Friday, April 29, 2011

Thank you!

(don't cats in boxes make you happy?)
I just wanted to take a minute to THANK everyone who reads Orchid Grey. I don't always get a chance to comment on all the blogs I would like to, or to thank everyone personally for their kind and sweet comments (If I could send you all flowers, I absolutely would!). So: THANK YOU! Thank you especially for sticking by me the past couple of weeks, which have been supremely stressful and busy for me.

As I'm sure most of you can agree with, blogging is a constant balancing act, as soon as I feel as though all my plates are balanced, someone hands me another one (is it possible I handed myself another one? yes.). See, I started a second (third? fourth?) job last week at a local coffee shop, and as much as I enjoy what I'm doing, I've had to yet again adjust my spinning plates. I doesn't help that it's beautiful outside and all I want to do is run through fields of wildflowers.

So thank you everyone, I love you guys. I know I sound like a wicked sap, but seriously.

I have officially survived one of the most stressful weeks ever, I got everything done on time, and it looks as if I'm going to leave my apartment at the time I planned, win! I'm off to Maine to enjoy no internet access and minimal phone reception.

Have a FANTASTIC weekend!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Swapaholics Guest Post!


I have a guest post up today on the Swapaholics Blog about last weeks Wine Riot and outfit contest! Chris and I had a great time (a little too much fun?), and are definitely planning to go back next year. To learn about Wine Riot's happening near you, check out The Second Glass!

April 28, 2011: Navy, White, Gold

Blazer: Thrifted from the boys section ($5)
Shirt: Thrifted Ralph Lauren ($4)
Jean Shorts: Swapped jeans, cut
Belt: American Apparel
Loafers: Thrifted ($7)
Bag: Vintage Coach, Thrifted ($12)
Cat brooch: Vintage ($5)
Bracelet: Vintage ($5)
You know what's really great first thing in the morning? T.Rex radio on Pandora. This is making me really happy right now: T.Rex, Lou Reed, The Ramones, The Kinks, and The Zombies. That's a line up of almost all my favorite bands, and what I've heard in the past 20 minutes. I have this habit of sitting in silence when I'm working on the computer, usually I don't even notice it, but then I put on music and realize how nice it is to be surrounded by sound. Do you have any weird habits like that? I can seriously sit in silence for hours and not notice that I haven't said a thing.

Anyways, life observations aside. This is what I wore to last week's Earth Day clothing exchange. It wasn't intentional that almost everything is either thrifted or swapped, but a nice coincidence considering that it was Earth Day. This is one of my favorite outfits, it's easy to wear and feels pulled together but casual. I found this funny cat pin a couple of weeks ago at an antique store in Essex (The White Elephant- highly recommended), and the little feline reminded me of Zephyr in his jaunty-ness. I think it's pretty clear that I'm a sucker for anything gold with cats (i.e. the bracelet), I can't help it, I've always loved cats.

Yesterday turned out to be so beautiful! It got to be about 73 degrees, and all the pear trees along the streets flowered. When I left work last night it was still warm out, that's one of my favorite things: when you walk outside at night and it's warm. This post just turned into a list of my favorite things.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

April 27, 2011: Blue, Purple, Orange

Button-up: J.Crew Outlet (old)
Skirt: Thrifted and hemmed ($5)
Belt: Thrifted ($4)
Necklace: Swapped
The weather is finally cooperating somewhat, and I'm so happy to finally be free of tights. I was driving around yesterday and noticed how green everything has become, when the leaves come out on the trees is one of my absolute favorite things, right now though the flowers are out and everything smells amazing. I love to hear the breeze blowing through the leaves. This week has been a busy one, and it's only wednesday, there's a lot more to get done before Chris and I head to Maine on friday afternoon. How is your week going?

The Delightful Dozen has been sending around this Le Mode Accessories bag to style. When I received it, I was really surprised at the quality of the faux leather, "pleather" has come a long way since the 90's! I love the orange color of it and knew it would match this thrifted belt perfectly. I paired the orange with blue and purple, one of my favorite combinations. I styled this yesterday, but this is what I'll most likely be wearing to work this afternoon. Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

April 26, 2011: Blue, White, Peach, Gold

Jacket: Swapped
Tank (under): Thrifted ($3)
Skirt: Urban Outfitters ($20)
Loafers c/o ModCloth
Bracelet c/o ModCloth
This is a redux of an outfit that I wore last week but didn't have a chance to photograph. I love the crispness of blue and white together, it feels clean and put together and nice and simple. I threw in some peach with these new loafers from ModCloth. I had been waiting for what seemed forever for these to come in, I'm a little bit of a loafer fanatic and I absolutely love the styling of these.

How's your week going? The weather is definitely warming up here, which is really exciting. Easter Sunday was beautiful at 75 degrees, we had brunch at our place with my mom and then went for a hike. All the trees are flowering and you can tell Spring is at least thinking of showing up soon. Although it's rainy. Those "May flowers" better be worth it! It's a busy week for me, I have a ton to do before I head up to Maine on Friday for a friend's wedding!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Over the Weekend: Earth Day Clothing Exchange!

Technically, this wasn't over the weekend, it was Thursday. But I pretty much checked out Thursday afternoon, so we'll count it as the weekend! That afternoon, I headed into the city to help set up for the Earth Day Clothing Exchange, hosted by the Swapaholics:
(Pacifico Beer, one of the sponsors, SO GOOD!)
(Beer and cupcakes (from Cakeology), the perfect pair)
(I wore a thrfited blazer, thrifted button-up, Swapped cut-offs, and thrifted loafers (not pictured))
(some of my favorite girls)
(how can you not play dress-up at a swap?)
(All above photos: Adam Towner)
Among other things, I got this sweet minty snowsuit. Somewhere there's a video of me dancing in it, wearing silver shoes. I have a hard time not putting on ridiculous costumes when the opportunity arises, and this time it payed off: I won two tickets to Friday's Wine Riot hosted by The Second Glass for best Swap Score! The snowsuit will come in handy for more dress-up and snow shoveling next winter.

My other swap scores: A Paul And Joe tweed jacket, a Rebecca Taylor shearling vest, two vintage tops, and some vintage jewelry. I also got a pair of Dolce Vita wedges.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Noble Town Vintage Special Offer

For today only, Sarah from Noble Town Vintage is offering Orchid Grey readers FREE SHIPPING on all orders! She has some beautiful additions to her shop, (including a few that have quickly became personal favorites) so head on over and enter "freeshipping" at checkout!

I have quite the day ahead of me, but I can't wait to share photos from the swap last night, it was so much fun! Happy Friday!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Earth Day Sip & Swap: TONIGHT!

earth day sip and swap

SWAP.COM PRESENTS:

Earth Day Clothing Exchange
For Girls & Guys
with The Swapaholics

at

Fourth Wall Project
132 Brookline ave
Boston, MA 02155


HOW THE CLOTHING SWAP WORKS:
Buy a ticket, bring a bag, take home a bag!

6 to 8 pm
Clothing drop-off, mixer & registration.
Bring a bag of clothes, shoes, accessories & jewelry to donate to the swap in exchange for a reusable bag to fill to the brim with new-to-you items when the swap opens at 8:30 pm
Sip, nosh & network with Bostons most sustainably stylish set.

8:30 pm SHARP!
Doors open to the swap, and the good stuff goes fast so be on time!

10 pm – Last Call
Join us for an after party at Game On! around the corner.
Cash bar, menu, and batting cages!
Celebrate with us, our awesome swap partners & sponsors once we're off the clock, and brag about your awesome swap scores!


For Tickets go HERE!


(I have about five bags full of stuff to bring, including an Ikea bag full of shoes!)

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

April 20, 2011: Stripes, Black, and Gold

(photos: Chris)
Sweater: J.Crew (sale)
Belt: Vintage
Bracelets: Vintage
Umbrella: Target (old)
What I wore to work yesterday afternoon. As much as I've been preaching low key outfits, I'll admit to enjoying the excuse to dress up a bit. It definitely wasn't warm enough out to go without tights, but once I got into the store I was fine. This time of year is so strange, today it's freezing and drizzly and tomorrow looks like it will be beautiful (I hope). This dress from Spotted Moth was packed up with my Spring and Summer stuff, and I'm so happy to have it in rotation again, it's one of my all-time favorites. I love it paired with a cardigan and sandals, the Casita's from Blowfish Shoes are the perfect shoes for work, the little wedge gives a bit of a lift and they're super comfortable.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today, so am taking a much needed day off. I plan to answer overdue emails (sorry), clean up the house, and clean out my closet in preparation for tomorrows swap (this doesn't sound like a day off at all). Are you having a nice day?
(Hi, white legs)

Receive 15% off your order from Blowfish Shoes with the code BFORCHID15!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

April 19, 2011: Pink, Navy, Creme, Gold

Sweater: Swapped
Silk Top: Thrifted ($6)
Jeans: Madewell (sale)
Bracelet: Vintage ($5)
Sunnies: Vintage ($3)
This outfit was my uniform at the end of last week and consists of a few of my favorite new-to-me things I've collected lately. This past weekend I headed home to help my mom out with yard work, naturally we had to take a little time-out to go check out some of the antique stores near by, where I scored this amazing cat bracelet. I love antique/junk shops, you find the most amazing things, and usually cheaply if you go far enough outside of the city. I found these 70's/80's sunglasses at a flea market a couple of weekends ago, they're pretty flimsy but for three dollars I really couldn't go wrong. Finally, I had one amazing Savers day last week where I found a bunch of vintagy silk pieces, including this pink silk button-up. This is exactly what I have been searching for, silk is one of my favorite materials and this color is definitely lacking in my mostly-navy closet.

The weather is slowly getting warmer, and I can't wait for it to be consistently nice out. I've collected some amazing Spring and Summer pieces over the past few months and can't wait to break them out! Happy Tuesday!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Cat Friday!


There's major construction going on behind our apartment, Zephyr and Zeb aren't happy about it. It has scared away the seagulls and the whole house is woken by loud crashing and banging. Sunbeams are still taken advantage of, however.

I want to express my gratitude for everyone who stopped by this week to read and leave a comment, I never feel as if I say thank you enough, so here it is one more time: THANK YOU!

Chris and I are headed North this weekend to help out a friend and help my Mom with yard work. I have to admit that I usually avoid Maine this time of year, all the snow has melted down here, and I hate to go and have to see snow on the ground up there! What are your weekend plans?

April 15, 2011: Floral, Black, Gold

Dress: Delightful Dozen Swap
Belt: Vintage ($1)
Shoes: Vintage ($9)
Necklace: H&M
These are the photos from yesterday's Delightful Dozen post. This dress of Beatrice's is going around and I'm the third girl to style it. You can go here to read the full text, I wish I had more to say about it, but it's 7:30 am (I scheduled this to post a little later), and my brain isn't fully functional yet.

Suffice to say, these shoes are surprisingly easy to walk in, they look intense- and they are- but the foot bed is actually quite flat. They're some sort of weird loafer/clog hybrid, with a wooden sole and penny loafer detailing. I got them in Portland, Maine a while back and haven't had the chance to style them yet. I'm a sucker for bizarre shoes i guess. Hey! It's Friday!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

New Delightful Dozen Post!

I have a new post up on the Delightful Dozen Blog, you can check it out if you want. I'll give you some incentive: My shoes are insane.

I got called in to work this afternoon, and I'm not happy about it. Chris and I were planning to drive to Maine this evening, but I guess we'll have to wait till tomorrow morning. Bummerrrrr.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

April 12, 2011: Creme, Grey, Blue

Polka-dot shirt: Thrifted ($3)
Sweatshirt: J.Crew
Jeans: Madewell (sale)
These photos are also from over the weekend. Apparently I wasn't into accessorizing this weekend at all, which is something that I don't think is always necessary. I find that in the spring and summer, the simpler the outfit the more I like it. Cold weather is great for layering and accessorizing, but spring and summer are all about shedding those layers and simplifying. Which beings me to this sweatshirt, which is probably one of the most un-fashion-y things I have come to own recently (Chris calls it my muscle shirt). I had been eyeing it for weeks at work, and finally took the plunge after seeing this post. Now all I need is a long pink skirt. Jeans have actually been my go-to lately because of the weather. It's almost warm enough to go without tights but not quite to my comfort level, and I'm so sick of tights I could scream.

Yesterday was actually beautiful though, Chris and I had the afternoon off together so we headed up to Gloucester for a shirt hike. I'm so excited for the weather to be consistently nice, I want to ride my bike, go hiking, and generally live outdoors this summer!
photos: Chris