The Muse: Catty-Shack

 I took outfit photos in the backyard for the first time in a long time, I usually try to stop somewhere when I'm out and about but it was such a nice afternoon I didn't bother. What was unusual was that my cat, Abby, wandered out and seemed to get in just about every picture I tried to take. So finally i picked her up and made her pose. SHe's not, technically speaking, an outdoor cat. However when wither my mother or I is home during the day we let her wander, she doesn't usually stay out for long and never leaves the property. She lived to totally indoors for most of her life (she's sixteen now, I've had her since my 9th birthday in between third and fourth grade). Two years ago we had all of our hardwoods refinished and were forced to move in with my grandmother for a week, but couldn't bring the cat. So we locked her, her bed, food, water, and the litter box downstairs in the basement. Every morning, early before the workmen would come I would bring her upstairs and let her play outside for an hour. After that it sort of became an unspoken rule, and she became a semi-outdoor cat at the age of 14. She was a fast learner however and has brought home a number of other small furry creatures as gifts. Including one memorable weekend where she brought home five in three days including a chipmunk she walked in to the living room with, still in her mouth. It was worth it just for my mothers shocked shrieks. I won't deny Abby has visibly slowed down over the past year, she sleeps almost all the time but is still relatively healthy, though she has no discipline and get away with murder (sometimes literally). She was never a very affectionate lap cat, never sitting in laps or bothering us much in general. As she's aged she's warmed up to me however, she's still not what I would ever call friendly. It would be putting it mildly to say I was surprised when she started following me and running between my legs to sniff my shoes, but she's a cat, they always do their own thing. I think that's what I like about them, they make you work for even a shred of affection and I'm pretty sure they're smarter than most humans I know. Then I came inside and found her sleeping almost on top of my purse that I had left on a chair. Ready or not Mr. DeMille, this girl wants her closeup.

 Blouse: Banana Republic
Trousers: vintage, F. Shay of Boston, thrifted via Goodwill
Shoes: Bandolino via DSW
Bracelet: Liz Claiborne via J. C. Penny
Earrings: vintage, Pastimes Consignments
Sunglasses: Dollar Tree
Purse: vintage, Whiting and Davis, my grandmother's

 I can't help but feel I'm channeling a bit of that 80's country club lifestyle today, these trousers are definitely late 70's or early 80's vintage, and well Rodney Dangerfield did have an almost otherworldly gift for glaring color combinations and eye-popping pattern mixing, kind of like.... well, me.

 I'm not quite this far gone yet....yet.

 And this out fit, well a girl has to dream doesn't she?