ONCE YOUTH SKULL TOP GIVEAWAY

 tank c/o once youth, triangle necklace c/o under the pyramids, bag c/o rose above vintage, diy shorts, jeffrey campbell shoes, topshop claw bracelet, wild & free feathers earring

My friend Madelyn and I took a little stroll into Wilderness Park and happened upon that dead beaver. Poor lil guy. Died right on a trail. Stinky little fellow. After my latest road trip I am itching to get out and enjoy more scenery, so this helped. Tons of big butterflies, frogs, cicadas, and sunshine. My shoes weren't really the best choice for the muddier portion of this day, but somehow they survived. Some really great items going on here! That vintage 80s purse landed on my doorstep not too long ago from Rose Above Vintage - thrilled about that. This necklace found it's way into my mail box as well from Under The Pyramids . I am a fan of theirs on facebook here. They are kind enough to give my readers a 20% discount on all of their products until August 19th. The code is right below. Use it at checkout.

A while back Once Youth contacted me about doing a giveaway. I looked through their clothing and decided I was in. You get to pick a top of your choice, found here. I chose this skull top because obviously I cannot get enough of skulls and bones. Suited me well. Love the deepness of the cut out arm holes, too. So, for this giveaway you must:

1. Like Once Youth on facebook here

2. Comment on the shirt you would want to win here

3. Comment here letting me know that you participated

A winner will be picked at random in a week! 

MOJAVE BEETLE, MEET MIDWEST CICADA

dust & drag american flag robe c/o laced with romance, asos boots, metalsugar cicada ring, shorts c/o lenni vintage 

Along with raw metals and gems, I really enjoy wearing insects. Real and faux. If I didn't do what I do, I would love to be an entomologist...or an archaeologist. Or a geologist. Cave tour guide? Keep dreamin, Casey. Got the beetle bracelet in the southwest desert at a shop, and this cicada ring from Metalsugar. Bugs sure do look sweet in rose gold. Feels sweet too. Light as a freakin feather, this ring. This robe is in rotation every single day. It's too hot to wear it out yet, but I wear it every morning while I'm getting ready and at night when I am all snuggly with my cactus. Nope, but I did snuggle a cactus in my hands last week like an idiot. Assumed that the only thorns were the big visible ones. Didn't realize until after my hands had about 30 small hair size thorns stuck in them that I was wrong. Yowza. Like tons of little slivers. DON'T GRAB A CACTUS. Words of wisdom right here.

Do you guys actually read this yakkety yak that is my blog? I assume the same 5 people check it out regularly, and I am just writing to crickets otherwise. Hellooooo (hello hello hello echo echo).

Well, it's still most definitely summer here. We've been in a "heat dome" for a few weeks now. Not complaining. Hope it stays forever. I will leave you with a "vintage" summer tune. If you get the same Allstate advertisement that I see when I watch this, I met that guy. Semi partied with him here. He is into 80s music and cocaine when he's not doing these commercials.

ROUTE 66 AND BEYOND

I've been on a hiatus. Not a fashion post, as it is hard to dress not-boring when you are climbing up mountains with sporadic rain freaking you out. Here are a few photos from the last week and a half. Route 66 road trip into the desert and all over the southwest. Hit up Zion, The Grand Canyon, Yosemite, random small towns in Utah and Arizona, and ended up back in California where it all began. I've been to all of these places minus Yosemite before, and thank goodness I got to experience what all it had to offer. Still only one state to go until I've been everywhere in the US. This road trip was one of the best experiences of my life. The Native American trading posts couldn't be more perfect, and route 66 was an experience in itself, feeling like a travel back in time through the wild west. Too much to talk about. It would take pages and pages. So surreal. Couldn't have done it without my trusty vintage peruvian backpack from Wudsylou. Check out their store here to find awesome vintage must haves. This bag survived many mountain slides and jumps. My new favorite purse.

The winner of the La Dama knuckle ring is Amy!

LA DAMA KNUCKLE RING GIVEAWAY, YO

Already scuffed up my new Austin Powers shoes. No more drunk walking home in these babies.

mixin metals

matte purple polish. not sure how I feel about it.

The YSL ring that we all lust after has a great lookalike and I am here to give one away. La Dama  is having their 2 year anniversary this month and contacted me about doing this giveaway awhile back.  Having a hoarder mindset for rings, I jumped on it. It's safe to assume all ya'll love rings as much as I do. Especially big, gaudy, gypsy, mystical rings like these. They have all sorts of colors for the center stone, and even a silver plated ring here. The giveaway is for a knuckle ring of your choice. I will random.org the winner next Tuesday and will e-mail said person, but I am going to be on a road trip so it may take a little longer to do a post with the winner. So, with that said, and with most giveaways...you gotta leave me your e-mail addy.

Giveaway steps:

1. Follow La Dama on FB here

2. Leave a comment with your e-mail address

These shorts!! These were made for me by Alana. Screw Runwaydreamz when you can have this Arizona livin' blogger custom make you some shredded denim shorts. Check out her store here. 

The pictures don't show it, but after my run in with chlorine and the sun, my faded ugly brick colored hair is now back to bright sunset red. Should have shot these photos after I colored. Oh well. You need to see how hideous my hair can look. Right? Also, this song is in my head. Has been all day. I used to live in Vallejo, CA, rated the most miserable city to live in the USA currently. This song pretty much sums up Vallejo. When I worked at the Olive Garden there, a bartender got held up at gunpoint. Instead of wine, I mostly served shots of Hennessy and Remy Martin. Now, the police station is only open 3 days a week because of the cities bankruptcy. Another Vallejo anthem that I actually kind of like here. Keepin it classy, 707.

Winner of the raw crystal necklace is Isabel! Congrats, lady! 

PS. I was told I needed to make a blog facebook since I prefer to not bombard my personal one with non-personal people. It's pretty bleak right now, but here it is.

SNAKES N' SKULLS

 Southwestern bomber jacket c/o The Cross Office- like on fb here, snake dress/top c/o Tammy Jo Fashion - like on fb here, CAIRO JEWELRY triangle necklace, BoHo Rose Jewelry skull bracelet, Larimar and Silver light blue ring, My Salvation arrow earring, Corvid Delights earring, lelove sunglasses

What a crazy heat wave we've been having here! (Not so) secretly, I love it. I am pretty freakin spent as I have been at a pool party all day swimming and failing at polish horseshoes, so this post may end up taking me an hour to write because I keep passing out. Thank goodness for these sunglasses. My eyes would have been burned out of their sockets since unfortunately we cannot put sunscreen on eyeballs.

 I'm a natural ginger, but I obviously color my hair to make it less boring. Any fellow pseudo redheads out there can tell you one thing for sure - shampoo and warm water are a redheads worst enemy. Mix some chlorine in with that warm water and you've got yourself a great color stripper. Maintenance like crazy. Are you all enjoying my orphan gutter hair look? I achieve this by not washing it, sweating, and sleeping on it multiple times. The humidity is a good additive as well. Just call me fuzzy fur head. Oh, people have asked me where I came up with my blog name. Freckleface Strawberry, a book here. I'm not as freckly, but I am a redhead with a face full of muted freckles. 

Can we talk about this top (dress for me) and jacket? Hecccck yes. Super stoked when these bad boys landed at my front door. Once it gets below 200 degrees this jacket will probably end up fusing to my body because I will wear it so much. The Cross Office is giving you all a 20% discount from their store when you enter STRAWBERRYFRECKLES at checkout. You all know my love for etsy stores, so check out all of the shops I have listed. Lotsa love for them. Way better to have original pieces, in my opinion.

One more day for the crystal necklace giveaway.