Shameless Birthday Gift Plug

Shameless Birthday Gift Plug by dollfacemt featuring kohl makeup

First Day Fresh

First Day Fresh by dollfacemt featuring red jeans

Then God Winked

So I jumped on Polyvore last week, shortly after posting. It's been a minute... I love Polyvore SO much. It's such a great creative resource/outlet for me! So I start flipping through the feed of everyone I follow; liking and swiping. I guess in an odd twist of fate, (sounds good), I liked multiple of the same, fairly big name's (in the world of Polyvore; and I'm sure beyond), sets. I guess she was on; noticed my affinity for her work; cruised over to my page; and immediately like five sets of mine. I was floored. I honestly thought it was a fluke at first. Then I realized I need to give myself credit sometimes. I'm good at what I do because I honestly love it! A lot of my job may not necessarily be "doing" what I want to do, per se (paperwork and all). However, I am rather grateful that I had the gall to follow my gut and get a "fluffy" degree in something I enjoy. Now to get back to work!

Stepping It Up

I was helping a regular guest in my store out the other day. She, like I, is a huge fan of all things fashionable. As we were talking she started talking about her blog. Which caught me off guard. Not because I wasn't aware of her blog, but because she's honestly a busy, busy lady. She styles freelance and moonlights as a bartender. Plus on top of it all I'm pretty sure she has little ones to chase after... or not not really 100% on that. I shared with her how amazed I was at her ability to juggle it all and shared with her my want to do the same. However, for me, I'm currently working two jobs to the tune of 50+ hours a week. How could she possibly have the time? Then that glorious aha moment hit me. It's not a matter of having, so much as it's a matter of making the time. She gave me her card, her encouragement, and left me feeling inspired. When I got home I surfed over to her blog and was rather impressed. It is well conceived and executed while being true to who she is. Or at least how I perceive her. I say all that to say, it left me charged up! I LOVE clothes! I've always been passionate about fashion, styling, creating and much more. If she could do this, then I definitely could! I've always wanted to have my own fashion/lifestyle blog... but... the time! How do I add to my already full dance card without further adding to my work/life balance struggle? I know it's about making the time, so I plan on being more vigilant about that. I really want to step it up and share things that make my journey richer. It may not be a dramatic, over night change but I promise to definitely give it more than the old college try going forward. My focus is now more defined, since I feel that it will help as far as giving you a better frame of reference of me! So this may be a mini re-re-launch, (and a bit Bob's Burgers' of me to do so) but it is time! Hi! My name is Maria, and welcome to This Doll's Life! It is a lifestyle blog, with a strong focus on fashion and a fashionable way of living! The new focus will be the five Fs: Fashion, Food, Fitness, Fun and Fundamentals! So let me tell you about me and my lifestyle, and hopefully, you'll return. My love of clothes began initially as a love a sewing, instilled in me by my Aunt Pamela at the age of 5. I for all the major glossy mags. At one point in high school I held a double subscription to W; one for cutting... one for keeping. I always drew my own designs in the margins, in lieu of taking thorough notes. A love of fashion is what got me picked by a friend in high school to costume a small production she had. I always loved the theatre and seeing productions regularly (thanks Mom!) while growing up. Naturally, marrying my love of fashion and theatre was a win! So with an indomitable spirit and ready to 'change the world' I set off to college with the 'sensible' major of Technical Theatre. (My parents thought it was more sensible than a Fashion degree). Through a series of (what I thought at the time were) unfortunate events, I ended up a decade after the fact, graduating with a degree in Fashion merchandising, with Theatre and Business minors. It really is funny how a plan comes together, despite life's obstacles. As for the rest of the Fs (food, fitness, fun, fundamentals) they are all areas that I some how have gathered the rest of my knowledge base in along the way. I have always been active. I took dance from the age of two through high school and taught for a year. I was active in track & field and cross country from 4th grade onwards. Add to that a handful more of activities growing up. I come from a fat city full of fat, foodies and fine cuisine. I was raised in the heart of Dixie (Birmingham), surrounded by comfort food, prized family recipes, and some stellar (but not often hyped) restaurants. All of my non-fashion work experience is in the service industry; front and back of the house. Now while fun is objective, I feel I have a solid grasp on it. I've always been of the mindset that if you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong! As for fundamentals... I have a host of tips and tricks up my sleeve to hopefully make your life easier at some point. So with all that being said (you made it this far into my ramble ::snaps::) I'm off to figure out what I need to do to get to that next level for you.

Day 3 and 4

Yesterday I spent running every errand I could before work, since it was SO gorgeous outside. I also grabbed a ton of fruit and veg to bulk up the ole vegan pantry. I perfected my smoothie ratio. I tried to open an avocado that was way under ripe and that didn't go over well... straight into the compost with that one. I even got my Honey Bear to try some vegan butter on his bake potato... and he liked it! Today I was low on time before I had to head to work so I just had a banana. After work I thought it was time to venture into the sophomore level of vegan foods. I hit up Earth Fare for vegan bacon, vegan sour cream, vegan cheese and an avocado that I could actually eat! Tonight I whipped a pretty awesome batch of vegan loaded mashed potato. I will say I totally over cooked the vegan bacon. Individually not dead on mock ups, but all together pretty convincing. The vegan sour cream was a little too thick but once it hit the warmth of the mashed potatoes the consistency was perfect. So with that being said I will definitely be having vegan bacon and cheese grits for breakfast tomorrow. Speaking of which, tomorrow could be a cheat day. I don't know if I'm going to full on cheat but I may sneak some eggs and dairy into the mix. We shall see...

Still Alive!

I hope everybody had a great Mardi Gras! I spent mine gorging on all the queso, juevos rancheros, and bacon cheese burgers I could handle. My uninitiated Honey Bear decided to join in the Lenten fun and give up drinking! He does fully intend on using his cheat day and drinking in his birthday of course. So let's jump in to it, shall we. Day One I woke up Ash Wednesday studying hard for my menu test. Of course I would be the kind of person who picks up a new second job at a steak house after deciding to go vegan for Lent. Conveniently it was also the day before pay day from the job. So while temporarily being cash broke and too stubborn to quit studying, I was perfectly content with just peanut butter and saltines. My Honey Bear put his foot down and ran to Earth Fare and grabbed me some things on my vegan short list. Before I went to work for breakfast I had a fistful of strawberries and a ginormous spoonful of peanut butter. Made it through work without letting the smell of meat and butter get to me. Had a very tweaked salad at work. For a night cap I came home and threw together some vegan soup that surprised me with how good it was considering I didn't get to make a really good vegan store run before Ash Wednesday to stock up. Sweated down some mushrooms, onions, and bell pepper. Added vegetable stock and unflavored soy milk, garlic and onion powder and a healthy dose of Sriracha sauce. Soooo good!

Day Two I made a smoothie this morning and quickly realize that my ratios for smoothies were way off. It was still good though. Went to work and kicked the menu test's ass. Came home and had left over soup from yesterday. With the same basic ingredients sitting around I wanted something different for dinner. However I was too lazy to make a store run. So I opted for grits with vegan "butter" and a revamp of the smoothie from this morning. I'm off tomorrow morning so I will definitely be making a store run for more veggies and et cetera. I have however run into a bit of a conundrum. Where does honey fall in to the mix? Which means what exactly is the definition of veganism? Originally I was thinking any animal byproducts were off limit (i.e.: eggs, dairy, so forth). But bees are insects. However they also make honey for personal use... But when it comes to insects I guess I haven't considered whether or not insects are animal enough I guess. Here's the thing, generally I dot care for insects. Not like most girls, though. I won't go running and screaming from the room but I will murder the blank out of a wasp, roach, ant, mosquito etc. So I guess I am asking for your input. I know defining lifestyles are personal but I'm a Libra and want to feel out the climate on the subject. So feel free to comment and check back soon. It's officially day three, so I'm off to hit the hay!

Dresser to Dress-up wardrobe

Wow so in the multiple attempts to get this blog going again and actually succeeding this time, while going back and adding labels to my most recent blog I noticed I had two draft, one of which I deleted, and then this one I apparently started 10/22/12 (mega run-on sentence alert). So here's the thing, at the time, my sister-in-law was using a small dresser from my child hood for my niece. It was showing wear and tear; the drawers were going askew and easily could smash a tiny finger. So logically she was ready to toss it, whilst emotionally I was not. So I suggested we upcycle it to a wardrobe for her dress up clothes. We took the drawers out, spackled and sanded, spray panted and I sewed some lovely curtains for it. Then I completely forgot about blogging about it! The horror! I took photos along the way so look for an update soon with the photos I took and a little more detail on the transformation! Hopefully it'll inspire you to look at your "trash" a different way.

We're Baaaack!

That moment you shut down your old blog and start a new with the hopes momentum will get you through... Cut to today when you realize for the past year, your only posts have been Polyvore creations. The last of which you edited four times, which in turn resulted in your last four posts! Insert face palm. Le sigh... So here's the deal folks. I find that, for myself at least, it's odd to gush on about my daily dealings, expecting people to be, not necessarily all consumed, but interested enough to build a small following hopefully. Granted I am addicttingly intriguing, with my multitude of quirks, hilarious anecdotes, refreshing humorous outlook, trail-blazing creativity and every woman appeal. To me it's so normal that I think nothing of it, but who am I to deprive you of such entertainment? Precisely, how uncouth of me. I promise to make it up to you. I think my problem basically was finding a starting place; something to consistently post about to just get the ball rolling. Then earlier I Binged how many days we had until Mardi Gras and had my eureka moment. Cut back to my college career. I worked, like many, my way through college bartending and serving with a small stint of time working in a kitchen. That combined with hailing from one of the best food city's in the world, New Orleans, as well as having a well fed background, has always made food a passion of mine. As I neared graduation I took a fair amount of nutrition classes. Cut to a month ago or so... I went on a kick of getting cider drunk and hoard watching documentaries on Netflix... it happens. A lot of which were nutrition based. I became reintroduced with the Gerson method and some other new factoids. With a probable overload of nutritional and ethical information I decided to go vegan for Lent. With that decision made, I officially have something to post about with regularity. So let's review Lent for the uninitiated. Lent is the 40 day period lasting from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. As good Catholics we are to give up something for Lent. Last year I gave up fried food. My oldest niece always gives up sweets. On Holy Days we're expected to fast. In lieu of fasting I'll be juicing. On Friday's we are to give up meat, (seafood is allowed). And well I'm doing that anyway. In days of yore, one was to give up meat (excluding seafood) dairy and eggs for the entirety of Lent. Fun fact about Lent, Sundays don't count since they are days of rest, plus going from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday equals 40 days only if you remove the Sundays. Most people genuinely don't know this. Heck I didn't know this until a few years ago myself. Now this leaves you with the option of a cheat day, however for those who know. Most choose to truck on through because one cheat day would derail the whole process. Plus what's the point of abstaining from your vice of choice if you get to cheat once a week. Last year, giving up fried food was a struggle. I'm the kind of person who eats at least one fried thing a day. Or was. I still eat fried food regularly, but not daily. Now I said all that to say, I really needed my cheat day last year. Mostly for a wing fix. Going vegan will probably be a bit more of a struggle. This time around I'll probably use my cheat day to add eggs and dairy to the mix. I've always been a pro-veggie girl but eggs/dairy (as well as bacon and seafood, mostly seafood) will probably the hardest part for me. We'll see how it goes. I'm rather excited! Follow my journey if you wish. It should promise to be entertaining at the least.

Cocktails at Versailles

Cocktails at Versailles by dollfacemt featuring peep toe platform pumps

Let's Hit the Casino!

Let's Hit the Casino! by dollfacemt featuring a black leather purse

Daydream believer

Daydream believer by dollfacemt featuring a braided leather bracelet

Spring is in the air

Spring is in the air by dollfacemt featuring an opi nail lacquer