Once Upon A Guitaress

rockin' in D-sus

A long long time ago, when the earth was young and before evil appeared in the Garden of Earthly Delights, I had a band called Robotballoons. In that band, I played guitar and sang. We recorded an album that never saw the light of day. I had a cheap but beautiful guitar which I painted a Mucha-esque inspired profile of a woman and christened her Desdemona. She was named after the tragic Shakespearean heroine who was smothered to death by her husband, Othello. Damn suspicious creep.

Recently, I've been musically inspired and excited in the prospect of playing music again when I go back to the Philippines for the holidays. I wrote a song last weekend and helped my boy bestee Ian Zafra with his. It was quite a productive weekend. I hope I can duplicate the surge of inspiration this coming weekend.

Flower child. Mildly wild.

I planted that purple clematis from bare root! I'm extremely proud of that little climbing beauty. She's taking off.

Bohemian and hippie clothing except for tie dye will forever be in my closet. I wish I had been teenager in the 70s.

Jill Of All Trades, Mistress Of None

I haven't been posting lately. I've been on that slump where I feel a little burned out. Uninspired. I want to do something else. This is a curse that has plagued me forever. I can never stick to one thing. I am all over the place. I can't master a craft because I get bored as soon as I figure it out and move on to the next whatever thing that fancies me. I know a slew of skills that could almost pass off for McGyverism, albeit useless because I can't embroider my way out of a basement.

I'm still going to make myself do this semi or quasi daily blog but with less fervor and consistency till I get out of this slump. I picked up a guitar again after 48 years and wrote a song...two songs as a matter of fact with one of my boy bestee Ian Zafra, bitchiest guy I know. I love him though. He has some purpose. I think :-P Check out his band Sheila and the Insects. Vid below ^__^ It makes my heart radioactively glow with pride reading the comments left for them on this video. I've known them since before they made it. That also makes me feel proprietary :-P

...and onwards to this pretentious style blog post, I'm wearing a Rue 21 top under a strapless Charlotte Russe dress. Like I would wear that bare. That is Thad's orange cardigan that he never wears so I always end up wearing them. It's a little bit warmer to be wearing a cardi but it's cold in my office. The belt I won from a Rainbow Brite Look A Like Wrestling Match. I kid. It would've been cool though instead of saying I got it from Love Culture. I had to bring that belt home. It looked so out of place there, seeing that they seem to only sell the safest colors to sell. Black and White. Meh.

Green legs and ham

Gotta love ebay for scores like this pumpkin coach necklace that I got for a measly buck.

Pawn Shoppe Heart

What the Glindmeyers wore on Easter Sunday.

For some reason this photo reminds me of a 1970s album cover. One of my besties, fashion designer extraordinaire Kate Torralba coined me and my husband, Thad collectively as the Glindies. Thad's original last name used to have a Von in it. An ancestor who had a baronetcy in Germany carried that till the clan migrated to the United States. It's also some sort of play on the band called The Von Bondies who released an album titled Pawn Shoppe Heart. So the Von Glindies it is. Belated Happy Easter to you all. I'm just not going to go into the semantics of how Easter is a totally non-Christian celebration. The name Easter itself is from a pagan Germanic goddess Eostre (Ostara). Alright, frock on and stuff!

United States of Kawaii

My love affair with Japan started at the tender age of 6 probably with this lady, Eiko Hanamura. Everything about her evokes loveliness. Even her name has the Japanese word "hana" for flower in it. She was a Showa Era mangaka (Japanese comic artist) who created artwork that graced pencil boxes, stationaries, notebooks, memo sheets, paper fans etc. I truly love her work.

I'm wearing red for the Japan Earthquake Wear Red Wear Hope Relief Fund Campaign sponsored by chictopia.com. It took me a while to come up with a proper red garb. What better way to express my love for Japan than to wear a shirt printed with Japanese-inspired characters of Kawaiiland. Kawaii in Japanese means cute ^_^ I'm wearing a blazer for added corporate flair. Heh. I try sometimes.

I'm carrying the First Edition LeSportsac tokidoki Mamma purse designed by the Italian, Simone Legno, whose works are largely influenced by Japanese kawaii characters. Random people always compliment me on that purse. Can't blame them. It's super cute :-P

I love the simplicity of my outfit. Without the frou-frou and the massive heels, it's highly functional for my trend board project when I'm sitting on the floor with my sample layouts and cut outs. A beautiful mess really.

Please continue to pray and give what we can for Japan.
Well, that's that for now. Frock on!

In My Tribe

The Boho-chic inspired trend board I'm currently making at work inspired me to wear Bohemian-Nomad today. Hmmm...I just noticed that in all these photos, I never looked at the camera.

The tribal printed dress is by Derek Heart which is too cleavagey for work so I wore a nude top underneath. Since they're spag straps, I have to wear a cardigan, too. It's cold in my office anyway. I'm wearing my bell bottoms because my bare legs are riddled with shaving scars.

My purse was the product of a clothing exchange with my good friend Josephine. She borrowed an embroidered top of mine and I in turn, borrowed the purse. Since I've had it far longer than she's ever had it, she gave it to me. Score! Also she doesn't know what happened to my top. Even Stevens.

My medallion necklace was a birthday gift from my friend Jade :-) whom I haven't seen in a long time. I need to reconnect with her. My coffee chat with Jodi was very interesting. We laughed, bounced ideas off each other and gossiped. Hehe. It brings a smile to my soul that we can always pick up where we left off even though we haven't seen each other in a long time. Frock on!

Mighty Watermelon Drops

Nevermind the fact that I look like a picnic table. It really doesn't help that I'm wearing watermelon colors. It's getting warmer again and this outfit is light and breezy. Here I am with my pink dollhouse, pretending to be thinking. I really ought to do something with that dollhouse soon.

I don't remember where I got my top. I've had it for so long. The only thing new-ish are my hot pink shoes. I'm always posing by this tree. She's my photo buddy. She's not in bloom right now but had she been, we would've matched. Her flowers are bright pink.

Even in lieu of hair products, my hair seems to be channeling Lion-O. Awesome.

All smug in this mug

I forgot to bring my lunch today :-( I hate having to go drive and get it. Maybe I can eat some paper. I have a coffee date with my dearest friend Jodi. Clickty split on the link!

She's a singer-songwriter friend. I can sit and just listen to her enthralling voice all day. She helped me fix our house and we didn't even need a radio. She provided the soundtrack with her amazing catalog of songs. We used to hang out a lot but things happen or rather I let things happen. So anyway, coffee date with Jojo! Yay! OK and stuff...

Glad I'm Plaid

Someday I'm going to build a labyrinth in my backyard.

I'm wearing red for Japan although my look is decidedly British. I'm even wearing a Union Jack ring. So after much thought, I didn't post this for the Wear Red Wear Hope campaign. I'll try next time with a more appropriate red garb.

I'm [still] wearing net leggings to hide my hideous shaving nicks. I had shaved off some skin not once but thrice.

This necklace pendant resembles a Mexican doll.

The Collector and Purveyor of Childhood Memories

Xanadu was not supposed to be just a style and fashion blog. It was supposed to encompass everything I am fascinated with that I care to share with the rest of the blogosphere. The everyday style posts have become very convenient for me because they guarantee daily entries except on weekends.

My other loves include vintage toys, Blythe dolls, designer Junko Mizuno vinyl toys, dollhouses, Swedish pop music, Brit Pop, French cafe music, embroidery, 1800s romance novels, Jean Pierre Jeunet films (the auteur responsible for films such as City of Lost Children and Amelie), Neil Gaiman, anime, sappy manga love stories, koedachan toys, vintage Sesame Street cartoon segments and last but not least, vintage children's books and their illustrators. I may have failed to mention some more interests but no doubt, I shall be blogging about them in the future. Actually, just about anything that reminds me of my childhood, I'm drawn to.

Shelf Obsessed

For detailed photos of each cube, click here .Pardon the laziness from posting them all here. ^__^

Above is my ikea wannabe-expedit shelf but I think it's better than the original since it's made of solid wood. Heh. These are the denizens of my X-Pedit. I don't house my Blythe dolls there since they're on a shelf beside my bed. This shelf resides in an extra room in our house called Mr. Buttersniff. We couldn't decide what to call that room: office, studio,computer,toy, sewing,brown,music... So we quit and gave it a person's name.

The Blythes on a shelf beside my bed, keeping their eyes on me, watching me sleep.

Growing up, I didn't have a whole lot of toys, I entertained myself with my own illustrations of faraway lands and imaginary friends. I still think I 've had the best childhood. If it wasn't for my highly active imagination, I wouldn't be where I am today and working at a job that can afford me to kinda sorta buy back my own childhood...even if they're just in the shape of toys I never had as a child. It's never too late to get what you wanted :-)

My Girl Lolly-Pop

This photo highly amuses me. I look like a deer in headlights even though my psyche is perfectly zen with everything right now. I always look too overdressed for work. But then people at work are used to me that if I ever wear basic comfortable tracksuits, they'd think I am under the weather.

The plushie I'm holding is a prototype Lolly :-) I designed her for a line of pillow buddy plushies that our company produced. She resides on my couch. The top ones are my designs. The pink one we named Snookie before the trainwreck that is Jersey Shore was even conceived by the trolls over at MTV. I'm wearing an XOXO blazer that I've had for years. I bought my Charlotte Russe dress for...are you ready? $5.00. Hmmm...I just realized my stockings and my shoes are from there, too. I feel like a live mannequin, a short, live Charlotte Russe mannequin.

and here we are outside on my rocker, hanging out looking poised and proper...

I bought my necklace and ring from Forever 21 ^_^ I really should live there.

I'm so excited that it's Friday just for the fact that I can be home and clean and do some gardening. Thankfully I don't burn, I just tan...in two minutes... which is lamentable for someone like me who'd rather be geisha pale.

Well, frock on, mighty fine people!

Bubblegum Hues

I'm pretty much a happy person. If I have to wear my feelings out, I'd wear these colors often...except I'm not too crazy about brights.

I really much prefer the muted but ironically yet, rich colors of fall. Brown, mustard yellow, rust, maroon, dark teal, bottle green, those are the colors that I gravitate too. If I wasn't hampered by the confines of seasonal colors, I'd wear them all year.

I'm wearing this color blocking because I wanted to finally wear those shoes! I've had them for so long and now is the first time I've ever worn them.

I don't smile too much in my photos, maybe a shadow of one. I feel stupid smiling without having nothing to be amused about. But I was genuinely amused here. Thad was walking towards me to join in the shoot. ^__^

Ahhh my gumball machine brooch. I love it so. It may not have pink on it but I think it still coordinated well with my bubblegum colors.

Dots Neither Here Nor There

I'm playful this time. Dots always suggest that. I wanted to wear bright red stockings but I couldn't find my pair this morning so I grabbed the blue ones. My belt has some some blue on it.

I bought my belt from a church garage sale for 25 cents. I love the tapestry design on it. The lady who used to own it checked me out at the register. She said she wished she still had a tiny waist. My wooden kokeshi from F21, where else, really...Wearing my Chloe wedges again ^_^

...and dots all folks. Frock on!

Vintage Daydream Believer

I'm feeling back to normal with this garb on. I still thank my stylish friends who thought my outfit yesterday deserved decent chic points even though I thought otherwise.

I bought my floral printed shoes from Forever 21 for a measly $25. Hurray for cheap finds! Their shoes only go down to a 6 and I wear a 5 or 5.5 so I was really thrilled to find that this particular size 6 fits me like a dream! I love shoes that are a challenge to mix and match. Keeps the imagination sharp and varied. I own staple ones but every once in a while, I'd like the shoes to be the defining factor of an outfit.

I thrifted that vintage top from The Purple Cow. Isn't it lovely? I love Edwardian tops. I think I own close to ten. I love how they remind me of the English countryside or tea at the manor. ^__^ Daydreaming...

I dragged that swivel chair for a photo op. It's a permanent fixture in my carport. I don't really know what to do with it. I can't throw it away. That thing is solid wood and heavy as a broken heart :-P

My accessories are all from Forever 21. They sell the cheapest and the most interesting pieces of costume and novelty accessories. That lovely cameo brought out the muted pinks in my outfit.

Specks of sunshine on a drab gray wall also describes the effect of some people on me. They're amazing to be around with.

Pocketfull of Wonderful

Me on my vintage banana seat Tyler. I took that baby out for a Sunday bike ride. I promptly passed out when I got home. My body was like "What did you do to me? How dare you exercise!"

I'm dressed somewhat unimaginatively today compared to what I would've dressed up as. A Penguin. Surreally suggested by my friend, Clementine from Acid House Kings' vid Would You Say Stop? When I came out of the house, I felt the muggy air embracing me with the affection of a stalking ex-lover. It was too hot for such a garb!

Self-timers on cams can be tricky. Just as I was about to get comfy on that rocker, it clicks. Oh well.

My doe a deer pendant is showing you her butt.

Smile fool! I swear, I always think I am smiling till I see the photo. I look so damn mad all the time. I'm really a happy person. Ask my dog.

I love tops or dresses with pockets. That has been a childhood fascination that I still carry to this day. Pockets were like magic to me, like a bag of holding. I used to put all kinds of things in the pockets of my dresses: marbles, leaves, magic seeds, bottle caps, chalk, dragonfly wings inside matchboxes, coins, candies and band-aids. Now that I'm older. I don't put as much anymore. Growing up sucks.