Bijou Box arm party!

Hey all! I'm feeling MUCH better now and would like you to join me in the cutest arm party brought to you by Bijou Box! I got to know this little shop through the Storenvy forums and I've got to tell you...Shannon, the owner, is just too sweet. How sweet? She's happily decided to partner with me for the May Giveaway! By week's end I'll post the giveaway goodies up for grabs so you can enter to win them, but for now I'll just tease you with a little peek at the super fun bracelets Shannon designs. So remember...it's Bijou Box on Storenvy and Bijou_Box on Instagram to see all the fun ways you can style Shannon's designs!
Don't you think they look so great stacked on like this?

 *Also, if you'd like to join me in one of the monthly giveaways offered here, I would love to have you. There are more details on my buttons & sponsors page and feel free to email me at any time!*

tele-photos...

most of this past week was spent under a mountain of blankets, used tissues, medicines, vitamins, orange juice and any movie based on a Jane Austen novel that the internet could bring to me. so since the surprisingly sunny weekend weather couldn't be fully enjoyed by me, I'll post some telephone photos from my Instagram feed that I hadn't gotten around to sharing here yet...

1. Cute sewing boxes on mega sale!

2. a new Spring skirt made from Ikea fabric.

3. the glorious machine I've been too sick to use. grrrr!! 

4. on the road to Tillamook, OR. 

5. mini road trip to Seaside, OR

6. Seaside carousel

7. Seaside beaches

8. pale-faced and concerned 

9. what happens with a conveyor belt of sushi

10. what makes me feel better on a sick day

Novelty...and a winner

This OOTD pretty much resembles my daily uniform. You know...tights, novelty print skirt, and tank with a cropped cardi. I thought I would've been able to ditch the tights by now, but alas, no luck! The sun comes out every once and a while but tends to fade quickly. It's alright. You know how it goes...when its cloudy you want the sun, when it's sunny you want the clouds! At least I think that's my story. Also, sorry for the no shoes action, but do you wear shoes when you're walking around your house?

*WINNER of the April giveaway is GISELE H!*

Email me your info so I can send the sweet items you've just won at mysweetspy@gmail.com

 **Don't forget to enter the May Giveaway that will be up next week sponsored in part by a little online shop. Of course I'll post more about it next week!**
 

sunny day in vintage heaven...

Today was spent walking around Hawthorne (one of my fave places in Portland), eating Thai food, gawking at beautiful homes, and browsing through gorgeous vintage. If I could have I would've come home with a "new to me" living room. Wouldn't you?! and so, through the eyes of Instagram...

and I'm back...

I don't have my usual kind of post ready yet, but I thought I would share just how much I adore Instagram filters! Last week we went in search of the Pittock Mansion in Portland, got a little turned around and just ended up exploring the mansion's grounds since it was a bit late to take a tour inside. It wasn't raining for once, but it was still dreary out. I only had my iphone for photos which takes great pictures on its own, but combined with the filters on Instagram...well I went a little filter happy!
For example...

 

**P.S. I'll pick and contact the winner of the April Giveaway next week on the 25th. You can still enter by clicking on the icon for it in the sidebar. Giveaway closes on the 23rd. thanks!

A sneak peek...

...at what I'm wearing on this Saturday afternoon. This Target dress I've seen on just about everyone, but I really love how it's never really styled the same way! Every girl puts her own spin on it. I've seen it worn with a cute jean crop top over it, as a tunic over skinny jeans, as a summery dress with sandals and sunnies... I've shortened it and added a thick strip of black velvet at the bottom and paired it with a soft red cardigan and lace tank top so that it's still warm enough to wear out in this semi-dreary weather.

dream of the 90s...

...because I just can't stop watching every movie that Ethan Hawke made in the 90s. Those movies are seriously the greatest! Come on...you know you love Reality Bites. How could you not? Oh and Christian Slater...Pump Up The Volume holds a special place in my soul, for sure. Also my playlists are so full of Pulp, Blur and Belle & Sebastian that hardly any new music can infiltrate it! Okay, what year is it? 2012? I'll join you guys soon...

 

...for now I'll just dream I was sitting here with these guys...

 

 

 

oh, how I wish this was an outfit post...

...because if it were, then that would mean that I would have had the time to care about what I was wearing, set up some camera contraption, maybe comb my hair and take the photos. Instead I've spent the last couple of days going through this corner of the room...

 ...and this corner...

  ...and adding some of my closet finds to the shops... 

          ...along with freshly made ones...

 I still have a lot to organize and go through, but at least now I can close the doors and I have a better idea of what clothes and accessories are in there. I thought about organizing it by colors, polka dots, stripes, solids, florals...but that might be a little much. Don't you think? 

April Giveaway! *CLOSED*

Guess what guys?! I'll be posting a fun giveaway for you all to enter once a month!
  This month, the winner will receive a Spring heart garland handmade by me with vintage fabric. I just love these heart garlands! Over windows, doorways, book shelves, as a bundle hung on a door knob.... There are more of them for sale in the PiccadillyLilly shops, too.
  The lucky winner will also receive this metal flower necklace and the cutest little buttons ever! These items are from Fuego. Fuego has become one of my very favorite shops since moving to Washington. Aside from being full of tons of pretty curiosities, it also employs some of the sweetest ladies around!

*There are 2 ways to enter*

1. Become a follower of this blog (via Google or email- both can be found in the sidebar) and leave a comment telling me you've done so. 

-AND/OR-

2. Since not everyone has GoogleFriendConnect. Follow me on Instagram and leave another comment telling me you've done so.Username: piccadillylilly

*If you are able and willing to follow me on both, then that's 2 comments and 2 entries for you!*

I'll post the winner of this giveaway at the end of the month, along with a new giveaway for May! The giveaways are just going to get better so please be nice and don't follow then unfollow later...it makes the centaurs in the forest very sad.

Writing too much...

Have I told you yet that I, in true catastrophe waitress form, broke my most beloved heart shaped ceramic baking dish?

so broken hearted

I can't tell you how many vegan chocolate cakes that heart and mine created together. (Here it is in all it's glory) Ah...so today I went in search of a new one because a square shaped one just won't do.
In my quest, I "just happened" to find myself across the street from Jo Ann Fabrics.
      Lately I have made a point to stop by and take a look around. I don't always buy fabric, but I do love walking through all the pretty colors and patterns for inspiration. Also, for the last few months I've made a special visit to this Singer beauty I posted many weeks back.
      I say "hello" to it, I thread the needle, the sweet ladies let me demo the stitches, it (apparently) stars in my phone photos; but am I ever going to spend the MSRP of $599.99 on it? Oh heck no!! Why would I? I mean sure, my machine looks like a joke in comparison to this glorious machine, but it gets the job done.
Oh, but today... today I walked by and a very tiny sign was taped onto the top of the machine. Not a big, flashy sale sign just a white piece of paper with a new price typed on it. A new price that would only last for so long. A new price that meant I could possibly hope again! Almost half off and then some because the box of the only one in stock had been opened, but the machine untouched.
      Today I took a leap of faith. No. Not a leap. I freaking pole vaulted. I went completely old school and put it on lay away. You heard read me.

practice stitching

      I would never put something on lay away and I would never advise anyone else to do it either. If you can't afford it, you can't afford it. Sorry, if it's that or food? Food wins, but there are rare things that you have to claim before they pass you by and to me, this was it. I never saw this Singer as just another object, another sewing machine. It has been that which I've lusted over, but realized it will never be. Like an afternoon with Jim Carrey. That machine was always the embodiment of my big dream. My passions, materialized. It's my hope for a future in which I get to live doing what I've always wanted and what makes me happy. So slowly, but definitely surely, I'll get to create masterpieces with the magic that flows through that needle.
      Long story short...my slow (I mean snail-like) pace of an income better get a move on! Before leaving the store I had sold one of my floret rings to another customer, my hair bow to the cashier and if I had another purse with me I may have parted with my Jason Wu for Target daisy print handbag to the sweet woman who had become enamored with it. Basically if you want to buy something off my back, I'll sell it to you.
     Why? because I have more than most and I've started something that I plan on successfully finishing. Dreams deserve that, don't they? They are dreams that I know will not come easily or quickly, but I am bold enough. 

...and if you read through all of that. Then you are rewarded with this sweet photo of Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis and Winona Ryder as his child bride. It's one of my favorite scenes from that movie. Their faces in that moment look so familiar.