Throwback Thursday: Why I'm not allowed to buy anymore [Batman] purse hooks...

I broke 3 of them in a matter of a month. That's the short story.

Honestly, I can't even remember how I broke all of these purse hooks. I think a friend accidentally leaned on one, maybe I tried to force one onto a table that was too thick, and I'm pretty sure another one simply broke because I put too much weight on it. After that, I decided it wasn't meant to be and gave up on purse hooks even though I love the idea. THIS IS WHY I CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS!

This post is in memory of all my old Batman purse hooks (all purchased on Etsy).

Purse hook casualty #1

I love the "Keep calm and call Batman" parody that's featured on my first purse hook above. This one's different from my next 2 purse hooks because it has a glass dome over the design as opposed to just being a flat sticker.

Purse hook casualties #2 and #3

These 2 purse hooks were purchased at the same time because I couldn't decide which Batman design I wanted. I also bought these from the same Etsy seller so not sure why the purse hook finishes and curvatures look different. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I lost BOTH of these purse hooks in the same week. If that's not a clear sign that I shouldn't have these things, then I don't know what is.

I no longer see these on sale on Etsy, but there are plenty of creators on the site that specialize in purse hooks that may be willing to imitate the designs I've posted here.

As for me, I'm going sans purse hook for now. Not planning to buy anymore of these any time soon.

Mondy Gallery: Batman 75th Anniversary Artwork

In 2014 (can't believe it's been that long already), for Batman's 75th Anniversary, Mondo Gallery in Austin, TX showcased an amazing set of artwork inspired by Batman through the ages. If you guys don't know what Mondo does, check out their website. They put out some amazing limited edition artwork among other things. I hate limited edition stuff, but that doesn't necessarily mean I don't buy them when they're available to me. >_>

Mickey and I went to the reception for the Batman exhibit on opening night. The line wrapped across the street. We waited for a couple of hours for the gallery to open, but loved everything we saw at the exhibit when we got in. There were so many gorgeous pieces. Here are some of my (not so great) pictures from that night.

They even hired some one to dress up as Alfred Pennyworth to hand out free beers.

My pictures don't do it justice so I've included a video from Mondo that better summarizes that night.

Mondo Celebrates 75 Years of Batman from Mondo on Vimeo.

So which pieces did we add to the Batman collection at home? We picked the below posters for our house!

Batman Begins by Kevin Tong. This one's the smallest of the 3 we purchased. I believe it's 18x24

Here it is on the other side of our kitchen. We bought the original version, but there was also a gray/black variant.

Black Mirror by Jock Francavilla. This one's a full 24x36.

It hangs behind the door of our toy room.

Batman Beyond by Kilian Eng. This one's also 24x36.

This one is also hanging in the toy room by the closet. 

I found this awesome page on Slashfilm.com that shows you all the art from the showcase in case you're interested in seeing what we DIDN'T bring home with us.

That same night, we also saw this on display.

This Batman: The Animated Series Die-Cut 12" Single wasn't on sale yet, but I put a placeholder on my calendar and made sure I pre-ordered it as soon as it was made available! It's a super cool bat-shaped vinyl featuring the Batman:TAS beginning and end credits music. I don't have a vinyl player, but it looked so cool that I bought it anyway. I'm a sucker. I can always invest in a vinyl player later!

Speaking of vinyls, you might have noticed other Mondo Batman vinyls in a picture above, but planning to share that in a separate post! Those came in their own set. For this particular post, I just wanted to share what we came home with from the Batman 75th Anniversary Mondo showcase. More to come as always.

Hot Topic Haul - February 2016

Yesss, I went shopping at Hot Topic again. I don't remember or know how I stumbled upon their site, but it happened. Maybe I clicked through one of their Facebook ads or clicked through an e-newsletter or maybe I just typed in "HOTTOPIC.COM" directly into my browser because they have me wrapped around their finger on a ridiculously subconscious level such that I can't even remember how I got to their site.

Step 1: Navigate to HotTopic.com
Step 2: Type "Batman" in the search bar, hit enter
Step 3: Spend money
Step 4: Repeat

Anyway, what matters is that they're having a 20% off sale site wide (including clearance) right now in case anybody else is interested. To be honest, I didn't think 20% off was great, but of course I ended up browsing anyway and ran into this ridiculous adorable Batman bathing suit that I couldn't say "no" to.

This swim top is what really caught my eye

Swim bottoms, back design

Swim bottoms, front design

The Batman symbols on the top are cut outs! Aren't they cute? The Batman symbols on the bottoms are cut outs too but they're pretty flush with the yellow inner lining. I hope I look as cute in these as the model did on the website. I'm pretty sure I've read on various sources that these ruffle bathing suit tops are good for small boobies so that's a plus! Harharhar. That was a subtle and unintended punny. No, seriously, I remember reading this, I happen to be a small-breasted lady, and it just gave me another reason to purchase this bathing suit. I'm excited!

I also currently own the below Batman bathing suit! This one has an overall Batman logo print with a much more straightforward, simple bikini design. I cropped out my friends figuring they'd appreciate I not post pictures of them in bathing suits outside of my private Facebook account. Sorry, you just get my pale body.

Don't worry, though, I'm not the only one who ended up with something from this Hot Topic haul! Mickey's a big fan of art and as we were scrolling through all the available Batman goodies on Hot Topic, we saw this t-shirt. It's a parody of Edvard Munch's painting, The Scream, featuring the Joker as the screamer and Batman as the shadowy figure in the background.

I thought it was pretty clever and kind of hilarious because... well, look at the Joker. Hehehe. We also saw a Batman t-shirt parodying Vincent Van Gogh' Starry Night, but they didn't have his size, which at least made choosing between the two a lot easier.

Luckily those were the only Batman products I walked away with. I thought about buying more Batman rings and socks, but that's another story.

I did add one more little non-Batman bonus item to the shopping bag, though!

It's Marvolo Gaunt's ring from Harry Potter, the horcrux that Albus Dumbledore destroyed that ended up eventually killing him. Damn, karma. The Deathly Hallows symbol in the gem is so pretty.

I looked at a lot of other Batman products, but I think my purchase of the Kate Spade Magnolia Park Large Laurel bag only days before had something to do with my self control. Kate Spade had one of their surprise sales! It's like they read my mind because I was thinking I wanted a nude or tan purse just a couple days before I got the email.

That reminds me, I'm pretty sure it was Ebates' e-newsletter's fault for telling me about this surprise sale. I love this purse though. It's gorgeous. Geeks need nice things sometimes, too. It's a lot bigger than I thought and resembles more of a tote bag than a hand bag in size in case you're wondering. It could probably fit my 13" Macbook Pro.

By the way, if you've never use Ebates to shop online before, it's a super easy way to get a little bit of your money back every time you're shopping online. It doesn't seem like a ton, but it adds up over time. Check it out through my referral link here.

That's it! :) I don't think this will be my last Hot Topic haul post, though. See you next time, Hot Topic. I'll keep coming to you if you keep bringing the awesome Batman stuff to me... or, you know, stop selling Batman stuff so I stop spending all my moneyz.

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Batman swim top: Hot Topic
Batman swim bottoms: Hot Topic
Batman swim top and bottoms 2: Similar on Amazon
Batman and the Joker Edvard Munch The Scream parody t-shirt: Similar on SuperHeroStuff.com
Harry Potter, Marvolo Gaunt horcrux ring: Hot Topic

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mickey and I aren't big Valentine's Day celebrators although I like to admit that it makes a really good reason to eat at a fancy restaurant. Our plans were covered this year, though. We attended a wedding this Valentine's Day weekend so we ate plenty well. Congratulations, David and Val!

Even though we might not celebrate Valentine's Day as a couple, I do appreciate the "palentine's" concept. I loved exchanging Valentine's Day cards in elementary school. Everybody would have a little box on their desk and there would be some time in class that day where everybody would get up and drop off all their Valentine's Day cards on their classmates' desks.

I'm definitely not in elementary school anymore (although Mickey often questions how old I really am due to my immaturity youthful outlook on life), but if I ever see Batman Valentine's Day cards on sale at Target or any other store, you bet I'm gonna buy them.

When the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy was released, there was an obvious uptick in available Batman products everywhere I went. I knew this would die out eventually so I grabbed 2 of the below Batman Valentine's Day card sets about 3-4 years ago when they were being sold at Target. Mickey actually saw it in stores and bought me one too, so I ended up with 3 of these! :) I love this set because it comes with a box readily available with a slot at the top for you to collect your Valentine's Day cards! It makes me wish I was in elementary school again so I could actually use this. Nobody drops off Valentine's Day cards at work. Boo.

This is actually my last box because I handed or mailed out quite a few cards with chocolates to close friends and co-workers over the last few years. I've done the same with other iterations of Batman Valentine's Day cards in past years. I ended up using up all of those so I guess I'm kind of just hanging on to these in case there aren't any Batman Valentine's Day cards available in stores for a while. I'm hoping Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice brings back the Batman products, though!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Throwback Thursday: Terry the TSX

I have a lot of old Batman items that have been used up to the point where they're not very photogenic anymore so I've decided to use Throwback Thursdays and Flashback Fridays as a reason to recycle some old pictures of my Batman collection and tell the stories behind them. There will probably be a lot of these posts because I have a lot of old Batman stuff. You'll learn that, with the (very significant) exception of Funko Pops, I typically like to buy Batman products that I know I'll love and use and, that's what I'll do, use them, sometimes until I've completely worn them down.

On to today's edition of THROWBACK THURSDAY!

I was recently (last month) in a car accident where my white 2009 Acura TSX was deemed a total loss. Its name was Terry the TSX after Terry McGinnis from Batman Beyond (Mickey's idea). I was pretty devastated because I loved that car. It was the first car that was truly mine, a gift from my parents, that I wrecked almost exactly 6 years to the day from January 10, 2010 when we brought it home. It was only a total of 7 years old with just over 61k miles on it so it still had such a long life to live! So young, so young.

After speaking to several people about the accident, though, I stepped back and realized that I shouldn't be so fixated on the vehicle. I'm very lucky and very grateful nobody was seriously injured. As many friends told me after the accident, "cars are replaceable, people are not." I'm okay, everybody involved is okay, and that's what matters.

I collected my things from Terry and it was off to the auto auction never to be seen again. This post is dedicated to Terry and all the great memories it accompanied me through including 4 jobs and a road trip half way across the country. Below are the items that adorned my sweet ride. Most pictures are from 4-6 years ago when a lot of the items were brand new.

Thanks for being the sexiest first car I could ask for, Terry, and hope your parts will be used for good, to help other cars in need. :)

BATMAN CHROME AUTO EMBLEM
My favorite part of the car was the Batman chrome emblem. It was a birthday gift from my brother during the first year I owned Terry. I loooooved it and I thought it was such a sweet and thoughtful gift. On top of that, I thought it looked pretty badass. If I had to pick one car accessory for my car, it would be this. I believe he purchased this from Amazon where they're still available.

Batman chrome auto emblem after applied to the car

Emblem in the packaging

BATMAN CLEAR CAR FLOOR MATS
I bought CLEAR car mats because I thought they would be easier to clean. I also figured I could just layer them over the existing carpet car mats instead of removing those entirely. Over the years, these got very scratched up and dirty, but I don't regret the decision because the carpet that you could see underneath was still pristine. Whatever you get as car mats, just know they're going to get beat up. Maybe I'll look into rubber floor mats next. These were also from Amazon. These clear ones no longer seem to be available, but there are still various options you can find including rubber and carpet floor mats.

These are the mats fresh out of the packaging from Amazon. The little spikes underneath weren't long enough and so didn't dig into the car carpet enough and ended up slipping around more than I would have liked. I ended up using velcro to secure them.

They still looked really good, though. This is the driver seat car mat of course.

Back seat car mats

Passenger seat car mat. My Batman brake light sticker sheet is seen in the bottom left corner unused. :) It didn't fit/work with Terry so I still have it somewhere. Good job on me doing my research before purchasing, eh? Who knows, maybe it'll fit my new car.

BATMAN LICENSE PLACE FRAMES

I actually think I bought these from a little kiosk in the middle of a mall, Great Mall in Milpitas, CA. I ended up buying 2, one for the front and one for the back. I was really debating whether or not to get 2 at the kiosk. When the salesperson heard me deliberating, he offered me $5 off the second one and I immediately took it. Mickey mentioned I probably could have held out for a better deal, but I'm just awful at bargaining, which means car shopping is going to be a joy.

Crooked picture, but you get the idea. The front plate was identical.

BATMAN CD VISOR
I know even 6 years ago CDs were dying out, but the car came with a 6-CD changer so I tried to take advantage of it. It was a nice Batman touch if nothing else. Don't laugh, but I have a matching Batman CD book that I'll probably share at a later date.

BATMAN WINDSHIELD SUNSHADE
I bought this when I moved to Texas because I was concerned about the heat damaging the leather. I unfortunately do not have a picture of the sunshade in action, but you all know what a sunshade does, right? I want to say I purchased it on Amazon, but it's available on other websites too.

Sunshade unfolded. I noticed other designs available on websites like Amazon

The sunshade folded up nicely and I just snuggled it up next to the passenger seat. Batman Moleskine notebook and Mac decal making a in this photo cameo. Yes, I still have one of the white Macbooks. I replaced the hard drive recently so it's still going pretty strong.

HANDMADE BATMAN FINGER PUPPET

This was a gift from a friend. You can see it actually inside the car in the above picture (in the shadows to the left). It used to hang on my rearview mirror, but it kept getting snagged so I moved it down to hang above the mid-console. My college roommate made this finger puppet for me as a goodbye gift when I graduated. Yes, it's actually a finger puppet. Isn't that cute? My OTHER college roommate at the time made me a gigantic Bat-symbol-shaped cookie when I graduated. They were the sweetest. A throwback food post will probably make an appearance eventually.

BATMAN CAR FRESHENER
I bought this just a month before the accident so this would probably be considered the newest addition to the car. It didn't smell awful, but it didn't smell much at all. I really bought it for the looks, though.

I'm still in car limbo right now and shopping slowly, not making any commitments just yet. Unfortunately, Acura doesn't make the TSX anymore. Boo. No lie, though, I've already started looking at new Batman car accessories for the car I don't even have yet. Of course I'll be sure to share anything I end up purchasing.

Sorry for my embarrassing photography skills. They're all different sizes because they're coming from a bunch of different cameras, some old and some new. Hoping to improve my photography skills for future posts.

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Batman chrome auto emblem: Amazon
Batman car mats: Similar on Amazon. I couldn't find the clear ones anymore.
Batman license plate frames: Similar on Amazon
Batman CD visor: I couldn't find any type of Batman CD visor anywhere online likely because they're not as relevant nowadays. I would look to Etsy for a custom Batman CD visor if it's something you're actually interested in.
Batman windshield sunshade: Superherostuff.com
Batman Moleskine notebook: Barnes & Noble
Batman Mac decal: Similar on Etsy. This was a gift so I'm not 100% sure where it was purchased. I found a link on Etsy, but it sold out. I'm sure the same decal can be commissioned from some one on Etsy if you're looking for the same exact Batman: The Animated Series design.
Batman car freshener: Amazon

Batman Bling

I own a small collection of Batman or, in some cases, just bat-shaped jewelry. I'm surprised I don't have more of this stuff, but I guess it makes sense if you think about how I'm awful at accessorizing. I wish I were better about it. I like the idea of wearing tons of rings, but I haven't been able to pull it off. Do you think I just need to buy MORE (fake) jewelry? How's this work? This is most definitely why I don't blog about fashion and my "#OOTD".

Now that you know I'm fashionably incapable, let me see if I can remember where I purchased all of these. The majority are probably from Hot Topic. Hot Topic is one of the best places to find some random yet awesome Batman goods by the way.

Sorry in advance for any bad pictures (i.e. all of them). Still figuring out how to take decent pictures for the blog.

The below two-finger Batman logo ring is one of my favorites. It was a birthday gift from a close girlfriend. I'm not sure where she purchased it, but found a link to something similar on Etsy (see below this post). For a size reference, here's an image of the ring on my hand: https://www.instagram.com/p/cDRFQ8heHW/. That image is from my personal Instagram, but you should all follow my Batman and Whiskey Instagram where I'll probably end up sharing similar photos.

Look at all that amazing empty space in this next picture. I'm such a pro. This is one of my oldest Batman rings so I can't remember exactly where I purchased it but my default guess would be Hot Topic. This is one of the easier Batman jewelry pieces to wear because it's a bit more subtle and easy to match. It's a cute chunky silver ring. I've worn it so much that the inside is starting to wear out turn my finger green. I still love it though. These are all going to come from my personal Instagram account, but here's another photo for size reference: https://www.instagram.com/p/1UwnluBePG/

At least I know where these are from! These are from the Forever 21 Bats and Cats Collection that they were promoting some time ago. I bought quite a few items from that collection. I hope they bring that back because it was awesome. I think these rings are supposed to be stackable and mix-and-match-able (hehe). There is one that actually fits at the base of my finger and the other two are more like midi-rings. I have no idea how to wear these! Hahlp me. There's a black one, a gold one, and a brown-ish chrome (what do you even call that color?) one so to me, nothing matches when I wear these and on top of that some of them are midi-rings?! Too fashion forward for me. They're hella cute, though. I'll still attempt to wear them every now and then, but I've yet to do so successfully. Turns out I take pictures of my Batman jewelry often so here's another photo for size reference: https://www.instagram.com/p/pNgkhCheNN/

Now THESE are fun. These are huge hoop earrings with a Bat symbol in the center. These are a San Diego Comic Con outfit go-to. These aren't subtle enough for your corporate job, but if I ever feel like getting comments on my earrings, they're worth wearing. I would guess these are from Hot Topic. Another photo from my personal Instagram where I'm wearing the earrings for reference: https://www.instagram.com/p/buyTgeheLw/.

The next set of earrings are super fashionable. Right? Are these cuff-style earrings still popular? This is a bat symbol cuff and stud earring set. I just thought they were cool, but these are maybe a bit avant garde for me. I'll still try to wear them at Comic Con though. I want to say these are also from Hot Topic, but sorry if I'm completely wrong about where I bought all these. Hah!

Now we get into the stud earrings that are much easier to wear! The rest of the earrings you'll see in this post, I'm going to guess, are from Hot Topic too. Hard to tell from the picture, but these are kind of blingy. They're very small and subtle, though. Photo for size reference: https://www.instagram.com/p/5TtrYbheA4/

I'll get better at photos, promise. All this empty space in the photos bothers me, but had a hard time focusing when I got any closer. These earrings are a favorite because the logo is closest to the Batman: The Animated Series logo. Batman: TAS is my favorite iteration of Batman, but if you figured out that I grew up in the '90s, you're probably not surprised.

Bonus Hunger Games Mockingjay earrings also from Hot Topic!

More Batman stuff always on the way!

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Two finger Batman logo/bat symbol ring: Similar from Etsy
Chunky silver Batman ring: Similar from Bluefly.com
Forever 21 stackable bat ring set: Similar from Etsy. It's not THAT similar, but if you buy a bunch of bat-shaped rings in several colors, I'm sure you could duplicate the effect.
Bamtan symbol hoop earrings: Similar from Amazon
Batman cuff and stud earrings set: Similar from Amazon
Batman symbol silver stud earrings: Similar from Target
Batman symbol yellow stud earrings: Similar from Amazon
The Hunger Games Mockingjay earrings: Amazon