Am I a hypocrite? Or a hippopotamus?

 

Yeah, let's go ahead and try to ignore how huge my boobs are look in this dress...

Sorry for the boring outfit. I was in the middle of getting dressed when I got distracted and ventured outside to check on the BBQ.... er, well to supervise my husband handling live fire.  We decided to spark up the grill today and with plans to hit the park later but the meat took longer than expected and heavy rain clouds kept rolling overhead laughing at us, spitting on us and then skipping away, mocking us and our optimism.

Anywho.  Since we've been busy for the past couple weekends, we haven't had a chance to look at trailers for the big move, but we're still cleaning up and cleaning out. Here's another load ready to head to Goodwill. I loooove getting rid of stuff. Too bad I'm too lazy to do a yard sale. We could use the money, but I just don't have the time nor the patience to sit in the Texas heat and humidity for ten hours only to pull in $15 at the end of the day... it has happened before.

  Today is the first day I've really got to try out my new camera. Oh yeah, did I mention I got a new camera?

OMG I am TOTALLY a photographer now! Let me take crappy pics of your wedding and your baby and your WHOLE FAMILY... because I have a CAMERA NOW!

Did I mention I'm a photographer now because I have new camera?!

Ugh, we all know at least one person like that. 

So with that little rant out of the way - here are some pics from the week. I have no clue what I'm doing. I just put the camera on auto-mode and press the button.

 And how frugal is Hollie? River's good shoes are still caked in mud from the faire last weekend, so I  turned his cheap outside-play shoes into fancy new shoes for church with shoe polish. Weeeeeee.

Speaking of frugal... um... maybe some of you have already seen this?

gvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvbgvb h                                                                                            bbbbbbvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvgggggggggggggggggg

No, not that. Cedar typed that when I stepped away. I mean this:

My spinoff mom-blog, Modern Colors Two is now Quirky Bohemian Mama. I know the name is kind of lame but I needed to change the name of my blog to something that will attract the kind of readers I know I'll appeal to. Modern Colors Two was too vague and sounds like a site about interior  decorating. So, I thought long and hard - if someone put a gun to my head and said, "Label yourself or DIE!" I would say, "Erm, quirky... um, bohemian? Please don't shoot me, ok?.. and I need some fresh undies..."

who the heck is Daniella Noir?

Do a quick Facebook search and you'll find that Daniella Noir is a stripper... perhaps a porn star... even a ghetto fabulous fashion model. But this Daniella Noir I speak of is the director of the Texarkana Renaissance Faire and now officially, the Queen of the Gypsies.
She's me. Er, well kind of.

Even though I am the director of a renaissance faire, I'm not what you would call a "rennie". A rennie is person who is obsessed with faires and all things renaissance. They visit every faire they possibly can, spend thousands of dollars on costuming, accessories and weaponry every year. They listen to renaissance music, play themed RPGs, themed video games, study the history, read thy novels, attempt to speak the lingo, they learn to play the instruments... they're soaked in it!
Good people though. Good folks, I say.

People say to me, "Um, Hollie. You direct a faire. You're like, the ultimate rennie."

And I say to them:

"Nay. I just like dressing up and throwing massive parties that attract hundreds of people and earn thousands of dollars (none of which I actually get to take home after bills and stuff)."

With all that being said, during the planning of last year's faire, I began to get a lot of friend requests from faire participants, merchants, entertainers and the likes. But I only like to be friends with  people I actually know (that includes bloggers I regularly follow).

So I did what all rennies do, (I'm not a rennie)... I created a character and a name.

Thus, Daniella Noir was born!
Daniella from my middle name Danielle and Noir from my maiden name, Black.

Daniella got her own Facebook profile and by doing this, I was able to befriend 886 folks in the industry without flooding my personal profile feed with the latest book about Anne Boleyn, Tudor tailoring and pics of hot guys in kilts (I don't mind that last one so much though).
My 886 "friends" includes about a dozen Jack Sparrow impersonators, even a female Johnny Depp impersonator. About twenty mermaids, well over two hundred pirates, dozens of professional belly dancers, some faire kings and queens and even a few Hollywood pros.

So what about the Gypsy Queen thing?

Yeah, I made the announcement a few weeks ago that I am joining my own cast as the Gypsy Queen.

That was actually supposed to happen last year and it was going to be a big fun surprise but I was unable to finish my costume due to financial issues.

The headdress wasn't finished, the bodice wasn't bejeweled and I couldn't afford the skirts. No biggie really, it felt good to be hoop and crinoline free.

So here's what's to be added to the costume:

This 25 yard silk skirt...

.

Over this 25 yard dyed skirt tucked in at the hips...

Over this massive 6-bone hoop...

With lovely Indian and Turkoman and other tribal doodads on the bodice and headdress (the one with the flowers and feathers at the top).

At the faire, I will have a pavilion, really just a decorated popup canopy like below and even a throne! 

Maybe one day I'll have my husband build me a pimped out vardo complete with wi-fi and an espresso maker. Well, I don't think gypsies had wagons like this in the 16th century (or espresso makers for that matter), but it's my faire and I'll do what I want.

Ok, well now that I've bored you all to death with talks of becoming a gypsy queen, I'm going to go have a drink. A wasp landed in my hair earlier and thinking it was a harmless grasshopper a grabbed him and threw him to the ground. He stung my hand and now I'm grumpy, with a headache and a achy hand.

If you'd like to befriend Daniella Noir on Facebook you can find her HERE.

To like the Gypsy Queen's page click HERE.

See ya!!

I am.... Frida Kahlo?

I've seen it done twice now. Bloggers as Frida Kahlo.

It started with one of my favorite bloggers Helga von Trollop. Then I started to follow a new blog (Miss Simmond Says) and saw that she too had done Frida.

I'm veeery pregnant right now and I can't really leave the house so playing a wee bit of dress up was just what I needed.

Inspired, I did my makeup and whipped together this outfit in about ten minutes.

Headpiece: Handmade. Leftover from a Halloween costume a couple of years ago (I went as Autumn)

Necklace: Ebay

Mexican Dress: Garage sale

Shawl: Ross Dress for Less (years ago)

The shadows on my face almost gave me the Frida fuzzy lip. I kinda like it.

Too bad I couldn't do earrings. My lobes are stretched so I couldn't really think of what to do there.

*************************************************************

I'm 9 months pregnant and this poor dress was screaming for dear life. 

The dress was just kinda bunched up around my belly. I couldn't get it any farther. Hahaha it used to go down below my knees, but eh, I wasn't going out anywhere- just dressing up.

 No worries, I'll be able to wear this dress again soon.

How did I do?

Here's the gorgeous necklace I'm wearing in the photos. I got it for a lucky last minute $2.40 bid on Ebay from this seller here.

Will you? Will you Frida too?

bohemian necklace giveaway winner!

... and the winner of the gorgeous necklace is... Jessica Reed! YAY!

Thanks to everyone for entering and stay tuned to see what I'll be giving away next time!!!

Autumn Maternity Fashion Inspiration #5

new etsy goodies

 I've just added a few new pieces to my Etsy shop. I'm stepping away from the Victorian/steampunk look and going for a more bohemian/yogi feel. MUCH more on the way!! (Er, well as soon as the rest of my supplies come in). Enjoy!

Cloud9Jewels - Bohemian Wonder Etsy Seller

I am blown away by this Etsy shop. Cloud9Jewels Etsy store is home of some of the most colorful and vibrant boho wear I have ever seen. Click photos for purchase info. I need to hit the lottery aaand soon- I wanna do some serious shopping!