THE BRAVE // a new dream hatching

 sent a letter out to my VIP list folks last night talking about fear and how I'm learning to rewire my response to fear (sidenote: calling it my "VIP" list feels weird since I consider all of you VIP's, so you guys should come up with a better name for it.  I hate the word newsletter, so boring.  Ideas? The Brave Report?)  I'm excited to lean into fear, rather than recoil.  Well, maybe not excited about the fear part, but I'm excited to see where living into fear takes me.  I need to do a recap of TxSC because I was so inspired to go for some new dreams that I hadn't even considered, but there are various fears attached with going for new dreams, and I'm not going to let those fears keep me from hunting them down.

One of my big fears is failure, or trying something that ends up not working out (which feels like failure, too).  Over the past few years I've hesitated to mention any of my new dreams here on the blog for fear of it not working out or people being disappointed if I don't end up following through.  I've been going back through my archives pulling favorite outfits for my #flashbackfriday posts and I was reminded how recklessly open I was about so many dreams, the Brave in particular.  So here goes nothing: I'm planning another Brave trip (once you say it, you have to do it right?! Ahhh!).  I have weddings to shoot this summer and so I'm tied to Tacoma for the next 6-ish months, but I'm not going to take on any fall/winter weddings after the last one I have booked in October, and I'll have a similar timeline for leaving in the fall like I did 5 years ago.  On my first trip I left on Sept 20th and returned Dec 20th, and I'm not sure what the duration of this one will be, but it's definitely planned to be cross-country again, and since it's in the winter (again) I'll be heading south on a similar-ish route as last time to keep warm, though I would like to make it further up the east coast on this trip (maybe hitting NY if it's not too cold?).

 



Can we all take a moment to appreciate this needle + thread parking job?  I'm standing against the house on the opposite side of the alley from the winne to take this photo.  I'm pretty sure if the Brave was 2 ft longer it wouldn't have made the turn.  There's about 2.5 feet on either side (closer, if you count the eaves/gutters).  This is the Winne's current home.  Kristi lived here for about 6 months and I have another friend moving in for the next couple months.  

Last time my trip was very much an inward journey.  It was a healing journey for me and something I needed to do for myself.  I needed the trip to fill myself back up after going through my breakup, feeling a bit lost after graduating from college, and wanting to fulfill a lifelong dream.  This time, I feel like I want to fill others.  I want this trip to give back to people, so I'll be starting a podcast/vlogcast (or both?!  I haven't decided!) called The Brave (I'm very clever) and on my journeys I'll be visiting rad chicks who are kicking ass and taking names, inviting them into The Brave studio (i.e. the kitchen table) and chatting with them about life, dreams, confidence, feminism, creativity, and more.

The Brave needs some TLC, she hasn't seen a lot of action in the last few years, so I'm wanting to semi-gut her and give her some new life with a renovation, which I really would love to document here on the blog as well!  Last year I ripped out the old brown carpet (it was ugly and not even original) and installed this new flooring, and I also installed a new butcher block countertop, but I'm noticing that it's already warping (anyone else have this problem??), so I might have to re-do that, but hopefully I can salvage it.  The windows in the back are pretty leaky and have completely destroyed the wood veneer walls, so I'll probably be gutting the walls and giving it some kind of new treatment.  It'd be nice (for both time and money reasons) to not have to completely gut her, but we'll see how far I have to go once I see the extent of the damage and what I can work with.  

I'm actually kind of excited about giving her a fresh interior.  When I first went on my search for the perfect Brave I was hot and heavy into vintage surfaces and textures.  I was a dyed in the wool maximalist in my visual preferences and had a pretty strong penchant for faux wood.  I found a winne that was pretty close to original, with a few exceptions, like the carpet and upholstery.  Being forced to give her a new look due to water damage gives me a chance to give her a new look that fits my current personal style and I'm excited to see how she ends up looking by the end of the summer!  As of now, I know I'll be painting her, reupholstering the rear benches, and making new curtains.  The bathroom will probably need new walls, and I definitely need to figure out a way to seal the windows so they don't ruin the walls again.

I don't know if Dan will come with me, I think he was excited about it being another solo journey for me.  I may or may not take Dusty.  She's an amazing car dog, so I think she'd had a blast.  On my original trip I'd wanted to take a dog of my own, but the thought of bringing a puppy on the road seemed like not a great idea, which is why Little Bit came with me as my travel companion.  Those are all details which will be worked out much closer when I leave, though.   One large part of prep will be figuring out the financial aspect.  Needless to say, driving a 1973 Winnebago across the country isn't the cheapest way to travel.  Last time I went on a Winne trip I was living at home in my parents' basement rent free (and eating free too), saving all of my money to pay for my trip.  This time I've got a husband, utilities, insurance, mortgage, etc., which means I'll be hustling a lot more to be able to pull this trip off, but I believe in it and I know I can make it happen.   I'm launching my new photography guide, PHOTOBOMB!, this week, and all of the proceeds from my shop will be going directly into my Brave fund to get that girl both in tip-top shape for the road and also go to gas and lodging, though hopefully this time around I can park in more blog friends' driveways to save on RV parks!  If you want to head over to the shop and snag PHOTOBOMB! for 10% off, use the code "NewDT" at checkout* to get a discount!  It's sort of like a Kickstarter, except you don't have to wait to get your thank-you gift for supporting!  I'm planning on launching a couple more new courses and guides, and so all of those will also be in support of the Brave. *expires 4/6/15 I'm really excited, and a little nervous, to bring this all to life.  Truth be told, I had thought about selling the Winne just over a month ago, to help alleviate financial strain (and to reclaim my backyard).  I couldn't bring myself to do it, though, feeling like the Brave had more to teach me and share with others, I just didn't know what.  The Brave gave to me in so many ways and I want her to give to you guys now.  I'm trusting that in some crazy way I'll be able to facilitate that.  So get ready, ya'll.  The Brave is ready to come cruising on into your life this year, so you'd better make room!  (appx. 22ft x 8ft, so you can plan accordingly.)

get back on your feet

o, you know you're spread a little thin when you find out, 30 minutes into work, that your shift is going to be 3 hours longer than you anticipated because you mis-read the schedule, and you had planned on using those 3 hours to catch up on a bunch of stuff you need to do.  Crying in the back room and *subtly* wiping away tears while sweeping up crumbs around the cafe wasn't what I'd had planned for yesterday.  Being spread too thin is no fun, and hopefully this week I can try to get my ducks in their rows (or at least some semblance of order) so I'm not so overcommitted.  I feel like overcommitment sneaks up on you slowly.  I mean, I'm not surprised that I'm spread thin, I'm well aware that I have way too many irons in the fire, but I was surprised at how a little thing like being at work 3 more hours totally unraveled me.  Luckily I work at a coffee shop, so I basically just mainlined some drip and got over it. The best thing was, I ended up having enough time after work to get the stuff done that I needed to do (costuming and choreo work for my Adventures in Oz act next month), and rehearsal last night was amazing.  I missed last week's rehearsal because I was in Texas for TxSC Camp and last night I got to see everyone's acts as we ran through the show from start to finish for the first time this year.  Everything is finally coming together, and I even felt pretty damn confident about my own act, which took a lot of stress and worry away and replaced it with excitement!  I still have way too much on my plate for the time being (next thing to freak out about: Taxes!), but feeling like my burlesque act is under my belt is a huge relief.  If any of you guys are local to the Seattle area and want to come to the show, it's going to be SO much fun.  Tickets are now on sale, and last year it sold out, so I'd get your tickets sooner than later!  If you can't make the Tacoma showing on April 18th, we're also doing the show again the next weekend, April 25th, in Olympia!  Tickets are on sale for that show as well! 
 

top/courtesy of volume 25 :: blazer (similar)+ shorts/courtesy of modcloth shoes/courtesy of blowfish shoes :: necklace/gift

a colorful modcloth wish list + giveaway!

I don't know if it's the graphic designer in me or what, but any time I go to put together a wish list, I always want to separate things by color.  Today I'm doing a giveaway for a $100 gift certificate to ModCloth, but I also wanted to share some of my favorite things, inspired by the new design's color scheme!  Things have been really spring-y here in the PNW so I'm feeling really inspired by spring colors and outfits.  With festival season starting, there are a ton of festival-style wish lists popping up, and while I love festival/bohemian style as much as the next girl, right now I'm much more into graphic, bold, colorful styles.   What style are you feeling right now?  Has festival fever hit you yet?  I actually have never been to a music festival before!  I'm not super into music and going to concerts, but I would love to go to a music festival one day.  We've got some big ones here in Washington.  I have lots of friends who have done Sasquatch, and quite a few who have gone down to California for Coachella, but the tickets are pretty steep and I'm just not in the loop to pay attention to when they go on sale and such.  Are any of you planning on going to a music festival this year?  Which one?  Have you gone in the past?  Was it awesome?  Tell me all the things!

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6  // (shoes in top photo)

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6
1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5  // 6  // 7

1 // 2  // 3 // 4 // 5

#FLASHBACKFRIDAY // hopin' for raleigh

o, Delightfully Tacky has been around for almost 7 years.  Crazy.  I can't think of anything I've done for 7 years straight, other than maybe breathing.  And eating.  Some of you have been around that long (kudos, long-haulers!), but I have a feeling quite a few of you are newer and don't have the time to scroll back through 1,973 blog posts to get the whole backstory.  While my style isn't the same as it was 2, 3, 4 years ago, I still love some of those old outfits and outfit photos, so I wanted to share those!  Flashback Friday is so common on instagram, so I figured why not do a flashback friday on the blog?  I think it's super fun to not only look back on the outfits I put together in the past, but also read the posts and remember where I was and what was going on in life at the time.  

I used to take photos down at this truck/dock all the time when I lived at home in Anchorage.  The lot next door to our house was basically vacant, except for the floatplane dock and this truck that never moved.  Now, there's a giant house on the lot and a family lives there!  It's so weird to go home and have a big house next door instead of a forest and empty lot.  Also, I haven't picked up the guitar in at least a year.  I like music but over the years I've realized that it doesn't bring my soul alive the way it does in my friends who are musicians.  I like music, I like listening to music and as a creative person I appreciate it as an artform, but I've realized it's not my artform.  I'm visual through and through.  Give me all the visual arts.  

On another note: I can't figure out for the life of me how I got my bangs so damn perfect all the time back then...

I'm Hopin' For Raleigh // June 27, 2010

I was so excited when Maria of Lulu Letty joined the Delightful Dozen. She has such great style and I couldn't wait to see what she put up for swap. I was so thrilled that she put up her Lulu Letty ModCloth dress! I remember seeing it on her when she was featured on ModCloth and I fell in love with the simple chambray dress. It actually reminds me a lot of the dress I styled up at the Revolve photo shoot, only way less expensive!

dress(similar)/lulu letty modcloth dress (swap via Delightful Dozen)
boots(similar)/ minnetonka :: belt/forever 12 :: scarf/courtesy of Rare Treasure

Secret time: I play guitar. I'm not that great at it, but I do the best I can. I don't really have enough time in the day to practice all the time. This guitar is actually my little brother's but he stopped playing guitar years ago, so I have "borrowed" it. Both of my guitars got left in Washington when I moved up here. I'm excited to grab them when I drive through Washinton on my trip. Hopefully I'll have more time to play, and maybe actually finish one of my own songs. I have a music myspace, but all the songs I've posted are covers. Nothing fancy, just recorded with my Mac and GarageBand.

A guitar is the best accessory, though. Anyone looks about 100 times cooler the instant they're holding a guitar. And boys become 100 times more attractive with a guitar, pretty much universally. Why is this? I am not sure. Maybe it has something to do with guitar players knowing what to do with their hands... haha! I think people who play music use their brains in a different way too. The visual mentality is pretty ingrained in me, and I try to make my brain think in a more musical way, but it's not natural for it to be like that. It's more of a second language than a first language. Consequently, I'm not very confident when it comes to my music. Hopefully with more practice I'll gain a little confidence.

ona bowery giveaway!

ith my new photography site and blog design launching, I knew I wanted to celebrate by giving away some of my favorite things.  I've been using ONA's Union Street bag for a few years now and love it, but I've always coveted the smaller, leather Bowery camera bag.  I still don't have one (some day!), but I am giving one away to one lucky reader!  Seriously, this bag is so gorgeous, the perfect size for carrying daily, and having used an ONA bag for years (and just being able to tell from the obvious craftsmanship), it'll last a lifetime.  
When I first discovered ONA years ago I was so excited to finally find a beautifully crafted camera bag that, really, didn't look like a camera bag at all.  I was used to stuffing my ugly standard camera bag inside of my cute purse to keep my camera safe, or just putting my camera in my purse sans camera bag, being super careful to keep it from dropping or banging against anything.  ONA makes such high quality, gorgeous bags designed to keep a camera safe and sound while simultaneously looking beautiful and non-camera-bag-y, so I'm really excited to give away a bag that's been on my personal wish-list for years.
bag/ONA ::cardigan(similar)/courtesy of ruche :: jeans/courtesy of modcloth boots/vogue footwear :: necklace/moorea seal :: top/cosette