Audrey was able to meet my hubby, we went to brunch at an adorable cafe nearby and I was able to shop to my little heart’s content in one of the cutest boutiques I’ve ever walked into. It was so great to see everything that Audrey worked so hard to make a reality, and of course, to give her a very big real life hug. I really wish we lived closer so this could be more of a frequent occurrence!

For all of you in the Southern California area, definitely make sure to check out Conversation Pieces’ storefront and make sure to tell Audrey that Meli sent you! I can’t wait to show you all the goodies I picked up!

1150 E Wardlow Road
Long Beach, CA 90807

My awesome blogger buddy, Megan, over at The Nerdy Girlie shared some of her blogger confessions and asked her followers to do the same. I think this is a great idea, because a lot of the time, I feel like bloggers don’t really talk about what goes on behind the scenes – even with each other! It’s been refreshing to read other bloggers’ lists and see that I am not alone in the things I struggle with and equally, the things I enjoy as being part of the ever-growing blogosphere.

1. I wish I had more time for my blog. Even though it may not seem like it, I have a full-time job away from the blog. This makes it very difficult to focus 100% on it, which always makes me feel like I’m not churning out the best content, promoting it enough on social media or updating the layout enough. I often find Sundays to be my go-to day for blogging, along with any free mornings I may have where I feel inspired. However, I really wish I had more free time to make it more of a priority. Yep, you could say I have blogger’s guilt.

2. I get super shy & awkward about promoting the blog. Even though I am basically obsessed with my blog and blogging in general, I get very timid and shy when at an event where I should be promoting myself. I know that this is the number one must-do when it comes to getting more exposure, but I tend to all of a sudden become an introvert. I’m trying my best to overcome this phobia (?!), but it’s definitely been an uphill battle. I feel so torn: I want my baby to be seen, but I tend to keep her a secret. If anyone else feels this way, please let me know. I always feel like I am completely alone with these mixed messages!

3. I am so impatient with photo editing. So I don’t edit my photos most of the time. That job goes to the hubs, who is an amazing photographer. He takes all my pictures and does the dirty work afterwards. However, I am merciless with the turn around time. I always feel like such a jerk, but I am constantly hounding him to get them to me about .436 seconds after they are taken. Poor guy. I’m sure he has nightmares of me saying, “Are my photos ready?“

4. I would love to do this full time. Although I can straight up say that my full time job is my passion, I don’t think it’s impossible to have more than one in this life. Blogging definitely shares the stage. I tried to stop blogging for some time, but I literally lasted a month before the pining was just too much to handle. I have many friends that blog full time and I have to admit: I get pretty envious of their opportunities, schedules and experiences. However, little Ms. Melificent has to pay the bills, so for now, it is just a pipe dream until someone sprinkles me with that magical pixie dust that can make it a reality.

5.  I couldn’t be happier about switching the focus of my blog. Although at first I was so, so nervous, I think making Melificent a geeky fashion blog was the best decision I have made. Granted, this means I have to stress about redesigning and rebranding and new business cards and, and, and, BUT it is so worth it. I find it so much easier to put together blog posts and find content. It’s something I live in every day, so I also feel like I’m writing from more of an honest place, which probably makes me seem more relatable and genuine. It’s also given me the opportunity to sync up with other amazing geeky girl bloggers, which I am so thankful for!

Are you a blogger? If so, I want to hear your secrets!

Hi everyone!!!
I hope you enjoyed our guest posts from our buddy, Jessica! I really appreciate her covering me for a portion of my travel time, but I actually have some free time now to throw up some posts of my own. I was surprised at how much I missed the blog during this past week and some change (well, I’m missing a lot of things to be honest), so I’m glad I got the opportunity to get back to business!

Since I do travel quite a bit, and these next 2 months are taking the cake with three different trips lined up back to back, I figured I would bestow some of my most essential travel tips on you all;

1. Make lists; nothing gives me greater joy than starting a trip list. I know this may make me a very strange person but it helps me not forget a single thing. I also have the ability to plan outfits beforehand. This is especially important for longer trips where you will have to wear the same item in different ways in order to maximize space, or for events where you know you will be photographed or will have to attend important functions (for a geeky blogger like me, that’s convention packing). I even make multiple lists for the same trip leading up to departure, such as things I have left to buy or all the last minute items I have to throw in my bag right before I leave. Go ahead. Mock my OCD.

2. Roll, roll, roll your clothes; biggest essential tip I’d say. Want to save some room and save the headache of checking a huge bag (and lugging it around upon arrival)? Roll it up! I roll all my clothing when I’m packing for a trip, and I’ve never suffered the fate of having to get 3 people to sit on my luggage in order for it to close shut. This, of course, may cause your clothes to get more wrinkled than folding them the old fashioned way, but keep reading. I have a solution for that too!

3. Focus less on apparel & more on toiletries; I tend to highlight outfits: what am I going to wear and what am I going to look like. Yeah, experience has taught me that you will only wear half of what you bring, but you will most definitely run out of your deemed necessities. You know, like those Charmin Flushable Wipes you can’t live without (not that this is my current woe or anything). So don’t think twice to buy two instead of one travel-sized toiletry item – it’s much better to be safe than sorry!

4. Nail decals; I don’t know about you, but the only way my nail polish stays on for days is if I get my nails professionally done, and even then they can’t really withstand the stress of prolonged travel, and let’s be honest. No one wants ugly chipped nails when they are on vacation, amiright? That’s why I’m such a big fan of nail decals. I have personally used Sally Hansen & Incoco with great results on my previous trips. They tend to last me approximately 2 weeks, depending on how much luggage I’m hauling around and the activity level of the trip.

5. Downy Wrinkle Releaser solves all; the hubs and I discovered this life saver while perusing the travel bins at our local Target, and now I cannot travel without it. In fact, I’m looking at my bottle as I type this, smiling, because I know I will never look like a hot mess wearing my rolled up clothing. It literally straightens up the most wrinkled articles of clothing you may find in the deepest corner of your suitcase. It was my lifesaver at Comic Con when I had to jam all my outfits in a carry on in an effort to “pack light,” and is working wonders again now on a business trip where I can’t afford to look like a bag lady.

6. Airbnb > Hotels; I stay in hotels only out of necessity (think: conventions). At this point, if I am traveling, the first site I hit up is airbnb. I have never had a bad experience with them yet (knock on wood), and our digs have always been superior to anything I would have booked at a hotel and for far cheaper. I immediately think of our flat in Paris, where we could look out our window and see the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the moonlight, or our flat in London, where we’ve stayed twice so far because our 5 minute walk to the South Bank is incomparable.

7. Take a piece of home with you; this is essential for solo travel especially. Things can get lonely (even if you are having fun), so it’s nice to have a reminder of what is waiting for you back home. What did I take? A picture of the hubs from when he was about 8-9 years old. It’s taken in the cheesiest studio space complete with splattered paint and ladders, but it never fails to make me smile. Take a snapshot of your puppies, a special token or your favorite book. It can be anything you like, as long as it gives you those warm fuzzies that only certain special things can give you. {ridiculous hubs picture available for viewing upon request}

8. Yelp it out; everyone is always asking me how we find such hidden gems when we travel. Guys, it’s as easy as Yelp. I just search the most highly rated restaurants, bars, etc. in the areas we are staying in or will be frequenting and voila! Perfect moments are made. I can honestly say that the site has never led us astray, even when traveling outside the country. Some of my favorite European finds were Polaroid Bar in Barcelona and Mother India in Glasgow.

Come along, step right up, and see the beautiful disaster that is balancing our lives, geek interests, having a Halloween wedding and not being so tacky as to upset even ourselves. (j/k, we’ll probably wind up with some tackiness no matter what we do.)

The Stationary Situation

This, is probably one of the easiest ones for us. My fiance suggested that I take a look at Royal Steamline when it came time to order invitations and save the dates. The biggest problem that I have now is that I love way too many of the styles that they offer. We ordered a dozen samples and were only able to cross one of from our list. If you’re looking to add a touch of Steampunk flair or a hint of Gothic elegance to your invitations, Royal Steamline has you covered. (These aren’t the only styles they excel at, but they did constitute a lot of the ones we picked out.) Some of the designs invoke Edward Gorey, others call directly upon the lure of Lovecraftian horror and others still are even delicate. We’re actually just waiting to determine the venue and get a handle on our guest-list to order Save The Dates from them.

Looking for something a little more illustrated? Check out artist Ellen Forney’s wedding invitation commissions. They’re cool, and will be every bit unique to you.

The Venue

There’s one mother between us and she’s a terrifying force to be reckoned with, sweeping in just as we found out that our first choice of a wedding venue is being sold as of May. We’re not willing to risk losing out on our date, so that ruled it out for us and we’re still reeling a little from thinking we had the perfect venue, located exactly where we wanted it, and haunted, only to lose it. Right now we have a few other contenders in the running, but we haven’t fallen in love with any of them the way we did the one that got away. (There’s an irony there that I am well, well aware of.)

The Dress

I’m studying fashion design, and that makes the prospect of finding a wedding dress terrifying. If I sit down, I could draw my dream dress and give myself unrealistic expectations for a mythical dress that I will never find, and more than that, that I don’t want to take on the added stress of making for myself. Given our plan for a masquerade themed reception, it’s also looking likely that I’ll be wearing two dresses, something more traditional to walk down the aisle in, and a separate dress for the reception. While I’m not decided any way just yet, I’ve taken a look at Whirling Turban and I have to admit that they have at least two styles that I’m seriously lusting after.

The Reception
Since we’re kind of asking a lot of our friends by asking them to give up their Halloween, we’re hoping to make sure it doesn’t actually feel like they’re giving anything up. I want to have it all, without blowing our budget, and I don’t want it to feel tacky or overdone. I’m real hoping that in the end we can pull of what we’re trying to. I’m forgoing superheroes, because we can think of anything that really pairs with Red Hood (his favorite), and Harley and Joker seem like.. Well.. Not the strongest foundation for starting out our marriage. I’m shooting for something that can capture the feeling of a haunted forest while working with the masquerade aesthetic we’re thinking for the reception attire. Of course, if I’d found a way to make it tasteful, we would have been throwing a super hero filled affair to rival Green Arrow and Black Canary’s wedding. (Which is an idea that has given me a lot of ideas that I don’t need to be having about how to still wind up having a super hero wedding, because they did it and it was still a nice thing. Would help if my dude didn’t think Green Arrow was not at all up to snuff. But God help me if I don’t really want to do it.) I looked at a venue recently just because there was an opportunity for wedding photos with dinosaurs and I think that even our guests would get behind the idea of getting to steal a photo with the dinos.

I’m opting against a big bridal party, which has sadly meant that I’ve also been left ruling out some of the other whimsical ideas I tossed around, like the bridal party coming to the reception as classic monsters and the groom and I as either Dracula and Mina or Frankenstein’s Monster and the Bride. ( Also out the window with that one? Coordinated thriller dance at the reception, but I think we have something else cool in the pipeline.) I haven’t started to put together a wedding playlist yet, but something tells me that he has, so I can’t say we haven’t been thinking about that yet because I know he’s been on the hunt for the perfect song for our first dance.  I suggested a 30 Seconds to Mars song with a waltz tempo, but currently I think I’m losing. I’m hoping we do include The Monster Mash, Thriller, and Moondance (My mom and adoptive father used this when they got married,) though. Which, brings me to suggest that we’re likely to go DJ, and we’re hoping to go open bar, but that also depends on that whole… Venue thing.

The Cake

Aside from squabbling over flavors, which I’m pretty resigned to doing unless we can agree on something in a red velvet or vanilla with strawberry/cherry/raspberry/red fruit flavored filling/pink ganache/pink mousse/etc, we haven’t really settled on a color palette yet and I don’t know if I want to go for something like Day of the Dead skulls on the cake, or The Nightmare Before Christmas, or The Corpse Bride.. But, here’s a few of the things I’ve seen so far that I’ve had a hard time resisting when it comes to decoration.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Other Traditions

When it comes to my something old, I think I’m planning to wear a piece of my mother’s jewelry to have a piece of her with me. It’s going to be over five years since she passed when I get married. This isn’t so much fun, and it leaves me scrambling for something appropriate to borrow from someone close to me, but! When it comes to my something new, I can share that I’m probably planning to opt for a Batman Garter if I can find one that I really like, unless I cave and go for something with a TARDIS on it to also encapsulate my something blue, though I have something in mind for that which I can’t share here because I don’t want my fiance catching wind of it all this long out before the date.

I’m sure there are a ton of fun things I’m leaving out, so hop on Pinterest and shiver with antici——————————-pation for me to update my wedding board. It’s been fun!

And, it’s the hap-happiest season of all..! And, sorry, Christmas devotees, I don’t mean Yule. I mean the ever fabulous and fast approaching Halloween! With Labor Day marked off on the Calendars and the back-to-school rush settling, stores are ushering us into fall with the introduction of Halloween items to their shelves and I couldn’t be happier. Halloween has always been big business for me, since I was a kid. I can recall years that I managed to find ways to wear three and four Halloween costumes, huge wings, elaborate face paint, and growing older hasn’t managed to take away my love for the holiday of all things spooky. I’m even such a Halloween fan that my fiance and I decided to set the date for our wedding as Halloween (Mega-post on that coming on Monday)!

When I can, I like to go all out when it comes to decorations and sometimes, store bought just doesn’t cut it. One of my favorite Halloween decorations at my last big party was a dead chef, complete with pools of blood and real knives stuck out of him. It was just one of those times when I happened to have the things I needed lying around to turn out a cool decoration out of junk in my house. (And, I swear, no actual chefs were harmed in the process, but that poor doll suffered a hideous, hideous fate.) I’m also the kind of person that keeps some of their Halloween decorations up all year round. I’m a little behind the times this year when it comes to figuring out what I’m going to do when it comes to my costume, but that hasn’t stopped me from acquiring new Halloween items. Every trip out into the world is another venture into the danger zone. This year, I’ve had the best luck so far with

• Michael’s – Skulls and fake spell books galore, decorations indoor and out.
• Pier 1 – A surprising amount of skeleton and spider swag, including doormats and ornaments that would even make a great addition to your Christmas tree if you roll that way
• Big Lots – MOAR SKULLS! And pumpkins. Tons and tons of pumpkins. And, a scary owl or two.
• I’ve had a peek through Walmart’s offerings, and if you’re looking for value candy or pink pumpkin pails, they’ve got you covered, but aside from some cute window clings I found their offerings to be lacking.

If Halloween, or all things horror, are you thing, then I’d also recommend taking a look at NerdBlock’s offering of The Horror Block and Dread Central’s Box of Dread. The HorrorBlock comes complete with a shirt every month in your choice of style, men’s or ladies’, and size and an assortment of goodies. Subscribing also gives you the chance to win their Monster Block, a special block sent out every month to a lucky subscriber packed full of extra swag. Last month, they featured The Sharknado to celebrate the release of Sharknado 2, including a FUNKO Pop figure of the maritime/meteorological beast itself. Spoilers if you get the box and haven’t received yours this month, the t-shirt features a really great Xenomorph. It was definitely the standout item for me. I’ve enjoyed the box so much that I actually gave up my Nerd Block to receive only Horror Block.

Do you have a favorite place to hit up for Halloween swag? Already know what you’re going to dress up as? Have suggestions for any horror subscription services I might be missing out on?

Hi, my loves!
Just letting you all know that I will be starting on quite a few adventures tomorrow. I start my journeys in Eastern Europe for my day job and then continue to California and New York City for lots and lots of fun straight into October! During my 2-week stint in Europe, I will have an amazing guest blogger taking over, but I’ll still be extremely active during the U.S. portion of my travels.

See you all soon!

Hi all you lovely geeks out there!

I’ll be taking quite the journey in about 2 weeks to a far off land. It’s not for play, instead for work, but I intend on enjoying every single new experience it brings me. I’ve never traveled alone, much less to Europe. This is something the old Meli would have never done, but my goal after a certain event this year is to not be afraid and not let my anxiety rule me. Thus: hello adventure!

However, this little journey will take me approximately 12 hours so I need BOOKS. That’s right. I’m asking all the amazing people I’ve met through this blog recently to give me your recommendations on some great reading. Please leave them in the comments. I’ll be heading to the bookstore this weekend and hope to share which ones I chose with you all!

If you want to see the pictures at full size, search the hashtag #30smiles.

Although I don’t mention my day job often here on the blog, I work as a behavior analyst with children on the autism spectrum. I absolutely adore what I do, and am very passionate about the cause. In a few weeks on April 6th, Autism Speaks will be holding their annual Walk Now for Autism event, and I am fundraising on behalf of my company (and myself, of course). If you have anything to spare to help fund autism research, you can donate through my own personal link here.

Thanks for supporting these very special children, their families and their future!

Sometimes things happen, and they just don’t make any sense. You spend many days and nights reeling, trying to understand why or trying to label it with some sort of significance because there has to be a bigger picture to all this, right? That, in a nutshell, is what has been swimming around in my head for the past week. You would think an outfit post would be the last thing on my mind, but (with the help and gentle nudging of the hubs) I want to try not to push away things that make me happy or are part of my normal routine. My smile may be a little forced, and my glitter a little dull, but I strongly believe I will make it through this very tough time.

Blouse; Old Navy
Sweater; c/o Conversation Pieces {similar}
Shorts; Old Navy
Boots; Go Jane {similar}
Necklace; Etsy
Purse; c/o Conversation Pieces