Thank You

I wanted to thank everyone who emailed me the past couple days regarding my last post. For those confused as to why they couldn't find a way to comment, I did remove my commenting for the time being, just to clear my head. I like reading your guys' comments, though so I will be reinstalling my commenting soon. Sometimes you just have to silence all the voices and learn to distinguish your own voice again.

I got so many emails from the kindest and most supportive readers that it would be nearly impossible to reply to each one. It was so wonderful to get emails from people who truly appreciated my blog but were totally supportive of any decision I made, whether it was bidding adieu to the blogosphere, or continuing, or posting less frequently, etc. It was so meaningful to me that so many of you cared enough to send an email and truly wanted what is best for me. I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling this way, and I've always felt like the blogosphere was a place where we could go and be like, "Oh, I'm not the only one!" Many of you thanked me for sharing my own frustrations, but I want to thank you guys for sharing your frustrations and thoughts. It's easy to get caught up in your own life and think that no one relates to what you're going through, but that's so false. There is so much to be gained from sharing our mutual experiences as human beings, and I think that's one of the big things that drew me to blogging in the first place.

The Existential Crisis

You've probably noticed I haven't been posting very much lately. I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but blogging just hasn't been something I've wanted to do recently. My relationship with the internet has been rocky, and I'm not it's biggest fan. Every time I go to write a post, it ends up being a huge rant about how shitty the internet is and how mad I am at it. The godawful pinterest comments I see on people's pins, body hate, internet bullying, hateful commenters hiding behind the veil of anonymity. Lately my bullshit tolerance has been too low to be able to enjoy the internet without the prevailing toxicity of these things tainting my ability to contribute in a way that isn't just a huge rant. Coming to the blogosphere used to be something that felt positive in my life and recently it hasn't been. Maybe this is just blogger burnout on my part, or maybe the climate online really is shifting, I'm not sure.

Honestly, sometimes I just want to quit blogging. I'm tired of the stress. I'm tired of rude, random people who feel like it's their God-given right to infuse negative commentary into my life. I'm tired of the rat race of trying to keep up with everyone else, putting together the best outfits or the most clever DIY's, or the tastiest looking recipes. I'm tired of spending most of my time behind a computer screen. I'm tired of the drama. I'm tired of seeing godawful comments on people's pins on pinterest. I'm tired of checking stats. And I'm wondering, what would it be like to just... stop. To just delete Delightfully Tacky and move on. What would I do with all that time?

always cheerful dress/courtesy of modcloth :: shoes/courtesy of blowfish :: glasses/target

belt/souvenir from calico, ca :: bag/courtesy of handbag heaven :: top/courtesy of free people

I want to move to the woods and have a garden where I grow all my own food, a wood stove to heat our house, and a studio where I can create art. I want to open a clothing boutique in Tacoma. I want to move back to Alaska and be near my family. I want to become a better photographer and go around the country capturing beautiful and amazing things and people. I want to revamp the Winne into a mobile vintage shop or coffee shop. I want to move to Greece and live on the Mediterranean. I want to buy a house and build a huge garden full of delicious fruits and veggies and herbs.

I don't really know where I "belong" as far as blogging goes. Yeah yeah, I know, forge your own path, create your own niche, etc. After 4 years of blogging and too many blogging conferences I've heard it all. But I guess I don't know what I want to blog about to even begin trying to forge a path or niche or whatever. I think I sort of accidentally became a fashion/style blogger. And then I was all, "well, I love making stuff and being crafty and DIYing stuff, maybe I should post more of that stuff?" So I did. But I'm so inconsistent with it, and inspiration for making things comes in spurts. And I like making food and drinks, but similarly=inconsistent. I'm not a food blogger, I'm not a travel blogger, I'm not a crafty blogger, I'm not a fashion blogger, I'm not a mommy blogger, I'm not an outdoorsy blogger. I've always just babbled on about this or that, or whatever I'm feeling passionate about in that moment. I guess maybe I want to fit into a niche. I want to know what the hell I'm supposed to be doing here on my blog. I know, It's my blog so I can do whatever I want to do, but I don't know what that is. What do I want to do? What do I want to write about? What do I want to do with this one wild and precious life of mine?

Life Lately

Man, this week is kicking my butt, hence the dearth of posts. In addition to work, blog designing, and my e-course, it's also been super nasty outside. Today I tried to go out for outfit pictures and almost immediately the sun was eliminated by a huge dark cloud followed by crazy wind and rain! Foiled. Oh well. This weekend looks like it could be nice, so that'll be refreshing.

My new job seems to be going okay. I don't feel super confident about it, but I've been doing alright. It's probably just that new-job feeling paired with my neurotic, perfectionist personality. I have been adjusting pretty well, though, to my new schedule, oddly enough. I'm a natural night owl, so waking up before 10 am has always been rough, but I think something about living with Dan makes it easier to get up in the morning. He gets up before me and I think feeling him get up and hearing him moving around the house kind of stirs me from my heavy slumber. Plus, he makes breakfast, which is awesome. I've pretty much always skipped breakfast because I'd rather sleep than eat breakfast. Today he made french toast, yum! What a guy. Of course, maybe he's just trying to win our competition to be the first to get 6-pack abs by feeding me delicious things. Yeah, we're having a silly competition to see who can get a 6-pack first. What?

Bluebeard coffee before work from my pal Amy // Some crazy pants at target. No, I didn't end up getting them, but I am considering going back because they're awesome // Super fun lipsticks from Lime Crime! // Finagled my hair into an updo. Also, bright lipstick! // A date with Dan at 1022. Drinking the PDX & Gravity's Rainbow, yum // A new dress & shoes from Modcloth & Blowfish (taken as I was about to take outfit pix... and then the storm rolled in) // rock climbing on a sunny day // New glasses from glassesusa. Not really that happy with them... meh. Oh well!

Are you on Instagram? My username is DelightTacky!

Red Light, Green Light

One of my favorite blogs to read is Tom & Lorenzo (originally Project Rungay).  I started reading their blog back when my Mom & I would watch Project Runway together and their commentary was just too hilarious.  They now blog about a ton of shows, including Mad Men and The Walking Dead, fashion, and celeb style and it's still one of my favorite blogs.  They often criticize celebs for wearing matchy-matchy accessories on the red carpet, wishing those ladies would opt for more exciting shoe/clutch choices and as I was putting on this outfit, finding myself drawn towards a matchy shoe, Tom & Lorenzo popped up on my shoulders like two little fashion angels and told me to add a pop of a contrasting color instead.  Who knows if this would actually be a TLo endorsed outfit, but I thought it was funny how they've made their way into my morning routine.

I just realized that I'm wearing the outfit version of a stoplight.  Red, Yellow, and Green.  For some reason this outfit feels more like color-blocking than print-mixing.  I just love the way these three colors look together in this outfit.

cardigan + dress/courtesy of modcloth :: hat/thrifted :: bag/courtesy of handbag heaven

shoes/courtesy of blowfish :: shades/vintage :: lipstick/centrifucshia by Lime Crime

My new job has been going pretty well.  I'm sorta getting in the groove.  Yesterday I biked to work, which felt pretty great.  It's a 15 minute ride, which isn't bad.  It's so odd how as soon as summer hits, people in cars start being more and more rude to cyclists (or at least that's what I've experienced).  Perhaps motorists just feel bad for us in the winter all bundled up, getting soaking wet and muddy.  Or maybe they are yelling at us, but since their windows are rolled up we can't hear them.  Tacoma's mostly a pretty bike friendly town, in that motorists usually give you room on the road and generally aren't mean, at least in the area I ride.  May is Bike to Work month here in Tacoma, so hopefully that will see more cyclists on the road, getting cars used to seeing us.

I just read this article at Momentum Magazine about a woman's perspective on riding, which I thought was pretty good.  I always enjoy seeing articles which encourage women to ride more, and which advocate riding in "normal clothes."  While I definitely wear more bike-friendly outfits on days when I ride, those outfits are never out of my normal style– typically dresses and wedges or something of that ilk.  There are few adjustments to be made here & there for an outfit to be bike-friendly, but overall I think it's totally do-able to wear your normal clothes when riding.  It's a bit more difficult for women than men, as I know women are probably less enchanted with the prospect of being sweaty and winded at their destination.  Thankfully my commute doesn't involve too much sweat (except for the killer hill right before I arrive at work, ugh).

A Rescued Ride

Like my green floral dress, this is another dress I got in the middle of winter, but couldn't resist the beautiful springy print.  I'd actually had my eye on this dress for many many months and ended up grabbing right before it sold out completely.  The print is just irresistibly vintage and it'll be the perfect sundress once summer decides to show its bright shining face.  On this particular day, however, it was too chilly to shed the ubiquitous denim jacket.

dress + shoes/courtesy of modcloth :: jacket/lulu*s :: flower crown/DIY

As you can see, this is the bike that has been rusting away on the side of our house for who knows how long.  Under all the rust, though it's really cute, and I'd love to add a couple baskets to it and turn it into my farmer's market bike.  It's the perfect height and the step through frame will be great for wearing dresses and dismounting less awkwardly than I do now with my fixie.  It needs a lot of work.  There's a ton of rust and the brake lines are totally nasty, so I think I'm going to try to take advantage of 2nd Cycle, which is this great volunteer-run community bike shop with lots of used parts and bike-smart people hanging around to ask for help.