me and the girls

I'm working on Makeup Monday at the moment but in the meantime, here are some pictures I forgot to post. I miss my little sister! /broken record

Tessa and Ally

My little sister Tessa and her friend Ally came to visit for a week. Even though they only left five days ago, I already miss these girls so much. Tessa is like me; her friends are friends forever. She and Ally have been friends since middle school and even though they went to different high schools, they maintained their friendship. I think they'll be friends forever, especially since most of Tessa's friends have been her friends since she was a toddler or in kindergarten. We consider them family.

I see a lot of Kimberly in Ally. So does Kim - she calls Ally her "mini." I'd love to flatter myself and say that Tessa is a lot like me, but the truth is that she's way freaking cooler. These girls are seriously the coolest teenagers I know.

Random, but I had a dream that they were both smoking cigarettes (!!!) and I was really upset and yelling at them. In the dream, they said, "It's not a big deal. We're just being trendy." I woke up (teary-eyed) and told them about it, making them promise to never smoke or do drugs. The rest of the trip, they kept joking to each other, "Let's go be trendy!" which was always met with an evil-eye from me, and then buckets of laughs. Do teenagers even use the word trendy? No?

Rainbow Brite

I completely forgot to post these pictures. Tessa Marie colored her hair; little Roxy Mae followed suit. I know there are a lot of nay-sayers who are wagging their fingers right now, but I think it's important to let kids express themselves outwardly (within reason). It's just hair, it washes out. There will be a time when they have a stringent dress code to adhere to, and their chosen careers might not allow brightly colored hair. Maybe Roxy got a bit of a head start, but there's no time like your youth.

As a matter of fact, I was a member of the blue hair club when I was a teenager (as well as bright red and purple) - and I turned out alright. My sisters and I have been lucky to have a mom who gave us creative freedom and embraced our innocent phases (the less innocent were dealt with in a proper manner). It only makes sense that Amanda has chosen the same parental role. I think Roxy's color has since washed out, but I rather enjoyed my little candy land girls' rainbow hair.

Love love and candy colored tresses,

Keiko Lynn

Edit: When I was coloring Tessa's hair, a family friend was in the other room telling Tessa's dad that she is probably "trying to find herself." When they called her into the room, she yelled, "Hold on! I'm trying to find myself, give me a minute!" I love her<3

How Embarrassing!

Though Tessa is probably relieved to be, well, relieved from her duties as my photographer - I have been missing her and her skills. It was kind of nice to just hand the camera to her and not have to rely on my tripod and [poorly hidden] remote all the time. Plus, we had a lot of fun goofing around and being awesome. It's my duty as her older sister to embarrass her as much as possible. It's something that comes naturally to me, but luckily she's a good sport about it. Although, I do recall her looking over at me and saying, "You should be on that show 'Disaster Date!'" which can only mean one thing...she's secretly in cahoots with Peter. I can't even remember what I was doing at that point, but I'm sure it was something awesome.

Outfit Details:
schoolboy blazer - thrifted
sweater - thrifted
jeans - courtesy of IndiDenim, though I altered them into skinny jeans
heels - cheap and uncomfortable (sorry mom, I know you spent a lot of money on these feet)
sunglasses - courtesy of Coach






In other news, since the horses were a hit (and how could they not be?), I decided to add some gratuitous kitty pictures. Meet my number one kitty, Puppy*. He's a Polydactyl (or Hemingway, if you prefer), and he's going to be 21 this year. He is the coolest cat on the planet - even people who hate cats love Puppy. Maybe it has something to do with his name?

Love love,
Keiko Lynn

*I named him Puppy. It was inspired by a book, "A Dog Called Kitty" - anyone remember that?

Horse Kisses

I love my horses (and my colorful little sister). Little Shawny and I have been best friends for over 20 years. Can you believe that?

Love love,
Keiko Lynn

p.s. A little info about the horses: Shawn is a Morgan Welsh (36 years old), Cocoa is a Thoroughbred mare, and Diablo is a Paso Fino.

Pretty Paisley - ModCloth Spring Fever Challenge Week Three

It's week three of the ModCloth Spring Fever Blogger Challenge! This week, we were asked to style the Paisley Panache Scarf. I didn't have much on hand, so I did another skirt-as-dress outfit. I wouldn't normally pair those shoes with the outfit but I have managed to ruin three pairs of shoes (including the ones in these pictures, actually...the heel on one of them broke). Slim pickings when you're living out of a suitcase. But did you notice I'm not wearing sleeves? That is a huge deal for me. HUGE.

Check out the ModLife blog to see how each of us (Krystal, Tieka, Aya, and I) styled the scarf. Please let us know whose style is your favorite by voting for your favorite look!

Outfit Details:

Paisley Panache Scarf - courtesy of ModCloth
dress - skirt, thrifted
belt - thrifted
shoes - Alice & Olivia for Payless
bag - borrowed from Hourglass Consignment, my mom's store
cuff - courtesy of LOFT and Lucky Mag
kitty - Aqua

Love love and kitty kisses,
Keiko Lynn

p.s. Thank you, Tessa, for taking all of my pictures and being such a good sport!

Unicorn Dreams

Remember when I first spotted these shoes and almost died on the spot? They have a unicorn horn for a heel; it's like they were made for me. Well, I'm a very lucky girl because Modcloth sent them to me right before the IFB Evolving Influence conference, along with this cute little dress and these gloves I've been wearing nonstop. I did what I always do with new things: I wore them all at once. I used to do that the first week of school - I would wear all of my new school clothes within the first week and then I'd have nothing but old clothes left until laundry day. Come to think of it, I also do that with groceries. I guess I'm impatient and gluttonous.

Outfit Details:
dress, gloves and unicorn heels: courtesy of Modcloth
Reworked teal jacket: thrifted
bow belt: thrifted
bow necklace: gift from Mascara or Motor Oil
reworked vintage rhinestone and chain necklace: courtesy of Corvus Noir
tights: Target

Love love,
Keiko Lynn