A Very Merry ModCloth Christmas

Teardrop Pop Necklace

Pants: Almost Famous, Macy's

Santa, garland, wreath: Michaels

Top: Collectif X, ModCloth

Skirt: Tinseltown, Macy's; Boots: Simply Vera, Kohl's

Pillows: St. Nicholas Square, Kohl's; Blanket: Cuddl Duds, Kohl's

Top: ModCloth

Skirt: Almost Famous, Kohl's; Shoes: Chase & Chloe, Zulily

Bag: Madden Girl, Macy's

Top: ModCloth

What better way to spend Christmas Eve Eve than to wear some merry ModCloth outfits?  Their midcentury vibe put me right in the holiday spirit, which at this stage in the game is code for it's too late to worry that everything isn't done -- or done perfectly -- so just kick back and enjoy it.

That said, I hope you have a very merry and stress-free holiday, no matter what you do -- or what you wear while you do it. 👗🎄🎁

Space Cowgirl Pearls: Cacti and Aliens

Cactus pillow: Kohl's

Sunglasses: Nordstrom Rack; Purse charm: The Tote Trove; Fuchsia bangle: Mixit, JCPenney; Green bracelet: Parade of Shoes; Blue bracelet: Cloud Nine, Ocean City; Ring: Making Waves, Ocean City; Yellow and green bangles: B Fabulous: Bag: Xhilaration, Target; Shoes: Katy Perry Collection

Albuquerque Alien Barrette Brooch

Top: Amazon

Blue and Yellow Blooms Necklace

Skirt: Vylette, Kohl's

Shoes: Katy Perry Collection; Bag: Betsey Johnson, Amazon; Sunglasses: Amazon; Bracelet: Amrita Singh, Zulily

Cactus Cassette Necklace

Top: Bar III, Macy's

Shorts: Nine West, Kohl's

Yellow bangles: B Fabulous; Mint bangle: Decree, JCPenney; Striped bangle: Kohl's; Beaded bangle and rings: Mixit, JCPenney

Colorblock Cactus Barrette Brooch

Top: Collectif X, Modcloth

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Boulder Necklace

Shoes: Katy Perry Collection, Amazon

Skirts: Amazon

Bag: Betsey Johnson, Boscov's

Top: Mighty Fine, Kohl's

Boots: 2 Lips Too, Zulily

Top: Marshalls

Blue belt: Mixit, JCPenney; Silver belt: Boscov's; Big beaded bracelet: Francesca's; Green bracelet: Cloud Nine, Ocean City; Rainbow bracelet: Zulily; Blue bracelet: Arizona Jeans, JCPenney; Small beaded bracelet: ZAD, Zulily; Ring: Charlotte Russe

Purple top: So, Kohl's

Fabulous Felt Desert Barrette

Saguaro Scene Necklace

Skirt: Bongo, Sears

Cartoon Cacti Necklace

Shoes: Nine West, Kohl's; Bag: Olivia Miller, Amazon; Barrettes: The Tote Trove

Top: Mighty Fine, Kohl's

To anyone thinking, what's with this Jersey girl cranking out all these cacti?, I say this: if I knew the answer to that one, then I'd switch to pine trees.  But there's just something mysterious yet comforting about the signature shape of the saguaro.  It's like a three-fingered hand waving hello, a seasoned survivor of the sun-scorched desert signaling that it's going to be okay.  And that goes double for its little green friend.  Yes, this here almond-eyed alien head knows a thing or two about being tough.  

Albuquerque Alien Barrette Brooch

Appearing at a Phoenix funhouse near you, the Albuquerque Alien (which, I realize, makes no sense, since extra-terrestrials are meant to frequent Roswell, not Albuquerque, and Phoenix is in Arizona.  As for the funhouse -- just, yeah.  I'm powerless when it comes to alliteration), is primed to party.  And for the purposes of this post, so am I.

And by party I mean, of course, read.  I ordered Jenn McKinlay's Wait For It just because it had cacti on the cover.  This bright poolside scene depicts the desert of my dreams: lush, exotic, and heavily hydrated.  

The story itself was enjoyable too, a haters-to-lovers romance with some spot-on office politics mixed in.  (To be clear, the haters-to-lovers don't work together.  Their particular brand of tension stems from a landlord-renter relationship.)  Freelance graphic designer Annabelle Martin flees Boston -- and a marriage proposal -- to take a creative director job in Phoenix.  While the warm weather is a welcome change, dealing with conniving coworkers -- as opposed to just her couch -- isn't.  Still, extrovert Annabelle gamely takes on this added stress for the benefit of workplace camaraderie.  Although I didn't relate to her on that level, I did find her to be fun and colorful and wanted good things for her.  Also, I love that she took her cranky landlord to the desert to see a meteor shower.  Never underestimate the magic of moonlit cacti.  

And now for some vegetation found right here in Jersey:     

Yes, it's red leaves wreathed by pine needles!  It doesn't get much more Pinelands than that.  Seeing it last weekend in a parking lot made me 1) happy because, the wonders of nature and all, and 2) sad because it was a reminder that soon, if I want to make it to this or any other parking lot while it's still daylight, then I'm going to have to leave the house before four o'clock. 

Mother Nature -- cacti notwithstanding -- you are a cruel mistress.

Of Clowns and Cacti

Another Upside Down Clown Necklace

Top: Crown of Hearts, Alloy

So Many Succulents Necklace

Top: Collectif X, Modcloth

So, Guthrie and Elmer.  I introduced these two a while back, and they're still out there, roaming the desert.  Only now they've picked up a protégé.  His name is Ollie, and his claim to fame is that he can stand on his head.  Why don't we make his acquaintance? 

Ollie didn't know what he'd gotten himself into.  When Guthrie and Elmer picked him up hitchhiking on the outskirts of Twin Terrors, he thought they were just another couple of oldsters.  Sure, they were crotchety as all get out and looked like they'd seen more than their share of bad road.  But it wasn't until they started talking about themselves in the third person that he started to worry.  It was as if they had split personalities.  One half was the geezers who hated clowns; the other half was the clowns.  Ollie almost asked them about it.  But it wasn't the kind of thing he could bring up after trading war stories about Route 66 or commenting on a cactus-shaped cloud.  Especially not after they'd been kind enough to share their chili, even if it was vegetarian and smelled like a compost pile.  No, weird as they were, he was in no position to make waves with these gents.  So when Guthrie asked if he'd join their act at the Sidewinder Saloon, he burped up some chili and said, "Sure."  Now he was onstage -- or on the overturned washtub that passed for a stage -- doing a headstand as the Friday night crowd jeered and catcalled.  He didn't know how women stood it, having their body parts reduced to overripe fruit, their every movement turned into something suggestive.  But he told himself to ignore the drunks and concentrate on what he was doing.  Every time he stood on his head, he did it for a few seconds longer than he had the time before.  It made him feel like he had something to work toward and that he was getting somewhere.  Plus, being ridiculed up there alongside Guthrie and Elmer bonded them more closely and quickly than any campfire or cold one ever could.  Even when, hours later as they made their way home in the stark, inky night, Guthrie and Elmer unleashed a fresh verbal assault on their alter egos.  Ollie considered telling them about his own demons.  His parents had thrown him out when he was ten because they had too many mouths to feed.  But also because they were sick of explaining why their son was such a dreamer and had a head where his feet should be.  Then Guthrie started playing his banjo, disrupting Ollie's thoughts.  When Guthrie broke the banjo over Elmer's head, Ollie knew it would be a long night.         

And that's Ollie!  You can see his likeness taking center stage in the form of a plastic noisemaker in my Another Upside Down Clown Necklace:

The two things that you need to know about this necklace are: 1) The noisemaker was the prize inside a New Year's Eve cracker, and 2) it's called "another" because there was an Upside Down Clown Necklace that came before it.

Noisy is as noisy does.  But nothing's as noisy as Guthrie's banjo.     

Birds of a Feather Weather Together

Bag: Sleepyville Critters, Zulily

Top: Candie's, Kohl's

Ye Olde Feather Necklace (a nom de plume because I don't remember the real one)

Skirt: Hollister, Marshalls

Scrunchies: So, Kohl's

Boots: Penny Loves Kenny, Amazon

Bracelets, left to right: Silver Linings, Ocean City; Amrita Singh, Zulily; Target

Dress: A New Day, Target

Bag: Arizona Jeans, JCPenney; Charm: Elly & Ella, Zulily

Boots: Mossimo, Target

Sweater: Collectif X, Modcloth

Shorts: So, Kohl's

Um, feather weather?  Tote Trove Lady, didn't you mean sweater weather?  No, dear readers, I did not.  Feather weather is how I like to think of November.  You know, when the first breath of cold blows in and the leaves are falling and the birds have headed south, leaving only their punky plumage as a reminder.  Which fits right in with Thanksgiving as kindergartners all over the country adorn themselves with colorful feathers.  Or, less imaginatively, buckles and bonnets.  Let's be honest; being a Native American is much cooler than being a Pilgrim.  Even if my seventh grade social studies teacher summed up the historical inaccuracies of Disney's Pocahontas thusly: "Also, she (Pocahontas) wasn't that pretty."  

On that note, here's a little feathered friend who's indisputably cute.  It's none other than an eastern goldfinch (the New Jersey state bird!) that the husband glimpsed through my parents' window this summer:

Now that he's gone, I miss him.  Because when it comes to the colors of the wind, yellow is always my favorite.