Ding ding ding!

Etsy update! (Plus a few lowered prices...)

Just a few...

Because of the distance between myself and many of my family and friends, and because of the fact that we are none of us entirely on top of things (by which I mean we are all very busy, responsible adults who just have so many important things to do this time of the year that getting to the post office before December 23rd...or the 26th...just might not happen, ok?), Christmas has become more of a season that a singular event for me. Presents and cards often continue to trickle in after the 25th, sometimes well into the New Year. Which as far as I'm concerned is great. Why not prolong the joy?

However, here are just a few of the wonderful things that have been gifted to me so far:


Amazing book about glam, and an import to boot!


Vintage Diana camera. I cannot WAIT to start taking photos with this little guy.


That domino book and western-themed cookie cutters, from my Cowgirl, for whom I almost bought the exact same thing (minus the cookie cutters, that's pure genius on her part!)


Carpenters record, Leonard Cohen record, and a huge amazing Roxy Music poster.


Last but not least, the Stephen Colbert tote that has been taunting me for months every time I walk through the first floor of Barnes & Noble (and that is often), plus a gift from myself to myself: the latest issue of Missbehave with Chloe on the cover!

In summation: I am a very, very lucky little girl.

Takin' it Easy Like it was Goin' out of Style

I hope everyone had a funtacular Christmas! Mine has been spent focusing primarily on eating a broad array of foods. Christmas dinner alone consisted (in part) of: Scotch eggs, quesadillas, fancy potatoes, fried chicken, spaghetti and meatballs, a giant sandwich, Israeli cous-cous and Swedish gingerbread cookies. And then we got sliders and birch beer!


And hey, look who showed up in my room. Boy howdy, it's the moon!

Christmas Eve Eve

Yesterday was a very busy day! Good thing I dressed appropriately. Let's see...


• Big fringy scarf? Check.
• Leggings-over-tights-under-socks? Check.
• Bordering on perversely-short dress (err, tunic? This thing has grown progressively shorter ever since I bought it. A couple more washes and I fear it will be encroaching on belly shirt territory...but anyways...) Check!

Now off to run a billion errands, just like the billion errands I ran today. And there's cookies to bake! And potatoes to mash!

Happy Christmas Eve everyone!

Ice & Snow & Bows & Bandits

Today was cold, guys. So cold that, after returning home at about 11:00am after triumphantly laying my last final to rest, instead of doing the many important errands I had planned, my body went into some sort of shock-induced hibernation and I emerged from sleep six hours later, my pillow soaked in drool. High-fives all around.

Anyways, what better time to receive a beautiful, heavy, full-skirted blue dress in the mail than in such deep-winter conditions? Let me explain...


A few weeks ago, Eva and Sophie of Bows & Bandits Vintage sent me an email asking if I would give them some feedback on their new site. Naturally, I quite promptly...forgot all about it. Because I'm a jerk. But after some gentle reminding, I finally snapped out of it and gave their shop a look.


I was quite honestly impressed. These ladies have really got their act together. Not only is their site refreshingly clean, stylish, and easy to navigate, but the clothes that they are selling are all truly gems. I'm no stranger (no indeed...) to the world of online vintage shopping, both from the stance of a buyer and a seller. It's not every day that you come across people who are willing to take the time and make the effort to ensure that their store looks not only so polished, but also like so much fun.


So, of course, I wanted everything they were selling (I mean, come on!) and of course, I have no money! Apparently however, ridiculously generous is another phrase you can add to the list of compliments I have for these two ladies, because they happily suggested that they send me something from their stock as an example of what they have in store.


So, here I am, pulling my "happy-happy-joy-joy" face, and wearing my lovely new (old) traditional Austrian dress. The beauty is really in the details, for which I hope you will excuse my sad attempt at justice-giving:



Now, schlepping for some stranger's businesses is not something that interests me, and for every one thing I accept, there is usually some creepy site trying to get me to review pearl necklaces or super discounted engagement rings (I mean, for reals guys? At least pretend that you read the blog. Humor me?) But I can easily say that, hands down, this dress is one of the very best things I have been gifted so far, and at the hands of some fine folks for whom I would happily schlepp till the cows come home!


So thank you, Eva and Sophie! You obviously put a lot of hard work into your store, and it shows! I hope I can play a small part in making sure that it pays off.

I'd trade the whole Manhattan skyline...

This afternoon I am making a conscious effort to take 'er easy. I am in the thick of finals at the moment, but today I'm letting myself come up for air a bit (though I did take the time to add a couple new things to my etsy).


A friend left his bass ukulele with me while he went home for a bit, and so far I've learned most of "Mrs. Brown" by Herman's Hermits.


I'm taking the time to leaf through the pages of one of my favorite books as a child, "D'Aulaire's Book of Trolls". My original copy was chewed up by rats (true story), so recently I bought an even nicer one from estate sale on etsy.


Also, my paperwhite is blooming! Last year I wanted one so badly, but I lived in a room with barely enough light to sustain my own life, let alone that of a flowering plant. As a kid, my best friend's family would assemble little bowls of the bulbs and pebbles and give them to neighbors as gifts. It was so exciting to watch them slowly grow and start to open their buds, a little hint of spring even in the dead of winter.


I've been making paper snowflakes and taping them up around the house. Today the sun keeps coming and going, peeping out from behind what I wish were snow clouds.


Really though, there seem to be few signs of Christmas in my day to day life. Christmas has never felt like Christmas in the city to me. It seems like nothing even changes! There aren't enough trees and animals, holly bushes and chickadees, no caroling from door to door, no pots of spiced cider sitting on the wood stove, no frosty grass to tramp through. I have to keep opening the doors of my little Eric Carle advent calendar to remind myself that it's all just around the corner.

If wishes were fishes I'd be married to the sea

Everyone knows that things are tight this year--I mean cripes, we're constantly reminded of it no matter which way we turn. Still, I'm used to things being tight, and I've never let it stand in the way of one of my favorite activities: buying Christmas presents!

I love the whole process: the planning, writing out little secret lists and checking them off one by one, the excitement you feel when you find that perfect thing, the one that's a bit of a surprise but you just know they'll love, and the wrapping, oh the wrapping!

Anyways, I'd love to make a post about what I'm giving, but that would be something of a killjoy for a few too many Banana followers (Hi Mom! Hi Cassie! Hi Alex!) So instead, here's a few things on my own list this year:


Camera Tee from Delia's.


Roost teapot.


Stella McCartney perfume.


Bottle Rocket Criterion Collection dvd (I love this cover, I want a poster of it!)


Los Alamos by William Eggleston, though I might just have to settle for a trip to The Whitney (if you can call that settling...)


The Biba Experience


Some skinny tan cords (that feel very A.P.C. to me. I'd like to feel me some real A.P.C., but c'est la vie!)


Shoes that will make me feel sassy but will not make me fall down.


And the moon in my room!

So tell me, what's on your list (to give OR get)?

Paisley and Pockets

A couple new things are up in my etsy:


A few days ago (well, pretty much constantly since fall really started turning into winter) I was complaining about my lack of big, comfy, thick cardigans to keep myself warm in my big drafty room. So yesterday I treated myself to a trip to one of my favorite second hand stores and picked up this number:


I actually slept in it last night. Of course, I really want a nice, soft grey one (who doesn't) so, the hunt continues...

Are You With Me?

A few days ago, my Best Boy and his band mates took off for a three week tour of the UK (Best Boy plays bass). While I will sorely miss him, I'm ridiculously proud, and also excited that simultaneously Pitchfork has premiered the music video for one of the songs on their 7", featuring none other than keyboard player Peggy Wang herself, and shot on Super8 (a medium close to my heart!)

Have a gander at "Everything With You" by the Pains of Being Pure at Heart:



(P.S. Anyone who is interested in tour dates should check their myspace!)

Etsy Time!

In an effort to raise a little Christmas gift buying money, I've opened an etsy shop, Maude Loves Harold Vintage. I'm tired of having bags of beautiful clothes that I don't wear and that Snob Town Central (aka Beacon's Closet) wont take lying around my closet. At the moment I only have a couple pairs of shoes in stock:



but I hope and expect to have a few more things (a coat, some blouses, a dress or two) put up in the coming week. Stay tuned!