Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Before the cut

Wrap: TjMaxx ($32)
Button-Up: Thrifted ($3)
Jean Shorts: Swapped
Tights: AA
Shoes: Thrifted ($3)
These photos are making me miss my mom's house, today was definitely back to reality. I was so excited that we got some snow while we were up there, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it snows in Massachusetts soon. I love the field behind our house, if you follow the trail into the woods it brings you to a stream, a pond, and up a mountain. I love where I grew up, I certainly did not appreciate the remote-ness when I was younger, but now I love having a place where I can completely escape technology and have pure quiet. Our closest neighbor is about a mile away, and it's pitch dark out at night, making it perfect for star-gazing, and there's nothing like having a fire in the fireplace after a cold day.

I always intend to take tons of outfit photos when I'm home, with so many photo spots, but almost every time I end up wearing the same outfit all weekend! That's the story with this one, I wore a different incarnation of this comfy ensemble through out the entire time I was up there. I really can't get enough of this cozy shawl from TjMaxx, and easy jean shorts. Sometimes if the outfit is right, it's worth repeating! I wish I had gotten some close-ups, but I forgot my remote! I did however, get more photos of my mom's dog:
Bones is clearly a born model (you can see her other dog Rusti in the background). I'll have some photos of my new hair later in the week, but stick around tomorrow for a giveaway!


Monday, November 29, 2010

Over The Weekend (or, pumpkin pie and puppies)

Did everyone have an amazing weekend/ Thanksgiving? Chris and I drove to Maine last Wednesday night and returned late Sunday night. All I can say is it's getting more and more difficult to leave! We had a great Thanksgiving at his Grandparents house, and spent the rest of the weekend playing with my mom's puppy, Buster, who is so incredibly cute. We took a lot of photos of him, but it wasn't until last night that I realized that he was in almost every photo I took! We got some snow too, only a little bit but it stuck around the whole weekend, I can't wait for snowstorms!
My Mom's rescue dog, Bones is particularly smitten with Buster and it's really sweet to see them play together. Typically, I'm not a dog person, but it's difficult to resist the cuteness of a puppy. He's starting to learn tug-of-war and is developing a taste for slippers and shoelaces. I really can't wait to go North as soon as possible to see him again!

There's a lot to share this week, including a new hairstyle (a rather impulsive decision, but I'm pleased with it), and a giveaway. Can you believe it's almost December?

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thankfulness

Chris and I have very happily escaped Massachusetts and are in Maine for the Thanksgiving holiday until Sunday. It's glorious knowing that I have a full four days off, I really need the rest and the chance to sleep. I've so enjoyed reading your comments on thankfulness for the giveaway, and thought I would share with you what I'm thankful for this year:
I'm thankful for: Having Chris in my life. He makes me a happier and calmer person, and is so supportive of my personal goals- even when they change by the week. and sometimes day by day. He's also been incredibly patient with the whole blog-obsession-thing.
I'm thankful for: Let's face it, you all know I love my cats and have a tendency to dork out over them. The one on the right is sitting on my lap as I type this, and occasionally will look up at me and lean closer, and I'm dying over it. They're the best cats and I love seeing how much they care for each other (they cuddled like that on Sunday for about three hours).
I'm thankful for: Having a supportive and creative family. My brother moved to Colorado this summer and will be returning in December, we're all so excited to see him again!

I'm thankful for: Having inspiring ladies in my life! These girls are incredible and I'm so happy I've gotten to know Jen and Punky over the past year. (photo from last Friday's Swap by Adam Towner)
I'm thankful for: living in a great city. I've so enjoyed commuting to Boston these past few months, but one thing I've realized is that I'm perfectly happy living outside of it! The small city I live in is perfect and I love the community that I'm surrounded by.

I am also thankful for the opportunities that this blog has created, and for YOU, my amazing readers! Without you, there would still be a blog, but it would be a quieter and lonely place, I love hearing your thoughts, and inspirations everyday.

I'm off to go eat pumpkin pie (mmm!), but I want to know, what are YOU thankful for this year?

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Morning Crescent

It's getting colder!
Vintage Fur Hat c/o Simple Thrift
Vintage Polkadot Top c/o Pineapple Mint Vintage
Sweater: Swapped
Suede Skirt: Vintage Thrift ($5)
Belt: American Apparel
Tights: TjMaxx ($4)
Clogs c/o ModCloth
Bracelet c/o ModCloth
I have a funny story about why I chose this hat, when Gwen offered to send me an item from her shop: When I was a kid (about 6), my Dad went to the Soviet Union for work. My dad travelled constantly- he's a Merchant Marine- and would usually bring me back something exciting from wherever he had gone, usually fashion related. This time, when he returned from his travels, I was presented with a traditional Russian fur hat. My time with this hat was beautiful, but like all first loves, brief. And by brief, I mean I owned this thing for approximately five minutes before the dog got a whiff of the fur and promptly mistook it for the animal that it used to be. The hat was destroyed within seconds, and my distrust and unease around canines sparked immediately. So, I saw my chance to finally have my fur hat, 20 years later! It's SO warm too, good for freezing cold days!

Two of my favorite colors right now are warm taupes and deep, dark plums. When I spotted this sweater at the Swap on Thursday, I immediately snatched it up. For some reason, this particular colors is extremely difficult to find. Kind of a dark, reddish purple, exactly the color of plums. It goes particularly well with brown and camel, or a mix of the two.
This shirt has been hiding in my closet for a couple of months now, I love the tie at the neck, and interestingly enough, it still has the tag on it from the 70's!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Second Time's a Charm

Ok, so I know the sheer amount of photos here is kind of insane, but I figured I would show you what happens when a photo-shoot goes horribly wrong. On Saturday, Chris and I went out to breakfast and then out to take some outfit photos. I really wanted to go to the graveyard, to this place where I'd been dying to take pictures but needed a chaperone to keep me safe (it's a bit sketch). Somehow between leaving the breakfast place and getting to our photo locale, the wind picked up. It really picked up:
It was completely impossible to take a normal photo, or to just be able to see for that matter, as my hair was whipping around my head like a whirlwind. So, when these things happen, and I really love my outfit, I just re-take the photos. Sometimes it's for the better too, usually halfway through the day I add or subtract something form an outfit that- i feel- improves it:
Shawl: TjMaxx
Cardigan underneath: Swapped
Top: Swapped
Jean Shorts: Swapped
Tights: WalMart ($6)
Shoes: Matiko ($40 sale)
Necklace c/o Noble Town Vintage
So I added a cozy shawl over my cardigan and switched out necklaces and I like the effect. I've been obsessed (obsessed) with drapey cardigans, shawls, and sweaters lately, I found this one while on a covert gift shopping expedition on Saturday afternoon, it's super warm. I'm still without a winter coat, so I've been layering sweaters like a crazy old lady lately. I mentioned the Downtown Crossing Swap last week, I definitely picked up some gems, including the most perfect jeans-to-shorts which I've been searching for for a long time. These clothing swaps always come at the perfect moments, when I'm feeling uninspired they are the perfect way to jump-start a new season. It's beginning to get very cold here!
Did you have a nice weekend? I feel like the past few weekends have been nice, but I've also spent a good deal of time recovering from my work week. I think I just need to find the right balance. Happy Monday!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Completely non-fashion related

So the end of this week- actually the whole week- has not gone to plan and I'm finding myself completely burnt out and physically exhausted, and generally feeling pretty awful. I'm pushing the posts I had planned about art, wedding, etc to next week and just concentrating on getting through today. In the mean-time, here's a photo of Zephyr looking completely content. Because I am jealous of my cat.

I wish everybody a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I have no plans other than to sleep, drink tea, and eat fresh vegetables.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Each Waking Hour

Vintage Fur: Great-Grandmother's
Sweater: Vintage Thrift ($5)
Chiffon Skirt: American Apparel
Tights: TjMaxx ($4)
Shoes: Thrifted ($3)
Belt: Vintage from photo-shoot
Pins: Vintage
Something about cat pins and fur makes me feel like a crazy old lady, I have every intention of being crazy when I'm old. I'll have the whole shebang: long fur coats (vintage of course), cotton-candy hair, and a little dog on a leopard print leash. I'm kind of excited to be 80. I have a friend who says she imagines that my elderly self will go around wearing leopard print jump-suits, a flossy white bouffant, and big glasses, which sounds just fine to me.

Anyways, this outfit is much girlier than I've been regularly sporting lately, I think it's the skirt. I love how the different textures contrast one another: a wooly sweater, chiffon, and some vintage-fur. To add some color, I paired some pins and plum-colored tights. I've been looking for a replacement to these tights for the past 6 months, they've got a run in them and I'm sad, all I seem to be able to find is straight-up purple. I've had this cat-charm pin since- no joke- I was seven years old, I have no idea where it came from, but it's definitely stood the test of time. It's a little cheesy, but I like it.

So, kind of a short post today, I'm heading in to work tonight for an over-night shift (gross) and I'm planning a nap in a few. But before I go, a few things:

1. Many of you asked how I felt about Gone With The Wind in my last post. I'm glad I watched it and my appreciation for early film engineering has definitely been restored, but I found it difficult to get past how irritating and whiney I found Scarlet to be and how extremely racist it was. I know that's to be expected of the era in which the book is set, but viewed now it seems so vulgar and inappropriate, and I found it difficult to get past how the African American characters are portrayed.

2. For all you locals: There is another swap this thursday at Downtown Crossing! Go here to order tickets! I'm SO excited, seriously knowing that I'm going to this is getting me through the next two days of store overnight shifts!

3. Thank you ALL for the supportive comments left in yesterdays post, it was great to hear form some other artists who have experienced the same artistic ennui.

4. (almost forgot this one) I've finally joined the rest of the world on Twitter. We'll see how this one works out.
Happy Tuesday!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Last Vestige

Winter is in the air!
Sweater: c/o Modcloth
Dress: Thrifted ($3)
Shoes: Vintage Thrifted ($3)
Belt: American Apparel
Spy Glass Necklace: From local museum ($8)
Braided chain necklace c/o Noble Town Vintage
A rather solitary and quiet weekend. Chris has been working crazy hours in Boston at the Snow Expo since Wednesday, and staying at a friends house there. I think this has been the longest we've spent apart since my crazy travel-season times at The College last fall. It's weird, I've missed him a lot, but I've also just enjoyed having some time alone and to think. Sometimes thats what I need, I'm not naturally a very social person. Don't get me wrong, I love being around people, but sometimes I think if left to my own devices I could very easily become a shut in. I'm perfectly happy puttering around my apartment and talking to my cats all day. Which probably means I'm somewhat crazy, which is a fact that I'm fine with. Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about my relationship with art lately, I'm going to be writing a longer post on it later in the week, but what my thoughts come down to- essentially- is this: I miss the passion that I once felt for art-making. I know all artists experience these feelings, but rather than waxing and waning, my desire to create has been more on the waning side for a very long time. Anyways, these aren't thoughts that I'm going to allow to be pushed aside in my brain, I'll be posting a little more on the topic and a new project dealing with the subject on Thursday.

I feel as though these photos are the perfect accompaniment to my thoughts and feelings for today, when I went to the park today to take photos, it was completely deserted. I hate it when I make the effort to get to a photo location and it's just filled with people, so i really enjoyed being able to explore this little area. lots of people get married in this section of the park, it's a nice little garden in the spring and summer, but I prefer it in the fall when it's desolate. it feels like the secret garden! My dress is actually a product of frustration, on Saturday I was feeling uninspired and remembered that I bought this dress months ago with the intention of hemming it and making the bodice tighter. Well, I'm so glad I let the project sit! Instead of hemming it i just cut off the bottom and cinched the waist with a belt, I love the slouchy silhouette, frayed hem, and pretty floral print. Also, I'm completely obsessed with loafers lately. I had been looking for the perfectly distressed, used pair and I finally found them at that Savers sale on Thursday. I haven't taken them off since. Also, I meant to take a better photo of my spy-glass necklace, but my camera was acting crazy, I found this in the children's shop at a local ship-building museum where a friend works. It's still up for debate as to whether or not it actually magnifies things or just makes them appear closer because you're looking through a tiny lens. Who knows.

Did everyone have a nice weekend? What did you do?
(Besides all that thinking, I also baked brownies and a quiche, and watched Gone With the Wind for the first time)

Friday, November 12, 2010

Educated Guess

Top: J.Crew ($10-ish)
Belt: J.Crew Outlet ($19)
Skirt: Vintage Thrift ($5)
Cardigan: LOFT (swapped)
Thigh Highs: c/o ModCloth
Clogs: c/o ModCloth
I had a surprise day off yesterday (though well deserved considering the hours I worked on Wednesday), and it was beautiful outside. New England has been shrouded in rain and clouds for the past week, and the sun finally came out and treated us to a warm-ish day. Warm being completely relative, it was only 50*f. For most of the day I had that great feeling of having the day off when everybody else is at work, that is until I realized that it was Veterans Day and everybody else had the day off too. Boo. All was not lost however, I made a trip to Savers for some mid-week thrifting (the best kind) and discovered they were having a sale: I got four pairs of shoes and a book about cats for $16!

It's always nice to have the day off and be able to utilize what's in my closet. I found this cute skirt last weekend when Chris and I went thrift shopping, I loved the buttons down the front and the interwoven colors. Perfect paired with some clogs and the most amazing cape ever.

Are you excited it's Friday? I am so excited to sleep in tomorrow and do nothing!
Happy Weekend!
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