take the tracks of time

Sorry for the silence, I've been a little bit caught up in end of the year festivities for my younger brother and haven't had much time to do much of interest! I did manage to pick up a summer read (and also managed to get through 3/4 of it by the time I got home from the bookstore) and I set up a hammock and actually spent an evening sitting in it, reading. Making progress on my summer '10 wishlist. So for now, at least until I get around to photographing some new things and some outfits, I thought I'd share some beautiful things bouncing around in my mind lately. This photo is from my new favorite blog. I'm such a sucker for each and every dreamy, beautiful photo I come across, and this seems to be the mother load. source: the hymn for the cigarettes.

I have a sadly persistent and unattainable daydream in which I fix up my aunt's old VW bus (impossible, as it is so rotten) and just drive across the country. It's a nice dream, though. This dress, from Allen Company vintage on Etsy, have me obsessed and started a frenzied search for off the shoulder Mexican dresses. So far nothing compares, and of course this dress is far too small for me to ever fit. Sadness! I also became obsessed with white crochet or lace dresses because of The Snail and the Cyclops. Wouldn't it be nice to look this put together, even in the heat? I love this photo, found off the Urban Outfitter's blog/flickr set, and really, really wish my hair would stay put like that. It's super long now, about to the small of my back, but impossibly thick and heavy. And refuses to hold anthing more than a braid. So it's not so great for piling on top of my head, and it barely stays put in a ponytail! Blessing and a curse, I suppose. Source: here.

I have a lot to share, I've been busy making and sewing (!) and buying and dreaming and reading and such. There's never enough time in a day!

sweet disposition

On Saturday I took a short trip to the next town over to see if I could snag anything cool from the local church fair. Unfortunately, I got there just as it was closing, but I managed to take a few halfway decent outfit shots outside one of the many historic buildings. I'm lucky to live in an area rich in history and old, old buildings, and I hope to take advantage of that for my outfit shots in the coming months!

I'm wearing the dark rinse overalls and white peter pan collared blouse from my last post, leather belt from h&m, thrifted vintage coach bag, and old flats from J Crew. I hopped out of bed and threw this on to beat the humidity, and it worked fairly well. I'm on the lookout for long ones in a dark rinse, or maybe even white. I'd roll the hems and wear them all fall.

I also got to thrift a bit before picking my brother up from school on Friday, and here's all my finds!
A vintage dish drying rack which I'm converting into a basket for the back of my bike; it's perfect for holding books from the library, and thrift store shopping bags!

My first copy of The Little Prince; can you believe I've never read this book before? I sat in the car and read it through in one go. So pretty and sad, this might just be my favorite story yet. (the illustrations get me too)

This is one of my favorite finds yet. A tooled leather bag, with roses stamped into the leather. Also, I love that shade of leather, it reminds me of the natural colored Swedish Hasbeens.

A plain silk tank top in a neutral color, for tucking into jean shorts when it's too hot to think. I might just collect these.

Another (I know, I know, but I'm a sucker for all things soft and comfortable) plaid flannel, this time in blue.

Another piece that I can see becoming a warm weather staple; a perfect vintage blouse, airy and light, and the blue stitching kills me. I need more blue in my life.
Sorry for the funny faces, for some reason I can't keep a straight face when I'm being photographed! Let's hope the good weather is here to stay, because I also finally put up a hammock, and I plan on using it to loung about (as if I don't do enough of that already). Till next time :)

back to basics

Here's a look at some of the stuff I've been finding lately at the thrift store/estate sales/flea market; pretty sweet if you ask me!
Two mini bottles of Chanel N5 and Chloe Narcisse. Personally I've always thought Chanel N5 smelled awful, but the bottle sure is pretty.

I got myself some dark rinse overalls, a nice buffalo plaid flannel, and crazy ass Levi's daisy dukes. The shorts are not for me by a long shot, but are perfectly worn in and frayed.

I got this wonky 80s belt and funny black purse at the same place; normally I hate gold but with black I suppose I can stand it. I also got these leather men's brogues at salvation army for free, because the shoes are a mismatched pair! It's hard to tell so I got them anyways, and they are super comfortable and broken in.
These four white blouses are pretty and clean, exactly what I want for summer. The first is from the 40s or 50s and is handmade, a really awesome find! I just about cried when I put it on and the bust was too tight; I've been searching for a simple sailor blouse for ages! The next two shirts fit me, thank goodness; one is linen and the other a soft Swiss dot cotton. I've already worn the peter-pan collared one, and actually took some outfit shots so hopefully you'll see that next time! The last is crochet, I guess from the 60s/70s. It's funny because I turned to my mom and mentioned that I was looking for crochet dresses, and there this was! Pretty lucky I guess.

These last four dresses I'm exciting to have found; they are so beautiful! The first is a formal dress from the 50s/60s, I wish so bad it fit me! The second is a 60s dress, likely hand made, and it reminds me so much of this Lover dress, with the high neck and longer sleeves, that I grabbed it right away. It fits everywhere but the arms, does anyone out there know how to re size arm holes!? Help would be appreciated! The last two are from the 70s, and they pretty much speak for themselves.
I have been planning for something special for you guys, and I can't wait to let you know about it! Next time I have some more finds to show off, and an outfit post (a commodity around here, haha)

paper dress

So far this week I've gotten quite a bit done, mainly cleaning up my room, doing laundry, and trying my hand at drawing a bit. I got the idea for this when I was falling asleep one night, and, although my scanner doesn't do it much justice, it looks pretty cool in real life. I think I'm going to put it in a weathered white frame and hang it on my wall. It maes me want to try painting more!
Oh, and though I can hardly afford it at the moment, Madewell has opened their online store! Now I can fantasy-shop, one of favorite things to do nowadays. Seriously, my wish lists at Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie are miles long...
Expect to see some cool finds next post, I got lucky last time I went thrifting!

a sorta filler post: the week in purchases

I have gotten around to a few of the things on my summer '10 bucket list already, mainly picnicking and getting outside a bit more, but not without my SPF 70-there's nothing more important than taking care of your skin! As a half Italian half Irish/Dutch mix, I think very little of the Italian ability to darken in the sun came through for me; I stand out in my family as the pale child who burns, while my little brother can tan in ten minutes. I'm pretty sure my paleness adds to the effect of me looking about 16 years old, as at least 5 people asked my younger brother if I was his little sister this past week, but it sure as hell beats looking like the leather bag that half the girls my age already do! It also helps that I don't drink or smoke at all, of course. Plus, I'm at much lower risk for cancer, a damn god reason in my book to avoid all that nonsense. Alright, rant over, haha. Finally just caved and bought the CD of She & Him Volume 2. I wanted the record, but decided it wasn't a portable-enough option. I ripped the songs onto my iPod and popped the CD into my mom's car. Yay for technology.

As I'm always on the lookout for cool stuff, I managed to add to my silver-ring collection today when my mom and I trawled the local tag/estate sales and flea market. I've added these three pretty little things to my collection, two vintage sterling silver rings from Mexico and a handmade moon stone and silver ring. I still have my eye on a vintage silver armor ring for next time!Sometime in the past week I went over to the thrift store for a bit, searching for a few particulars like a silk button down to tuck into high waist denim shorts, dark rinse farmer jeans, some plain rompers for the hot days, striped shirts, a medium brimmed straw hat, and leather shoes, and managed to find a few off this list. I'm still on the lookout for perfect essentials for my closet, and am planning to pare down my wardrobe this summer to some well tailored, easy basics. Plus, I really want to start making things from scratch again! I miss my sewing machine, poor thing has been neglected all winter!

I'm not sure if I could ever pull off this ruffled pink shirt, but the details kill me and remind me of the movie 3 Women. I think it's from the 70s, but may be from earlier? It would look fantastic tucked into a high waist a-line denim skirt (in my opinion). I also picked up this pretty floral rose print fabric, and I'm not sure if I want to make a dress, skirt, or shorts out of it yet! Any suggestions? In addition to all this I bought a wee little bottle of old old Chanel N 5 and Narcisse by Chloe. They probably smell awful after sitting all these years in someone's attic, but the bottles are adorable.

Tonight I plan on going to bed pretty early (and by that I mean before 2 am kevery other night this past week-yikes!) I'm beat after all the tag-saleing today! I also want to try to post more outfit-shots of me in the future, as I have been pretty good about dressing civil now that I'm done with school and have time to organise outfits. I guess I just have to get used to being in front of the camera instead of behind it!

Oh, and I have an addendum for my to-do list: plant something and let it grow! I'm thinking watermelon-even though I can't eat them without having half my face blow up with allergies. They just look so pretty!

all that glitters

Some things that are making me happy this week: the frankie photo album and star glitter from my 18th birthday that I keep in a vintage sugar bowl, recent thrift finds, the built by wendy dresses book I plan to utilize in the coming weeks, and unique and beautiful silver rings. I'm starting a collection of silver rings, seeing as I already wear three or four everyday I want to expand my collection, and the other day I stopped at an estate sale and picked up this beautiful silver filigree ring and another silver one with elephants. I'm on the hunt for them!
I've been out for summer break for two days, and so far I have:

-gone for a ride on my bike

-eaten far too many sweets

-seen some old friends

-slept in far too long

-lay out on the lawn in the sun

-rearranged my closet

-gone to the movies with my family

-watched an unacceptable amount of CSI, Law and Order, and Ghost Whisperer

-caught up on all my blog reading

-eaten Popsicles

What else is there for me to do? Well, I suppose I have a sort of bucket-list for summer '10. I'd love to:

-bike a lot more

-stay outside instead of sitting inside all day

-go swimming, in pools and lakes if I can find the courage!

-have a few ( or a lot) more picnics

-learn to cook

-take more photographs ( I miss photography so much it hurts)

-sew some more

-go fishing and catch frogs like I used to when I was little

-write and read more

-take more day trips to places I haven't been

-put up a hammock-and use it!

-go to more outdoor concerts

-get up early

-learn to drive

-thrift a ton

-attend (and host) more bonfires and parties

-go camping

-try to live a little, because sometimes I get way too uptight
Most of these things apply to life in general, but it would be fantastic to accomplish of of them this year! Expect to hear more from me from now on; I'm back in action!

follow me

Popping in to let you know I'm alive-and that I've made a tumblr! Follow me here. Expect to see lots of 70s shoes, pretty girls in pretty clothes, dream home inspiration, and quite a few vintage dresses that got away. Oh, and a lot less text (yay!). I'll save the small talk for this old thing.

I plan on posting at least once a day, but I still have one more final exam and a final project to get through until I am free at last! Here's a sneak preview; just one pair of my dream shoes.

Until then :)

leather and jean

Pardon the headless oompa loompa in a denim on denim ensemble below: I went a little nuts with the editing and couldn't fix the photo, and my face sans makeup plus tang-colored sheen was a little too much for the permanence of the Internet.


I thrifted myself some high waist jean shorts the other day, and wanted to try the jean suit thing out for size. I don't have the confidence to wear this outside of my room, but it was cool to try out.








I also got some more jean items this week; two more super soft shirts, a pair of Levi's shorts that I'll likely cut since they're at an odd length, and some overalls. I haven't worn overalls since the fourth grade, but just decided to try them out for the hot weather days. Why not for $4.


I also found these vintage 70s leather clogs and a pair of leather cut-out flats in my size. Sadly, the clogs are way too small for my monster feet, but I bought them anyway; too cool to pass up.





And finally, I found a pair of dead stock vintage 70s clogs in my size on eBay!!! They're pristine and perfect, and remind me of the Alexa Chung for Madewell ones with their little tassels on the tops. I have to start wearing these around; they are too cute to sit in my closet year round. I suppose finding these makes up for the too-small clogs I thrifted :)