LUCKY GIRL

No matter how lean the times or how low the available balance, certain things remain constant: I am unable to stay clear of resale shops, I love a good bargain, and I live with one of the sweetest boys on the Eastern Seaboard.

As a direct result of these circumstances, a few awfully nice things have made their way into my life over the last couple of months: Wilder Quarterly (a surprise gift from Alex after a particularly rotten afternoon), a striped top that is the exact inverse of my all-time favorite shirt, a well-loved but still well lovely silk and rhinestone Phillip Lim tee, soft dove grey leather and cashmere gloves that will be destroyed immediately after their first trip outside in a proper snowstorm (but hey, nobody's perfect right??), a little pearl-covered glasses case that is shedding fake pearl dust everywhere I go, a bottle of Lincoln Park After Dark for my toenails, and two pair of gently used shoes. Material reminders of what a damn lucky girl I am, even as the unpaid invoices pile up and the hole in my best pair of boots grows ever larger.

PRETTY IN PINK

I received several belated Christmas presents on my visit home back in January, but easily the sweetest was this beautiful little Fifi Lapin pin that my Mom surprised me with. The best part was opening up the envelope and finding a family snapshot that explained just why she had to choose that particular bunny in her little paper crown...

Alex has been gone on tour for over a week now, but fortunately we got to spend Valentine's Day together. Among the far too many things he treated me to that day was this bunch of deep pink and white tulips. There's something so wonderfully languorous and graceful about the way tulips droop and then arch themselves towards the light. They make even the messiest of kitchen table tops look fit to print.

latest imports

Just a few of the pretty things I collected for next to nothing over my four weeks back home: heavy brass drawer pulls shaped like strawberries/a red plastic fishbone comb (thanks Dag!!)/the tiniest little tea cup and saucer--I should have put something in there for scale, it's barely two inches tall!/a wee fifty cent print of my favorite Goya painting.

Jewlz

I'm a little late posting these, but here's a couple shots from a shoot I assisted on a few weeks ago. The stylist pulled some amazing Matina Amanita jewelry, including this crazy-ass owl cuff! He also had more big sparkly rings than you could shake a stick at. Blingggg.



In other exciting jewelry news, I came home today to find a package from Kathryn, aka the Vamoose, waiting for me! I sent her a little care package of big silky shirts and Japanese treats a little while back, and the gorgeous bounty I received in return filled me with both wonder and amazement. Pictures soon!

A pair of pink canaries

Better late than never, right? This is what I wore out on my birthday for Indian food and soft-serve in the rain.



I actually found this dress at Buffalo Exchange during the day on my birthday, and treated myself. It has the sweetest little flower print, which can be seen here on the far left.



In the days between then and now, it has grown progressively hotter, reminding me that I still need shorts and tank tops and all those things that leave as many of my 2000 parts free and exposed to the world. I require ventilation! Also, I got the most amazing package in the mail yesterday:



It's a wonderful feeling knowing that someone out there truly understands just exactly what you love in this world, right down to remembering the weird ceramic bud vase from some tiny store back home you were totally obsessed with last summer. Amazing. Also, the girl hand bleach-painted that skull t-shirt herself. I keep telling her she needs to go into business selling those things! So. Bad. Ass.

Monday

Yesterday was a nice, loungey day...



...up until I had to go to school, on my day off no less, to take a scary placement test. CUNY really makes my blood boil sometimes (...lots of times), but whatevs, I passed!

I didn't actually venture outside in this outfit (unless you count our roof), heh, but there's nothing I love more than dressing up just to lie around the house. Good, harmless fun.



It breaks my heart that these vintage Foster Grant sunglasses I bought ages ago are comically oversized on my tiny face, but sometimes I wear them around anyways, especially when all my sunglasses from last summer are either scratched beyond use or just plain missing.

Also, I'm wearing the deer tooth necklace that my best friend made me for Christmas. I keep trying to convince her to give me one of the pairs of antlers she's found and collected over the years, but so far no luck.

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.

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.

Purple Sueeeede

It's so cold here, the kind of cold that freezes your face into a perma-grimace, complete with wind chapped lips and crystaline boogers. Remember when your mom told you "if you make that face long enough, it might stay that way"? She was talking about winter in New York, and she wasn't fucking kidding.


In the spirit of resenting the cold and having no money, I spent the day revelling in the beautiful new pair of shoes I received courtesy of the truly kind folks at solestruck.com (Seychelles Adios Amigo in purple suede, ya daaamn right!)


and lounging around in far too few clothes, pretending that spring is just around the corner, instead of several times around the block...

squirrel food

Here I am! Look at me! See my dress? It's by Esprit! And yes, this is in my new room and, yes, I caved and painted my walls yellow. Again. After painting them mint green. And hating it. Siiiiiiiiigh. Anyways, it's all over now, and I'm working on putting the whole mess behind me by instead focusing my powers of frustration on re-assembling my awesome second hand IKEA craigslist bed. Which came complete with about 18 missing Swedish screws. So. Much. Fun.

On a lighter note, here are some of the best presents I have received from some of the very best givers of late:


My Technicolor Dream Moose Bag, a gift from Sweden.


The most amazing vintage bowtie, a gift from Sherbet Tone.


The most perfect acorn, a gift from a tree.

P.S. Don't forget, you can indeed

with bloglovin'!

his hang-ups are hilarious!

Of all the wonderful things I received for my birthday this year, the best by far has got to be this: a limited edition copy of the never-before-released Soundtrack to Harold and Maude. For a Seventies film junkie like me, this is something of a holy grail my friends. Oooh I am only just beginning to nerd out over this! And on top of it all, I was also gifted a record player to play it on! I'm so excited to be able to go record shopping once more without the added guilt of not actually being able to listen to them. Best best best!

Cousin It much?

But hark! Methinks 'tis nigh upon time to trim ye olde bangs...



Also, look at this sweet lil' pin my mom sent me for my birthday from Retro Rose. Her little dress is made from part of a ground mustard tin. I love it!