Halloween 2017: Coraline and The Cat

Another Halloween, another hair color to take advantage of when deciding upon a costume. I started crowdsourcing blue-haired characters and costume ideas in August. I had 2 requirements in addition to the incorporation of the blue hair color: it had to have a position for my pup and it had to be DIY-able.

People gave me all sorts of ideas: Joy from "Inside Out" (one of my favorite movies), Hades from "Hercules", outer space, the ocean, etc. I thought about going as Helena St. Tessero from "Neo Yokio" because, not only do we both have blue hair, but we're both fashion bloggers who've lost interest and faith in the fashion industry. But I chose Coraline because the costume was the easiest to make for both me and my dog.

I've been DIY-ing my costumes since I was little (well, my mom was doing all the work before my fine motor movements fully developed, but everything was still homemade). I'm on a fixed budget and never want to ruin it by spending money on something I'm only going to wear once for a photo. Plus, I don't ever go out on Halloween, so the costume would literally only be purchased for the photo.

This costume was super easy because I already owned the pointy-toed blue boots and dark-wash jeans. All I needed was a star-print sweater and a dragonfly clip. I thought about buying them, but I knew I wouldn't ever wear the sweater or the clip again, and decided I'd rather spend the money on new books.

I made the sweater by cutting out stars from a huge swath of white fabric I have that I use for embroidery and tacking them onto a fuzzy sweater I already owned. I made the clip by painting a dragonfly onto the same fabric and gluing it on a bobby pin.

And voilá! A "Coraline" Halloween! I think my pup was the happiest with this costume because it didn't require her to wear socks or a jacket like she's had to wear in previous years' costumes.

OOTD: Grad Announcements

So, I know I already graduated... But I'm back for more. My college only has one commencement ceremony a year, so I'm headed back to Seattle in June to walk with the rest of my class. I already have my diploma and an internship, so I'm feeling pretty good for someone who doesn't walk the stage for another month.

Seeing as I'm not in Seattle, throwing together photos for my grad announcements took a little more effort. My cap and gown are waiting for me in Seattle, so I borrowed my friend Corina's for the weekend. I wouldn't be able to take pictures on campus, so I leaned into my status as a New York resident. You can see the Manhattan skyline from my roof (including the Empire State Building), so I took my pictures up there to highlight where I'm at right now.

Of COURSE Luxe got in on my graduation shoot! She accompanied me to all of my classes sophomore-junior year, so she's pretty much an honorary graduate.

ConGRADulations to all my fellow graduates from the class of 2017!

OOTD: Florals? For Spring?

As soon as I saw this print on the rack at a Goodwill in Midtown, I knew I had to have this piece. When I pulled it out, though, I saw that it was a size 28– it was going to be too big for me. At $7.99, though, I wasn't about to pass up a floral print jumpsuit with these cute little butterfly sleeves. With a couple safety pins and this sash, I was able to make this look work for me.

One of the major cons of shopping at secondhand stores is that you often find an item you like in the wrong size. This can discourage you from wanting to shop secondhand. There are two alternatives to this problem. First, you can shop more frequently until you find the right piece in the right size. Second, you can figure out a way to make the ill-fitting piece work. You might need to learn how to sew a couple stitches or be ok with cutting some stuff up, but I promise that it's worth it.

I spent yesterday in the park with one of my roommates and my sister, who was visiting from Boston for the weekend. I didn't celebrate Passover for the first time since I lived in Spain this year, but I was grateful to be able to spend some time celebrating spring. There's a park just blocks from my house that I've been meaning to take Luxe to, and it was finally nice enough to check it out. What a great way to spend a Sunday.

Halloween 2016: Ursula and Ariel

I started thinking about what to wear for Halloween in August. I wanted to take advantage of my silver hair, so choosing a silver-haired character was a priority. I came up with quite a few options: Storm from X-Men, Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle, and Cruella DeVil to name a few. I chose Ursula because it's a costume I could easily manage to DIY.
The tentacles are made of a black maxi skirt, which I cut into eight pieces. I then cut out purple tentacles, which I glued on the under-side of each of the pieces of my skirt. The only pieces I had to buy were the bodysuit (to be honest, I was just looking for an excuse to buy a black bodysuit) and these red velvet nails I bought on a whim during a trip to the pharmacy.
Luxe was, of course, the Little Mermaid herself. She even had a red wig but refused to wear it long enough for us to take a picture.

A Kim K Halloween

I've been planning my Halloween costume since August this year. It can be hard to figure out a cute and clever costume for you and your pet, so I start thinking about it a little earlier than most. I've been looking forward to Halloween that much more since I decided that Luxe and I would be Kim Kardashian West and North West.

I spent the whole night Instagramming like Kim K herself, including mimicking some of her own Instagram posts.

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Dec 11, 2014 at 3:07am PST

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Dec 9, 2014 at 9:30pm PST

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Apr 6, 2015 at 8:46pm PDT

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Sep 29, 2015 at 1:07pm PDT

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Mar 4, 2015 at 1:48pm PST

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Feb 10, 2015 at 6:18pm PST

Luxe even got dressed up in a white tutu, pearls, and ballet slippers as North West.

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on May 28, 2015 at 11:52am PDT

A photo posted by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Dec 14, 2014 at 10:33pm PST

I already can't wait for next Halloween!

My Emotional Support Animal

Almost exactly a year ago, I adopted my sweet little Luxe. We've had a wonderful year together; from coordinating Halloween costumes to traveling the Pacific northwest together to generally looking cute as hell together, our lives together have been really amazing. But as great as it is having her as a pet, that's not her sole purpose in my life. Since it's National Suicide Prevention Week, I figured it's time I officially share this with you: Luxe is my emotional support animal.

An emotional support animal is, in many ways, a service animal. She travels with me, lives with me, and, of course, provides me with the very important service of supporting me emotionally. The main difference between an emotional support animal and a strict service animal is the process the animal has to go through to become certified. Luxe just had to be her sweet self to be certified as an emotional support animal by my psychiatrist and therapist. I spent months looking for the right dog to be my emotional support animal. My process started in spring of 2014, when my doctor recommended I look into getting one. 

I could go into the complicated intricacies of my long mental health record, but I would rather focus on how Luxe has helped me than in what ways. Part of this mental health record includes a history of panic attacks. Since getting Luxe, my panic attacks have decreased from weekly to once in a blue moon. In fact, I'm generally just less anxious. Being around such a calming presence has been so amazing for my anxiety. 

Luxe also helps out with quite a few other things that I deal with, be they daily or occasional symptoms of my mental illnesses. She can and has helped me get out of bed on days when it's felt impossible. On days when I haven't been able to get out of bed, just knowing that she's there depending on my care and love encourages me to get through times when it seems impossible to keep going. She may not be the cure-all treatment for everything that I struggle with, but she certainly helps quite a bit.

Luxe has absolutely changed my life. I'd recommend looking into an emotional support animal to anyone dealing with whatever mental health concerns they may be dealing with. Like I also mentioned earlier, though, she is not a cure-all treatment. Her companionship is helpful alongside the use of therapy sessions and thoughtfully prescribed medication. It may seem easy to just sign your pet up as an emotional support animal, but there's a reason a certified mental health professional is required in the process of certifying an emotional support animal. I'd strongly recommend taking advantage of the therapist or psychiatrist involvement required in the process of getting an emotional support animal.

While I haven't exactly been secretive about Luxe's role in my life, I haven't exactly been publicly upfront about it, either. I'm not ashamed that I need an emotional support animal. On the other hand, it's not entirely socially acceptable to discuss your mental health problems openly. Mental health is considered a taboo topic in modern society, even more so than physical health. By not talking openly about mental health, though, we discourage a lot of people from seeking the help they may desperately need. Promoting open and honest communication about mental health is an important part of promoting suicide prevention. As hard as it is to admit and talk about the mental illnesses I suffer from, it adds to the dialogue about mental health and suicide prevention, which can only encourage the dialogue to grow and give people the confidence to seek the help they need.