Today's Outfit: Pockets of Joy

Remember the dress I said had to be seen "on" to be fully appreciated? Well, here it is... on :) It's super comfortable and drapes like a dream. The very best thing about it though are the big pleated pockets! What is it about dresses and skirts with pockets?

Guinness, our cat and yes he's named after beer, hopped up during my little photo shoot. Isn't he handsome? He's 12 years old and we've had him since you could hold him in the palm of one hand. He was part of an abandoned litter that a customer from the coffee shop Lucas worked in found one morning. All the other kittens ran off but Guinness was too weak and dehydrated to move. The person brought him into the coffee shop on his way to work and Lucas took him in. We nursed him back to health with an eye-dropper and a carton of half-n-half. He's the best cat ever :)

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (7.29.08)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds:

Little Girl's Charm
Originally uploaded by mame*

I adore charm necklaces and apparently I reeeally adore them when the charm has a sweet little girl on it. Remember the one with the girl reading from this picks post? Well, this one's pretty darn cute too and if it were mine I would wear it all the time!

Beautiful Crochet Apron
Originally uploaded by anja louise verdugo

My gosh, this just might be the prettiest apron I ever did see! Oh Anja, how do you do it? Beautiful indeed! Of course, it has already been sold in her wonderful Etsy shop. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure every item of hers that I've ever picked, and there have been several, has been sold by the time I've posted them. She's just that good.

Vintage Stavangerflint plate
Originally uploaded by Happymeat

If I had a dream plate, this would probably be it. How adorable is that illustration? What a charming lil' picture of diversity! This plate would make such a sweet wall hanging!

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (7.28.08)

WR 24.07 - Paisley + Rain, originally uploaded by strike.match.

Strike.Match was looking super cute this week in the 100% Thrifted flickr pool. I have such a weakness for lil’ sixties minidresses, especially the one’s made for young girls like this amazing thrift find. In fact, I think this dress and my green sixties girl’s dress that I was so excited to find at Lytton Springs should hang out. They would make quite the pair!

For such a small dress though, it sure is packed with sweet details! First of all, that print is awesome, the paisley motif and the rich blue/gold with a hint of maroon color combo. Not to mention that show-stopper of a collar and the millions of sweet round buttons popping out in bright white. I’m also loving how the navy tights and white lace-ups carry out the color scheme. The tights continuing the vertical strips of blue in the print really tie the whole look together in a nice way too.

What I like most though is the playful mood of the picture. She looks incredibly stylish, yet at the same time like she would be perfectly comfortable climbing a tree or stone hopping across a creek. As a matter of fact, dancing in the rain is, according to her lovely blog, exactly what she was doing. Strike.Match has a unique and fun style which I’ve been enjoying in wardrobe_remix for awhile now. This also comes across in the pieces she sells in her new Etsy shop Strike Match Vintage, so check it out!

Fairies Dancing

While browsing through the Golden Book Encyclopedia I shared in this post, I came across the following entry on fairies:

I had never heard of glistening cobwebs on grass as being possible evidence of dancing fairies, but I love this explanation! I decided to do a flickr search on this topic in hopes of finding some loveliness...

Misty Morning Dew, originally uploaded by flash of light.

Morning Cobweb, originally uploaded by Hobgoblin's.

Walking In the Spiderwebs (9), originally uploaded by vulgarwizard.

cobweb arch, originally uploaded by Clare Llewellyn.

... and loveliness I found.

On my wishlist...

via face hunter

via nemrešpobjećodnedjelje's flickr

via Stil In Berlin

via face hunter

Summer friendly jumpsuits... something along these lines would be perfect! Just puttin' it out there thrift gods ;)

Three Finds and a Fair

The brown and orange velvet bow belt, the tapestry granny bag, and the long sought after brown woven oxfords... all recent finds that I've posted about, came together as the finishing touches for my Tuesday evening jaunt to the Fair with hubby and baby outfit.

The tee and floral wrap skirt are old purchases from local vintage shops, and the orange ankle socks with argyle detail from Target.

It was lovely and warm early Tuesday evening, opening day of the Sonoma County Fair. Lucas and I strapped Clover into her stroller and strolled the five or so blocks from our house to get there. I've gone to this fair pretty much every summer since I was a kid, but this was kinda special being my first trip, of many I'm sure, to the fair with my daughter. She's only nine months old, still too young to take it all in, but she loves when there is a lot going on around her so it was perfect.

We took her to see the animals and to the Hall of Flowers, which I just learned is the country's largest themed flower show, this year's theme being "Red, White, and Bloom". How's that for good ol' fashioned county fair Americana?

As we were leaving the Junior Arts and Crafts building after searching out paintings by our niece and nephew, I spotted this crazy piece of not so good ol' fashioned county fair Americana. A kid baked this... WTF?! It looks like it was written in blood. So wrong... on exactly three levels. I can only hope the kid was trying to make a statement by being morbidly ironic.

On a happier note, there was a giant 7 foot long, 4 foot tall pig that we did not pay 50 cents to see. On second thought, the fact that this poor pig is spending its day in a small confined space while people gawk at it isn't actually a much happier note at all, is it?

We did get to see this pig for free though and she was pretty darn big! Suckling piglets, both happy and cute! Until they grow up and get auctioned off to the highest bidding butcher... oh that's horrible, I'm sorry... but probably true.

Ok, now this I promise you is truly a happy place. Clover Stornetta is a local, very well known in the area, dairy business. In fact, we actually thought about not naming our daughter Clover for fear of this association but loved the name so much that we stuck with it. I'm glad we did too because it totally fits her. Anyway, it wasn't open when we took the picture, but this lil' hut is where they give out free ice cream cones at various times throughout the day and has been a favorite fair feature of mine since childhood. :)

And how freaking cute is THIS?!

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (7.22.08)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds:

Originally uploaded by Mis-anthrope

I give you the moccasin... my latest must-thrift shoe! There always seems to be one that eludes me. In fact, I wish these were my feet, as I would like a pair JUST LIKE THESE. The fringe, the beading, the bows... so cute and so perfect!

vintage ladderback chair
Originally uploaded by revolutionarygirl

I am utterly smitten with this chair! The clean fluid lines of it combined with the organic quality of the woven seat are so visually pleasing to me. I have a bit of a thing for gorgeous mid-century modern chairs, which you may have guessed based on last week's picks, and this one is a real beauty! Especially positioned next to that really cool piece of art on the wall (click here for a better view).

Embroidery book
Originally uploaded by Swirlyarts

I recently came across a bunch of Golden Hands handicrafts magazines from the seventies at a thrift store. I sent the best one off to my friend Milla in Finland as part of a care-package/swap that we did. It was full of awesomeness like this page that she included in this post on her lovely blog ,which by the way, I highly recommend, as it is always a joy to read :)

My point being, that if what I found in these handicrafts magazines along with this wonderful cover are any indication, this book is full of vintage wonder and delight, not to mention everything one might ever want to know about embroidery!

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (7.21.08)

flower child, originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/42469190@N00/.

This week's pick from the 100% Thrifted Flickr group, goes to breakdancebetty in all her bohemian glory. How could you NOT be inspired by such flower power perfection?! This romantic flowy maxi dress is SO gorgeous... the pattern, the colors, the bodice texture, and best of all those sleeves! I love how she embraced the flower child mood here and completely brought it to life. My gosh, she could be at Woodstock in this picture! The sunglasses, the sandals, the necklace... Oh, the necklace... LOVE the birdies, especially the single bird with its wings spread! It's all so wonderful and her hair with its loose flowing waves completes the look perfectly! I'm totally inspired by how authentically summer-of-love this appears, while still maintaining a modern feel in a Sonya Rykiel Spring/Summer 08 kind of way. So so beautiful!

Feelin peachy...

... in my new-to-me Free People dress from Erin at the clothing swap. I'd have to say it is probably now the most comfortable article of clothing I own! Thanks Erin! I took this outfit pic yesterday right before heading off to a family BBQ at my mom's house.

Here I am at the BBQ with Val and Shayna, two of my three younger sisters. Yes, I'm the only blondie in the family, weird, I know. Val in the middle is preggo, hence my hand on her belly, and will be providing Clover with another little cousin in about two more months... Yay, can't wait!

Clothing Swap

Laura Jane hosted a clothing swap at her place Thursday night. Wine, snacks, free clothes and fun girls... my kind of evening. There were 10 of us total, 6 by the time Laura Jane thought to take a group photo, and I'm so glad she did, so that I have something to share. That's me in the back of course and these are my friends (left to right): Lisa, Laura Jane, Erin, Aura, and Julie Anne. Aren't they cute? We are sitting atop a couch covered in piles of clothes. Julie Anne decided to add a little Parisian flair to her ensemble with my old black beret.

It was supposed to be an opportunity for us to clear our closets of unworn clothes and maybe if we were lucky, to find a few new-to-us gems to take home. Well, as it turned out, I hit the jackpot and all I can say is so much for clearing out my closet and it pays to have stylish friends :) While I did get rid of a garbage bag full of stuff, here's a look at the grocery bag full of clothes that I took home:

I'm especially excited to have inherited Julie Anne's sparkly nautical minidress! The flap in the front of the dress has lil' star buttons around it! I call this my Milla grouping ;)

This I call Shiny Happy Tee-shirts Holding Hands. All so soft and comfy and I've been looking for a good stripey shirt too.

A second awesome dress score came my way when Erin bestowed upon me this lovely Free People dress made of the thinnest, softest, smoothest tee-shirt material. It feels like wearing air, so nice! Making a total of 10 shirts, 2 dresses, and a skirt... not bad.

Yep, that's Erin sporting none-other-than my cute overload cardi. In the end it turned out to be about two chickens and a duck too cute for me, but she's a hottie who can no doubt pull off all that cute. I'm just so glad all the chickens and ducks are off to a good home :)

This is Ben who was not there when I left and I am SO sorry to have missed this because knowing him, the shenanigans leading up to and following the taking of this photo were sure to have been pee-your-pants-funny. I see my beret became the joke prop of the night and Kudos to Ben for such seamless integration of that stuffed chameleon into this dapper ensemble! Thanks again Laura Jane for supplying the pics and organising the swap!

Oh, and be sure to check out my feet as featured today on Painfully Hip... yup, my feet... Thanks Deaver!

Weekend Finds

I went to a clothing swap tonight and made out like a bandit, but more on that later. These were my finds from last weekend. Two four-dollar dresses from this month's Sunday flea market down the street (I didn't take pictures because Clover wasn't really feelin' it and I only made it through the first row of vendors before it was time to take her home) and a cute little vintage children's book from the Salvation Army.

Style-wise the dresses probably couldn't be more different but I quite like them both. The one above has a really flattering fit and I think it needs to be seen on to be fully appreciated so I'll try to wear it soon. The label says Ambiance and I'm guessing that it's vintage-inspired but I really love the 1930's feel of it and the pockets were a big selling point. It reminds me of the dresses they wore on the HBO series Carnivale. The styling on that show was amazing!


This lil' number had no tags and I know nothing about it, but it strikes me as a bit 50's pin-up, which is not normally my thing, but I loved the diagonal ruffle across the front and the little matching tie belt. Something about it reminds me of vintage swimsuits and rompers that I've been seeing and liking lately. The gray-green feathery leaves with the pops of fuchsia flowers in the print appealed to me too.


Another one for the collection. Look at that adorable cover... how was I to resist?!

the little pink surprise...

I have the lovely Laura Jane to thank for this lil' pink piece of perfection! She thrifted this dress along with one for herself and got a two-for-one deal on them at a thrift store in her home town over the weekend. She came by with the dress yesterday and I'm totally in love with it. It's such a perfect fit, both on my body and style-wise! I love the buttons and all the little details and the pink floral pattern is so pretty. Thanks again Laura Jane, you are such a sweetie!!!

Blog Award : )

I've been given this blog award (my first, yay!) by two lovely bloggers! The ever-so-kind Laura of Punainen Kokonainen and Andrea of a cat of impossible colour. Thanks so much ladies!

It's called the ‘Brilliante Weblog Premio 2008' award, and here are the rules for passing it on:
1) When received, you may post the premio to your blog.
2) Link to the blogger you received it from.
3) Give it to 7 blogs
4) … link to those 7 blogs
5) … and leave those seven bloggers a comment about receiving the brilliante premio.

Here are the seven wonderful blogs (in alphabetical order) I would like to share the love with:
1) Apron Thrift Girl
2) Buoy
3) Clever Nettle
4) Milk Children
5) Pop Elegantarium
6) Spandex Pony
7) Style Symmetry

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (7.15.08)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds:

Vintage Hill-Rom Chairs
Originally uploaded by oOsprinkleOo

Retro Chairs to Slipcover
Originally uploaded by morningk

chairs1
Originally uploaded by katylou

Continuing with the themed picks this week: it appears pairs of chairs were ripe for the thrifting, especially of the lovely mid-century modern variety!