Category Archives: FUN

Growing Out a Pixie Cut

I’m getting my hair cut tomorrow. Just my bangs! No, I’m not going back to the pixie. Admittedly, I have been tempted many times over the past year. Particularly when I was at the NARTS conference this summer and there was a girl there, approximately the same size as me, same hair color, similar face shape, same name even…with an adorable pixie cut. But no, I’m ready for long locks again.

Anyway, since I’m thinking about hair (Well, I’m not really thinking about hair. Or I wasn’t. But now I am. Beside the point…) I thought I’d share my hair journey. The word journey makes it sound like such a dramatic ordeal, but if you’ve ever attempted to grow out a super short pixie cut, I’m sure you understand it’s tough to make it through. I had more than my fair share of awkward or simply terrible hair days. I’ve made it, though! My hair is nowhere near the length I want it to be yet, but it’s no longer what I consider ‘short.’ Hooray!

Here is a timeline of the many stages of my hair growing out. The first picture is about a year and nine months ago. The next one (pictures go left to right, top to bottom) is from July 2012. So from there, this shows my hair over the past year. The last picture (in color) was just a few weeks ago.

growing out a pixie cut

I’ve learned so much about my hair through this process. That sounds kind of odd, but it’s true. I’m more familiar with my hair’s natural texture and how to work with it. I’m more aware of what cuts and styles work well on me, without having to use blow dryers, hair straighteners, curling irons, and/or styling products.

I think having gone through this, I’m a little more fearless when it comes to what I’m willing to do with my hair. Hair grows, and nothing I do is necessarily permanent. I’ll likely never dye it purple, but I’ll probably go short again one day.

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San Diego!

This past weekend, I attended the annual NARTS conference in San Diego. Normally I just tag along with my mom as her employee, but this year I attended as a “affiliate,” so I was actually a vendor at SourceMart (a trade show). Here are some highlights from my trip.

We stayed at the Westin in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego. We didn’t have a ton of time to explore the area, but we did venture out with some other conference attendees to Rockin’ Baja Costal Cantina to eat fish tacos.

san diego gaslamp quarter san diego gaslamp quarter Friday was the bus tour. We went to resale and thrift stores around San Diego. It wasn’t the best bus tour I’ve been on at a NARTS conference, but it was still fun. We went to Buffalo Exchange, My Sister’s Closet, La Femme Chic Consignment Boutique, City Digz, and Consignment Classics. That night, we attended a fun “sweet treats” party NARTS hosts every year. There was a photo booth, a guy on stilts, a talent show, and of course tons of delicious sweets. The talent show was funny. Several groups went up and sang parodies of songs…switched up to be about resale shopping. The NARTS board did a silly cheer.

NARTS sweet treats party NARTS sweet treats party NARTS sweet treats party Saturday we attended workshops all day, but that night we had some free time. We ventured to La Jolla with another family there for the conference. I refused to leave San Diego without seeing a sunset over the Pacific!

La Jolla La Jolla seals La Jolla sunset La Jolla seagull La Jolla sunset La Jolla sunset On Sunday, I set up a table at SourceMart for my graphic design & web development. I got a great response. A lot of people showed interest, and hopefully I’ve gained some new clients from it. I’d love to just design logos and websites for consignment stores all the time!

Maggie at NARTS SourceMart Sunday night we went to Sea World. This was another event organized by NARTS. We had some time to explore the park, then we had a catered dinner and dance party. We ended the night watching the Shamu Rocks show. I wasn’t really impressed with Sea World, but I loved seeing the orcas – such beautiful animals!

San Diego Sea World flamingos San Diego Sea World NARTS Sea World dancing San Diego Sea World Shamu We flew home on Monday. SAD! I would have loved more time to explore San Diego/California. Luckily, the flights home allowed for some interesting sight-seeing. We flew over Hover Dam (bummed I didn’t have my camera handy to snap a picture), and we had a layover in Salt Lake City so I got to see the Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats. And of course lots of mountains! I took a picture…totally random picture…of the mountains in Utah while we were flying over them, and my brother was actually able to identify the specific peaks in the photo. Crazy! So it ended up being a not-so-random picture of mountains.

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Asheville Hikes

If you’ve tried to visit my blog this past week, you probably either saw an error message or a just a really messed up version of my site. There was a “quality of service issue” on the server my blog is housed on…in other words, it wasn’t really my fault. Unfortunately, I was out of town and not really in a convenient position to handle it, so it’s taken awhile but it’s up and running again. Thankfully, a recent backup was available so I didn’t lose any content. PHEW!

I went hiking with my dad and brother on Memorial Day. It was a ton of fun and a beautiful hike. I wanted to share some pictures with you from the trip. The hikes were in Dupont State Forest in Hendersonville, NC (just outside of Asheville). The trails were High Falls/Triple Falls and Cedar Rock Mountain. (Click on the smaller images for a larger view.)

High Falls: High Falls, NC Asheville Hike Flowers


High Falls, NC Asheville Hike Spider Web Triple Falls (Hunger Games was filmed here! See this video):
Triple Falls, NC
Asheville Hike Fence Lizard Cedar Rock Mountain Cedar Rock Mountain, NC

And just a reminder,
If you have my blog bookmarked, be sure to change that bookmark to www.jalfrezi.com.

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Inspiration: Black and White

I’m a color lover. Sure, neutrals are great. In the world of fashion they’re versatile, and some people can pull off head-to-toe neutrals stunningly. But, as I said, I love color. Lately, though, I’ve been drawn to the simplicity of black and white. I noticed a few days ago while scrolling though Pinterest, the images that were catching my eye were of black and white decor, outfits, and art. Because of the stark contrast between the two, when paired together, they are just as eye catching as a vivid color. Obviously, I still hesitate to wear solely black and white, but I’m officially declaring that it will happen soon. In the mean time, here are some of those black and white images that made me look. (Click image for original source.)

swiss cross sweater
black and white outfit black and white outfit
anthropologie bedding
black and white hallway Black and white quilts
stripes and polka dots outfit
painted C abstract painting

And just a reminder,
If you have my blog bookmarked, be sure to change that bookmark to www.jalfrezi.com.

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Party Like It’s 1922

Have you been as excited as I have about The Great Gatsby premiere? F. Scott Fitzgerald definitely ranks among my top three favorite authors, so I’ve been looking forward to this movie ever since I learned about it over a year ago.

I drove two hours to go to the midnight premiere with a friend (it was actually a 10pm showing, but I was absolutely fine with getting to go to bed at a decent hour). Being that I was doing a bit of traveling to see it, there was no way I wasn’t going to dress up. I got a glitzy, sequined dress for $5 at a yard sale, but when I put it on, it was a bit large on me and just looked too 1980s. I had this drop-waist dress in my closet, so I figured it was passable for 1920s. Paired with the long necklaces, the headband, and the 20s-esque purse, I really like how it came out. I would’ve loved to have worn a glamorous dress with fringe and beading, a more elaborate headpiece, and jazz shoes, but this was free and practical. Plus, I’d wear this not as a costume.

great gatsby style great gatsby style great gatsby style
I really enjoyed the movie, and I definitely recommend it, but only if you’ve read the book. I didn’t see it in 3D (not really a fan of 3D), but I think a lot of the visuals and effects could make that a neat experience. I was worried the modern twists would bother me (the music, for instance), but it’s a very flashy, extravagant film, as Fitzgerald portrays the jazz age to be, and the twists kind of help to exaggerate the hedonistic lifestyle of the characters. The approach in terms of production is obviously anti-realistic, and everything about the movie is theatrical, so you just have to go expecting that.

There were some things about the movie that bothered me, but not enough to make me not like it. I was reading a review on NPR, and one thing the author Linda Holmes mentioned is, ”the entire moral underpinning of Gatsby is lost because it is given a romantic aspect far beyond what should be there,” and I agree with that. But I think that’s the case in a lot of modern movies – all emphasis is put on love and romance. The movie was pretty faithful to the story line of the novel, though. Most other issues I had were just petty annoyances…Gatsby’s accent seemed inconsistent and forced at times, and the insanely fast cars zig-zaging around obstacles required that I extend my belief farther than I could.

Did you dress up for the premiere? If you’ve seen the movie, what’d you think?

great gatsby style great gatsby style great gatsby style

dress: secondhand Old Navy
shoes: secodhand Maria Sharpova by Cole Haan
purse: seconhand J. Jill
accessories: secondhand

And just a reminder,
If you have my blog bookmarked, be sure to change that bookmark to www.jalfrezi.com.

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Don’t Miss Resale Royalty!

There are 10 days left until something I’m really excited about, so I figured I’d share here! In 10 days (May 12th), tune in to the Style Network to catch the premiere of RESALE ROYALTY !

Stars of Resale Royalty

My mom has said many times that there needs to be a reality show about a consignment store. There are shows about antique stores, pawn shops, bakeries, duck-call-makers (is there a more technical name for that?), so why not a consignment store? There’s certainly drama, and the constant inflow of new inventory keeps things interesting. When I first heard about Resale Royalty, I was super excited. Not just because it’s a show about a consignment store, but because I’ve been to the store and have met the ladies in the photo above before they were “stars.” They’ve attended all the NARTS conferences I’ve gone to the past four years, and Sue (middle) is a board member for NARTS.

So…Sunday, May 12th at 9pm eastern time, be sure to catch the premiere. I’ll certainly be watching it! Check out the website, Facebook, and Twitter for more info.

Conference last year was in St. Louis, so their stores were one of the stops on the beloved resale shop bus tour. So here are some pictures from that conference, including *snooty voice and upturned nose* what I bought at their stores, Women’s Closet Exchange and Clique:

 

And just for fun, here are some pictures from past conferences:

 

And just a reminder,
If you have my blog bookmarked, be sure to change that bookmark to www.jalfrezi.com.

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Weekend Links!

So all day I’ve been neglecting this blog…but I haven’t really been neglecting this blog because I’ve spent my entire day working on a redesign. I upgraded my hosting account that I have my design website on and I bought my domain, so soon I’ll be switching over! I’ll make the announcement when it happens, but if you follow me on Bloglovin’ or through some other non-WordPress means, you’ll need to resubscribe when I make the switch. If you follow through WordPress, you should be good, as I’ll have those followers transferred over. You’re also safe if you’re an Instagram or Facebook follower. Here are some links to enjoy this weekend:

A great, comprehensive list of helpful articles for bloggers.

7 Types of Music Festival Folks – fun illustrations! What type do you match most?

A collection of beautiful retail typography. I think typography is hugely impactful, and great typography can really make a business or brand stand out and come across as top-notch. Excellence in presentation suggests excellence in every other matter.

Type in a location and this website will generate a stylized map for you. Creative Commons means you’re free to dress up your computer, website, or walls as you please, as long as you attribute the creators.

I want a swing in my house. Now.

Swimsuit myths and shopping tips from Real Simple Magazine. Yup, I’m excited for some warmer weather.

This is a really cool hair tutorial…if only I had the length to do it.

This made me giggle.

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What’s Up? (Belated) March Edition

Since I didn’t post Monday, you get a double dose of me today! Plus, I realized I never shared my March Instagram highlights and what I’ve been up to.

ON INSTAGRAM: (follow me @maggarama)

March-Instagram

  1. Working on website design/development!
  2. My sister and I went to the park during her spring break. We had to wait a looong time before the swings were free. All the kiddies in town were at the park that unusually warm day.
  3. I got accepted to the University or Oregon Interior Architecture graduate program! It’s not likely to happen though, because I’m not having much luck getting an assistantship.
  4. I go to yard sales with my mom every Saturday morning. We’re normally up before the sun. It’s totally worth it, though, because I’ve found some pretty awesome stuff.
  5. My St. Patrick’s day outfit! I went with a subtle green.
  6. I love miso soup! I’ve eaten a lot of it lately.
  7. Some goodies – Blog Inc., white out, and my favorite pens.
  8. I have a lot of hats. I need to wear them more often!
  9. No, I didn’t murdur a purple-blooded creature. I was cutting up beets to roast for dinner. Yum!

 

READING: The Omnivore’s Dilemma

WATCHING: Duck Dynasty…um, yeah. And DOCTOR WHO! Of course.

LUSTING: high waisted skinny jeans, overalls, long hair, a simple b&w striped short sleeve tee, summery moccasins, this (yum), a Cherner chair, She & Him show, and outdoor adventures…always.

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Weekend Links!

Happy early weekend! I’m off on an adventure via train. I’m dog-sitting for relatives this weekend, and I’m not bringing a computer with me (it’s kinda hard to travel with a 27″ iMac). I’ll try to post when I get home on Monday night, but if not, I’ll be back Tuesday. I think I’m going to just take advantage of my time without my computer to catch up on some long overdue reading. I was planning on getting out and exploring some while away, but I think I’d rather just relax, read, and hang out with the dogs. I may go out one day, or perhaps meet up with a friend in the area, but that’s it. So here are some links to get you through the weekend:

This photo inspired me to whip out my orange nail polish. It already looks terrible – the woes of an artist.

Mmmm, these cheese puffs sound yummy and super easy to make!

I’m loving all the overalls I’m seeing in lookbooks and on Pinterest lately! A nod to my childhood. Now just to find the perfect pair and style them in a way that doesn’t make me look like my childhood.

Speaking of lookbooks, Ruche’s most recent is adorable! I love the tea party theme.

One of the big trends this spring is globally influenced apparel and accessories. Think mud cloth, Scandinavian embroidery, raffia, ikat, etc. I love it!

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Weekend Links!

This picture has nothing to do with…anything. It’s just too adorable not to share! Via you are my wild

Once again, I’m sharing weekend links a day early, and I’ll be back tomorrow with an outfit post. I was getting caught up on some projects/emails today, so I never changed out of my pajamas. That happens far more often than it should (I’m a freelance designer and I work from home…that’s a good enough excuse, right?). I’m trying to knock some long overdue things off my to-do list because I have some new, exciting things I want to add – like switching this blog over to a self-hosted blog. I really want to give it a lovely new custom design and open it up for more opportunities not available to free WordPress blogs.

Here are some neat finds from the past couple weeks:

Madewell once again has created a “Looks We Love” series with, you guessed it, looks I love.

I love these pretty DIY bracelets made with leather cord and embroidery floss.

Springifiy your computer desktop with some pretty wallpapers!

I really love a lot of the elements of this home. Particularly the tabletop letterpress + accessories.

Have you seen this VW commercial? Haha – I love the spin on Singin’ in the Rain! It’s kinda old, but I don’t watch much TV so it’s new to me.

National Geographic started a Tumblr where they share rare and never seen photos from their archives. Very cool!

YUM! I love anything flavored with orange or ginger. This tea cake sounds perfect.

Check out Coffee and Cardigan’s weekly feature, Thrifter Thursday, where bloggers share their thrifted or partially thrifted outfits. I linked up!

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  • Hey! I'm Maggie, a graphic designer, crafter, devoted secondhand shopper, Doctor Who fanatic, and dog-lover. Stick around and explore!


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