A few weeks ago I received a very exciting email from my friend Michelle Dustin, who is an amazing stylist who created her dream job working for Arc Value Village! I am so glad that my work with Sol Inspiration allowed me to meet Michelle and through social media I fell I've been allowed to follow her work, see her wedding bliss and ultimately I've gotten to know her pretty well.

Michelle's emailed was asking me to be a #villagerforaday I was so flattered and I immediately said yes of course. So I went shopping at the Brooklyn Center location and had an amazing time with the help of very friendly staff. I am not a super patient person so I did not wait until today to wear what I found, here are some pics from through out the week.

THIS COAT! Ever since the first time I watched Almost Famous I wanted a coast like this. When I saw Penny Lane (Cate Hudson) looking so effortlessly cool and confident I longed for my own. I've seen other coats like this at other thrift stores but they were all usually gross, dirty, the faux fur was crunchy, or the price way too high. This coat was in perfect condition and under $20!! It was a steal!

The coat, the shoes, the pants and the Faded Glory sweatshirt and all from Arc Value Village.

The neon button up is from AVV and the hat is from b.resale!

This hat is from I Like You, the Twin Cities t-shirt is from b.resale and the amazing red jacket is from Arc. You can read about what I did in this outfit in this Weekend In Review post, here!

These size 6.5 Nine West Boots were less than $15!

I could not look away when I first laid eyes on this Berman's Vintage Fur coat, it has a zipper and is extremely warm! I am not an advocate for killing animals in the name of fashion but vintage fur is beyond our control and this one fits me perfectly! Cheers!

I think this Instagram Takeover idea is genius and I really appreciate Michelle thinking of me, she knows I love a good thrift shopping session! Arc Value Village's mission is great, they collect amazing discarded products and people are given the opportunity to appreciate these things again.

xoxo, kp

I have the extreme pleasure of facilitating a group of high school ladies that are called the She Is Warriors, a Project Footsteps program. Around 8am I left my house and picked up two of the warriors and we met numerous more at the Footsteps office. The girls are working on brainstorming ways to influence the climates at their schools, one of the coolest things we are working on is a workshop to teach male athletes about the female experience. These girls are my heart and this work is what feeds my soul, warms my heart and keeps my butt working as hard as possible. 

As soon as our meeting was over I headed to Midtown Global Market.

Do it Green's - Green Gift Fair is amazing and I would say that even if they hadn't picked Sol Inspirations to do production for their eco-fashion show. The vendors they pull together, the space they utilize, the diversity of people that shop these hall ways it's ALL AMAZING. If you are in the Twin Cities while it's taking place next year it is the perfect place to shop for all the unique, thoughtful, cruelty free gifts that your friends and family deserve to receive from you for all occasions. 

I was pulled in for my expertise on backstage management. I enjoy pumping up people who have never walked a runway. I think people should be more excited about being starred at and less apprehensive about people's eyes meeting their own. Also SOL is all about none sample sized models, challenging the unhealthy obsession with sized O bodies is just as important to the people behind Sol than educating about the horrors of fast fashion. 

This is the only picture I have on my phone, the woman on the left made the dress that was the finale piece on the runway. Trashion baby!

Sunday morning I awoke to the sound of a thousand text message pilling in from one of the many group messages I have the pleasure of being involved in. It was exactly how I knew it would happen, as I fell asleep Saturday I envisioned it being a tad bit later than 10am but I guess when a girl is ready to brunch she gets on the horn. 

So I drove in the fog out to SR's house in the NW burbs and we had a morning full of delicious eats and even more delicious conversations. The most exciting thing we did was watch LG master the art of sabering champagne, click through to my instagram to watch the video. It's epic. 

I LOVE MY FRIENDS, they keep me honest, humble and always guessing. 


Stay busy, stay true, look at your life and say I LOVE YOU.

xoxox, kp

This weekend I was BUSY AS HELL in heaven, doing a billion things that I love. Sometimes I over commit and can find myself wishing I'd said no, to at least one of the 17 things I sometimes find myself doing at once, BUT this weekend was not one of those times. I LOVED EACH MINUTE I SPENT OUTSIDE OF MY WARM, COZY BED. 

That being said, it was cold and hard to leave my bed both mornings, very hard. 

I left for Caribou a litter after 9am and made my way to the loading dock of Rapson Hall. I loaded myself into the venue, got set up backstage and production on the space quickly became priority. Once the room looked beautiful it was no time at all before it was 6:30pm and the doors were open. The chairs we had just placed became the place holders of our audience. 

After a little backstage judging, around 7:40 the show kicked off and was flawless. I did production, make-up, production of stage, backstage direction and tare down. I got to know the designers and models, found out what they did on a daily basis. I learned about their lives and then I got to see their garments walk the runway. I got to feel pride when one of the models twirled on the runway because I knew they'd never done that before. The energy on a show day is unlike a lot of experiences in life, even though the designers were competing the sense of common accomplishment happened first, it happened during first meeting and during run through. Unspoken it may have been but camaraderie was present. 

Sol Inspiration's gave out scholarships to three different designers and the night was full of chatter, introductions, great design, new friends and all in the name of environmentally conscious fashion. The event was virtually zero waste, I think as I was leaving the crew responsible for waste management was saying that there was less than half a bag worth of true 'waste.' All the rest was diverted to recycling or compost! MANY MANY MANY THANKS TO ERIKA BACKBURG & her company Social Sotan for their wonderful work.. 

After 14 hours of fashion show production on Saturday I was really struggling when my alarm went off at 9am on Sunday, so I canceled my 10am breakfast and  reset the alarm for 10:30. By 11:30 I had made my way back to Psycho Suzi's but this time instead of unwinding I was volunteering for the East Minneapolis Exchange Club's Build Your Own Breakfast. It was a delightful morning with mimosas and tator-tots! Hopefully the Exchange Club made a bunch of money, they give it back to the community in a lot of creative ways. 

After that I made my way to the Northloop and had the pleasure of working the afternoon away at The Foundry Home Goods. I love when they need my assistance because being in that special space feels like coming home.

I wrapped a long weekend by picking up to-go food from one of my favorite restaurants in Minneapolis, Ginger Hop!! 

Most of the time I barely notice when the weekend occurs because everyday is just another day that I do whatever makes me happy. 

xox, kp

Lena Dunham released a book on 9/30/14 and I just finished it this past Friday. I took the audio route and listened to Dunham's voice read her words to me in that voice that I've grown to know from her HBO show GIRLS.

In the past week er so that book has been gaining tons of negative attention. It seems to me like it's mostly accusations from conservatives trying to defame her. She writes in the book about checking out her little sister's genitalia, masturbating in the same bed (AS HER SISTER SLEPT). You tell me, would someone who gets off on touching children inappropriately write about it in a book that millions of people will critique?!?!? The main accuser has absolutely no pedigree allowing him to make such a strong statement. The most intelligent retort I've read was on Slate, here. For the sake of journalistic integrity I will give you a perspective that I don't agree with but that are out there on the internet, so here.

Any way, I think Dunham is super brave, and in support of her telling her own story with such openness I too will confess something to the world. My younger brother's penis was definitely the first that I had ever laid eyes on, I imagine most people with a younger sibling have experienced the same discovery. The fact that a penis doesn't 'open' allowed me to examine it without having to be physical, but examine it I did. I didn't receive any sexual pleasure but it did allow me the pleasure of knowledge, it allowed me to educate myself. My brother and I also used to give each other back rubs and then sleep in the same bed. I'm not a public figure in the way that Lena Dunham is, so I don't know whose agenda would further if they did so but, I dare someone to try to make me out to be a child molester. I also have a vague memory of showering with my dad and marveling at the hair around his genitalia, wondering to myself why I didn't have any? Does that make me an adult molester? NO, it's perfectly natural curiosity and when no one is deriving sexual pleasure from the experience IT'S OK! For the record I currently grow quite an impressive amount of my own fur down there.

I love her openness! I love her voice! I love the seemingly lost time line. It's not a start to finish detailing her life but instead the smart, thoughtful stories are clustered into categories. Dunham is honest about things that are very hard to be honest about. Honesty, unapologetic feminism, confused stories about sexual encounters, triumphs and struggles, moments of discomfort. Girls need to read these stories, more things that will let them know they aren't alone. While watching House of DVF last week I heard and loved the quote, "Another woman's success is an inspiration to all women.' - Diane Von Furstenberg

I don't strongly identify with Dunham, I grew up in the Midwestern middle class and my parents aren't even slightly artsy but still the verbiage calms me. The story of another person coming into their own is always an important one to tell. 

Like I mentioned in my post about 'Mighty Be Our Power,' reading is an outlet that let's you into the lives of others and I find it to be very important. Read things that make you evaluate beliefs, read words that challenge you, devour words that aren't going to make everyone happy, read words that make you happy. 

xoxo, kp


ADDED:

A QUIZ TO FIND OUT IF DUNHAM'S IS A MOLESTER OF CHILDREN

I have never and most likely will not ever again become so choked up by emotion at a concert that I was straight up moved to tears. This story starts sixteen years ago, the last time that Garth Brooks sold out the Target Center an insane number of nights in a row. It was my first concert ever! Before Warped Tour, before eye liner bands, even before I saw Backstreet Boys, I was 8 and rocking out to Garth Brooks with my mom and my aunt Jill. 

Sixteen years later my Mother's siblings peer pressured me into sitting online for three hours to procure 8 tickets to a show for Garth's 'Man Against the Machine Tour.' I survived the insanity that was the ticket lottery and a few weeks later we were at O'Donavan's having a few drinks and waiting to walk over to the venue. 

All the way on the left is my mother, then myself, my aunt Jill, Joni, Karen, Tom, Jim & John! The whole Hadtrath crew was there to celebrate good music and great family. After this lively crew had their fill we made our way to Target Center and had endless amounts of fun dancing, singing along and making the people to our right get up a hundred times because we needed beer. 

The opener, Karyn Rochelle was very talented and grateful to Garth and Trisha which is nice to hear, it really supports my theory that they are truly stand-out celebrities. Garth's songs have always set him apart from other country artists in my mind, his songs say things like,"When there's only one race and that's mankind, we shall be free." 'People Loving People' embodies what I have always suspected about Garth, that he truly is good people and is using his platform to push positivity, love and light.

'In Another's Eyes' is a song that is so emotionally raw, and truthful. I just love it. The moment when Trisha comes in with that strong, unwavering voice it's stage magic, it's the first time during the show that you get to see her. At the end of the song Garth and Yridgs look into each others eyes holding that last note and Trisha mouthed I loved you, I lost it, cried like a baby. They are just so in love and seem like whole hearted people.

The only song that I was dissapointed not to hear was 'Standing Outside the Fire,' which I know he did play on Friday. I know this because my mother's was fortunate enough to attend the show twice, once Friday with her significant other and Saturday with her siblings and me. If you have never seen the video I encourage you to shut your office door, maybe not do it on the bus because you might leak a few tears! It's honestly one of my favorite songs and an inspiring video!

My theory is that in the video I linked Trisha and Garth were already in love but not married or outed in the public as a couple so they avoid looking into one another's eyes and once they do they don't hold eye contact because they want to wildly start making out on stage. Like I said though, just a theory. 

After the show in true country fashion that herded us out of Target Center using portable fences like cattle. I helped a few elderly women find their car and then realized the night was still young, since I had attended the 6:30 show. The rest of that night is history, a history that will not be recorded here! For your further reading here is a good StarTrib article:!!!

Creating memories with family, listening to music that your peers might not find all that cool, screaming lyrics like you were born to sing them, supporting artists that stand for what you stand for, all things that I did that night and all things that I highly encourage. 

xoxo, kp

While reading Sheryl Sandberg's 'Lean In' (which I still haven't finished) I was made aware of this memoir by Leyman Gbowee called 'Mighty Be Our Powers'. I tend to read four plus books at a time (the reason I haven't finished Lean In) so the pace at which I finished this book in was impressive. Gbowee writes with passion, honesty, she tells the story of a situation I could never have imagined. There is enough context to inform the story but not too many dates or rebel army leader names to where I felt bored. The connection I made with her early in the story was so strong that I cried several times, felt chills and a swelling in my belly with her feats and closed the book at the end with a new friend, a welcomed new perspective. 

I LOVE A GOOD ROADTRIP (Disclosure: I feel very uneasy about the state of climate change and do my best not to drive aimlessly or waste precious resources - HELL gas is expensive!)

 All of that said last Thursday I took off in my dad's CR-V (very fuel efficient) and with the assistance of a very handsome co-pilot I drove first 12 hour to Cincinatti for one night of bliss with my aunts whom reside there and then Friday we reached our final destination - WASHINGTON DC <3

My main goal of this trip and the reason I didn't just fly was to bring winter wears to Kevin because he has been living out of two suitcases for five months. I packed up the vehicle with boxes of his stuff and hit the open road! Upon arriving in DC I immediately hugged the shit out of my younger brother whom I hadn't seen in many, too many, months. The younger and taller KP graduated this past spring and promptly moved his life to DC to pursue his career. I am so proud of him and being able to see his new life unfolding right before my eyes was inspiring. 

First he showed my co-pilot and I to our swanky digs, where we promptly got our Halloween costumes on and got ready for a night of drinking, catching up and TK & I trying to identify with these cool 22 year olds! 

We pre-gamed at an apartment where no one had a lighter (dislike) and then made our way to a pretty cool bar. I made friends with someone dressed up like a 'penis fairy' and finally we made our way back to Mount Pleasant for pizza and passing out. 

Saturday morning we lazily made our way to Beau Thai, a staple in JM and younger KP's diet it seems. I ordered a bottomless mimosa and spicy fried rice. Although they were slow to bring me the first mimosa I cranked out at least 6 or 7, I had to get my $12 worth. The food was amazing and we had a lovely time hearing about the neighborhood and taking in all the people around us.

One of my favorite things about DC is the diversity of the people, the languages that you hear people speaking are numerous, the skin tones are incalculable. I just feel an energy there, in the district that I've never felt replicated any where. LOVE IT.

We then unloaded the boxes of clothing that we had brought from Minnesota, followed by me napping and my brother 'cleaning' his apartment. Around 7 er so we went to dinner at the Kangaroo Boxing Club, my brother's favorite joint that he's discovered since transplanting to DC. It was delicious and the company was even better! 

Following dinner we made our way to KP's apartment to see new friends and old, play too much beer pong and watch music videos from the early 2000s on the big screen while we shouted about what we were doing when these songs surfaced in popular culture. It was a great night.

Younger KP made breakfast tacos then he, TK and I explored the National Mall for a few hours. TK had never been and it was a sincere pleasure to be with him as he saw these historic sites for the first time. 

And then we had dinner! TK and I ordered a bucket of chicken to be picked up from Golden Brown Delicious and when we got there we selected the perfect side dishes; a snickers donut, a German chocolate donut and a PB&J donut! JM also made mac and cheese from scratch and provided the only thing green most of us had eaten all weekend!

It was an amazing weekend, my first real travel since Australia, I left full of southern cooking and warm fuzzies! If you have a thirst for diversity, love food, history and or people with world-changing aspirations DC is a great spot to live or visit. I haven't spoken about my time living there in DC on the blog but it was about 6 months in 2010 and this was my first time back since, I will be back much sooner this time around. 

See things, love people, learn a little history and experience what you can when you can. 

xoxox,kp