My love for Sylvia Ji knows absolutely no bounds. Her women are so macabre and gorgeous. I think I’ll go as a Sylvia Ji painting for Halloween, though in truth I wouldn’t mind walking around with huge hair bedecked with roses and skulls year round. My favorites are her La Muerte and Native girls, but one needn’t be too picky really…I think it’s a goal of mine to obtain a Sylvia Ji print by the end of 2010 (you know, in case anyone is looking to get me a Christmas present).

Behold my amazing fashion ensemble for those who are down with Día de los Muertos and don’t want to look like a total freak (i.e. people who are not me).

p.s. Sylvia is on Twitter & Facebook.

We had heard, very vaguely, that there was some kind of dancing going on over in Harajuku over the weekend, so we figured we would stop by and see what was up. We were in no way prepared for what we were about to see. Total visual explosion of the weirdest kind. Apparently, what we were witnessing was this:

Officially named the ‘Hoshuku Meiji Jingu Chinza Kyuju Nen Harajuku Omotesando Genki Matsuri Volkswagen Super Yosakoi 2010’, this year’s festival coincides with, and is dedicated to, the ninetieth anniversary of Meiji Shrine. Approximately 6,000 people (99 teams – 12 of which are from the original Yosakoi event in Kochi Prefecture) are scheduled to take part in the event, which will also include dancers from various countries including Ghana, Vietnam and Korea.

We literally spent hours watching and if it wasn’t 95 degrees we probably would have stayed longer. I managed to get a few shots, but this experience really convinced me that I need to save my pennies and get a fancy smancy new camera because my 5 year old 7.1 mega pixel Canon is not cutting it for the big stuff anymore.

I loved this girl, is she not the most elegant thing ever?

I’m willing to go out on a limb here and say that these costumes are not particularly traditional. In fact, I have no idea wtf is going on, but I kind of like it.

These girls had serious dancing skills, and from the looks of it would also make amazing ninjas.

I know I have been MIA, but between preparing for Japan and the actual conference things have been pretty crazy. Yesterday, which was Sunday for me, I went to Harajuku with one of my new found conference friends. I have some photos of an amazing dance festival that we came across, but I figure I’ll kick off my triamphunt return to blogging with some Harajuku Girls (and boys)…

like an Oompa Loompa on acid…

So is she just “Lolita”? Does “Vampire Lolita” exist? Either way I’m going to be hitting up Baby, the Stars Shine Bright for some AMAZING Halloween apparel.

I feel like this boy’s look clearly says that he knows exactly how fabulous he is.

Aw, Harajuku Love! I wonder if Gwen Stefani’s “Harajuku Girls” is “their” song?

She doesn’t really look that happy.

In case you were wondering this guy’s shirt reads, “Kate Moss Loves La Coka Nostra.” Classy.

Whenever I get the time to leave my neighborhood and drive the 3o or so minutes to the Adirondack State Park I am kind of amazed that I get to live in such a beautiful place. Seriously, take a look at that view.New York is freaking awesome, you couldn’t even beat it with a stick.

The goal was to climb to the top of at least one mountain in the Adirondack 46. Well, goal complete. our original plan was to hike Mount Marcy, which is the highest peak in the chain, but we all pretty much balked at the prospect of getting up at 6am, driving 2.5 hours, hiking for 10 hours and then driving another 2.5 hours home. not so much fun. So instead we did Cascade Mountain, which is one of, if not the smallest, in the chain at 4,098 feet.

Supposedly this was only suppose to take us a couple hours (at least according to the one person in our group who had hiked this mountain something like a decade ago). Yeah, not so much. It was probably a 4 to 5 hour round trip. It took us a bit longer because we didn’t take into account the “Jillian Factor,” which results when you bring a sister who hasn’t exercised in years with you on a vertical 2.2 mile hike. However, I can proudly say we were able to keep up with the family who had 2 kids under the age of 10. Go us.

Weeeee! We finally made it to the summit! I think at this point someone had made a “that’s what she said joke.” It’s good thing we didn’t fall off the mountain. It’s pretty cool to say “oh hey, I’m going on a hike” or “yeah, I hiked a mountain this weekend” and yes, I did feel pretty productive afterward…but in general I’m not sure if I really have it in me to do a multi day hike. I guess one cold say there’s only so much nature I can take at once, especially when nature crawls, bites, and can be kind of icky. However, I will happy spend days at a time in an isolated cabin, especially if you stock that cabin with cozy fires, hot chocolate and a cute boy.

Hi. I Love Calypso St. Barth. Their summer dresses always inspire beach fantasies, but I’m starting to appreciate their fall line as well, with my favorite piece being this fabulously adorable Smock Neck Dress. I’d buy it in every color regardless of what it looked like on me if I had a real job. Here are a few favorite currently available on the site. Woooo.

Do you ever hear a song that immediately speaks to you? It’s like somehow they’ve managed to tap into emotions and passions that you’ve bottled up, didn’t know you even had, and certainly couldn’t express on your own? I think I’ve found one of those songs and now I can’t stop listening to it. Ah! It just makes me feel so good! I could spin around in my room with arms out listening to this song for hours.

Side note: I want that hair.

What I Wore, for about 10 minutes because it was freaking hot out:
Dress: Anthropologie
Shoes: Steve Madden (Knock offs of Charles David, thanks for saving me $100 Steve!)
Bag: Calvin Klein
Ring: Slipada
Necklace: by me and For Sale Here!

Is not very inner at all.

I really want one of these bags…they’d also match this camel’s necklace that Sarah Von covets, how convenient.

Bags from Siam Collectible

Insurmountable hair envy for Miss Pandora. I’m thinking of becoming a red head. y/y? So fabulous, if only I could pull off bangs.

I’ve decided that each month I’m going to have a giveaway from my Etsy shop, some months it will be jewelry, some months a holiday hat, sometimes hand warmers or a custom piece, you get the idea. My first giveaway is going to be these fabulous earrings made by yours truly. Huzzah!

Beachcomber Earrings: Pink Pearls, Vintage Chains and Glass Beads, Sterling Silver Beads and Which Freshwater Pearls and Pink Shells hang from Sterling Silver French Hoops. Oo La la!

The contest will run until 10am ETS on Tuesday, August 10th.

Comment on this post with your favorite Ragamuffin piece and your email address to enter the drawing.

You can also increase your chances of winning by:

• Twitter about this giveaway! (include @Ms_Ragamuffin on the tweet!)
• Add this site on Google Friend Connect
• Blogging about this giveaway – leave a link!
• Adding Ms_Ragamuffin on twitter
• Adding Ragamuffin Design on Facebook
• Creating an Etsy treasury with a Ragamuffin Design piece in it – again, leave a link!

Every time you do one of these things leave an additional comment on this post.

Best of Luck – I’ll let you know who the winner is next week <3