock my curves. This one piece shapewear holds and enhances just where it should. Thanks @playfulpromises for stocking these stems. Thanks @allavolkovafilm for being a rockstar photographer. Thanks @elizabethhales for being my BFF and emotional support human.
I don’t always need to experience palaces or landmarks, but sometimes I just need to experience things I don’t get to see everyday. (Although it was really awesome to finally see the Hall of Mirrors in person.) And if there’s beautiful nature attached to it I’m extra happy! It can be somewhere across the world, or somewhere across the street I haven’t been to before. Every so often I need to fill up my soul with an adventure of some kind. Then I can continue on with my usual routine, which I like most of the time. Sometimes you just need a bit of spicy green curry to break up the classic bread and butter. I might be doing a cross country USA road trip here in the next few weeks so hit me with your favorite places between Florida and Los Angeles!
