Yesterday...

Some backyard photography shenanigans with my sis, her camera, and an old thrifted sheet :)

I could pretty much stare at that photo I took of her back all day, I think it's so pretty. She took the photo of Clover and also my initiation to the braid wednesday flickr group.

We're thinkin' it might be time to stock up on thrifted sheets and start our own glamour shots business a la Deb in Napoleon Dynamite. We hope to one day be successful enough to cut out supplementation with door-to-door boondoggle keychain sales entirely ;)

100% Thrifted Pick (7.29.09)

Elephant Revival!, originally uploaded by sunshineupton.

Milla and the technicolor dream shirt, originally uploaded by sunshineupton.

Aw Milla, ya make me wanna be a better hippie! Thanks for always inspiring me friend :)

And now for some hippie friend inspiration from my flickr faves and a wonderfully appropriate little video, enjoy!





(Images sources: 1. Violet Folklore, 2. littlebluebird27, 3. bunæn, 4. littlebluebird27, 5. faninha)

(Video happened upon via smicksy)

Petaluma

Following our usual walk to the farmers’ market on Saturday, we took a leisurely drive out to the neighboring town of Sebastopol where our plan to visit a salvage shop for some window shopping (we were hoping to find an actual window) was cut short by a sign on the door reading: “Gone to a wedding, closed early. Sorry!”

We then decided on a whim to head out to the town of Petaluma to check out the recently opened Seed Bank. I first heard about it a few weeks ago and have wanted to go ever since. Unfortunately, our plans were thwarted yet again as we walked up to the front door to discover that it too was closed! Not open on weekends it turns out. Had I read that link before going, I would have known this.

Alas, all was not lost, it was still a lovely day so we walked around Petaluma’s gorgeous historic downtown riverfront district and I’m so glad we did because it’s one of those nearby destinations (about 20 minutes away) that we usually just drive on by while on our way to Marin or San Francisco and completely neglect. It was nearing naptime though, so this visit didn’t last too long but left me itching to plan a longer day trip.




One place we did stop for a visit though was the fun and quirky gift/novelty/retro toy shop called HeeBe JeeBe. It’s a cool little store full of weird and wonderful things, perfect for finding unique gifts and whatnot.



I love the way it’s decorated too, with all the paper lanterns and flags hanging from the ceiling, not to mention the amazing fish mobile! There’s even an old-fashioned motorized horsie ride out front which you know who loved :)

Clover got a cute little set of wooden alphabet blocks which she would now have me building towers with non-stop for all eternity if that was indeed an option.

We walked along the riverfront and came across an amazing painted brick wall that I insisted Lucas document my outfit in front of.

Speaking of the outfit, I ended up feeling quite appropriately dressed as
downtown Petaluma is full of beautifully preserved old buildings that give it an idyllic sense of the small town Americana of yesteryear. It’s even a popular film location for just this reason. It’s where American Graffiti was shot among other period movies like Peggy Sue Got Married, the 1997 version of Lolita, and Inventing the Abbots.

I found the vintage dress at the Welfare League Thrift for $5 the day before and fell hard for its sweet print and lovely subtle details. There were no tags but it was impeccably constructed and in near perfect condition.

The little old ladies at the counter guessed it to be from the 40’s or 50’s and the one who rung me up said it reminded her of something she would have worn back in those days and after a short pause added “… to church.” She was pretty cute :)

All in all, thwarted plans aside, it turned out to be a lovely Saturday and I’ve already got ideas about what I want to do when I go back, one of which includes visiting this amazing old library and historical museum which I’ve never been inside. But we’ll save all that for another day :)

(Building images found here and here.)

Nifty Thrift Picks (7.22.09)

Sharing faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds. A biweekly spot for me to publicly covet the finds of others :)

hangers
Originally uploaded by wowcarn

peter pan collar
Originally uploaded by pearled

Bow Ties
Originally uploaded by sparkershop

Farmers' Market

Saturday’s 100% thrifted outfit, worn to the farmer’s market just prior to taking outfit photos (hence the leafy beet greens spilling out of my tote), featured a few of my latest summery thrift finds.

The vintage 50’s (40’s?) shorts are the ones I mentioned from last week’s flea market ($3!) and I’m lovin’ them to bits. It’s been super hot and I’ve already worn them twice this week. The delicate lacy top ($2.50) is perfect for these hot days too and the canvas tote ($1), well it’s pretty much a perfect summertime tote, you’ll see why in the detail shots (both from Hospice Thrift).

We are incredibly fortunate to live just a few blocks from a wonderful year round farmers' market held every Saturday and Wednesday. It’s especially bustling and bountiful on Saturdays during the summertime, so after we finished our shopping, Lucas strolled Clover home and I spent a little time browsing around and snapping pictures of all the bounty!

Details, details… pleats, snaps, pintucks, and lace :)

A hand embroidered sailboat scene on one side and the other side is pretty cute too (all photos can be enlarged by clicking).

Ok, you might not want to enlarge this one, haha.

Mmmm... my favorite!

How cute are these coops?! We plan to one day have chickens and I would love for them to nest in something as sweet as the one on the left. Actually, if it were a little bit bigger, I wouldn't mind nesting in there myself ;)



Haha, when I was taking this picture the kid working there asked if I'd like him to hold up the cucumbers "to make them look pretty."

See, cute, right? And perfect for toting home our fruits and veggies. We also picked up a fresh piece of locally caught halibut but it stayed in it's own bag so as not to run the risk of getting my new tote all fishy. Lucas grilled it up for dinner last night with fresh dill from our garden, some sea salt and ground pepper, and meyer lemmon straight off the tree... mm, mm, good.

Underfoot

The above images are from a set of amazing books from the 70’s that I thrifted awhile back. I’m not going to tell you about them now though, as I want to give them a well-deserved post of their own. I did however, choose these interior photos to start off the post because I adore the layered and mismatched woven rugs featured.

(images via: Spring Globe’s flickr and TempletonElliot’s flickr)

I’ve been dreaming of starting a collection of gorgeous old ethnic-patterned woven rugs to one day have strewn about our home. Oh, to be able to walk into shops like these and stock up to my hearts content!

(images via Lena Corwin)

The rugs o’ my dreams look something along the lines of these beauties…

Unfortunately, the darn things ain’t cheap. The beautiful vintage ones that I fall in love with while browsing antique stores are hundreds of dollars at least. Even the few that I’ve come across in thrift stores have been priced in the one to three hundred dollar range.

So when I walked by this fine specimen laid out on the ground at the flea market on Sunday, I stood and gazed longingly at it for a little while before almost walking away without even asking about the price. Luckily, I stopped myself, went back to ask just for the heck of it, and was told to my delight that I could have it for $40… and have it, I do!

It’s old and worn and has imperfections but that kind of adds to its charm I think, and it’s a nice size at 4 ½ ft long by just under 4 ft wide, not too big or too small. I wish I had found out some background info about it but I was in a hurry to get back home after spending so much time at the vintage clothing heap and regrettably neglected to ask.

I really love the pattern and colors though: black, pale blue, yellow, and pinky peach against rusty brown. My collection has officially begun, hooray!